My Summer Reading Experience

Sum·mer, səmər. Noun. The warmest season of the year, in the northern hemisphere from June to August and in the southern hemisphere from December to February. This is the definition of summer. My definition of summer is just a little different. In my opinion, summer is an opportunity for further growth, even after the school year has finished. Sure, it's also a time for people to "max and relax" in their own unique way. However, you can't pass up your one way ticket to greater knowledge and power. If you want this ticket, your payment lie in the books that you've read. I haven't always gotten this ticket, or quite caught the train as it left the station. Despite these limitations, I'm still able to read at least one book that contributes to my ticket fare. The book I read over this summer, that got me my ticket was Jaws by Peter Benchley. 

When I was looking for a good book to read over the summer, Jaws wasn't something that would have drawn me in right off the bat. It was a hidden gem that I found while looking for books based upon movies (I'm a film enthusiast). At first I thought that Jaws was a strange book based off of the iconic movie that I loved so much, however, it was really the opposite which got me tangled within its web. Many readers at this point might be yelling at me saying, "Shawn! Shouldn't you read the book before seeing its movie?", and to that I say, "why yes, that is usually the golden rule." One could argue that seeing the film first may damage or stain the your experience of just reading a good story, because a book's surprises are spoiled before you can even reach them. With this in mind, I believe that Jaws is an exception. In my opinion, reading a book after you see its movie can be beneficial. There is an ease of visualization when it comes to many key events in the book, as I was able to see them expressed on screen beforehand. 

All in all, reading Jaws changed my perspective on films based on books. It gave me a greater understanding of the film industry and novel industry, and how they are very similar. It also made me wonder about what other books might be in a situation such as Jaws, where there is a dilemma of either seeing its movie first or reading the book. In conclusion, not only was Jaws a fantastic read, it taught me to be a little more careful around beaches.