Why Do We Read?

Have you ever wondered why people read? There are people who read more and people who read less. Some who read romances and some who read police novels.

Well I haven’t thought about this till today. And now this issue won’t come out of my mind. You might be expecting for me to do a reading theory and to list all the advantages of reading and disadvantages of, say, playing a video game. But no. It all depends on circumstances.

Now, analyzing some factors, I have came to some conclusions, more or less accurate, more or less true, more or less available for everyone.

In my opinion, a person usually reads to escape the reality. Some do this by watching movies, some by reading, some by playing video games. It all depends on the social context and on your character. Now when thinking about the themes of the books we read, I guess people usually enjoy books that are filling some blanks in their lives. For example, people who like love books have a loving husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend but they don’t have enough romance in their life. That sparkling lights, romantic dinners, fancy declarations etc. And to make my point, I will make use of Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages. He says in his book that each and every person feels loved in a different way and that in order for a relationship to succeed, you need to give the other one what he needs in order to feel loved. Now going back to our subject, say a couple has a husband who feels loved by his wife if she provides him physical touch (one of the five) and she feels loved if he treats her with words of appreciations (another one of the five). Well if he doesn’t offer her words of appreciation (love declarations, compliments, passion), then she will try to find it some place else…like in a book. Doesn’t matter if the way he shows love is through services (taking out the garbage, washing the dishes etc), she will not feel that she has all she needs in her life. And there are two approaches. They either brake up, or they understand that they love each other in their own way and that they are the best option for each other. Now I am talking about the second option. They choose to stay together but find what they need someplace else.

Now if the problem isn’t in your relationship but in your life, in your feelings, in your soul, again, you may find comfort in a book. If you are frustrated because of something, you will appreciate books that you feel that reflect more or less the same thing. If your lifetime dream was becoming a detective but reality stroke you in the head, you will read detective books because you feel natural when doing this. But anyway, you get my point. It all resumes to feelings.

Now you might wonder: why do I read? Well there are many aspects. I read because I am an introvert. I enjoy going out with friends, but usually I do it when I really miss them or they miss me or when I feel the urge to change the view. But usually a book relaxes me. I am usually frustrated about bad things happening around me, so I usually read books with a happy ending. I value morality, principles, respect, and when I don’t find them around me I try to read books accordingly (like Jane Eyre – My favorite, Pride and Prejudice etc). So yeah I am a book worm because this is the way I fill in the gaps in my life. I do it through books, my boyfriend for example does it through games. I am an introvert, he is an extrovert. I like reading alone, he likes playing with friends. And I could go in like this forever. But neither the less, we are perfect for each other. Even if we are so different, even if we express our emptiness in different ways, we still love each other for who we are and not for the other one wants us to be.

Now this is entirely my opinion, I cannot affirm that others are bad, irrelevant or something else. Each and every one of us has a purpose. Now, what’s you motivations in reading?