January 29, 2018, by Words on Words

Just Keep Reading!

This blog post was written by second year English student, Jaya Prabhakar.

During my final year of A-Levels, I mentioned to my English teacher that it would be fun to start a book club with my friends once, I was at university. I was, admittedly, confused when she rebuked my idea with a laugh, saying, “Don’t be silly, you won’t have time to read extra books!”. While I ignored this seemingly pessimistic view at the time, looking back over the autumn semester of my first year, I reluctantly had to admit that she was right – I had already stopped reading books outside of my course. I decided to remedy this issue, and on a leisurely stroll through Waterstones I picked up a copy of We Need to Talk About Kevin. I had heard raving reviews of this book, so I decided to give it a go. I was immediately enraptured by Shriver’s use of form and narrative voice, combined with her emotive portrayal of motherhood and exploration of nature versus nurture. Although the novel is heartbreakingly tragic, it is incredibly captivating and respectful of its subject matter, remaining one of my favourite books – one I would highly recommend to everyone.

The experience of my first semester at University and of reading this book still sticks with me a year later as it serves as a reminder that it’s so easy to be swept along with the persistent tide of texts on a reading list. However, it is possible to read books outside of the university curriculum (contrary to the beliefs of my A-Level English teacher) and it is something I’ve loved doing alongside my course. If you’re feeling stressed out with your extensive reading list, or your brain is frazzled from writing essays, I would encourage you to pick up a book that isn’t on your course and let it work its magic!

Image: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Posted in Student Words