Why Do You Read?
Why do you read? It is such a fundamental question. I ran into it the other day when I was discussing the Western canon in an internet setting (I know, I should avoid those). As always the answers intrigued me more than the actual question. One answer will invariably emerge: "The point of reading is enjoyment". And this answer never fails to baffle me for a number of reasons - mostly because the idea of "enjoyment" is so problematic.
What does "enjoyment" mean? Does it correspond to Roland Barthes's plaisir/readerly texts where the reader (passively) consumes a product and derives pleasure from the act of consumption? Let us look at the sentence "the point of reading is enjoyment". Looking at it objectively, it follows that the act of reading is not about the actual act of reading itself but rather about the degree of enjoyment derived from the act. The focal point is not the book being read but the reader him/herself sitting in a chair. Should the act of reading actually be described as an exercise in narcissism?
This is my main problem: every time I read or hear about how "the point of reading is enjoyment", I end up thinking of a narcissistic little twerp who only likes books where you can identify with the protagonist, consumes them like they'd consume shoes, music or any other product and who would never read anything published before they were born (except if there's a connected TV series or a film out gathering a fair amount of publicity). I have issues, clearly.
So, why do you read?
January 16th, 2009 - 17:49
I’m not sure Friday 5pm just after a week of work is the best time for me to answer this in any intelligent way (all I can think of is fish and chips after all) …
… but I read because it is relaxing and unwinding. I read because getting involved in other characters (fictional or otherwise) allows me to turn off my never-ending inner monologue and give myself some peace!
The actual act of reading … well I guess that’s the same as watching a movie or TV. The vehicle used to gain escapism becomes ‘invisible’ once I have escaped into a plot.
I don’t notice that I’m ‘reading’ because I am lost within the enjoyment (for want of a better word) of what I’m reading.
*shrug*
*potters off to read more*
:D
January 16th, 2009 - 18:12
I should perhaps add that Other Half took one look at this entry, guffawed and said: “Oh, you’re at it again, aren’t you?”
“The vehicle used to gain escapism becomes ‘invisible’ once I have escaped into a plot. ”
Cool point, very cool point.
January 16th, 2009 - 23:40
I read for enjoyment. Sometimes I enjoy feeling scared, I enjoy feeling upset, or moved or euphoric.
Why do we go on a rollercoaster that we know is going to affect our bodies and senses in a predominantly negative way? Because we know, afterwards, we’ll feel elated at feeling something.
I think it’s difficult to appreciate other people’s reasons for liking reading books as it’s such a personal thing – show 1000 individuals an inkblot and they’ll all see different things, so show 1000 people a book and from the thousands of words contained within they’ll inevitably each take something unique from it.
We all enjoy books, we just enjoy them in different ways.
That’s my take on it, anyhow.
January 17th, 2009 - 00:30
Surely, the rollercoaster ride is about conquering our fear of death?
Aside from that, you and I have often discussed how we interact with books and why we read. You like to disappear into a plot – do you also like to imagine you are a character in the book and derive pleasure from living that someone else’s “life” for a few hours, I wonder? I’m not dissing you (or anybody) but I do wonder sometimes how I’d go about ‘reading for the plot’.
I think my main issue lies with the idea of “enjoyment”. No. One of my main issues. The term is problematic (to me).
Another issue (which I think I mentioned above) is the very act of reading. I’m one of those people who are *hyper-aware* that they are reading. When I am reading I take great interest in looking at how I am interacting with the book and how the books interacts with me (much greater interest than I take in the plot, actually). It is a sort of meta-situating myself as a reader and the book as a medium, I suppose.
Aghr. I’m being imprecise here and it bothers me.
January 17th, 2009 - 01:11
I blogged my answer, as it was a bit lengthy.
January 17th, 2009 - 01:15
I saw and I loved it. I will quote it tomorrow, with your permission.
January 17th, 2009 - 15:16
*mind still reeling from the use of the word “dissing” in a reply to a comment on why we read*
I am quite simple, I mostly read for the joy of story. What is being told and how it is being told. For me it’s not just about what happens in the story, it is also very much about how the author chooses to convey this story to me. How does he or she tell it? I have put many books down, and from much lauded authors, because their story-telling skills (whatever that term covers, but getting into that would be a more lengthy comment) were lacking.
I guess that’s just a slightly different take on the “I read for enjoyment” line. Though, why I read changes ever so subtly whith each time I pick up a book, just like it does with movies, art etc. Sometimes I want to loose myself in pretty words, sometimes I want to escape into story and sometimes I want to weave in and out of intricate linguistic architectures.
*shrug*
… but mainly I’m about the storytelling.
January 17th, 2009 - 16:29
@Darth Ken: Hey, it was David! And I’d prob get accused of dissing him if I didn’t clarify that I wasn’t ;) You know what he’s like!
January 17th, 2009 - 16:53
Yes, of course.
January 17th, 2009 - 21:20
@Karie: Very good point, since it’s David go ahead with the dissing ;)
January 18th, 2009 - 09:31
Dave’s comment: “I read for enjoyment. Sometimes I enjoy feeling scared, I enjoy feeling upset, or moved or euphoric.”
This too – I love to read a book that leaves me sobbing, or gasping with the drama, or pondering – that’s ‘proper’ escapism. And it’s gives me good mind ‘fodder’ for the long quiet hours working in the library ;)
January 24th, 2009 - 16:39
Interesting question, and the more I think about it the more complicated it becomes. I’ll suggest one point – I wonder if for some people reading more than (or just different from) enjoyment. It is required. Maybe it’s a case of silencing the constant internal dialog, or providing fodder for the imagination, or maintaining some kind of order within the brain. There are times when I just NEED to read, even if I have nothing much at hand to feed that particular beast.