Commentary by Rui Pastorin
He quietly sat on the floor reading after choosing from the sea of books on display. It was a busy bookshop, rife with activity even early on a weekday afternoon.
Opening his newfound book, he started reading as if he were right at home, fully engrossed in the literary world unfolding before him as I walked past.
Eventually, he stood up. The search was over, and he made his way to join others at an efficient, quick moving queue. That day, he was far from the only one on a quest for a new book.
This bookshop in Singapore was full of activity in each corner, jam-packed with people perusing the aisles or lost in a chapter just as he was. The smell of new books and the sounds of pages flipping were ever present, as were a mixture of whispers and loud conversations about a book, author, or a topic ranging from wartime atrocities to cheesy romance novels and, of course, self-help.
Here, to say that it felt encouraging to pick up a book you found most riveting is an understatement, more so as book discussions, whatever the topic, seemed fruitful for whoever they engaged. It all promoted an exchange of thoughts and ideas, and, coming from Macau, to be in an environment where all these factors are ubiquitous felt somewhat different.
This was a real, healthy reading culture. Books were as exciting as new toys, and finishing one felt rewarding – not like having a good habit punished with a longer prison sentence, as so many feel
While I am speaking of one place, this is also true of the bookshops that I have visited each time I travelled. That is the type of environment that I tend to miss and is one that I feel is sorely needed. And while bookshops in Macau do see customers, I can’t help but feel that times have changed.
I remember trips to Livraria Wan Tat on Rua do Campo with my mother at various points in my life. As a child, it seemed as exciting as visiting a toy shop. We would walk down the stairs to the basement, swiftly making our way to the children’s section. I remember other parents and their children were there too, some busy with toys, while many were engrossed in whatever title they found interesting. Although I don’t remember if any of them read to their kids on the spot, I can imagine that they did at a small table that I vaguely remember.
Among the many titles I remember picking out were a large, hardcover book of compiled fairy- tales that detailed everything from Rapunzel and how her troubles started with a pregnant mother’s cravings for lettuce to Hansel and Gretel and why walking to a house made out of sugary delights is apparently a bad idea.
Later, the bookshop runs continued as a reward or treat via sufficient funds. It became about picking up James Lee’s (the pseudonym of Australian author Jim Aitchison) “Mr Midnight” for a good scare and to discuss the latest read with friends, or finding other youth-orientated novels like Christopher Paul Curtis’s “Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money”. This was a fostered love for books that started at home, and it proved to be an important, core part of my life.
It was this fostered love that allowed me to not only progress into thicker, more complicated books, but attain skills that I believe are not only useful for school or even as someone who has to read and write a lot, but for life.
It goes beyond learning to comprehend and academics. It extends to analysing, focusing, creating, further learning and thinking, helping to form important thoughts and opinions that will help with views and navigating the world. And in a place where many might say no one is reading much anymore, a place that still recognises its value and strives toward becoming a city of reading through various initiatives, it will take more than the external part of the equation. In fact, it needs to start inwards, from one’s home. And from then, maybe we’ll be a few steps closer to achieving that goal.
When that happens, who knows, maybe the young minds fostered will be creating worlds that will engross someone enough to stop, sit on the ground and read before joining a queue to purchase the latest addition to their bookshelf.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
