On a good book

Helsinki Public Library Oodi, September 2011

Have you ever started reading a book, and got stuck on page 8? And no chance of moving ahead in a week. And then you decide to restart because "you are serious this time". Sometimes you attempt three or four times till you get to page 9. And then miracles happen. The book turns out to be a page turner with information you needed at that exact moment and calls you the next moment you put it down. It seems to be the only reason you wake up for, your life turns around it, you were born to get to this moment. And then you literally devour the pages and as you get closer to the end of the book you start reading slower, savouring the lines, starting to smell the pages, feeling the cover material thickness. You just try to prolong the last page turn because with this book you will finish another phase of your life- this book made you different. Now your life is divided into before and after this book. And the funny turn of events is...that you have this feeling till the next good book. How many lives do we- the readers-live?! After every good book, a new life begins, an upgraded one. Sometimes I feel I have become even taller or even heavier after "eating" or "drinking" a book - sip by sip, crumb by crumb...Sometimes dieting, sometimes "swallowing" all that's "on the table and at reach".
And there are people who have this tradition to read over breakfast - provided bitter coffee should be considered one-and this reading ritual is usually via an Ipad app or Kindle. For some reason, it is easier to hold electronic devices that hard copy books over coffee cups :-) This experience is absolutely holistic because every good book is a complete prayer to the universe and every message in the book or article seems to be guidance from above. The world stops for fifteen minutes, and then goes on again.
One smart person I know says "Writing is therapeutic", and this is only because by writing the author confesses his heart to the readers. His experience teaches us. Most often it is a win-win game. Zero sum games are for social media and TV, since good books sprinkle wisdom to all takers. And no one reader's gain is jeopardized by another's gain.