This was back in the 1970s, and I think it was easier for children to get into reading back then. There were no computer games, videos or DVDs. There were only three channels on the television and they didn't run 24/7. I wasn’t interested in the radio, and you could listen to music while reading anyway. So my main activities were either making up stories (playing) or reading them.
But while a bookish childhood goes some way to explaining my own reading habits, it’s not the whole story. I’m sure there are plenty of other people who had a similar literary upbringing to mine, who don’t read much at all now. In fact, for a while in my early 20s I somehow lost the habit of reading. I owned very few books and if I did read anything, it was probably a magazine. This phase in my life is now a mystery to me. I can’t imagine why I stopped reading back then, but on retaking my flunked ‘A’ levels I rediscovered it and went on to study literature at university. I haven’t stopped reading since.
So why am I such a fiend for reading? There are a few reasons. First, I love a good story. I don’t necessarily mean one with a beginning, middle and end, but one that rings true. In my mind, the boundary between fact and fiction in literature is very blurred. I think a fictional novel often incorporates more true elements (characters or situations) than a work of non-fiction. Certainly, a good novel rings true however far-fetched its plot might be. In turn, I’m fascinated by biography because it’s intriguing to see how certain stories become discredited while others – possibly no more accurate – gain acceptance as truth, apparently without question (see the various autobiographies and biographies of the Marx Brothers for a good example of this).
Then there's language. This is the staple ingredient of any book, and using it well (not necessarily correctly) is essential to telling a good story whether it's fact or fiction. Language is the building block for everything from the characters, dialogue and atmosphere to the simple pleasure of words and sounds. I like the sheer variety of writing styles on offer, and the fact that whether a writer's style makes or mars my reading experience is a matter of mood as well as personal taste. Some of the authors I find unreadable are extremely successful with a huge fan base, and some of the books I’ve dismissed because I didn’t like the writing style have later become favourites of mine. That’s why I often give a book I’ve dismissed a second chance, and why I read some books again and again.
Perhaps it's that personal, mood-driven relationship with literature that sums up the attraction of reading. It might be a quiet pastime, but it certainly isn’t a passive experience where the reader is spoon-fed information by the author. Each reader, on each reading, builds a relationship with the text that is by turns reassuring, challenging and destabilising. You might find your own ideas reflected by a fictional character, for example. Good, there’s nothing like being proved right – but what if you don’t like the character who shares your views? Does that reflect on your view of yourself? Or what if the narrator of the story is a drunkard, or a gossip – can you believe everything they say? And what if an unexpected twist suddenly dissolves all your comfortable ideas and throws everything into disarray? When I’m reading a book I don’t just have to construct images of the characters and scenery for myself. I'm drawn to construct ideas of who I am in relation to the story and, at the same time, to question those ideas.
All of which means that I can’t ever fully answer the question of why I love reading so much. It's a story with many twists and turns; one that asks as many questions as it answers; and that will bear constant re-reading.
