Why do you love the books you love?

I love the books I do because they allow an escape from the mundane existence of the work-a-day world. Books also give me new ideas.

It depends on the book, but there are a number of things that make me love books.
- Characters that really feel real. Fictitious people that seem like real human beings, pleasant or not.
- Plots that make me want to keep on turning the pages.
- Really good writing, which by itself is a joy to read.
- Insights on life. I love it when a book gives me a new way of looking at things.

"When I read books, I go under trance where I just lose my physical consciousness and become (not necessarily part of it but) part of the narration...Like, I take the narrator in the book's place" Well said crazefest456 I feel the same way when it comes to reading books :lol:

I don't think I have a pattern for loving a book. My two favourite writers, Franz Kafka and Friedrich Hölderlin, couldn't be any more different, they have absolutely nothing in common except for the language they wrote in.

I always recognise a book as being good or bad, no matter in which situation I read it, but what makes a great book lovable for me is not so much its beauty, but the biographical moment in which I pick it up. Sometimes one is just more impressible, more capable of indulging in greatness...

Kafka was for me love at second sight; I had read already a collection of his short stories, which I enjoyed but thought of as nothing too outstanding. At one point I spent some weeks abroad, had nothing to read anymore and couldn't read in that country's language, so I went to the student's corner of a bookstore, where they had different readings for foreign language classes, and amongst the few German books was Kafka's Das Schloß. I bought it and read it three times during my sojourn; I fell in love with it, and still there is this tattered book on my shelf, printed on bad paper and with footnotes with explanations for "difficult" phrases.

My love for Hölderlin was much more immediately, after I read the first sentences of Hyperion it just clicked, I read slowly, as slowly as I could, and with increasing pleasure, and by the time I had turned around the last page I remained in adoration.

One criteria for me: will it be as good if not better when reread.

For me a good book is enriching, by which I mean it educates me in some way. A good book (to me) will always have some quality that leaves the reader enlightened, be it political, Philosophical, moral, historical, poetic, etc.. there should always be that vital "depth".
I despise books that are just hollow "page-turners", the literary equivalent of of a TV soap opera.

I feel poetry is just a way to prepare myself for death. A little bit grim, but when I read it, I can literally feel my brain expand, to the point where I know of more experiences than I could have felt, and hear far more within the world.

I've always thought about reading, reading the classics mostly, but for one reason or other I just didn't. I read the usual high school stuff, well some of it anyway. Finally at age 49 I started and I can't get enough, so I enjoy everything I have read so far. I mix in some WWII history, which I love, as some of you may have noticed by my posts.

Well, back to mowing the lawn...

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Originally Posted by DapperDrake

For me a good book is enriching, by which I mean it educates me in some way. A good book (to me) will always have some quality that leaves the reader enlightened, be it political, Philosophical, moral, historical, poetic, etc.. there should always be that vital "depth".
I despise books that are just hollow "page-turners", the literary equivalent of of a TV soap opera.

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i agree with dapper---i love when books have some redeeming characteristic that makes them meaningful. at the same time however, sometimes i can thrill at an authors ability and facility with the language. thats the main reason why i dont like hemingway's writing (though i do like his stories) all that much---the overly short, and even terse style doesnt captivate me. lastly, i love books in series, with the same main characters---after awhile, its a lot like visiting old friends.

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Originally Posted by The Raven

And my turn to answer the question. There are several reasons why I love literature, and I should say I prefer quite old literature than contemporary one, whether the original language it was written in. But most importantly, I love the books I love because they have more than touched me, messed with my very guts, emotive novels that don't fall into ridiculous phrases or oversweetened happy endings. I love them because I can see in them reflections of a reality that either is so close to mine or it is so exotic that comes to be even more attractive. Mostly, the reason is that whether any of the previously mentioned features, I find verosimile, believable human beings put into situations which cause them to make crucial decissions, and might end up doing the opposite to all reason or benefit (illogically from an external point of view), but is not it what some of us do sometimes, when pushed into unexpected situations in which our very deep feelings are involved?
I love mankind, and human nature, and every expression of art, is an actual evidence that there is such so-called human soul (for me). .

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That is basically exactly how I feel and why I have subconsciously shunned the 'fantasy' genre. I think humanity and the potention of it is far more fantastic than dragons or vampires.

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Originally Posted by mhyrrmayde

I have often felt isolated in my love for reading, as if I were an outdated bookworm, and when I do open the pages of something, my mind is focused not on the outer world of squalor and noise, but of some inner cinema, if you will, that is as deep and wide as any universe. How awful it must be to not be able to read. But I guess one wouldn't know how awful it was, would one, if one had never known the pleasure of, not only mere literacy, but the power of connecting and inferring, the wonder of the mystery of thought, the marvel of the brilliance and grandeur of language?

