Reading, rioting and WINNING

Greetings loved ones! As many of you know, regardless of how hard I try to disguise it with my attempts at cool music and occasional forays into fashion; I am, at heart, a geek. Although I do try to name drop cool bands casually into conversation, it’s quite obvious that I have no idea who they are, usually because I get their name mixed up – my incredulity at PJ & Duncan being on the Mercury Prize shortlist this year being a classic example. (For any fellow geeks out there, it was PJ Harvey on the shortlist, as I wouldn’t wish those howls of laughter on anyone.)

So I may not know too much about music, or fashion, or have my finger on the art house film pulse (Dirty Dancing rocks in my opinion) but I don’t think that makes me completely out of touch with current events and culture – my secret? I’ll whisper it. I read. I know, I know – it’s controversial. It’s old fashioned. Except it’s not. I think the art of reading books is the key to our past, it’s the way we make sense of our present and how we’ll forge a better future. I don’t think it’s a small coincidence that the rioters, thieves and arsonists who attacked our cities last week left the bookshops well alone.

There has been so much speculation as to the “type” of people who were raiding the proverbial cookie jar of our high streets – black, white, poor, uneducated, children of single parent families…the list goes on. The uneducated label strikes a chord, but somehow I don’t buy it – it is a right in this country to have an education up to at least the age of 16, so that theory doesn’t really stand up. The majority of the rioters will have received some kind of formal education (obviously the nine year olds who were lobbing missiles were at a slightly…ahem…earlier stage in their school careers) so where does that leave us? I feel that because everyone has the right to education and most children between the ages of 5-16 “have” to go to school, it is forgotten that this right is also an immense privilege; and one not enjoyed (or endured, if you’re that way inclined) by children worldwide.

Phew. Rant over – be honest, you missed it, didn’t you?

The point of this rant post was not to read the riot act on the youth of today (or to sound like I’m 87 years old) but actually to talk about something else that I would happily protest about (I said protest, not riot) – the closure of our libraries. I read a terrific piece by Caitlin Moran via the site Nosy Cow at the weekend which tackled the issue in a fair bit of detail; have a read if you fancy it. Naturally, I agreed with pretty much everything that was said, not just because I worship every genius syllable she utters, but because I feel that by closing these institutions we are opening ourselves up to more events like the ones we all witnessed last week; not because the lunatics who attacked our communities will themselves be up in arms because they can’t have free access to Dickens and Tolkien – but because other people, other readers, other literary explorers won’t have access. And it’s these people who we rely on; to learn the lessons, to spread the word, and maybe, letter by letter, chapter and verse, to change the world.

For that reason - and to give something back to you guys for reading my drivel - I’d like to offer up a little reading related competition – with a prize and everything. It can be a recommendation for a book (with a mini-review if you don’t mind), a little comment on why you like to read or perhaps, to share a memory (OMG this is turning into a self-help group) on reading as a kid; it could even be your favourite author. Perhaps you see your childhood through Enid Blyton-tinted spectacles – personally mine was a bit more Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, but hey. Either way – the prize is a £50 Amazon voucher for the winner to spend however they wish (you don’t have to spend it on books!) so just enter your reading related entry in the comments section of this post - you could even sign up to the blog at the same time (just click on the Join this Site button on the right sidebar), though that won’t necessarily help your chances of winning – yeah right. Happy reading!

PS Closing date for the competition is midnight, Monday 29th August.

To learn is to live

Just a quick one - a friend of mine recently shared this video with me and I think it is simply amazing.  I looked up the definition of "education" in the Oxford English Dictionary; apparently it's "the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university."  *Sigh.  Well, I guess for the last bit the UK will have to add an extra nota bene along the lines of "Available to rich kids and trust fund types only; plebs need not apply."  It's a sad state of affairs when education of the official type is only for the privileged - I think we all thought we'd moved past that stage.  


The hike in university fees couldn't have come at a worse time for an already cash strapped public.  It makes me angry that many of the next generation will be denied the opportunity of extending their studies (and the delight that is snakebite) but more that that it is the shortsightedness of a government who can't see that without the influx of bright, fresh talent the university system itself will falter.  A quality university system needs its strong research and even stronger teaching practise to be challenged - not just by fellow academics, neither simply by monied 20 year olds but by a diverse body of students from a range of backgrounds.  It's expected that because of this soaring rise in fees student numbers could drop by as much as 20% in the next few years - so this plug for axed funding designed to save money looks like it'll cause a whole other financial mess for our universities. 

But there is another side to this - perhaps the looming inaccessibility of a university education is a good thing.  Perhaps we need to focus on that other part of education, the part that says that what you need in your 80 odd years on this earth is not a piece of paper that says you can write essays and drink pints of buckfast in 10 seconds (oh, hang on - was that just my university?), it's life experience - and the very definition of that is getting out and living.  Yes, you will learn vital skills at university - but they are skills that can be acquired in the big, bad, real world.  For many, is university not an extension of the cosseting and coddling of the school experience?  It's being a grown-up, but with the stabilisers still on.  For that reason, I am attaching this video, brought to my attention by Carin Toso (who writes a fab blog by the way) - to celebrate that much of what we learn is from the University of Life.