The problem with reading, is that you can like it way too much at times.
It can take over your life and time for a good while, much to the detriment of other activities. That was especially so for me when I was young, but even into later years. Of course, reading is one of the great escapes, perhaps the best, though it can require some effort ... more so than just watching something.
When reading pricks the imagination, it can be like food or sustenance to the soul ... if such exists, or to the mind at the very least. It can help sustain you through things, bolster you up even.
So many very different things have been thought about reading, by different groups of readers and individuals.
How we value reading as societies, has changed a lot over the years.
I can well remember, when as a child some 50+ years ago, that many weren't enamored of reading fiction or they were very biased about acceptable types. Fantasy and Science Fiction were frowned upon, and even unacceptable in many circles. Horror was sort of okay, so long as no fantastical elements. There were a lot of misconceptions and snobbishness around, which has improved heaps these days, but still exists ... if to a much more minor degree now.
Many types of fiction back then, were either classed as children's stories or women's. And Fantasy in particular, was not acceptable even for children in many families, or just seen as fairy tales, that you did not read beyond a certain age. Schools and other institutions often had that view too. Thankfully we have come a long way since then.
Luckily I grew up in a family, that did not hold those limited views, and I quite believe I have gotten more out of reading Science Fiction and Fantasy stories, than I ever got our of reading many of the classics you were forced to read at school. To me, the fantastical genres were often only the background or settings for a very human story to occur, that was more often than not, character driven and heavy on questioning the world around us and the society we lived in. You kind of learnt a lot about behavior, about ethical and moral considerations and the universe of bias that has its parallels in the real world.
So the problem of reading occurs on many fronts really. It can be a voice that many don't want you to hear, even some governments and religions want to control what you can or can't read. Some repressive regimes go so far, that they even have book burnings. And lets be honest here, reading can be such a waste of time ... certainly in many eyes. While you are reading, you a sedentary and not doing anything else, and for some, even their health can be impacted ... so addicted are they.
So to some minds, you just laze around and then question everything.
Me, I like reading ... and won't stop any time soon. It's my drug of choice ... that and music.