I love that you have asked the question, "why do we love...". Thanks for asking.................. :brow:

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I often felt that reading was an isolating past time also. I love to read and my family do not. The best thing I ever did was join a book club. I have formed some really close friendships with people that I would never had known had it not been for books.

I love books that make me feel - it doesn't matter what they make me feel as so long as they make me feel something. That is why I love the books I love.

I love the books that make me immerge and get absorbed in worlds different or similar to mine inner world. In worlds I would like to experience and these books give me a unique chance to do so. It really feels like, as someone said before, cinema. So the language being attractive to me is one factor. Books that evoke in me the sense of recognising or having shared similar feelings is another category. Or books where I identify with some of the main characters, whose story, reactions, ideas etc would probably help me psychoanalyse myself or sometimes find solutions. And sometimes all the above together or perhaps more which I cannot recollect now...

any book ive liked/havnt been bored by/been able to read through was because i related/found the main character similar to myself.

im very self centered :D

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Originally Posted by mhyrrmayde

I have often felt isolated in my love for reading, as if I were an outdated bookworm, and when I do open the pages of something, my mind is focused not on the outer world of squalor and noise, but of some inner cinema, if you will, that is as deep and wide as any universe. How awful it must be to not be able to read. But I guess one wouldn't know how awful it was, would one, if one had never known the pleasure of, not only mere literacy, but the power of connecting and inferring, the wonder of the mystery of thought, the marvel of the brilliance and grandeur of language?

I love that you have asked the question, "why do we love...". Thanks for asking.................. :brow:

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Good point, mhyrrmayde. I learned to read later than most, so I can remember what illiteracy was like quite clearly. Looking back, it seems like my thoughts were always shallow and self-absorbed, like "When will I get my next sandwhich?" I think reading shapes peoples' minds more than they realize, and introduces them to a deeper state of consciousness. Without the printed word, humans are pretty much just talking animals (which is not necessarily a bad thing, but that's another discussion).

Since literature hit my life, all else has grown pale. I read books because they are more real to me than my own life, and make more sense.

A book by Ian Mcewan-is there anything else more sublime??

They're just so sinister but he writes in a very subtle, tantalizing way that's really disconcerting. Especially in the more macabre ones like The Innocent and The Cement... he has a very clever way of keeping you out of your comfort zone but it's fascinating.

On Chesil Beach-wow. That made me cry so much, I don't think I've ever read anything so complex and poignant; he's so discerning of other's emotions it seems he knows them in reality. Very articulate and sympathetic with everyone he writes about.

Why do I love the books I love? Escapism, basically. There's nothing more wonderful than to lose yourself in a book for a while and completely forget the monotonous routine of real life for a time. Also, the very fact that a variety of shapes on a page are capable of conveying such a wealth of ideas, senses and feelings, and being so deeply affecting...

And then there's the moment when you read the last sentence of a really good book, close it and can't do anything but sigh deeply, as if you truly have followed in the footsteps of the characters from the first page.

Originality: like something I have never read before. Different content, a new style of writing, an original point of view.

Inspiration: spurs me to action, to love, to write, to read MORE, to lead a more complete and fuller, more satisfied life.

Humour and entertainment: some things simply make me laugh out loud.

Informative: books about subjects I am intrigued by and need to learn more about.

Romance and fantasy: I love books that fill me with love and hope and a sense of wonder, and romantacism.

I love Crime and Punishment because of the psychological depth of the novel. It's truly fascinating to see the intricacies and the amazing honesty with which Dostoevskii examines the human mind.

I love the books that put into words things that I've felt but never had the words to express.

I love Louisa May Alcott's books because I love the XIX century, and I like all the manners of that time, that you can obviously learn and understand by reading her books. I love the dialogues she writes, and the plenty of characters she has, though many of them seem quite similar to me :P
Also, I've read Little Women a thousand times so far, and now that I'm older I belive each of the main characters represent a part of my own character and temper, and that's why this book is so meaningful to me :)

Reading is a passion that we cultivate, just like we do with the relationships. I've read and re-read Graham Greene's The End of An Affair and Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, both love stories, both classics. I love Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Dickens and Willa Cather. Of the recent authors, Khaled Hosseini is one writer whose books I find difficult to put down once I begin. There! Those are my prejudices. The greatest fear I've is not being able to read books, Virgil.
Rangini