This is a good observation, but I would like to raise a few issues regarding its vision and probable influence on the Kenyan non-reading public, being of the mind that any art work must be judged on its vision and power to appeal and transform the society positively.

The writer has, in my observation, merely added his voice among the voices of many critics who have been blaming the public for not reading or rather reading only for the purpose of passing exams. He has reminded Kenyans what they have been told by many critics and what they know; that we do not have a reading culture. But what solutions did he offer or suggest to correct the anomaly? None. When you say go, remember also to say in which direction.

If you will allow me to use a rather crude analogy, I would gladly say when you realise that the problem with certain people is hunger, don't tell them to eat, rather tell them where and how to find food and the hungry mouths will swallow up to the last morsel. Consequently, establishing that the problem with our society is lack of reading culture is the easy part. What the public needs, in my opinion, is to be told how to create a reading culture. As it is now, critics are trying to make people excel in a trade they are not trained for. Those who respond to the tune end up becoming quack "scholars" who read only to earn a ticket to white-collar job.

The author castigated Prof Taban lo Liyong, calling him "Africa's literary showman" for rushing "to give self-serving interviews to newspapers, telling them what he said over 30 years ago. Is it not conceivable that Prof Indangasi has committed no less a sin by telling Kenyans what they have been told for decades instead of suggesting solutions and strategies to put things right?

It is Chinua Achebe who said hat we read to know where the rain began to beat us if we want to speed up the process of drying. In other words, problems need to be solved from the core; the root must be established and be poisoned and the tree will die a pseudo-natural death. Consequently, we literary scholars need to shift our focus to the root cause of this problem with letters. We need to study pragmatically, and in absolute honesty, why people don't read and then soberly work out strategies to put things right.

Kenya's literary fraternity has been blamed for having more critics and cynics than authors. Blaming and counter blaming will not help us meet the challenges of this millennium. Let's learn to put things in the right place and then later we can find out who put them in the wrong place. This is what Achebe meant when he said that the mongoose must be chased away first and then the hen may be warned against wandering in the bush.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis asserts that the habits one acquires during formative years are hard to change later in life. When we look at the young adults of today and their reading habits, it may pay to look back at yesterday when they were children and how they related with books. It is worth noting that it is only in the last few decades that people have recognised the importance of introducing children to books early. Even so, what books they read and how they are guided to appreciate them remains a critical issue.

Buying books and making them accessible to children is not enough to convert them into readers. They need to be guided on the right reading skills, the importance of reading and how to appreciate the culture of reading.

It is my deep conviction that if we are to succeed in creating a reading culture for future generations, we must start with the children. It may not be a rewarding undertaking trying to teach an old dog how to hunt. We have lost the adult reading public; there is very little we can do to salvage the situation. And I am not just being pessimistic.

Once again, let's shift our attention to the children.

Murori Kiunga,

Nairobi.