Why is it people read?

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  1. vanzant730 profile image64
    vanzant730posted 14 years ago

    I've always wondered why people read. What makes a book worth while? What makes it worth taking time out of your life to read it? Personally, I read to escape my mediocre life. I like to be taken into the character's mindset, especially character's that find it in themselves to rise above what they are to become greater than they ever thought they could.  Any thoughts on the matter?

    1. Ron Montgomery profile image61
      Ron Montgomeryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      So we will have something to fight about.

      1. vanzant730 profile image64
        vanzant730posted 14 years agoin reply to this

        In a way, it makes sense...but in more ways than one does it not. Why would you fight about a novel?

        1. Ron Montgomery profile image61
          Ron Montgomeryposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Some do not realize that what they are reading is fiction and actually base very important life decisions on the printed material.  Some of these novels have been unscrupulously packaged as divinely inspired non-fiction.

    2. jonwenberg profile image61
      jonwenbergposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      There was a time when I allowed myself to become completely absorbed in novels I was reading, I still have to be careful with that; I try to live my own life as much as possible.

      To address the question though, I think most people take reading for granted; reading and writing are two of the most abstract and distinctively human activities in which people engage. Humanity likely struggled with passing on verbal information for tens of thousands of years before developing written communication; we had no history prior to writing, only myth.
      Personally, I think most of the really unbelievable bible stories are the product of verbal histories told and re-told over 40,000 years or so, and then finally written down.

    3. onthewriteside profile image61
      onthewritesideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I used to read because I had to when I was younger.  Although I loved writing poetry and short-stories, I never really read for "pleasure" back in my youth.  As I got older, I only read for educational purposes, and maybe an occasional novel that had some purpose...like say Ayn Rand's work.

      That's why when I finally decided to write my novel, I chose a fictional format replete with archeological and historical facts (Da Vinci Code-esque) because I think it is the best way to get the info I wanted to get across to the largest number of readers.

      I don't enjoy reading for "reading sake" if I am not getting anything useful from it.  A good Fairy Tale with a moral message is far more entertaining than a soupy "chick novel" about some woman's personal fantasy with the gardener, if you get my drift...

    4. mohitmisra profile image60
      mohitmisraposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      A way of gaining knowledge

    5. Gennifer profile image53
      Genniferposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I like reading because books take me to places I have never been to, reading a book I can imagine characters as I personally want to see them, that's why I don't really like to watch screen versions of books after I read a book, it always seems to me than in my dreams all the characters were better. smile I like reading because it simply gives an opportunity to relax and dream a bit.

  2. cynthiaalise profile image60
    cynthiaaliseposted 14 years ago

    I read to think and write to create.  I know it is simple and sounds trite, but it is true.  I want to be engaged and learn when I take the time to read and I want to share something of worth with the world.

  3. profile image0
    annvansposted 14 years ago

    I read to learn things.  I usually do not sit down and read a book about things that I cannot learn from, but I like to read educational things online.

  4. TamCor profile image77
    TamCorposted 14 years ago

    I have read since I was a small child--and I know I'll never quit.  I love to escape into worlds so much different than my own sometimes...not that I don't love my world, I do...but it's so fun to see and experience other worlds, too.

    I can sit for hours, late into the night, with a book, and never get bored. TV?  It holds my attention for such a short time--give me a good book over that anytime! smile

  5. Answer Man profile image60
    Answer Manposted 14 years ago

    You ask "why is it people read?"
    Well in the first place to learn to wrote good.
    You need to read in order to wrote good you know. '
    You may need to read more yourself.
    That way you may be able to wrote good.
    And then not ask 'why is it people read?'
    Instead of 'why DO people read?'

    1. wordpro profile image60
      wordproposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think a good reader knows when it's important to comment on grammatical mistakes and when doing so will only result in looking ridiculously obnoxious!

      I enjoy reading for personal pleasure.  If I am not satisfied with the way someone wrote their words, I can only acknowledge the fundamental right of man to write the way they wish.

