There is an interesting debate that usually accompanies the Riyadh Book Fair currently taking place in the country’s capital; are we, Saudis, really good readers?

Those who go for the answer “yes, we are good readers” mostly build their opinion based on the number of visitors at the fair and sales figures. In the last fair held in 2013, there were more than 2 million visitors and recorded sales that touched the SR71 million (around $19 million). There is also the hype and ideological debates that go hand in hand with each and every book fair. Banned books, publishers booths closed overnight, writers harassed during their books signing, and calls to stop this and close that are all usual news during the fair.

It is about all and everything except celebrating reading and glorifying the value of books that should be the main purpose of any book fair.

For that, I am one of those who believe that, “We are not good readers at all.” and my argument is very simple, you cannot find the effects of reading on the people out there in the society.

A nation of readers is a nation that values discussions, appreciates differences, and does not limit free and critical thinking. I am afraid we do not score very high in all of the above!

Number of visitors and sales figures can never tell that out there, in the homes and on the streets, there are people who love books — competing to finish one to start another. Actually, if it means anything, then it means that there are people who buy books, and never read them. Do not be surprised, it is a modern phenomenon, and the Japanese have a term for it: Tsundoku. Roughly speaking, it is a description of the tendency to buy books, piling them around without reading them and with time, they turn into nothing but another piece of decoration, like a chair, or a table.

The impulses to buy books could stem from different reasons other than the desire to read them. A deep need to validate oneself, to feel that you are not isolated, you are an intellectual who buys books, you belong, you are current, you did not miss the talk of the town. It is a good topic for conversation as well; I’ve been to the book fair and bought a number of books. And let’s admit it, books look good standing side by side on the shelves in one’s living room. It gives the illusion that this house is a house of readers.

There are many reasons why books, nowadays, are failing to claim their deserved position amongst the various interests of the society. For a lot of us, they are the harsh reminders of the dull schoolbooks. Dedicating a time to read is like getting back in history to the days of teachers and their innovative ways of punishments! Add to that, we lived in a culture of “hearing” rather than “reading.” The phrase “you better listen” is literal in a lot of occasions. We have grown up in a culture where truth was somehow monopolized; there are those who know better than you, and you better listen to them. In a culture like that, the impulse to discover, the urge to read and engage in a learning journey is diminished and frowned upon.

Even as kids, bedtime stories was never part of our rituals, learning to respect books was not part of our education. Do you remember the last days before the summer vacation outside your school, the torn books and papers flying all over the street?

And then came TV and social media to add insult to the injury. It is not that people are not reading anymore, but they are under the illusion that they are actually … reading! The bits and pieces they are collecting from a tweet here, or a Facebook update over there, made them fall in the trap of feeling that they are current, they know, they can engage in intellectual discussions in 144 characters or less!

Reading is not a hobby but a habit. It is where you learn, you dream, you live, love, and die. It is where you travel and come back in mere seconds, where you meet your own fears and demons, where you embrace the light and live under the sun.

You do all that by actually reading and learning from what you read, not by merely visiting a book fair and buying a couple of books.

@ smaldosari