Literary Influences

We talked today about influences and how we are what we read. We also had a discussion about  who influences in the media. 

One thing that I have been thinking about is that literary influences, are very noticeable world wide, but that they can change from country to country or language. In Latin America, schools makes us read novels from Spanish writers. Ive had some conversations with some American friends about books that we read when we were in High School, and some titles match but others are different.

This is understandable, because of the different culture and language. It is interesting to see that some classics like Pride and Prejudice can be found in both cultures but maybe some titles like "Los Arboles mueren de pie" from Alejandro Casona is usually found in Latin American schools. 

It is interesting to see that there are some books that are know internationally but others vary from country to country.  Media allows writers to distribute their work in many languages and countries. This is amazing because now it is very easy to find a writer or a book on the internet and download the content to read it. Media and Internet is allowing people to grow on knowledge and it is giving the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures and views. 

It is also important to remember that no one can force someone to grasp a view or a point. Ive seen many people trying to force someone to read a certain book or to accept certain philosophy and they are not successful. We can recommend books by talking about the reviews and our personal opinion. But its up to the other person to decide whether they want to read it and accept it or not. Its also very common that you read a book and never finish it because you don't accept the content or the author's point. and it is okay. We need to remember we can't force someone into reading, we can invite them to discover the wonderful mysteries and joy that reading a GOOD book brings.