Why is reading pleasurable?

In My Humble Opinion
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[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
My husband reads, but only stuff about hot rods. He’d never sit down with a novel, or even a non-fiction book. I had a boss who said he had some sort of dyslexia or other impairment that made it painful to read. I go through long periods of time (months) where I don’t read; I have no idea why. Exhaustion, probably. I have always enjoyed it, but at times I don’t feel I can concentrate on it enough to get anything out of it so I shelve the books for a while. Another problem I have is that sometimes I get into some books to the point where I really need to call in sick so I can continue reading. That’s what got me into short stories! A useful tool if you just can’t put it down.

I think the reason people enjoy it is because it allows for quiet contemplation of who you are. There are no critics, no crosstalk; just the information and how it appeals to you. You can create the stage, the characters…all those little details that let your imagination soar. Don’t you just hate it when you see the movie after reading the book, and it just fucks up your whole interpretation of what you read? No one looks the same, the location is all wrong, the voices suck. I think reading feeds the creative side of the brain in a way nothing else can. It is your life experience applied to the author’s art.
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Heh, I agree that reading is a more participatory art - put crudely, the difference between reading a book and watching a movie made from that book is akin to the difference between making love and watching porn. :wink:

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[QUOTE=Malthus]
In answer to the question “why do some love reading, and others not?” the only answer that makes sense to me is that “some read in this way [i.e. the altered state you speak of] and others do not”. I do not think it has to do with how smart, or curious, etc. that someone is, because I have known plenty of smart, curious readers.
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The other factor that I think is important is what your experience of reading was at the very youngest age. For my kids at least, being read to is (or was, in the case of the older ones) a comfort mechanism, from the age of one onwards. These positive associations, and the early experience with the calming effects of reading, are determinative, it seems to me.

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[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac]
The other factor that I think is important is what your experience of reading was at the very youngest age. For my kids at least, being read to is (or was, in the case of the older ones) a comfort mechanism, from the age of one onwards. These positive associations, and the early experience with the calming effects of reading, are determinative, it seems to me.
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I have been wondering about this…my daughter (age 2 1/2), would be happy if we read to her pretty much all the time. She will bring one book after another to us and say “read read read!” So, I have been wondering if 1) all kids are like this at her age, 2) I am a reader, so it’s something she picked up by watching me, or 3) it’s an inherited trait.

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Sarahfeena, I’d say that in non-reading households, there’s no way that reading can be picked up as much of a comfort mechanism. So yeah, it’s not instinctual on the part of the kid, it’s actively (if sometimes subconsciously) offered up by the parent. I bet in non-reading households, TV serves as the comfort mechanism. I’m sure someone somewhere has done a study of the phenomenon. It would be interesting to see.

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– There are tactile pleasures which come from holding a good book. The heft of it in your hand, the smoothness of the paper, the scent of ink and that new-book virgin crackle it makes when you open it for the first time.

– Caressing the words with the eyes, and seeing the rythym and placement of a finely crafted sentence. Writing has a visual impact, not only a mental one.

– A book can be perused at the reader’s pace. I can flip back a page or two to appreciate the set-up of a scene, re-read a passage to absorb its fulll implications.

– Each character assumes its own “voice” in my mind which may be completely different from the voice that others hear. The kids in Harry Potter speak with American accents for me, which is just fine and dandy, even if it’s not what the author intended. In a way, it makes it* my* Harry Potter-- my unique experience.

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[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac]
Sarahfeena, I’d say that in non-reading households, there’s no way that reading can be picked up as much of a comfort mechanism. So yeah, it’s not instinctual on the part of the kid, it’s actively (if sometimes subconsciously) offered up by the parent. I bet in non-reading households, TV serves as the comfort mechanism. I’m sure someone somewhere has done a study of the phenomenon. It would be interesting to see.
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Interesting point, about TV. My household unfortunately watches a lot of TV, as well as having a lot of books in the house. (I chalk this up to some kind of ADD on my part, as I seem to need weirdly high amount of brain stimulation on a constant basis…seems to maybe explain my SDMB usage, as well? :dubious: ) So far, my daughter seems pretty indifferent to the TV, but perhaps that’s because we play up books in our interaction with her, and play down TV watching (the TV is only tuned to our stuff…we don’t put on kids programming).

But you are right about the comfort…a big part of the reading is the snuggling up to us on the sofa, and that kind of thing. What has been fascinating me, though, is how much she absorbs from the books…after a couple of readings, she can recite long passages from them, and will talk about the characters in the books and what they do, and all of that. So, yes, the comfort is important, but I think the brain stimulation is a key factor as well (and of course, as a reader myself, I am very gratified that she seems to enjoy it so much!)

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I like stories.

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I like the escapism of it, the creation of a little world in my head. That world unfolding over time is much more interesting than a direct download would be.

