Time Enough at Last
The evolution of my love for books
When I was around twenty years old, I got hooked on episodes of The Twilight Zone. At the time, I was an undergraduate and was working pretty much any time I wasn’t studying or at school. I remember an episode called “Time Enough at Last” that portrayed a man who had an obsession with books but was dealing with many obstacles in life that stopped him from being able to do his cherished hobby of reading. I related to this because I have always had a love for reading but usually never had much time to pursue it.
Toward the end of the episode, the man takes a break in a vault at his bank job and starts to read. Outside, an atomic bomb goes off, and he is the only one left alive along with various fragments of businesses. He considers shooting himself when he happens upon a public library and decides that he will be able to manage to live on as he finally will have “time enough at last” for his beloved hobby. At the very end, he accidentally breaks his glasses that he needs to read and lets out cries of understandable agony.
One theme that stands out in the episode is the reliance on new technologies that put the hobby of book reading itself in jeopardy. Considering how much has changed in our own world with technology, it is interesting to think back at how I initially developed a deep rooted love for reading physical books as opposed to E-books or audio books.
At a very young age, I spent summers with my grandmother, who seemed to never have a television on (although I was told recently that she did watch it). A great deal of our interaction was around books. I remember her early on reading to me and myself becoming entranced with the illustrations of the books. One time I told her I thought a book about geology looked interesting. For some reason, she promised me that she would read the whole book overnight, and I believe that she did. At the time, I was impressed by her ability to read so much so fast.
The gift of reading continued on with various holidays where I would receive books as presents, especially from my Uncle Tom. My freshman year of high school I received the first Harry Potter book, and I went into a reading frenzy. In the “Time Enough at Last” episode, the character is interrupted by everyday life, work, and marriage as he tries to read. Harry Potter became my first experience of this book loving phenomenon. I remember reading the books in the time before class would start and tuning everything else out. To me, it was a great feeling.
During my college years, books became an occasional escape. Lots of my energy went into finding a career and a relationship. Books were something I would go to in the rare chance that I was able to find the time. However, I did develop an interest in true crime books thanks to watching true crime shows and receiving some true crime books from my Uncle Tom. This interest is still one that I pursue to this day. The last true crime book I read was called There Is No Ethan by sociologist Anna Akbarian about a person who developed internet relationships with various people, including the author, under false pretenses. It was very interesting.
There are a couple of series that I have found myself absorbed in in recent years. One is the Millennium series, or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I originally saw the movie and decided I had to read the books because I loved the setting in Sweden and the complexity of the characters reeled me in. I have read this series twice and hope to again in the future.
The other series I’ve enjoyed is the Kingsbridge series by Kenneth Follett, which I discovered in a book club that my cousin invited me to attend. It is historical fiction set in England that starts as far back as the time of the Vikings. Follett does an astounding job with world building. If there was one series I’d choose to be stuck in a situation similar to the “Time Enough At Last” episode, this would be it.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, I was working easily over sixty hours a week in the healthcare setting. Reading started to become a real escape for me from the stress that was involved in the experience. I offered to work at the front desk to provide Covid-19 testing for people at my job, and I would often find myself absorbed in a book, similar to the character in “Time Enough at Last,” who would read his book until he received his next customer at the bank. Sometimes people would ask what I was in school for. Occasionally I would encounter a fellow bibliophile who would excitedly ask, “what are you reading?”
I found myself asking, what kind of job could I find where I could just read? And then it dawned on me, I didn’t need to work 60 hours plus each week!
I am glad to say that I have indeed reached my own “Time Enough at Last” era of life. I have a partner who is equally absorbed into video games as I am into reading and our hobbies work perfectly with each other! Unlike the wife in “Time Enough at Last,” who scratched out the character’s book and ripped out the pages, we mutually support each other's interests. I no longer feel the pressure to find a meaningful relationship, and I have found a job that provides work-life balance to where most weekends I can read to my heart’s content.
A few years ago I was excited to find that my birthday, August 9th, has been designated as National Book Lovers Day. I couldn’t help but think that this was extremely fitting, and it makes me love every birthday so much more.
What’s your “Time Enough at Last” hobby or pursuit? Have you made time for it?
The hobby I have that I'd like to devote more time to if I could would be gardening. Things I haven't pursued, but I think I would really enjoy: playing an instrument and drawing.
Happy birthday (a day early)!