It is common knowledge that a person considerably widens his outlook by reading. And this is just a minor part of the influence which fiction may have on him. Unfortunately, not all teenagers read books in their free time nowadays as they think that these can be replaced by the Internet and TV.
Besides aesthetic satisfaction, which is important and is one of the key factors in reading books, there are many other positive factors that induce people to reading. Very often the books may give answers to many questions that worry the person, and sometimes the ways to solving any problems, connected not only with romantic relations as it may seem at first sight, but also with global problems of finding the meaning of life and choosing the right way.
It is connected with the fact that book characters sometimes possess the features of character, world outlook and attitude to life that are close to us. It’s no wonder many people have their favorite literary characters, and when they read about them on the pages of this or that work, the person recognizes and gets to know himself, detects the hidden possibilities of his character. Sometimes, when you see the characters’ mistakes, you can see your own errors in everyday life, draw parallels and make relevant conclusions.
It is true that most young people prefer movies to literature nowadays, and I am in no way against the cinema, on the contrary, I am all for it. But it is in the case when we talk about truly worthy films, which do not have harmful influence on the still immature mind of the young generation, which is unfortunately not so rare in these days. And I think it’s useless to say again that no film, even if the screen version is marvelous, will replace the literary work.
As for the Internet as a source of literature, the main disadvantage here is inconvenience for reading and considerable damage done to your health. In all other things, if you found the work in the Internet and it is easier and probably more comfortable for you to read it from the monitor or print it out, I see nothing bad about it. But you shouldn’t refuse to read books and motivate it by the fact that you find all the necessary information in the immense space of the Internet. By the way, the quantity of information not always, and nowadays – quite rarely, correlates with its quality.
Unfortunately, it is not always worth it to listen to others’ opinion about the choice of this or that work. Criticism, as well as positive responses in the printed press, are usually aimed at the author’s publicity and they don’t always reflect the quality of work truthfully. Each person chooses literature independently, but it should be noted that a great deal of time may pass before you find the trend that will really play an important part in your life.
