Reading - Chronic escapism?

[IgnoranceIsKind]

"Construct a habit out of reading, and you'd be able to escape from all of life's miseries" - Can't remember.

How true is this for you guys? Reading has become somewhat an apotheosis of guidelines in living life bearably as the INTJ social misfit. Sometimes when things become too bad (like being frustrated about how shallow and conceited my classmates are), I'd always escape to a corner in the school and just read. There are times though, when people stare at me and I can't help but feel weird. Apparently, we are supposed to be somewhat immuned to criticism, or in other words, not giving a damn about how others view us. To an extent, this immunity has been partially developed. But there is still this vagrant alienation I feel. Reading becomes a temporary but effective antidote because it serves dual purposes - in escaping and learning.

Thanks in advance for any posted discussions.

[Lucan]

I do read alot and yes I view it as escapism. But it isn't self destructive like some other bad habits. I pretty much grew up in a library in my schooling days and I love to read. I don't see anything wrong with it. Sometimes though you can be reading a really interesting book and not want to put it down . And then once you eventually either finish the book or convince yourself to put it down its some ungodly hour of the morning and you have to be up for work soon. Can't tell you how many times I've done that. ;)

[Moriarty]

Excellent topic!

I do read alot, but I don't view it as escapism because my reading list is almost entirely nonfiction. The other side of that argument might be that my intellectual pursuits are a means to further alienate myself from mainstream social culture and is a manifestation of passive anger. Take your pick. Either way, I love my books.

Now, take my wife (PLEASE! har har har). She's a pretty solid INFP and prefers to read fiction. Specifically, she enjoys D&D type fantasy stories with a heroine as lead, often tragically martyring herself in the process of a Herculean effort that saves the day. Considering the sheer volume of books of this type she's read over the years, I'd be inclined to see what she's doing as escapism.

[Danneh]

You might feel alienated, but it comes with the territory of caring what others think. We've been trained since we were little to care what others saw in us.

I read an obsessive bit, mostly fiction with some information in it, mostly doom and gloom as well. Yes, it is an escape, but it is also what helps build my vocabulary and knowledge banks. Like Lucan said though, it's not destructive, so don't feel bad if it is an escapism.

[Zilal]

There have been big chunks of time in my life when I've read fiction rather than deal with what I had to deal with. In that sense it was more than escapism. It was just plain avoidance.

I was grateful for it though. Some of those times were really heavy.

[Homini Lupus]

Reading is a social activity between the writer and the reader. So it's no more escapism than talking with the one near yourself. It's just choosing better your company and interacting with him/her in a different manner.

[curiousjane]

When I was younger, I consumed about 12-15 fiction books per week, plus browsed at least a handful of non-fiction books. I truly enjoyed reading, but yes, it was probably mostly escapism, considering I was a social outcast due to shyness.

Now that I'm older, working full-time, etc., not so much. I might get in 1-2 fiction books every month or so now, if I'm lucky. I like to think I will choose books that expand my mind and improve my life, but I usually don't. I still like to sit down for two or three hours and completely empty my busy mind of anything but the mindless, entertaining book in my hands.

Being a Feeler, though, I have to be careful that the books I read aren't ones that will stir my emotions/imagination strongly in one direction or another and completely suck me in, or I will walk around in a daze for hours after finishing it, staggering from the effect of the escapism, unable to adjust back to reality until I snap out of it.

[searcher]

Reading is definatly escapism for me.
My standard answer when my mother complains about me reading too much is "it means I don't have to live in the real world for and hour or so".

[Nightelf]

Partly it is escapism for me: the classical literature I read helps me to withdraw from the world in uncomfortable situations. Which is often at these times, since I live in a noisy college from where there are no similar minds... I retreat to my books' world, to my studies and to the internet - these are mental hiding places.
Besides, reading helps me buliding my vocabulary (in all 3 languages I speak) which makes expressing my thoughts easier. :-)

[bluenote]

I read because I love to ever since the first day at six when I stumbled into a library I’ve always loved reading. Is it escapism? No it’s a passion. Although it’s something a lot of people don’t understand “Why are you always reading all the time? That’s so boring.”

[Serket]

I work in a small firm with a dozen or so employees. I'm the odd one out because instead of going out to lunch I bring mine and sit in the tea room and read a book. No better way to relax!

[Trym]

I like reading, but it have to be a book or text who tingle my curiosity. The last (series of) book I read was Red, Blue, Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I really like the idea of mankind leaving earth once in the future. I also like fantasy novels, and I enjoyed Lord of the Rings, Hobbit and also Silmarillion. I really hate crime novels, I just find them boring and in no way interesting.

[tulip]

I feel fortunate in that I have a long-ish train commute that creates a perfect opportunity to read (mostly fiction, but almost anything really) a couple of hours per day. Otherwise as my life gets busier and I spend more of what down-time is left on the internet, I fear I might read books for pleasure less than I do now--and that would be a great loss: as others have described here, reading (since the age of 5) has been a source of knowledge, solace, entertainment, and yes, escape throughout my life.

[raconteur213]

Reading is the Ultimate escapism...but I would stop short of calling it chronic, based on the fact that the reading you do, is heightened by the living that you do.