I also love words and expressions and am truly excited by a great turn of phrase and the skill it takes to do that. That takes me out of the book and gets me wondering about how the author did that, and how they felt as they wrote something great. I also marvel at how they can write in detail about things they never experienced, and get it right. Again, a direct download wouldn’t allow me to savor and experience turns of phrase with all the time I need to.

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[QUOTE=Little Nemo]
On a related question, why are some authors re-readable and others authors not?
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I don’t know, but I often hear people say they “I find something new in [this book] every time I read it.”

I don’t re-read much, but when I do, it’s because the book has some depth – complex characters. It takes more than one reading to appreciate and understand the book, and the author has made you care enough to want to understand them.

Like The Dollmaker and Gertie Nevels. Why did she follow her husband to Detroit? Why did she stay? Was it weakness or strength that broke her family?

I re-read other books because the author has created a world that I like to re-visit. Steven Erikson’s Malazan books are like that.

I’ve read many books that I didn’t understand or appreciate, and haven’t had the slightest desire to read them again, because I didn’t care.

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I learned to read long before school and devoured books throughout my youth. I had ‘periods’ (where I’d read everything I could find on composers, mythology, horse stories, mysteries, English authors (Brontes, etc), Shakespeare, and so forth). I liked vanishing into another world. I especially liked new thoughts or ideas: the sci fi story which may have been the basis for a TNG episode in which a man lives a full life and then wakes up - to live another full life; the fictional tale of travelling priests in which was posited the idea that Satan’s sin was his hatred of humans because they were unworthy of God, who he loved. Stuff like that.

Then I encountered Hermann Hesse. Which coincided with the beginning of my own spiritual quest. The mysticism in his works and the relevance of his spiritual experience to my own affected me profoundly.

I don’t know if I was necessarily seeking to be that deeply affected by fiction thereafter, but I do know that I finally gave it up in frustration having read several novels that were lauded by critics and finding them annoying. It seems to me that many authors these days strive mightily to be Profound or Relevant and it all comes across as contrived, which is just tiresome and annoying. I’m now almost averse to reading fiction although I may yet give the Potter series a try.

I have, however, retained an almost compulsive desire to cram my head with information - I collect things to read (until I have time to read them, of course) and can see the potential to become a hoarder, even, so I have to watch out. I know I’ll never live long enough to know everything I’d like to know but that somehow doesn’t stop me from the attempt. SDMB could easily turn into my crack because of the delicious tidbits of knowledge it offers.

I’d like to enjoy fiction from time to time but I fear I’ve become too demanding of it. Learning, OTOH, still thrills me in ways that fiction long since ceased to. Why? I guess it’s that ‘mind-opening’ experience - in fact I’d say it’s an actual sensation - of ‘ahhh, now I get it’ or ‘isn’t that amazing’ when I learn something new. I guess maybe a kind of perpetual kidlike enjoyment of encountering something new and interesting - which could be anything from finding out about planes and treadmills :smiley: to reading someone else’s perspective on an issue or event.

However, from time to time I’ll read others’ ‘must-read’ book lists and think to myself that maybe someday I’ll dip into one of the works of fiction that other people seem to love. If I can tear myself away from sucking up information, that is.

In the meantime, if anyone knows of a support group for people addicted to seeking knowledge, I’ll take the address.

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[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]

I have, however, retained an almost compulsive desire to cram my head with information - I collect things to read (until I have time to read them, of course) and can see the potential to become a hoarder, even, so I have to watch out. I know I’ll never live long enough to know everything I’d like to know but that somehow doesn’t stop me from the attempt. SDMB could easily turn into my crack because of the delicious tidbits of knowledge it offers.
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I could easily explain my love of reading based on my near-obsessive need to learn new things. I enjoy learning something new, and in turn, I like to share that new information with others. I really like hands-on activity, but sometimes reading a technical work can suffice just as well. Theory is a fascinating area of technical writing that I like (with the exception of philosophy), but I can still sit down with a reasonably well-written piece of fiction. I like both literature and many works of popular fiction (some fantasy included), but I despise most chick lit. When I look for fiction, I need to have the writing make me feel as if I’m more intelligent than a fourth grader (this is why I hate romance novels; badly written and written down to the audience in what feels like a condescending manner), to keep me interested in the plot, and sometimes to make me laugh heartily at a clever turn of phrase. I don’t want to read something that’s “based on” reality, then veers off into left field when it comes to logic, which is why I hate most chick lit. It panders to a fantasy that I just don’t lay claim to and I can’t stand reading it. However, give me a good epic story or a book that’s a bit intellectually challenging and I’m enthused to experience it.

I admit that my love of reading is partially because of my eagerness to learn, and partially because my family instilled a desire to not only learn but to read voraciously. (My mother’s bed almost always has at least five books on it that are being read at various intervals. My father reads a lot too, when he gets the time.) Now, if my parents weren’t so enthusiastic about reading, I probably wouldn’t be much of a reader, and wouldn’t spend half of my time on the internet reading about different things. (In fact, if I weren’t much of a reader, most of my internet time would probably be spent looking at pictures and videos.)