With technology becoming more and more advanced every single day, the habit of reading seems to be getting extinct; More specifically, reading big novels. Recently, I finished reading The Idiot written by none other than the renowned Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky.
The novel centres around Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, a young man who has spent much of his life in a Swiss sanitarium, recovering from epilepsy. He returns to Russia and enters St Petersburg society, where his innocence, honesty, and lack of social guile lead others to view him as an "idiot." Like many other novels, this one included plenty of memorable characters and an extraordinary world enough to completely immerse you in its plot.
The serenity that you feel while reading a good novel and the bittersweet emotion you feel after finally finishing one is simply unmatched. Sadly, a rapid increase in social media consumption and short form content has led to a massive downfall of reading any kind of book as a habit, let alone giant novels.
A survey conducted by National Literacy Trust (NLT) back on November 5, 2024 reveals that the reading habits of young people have reached their lowest levels in nearly 20 years. This is a very alarming decline.
Excessive engagement in instant-gratification such as doom scrolling or watching Instagram reels may give you a short-term dopamine spike, but they ruin your attention span significantly and hinder your long-term probability of success in life.
They make you lazy and unmotivated, leading to a fall in your drive to perform relatively hard tasks such as reading novels, which has countless benefits.
Why read novels?
The benefits include enhanced mental health, improved cognitive function, and increased empathy. It can also improve focus, expand your knowledge, sharpen your memory, and expand your vocabulary, among others.
In contrast, what are the benefits of watching Instagram reels? It’s nothing but cheap entertainment. Scrolling on social media may not require much effort, but its return on investment is very low.
Finishing a long novel may take some effort, but the feeling you are going to receive throughout this beautiful journey and the triumph that you will feel after finally finishing one will be similar to none.
The point is, achieving anything that is valuable in its truest sense is never easy. While finishing a big novel may not necessarily be as simple as using TikTok, the hard work pays off way more than you think.
How to build a reading habit
A good way to start building a reading habit is to go to your local library or book store every week and try reading a book there for as long as you can. I, for example, tend to visit a bookstore called Pathak Samabesh every now and then. A place like that is ideal for reading.
There have been times where I stayed there for over an hour and completely lost track of time. Even if you do not want to read there, the fact that almost everyone around you is flipping through pages will kind of force you to pick up a book.
Here are some great novel recommendations to help you get started with your reading journey: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
If you feel like you can never finish a novel, think about your ancestors. The only forms of entertainment they could indulge in back then were reading books and playing outdoors.
That being said,if you are too tense on whether you will be able to complete a novel or not, just remember that the journey is more beautiful than the destination.
Instead of focusing on finishing one, embrace those moments of going through each page because when you do finish it, you will probably wish you could have experienced it all over again.
So tomorrow morning, try replacing your phone with a cup of coffee and a work of Dostoevsky!
Shahrivar Tanvir Hossain is a freelance contributor.
