why do you love reading?

Submitted by lindimirindi t3_y9tw7v in books

So I thought about why I like reading so much, and a huge part is that most books have me feeling things and trigger thought processes and I like that through books you have access to so many different realities

Also, sometimes it's the writing style or the creativity I'm so in awe of that that's the main reason I love a certain book so much

But I figured that sometimes the whole point of me reading is to escape reality and then I feel a bit guilty and as if I'm not doing the book justice, like I just exploit it

Does anyone know this kind of "guilt"? And why do you love reading?

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20above t1_it7ebdo wrote

I love the escapism and calming qualities of reading. I love leaving my own crappy life behind to experience another. Or sometimes enjoying wish fulfillment. The only guilt I experience is how I turn to books to cope rather than try and figure out ways to make my real life better. I’ve just sort of given up.

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Silmarillien t1_itc2tsc wrote

What has helped me is draw inspiration from books to improve aspects of my life. I finished reading the Mistborn series the other day. And there's this character, Kelsier, who's been through A LOT of shit but he always smiles. He's so positive and always tries to turn a negative situation into something positive and he never gives up. I found that really inspiring. It gave me a motivation boost.

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pm-me-ur-joy t1_it7ccmb wrote

I am reading, it gives me the more gooder words in chatting, then the head talking too, they get differenter, many new head talks for me. Books yes!

Books do make me alone. Life is far away, with people too.

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_AnnualObligation_ t1_it7wm9z wrote

I don't think I read for escape, I just really appreciate art. I love books for storytelling, characters, prose, and the creative freedom. I love that you don’t really need anybody’s input on how you put your story together as an author, besides maybe your editor and publisher, but even then, you have a lot more freedom. A director of a film or TV show has to contend with a crew of thousands, which can be disastrous. I think if you want to tell a good story with rich characters, books will always be the best way to do that. There’s almost no end to the detail and depth you can include, and it’s literally the most affordable way to create art.

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mgmyx t1_it7exj3 wrote

Because it numbs the pain.

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INTHEMIDSTOFLIONS t1_it83588 wrote

Yea, the road and flowers for Algernon are really good for escaping the crushing sadness of existence /s

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Heartfeltphilosophy t1_it7in65 wrote

Every time when I finish reading chapter, I am already excited to read the next one. I love that "unknown" feeling. Sometimes it's sad, sometimes it brings something that I've never felt before.

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PumPumPuddha t1_it9ap6m wrote

I like this description - (the unknown feeling.) it’s fun when you find that one book that hits you like a hurricane. We’ve all experienced it, and we’re constantly seeking that same high from an insanely great story.

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ampere_exe t1_it9ao9b wrote

The same reason Carl Sagan here highlights, “What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."

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phoenixtrilobite t1_it7jzsu wrote

Reading a good book makes me feel connected to other people, like I'm plugged into a whole new way of thinking. Really good books leave me with ideas and concepts that can stay with me forever.

I often feel a little despondent when I haven't read anything in a while. I used to read more than I do now, just as a matter of course. Now life gets in the way, and other pastimes are more convenient. But they don't leave me as satisfied as a good book.

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thecaledonianrose t1_it7o7fa wrote

I love to read for a number of reasons, escapism being among them. I also love to learn new things, or gain more information on a topic I don't know a great deal about, but more... it keeps me challenged, informed, and entertained. Though I've felt guilt over reading when there were plenty of other things I should have been doing.

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kizerste t1_it7ws9a wrote

Because it allows me to know and understand in just a matter of hours or days that which took years even decades of a thinking person's life to learn, figure out and condense into written words. Books are my cheat sheets in life's great exam.

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PesticideDream t1_it85ab1 wrote

I just like activities that engage my mind, like video games and reading. There’s no real great reason why I read, I just find it relaxing and I like it better than zoning out to TV.

Why would you feel guilty using it to escape reality? That’s like the main function of entertainment as a whole.

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TrekkieElf t1_it8xcz6 wrote

I find it more poignant than movies. Because describing emotions makes me feel it more than a facial expression from an actor. Fantasy in particular books can be more deep and immersive than movies because they can show things like for example how casting magic feels, rather than just flashing lights or something.

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BulbasaurusThe7th t1_it7l4vr wrote

Fun. I like having fun.
Now, I don't mean I only ever read happy books, but I enjoy ones where they have adventures and crazy exciting stuff happens.
I just get excited when there are big battles or chases or something cool. I also really love creatures, like monsters and fantastic animals. Ruins too!

I don't know, man, it's just the excitement of knowing that things that can't happen in real life can happen in a book.

