What are you reading today?

Flashy bookstores with long aisles of colourful reading material can only make one wonder, how many of these books got sold today? If you happen to stroll into one such store recently, you will notice how the entrance greets you with a heap of recommendations and current bestsellers.  If you have been noticing the recent trends, you can easily guess that this bestsellers’ heap will have at least a few Self Help books, a few “budget books” by Indian authors and not to forget, the latest alien/dragon killing super hero novel for the young adult. In short, the trend of publication shows a tendency of following the path of “what sells”; which is in reality, a given. But perhaps we also need to look into what it is that sells today and how it is different from what sold before.

In fact, it is very hard to believe today, that what we call "Classic Literature" today were current bestsellers once upon a time. Novels in themselves were a new genre in the 18^th century England and they were printed in small numbers, circulated within a small community. These were considered to be un-important as compared to other texts of poetry, drama, history and religion. Those who did read novels did so in hiding or at the risk of being ostracized by the rest of the community. The novel of course slowly developed and became a major influence on reading trends. The 19^th century saw, with the help of authors such as Oscar Wilde and G B Shaw, the popularization of novels on social commentary.

The first problem that will strike anybody who cares to look into the matter, is that classic literature is being “taught” extensively, and hardly being read. Readers today seem to shy away from such books in self-doubt. The audience barely ever reads about the great novelists of yesterday in magazines anymore nor are these advertised in book stores to attract readers. The only exposure that new readers have to such literature is through the academia and they probably thus decide that the language is too old fashioned and “difficult” for them to derive any pleasure from.

These “readers” of today, the audience to authors, have different needs from readers of past ages. Everyone is a working individual leading busy lives and students live in too competitive an environment to dedicate enough time to heavy literature.  They seem to require and demand a “light” and easy, on-the-go read, which they can connect to and be entertained by. For instance, Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’, has become a cult series for the teen of today. A sexy and young take on vampires, is generations apart from the masterpiece ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stoker which he wrote in 1897.

There is no doubt therefore that writing and reading evolve with the change in times and cultural conditions. The cultural scenario of today, with an increase in working and professional women for instance has given rise to the popular ‘Chick-Lits’. Industrialization and urbanization has led to the complete lack of nature-influence in literature, or even if there is such a presence, it happens to be a novel based on nature-nostalgia rather than a portrayal of current lives, for example Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Sea of Poppies’. With a large publication of war/crime/terrorism books such as ‘The New Pearl Harbor’, ‘In the Shadow of no Towers’, one can only guess what is on everyone’s mind.

The real question here is whether there is a need for change. Are they right to conclude that current reading trends are frivolous and without depth? “They” being literature enthusiasts and educators who believe that the present scenario of books being published, reflect on the bad reading habits of today. Aren’t these particular questions being raised, the same as when the first novel was circulated in manuscript form? The demands of the reader today are different, we live in an altered world, circumstances have changed, shouldn’t the reading public opinion as well? Of course that brings us to the key side-effect of such a change, what happens to classic literature? Are they left to be forgotten? Are the literary genius’ of old, their masterfully strung together words of brilliance in prose to be admired by a miniscule group of academia in the years to come? Hopefully, sometime in the near future, a casual reader will pick up ‘You were my crush…till you said you loved me’ from the same section as ‘Jane Eyre’ and not be judged. In a world where Chetan Bhagat and P.G.Wodehouse can live in the same bookstore in peace.