I've found over the past few years the importance of literature. When I was younger, my mother and father always subtly found ways to make me read more, never forcing, but always suggesting that reading was an essential skill to have. My brother has been and still is an avid reader. I remember when I was younger, I'd often ask him to play with me and get mad when he said he was too busy reading or thinking. At that time, I didn't really understand the importance of solitary thinking and reading for an adolescent. But boy have I learned.
Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. This is what I try to tell my students: this is one great thing that literature can do - it can make us identify with situations and people far away.
Chinua Achebe
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