Mindful Content: Memorable Books, Part 1 - The Page Turner

Stephen Leonardi: Unsplash

Blog No. 13

By Marcus Coates, @homeinriyadh, 18th February 2021

Books are boring, right?

I’ve often heard it said that there are readers and non-readers: people who love to read, and others who find books boring. To me, that’s simply not true. I believe there are readers and those who just haven’t found the right book to read yet.

To say ‘I hate to read’ is like saying ‘I hate music, film and TV’. The vocal book-hater just hasn’t found the right book – as others haven’t found the right song, film or TV series that speaks to them.

Of course, books can be boring; because, although they are built from the same primary material – words – some words are simply fashioned and arranged better on the page than others. Just as some songs have better cord arrangements, some TV series have better cliffhangers, and some movies have better plot lines and memorable characters. However, when a book is done right – like songs, TV and films – that book can suddenly transport the reader directly into other peoples’ lives, or take them to other cities, countries or even other worlds and galaxies. Books are magic!

The Reading Habit

I was lucky enough to find book magic and develop a reading habit in my youth. Reading took hold before dull set texts at school, or dry academic tomes scared me off the reading habit. And when I came across books that bored me, I knew that – just like songs, TV and films that didn’t interest me – I would soon be able to pivot into a different genre or find an author that could deliver gripping content.

So why do some people shun books? I think one of the issues is that they take a longer commitment. You can consume a song in three minutes, a TV episode in twenty and a film in an hour and a bit, whereas it takes much longer with a book. A book is usually read in segments – a few pages or chapters at a time – and then life gets in the way and you have to disengage and buy groceries, study or work – and then return at a later date to pick up where you left off.

For some, repeated engagement and disengagement with the book world can be pleasurable. It gives a reader a chance to reflect on the characters and plot and a thousand other incidental details presented within the pages. Yet, for others, this engaging and disengaging process can be off-putting. It can be hard to walk away from a book you are engrossed in and is on your coffee table, waiting for you.

William Golding's Lord of the Flies

That’s why I’d like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all authors who write that rarest of books: the page-turner. Any book that is well-crafted, engrossing, and short enough that it can be finished in one sitting is a rare find.

Mr William Golding’s Lord of the Flies was the first novel that gave me this experience. I can’t quite recollect where I got my copy from – either a yard sale, car boot or the school library – but I do remember thinking the book would help while away a rainy afternoon in the UK for a bored teenager when going out to play seemed unlikely.

It was mid-afternoon when I stretched out on my bed and turned to chapter one. Then the magic happened – each page was filled with engaging dialogue and action - and was just as good or better than the previous one. I just couldn’t put the book down. I engaged with the characters; I could visualize the deserted island where the action took place; I understood the issues at stake; the book transported me to a different historical era … and I couldn’t stop reading.

Vaughn 0815: Unsplash

Lord of the Flies was first published in 1954 but has been a perennial favourite of school children and schools ever since publication. It has a rare combination of engaging characters – a group of school children stranded on a deserted island and left to fend for themselves. It contains universal topics of good versus evil; it demonstrates the fragility of social codes of conduct, the principles of leadership, community, and the rule of law.

William Golding’s novel is a book I’ve marvelled at over the years and revisited many times. It’s packed with thought-provoking content that’s as relevant today as it was in the 1950s. It was William Golding’s first novel he published, but not his last. In 1980 he won the Booker Prize for Rites of Passage; he was also awarded the Nobel prize in Literature in 1983, and knighted in 1988.

For me, Lord of the Flies will always be the first book that I simply couldn’t put down; the first book I stayed up all night reading until I turned the last page; my first unputdownable book; my first binge read.

What was the first book you read cover to cover in one sitting?

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