For me, I have very little in my life, so it’s something of an escape into another world.
Its the greatest form of entertainment IMO. Movies and theatre last a couple of hours, emphasis is on ‘the look’, story is usually (but not always) pretty shallow. TV is more episodic and therefore there’s more time to explore the story but, again,its still pretty surface level most of the time. As streamers replace production companies and gain even more power, TV and movies are getting increasingly crapper. I read an interview with someone who worked for a streamer (wasn’t Neflix but can;t recall which one it was and I can;t find the link now) who said the direction from bosses is producing content that is easy enough to follow if you’re only half-watching. Sounds fucking awful.
Books, on the other hand, engage whole parts of your brain and quite literally take you into a different world. They can be quite short or very, very long - the edit is to fit the story, not making the story fit a prescribed length. Unlike movies or TV the only two people involved are you and the author - which is why I personally struggle with audiobooks as I feel like there’s a third party (the narrator) involved who might interpret things differently than me. I’ve seen lots of great TV shows, plays and movies but I have never had as immersive an experience as I do with reading a book. I’ve never experienced an emotional response to a TV show or movie like I have from so many books. The feeling of knowing a character to their bones and loving (or hating) them is just impossible for me in movies/TV shows most of the time.
I’ve read a few books that have been made into movies (e.g. harry potter, LOTR, Hobbit etc.), and they leave a lot out. I get it. Books have a lot more freedom to include all the details that are required, but when you transfer from a 300-1000 page book, into a 2-3 hour long movie, you’re gonna have to drop a bit and cherry pick what you include in it. But yeah, i prefer books to movies. It’s so much easier to get immersed in it with books to movies.
I completely agree! The immersion you get from reading a book really is the draw for me. It’s more effort for me to get into than other forms of media, but once it gets it’s hooks in me I’m transported somewhere else. I can see, feel, and even smell, all up in my mind. I’m a digital artist by trade so I absolutely appreciate the visual side of media, but the best graphics really are in the imagination.
I’ve found that if I read before falling asleep - regardless of subject, difficulty or how closely I focus - I tend to have vivid dreams that I actually remember. There doesn’t seem to be any relation between the book and dream, but if I don’t read I tend not to dream at all (or at least I don’t have any recollection of it). I only use an e-reader so it’s not even like it’s a tactile response to traditional books or anything like that. Outside of that reason, I enjoy reading books but I don’t generally do so recreationally since I usually feel like I could be “multitasking” doing other stuff instead.
I like physical books, so I get the fun of hunting for books through the used bookstore, having them on my bookshelf, then I get to shame myself for my growing backlog of books. Once that’s done, I find reading to be very relaxing.
Me personally, I just love stories. I like reading, listening to audiobooks, but I also enjoy storydriven games for example.
I don’t want to become a waffle waitress.
