the cost of intellect crisis
are books still in fashion?
If you think this was supposed to be a sentimental Valentine’s Day post, I’m sorry. If I’m not being comforted by someone’s warm embrace on the 14th of February, why would I dedicate a whole 800-word think piece to it? I write what I live. Maybe this piece will encourage you to cuddle up with a scintillating piece of literature instead of faffing about with roses and dinner reservations.
If there’s something I don’t want to be, it’s an elitist snob. And what I’m about to say may sound like I am an elitist snob. And this may come across like I am an elitist snob. But I promise you, I am not an elitist snob.
Anyways, I think I’m better than 97% of the population because I love reading.
There's something about dissecting through 250 pages that makes me feel better than everyone else. Imagine being on a packed train using your primitive cellular device whilst I’m increasing my frontal cortex vortex lobe with my non-fiction paperback.
Within the first week of the new year, there was already another talking point for the Twitter faithful to sink their teeth into. Someone posted an innocent tweet stating that they had just completed their first book of the year. From my memory, this was only two days into the new year. Personally, it takes me about three weeks to a month to finish a book. Two weeks if I’m dedicated. But 48 hours? Fair play. As usual, strangers online dedicated their first few days of 2024 to humiliate and troll her due to this unprecedented achievement.
And it got me thinking. What happened to our younger selves? The kids who used to lock themselves in their room until they devoured a whole book in one sitting. I’m not saying that reading is the epitome of intellectual understanding, but why is our generation so… dense? I remember when a friend told me that they would decide their future husband by making him read a page of a Malorie Blackman book. If they see him tracing the words with his finger, they’ll return the bride price and call it a day. As a guy in my church once told me (I can’t share his name for confidentiality reasons), “Abs, no one wants to read anymore”.
The explanation is two-fold in my opinion. One is due to the information overload we have in our society now and what I call the “fear of thought”.
As for information, there’s too much of it. So much that it has to be easily digestible before we can consume it. Unless it’s in a short tweet or 30-second TikTok video, we refuse to take it in. Just like being fed through a tube. If it’s not mushy and purée in form, it won’t go in. We can no longer swallow solid food.
On the “fear of thought” point – I’ve seen more and more people that hate thinking. Anything that requires their brains to be activated and to process information is shoved to the side. We would rather be numb and senseless in a sense. If you’ve ever heard anyone say they hate music that has too many words and meaning, they just prefer the beat and good vibes (or variants of that sentiment) you will understand what I’m saying. I’ve just realised the past two paragraphs seem like an insult and now I’m actually starting to sound like an elitist snob, but stay with me.
But I get it. It’s not for everyone. After my History undergrad, I was fed up with reading for leisure. It’s only recently I’ve picked it up again and found joy in it. Not a big fan of the idea of escapism but there’s something about being squashed on your morning commute with a good dystopian fiction book in hand and creating a whole new world in your mind. Oblivious to the reality around you and praying you don’t miss your stop on the Jubilee line.
Reading isn’t some country club membership. It isn’t a Costco card. It isn’t proof of both affluence and intelligence. I see reading as a lost art. Like flower girls and ring bearers at weddings. We’re losing recipes.
I want to encourage knowledge, not arrogance. There was a tweet a few weeks ago asking if people would date anyone if they graduated university with a 2:2. This is what happens when Rich Dad Poor Dad Twitter think that a few self-help books and financial podcasts increase their social and intellectual capital.
As I Grow Older, I realise that I need to put my phone down and PICK UP MY BOOKS
There’s so much to learn. So much to explore. So many worlds and ideas to plunge your mind into.
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As you’ve seen, it’s my goal this year to get more guys reading fiction books. If anyone has any book recommendations, let me know.
Love, Peace, & Blessings
Abs.
P.S. I thought I would publicly shame Nerissa Juantuah-Kusi. After months of perilous persistence, she has refused to hand over a book I lent to her back in 2023, a book from my very own library. She’s currently holding to ransom the book Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler. This book is part 2 of a collection in which I’ve already read part one and can’t complete the series until my good sis gives me the book back. Here’s her Instagram page. Don’t send hate comments and stuff, just give her a little “nudge”, if you know what I mean….