gravity, avoirdupois

On Why I Like To Read.

fuckyeahreading:

We received this letter from Carmel, a reader of ours from the Philippines.

I’m a follower of your Tumblr, but I don’t have a Tumblr account. I have a Blogspot instead.

I’ve always been an introvert. I’ve always been by myself, and I only have a few friends—those I know I have known deeply, and have shared secrets and about my life with. The rest of society doesn’t matter. I’m not shy, but I just don’t like “socializing”, especially when it forces you, and everyone else to make small-talk. I hate small-talk. I’d rather have a lengthly conversation about religion, and politics, or the things that trouble you, or the relationship you have with your grandparents, anything but small-talk.

I’m 25, and I’ve never really been in a real relationship. I fall in love but all the time the guy I fall for falls for another. I’m in unrequited loves, it hurts so much. Growing up, I’ve also been made fun of for being a nerd, for wearing glasses, for reading too much, or for being “chubby.” I have this bestfriend who is cute and says I am not overweight at all, just chubby in the right places. He blocked me and I guess he was frustrated about how overwhelming I am, and my weird quirks. I miss him a lot. I wish he’d keep his word about being my friend forever.

I read because I like to know things. I pick the ones that matter. I don’t like to be stuck in one genre. I read lots of books, from dictionaries to history books to encyclopedias to biographies. I have classical books like Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, and Crime and Punishment. I also have Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, The Iliad, The Odyssey, stories by Edgar Allan Poe, stories by Kafka, I have two of Ayn Rand’s best novels, I have Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, Sphere and The Andromeda Strain. I have The Game of Thrones, and Clash of Kings, The Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card, the Dune series, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Manchurian Candidate, I have a book by Nietzsche, by Aristotle, and my bestfriend sent me two books: Catholic Catechism, and one by Mortimer J. Adler on Aristotle. There’s still a lot to mention but there’s little space.

And oh, I have the complete stories and mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle.

I also read because books are a lot more fun and interesting than people. People run away from you, books stay. And there’s nothing like the smell of books. Someday I hope to own my own house, and have a library.

- Carmel, fuckyeahreading reader from the Philippines

Carmel, thanks for writing in to us. Personally, we seem to have a lot in common— books were always my childhood friends too. Where do you read? A few years ago, I began taking my books out for walks and reading them outside instead of indoors. The noise of people might get overwhelming sometimes, but I find it bridged me coming to terms with the rest of society, what they sound like, and being surrounded by people. 

Books were more fun and interesting than people to me too at first. But, well, people wrote books. So the magic behind those lies in all of us. You said people run and books stay. But books stay because you own them. I could never own a person, and there’s a charm in that.

I’m currently dating someone who doesn’t read much— if you asked me years ago, I would have not seen that coming— but it has been more fun than I ever thought it would be. Books have wonderful surprises, but they are archived. I’m not suggesting you go bungee jumping tomorrow, but I do hope Carmel that you don’t give up on the surprises in life that have not yet been archived. They’re outside your room, away from your screen, and between you and your future house & library. And although you can’t pick and choose them as specifically as you can with books, there isn’t anything in your letter that convinces me life won’t know how to love you back. Adventures appear in all directions. Thank you for writing us.

Liy