Why do you read?

[grotto]

A simple question yet not always easily answered. So, why do you read? Is it to escape, kill time, you’re an introvert, to turn your head on or off, to learn, to find or get away from your self. There are many different genres, romance, literature, pop novels, sci-fi, poetry, philosophy and academic reasons to name a few and as we know, people always seem to bash others choices in literature. So the question isn’t what you read but why do you read? Why do you want to read? What about reading touches you more than another medium?

[Drkshadow03]

You know, we already had a thread on this topic. Here is my original answer that I copied to my blog (http://beyondassumptions.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/why-do-i-read/).

[grotto]

Sorry, didn’t see the thread. Given the recent topics up, I thought it would be interesting. My bad. I should have created something much more interesting like another forum game instead.

[mal4mac]

"Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds." Shelley, The Defence of Poetry

So I read to encounter the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds, and hopefully reproduce these "best and happiest moments" in my own mind.

[JBI]

I read because I still think I can seduce women with poetry. Everything else is negligible.

[Scheherazade]

I read because I still think I can seduce women with poetry. Everything else is negligible.So, how's that been working out for ya?

;)

I read because I don't know how to live not reading. I have always read.

[DanielBenoit]

I just found myself one day with an open book in my hands, and have never let go since.

[The Comedian]

I read because, in lieu of being smart, I like to sound smart. And reading helps me accomplish that wee little goal of mine.

Oh, and I also think that TV, the internet (mostly) and video games (especially) are, by in large, mind-sucking, life-depriving sinkholes: the black holes to the light of lived experience, says I.

[Maryd.]

I read to escape reality... I read for fun... I read because I can... I read because I am nosy and want to know everything... I read... I could go on forever like this as there are many reasons why I read. But I cannot make up my mind...:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Manchegan]

I fidget for words.

I'm not sure when it happened, but I need squiggly letters that mean things in front of my eyes or I go nuts. I read safety signs at pools, brochures in lobbies, and directions to things I know how to cook.

Somehow the action of interpreting letters to sounds to ideas still feels like magic.

But I read fiction, good fiction, because it names the soul in a way that nothing else can. It really points at what motivates a person and gives their life meaning, even if their particular life is just pretend.

My favorite thing about fiction: Have you ever noticed how the classics are on the library shelf in the non fiction side, too? These lies are so artfully woven, so embedded in our cultural history, that they've become true.

[Desolation]

That's actually a really good question.

I started reading in 11th grade after reading A Clockwork Orange and Frankenstein in class(and finishing both a few weeks before the rest of the class), and after a friend let me borrow Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter S Thompson made me want to be a writer, and I decided that if I wanted to be a good writer, I would have to be a better reader. So, I started buying and reading more and more books...And, after 3 years, my writing abilities have not really improved any, so I feel like I'm not really cut out to be a writer. Now, I read mostly to learn. Pretty much all of the books that I like have the central theme of the human condition(human suffering, human nature, etc). So, I suppose that I mostly read to look into multiple perspectives on the human condition, and get ideas.

Also, I moved from Los Angeles to New Mexico almost a year ago, and I don't have any friends. And even in LA, I only ever had 1 or 2 friends. So, reading kind of helps fill the void, especially books dealing with alienation.

[mayneverhave]

I don't actually read.

And to form posts on these forums, I carefully construct them using wikipedia.

[rimbaud]

I read because I still think I can seduce women with poetry. Everything else is negligible.

nice answer

it reminded me of the movie Dead Poets Society
"why do we read poetry? - To woo women"


I read because I believe in art, art gives me the opportunity to create my world, where passion and romance are everywhere.

[Pollopicu]

I read because I'm emotional and psychologically sensitive.

I also read to gain cultural knowledge.



Oh, and I also think that TV, the internet (mostly) and video games (especially) are, by in large, mind-sucking, life-depriving sinkholes: the black holes to the light of lived experience, says I.

I agree.

[Silas Thorne]

I read because these damn people don't stop writing. How inconsiderate of them, since they know we can't keep up.

[kiki1982]

I read because, in lieu of being smart, I like to sound smart. And reading helps me accomplish that wee little goal of mine.

Oh, and I also think that TV, the internet (mostly) and video games (especially) are, by in large, mind-sucking, life-depriving sinkholes: the black holes to the light of lived experience, says I.

I agree withthe above, although my hubby says I'm very intelligent. He's also fooled :D.

And I agree with the other to. Since I have moved to Germany, I have embraced great amounts of books for me. No TV apart from a few intresting things a week.

I also need words, like Manchegan. It is recognisable! Signs (what's on it), little leaflets, books in the bookshop (wthout buying them)... It drives my hubby mad if we go on holiday to a place where I don't know the language, because I want to know what it says and also how the language and grammar works...

[Jonathan Cid]

I read because literature is a cosmic communion for me. It is another mode of human communication, through symbols on sheets of paper, we pour out reason and emotion, to convey realities about our existence. Reading is an intellectual adventure for me. Books take my mind to new places, and convey what matters most, what the mind thirsts for - ideas. Books are pregnant with ideas, and when we read, we're not just reading the story written in fiction, or the exegesis written in non-fiction, but the greater ideas carried from the macrocosm of the universe to the microcosm of our book; we're "reading" the very nature of existence.

[Zee.]

I read for enjoyment :)

reading a good book is like watch and amazing, exciting movie, but better because a. i can stop it at any time (i guess the same is with a movie) b. it's in my hands and c. i can take it everywhere

every book i read - whether it be for research or entertainment, has to interest me and entertain me

[Zeniyama]

I read because I'm a bit of an introvert (which is a primary reason why I love all art), and also because it helps me use my imagination. Instead of staring at a television screen for an hour or two I can pick up a book and make the story come to life in my head, which I've found to be much more satisfying.

[Dirtbag]

It's nice to let someone else enter my mind and fill it with something of beauty. To silence my rambling inner chaos.