What does reading a book mean to you

[ethan]

Reading for me - the aesthetic value of language used brilliantly; a good story well-told; honing one's sense of empathy; gaining perspective; a quote from Emerson "Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures."

[Capture]

Reading for me - the aesthetic value of language used brilliantly; a good story well-told; honing one's sense of empathy; gaining perspective; a quote from Emerson "Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures."

 

 

Nicely put. Agree.

[anisia]

This will sound cliche but, reading is a form of escape I guess. For those hours in which I read, I feel what the characters feel if that makes sense, I can ignore everything going on around me.

I also read to learn as I read specialized books too.

[Mexicola]

To be entertained and to learn. And also to experience the wonderful imagery that comes with a book.

 

I know we've discussed this before, elsewhere, but I'm always totally astounded by my brain's ability to make up very detailed pictures when I read.

 

I agree. The other day I suddenly remembered a specific scene which I assumed must be from a film I'd seen. I was racking my brains to try and remember what film it was from before I realised that it was actually a scene I'd imagined while reading Memoirs of a Geisha a couple of years ago. It was just so vivid.

[frankie]

I think for me reading represents a way to escape everyday life, and it's also a nice way to pass time.

Recently I've also noticed that reading is a kind of an oulet for my feelings. For example if I'm sad, and I'm reading a sad book, I can better understand the and identify with the book and I can also let out some of my own sadness.

[Kylie]

Reading is an escape for me too, more so recently than ever before. It helps me to forget my problems for a while and to get out of my own head and into someone else's.

 

I also read to expand my mind and open myself up to new experiences.

[Cookie]

Reading is an escape for me too, more so recently than ever before. It helps me to forget my problems for a while and to get out of my own head and into someone else's.

 

I also read to expand my mind and open myself up to new experiences.

 

 

This is why I read too, I feel a sort of sympathy for those that don't read because I can't think of a better way to get a way from yourself even for just a little while.

[Johnny Carson Whit]

I've been thinking about this and for me its escapism, I finished reading The Stand months ago and it still pops into my head and they are like real memories like I was really there.

 

I also love the way Stephen King writes the introductions to some of his books, I havent read The Langoliers for a good few years, but the way he ends his introduction to the story 'now we have a plane to catch....' totally immerses you in the story before it even starts, perfect escapism that can transport you into a different world.

[BookGeek20]

Some of my earliest memories from reading was on my eleventh birthday when my mum had bought me The Animals Of Farthing Wood Series, I also remember enjoying The Winds in the Willows books, Roald Dahl books and reading encyclopedias when i was young. I had a big imagination when i was young and to this day still do. I think it was the thirst for new adventures mainly and the thrill of reading about other things that didnt exist! I still remember lying in bed many a time with my bedside lamp on engrossed in a good book that i would read till the early hours. I read for escapism, pleasure and a good story well told, as well as inspiration. Time sure does fly when you read. It also inspires me to write ideas/stories one day i dream of seeing one novel of mine being published. As I constantly tell myself, My story is still being written

[Nicola]

I read for escapism, pleasure and a good story well told

 

Me too. It's how I relax and completely zone out from deadlines, work, worries about one thing or another and everything that's going on around me. That's why I hate it when I'm reading and people try to talk to me....I'm like "????!!!!!"

[BookGeek20]

oh my gosh i know nicola, i hate it when im engrossed in a really good book and someone talks to me it just annoys me because im 'in the zone!'

[Kylie]

In the last few days I've read After the Fireworks by Aldous Huxley and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Both have given me food for thought, and I've realised that one of the things I love about reading is that books help me to recognise and express my own thoughts and feelings, and put them into the words that I cannot. I really treasure these moments

[The Library Nook]

Do you read for pleasure, thrills, to be scared, find the killer, learn, become well read, to be in with the crowd ie read the top ten books?

 

 

All of those apart from the last one. I just plainly enjoy books, the act of reading, buying and sharing.

[Nollaig]

Okay ever since this thread started I've been fighting the urge to write:

 

To me, "reading a book" means picking up bound, printed pages, scanning said pages with my eyes and deriving meaning from the text which, as the 'reading' progresses, more abstractly forms a story.

 

I'm sorry. I'm pedantic. They dropped me on my head when I was a child.

[Reid]

I read for escapism. As a child, and a somewhat highly strung and introverted one at that, I always enjoyed the calm and solitude of reading.

 

I never, ever read factual books. Of course I am interested in real life events, but what I want most from a book is to be transported far, far away.

the further the better, be it in space or time or both. I was always destined to be a lover of sci-fi.

[Jonathan]

Interesting question. Not sure I can answer it fully, but here goes...

 

I don't believe I read for escapism, as some people tell me they do: I read to be transported to other times and places, to find out how others live or lived, and to find out about so many different things. Reading makes life so much richer, somehow.

 

 

Hi, im new here. Nice to meet you all.

 

I agree with what you are saying here. That would basically be my answer too.

 

Of course, I read because I enjoy doing so too:mrgreen:

 

Jonathan

[Tristan]

Hi, im new here. Nice to meet you all.

 

 

 

 

Hello there Jonathan. Welcome to the forum Why don't you tell us something more about yourself in the 'Introductions' section? It's fun and all the cool kids do it so, yeah..

[vinay87]

And I thought I already posted in this thread.

Hmn... I read because I like stories. That's it. Not escapism. I do that with writing. I just like stories. I always have and to me, reading a good story justifies our need to wake up everyday.