2024-11-20 -- Magic of Books

The only thing that is more expensive than education is ignorance. -Benjamin Franklin(1)

If You Think Education Is Expensive, Try Ignorance. -Derek Bok(2)? Ann Landers(3)? Robert Orben(4)? John Lubbock(5)? P. B. de La Bruère(6)? Rev. S. C. Morris(7)? Charles Duncan Mclver(8)? Albert Einstein(9)? Barack Obama(10)? Anonymous?

My wife and I believe in education by reading. Although I was never a fan of school, due to undiagnosed learning impediments, I loved to read anything I could get my hands on. Almost anything. I did not have much interest in Persian poetry, for example. I couldn't appreciate its beauty as I could with music or paintings. Of course, for me, the most beautiful things were architectural wonders, and nature.

We had a relatively large home library, almost unique among our close friends. It contained a vast collection of literature from around the world, as well as medical, political, and social books. We also had a collection of magazines. I can't say I have read all of them, but I had read most. 

Books by Hermann Hesse(11), Romain Rolland(12), Umberto Eco(13),  Eric Blair(14) (George Orwell), Erica Jong(15), Ernest Hemingway(16), Jack London(17), Leo Tolstoy(18) all the way to Eric Von Danikan(19). I thought I had graduated from reading Charles Dickens(20) and Victor Hugo(21), but now I realize I didn't understand much of what I read in elementary and middle school.

Some of my literary treasures, including Jules Verne's(22) captivating tales and a few daringly banned books (Ali Dashti(23), Hakim ellahy(24)), has migrated from my personal collection to home library when I moved to Tehran

By the time I was in high school, I started rereading the books again, only to realize that the Farsi translations didn't do the authors justice. 

My book collection during college years, in my condo.

On the other hand, my wife loved poetry and had memorized many poems. She also loved novels, but our tastes differed. Still, we shared a love of books.

When it comes to technical books and instructions, unlike me, my wife read them cover to cover, determined to learn every detail. I prefer to read only what I need.

Growing library before migration to the west

From the day our daughter came home from the hospital at two days old, we committed to reading to her for at least thirty minutes daily. At the time, we read everything: Physical design rules in EDA, instructions for new video cameras, plumbing guides, shell scripts, and more. 

By the time she was three months old, she loved the colored books, so we began buying baby books to read to her. This continued for nearly eight years, until she could read faster than us and lost interest in our accents. However, when we had house guests, she would have them read her books at bedtime. Our agreement was always three stories a night.

From the age of one until she started first grade, she spent her time in daycare, kindergarten, and other early childhood programs. These programs encouraged children to paint, read, and write. By the time she entered first grade, she could already read basic children's books.

She has memorized many books and reads them back at age of two!

Amoo Parviz(25) is reading a book at bedtime

 

Grandpa(26) is reading books

We used to have a large library in our basement, but when we moved to the States, the books found a new home on the second floor.

Books are packed ready for shipment

Empty Shelves just before we turn the keys to the new owner

But someone decides I want my own books!

Naturally, when she moved to Berkeley, the books had to come along, and she needed new bookshelves to house them.

The first order of business in her new Berkeley home was organizing her books.

Fortunately, this happened during her first year of college while she was still living in the dorm. I had the time to purchase and assemble the bookshelves, and she would occasionally stop by to dictate the perfect arrangement.

I have no doubt that her academic achievements and open-mindedness have been significantly influenced by her love of reading. As parents, we can proudly say that we successfully instilled a lifelong love of reading from a very young age.

Ironically, neither of us, her nor I, enjoys listening to audiobooks. Despite her reading speed being five times faster than mine, both of us still need to pause and ponder after each paragraph (I often have to reread them)

She still prefers physical books, but I've moved past that stage. I'm a digital reader now, and I rarely buy physical books anymore. The exceptions are books with sentimental value, like those by Noah Harari or Robert Reich, or complex science books by authors like Brian Cox or Stephen Hawking, which I find easier to understand and annotate in physical format.

Additionally, reading on a screen is more comfortable at night, and I appreciate the convenience of searching for specific information.

Given the current political climate in the U.S. and the intentional spread of misinformation on social media and entertainment platforms, I wish people would prioritize reading books. This would train their minds to discern truth from falsehood, a skill that many, sadly, lack. Bookstores, once places where we'd spend hours browsing and sipping coffee, are disappearing. So do the libraries.

Personally, I don't see any hope for the future. A single book per month would amount to nearly 144 books by high school graduation. Unfortunately, many people haven't read a tenth of that, unless it was a class requirement. 

(c) I personally took these photos and videos and own the rights to them. Please feel free to use them as you wish.

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin

(2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Bok

(3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Crowley_(journalist)

(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Orben

(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lubbock,_1st_Baron_Avebury

(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Boucher_de_la_Bru%C3%A8re

(7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Brown

(8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Duncan_McIver

(9) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein

(10) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

(11) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse

(12) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romain_Rolland

(13) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco

(14) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell

(15) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erica_Jong

(16) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway

(17) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London

(18) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy

(19) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_D%C3%A4niken

(20) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens

(21) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo

(22) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne

(23) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Dashti

(24) https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%87%D8%AF%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%AA%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87_%D8%AD%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%85%E2%80%8C%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%DB%8C

(25) https://zavieh.org/Sahabi

(26) https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyMYek6Ivkg/