IT'S GOOD TO TALK

Do you like reading? By this I mean reading books, newspapers and magazines. Of course you do. You doubtless do it every day. 

As a minimum, I read the paper in the morning, loads of stuff on the computer and a bedtime book at night.

Even if you do it on a kindle thingy it's still a massively pleasurable activity.

Reading a novel is for most, a better experience than seeing the same story as a film. The reason for this is that if you are reading the story, your imagination kicks in and you conjure up the characters and scenes creatively in your head instead of having them placed in front of you and being stuck with the film-maker's version.

Now that your imagination is in play, imagine for a moment not being able to read. I don't mean being illiterate, although this is indeed a sad state to be in. No, I refer to your situation if you are blind.

I was chatting to a blind man the other day and he was explaining how much he relied on 'talking' books, newspapers and magazines. If you were blind you would be just as reliant on these.

So perhaps you could consider volunteering to do some of the recorded reading. If so, the R.N.I.B. would love to hear from you.

HAPPY ENDING?

When my Dad died ...

Don't worry - you shouldn't need the box of tissues.

As I was saying - when my Dad died, I had to do the usual painful job of sorting out his stuff. There was accumulated rubbish to throw away, useful items to give to charity, the odd item of value to sell and a few mementos with associated memories.

It was a sad occasion of course but the saddest moment for me was when I was clearing the bedroom and found the book he had been reading at the side of the bed. He was half-way through it. How sad I thought, that he never got to finish the story.

Now like me, Dad liked nothing more than a good murder mystery novel. I began to wonder - which book will they find unfinished next to my bed after I check out? 

So here's my plea. Whether I find myself knocking on Heaven's Gates or Hades' Hatch, please will someone take pity on me and tell me Whodunnit?

READING YOU LOUD AND CLEAR

Do you remember learning to read? At first, no doubt, you read aloud but were soon urged to internalise the process and read to yourself. It's a good thing that we have this ability. Just think what it would be like on the morning train for instance, with everyone in the carriage reading their newspapers out loud.

Reading a book is one of the greatest pleasures in life but reading aloud can be very rewarding too. I well remember, many years ago, reading to my daughter to send her off to sleep and I so miss that experience. It was an absolute joy.

Luckily help is at hand for I am soon to become a grandfather and plan to read to my grandchild at the earliest opportunity.

One final tip about reading aloud. If you write a letter to someone, or compose a speech, or simply write for the love of writing as I am doing here, try reading it aloud to yourself. You will be surprised how this can help to 'get it right'.

UNDER THE COVERS

I heard a clever advert on the radio recently which had sound effects created by a book. The book was repeatedly shut to produce 'footsteps' and dropped on the floor to create a door slam sound. The pages were rustled to make a crackling fire effect and so on. The advert failed insofar that I have no idea what they were trying to get me to buy, but it did succeed in reminding me about my life-long love affair with books.

Regular readers (if such animals exist), may remember my previous rant called 'Refusing to turn the page' where I railed against the advent of e-books. I genuinely fear that the demise of the printing industry may be on the horizon to follow the long list of trades which technology has made redundant.

I do hope that like me, there has been a point in your life where a book has grabbed hold of you and refused to let go.

Sadly, like young love, the last time this happened to me was as a student in the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The book in question was 'Lord of the Rings' by Tolkien and I can remember lying on my bed for hours as it held me tight and transported me into a fantasy world. Or was that my young love experience? My memory is so bad nowadays.

REFUSING TO TURN THE PAGE

Now I wouldn't call myself a geek (who would?) but I flatter myself that I have a reasonable grasp of technology. I can find my way round 3G and Bluetooth. On the frequent occasions when Windows needs cleaning or repairing on my own or friends PCs, I'm your man. I'm always very quick (too quick in the case of Windows Millennium) to embrace new technology. However, it was not always so.

I well remember when mobile phones started to appear and both my wife and I were having none of it. What a ridiculous idea! Why on Earth would we want to be pestered by phone calls if we'd gone off to enjoy ourselves somewhere or were busy shopping or whatever? So for a while, we refused to turn the page of history.

Well I suppose we held out for a couple of years and then the clever sales gimmick about safety kicked in. Imagine your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. No sign of a phone box. No other traffic about. I'm toast right? Someday, my skeleton will be found in my rusting Ford and people will mutter about how stupid I was to set out without a mobile phone. Worse still, what if it were your dear wife or darling daughter? How would I feel if they became isolated on a dark night in a small country lane in deepest darkest rural England and were ravaged by molesting hordes? All because I hadn't bought them mobile phones for Christmas.

The rest is history. Mobile phones are now attached to the ears of 70% of people in the street and the other 30% are listening to their ipods.

So it is with some trepidation that I make my pronouncement on e-books. You know the things. Electronic tablets which can download every book known to man. One book for all. Carry the world's library in your handbag. Even if they bring out a new feature so that you can electronically turn down the corner of the page so you can virtually dog-ear your e-book to mark your place, I won't get one. Even if they bring out cubicles where you can wear a helmet which tricks your brain into believing you are browsing in a book shop. Even if they get e-books to emit puffs of book-smelling scent.

No, my head is firmly buried in the sand. It's no good trying to persuade me. Na na na na na - I'm not listening - can't hear you....