Reading + is an initiative that aims to publish a set of books specifically thinking of people with visual difficulties and the elderly. Grupo Planeta, Grup 62 and Obra Social «La Caixa» promote it, "In order to facilitate access to culture," as they wanted to emphasize at the presentation ceremony that took place in the middle of last month in Barcelona. Among the attendees were two names from the world of literature: Carme Riera and Juan José Millás.
These are books with an average length of 288 pages, in a 15 by 23-centimeter format, palatal typeface with 17 body text, 19-point spacing and rustic binding without flaps. Namely: a choice aimed precisely at minimizing visual effort as much as possible. According to the press release distributed by the promoters, a typeface is used that was born as a result of Agatha Christie's efforts so that her elderly friends could continue reading the stories she wrote.
The selection of the titles that will make up this collection is not thematic, but everything seems to indicate that they have been searched for reference books, known authors, and varied plots to serve people with different tastes. There are contemporary and classic works of world literature.
Some of them are: Nada by Carmen Laforet, The vell and the seaby Ernest Hemingway; Perfume by Patrick Suskind, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Song of Nadalby Charles Dickens; La Mort to Venice by Thomas Mann, La mort d'Ivan Ilitxby Tolstoi; Come in those selected as classics y The noi of ratlles pajamasby John Boyne; L'Africàby Jean Marie Le Clézio, The Good Star Clubby Amy Tan, The Oxford crimes, by Guillermo Martínez or Wait for me in heaven by Maruja Torres; selected as hits from contemporary literature. As you can see, there are some titles in Catalan and others in Spanish.
The complete collection will consist of 100 titles, which can be purchased in bookstores or consulted in the centers for the elderly of Obra Social «La Caixa».
References
- Grupo Planeta, Grup 62 and Obra Social “la Caixa” launch an initiative to promote reading among the elderly
- "Reading +", a program that brings culture closer to the elderly or people with vision difficulties
- Free per a great gent