Why Do You Read?

A friend not too long ago asked me this question. It was a normal conversation over coffee about the many things occurring in our lives and surroundings until we came to my favorite topic: Books.

Myself being a avid reader, him on the contrary. So it quickly turned into a one sided talk about recent reads, favorite classics and the great authors. As I began to bore him with my endless monologue on the great writer Edgar Allen Poe. He interrupts and sharply asks me:

"Ryan, why do you read so damn much?"

That question threw me off my game, startled I sat in awe of his inquiry. I never really thought about it I replied.

Now that I am writing here in retrospect I have thought of many: to be entertained, to learn, to laugh, to cry, to escape, to feel something profound. But at the time I assumed it was innate, to not read is simply unfathomable to me, the habit was built into me and took its grip a few years ago and be ended. Simply because my thirst for these feelings have never fully been quenched except through books. Sure the movie and TV show now and then can be entertaining if you find the right ones but nothing can deliver like a book.

Writers long before my time have been trying to decipher the impact of reading and literacy, here are some of my favorite quotes:

“We read to know we are not alone.”

- C.S. Lewis

"Except a living man, there is nothing more wonderful than a book."

- Charles Kingsley

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."

- Andrew Ross

I love these quotes because they remind me that, through the amazing tool of language we can connect still with writers centuries and perhaps millenniums past no other outlet like that is available except maybe slightly through art and architecture. Decartes put it best however:

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries.”

That is why I read.

I must apologize if this seems too indulgent, but I must settle this question first before continuing to better understand myself and you.

Why do you read?

In future posts I will be writing more on books but also on more of these speculative questions, if I knew more about it I would tell you, for it remains to be seen.

If however you enjoyed my post and might be interested in future posts please subscribe to my blog, it is free and nothing to be lost, but only gain.

I look forward to your answers in the comments and hopefully we can have a conversation about this question, you can also email me personally at readerinmind@gmail.com