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INTHEMIDSTOFLIONS t1_it82zmr wrote

Mostly because movies and tv shows are so sexed up or just have over the top drama.

I like blockbuster action movies, but that’s about it, when it comes to all other genres I prefer literature. If I have to see another bleak Scifi movie about how dangerous space is, I’m going to lose my mind. I’d rather read about progress in humans expansions (like cold as ice, or the expanse, etc).

But even the expanse tv show was too much sexual tension, too dramatic, and idk. I didn’t like the show. I like the books though.

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thewezel1995 t1_it83rqh wrote

Escapism while learning things. The perfect way to spend time alone.

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Powerful_Check735 t1_it85g2r wrote

Yes I read even when I have tv on will look at heard something I am interested in it

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welshrebel1776 t1_it87fls wrote

I enjoy reading because it allows me to learn stuff that I never learnt at school, such as American history which is one of my favourite things to read about

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bcopes158 t1_it8jgoy wrote

I love stories about interesting people, places, and events. Real or imagined. Books can deliver these stories in a way that other mediums can't.

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Unlucky-Horror-9871 t1_it8wt4v wrote

Escapism is a big benefit! I also find that I have a lot of random knowledge because I read so much.

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Top_Network6209 t1_it8y8p9 wrote

I love reading because it gives me a rare opportunity to explore my own imagination and be sucked into an interesting world.

Its honestly a lot of fun imagining what the characters look like and what their intentions may be.

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the-bookworm t1_it95v3m wrote

It's a healthy habit to have. A read a lot (a lot!) of non fiction because I like learning. I read in 4 different languages, which helps enriching my vocabulary. I use fiction to escape but also to find right answers and right questions to my problems. I sleep much better when I read before going to bed

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SpaceSlingshot t1_it9dv49 wrote

Same reason I love music, movies, tv, etc…

#Stories

I love a story. In any format.

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corvinalias t1_it9tcf2 wrote

Nonfiction: It's SO much faster than watching a video, I can't even tell you. It's like: the information goes directly and instantly into my brain and I don't have to wait around for any gab about subscribing and mashing that like button.

Fiction: just like a movie but you can stick it in your purse and dive into it whenever you have a minute. Plus you get to enjoy the author's use of language, which is a sensory experience in itself.

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NoraEmber t1_itangzm wrote

It's one of the few activities that quiets my brain. I am able to focus just on the words and creating the picture in my head. I usually can't block out the 1000 thoughts going on in my head with most other activities. Reading and playing music are the only two I've found so far. I can feel my brain just relax and I feel so calm when doing these two things.

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Fun-Investigator676 t1_itasdst wrote

Reading is meditative for me. A good book demands 100% of my mental attention so I'm unable to pay tax to all the bullshit in my life

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Wawa-85 t1_itb9p8b wrote

I love getting to know a characters internal thoughts and feelings. Unless a tv show has an internal dialogue you don’t get this and the characters feel kind of flat and one dimensional. Book characters are just so much more rounded. I think I prefer books too because I’m legally blind (extreme tunnel blindness) so when watching tv or a movie I miss a lot of the scenery and body language whereas with a book it’s described to me and I can imagine it.

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Bitemyshinymetalclit t1_itbh2rx wrote

Tbh I’ve mostly gravitated towards reading since TV hasn’t been great in recent years. I know that’s a huge generalisation but with the streaming model of pumping out shows where every episode and every season ends on a cliffhanger to encourage you to binge the whole show in one go, you just don’t get satisfying endings anymore and it just feels like starting a show is a huge commitment. Some shows just get cancelled and you’re left with a cliffhanger as the actual ending. I just want a self contained story that is fully realised and ‘done’ by the end.

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coupleafterdark_ t1_itbxqn0 wrote

Like most people here I love the escapism.

I love leaving my world and entering a new one within the book, I love trying to shock and scare myself, I love learning new things and meeting new people (the characters)! I get a lot of excitement from books that differs greatly from movies or TV and I think it's cos I almost have to create the world and the people myself in my head with the descriptions.

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SnooRecipes6865 t1_ite11j3 wrote

It helps me to escape.

I live with a very horrible and painful neuromuscular disease. I live with extreme (if going by the 1-10 hospital scale for normal people) 7 on a good day.

Reading helps me escape this shitty and f##ked up world. I've rediscovered a love for reading after being given a kindle for an early birthday present. I've read more books in 8 weeks than I have my whole life (34) (voluntarily) it no longer hurts to hold a book. I am really loving reading and I can't get enough of it.

It really does help the person live a thousand life's as to one of a non reader.

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arcoiris2 t1_itj9i8l wrote

Reading takes me places. I learn thing when I read.

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