by Elmare Aldum

Created on: September 15, 2009   Last Updated: September 16, 2009

An escape from reality where imagination rules the day, this can be found between the pages of a book or the visual and musical depiction of a movie. Each, in its own way and right, stimulates the senses and takes us on adventures beyond our wildest dreams, never to be experienced by most of us in our real lives. Both provide a mental release from every day stress and boredom.

Pleasure, bliss, euphoria; ecstasy, delight, rapture; passion, excitement, exhilaration; revulsion, horror, terror; gratification, relaxation, satisfaction; wistful, poignant, saddened; a kaleidoscope of emotions to be experienced when entering the imaginative worlds so descriptively created by the orchestration of the talented directors or poetic authors.

Take for example the movie August Rush, the story of a young musical prodigy who uses his remarkable musical talent in an attempt to find his parents from whom he had been separated at birth. The choice of actors, the switch between past and present, the visual and musical effects, depicting the boy's journey from orphanage to street performing to finding his parents, the unfolding of his musical talent from hearing music in the sounds of everyday life (moving vehicles, tooters, bouncing balls, banging doors) to playing guitar for the first time to the orchestral performance of his musical master piece in the park, engages ones senses from the start to the end, as the whole package is brilliantly brought to its finale when the boy eventually identifies his parents in the midst of a large crowd, as the last notes of his symphony dies away. A poignant yet delightful movie that evoked a cauldron of emotions released in the tears that streamed down my face.

Of course, there are authors that do the same with their novels. My favourite, Wilbur Smith, has the ability to transport one to the past with his captivating, historical epic novels. The Ballantyne & Courtney novels follow the exploits of generation after generation of Ballantyne's & Courtney's, as they put their mark on darkest Africa, through wars, betrayals, true loves and many adventures, drawing the reader into dangerous worlds long forgotten, from encountering slave traders to guiding big game safaris; fighting off Zulu attacks to surviving a siege by merciless Arab Warlords. There are also the Egyptian novels that play off in the land of the Pharaohs, were once again tales of adventure, intrigue, deception, magic and true love reign over the pages of each book.

Take any book or movie for that matter, and the above can be claimed, one way or the other, so can one claim that reading a book is better than watching a movie or vice verse?

The choice surely lies with each individual, your likes or dislikes, your location, time on your hands, whether you are alone or among friends and/or family, even your mood. Spending time among friends watching a good movie, enjoying a lively discussion afterward may just be the right entertainment at that moment; reading a thriller or perhaps a love story during your daily half hour commute to work on the other hand may just be the way to relieve the tedious boredom of everyday commuting. Some may find release from melancholy watching a sad or funny movie at home alone, others may use that alone time to catch up on some reading, enjoying a compelling adventure story. The choice is yours.

When it comes to entertainment, promoting one above the other may not be wise, for I believe each in it's time in its place is the right one at that precise moment.

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