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.

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.