Some people read because they are lonely, some people read because they love to read, and I read because I have an unstoppable, innate attachment and deep love for books and words.
Twenty years ago, when I was a student at Fudan University, I first started to try reading, devote myself to reading, and make a living reading and writing. At that time, it was not yet in the digital age, and everything was face-to-face, although slow, but more real.
In addition to borrowing paper copies, there are almost no electronic versions of books for students. At first, I read some theoretical books related to law and sociology, but I was very happy, because after the hard training of the college entrance examination, I realized my dream, wandering among the small rivers and rockeries on the Fudan campus, from early morning to dusk, I can read, study and write quietly. To this day, looking back on the past 40 years, my life is closely connected with books.
I have loved reading since I was a child, and I remember that when I was young, my mother often took me to Xinhua Bookstore, and at that time, the bookstore was not allowed to open and read books without buying them. So, every time I finished reading a book at home, I looked forward to my parents taking me to the bookstore again, and savoring and selecting them, and I always loved the new books that I took home like treasures. My favorite books are "365 Nights Stories" and "Grimm's Fairy Tales". As a child, because I cherish the opportunity to read, I memorize almost every book upside down, and I can be regarded as living up to the gift of books from my parents.
Therefore, for me, there is never a situation where "books cannot be read unless they are borrowed", and I cherish the books I buy very much, and I taste every word.
In order to have the opportunity to see more books, I spent my childhood exchanging books with neighbors, borrowing books from relatives, and renting books at small bookstores for a very cheap price. At least in my adolescence, I especially like to read history and essays, and I have also read and internalized many times the emperors and generals, biographies of celebrities, and various essays in different eras in ancient and modern times.
However, the real impetus for me to experience reading was when I started my postgraduate studies at the University of Hong Kong Chinese. In the face of the huge library with a rich collection of books on campus, I really feel like a fish in water, and I immerse myself in writing and reading in the library almost every day. Especially indulged in the words of celebrity writers such as Zhang Hatshui, Qiong Yao, Li Ao, and Zhang Ailing.
When I read a book, I often have a magical feeling: along with the meaning of the words, my brain begins to imagine that I am a character in the book through time and space, resonating with their joys and sorrows. At the same time, I feel highly integrated with the author's soul, and I can feel their state of mind at that time very clearly, especially the intention and feelings of putting their life experiences, frustrations, and dissatisfaction into ** and works.
Every time I sit quietly in the corner and devote myself to reading, the world around me seems to disappear. I would step away from the present moment and leap to the characters in the book, talk to them, communicate with them, cry with them, laugh with them! Every day is so lively and passionate, and reading sweeps away all loneliness and loneliness! Perhaps it was because of the many books I read in those years that I laid a good foundation for literature reading and the accumulation of writing skills for my follow-up writing ** "Love in a New Alluring City".
After graduating with a PhD, I started my career working at a university, where reading and writing became not only my hobby, but also an important way to earn a living. If you don't write for a day, you'll be useless, and if you don't read for a day, you'll be stupid. For me, it's a great privilege to have the opportunity in this life to combine a passion I love with a job that I do for a living. That's why I'm always grateful for this opportunity and cherish my teaching position at the university. What I can do is to educate people through teaching, and to pass on the passion for life that reading can ignite to my students and friends.
In 2024, I will spend the new year reading and writing, and I will continue to look forward to more meaningful works. After all, everyone's life is limited, only the mind lives forever!
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