    2. andromida profile image55
      andromidaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hey answer man well said.I think you are becoming a answering machine.thank you for sharing.

  6. profile image0
    Ghost32posted 14 years ago

    I sorta prefer "why is it". 

    I read mostly fiction, specifically fantasy.  And I live in that world, surfacing in this one just long enough to to what must be done for any given moment, then retreat to my hideout.

  7. Colebabie profile image61
    Colebabieposted 14 years ago

    I read to learn. Learn facts, history, life lessons. I just read a book about Woodstock, it was a personal memoir with lots of history about the event and that time in the US. Before that I read a memoir about a woman's life. It amazed me. Books that amaze me, and that I get excited to tell someone about, are the best.

    1. profile image0
      Madame Xposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I read for the pleasure of it. It's quiet time with myself. I read about whatever subject interests me at the time. Those interests meander from one to another so I never know what I'll be reading next. It takes me down roads I never thought to explore before and becomes an adventure in the process. Fiction and non fiction. TV will never compare.

  8. profile image0
    Hack Retisposted 14 years ago

    I read because text interface is the fastest, most secure, most easy way to get information.

    1. cynthiaalise profile image60
      cynthiaaliseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      For most people it is not.  Most people are hands on a visual, probably because we see before we learn language.   Most humans are very visually acute and can understand the differences between images easily.

  9. Bob Ewing profile image63
    Bob Ewingposted 14 years ago

    I read because I enjoy doing so.

  10. SweetiePie profile image83
    SweetiePieposted 14 years ago

    I view reading as enrichment and not necessarily escape.  I have read online articles, blog, and books for so many years that it is so much part of my life.  One of my sisters really does not enjoy reading, and she thinks it is a waste of time.  However, the way I see it is time it time, and you have twenty-four hours each day to decide how to spend it.  If you write down a list of all the things you do each day there are probably many time wasters, but reading would not be one of these in my humble opinion.  I think waiting in line a the grocery store is a far worse waste of my time personally.

  11. profile image0
    ralwusposted 14 years ago

    I learned to read as a youngster (1956) so I could read playboy. ;p)

    1. cynthiaalise profile image60
      cynthiaaliseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        LOL!!! ppl are funny tonight.

  12. dohn121 profile image82
    dohn121posted 14 years ago

    I read to become a better writer.

  13. Beth100 profile image69
    Beth100posted 14 years ago

    Before there were computers and the internet, the written word was one of the main means of communication.  I read for pleasure, information, knowledge, entertainment and mental gymnastics.  Yup, reading encourages creativity, imagination and dreams.  So, that's why I read.  big_smile

    1. blondepoet profile image67
      blondepoetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I go with beth's answer...

      1. Beth100 profile image69
        Beth100posted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Thanks BP! big_smile

        1. blondepoet profile image67
          blondepoetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          No problems Beth your answer was what I was thinking lol. Sorry for copying. Great minds think alike. smile smile

          1. Beth100 profile image69
            Beth100posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            You're much too original to copy [from me], and it's true, great minds think alike!  lol

  14. EDU 101 profile image61
    EDU 101posted 14 years ago

    Interesting topic. At the very basic level we read for survival. I cannot imagine trying to get through a day without reading anything. However, I think you are going for the "Why do we read books" kind of question.

    I agree so far with all of the answers (except perhaps the playboy one!) I also read for entertainment, knowledge, and relaxation. So I guess "survival" is the only thing new I can add. smile

  15. Joelle Burnette profile image70
    Joelle Burnetteposted 14 years ago

    I read so I can become a better writer. Still, any parent of young children will surely tell you how difficult it is to find time or energy to read. I'm much better at listening to a book while I'm working on something else (gardening, an art project, whatever).

    If I don't listen to a book and actually get to read the words, I find the only time I can do this is late night, by which time, the reading puts me to sleep.

    Used to love reading Jack London incredibly descriptive stories if I wanted to escape into another place. If ever there was an expert on "show, don't tell," it was Jack London.

 
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