Reading is one of the most common hobbies around the world. People like reading a lot of different things. Since I was young, I have loved reading as well. Now, academics and outside work don’t allow me to devote a lot of time to reading books, but it still remains one of my favorite activities. So in the middle of doing other things, I sometimes find myself wanting to sink on a couch and grab a book. And this had me wondering: why do I want to read? Why do people read?
Perhaps the most obvious reason for reading would be knowledge. Many of those who prefer to read non-fiction novels may say that reading books helps them gain more information about the world, which can be eye-opening in many ways. So they turn to books that introduce them to new perspectives and ideas and throw new questions that prompt them to view the world differently.
But I think there is something deeper behind the process of reading that makes people find comfort in it. The reason would most likely differ from person to person. Personally for me, reading opens up another world for me. It is almost an escape from the busy and complicated reality. This is why when I am reading for fun, I prefer books whose settings are very different from mine. Until elementary school, I used to exclusively read fantasy novels with magic and dragons, because it excited me to think that there was a new world somewhere out there where all of these were real.
As I grew up, I did accept the fact that Hogwarts and Camp Half-Blood do not actually exist, or even if they do, I will never end up there, but I still lean towards novels set in a time period or a country that is not mine. I read mostly because it makes me imagine myself in a totally different world. As I substitute myself in the imaginary situation, I go through the same emotions as the characters and so even after finishing the book, I spend hours imagining what I would have done in those situations. So for me, reading is a tool to forget everything that I have to think about normally and prioritize my imagination and thoughts.
However, I remember a short conversation with my English teacher in high school. Her reading preferences were very different from mine; she never reads fantasy and prefers to read about something relatable to her reality. For her, reading is a tool to reflect on herself. She reads about other people’s lives - lives without magic and dragons that could have easily been hers - and as she thinks about and makes her own judgements about the character’s interactions, she learns more about herself and her own role in society. So for people like her, reading serves as a potential scenario that could, some time in the future, happen in their lives.
Everyone has varying reasons for reading, but whatever it is, reading does bring us comfort in some way. Although everything that is happening in our lives makes it more and more difficult for us to read quietly for a few hours, reading always makes us relaxed and cozy afterwards. So what about you? Why do you read?