Why do you read books? (please answer in one sentence)

[Catherine.L]

“Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.”
― Philip Roth

[North Star]

I read to luxuriate in language, and to learn about life from an unlimited variety of perspectives.


(Love the Roth quotation.)

[Catherine.L]

Me too.
You learn about life through reading and this is really amazing if you think about it!

Do you like Roth in general?

[North Star]

Alas, I haven't yet read any of his works. I'll get to him eventually, though.

[chrisvia]

I tend toward Francis Bacon's admonishment to read to "weigh and consider" (from "Of Study"). Of the elements of a book I weigh and consider are chiefly those outlined by Harold Bloom in his Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?: aesthetic splendor; intellectual power; wisdom.

Also, I quite enjoy Roth and have been reading his works for a long time.

[YesNo]

I read to get fresh perspectives to give my nighttime dreaming something to think about.

[Catherine.L]

I read to get fresh perspectives to give my nighttime dreaming something to think about.

Very interesting!

[Catherine.L]

I tend toward Francis Bacon's admonishment to read to "weigh and consider" (from "Of Study"). Of the elements of a book I weigh and consider are chiefly those outlined by Harold Bloom in his Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?: aesthetic splendor; intellectual power; wisdom.

Also, I quite enjoy Roth and have been reading his works for a long time.

which Roth's book you enjoyed the most?

[bounty]

impossible to do justice in one sentence but, for a still true, though incomplete picture:

I read because i love the ability of words and sentences to give voice to thoughts; books are conversations I wish I were having in worlds I want to visit.

if I change my username can I come back and give another answer? laughs...

[chrisvia]

which Roth's book you enjoyed the most?

My favourites are:
The Breast
American Pastoral
The Human Stain
The Dying Animal
Everyman

Narrowed from that list to a top 3:
American Pastoral
The Human Stain
The Dying Animal

And finally...

My favourite Roth novel (that's I've read, of course):
The Human Stain

[swathisharan]

I read books for Self improvement and language development.

[Catherine.L]

hahaha no you don't need to change your username! I agree, books are conversations (long ones)!

impossible to do justice in one sentence but, for a still true, though incomplete picture:

I read because i love the ability of words and sentences to give voice to thoughts; books are conversations I wish I were having in worlds I want to visit.

if I change my username can I come back and give another answer? laughs...

[bounty]

smiles...so if I can give another one sentence answer, and this one is more revealing.

I read because often life is painful, and books are a respite and a restorative.

[Ecurb]

There's nothing good on TV.

[zeldalola]

bounty " books are conversations I wish I were having in worlds I want to visit. "

YES.

I can only add: the authors and characters in my library are my friends and too often they are much more interesting than people I encounter in everyday life.

cheating: or that there's an itch in my brain and literature/reading is by far the easiest way to scratch it.