Hvostov warns children who do not read may be broken by life

Children who do not read may be unable to cope with life’s unexpected troubles, writer, journalist and historian Andrei Hvostov told Klassikaraadio, ERR reported. He said literature prepares people for life and provides guidance and a certain mental readiness for what they may face.

“I have quite a lot on my heart. My first concern is that children no longer read very much,” Hvostov said while discussing his book “Books That Keep Me Awake at Night.”

He said the book’s publisher, Epp Petronel, wanted to create something that could help secondary school students who sometimes struggle with recommended reading. Petronel compiled a list of 30 books after consulting literature teachers and library workers. Hvostov selected the works he wanted to write about, creating a book in the style of a reading diary aimed at both secondary and basic school students.

“Among the books, there is some difficult material, even heavy metal,” Hvostov said. Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote,” for example, was a tough challenge even for him to take on.

Hvostov said he had clearly misunderstood some of the books when he first read them, including Hermann Hesse’s “Steppenwolf” and A. H. Tammsaare’s “Truth and Justice.” He described them as adult literature and said forcing secondary school students to read such works could drive them away from literature altogether.

“Books That Keep Me Awake at Night” is the first volume in a planned series. Hvostov said a future reading diary could focus on war novels.

The book contains one essay about each literary work. Hvostov said he and the publisher agreed that each text should be short enough to read before going to bed. He added that he had deliberately held back, as he could have written just as much more about each work.

Hvostov described his own reading habits as very chaotic. He said he relaxes by reading science fiction because it is easy to read and digest.

Hvostov grew up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the publication of every new book was an event. He recalled that if a book was good, everyone had read it. Quoting historian Kaido Jaanson, he said that in the Middle Ages there were about 100 books that all educated people had read, while in his own time there were already more than 1,000 books to choose from.

Today, Hvostov said, the number of books is impossible to grasp and it is no longer possible to find one that speaks to everyone. He suggested that Sofi Oksanen’s “Purge” may have been one such book, adding that it would take a remarkable achievement to repeat that.