A Passion for Reading

 

The greatest gift is the passion for reading.

It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you

knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.

It is moral illumination.

(Elizabeth Hsrdwick, (1989)

Elizabeth Hardwick was an editor, writer, critic and co-founder of the New York Reviewof Books. Who better to have made the comment above? I am in full agreement with herassessment of reading, and mostly the passionfor reading that is within the quote.

Passion is the necessary element to be classified a real, honest-to-God reader. None ofthis reading a book once a year and an occasional glance at a newspaper or magazine. Ifyou're passionate about reading, never a day goes by that you don't read something. Tome, reading is nourishment for the soul, yet I hunger for more on a regular basis.

Like any recipe, reading requires more than one ingredient. No one would read withoutwriters, editors, and publishers. They bring us the words that fill us with knowledgeand/or entertain us. Some of us will never be more than a reader, but otherswho work in the writing world reap double benefits. Not only do they pursue that glorious passion for reading, but they can offer reading material to the world. For onewho loves the written word, doing that offers satisfaction of the finest kind.

I read three newspapers a day, (local paper, Kansas City Star, and Wall Street Journal). I am always in the process of reading a book. When one is finished, there is another waiting for me. I also enjoy reading magazines. Do I read every single word? In a book, more often than not, I do. In newspapers and magazines I read the parts that appeal most to me, which is usually a good share.

I have a friend who panics if she's finished her stack of library books. She'll drop thingson her to-do list to make a needed trip to the library for more books. She says it's her best and easiest way to get rid of stress. The new stack of books brings her comfort and anticipation of what's to come-namely a good read.

I believe Ms. Hardwick and I would have gotten along quite well as we are of the same mind when it comes to the passion for reading. ['ve heard people comment that they don't have time to read books, magazines and newspapers. They do have time to spend endless hours in front of a TV or a computer or an electronic game. It's not they 'don't' have time, rather that they don't 'take' time to read. Maybe you need that passion for reading before you make it a priority