I said I'd write a blog once a week,
but my last article was two months ago...
That's how it is, I guess.
This time, I'd like to try writing about "reading books."
When I was in high school, I studied abroad for a year,
and until then, I hadn't read any books at all.
I hated reading.
While I was abroad, my parents sent me a cardboard box full of
very serious books.
"The Brothers Karamazov," "Crime and Punishment," and other
heavy foreign literature.
I devoured them
and discovered the joy of books.
For me, reading is, in a word,
vicarious experience.
The word "vicarious" might sound out of the ordinary,
but it's more like vicarious experiences are part of everyday life.
I warp into the world of a book, direct my consciousness there,
and the experiences I have there shape my daily self.
My reading style is roughly as follows:
- I read about 200 books a year.
- I'm not good at fantasy or manga.
- I read multiple books simultaneously.
- If a book is boring or I'm not in the mood, I stop reading it.
While there are books I read slowly and carefully, taking my time,
there are also books I want to quickly absorb information and knowledge from, like reference materials,
which I read through in about an hour.
I've tried many times to enjoy fantasy and manga,
but I just can't get into them.
Still, I haven't given up,
and I plan to keep trying.
Also, it might surprise some people,
but I read about five books simultaneously.
Novels, practical guides, essays—
I read them all at once.
Of course, sometimes I get engrossed and read one book straight through,
but I often switch between different books depending on my mood. My tendency to get bored easily is one reason for this.
And then,
people ask me if I get confused about the content,
but it's fine.
"Fine" means "I don't mind."
For example, if I'm reading three novels simultaneously,
even if they're set in different eras,
with different characters and settings,
they're parallel worlds.
That experience is enjoyable.
There's also a wonderful synergy in the combinations,
sometimes creating a synergistic effect with another novel at that time.
Also,
if a book I'm reading is boring,
or not what I expected,
or not what I'm in the mood for,
I stop immediately.
Sometimes I think it might get interesting later,
and I continue reading based on that feeling,
but if I sense it's not a good fit, I stop right away.
So, I mostly borrow books from the library.
I rarely reread books.
If I want to read it again, I can just borrow it again.
- It's so wonderful I want to own it.
- It's too thick and will take a long time.
- It's not in the library, and I can't request it.
I also buy books for the reasons listed above.
Until recently,
I read almost all the books that won the Naoki Prize, the Japan Booksellers' Award, and the Booker Prize,
but then I thought, "I don't have to read every single one!"
So now I only read the ones that interest me.
That concludes my introduction to
my reading style.
From here, I'd like to write about
why I read books in the first place.
By having vicarious experiences,
I increase the number of "drawers" in my mind.
Increasing my "drawers"
raises my empathy.
This includes sympathizing with what's written in books
(e.g., the book articulated something I'd been vaguely feeling).
It also offers the benefit of
being able to empathize with others during daily conversations
because of a single sentence in a book that explains
"this emotion occurs in such and such a situation"
or "this phenomenon happens for such and such a reason."
If you already know and have experienced it, then that's OK (the gray area).
I think the purpose of reading is to change unexperienced things into a state of "knowing." (The red area.)
And then,
the orange area.
It's also possible through reading to realize, "Oh, that's what it was!"
when you've had a similar experience or feeling before and were vaguely wondering about it.
I really like this.
For example, "This is the perfect way to express that happy or sad feeling."
And not just with reading,
the true pleasure of being human is experiencing new things and growing.
Both joyful and painful experiences help us grow.
That's hidden in the star part.
From birth to death, everyday life is
a continuous stream of things turning from blue to gray. (The arrow represents life itself.)
Whether we want it or not,
that's just how it is.
By expanding the red area through reading,
you can slightly reduce the blue area.
From "unknown" to "known," even if not personally experienced.
This is similar to studying or learning.
It's also very important to learn different values (even if you can't fully empathize).
Well, even if you know and have experienced something,
you might not always navigate it skillfully.
And even if you think you know something, you might be misunderstanding it,
and often you might be too academic without putting things into practice.
Nevertheless,
reading is wonderful.
I tried to write an article for this blog
and organized my thoughts,
but simply put, reading comforts my heart.
That's what I love about it.
Whenever I open a page,
another world unfolds before me,
and there's nothing wrong with escapism.
After all, I'll come back,
and even if there's a reality I want to escape from,
if I can feel even a little encouraged by a book
and return to my daily life with renewed vigor, that's enough.
Beautiful words,
beautiful expressions—
There are moments when incorporating such things into myself
makes my ordinary life shine.
Speaking of "drawers,"
I don't actively want to increase crude or cruel drawers
(though unexperienced/unknown aspects will remain),
so personally,
I avoid such things.
Finding someone's recommended books,
books that introduce books,
books about reading—
I truly love those.
That exhilarating feeling that courses through my body
the moment I discover a new book I want to read
and feel excited!
This time, I wrote about
reading books.
I even enthusiastically drew diagrams.
How do you all read books?
Do you have any favorite books?
Please tell me.