...If you rely on just reading to escape, your senses can dull. However, if you balance it...reading can be the ultimate escapism.

Nothing tastes as delicious as the description of a place or a feeling that an author nails. You know they nailed it, becasue you've lived it...yes?

[suzyk]

I do frequently read in school, I do it when teachers are talking, when we get free time, etc. I go to the school library a lot too, but I never read at home, I go on the computer instead. It's probably because I don't have friends in any of my classes. I used to read a lot in school from the 3rd grade to right now, the present. I don't really consider it an escape, it's enjoyable and I can multi task when reading (I can listen to my teacher talk and concentrate on the book at the same time) so it's not a problem for me. I'm a bookworm.

[Vardigon]

I love escaping into books, hehe, and I've done it since 7th grade when I first discovered the Fantasy genre. Ever since then, I've hogged lots of $7 paperbacks from the local bookstore :). It was only at around 15 or 16 that I started developing a sense of reality and sorta dragged myself out of Fantasy for a bit of non-fiction. And still, when I read anything, there's always a sense of idealism and imagination that I go at it, whether Science, or History, Psychology, etc...

[Timdotz]

I'm not much of a reader, but when I'm interested, its hard to stop me. :D
I prefer just listening to classical music (preferably Chopin) while observing my surroundings... Helps my brain tick.

Concerning languages, I currently know English and Cantonese (dialect of Mandarin) since I'm Chinese/Malaysian, but I have made it a personal goal to learn, speak, read/write Mandarin, Korean and Japanese within the next 5-10 years..

[Lesondemavie]

I was thinking about starting a similar thread, so instead I'm going to revive this one and add to it.

When I'm stressed and can't stop thinking about something, I escape to a corner and solve puzzles (crosswords, cryptograms, sudoku, whatever). I've tried reading instead, but ultimately my inner world is louder than the story I'm reading. My eyes scan the pages and get to the bottom of the page, but then I can only remember my thoughts and not what I just read. Puzzles are a very effective way for me to switch my focus to something else. I see the puzzles as me escaping to a comfortable world of thought, when the reality of the intertwining of thought and emotion is too overwhelming for me. My INF boyfriend escapes to reading, and I see this as him escaping to a comfortable fantasy world of emotion and feeling, when this same reality is too much for him (but for different reasons).

After reading this thread, I realized that the activity to which we escape is likely a mix of personality and environment and probably not the same for us all. Some turn to puzzles like me, some to reading like you, others to physical activity - whatever can switch our focus and give us some comfort.

Based on previous thoughts and what I've now read here, I wonder: When you read fantasy (if that's what you read to escape), do you still analyze it or do you let go of your usual ways and how does it help you escape?

[Prunesquallor]

Depends what you read and why.

Masturbation is escapism if you want it to be. So is macrame.

[eri]

Just because you're reading non-fiction doesn't mean it can't be escapism. I always read as a kid to escape, and at times I would get into a non-fiction topic (although I read more fiction than non-fiction)- and read everything I could get my hands on, on that subject. It was still escapism- a chance to get away from the world.

[Lesondemavie]

Just because you're reading non-fiction doesn't mean it can't be escapism. I always read as a kid to escape, and at times I would get into a non-fiction topic (although I read more fiction than non-fiction)- and read everything I could get my hands on, on that subject. It was still escapism- a chance to get away from the world.

I completely agree, as I use puzzles instead of books. I was just wondering if anyone could elaborate on how they approach fiction as an escape. Do you get lost in the world that the words create or are you busy analyzing the story and trying to figure out what's happening next? I assume that this varies from person to person, but I was interested to hear some responses.

[Merle]

Just because you're reading non-fiction doesn't mean it can't be escapism. I always read as a kid to escape, and at times I would get into a non-fiction topic (although I read more fiction than non-fiction)- and read everything I could get my hands on, on that subject. It was still escapism- a chance to get away from the world.

I always feel a bit more escapist when reading non-fiction, well...certain kinds of non fiction: I love reading information type books ie non fiction that's just telling you all the little details about some topic you're interested in (no authorial voice, no argument, no story etc). It's when reading that kind of stuff that my imagination really takes off... reading them kind of fuels my creativity on the subject...so for example I like to read books about architectural styles or techniques and things like that - which feels like escapism to me because as I'm reading I'm creating all these fantastic buildings and cities in my mind.

With fiction it feels less like escapism because I'm following someone else's imagination.

[Seducer]

The only fiction I've read in recent years was the Harry Potter series and BattleField Earth.
But I have a vast collection of non-fiction books to help me with reaching my goals.

[vash]

I love books! I cannot imagine a world without them. Maybe it is part escapism, but I mostly read because that is where I get answers to so many of my questions. I rarely read fiction, and I often refer to the authors as my "friends" because I feel closer to them and I "talk" to them more often than I communicate with people irl (I write agreeing and diagreeing comments in the margins).

[jhpark]

I think a good story says a lot about the human condition. The best SF novels are like this (Stephen R Donaldson, say) and the best classics (Dostoevsky, some Dickens, etc). I much prefer fiction to non-fiction because of this.

There are a few areas of non-fiction I've gotten interested in, but mainly it's stories for me... Sometimes I'll go on a non-fiction binge and read books on, say, the Civil War or something, but those are rare.