Transportation by Books: An Essay

Transportation by Books
Dior Hartje (Grade 8)

Have you ever opened a book and been transported so far away that when you close the book you’re surprised to find yourself sitting at home? In this essay I’ll explore that feeling of jumping through a bookish portal by means of the imagination.


A good piece of literature produces images of the author’s experiences in real life or in the mind. Reading good literature is a way to be transported elsewhere through a magical door, or being sucked into a bookish vortex. When you read a wonderful book it becomes like a colorful blossom in your mind, bringing joy, broader experience and sometimes, clarity.

It is possible for a book to take you to the Middle East or to an underwater city. Is it foolish to conceive of a book as your passport to another planet, dimension, or time? Do you think of a book as a loyal friend?

Once you’ve accepted the passport and traveled by the imagination you may find a friend for life, or you may become hooked on an image so pleasing that you will want to gather more, like a child frolicking in a field newly bloomed.

Even a closed book can haunt you. Often one image or a single thought in a book captivates the mind forever. A lie can stay with you forever. A mystery can take hold of your mind and become an obsession. You may ponder things that don’t seem to have a resolution; mysteries that your mind struggles to grasp.

Loneliness can be helped by reading a book. Characters can become intimate acquaintances. The characters of Scripture can become real to us. They can become our friends, our companions on the road to the great golden City.

So when you are sad, alone or need a break from the daily grind, pick up a good book! Visit a new place. Befriend a loyal companion. Come home with a drastically different mood, with a changed outlook, because a book can change you as only a good book can.