Childeren Reading into Higher Things

I think that everyone will agree that in today's modern society of games, TV, and music, reading is a dying hobby with young people. One Christmas I bought my little brother 'The Far Away Tree' by Enid Blyton, a book that I had read as a child when he was doing well with his reading in school. I thought I was giving him a dream, an adventure but all I gave him was extra work. He would have much preferred a game over a book and I'm pretty sure he's not alone in this respect. The idea of books becoming more and more irrelevant is such a sad thing. England, or any country for that matter, would not be the same without its literature to make their culture richer. So here is my agenda: I want to encourage more young people, to encourage younger people to read. Ideas are a flame; they grow into a large light source.

Reading has, for me, opened up so many doors. I began to chain read in my early teens. At that point, I was in the bottom sets for everything in high school. The more I read, the more I wanted to learn, and the more I could learn. Slowly but surely I climbed to the highest sets. Now I'm studying Literature at University and so happy for it.

It would be unfair and wrong to say that people that don't read are stupid with no future. Plenty of people do very well without such a hobby. But there is no arguing with the knowledge that those who read books for pleasure will develop better spelling, grammar, and thinking skills. There are some children who still struggle to read in high school because they simply don't read enough and they were not encouraged enough by parents and teachers. It's a shocking fact, I think, and one that I still find hard to comprehend. In today's society where education is free to all, why should children not be able to read properly, or write or calculate? The Victorian age, where there were segregations in classes and the working class was only destined for labor, is over. You can be whatever you want to be with work and effort.

There are things that anyone can do to make a difference, obvious things and some less obvious things. Here are my suggestions:

• Tell others what they are missing out on. If your little siblings can see you having fun reading books and you persuade them to do the same, they just might listen to you. Don't order them to read: telling your little siblings what to do groundlessly will just wind them up.
• Read with them. No kid wants to read really, so spending time together with their big sister or brother (or older friend) might make it a little more fun for them.
• Set up a reading group in school. The school I went to had a system where the children from older year groups read with the year sevens who couldn't read as well as the others. Also, this kind of thing looks really good to Colleges and Universities because it shows initiative and that you are willing to do extra work. 
• Don't just read Children and Teen Fiction Novels. This suggestion is for you as well as others; a lot of younger people just read fantasy and supernatural. Although I'll admit that I love to curl up with a book that takes me to magical and strange worlds, reading non-fiction or more serious fictional works really help to broaden your understanding of the world you live in. Again, if you can say that you've read (for example) Robert Lewis Stevenson's 'The strange case of Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' on your applications and how it reflected social concerns during the 19th century Colleges and Universities will be more likely to accept you, especially if you're going for a course like literature or creative writing. 
• Blog it! Just like me, write a passionate plea to your readers telling them to spread the word. You are going to be able to reach different people than I will so it will turn into as an ongoing ripple pushing others to do better.

The written word is a powerful thing: it is a voice of the past that will continue to resonate far into the future, a voice that reaches people and changes the way they think, a voice that speaks for the voiceless. If people don't read what others have written, the ideas that they tried to project dies along with the author. 

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

With a huge focus on the Gothic element of the uncanny, one of ‘The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ By Robert Luis Stevenson’s major theme is morality. The novel is about conflicting personalities in one human form; essentially it’s the struggle between good and evil. As its set in the 18^th century the industrial revolution made a huge influence in Stevenson’s work, like in “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly science verses religion is also another huge theme. Dr Jekyll is devoted to medical science and when he discovers that he can split the inner human into two people he thinks he’s onto a brake through. Obviously like every Gothic novel with the theme of science hunting its pages, something goes terribly wrong.

