Much before the e-books and kindle came into existence, there was a time when the crisp smell of books (old and new) bowled over every book lover! Remember the time when you used to get super excited about going to a book exhibition in school or in your town. Remember getting hold of a fancy foreign book from the school library full of pictures and looking at in awe and wonder as if you found a hidden treasure.
Who doesn’t love stories? At least we used to! It is something you are told by your grandparents and parents when you were children. Stories are something you can connect with. Aren’t they? You have been reading story books, ever since you learnt how to read and write. Also there were quite a lot of books that proved to be a rage in your generation back then. That was the time we could go on reading books for hours on end without a care in the world.
Whether it was Goosebumps’ or Shivers’ horrifying stories, or a simple comic book of Calvin and Hobbes; whether it was a novel by Shakespeare, or other captivating books and stories by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, all of these writers and their books made sure we were literally glued to them!
Your busy life may not allow you to invest as much time as that in the past for reading, but the old stories and books do continue to make you nostalgic. Let us look at all the phases you have crossed in relation to story books and comics that reflect the book lover in you.
How it all started…
It all started with bed time stories, and tales that your grandmothers and mothers tell you in your mother tongues, when you were toddlers, that you were able to comprehend, and which managed to leave you enchanted at the same time. You would get captivated by the visualizations of the stories sometimes depicted by your elders, and your eyes would simply twinkle listening to them! The same adults would also read out stories to you from story books, and comics, full of pictures that came in regional languages, so that you could relate better. This planted a seed in your heart as a book lover, only so that you could fall in love with reading, when you grew a little older.
The development…
Just as you started to read and write, your parents would buy you comic books, reading which, went on to become your favorite pastimes! One such comic book was Tinkle Digest that was bundled with stories that had pictorial illustrations. Some of the most popular characters in the comic were, the twin brothers- Ramu and Shamu, the half-witted Suppandi and the jokes, the clever crow Kalia teaching you a lesson in the end, Shikari Shambu and his fears and cowardice that ended up working for him instead of against him, and many other such toons and characters. The digest also offered quizzes, know why facts, DIYs, riddles, and much more. It was a complete package for you, which you couldn’t wait to read every month! It is still sold in the markets for little children and pre-teens and the comic is also available online now!
The growth…
As you grew up to enter your early teens, a little mystery seemed to bowl you over, and charm you. You fell in love with a series of books and fictions like “Nancy Drew” which showcased how Nancy, the protagonist solved mysteries, “Secret Seven” that boasted of tales about child detectives, “Famous Five” where a group of children encountered adventures that most kids only dream about, and “Malory Towers” that spoke of stories related to a girl’s hostel, and was mostly popular amidst the young girls. These books were unquestionably one of your favorites, thanks to the thrill, anxiety, and anticipation that it offered, with every page that you flipped over! They sometimes kept you awake till late, thinking what would happen next, and you just couldn’t wait to read the whole book, and then start with the next. Mystery and thrill sort of gripped you during that period! Also, now you know how your vocabulary is better than the rest, don’t you?
The crush…
No one can forget the “Archie” phase. Can you? This comic was a rage amidst the teens, and it was irresistible to hold back the crush one had on Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper or Veronica Lodge! The other popular fictional characters in the comic, all of whom were created by John L. Goldwater, were named Jughead Jones, Sabrina Spellman, Reggie Mantle and Josie and the Pussycats. All the characters were relatable, and lived a very normal life just like you. No wonder you fell in love with their colorful lives!
Archie was nothing short of a heartthrob, the boy next door who could be easily nicknamed as “pure heart”. The “Archie Adventure Series” had also become a lot popular than the rest. Today “Archie Comic” is a brand that has emerged stronger than ever, and is still producing some great comics for the teens and youth.
The cannot-get-over-it phases…
British author J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter is a series of books and movies that you simply cannot part with. No wonder the lovers of the series are referred to as “Potter heads”, and the ones who don’t understand them are seen as “Muggles”! The protagonists Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Wesley were a group of best friends we all could connect to, and their world of wizards and magic had you glued to them, and the other characters. The thick books did not hinder you from reading them all, and you only wanted more and more of those stories! The sad part however is that there are only 7 novels that have been released, and the story has come to an end. Yet reading the books all over again is something you would not regret doing.
Another writer you absolutely loved proved to be Dan Brown. Be it “The Angels and Demons”, or “the lost Symbol”, “the Da Vinci Code” or “Inferno”, all proved to be massive hits among the readers. The thriller fictions did not fail any reader in the world!
The Shakespearean era…
If we know a lot of English words, witty phrases or sentences, and some famous relatable stories and quotes, the one man who is responsible for all of them is undoubtedly “William Shakespeare”. His dramas, novels and stories are not only enthralling, but also has a lot of life lessons hidden. We are sure there’s no book lover who hasn’t read at least one of his plays or novels. The most famous of them being Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and so on.
“A book lover never goes to sleep alone.” We are sure the list of phases here has managed to make you dwell in nostalgia. Books are after all, an important part of our lives, and one must keep up with the habit of book-reading to reap its increasing benefits. We must have all gone through these phases, well perhaps not particularly in the given order. But, this was where our journey started and this is how we fell in love with books. We have moved on to bigger books and more renowned authors but these are bound to stay with us for ever.
Read More: A Nostalgic Thought on Living with Grandparents
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