How reading connects me to my childhood
Growing up abroad, I’ve always had a liking to books. Throughout elementary, I would finish several chapters of Diary of a Wimpy kid, Captain Underpants, Encyclopedias, and history books which I always kept a pile of beside my bed. I would always look forward going to bookstores and book cafes with my mom and would borrow Where’s Wally books which kept me entertained for hours on end. Reading; especially when accompanied by my mother was always a memory I’ve always kept.
When I came back home to the Philippines to continue my education, the only reading I’ve ever got done was reviewers and assigned reading from school which not only discouraged me from reading but totally put me off from reading altogether. There were times when a certain book invoked anxiety within me every time I see or even think about the book. It was a book about High School Mathematics.
It was only during the pandemic when I started to consider recapturing my love for reading books from my childhood. I’ve always connected my childhood with reading. That feeling of discovery and thirst of knowledge was something I missed and longed for. So, I decided to pick up some books and started reading. I thought it would be an easy task and would just breeze through a couple of books no problem! Boy, was I wrong.
I have a horrible attention span. This is partly my fault as I probably spent a majority of my days and quite possibly childhood on the internet. This happens when you grow up with the internet. And during the pandemic, it has only gotten worse thanks to TikTok. I would like to personally hand a bowl of soggy bread to Shahara and Alexa who forced me at gunpoint to install TikTok. This has led me to wasting countless hours of my life just swiping and watching short-form videos. Never regretted it.
I first picked up Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian from a used bookstore for cheap. The history buff in me has always wanted to read it after seeing the film adaptation. I gave up by page 140 because I couldn’t understand anything and my attention span was worse than a goldfish with ADHD.
I then picked up An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. A novel about a Graphic Designer, which I am one, and about space robots, which I am not one. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, fought my inner attention span demons and schedules to eventually finish it. It was one of the few books I read front to back and enjoyed every page turn.
Throughout reading the book, I couldn’t help but think about 8 year old Joshua, reading his Captain Underpants book in some café corner being totally transported into the world of Captain Underpants and the shenanigans of George Beard and Harold Hutchins. It was a simple time, and I have to admit it’s not really a book that’s suited for intellectuals. But I was 8 years old. You wouldn’t really see an 8 year old kid read The Odyssey by Homer. Unless you’re Asian.
