Is Reading Overrated?

I’m sure everyone has seen someone write that reading books is a waste of time on social media, and that movies condense everything into two hours. But is it really like that, or are all these statements just comforting words for people who haven’t developed a reading habit?

As someone who sometimes reads the books of the movies I’ve watched and sometimes watches the movies of the books I’ve read, I think I can answer this question.

I’ve had periods in my life when I didn’t have the habit of reading, and now when I think back to those times, I truly can’t remember what I did because I was young and I can’t recall what one does when they’re not reading. Watching movies is indeed enjoyable, sitting and watching the characters. Perhaps imagining yourself as one of those characters. I think this is the main difference between reading and watching. In one, you imagine yourself as one of the characters, while in the other, you become that character. Breathing with them, walking through the sentences in their head. What’s even more frightening is when you come across your own thoughts in one of the character’s thoughts. That’s when you truly know you’ve lived that character. Perhaps you realize they’ve been right there beside you all along, breathing.

Watching a movie is like seeing the character, absorbing them, and witnessing everything they go through, while reading a book is like shouldering the character’s emotions and thoughts, entering through the cinema screen and witnessing what’s happening through the character’s eyes. That’s why it’s what I love doing the most. After watching a movie I really enjoyed, getting the book or books is like extending the movie. Plus, this time, you’re the main character. No film adapted from a book can convey everything the book describes. Of course, some events, a few explanations that need to be given, a few dialogues that need to be experienced, and more have to be left out. These are the things I’m most curious about.

What I love most when reading a book whose movie I’ve seen before is being able to move freely in the described place. Walking through that castle with my own feet, hearing everything with my own ears. Controlling everything. Moving around like a shadow everywhere. Sometimes being the character itself, sometimes the observer, the judge, but not missing even the smallest detail. The meaningless details I found while watching the movie slowly becoming very meaningful and creative pieces.

In works where I’ve read the book and watched the movie, my favorite thing is meeting the character face to face. Hearing their voices, comparing them with the facial expressions in my mind. Plus, witnessing a bit more of the essence of that work in the extra events that need to be added because something was cut. There have always been and will always be differences between cinema and literature that each cannot copy from the other, I’m sure. That’s why arguing that one is more valuable than the other is quite absurd.

Watching a movie may indeed have provided you with quality time after two hours, but reading a book is not just about quality time, in my opinion. It also organizes the mind, improves your language skills, enhances your empathy, completes your thought structure necessary for expressing yourself, and, above all, opens a door that can truly give you hundreds of lives. Can movies do all of that?

Reading a book is truly food for the soul. Sometimes, when there are times I can’t read, my mind becomes so chaotic and confused that I don’t understand what the problem is. But after reading a bit and finishing a few books, I realize that all I needed was just a little reading. Actually, what I’m saying probably won’t mean anything to people who don’t have the habit of reading. So, my advice is, if you really love a movie, don’t just say that its book is just the written version of the same things, give it a chance. Especially if it’s part of a series of books. Then I hope you’ll understand what I mean better. Finally, I’d like to conclude with a quote from Cicero: “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”