It was yet another hot ,dry,energy-sapping afternoon in the Emirate.I ,however,was determined to not let the word boredom feature anywhere in my description of it.I walked to my book- cabinet and scourged through rows and rows of literature.Everything from J.K.Rowling to Conan Doyle,Sidney Sheldon to John Grisham, but none piqued even an iota of interest me.Finally, my eyes fell on a couple of relatively small sized colourful books.Closer inspection revealed they were my set of Enid Blytons.The child in me threw a tantrum.Memories of many winter holidays spent curled up in bed while reading an Enid Blyton, rushed through my mind. So back in bed I was, spoilt for choice .
I ended up reading both Malory Towers and Faraway Tree Stories in about five hours.It was pure joy.Relaxing,cheerful,optimistic,thrilling and even moral are just a few words of many to describe these classics.It has been a few years now since I was last filled with so many positive emotions after reading a book and the themes are so simple- a boarding school and a tree, for crying out loud.It is the imagination and immense story-telling capability of the author that take these books to a whole new level.She keeps it realistic yet enchanting,she tells you much yet withholds much , leaving a lot to the reader’s imagination and in doing so draws them into the story.
Each time I read a young-adult book I imagine myself as one of the key characters and it is pure pleasure to do so.Sadly,adult books are not the same.In their quest to portray reality they end up bordering darkness and gloom.Fiction today thrives on stories of secret societies,betrayal and war.Where has the era of simple optimism gone? Will children’s books remain to be insulated from the harshness of their “elder” contemporaries? I am glad that,at least for now, there are messiahs in the form of Alice and Moon-face who are ever -present to cheer me with their magical adventures
