What’s the Point of Reading? Just Reading.

Takimag Great works of literature are not self-help books. TakiMag When, as a young man, I applied to be an English teacher, I recall being asked during interviews why it was so vital to interest my (hypothetical) charges in literature. I felt obliged to respond with what I intuited were the expected answers: “To teach them human empathy via the medium of prose,” or some such pablum. But did I really believe this? Personally, the only reason I have ever read books is because I enjoy reading books. De gustibus non disputandum est; matters of taste are beyond dispute (I read that in a book once). But from looking around, I get the sense this is a minority opinion. Reading, society tells us, must provide utility. Moby Dick or Crime and Punishment are less valuable as aesthetic experiences and