Why do you love reading?

wanzulfikri · Dec 21, 2013

I need your help guys!

I have a blog called about Reading, Wide and Well and I want to make a blog post called "Why do you love reading?"

Here's the link: http://readingwideandwell.com/

Considering that most of you guys here are writers, I believe that you guys are great readers as well.

If you want, share with me why you love reading so I can add it to the post in the future. (still in draft)

I can credit the answers to you too so just tell me how you want to be credited.

Clarification: I am not taking advantage of you guys. I honestly want to know why do you love reading because I know that there are some reasons that are not obvious to me and most people. Hoping to be enlightened by you guys.

Thanks and I'm looking forward to your answers.

DeadCities · Dec 21, 2013

Because unlike film, reading isn't linear. I can picture how the setting and characters look (though sometimes I "cast" certain actors in my mind to play the roles), I am in fact, only limited by my imagination (within the context of what the author has provided.) A scene where a knight does battle with a dragon could never look as epic in a movie as it does in my head. Books also allow you to spend more time with characters than a movie, I can get to know them and get a sense of who they are. In some cases I grow to care about them, and so the peril they find themselves in becomes more real to me. I have never been as sad to finish a good movie, as I have with a good book. If you must credit me, simply use my username though it doesn't matter to me.

wanzulfikri · Dec 21, 2013

DeadCities said:
Because unlike film, reading isn't linear. I can picture how the setting and characters look (though sometimes I "cast" certain actors in my mind to play the roles), I am in fact, only limited by my imagination (within the context of what the author has provided.) A scene where a knight does battle with a dragon could never look as epic in a movie as it does in my head. Books also allow you to spend more time with characters than a movie, I can get to know them and get a sense of who they are. In some cases I grow to care about them, and so the peril they find themselves in becomes more real to me. I have never been as sad to finish a good movie, as I have with a good book. If you must credit me, simply use my username though it doesn't matter to me.

Interesting, DeadCities.

Thanks for sharing. I agree fully on reading isn't linear and aren't limited to what is written.

Due to different interpretation of writings, the images conjured would differ for each person.

Siri Kirpal · Dec 21, 2013

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I like my imagination fired up. Reading (usually) does that.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal Kaur Khalsa (the name to use if you quote)

Brightdreamer · Dec 21, 2013

To escape reality.

To feed my ravenous imagination.

To have an adventure in my head.

To evoke that blissful sense of wonder.

To explore new ideas.

To crawl into a stranger's mind.

To learn things.

To procrastinate on my writing.

Chase · Dec 21, 2013

Brightdreamer said:
To escape reality.

I second this reason. In the army, ardent readers termed it "escape literature."

Reading got me through long days tending sheep.

Books helped me survive two tours of duty.

I'm never confined nor bored with a book.

Because I keep oil lamps and books on hand, I love power outages.

I'm deaf; there are no sweeter sounds than from books.

Gena_Skyler · Dec 21, 2013

The escape
Learning things (even from fiction)
Expanding my imagination
Because new books just smell so good

wanzulfikri · Dec 21, 2013

To escape reality...interesting.

I heard this from a lot of people too.

Noniej · Dec 21, 2013

Escape for sure - I was the oldest child in our family and every time another came along a book was the best place to hide. I think I'm probably addicted - I just can't imagine being without a book.

wanzulfikri · Dec 22, 2013

Okay plenty of people said that it is the escape that makes them love to read.

I'll be putting this as one of the reason and just link it to this thread.

Brightdreamer · Dec 22, 2013

wanzulfikri said:
Okay plenty of people said that it is the escape that makes them love to read.

I'll be putting this as one of the reason and just link it to this thread.

Hang on a sec - aren't you going to answer your own question, here? Or are you just cribbing your work?

(You just seemed surprised by people's reasons, particularly the escape aspect... I was wondering what you got out of reading. I'm assuming you read - otherwise, it seems strange to blog about the topic of reading.)

wanzulfikri · Dec 22, 2013

Brightdreamer said:
Hang on a sec - aren't you going to answer your own question, here? Or are you just cribbing your work?

(You just seemed surprised by people's reasons, particularly the escape aspect... I was wondering what you got out of reading. I'm assuming you read - otherwise, it seems strange to blog about the topic of reading.)

