The Hunter Envoy

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Caroline Kelly Ming Fearon

I have a really bad habit and I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to kick it. This habit has begun to gnaw at me since warm weather settled onto the city and the prospect of summer vacation began to dawn. The habit shames and embarrasses me, and I spend an inordinate amount of money on it. Surprisingly, it isn't smoking, drinking or even eating-it has to do with buying books. And when I say books, I'm not referring to the textbooks or novels for class that we're all required to buy and inevitably hardly ever crack open. The books I'm talking about are the ones read just to be read-remember those?

One of my favorite stores has carts of old books selling for a single dollar, tall shelves of obscure books, and tables full of bestsellers that are often priced for less than most stores would ever put them out for. Whenever I walk in, I always walk out weighed down by another book or two, geekily excited by its glossy cover, rave reviews, or occasional markdown in price from $24 to $5.95. A shelf in my dorm room is teeming with books, most of which were acquired since August. The only trouble is that I don't read. You might have been wondering why my book-buying habit is so bad-and now you know why.

I suffer from book guilt; I'm someone who used to spend all my time reading books that felt stimulating and helped my vocabulary. Now, I while away the hours with four-hour marathons on the internet. Reading books used to be one of the few things that people could do to for entertainment before more sophisticated technology came about; a long time ago, only the educated upper class had the privilege to read. In 2007, the CIA World Factbook estimated that the world has an overall literacy rate of 82 percent. If the ability to read is more prevalent than ever, why does reading a book for pleasure seem so archaic? I suppose that technology, as usual, is subject to blame-after all, it's so much easier to watch Pride and Prejudice than it is to read it.

I keep buying books, almost as if I hope that the sheer number of them will eventually overwhelm me and force me to become the avid reader I once was before I began college. While I find this habit of not reading disconcerting, it doesn't surprise me that a lot of other people do the exact same thing. While I will concede that many people will never make it a real habit to read recreationally, it seems as if college, which has left me with more time on my hands, has been the point of no return for many former book-readers, and I worry that I am turning into one of them. A week ago, I listened to a conversation. One half of it went, "What are you reading? Oh, what class is it for? Wait, you're just reading it? Who does that anymore?"

Continued...

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