It’s not one of my more favourites of the classics, but because of the smaller size of the novel, with only ten chapters, it’s great to break you into older styles of writing with a higher chance of you finishing the book. That is if you can manage the first few chapters. Mr Utterson is our narrator we as readers follow his point of view, he’s a banker, need I say more? It’s hard to hate the character of Utterson; he’s polite and respects the rules. But because of his purity it makes him a little plain. Dr Jekyll on the other hand is slightly more interesting with his mysterious nature, and even more so is Mr Hyde. Nobody knows a thing about Mr Hyde except for his benefactor, Dr Jackal, who has strangely left everything to Mr Hyde in his will. And for Mr Utterson, Dr Jekyll’s friend and banker, this quickly develops into a mystery case for him to uncover especially when there is murder thrown into the mix.

Mr Hyde is probably my favourite character within the text because of how he’s dehumanized throughout the novel. He relies on his instinct and he feels no remorse for what he’s done. Mr Utterson describes him as a “creature” within the text, and later on his actions were done with an “ape-like fury” almost completely isolating him from the category of human because of his rash and unsympathetic behaviour. Some may think this kind of character is simply horrid, but in my opinion the more flawed a character is, the more interesting they become and the more I want to understand why that character is like that.

I suggest that those who scares easily don’t read “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” it’s very different from the adventurous “Treasure Island” that Stevenson wrote in 1883 or “Prince Otto” in 1885. If you like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or you just interested in Stevenson as a writer I suggest that you visit http://w.robert-louis-stevenson.org/works.

Over all I think that this book is a must read, especially to all Gothic lovers and literature fanatics of the like. I know many people that would find this novel shocking and scary but I think that it’s a good mystery thriller to curl up with.

Dorian Gray Is a Must Read!

I had started to read Oscar Wilds novel of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ thinking that it would be a great to add into my personal statement. After all Oscar Wild is a fantastic writer whose book was so impressively written that it was considered to be a classic. I did have my doubts about the book thinking that since it wasn’t all that similar to what I normally read, with different style of writing to more modern writers like J. K. Rolling and a completely different setting from the modern times, I wouldn’t be able to understand much of the characters and plot.

But I was instantly proven wrong as soon as I read the very first sentence. It had description that hinted at the very nature of the entire novel. The line: “the light summer wind stirred the trees of the garden” implies the disruption of something natural and pure which mirrors Dorian within the second chapter. And “pink-flowering thorn” symbolizes what Dorian will become, a beautiful but dangerous person. In my opinion this novel as a whole is enticingly descriptive in cretin parts, enough to make it sound almost poetic and pleasing to read. However it isn’t continuously that way, a lot of the text consists of the characters voices which show how they vary in personality and opinion. Though when Dorian, to my distress, started to speak more like Lord Henry who confused him with sweetly venomous words such as “every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us,” which would make a large impact on the lads change. He wrongly taught the boy to fear ageing and to treasure the sinful pleasures of his youth. And innocently Basil who had reluctantly introduced the two painted the picture of Dorian Gray, when the child looked at the painting “his beauty came onto him like a revelation.” Dorian Gray’s forced change ultimately seals his fate; he remains as the beautiful boy with innocent charm even at the age of thirty. But as the years pass he becomes wicked and his sole darkens.

This book may have strange Gothic themes and some pretty twisted characters, but the darkness of the book just provides it with a sinister charm. I mean, who wouldn’t be interested in shearing strange secrets with a murderer? And although it isn’t a main element to the book, romance is defiantly a factor for all you hopeless romantics. But the love is so tragic it ends with tears.

Many dreadful incidents happen within the novel that the protagonist seems indifference towards except for the brief inkling of guilt when he realizes that he is the one who has caused them.  Like most of the classics the division of social class is also a main theme, as Dorian is within the upper class the reader is exposed to more formal writing and speech. Henry expresses his negative opinions of all he sees as ‘below’ him. It’s similar to how Jane in Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre’ describes herself and sees herself as unworthy of Mr Rochester. Another obvious theme is crime because Dorian murders... You’ll just have to read it to find out.

I thought that it was an absolutely fantastic read during the summer. There will be some that can’t get into the novel due to how dated the style of writing is, but I think it’s defiantly good book for all literature fanatics of any kind. So give it a try!