Honestly, I am more of a non-fiction reader.

I can't still pinpoint my own reason of why I loved to read because it's a love of mine that came out of nowhere. Hmm...maybe for knowledge perhaps but that is still not the real reason.

Nah, I am not surprised...I'm just trying to be encouraging here because I know that some of the reasons people love to read can be interesting and not obvious to most of us

. I searched the web and found people saying that they love to read because of their past experiences, teachers, parents, boredom etc.

I figured that putting a list of people's reason to love reading can give me and my readers insight on why we love to read. Nope, I'm not cribbing.

And the reason I made a blog about reading because I think most people take for granted on the act of reading - whether it's fiction or nonfiction.

Some don't read critically, some can't understand what they read, some can't appreciate a poem after reading it and so on.

And reading is not about books only. How about articles, reviews, poems, journals and online sales pages? They are reading too and to narrow reading to books only seems to make reading a narrow subject. (This is my random input haha)

Inky · Dec 22, 2013

I can take an adventure & not have to update my vaccines.
I can have a hot babe swoop down & slay the evil incarnate thinking to marry me for my lands.
I can slip into nefarious cities with Navy Seals, gather intel, and shoot my way out without requiring a passport--or a really good medic.
I can gaze up into the stars, and know a ship awaits--just as soon as I'm finished with this post

THIS is what really good writing offers me when I read...a life away from the ordinary.

JadeKnight · Dec 22, 2013

I can travel anywhere I want to in less than a second.
I can be whoever I want to be.
I can join the band of characters on their adventures.
I can also learn things I never understood or knew about before.

In the RL I'm not much of anything, but when I'm reading (and writing) I feel like I'm more than I could ever achieve or been seen as to others. In the RL I have fears that limit me, in the fictional/fantasy world I'm fearless.

trettig · Jan 25, 2014

First of all I have to mention that I basically only read non-fiction.

I do read a lot because I feel that it expands my mind. Since I have started reading a lot I frequently come up with great ideas. Without the pool of knowledge to draw from that I get through reading a lot, I believe this would be impossible.

Then again it already has become a habit, if not an addiction for me. I would forget everything else and simply focus on my book, even if that means not taking care of (other) important things. (and yes, this is basically meant to be a negative aspect

)

V.W.Singer · Jan 25, 2014

I read (fiction) because it is the most truly interactive form of entertainment. The words on the page provide the framework upon which my mind builds the characters and the scenes.

They always look, sound, feel, and even smell the way I want them to. No film or TV show could ever afford the scale of action that my imagination can provide, and no censor or director decides what I can see and experience.

Blood is bloodier, women are sexier. Every nude scene is just as explicit as I desire it to be, and heroes move in bullet time or in blinding blurs according to my whim. Each conversation, kiss, or fight lasts exactly as long as it should and not a moment more, or less.

What other entertainment form can offer all of that?

Taylor Harbin · Jan 25, 2014

I agree with everything that's already been said. Like many kids, I hated reading because it was always associated with work. Somewhere along the way, I decided that I wanted to tell my own stories and that's when the change occurred. Being a historian, I'm fascinated by the thought that long ago, there was only one way to escape reality: songs and books.

In today's world, where most people are content to opt for TV or the internet, there is still a mystical attachment to those of us that regularly read and write hundreds of pages. Perhaps that's why I'm a sucker for vintage book covers? They only teased you about the story within, whereas today's covers look like the artist attempted to pain another Sistine Chapel.

When I decided to become a writer, I resolved to read more. I guess I just fell into loving it without much thought.

On a minor note, books have their own stores! I've found so many wonderful treasures at used book stores. First editions, out-of-print volumes, books with schoolchildren's notes in them.

When was the last time you saw a DVD vendor that wasn't lumped with all kinds of other visual stuff?

Why do you love reading?

wanzulfikri

DeadCities

wanzulfikri

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism

Gena_Skyler

wanzulfikri

Noniej

wanzulfikri

Brightdreamer

Just Another Lazy Perfectionist

wanzulfikri

Inky

Eat, Sleep, Write...

JadeKnight

trettig

V.W.Singer

Purveyor of naughtiness

Taylor Harbin

Power to the pen!