Written Source: New-York Times, “The Closing of the American Book” by Andrew Solomon.

Thesis: Lack of reading culture leads to harmful consequences that result in destruction of social intelligence, bring to mental atrophy and cause rotting of primary fundaments of community.

Summary of the main ideas:

1. People used to reading for pleasure regularly are much more socially and culturally active than those who lacks interest in reading.
2. Reading is a more difficult process than watching TV or playing video games; it requires some mental exertion, attentiveness, awareness of what kind of information you get, careful analysis of absorbed thoughts and ideas.
3. The electronic media doesn’t replace the reading process as it caries information perceived by our minds in mostly a frivolous and inattentive way, thus letting our brains to remain idle and torpid.
4. While spending too much time on TV programs and computer games leads to falling in state of loneliness, books can conversely help to overcome it involving reader into a dialogue, becoming a wise and sensitive interlocutor and listener.
5. Crisis in reading causes lack of brain activity which leads to development of diseases.
6. Through the history of humanity books turned out to be an extremely powerful weapon of influence used by men when fighting for ideas and damaged by those who where aware of its unrestrained universal power
7. Not used to reading personalities lose strength of their beliefs and ideals, which leads to crises in national politics.
8. Decline of reading result into law quality of national education.
9. The reduction of literature’s popularity among all social groups resulted in division of the whole community on two distinct classes: (1) those who strive for self-improvement and self-education, prefer to be involved in highly intellectual activities, are creative and interested; (2) those who are dissolved in infinite routine, do not aspire to get to the highest points of cultural development, whose mental activity is inert and flaccid.

According to Andrew Solomon, the author of the observed article, the reasons that have led to appearance of discussed problem are basically an idleness of minds, spreading of anti-intellectualism as well as creation of new meaningless intellectual trends. It is society that is guilty for dying off of valuable reading traditions. And it is only society, every its member individually, that should now regenerate the lost “poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art” (Walter Pater). Are we now indifferent enough to observe calmly how our minds are becoming withered and atrophied? Reading is an invaluable skill. It opens our minds, reveals hidden meanings of vitally important essence of being, presents life in all its variety, beauty and ugliness, phenomena and routine. How can we ignore its rich potential, how can lack interest in what displays the most exciting sides of human existence?

I’ve been keen on reading since my early childhood. It has become an addiction and dependence which will hardly ever release me. I realize fully the influence my addiction so unusual for nowadays teens has had on my nature and my life. I guess that poor results of ineffective educational system had somehow been improved and supplemented by knowledge scooped out from the huge number of read texts written by highly talented recognized by the world society authors. My library was first formed and controlled by wise hand of my mother. Her words always helped me to make the right choice. Step by step I’ve become familiar with world’s greatest masterpieces of literature. It’s no surprise they have made my reality differ from those of most of my peers. I realize that even now my perception of world singles me out of my coevals. But I’ve never regretted about devoting my time to what I’ve always perceived as a precious source of experience, wisdom and subtle moral doctrines.