About that great reading journey of mine...
Hello, language enthusiasts, and welcome to another entry of this little english corner: My english corner.
Today I just want to share with you one of the best reading experiences I've ever had. It happened three years ago. I was 20 years old and I was developing a great interest in science, and I shared all my knowledge with whomever I came across. One of those people was a very close friend of mine, with whom I would spend hours speaking about the wonders of nature. All of our knowledge back then came from tv shows and youtube videos; none of us had ever read a science book other than for school. So I searched for recommendations and came across this wonderful, wonderful book which changed me forever. I bought the book in spanish for my friend since her English is not that good, and I downloaded a copy in pdf and read it on my phone. What I proposed to her was to read a chapter every week and then get together on the weekend to discuss it. This way I thought that we would be more motivated to read a book which otherwise we may have postponed maybe until today. And as a matter of fact it worked! Well, at least until she moved far away and we had to stop meeting because of distance problems. Anyway, we did that thing for five weeks straight. And when we got together we would discuss more than what we read, but how and where we read it, what we liked the most, etc. We sometimes didn't fully understand some concepts and then watched an explanatory video to clarify ideas.
I must say that I really enjoyed doing this, and when my friend moved it was really hard for me to get on the habit of reading again. I eventually finished the book and I loved it, but I guess there was just something really special about feeling accompanied in a big journey such as reading a book is. And it was then that I understood what people meant when they used that journey metaphor.
The name of the book is A brief history of time: from the big bang to black holes. Its author, Dr. Stephen Hawking, wrote it as a way to make the concepts and theories that cosmology deals with clear to the non-scientific community. It does not use technical terminology and it is really interesting for any curious person out there. The book is a bestseller which sold more than 10 million copies in 20 years. It was also on the London Sunday Times bestseller list for more than five years and was treanslated into 35 languages by 2001.
You can download it by clicking here, or you can go to any local book store and order it. I really recommend you to do so! :)
PD: Here is a frame from Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban where you can see a wizard reading this muggle book c:
mmm... i think i'll give it a try!
ResponderEliminarI really liked what you did with your friend! nice idea!
I love your post! I think that reading experience in which you share with someone else must make the whole experience even more magical than it already is... I'll try it out sometime!! And the book... wonderful!!! (I don't remember so much because I read it many years ago, but I remember everyone in my family read it and shared ideas on it)
ResponderEliminarGreat idea to read and discuss the book with a friend, specially in such interesting topic which may be difficult to find someone to talk about it. A few days a ago, I watched the film about Hawkins' life. It was amazing because he didn't let his illness interfere with what he wanted to communicate. Really inspiring!
ResponderEliminar