More Reasons to Read

When I first started this blog, I wrote an entry on why I read.  Here are two more reasons to read:

First, in an eloquent editorial in The New York Times, Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto, explains that:  

"Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings." 

Apparently, science backs it up:

"Dr. Oatley and Dr. Mar, in collaboration with several other scientists, reported in two studies, published in 2006 and 2009, that individuals who frequently read fiction seem to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and see the world from their perspective." 

And a second reason to read, from The Marriage Plot:

"It wasn't only that this writing seemed beautiful to Madeleine.  It wasn't only that these opening sentences of Barthes' made immediate sense.  It wasn't only the relief at recognizing that here, finally, was a book she might write her final paper on.  What made Madeleine sit up in bed was something closer to the reason she read books in the first place and had always loved them.  Here was a sign that she wasn't alone.  Here was an articulation of what she had been so far mutely feeling."

(As an aside, Bel Canto is highly recommended.)

Look at the Books

From The Marriage Plot, on being judged by your book collection:

There was, in short,  this mid-size but still portable library representing pretty much everything Madeleine had read in college, a collection of texts, seemingly chosen at random, whose focus slowly narrowed, like a personality test, a sophisticated one you couldn't trick by anticipating the implications of its questions and finally got so lost in that your only recourse was to answer the simple truth.  And then you waited for the result, hoping for "Artistic," or "Passionate," thinking you could live with "Sensitive," secretly fearing "Narcissistic" and "Domestic," but finally being presented with an outcome that cut both ways and made you feel different depending on the day, the hour, or the guy you happened to be dating: "Incurably Romantic."