All three, and if the book is good enough, even an educational text can be entertaining as it is enlightening.
Escape? Yes, yes. I want to be transported well beyond the mundane in new and interesting ways. As well as to see the mundane in light wholly different from what I see everyday.
I also read to learn the techniques of other writers in how and why they present things in the ways that they do, and whether they succeed or not.
Posted by Spaceman (Member # 9240) on :
I read because I can't convince anybody to read to me.
Posted by Ray (Member # 2415) on :
I'm antisocial.
No, seriously, I just love reading. No particular reason, I just enjoy it.
Posted by LibbieMistretta (Member # 3496) on :
Me, too. It's just fun. I don't question why. I might not like the answer. Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Communication.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Quality of life.
Why do we spice food? Reading is just one of those spices that make life more enjoyable.
The word escapism has such negative connotations, especially for those who are ignorant critics of speculative fiction. If I am trying to escape life's problems, why would I pick up a book about somebody who has problem I would never want to face? Lots of times, despite superhuman abilities, the character doesn't get to enjoy life, and often thier lives are just short. It's not all glorified wish fullfillment.
Nobody questions if a person loves art, and goes to an art museum. Are they escaping? Or if they take up painting. Are they escaping? It's a change of pace. Life can't all be about fulfilling duties. Of course, taken to an unbalanced extreme, neglecting necessary obligations would result, but that could happen with anything.
It's interesting that one person who critized me for reading about 'stuff that doesn't exist' didn't see anything incongruous when they overinduldged in alchohol.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Entertainment, primarily...and a deep thirst for knowledge. Habit, too---I got the bug when I was five and never stopped.
But I've often wondered about a similar question. Why do we read, when so many others all around us don't?
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
I read because writing is one of the few forms of human communication I can readily understand. With writing, it's all there in black and white. Anything that isn't there, isn't there. Anything that is, is.
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Because people don't just wander around telling stories anymore.
Posted by Spider (Member # 3349) on :
Cause watching TV is much less satisfying.
Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
Because my mind demands that I entertain it every hour of the day.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
My parents raised me to read, and as soon as I could do it on my own, I did pretty much nothing else.
Posted by Rilnian (Member # 3506) on :
As Tim O'Brien said, A story is a dream, written in the hopes the others may share in that dream.
Also, OSC has said that on the contrary to being an escape, books help us understand ourselves and others better. I actually have used quotes from reading to help people in trouble.
I read for mainly two reasons.
I cannot, at this time, fights hordes of orcs with only one arm.
I wish to have knowledge, for as confucious said "When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge."
He also said "When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves." Men can take any shape, be it a book or an idea.
"We must find ourselves through knowledge of others, and define ourselves through knowledge of ourselves." -Justin Armstrong
Posted by CoriSCapnSkip (Member # 3228) on :
For viewpoints other than the tedious ones of those immediately surrounding us.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
In Passion Stephen Sondheim wrote a song called "I Read" which includes the lyric "I read to dream. I read to live. In other people's lives. I read about the joys, the world Dispenses to the fortunate, And listen for the echoes. (Fiercely) I read to live, To get away from life!"
I can relate to that.
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
Imagine not being able to read, or reading so badly that it wasn't fun but a chore. Back in 1992, the National Adult Literacy Survey found that in just about any geographic area, 21 to 23 percent of the population reads at only a kindergarten to second grade level. For all of us here, that would mean a great big hole in our lives -- parts of ourselves we would never have developed.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
In that way, I've been fortunate. When I was in school my reading comprehension was many grades ahead and thus reading was always a pleasure. From what I understand, my mother read to me when I was young, so I have her to thank for that.
There are those with legit disablity that make reading a chore, but there are many kids who don't. Thier parents just don't take the time. Then again, in today's world, where both parents have to work hard only to see thier jobs stolen from them and shipped to slave markets, there is the factor of time and energy at the end of the day. And big business, while giving lip service to being pro-family, implements anti-family practices. Oh, for the end to that tyranny. Well, anyway, that's one factor anyway...
[This message has been edited by ChrisOwens (edited June 28, 2006).]
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
I think that the human need to hear other people's stories is because we need to not be alone. We need to identify with other individuals and get that feeling of 'oh, yeah, he/she/it is just like me' while at the same time preserving our sense of uniqueness as individuals 'I would not have done what x/y/z did in that situation but I can see why they did it.'
Being like Beth in that I read constantly as a child (not that I've quit as an adult), I know for a fact that there are lots of characters in books I understand and identify with more than my family members and closest friends. Your friends and family don't always let you know their inmost thoughts; books are full of thoughts and gut reactions.
Of course, I kind of tend to overanalyze life, but that's my opinion.
Posted by discipuli (Member # 3395) on :
All of the above... reading is for some entertaining , and escape and a way to see the world through someone else's eyes .. Its communing with another human bieng on a deeper level than speech , you get past all the nonsense on the surface and are faced with what the person truly believes or feels.. well, that is what good writing should be at least..
Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
ChrisOwens:
quote:And big business, while giving lip service to being pro-family, implements anti-family practices.
Like hiring women.
. . .
Not that I believe that. I just think one good political troll deserves another.
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Touché...
Point taken, that was off the subject.
Sometimes though, I wish people would chuck politics out the window and just do the right thing--alas, not going to happen. Well, anyway, back to reading...
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
quote:I wish people would chuck politics out the window and just do the right thing
Sounds like Anakin talking to Amidala in the meadow in Star Wars II. Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Yeah--but even I would make a better actor...
Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
Which brings up an interesting question: why do we watch movies?
EDIT: Why, specifically, did I go see that one when I knew it would stink? Maybe, sometime after Episode I, I developed a new hope? Did I think Lucas might strike back and return to produce something great?
[This message has been edited by trousercuit (edited June 30, 2006).]
Posted by pooka (Member # 1738) on :
I don't read very much. Unless you count reading posts on fora so I can reply to them, I write more than I read almost.
I read a little bit more than I used to, but I used to be downright adamant that reading was a bad waste of time, probably due to issues with my mother. Even now when I do read, it tends to be in a compulsive, all-consuming way that I feel ashamed of afterward.
[This message has been edited by pooka (edited June 30, 2006).]
Posted by MWT (Member # 3476) on :
I read voraciously in my youth. My parents always thought of it as a waste of time - especially since I would often read instead of doing other things, like homework, or music practice, or paying attention in class... then there were the times I spent money on books instead of holding it for 'important' things, such as in case I was mugged. But in general they thought it was frivolous and that if I wanted to read, I should read weighty philosophical things that mattered, and not all those Star Trek paperbacks.
As a teen I would hide out in the bookstores and just read stuff until they noticed me doing it and kicked me out. Then I would just go to a different bookstore and continue from where I left off. I'm quite happy that nowadays most of the big bookstores allow people to sit there and read unimpeded, without buying the books first. It lets us poor people with no allowances in on the fun too.
Erm. Anyhoo. Now I'm approaching my mid-30s and I barely read at all. I'm not sure what happened. Perhaps it's because I started writing. Or maybe I'm just more picky, and still poor, with less time on my hands to sit around.
If there was a point to this post, I've long since forgotten it now.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
I don't read "new" works--books I've never read before--very often anymore. I'm the kind that loves going back to well worn favorites. And I also have slightly less leisure time, and several more ways to spend it.
