what reading is all about?

[Shachar]

i always try to understand how reading a book has the influence on me. i wean i finish a book or part of it that i enjoyed i try to go back and find out what it left my with? for start, most of the time i cant really remember the words or even e big event that happened , like "moby dick" i loved it but for some reason wean i try to recall it i am not sure what happened, had he killed the while or not, so the word are not in my head any more, but for sure they got in, even if for exit right out, but i do have whit my the feeling of the books, a kind mixture of feeling the every book left my with, like this black empty i got after "heart of darkness" or the sensation of excitement and eagerness from "neuromancer".so allot is chaining while reading a back , while you let a stranger thoughts flow in your mind.
if anyone find some thing to say i will be happy to learn

[Deborah]

There are a lot of things I get from reading. The simplest, and the reason I started reading so avidly as a child, is an escape from the mundane. More subtly, though, I began to realize it wasn't the escape so much as the opportunity to live infinite lives that drew me in.

I think you're right about how books change the person who reads them, too. It expands your understanding of the world, and it helps a person develop empathy for others. You can't get involved in a story if you can't empathize at least with the protagonist.

I also think storytelling is humanity's way of understanding the world. We constantly tell ourselves and others stories. That girl crying at the bus stop? Her grandmother must have passed, or maybe she and her boyfriend just broke up because she caught him cheating. And maybe she just discovered she's pregnant with his baby.

In college these days, the humanities are considered almost fluff degrees--useless but fun. This scares me because the humanities (especially literature or classics) are what develop critical thinkers and people actually able to communicate and interact with others. You want a team player? Hire an English major. You want someone who understands group dynamics? Sociology major. A company can train anyone to their specific requirements for an HR position, for example, but if you want someone who can do the job well, you better hope they have people skills the way a Journalism major does.

A little off topic. Still, it makes the point that the stories we read have much farther-reaching effects than even the reader or writer is consciously aware of. At least, that's what I think.