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.

[Emil Miller]

There's nothing good on TV.

It's the nature of the beast.

[mortalterror]

Entertainment.

[prendrelemick]

For entertainment, but always with the hope of enlightenment.

[Catherine.L]

Agree!!!! books can be the best escape from 'reality' but today I realized that some people can do the same for you too...

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.

[bounty]

that's true, but at the same time, people can be the cause of the pain, which in part i think explains the success of the online world.

[Catherine.L]

that's true, but at the same time, people can be the cause of the pain, which in part i think explains the success of the online world.

can you explain that a little bit more? the link between pain and the success of the online world?

[North Star]

The Internet can certainly be an escape from personal relationships.

[bounty]

as a small variant to north stars thought---the online world allows people to experience some of the positive benefits of relationships without the accompanying risk of pain.

[Lemonade]

I read to be lost and found, to remember and to forget, to be both young and old, to learn how to fly and to forget how to breathe.

[Seph Thompson]

I read to be lost and found, to remember and to forget, to be both young and old, to learn how to fly and to forget how to breathe.

I was going to say something something banal about avoiding reality, but I think I'll partake of the noble tradition of thievery and quote Lemonade. Yes, I will do that, instead.

[Helga]

because the best way to travel is on your couch with a cup of tea

[ennison]

I read to divert my attention from the tragic abyss of human insignificance in the face of a vast uncaring universe.
Eh no
I read for pleasure.

[Diggory Venn]

I read to escape from the modern world; the best way to do this is to escape to the past; I read Thomas Hardy....

[mtpspur]

At heart basically selfish I read for entertainment and now in retirement to keep myself from going crazy.

[~Ji]

Hmmm. Why do I read?
I identify with almost everything others have suggested and I particularly like the notion of 'luxuriating in language'.
Ultimately I think I read because it's who I am.

[free]

I belong to the world of books. I've been reading since childhood and never got tired of it. It is the way of my life. Writers are the only people I can trully understand. It doesn't mean that I don't unerstand other people I live with, but in, somhow, different way. I think that books speak my language in whatever country they are written.

[The Comedian]

I read books so that I can better see and understand the world around me; they're a mirror to the world and a window to the soul.

[AuntShecky]

It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

[spikepipsqueak]

Escape, education, entertainment, erudition, elucidation. (<- my favourite word )

[wordeater]

I read books because they're more interesting than the newspaper.

[Comic Book Guy]

I read because I'm driven by a 20-years old hurt & broken heart that has still yet to heal.

[Dunechka]

I read because it expands my repertoire for daydreaming, it allows me to feel what others felt, it challenges and strengthens my convictions, and it sharpens my wit.

[Vota]

Books are awesome like me, and by reading awesome books I become awesomer still.

[Goodman Brown]

How about , to be taken to distant lands, other times , other planets, even the occult,,,,,

[Danik 2016]

I loved this answer!
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.

[Danik 2016]

I read because it is a way of travelling by yourself without boundaries of time or space.

[AthenaFae]

Self-development.
Escapism.
To broaden my vocabulary.
To broaden my understanding of people, philosophy, science, human nature.
To enjoy "getting into" the minds of others and learn from their experiences.
To feel less alone.

"In the works of great writers we find our own neglected thoughts." - Emerson.