All The Time in the World

by Dennis Betito Jr.
2013-14724

"All the Time in the World" really hit home with me. I am a big reader. I'm reading on the jeep, on the plane, on the MRT, while I'm in class, while I'm home alone, basically almost all the time. The fact that the main character missed the end of the world while searching for a silent spot to read was really awesome, and I can identify with that struggle. Coming back to the surface and seeing his city empty must have been confusing, but he kept on with this desire to read, even without the presence other people. I don't know how I would've reacted if the world ended as we know it and I was hiding underground looking for a place to read, but I know I wouldn't have been as calm as him.

I personally know for a fact that words and books can be one's company. Loneliness is doused by the story conjured by ink on paper. It allows us distance from the real world, and gives us the perspective of a person, or a being, to whom life was given by the author. Reading about someone is similar to speaking to them, and  the unfortunate happenstance that his glasses broke must have been heart-wrenching, especially since he doesn't have any people for company, and has lost his ability to read his books.