Throughout my entire life I have been very lucky in my ability to enjoy reading. When we were assigned books to read in highschool, I can honestly say that while most of my classmates were moaning and groaning about the assignments, I became secretly excited. To me, a book I have yet to read is like a brand-new adventure; it takes you places you have never been and opens your eyes to experiences you have never seen. I have been to Vietnam and seen the terror in the eyes of boys forced to fight in a war that they did not understand. I've been to Africa and watched an elderly black pastor suffer greatly for the loss of his son to the corrupt city of Johannesburg. I've experienced the ability to hate and to love, to lie and to trust, and to begin to heal even when I thought it was not possible, all from just reading. I feel reading is a necessary part of my life because it continues to fill me with new ideas and broadens my opportunities to grow and improve. When reading I feel it is crucial that I learn something from it, whether it is small or great, and that the book leaves a mark of remembrance on me. I read for several reasons; the most important of these is the sense of connection, provoking thought, and the impression of security and escape that all come from my reading and growth as a person.
The majority of stories and poems I have read have made a connection with me, like the poem "The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm" by Wallace Stevens. "The words were spoken as if there was no book, except the reader leaned above the page, wanted to lean, wanted much most to be the scholar to whom his book is true" (Stevens). I felt that I was that reader, leaning, wanting greatly to become a part of his book to make the characters come to life. Reading makes the world seem peaceful. Reading takes you to a world where nothing exists except for you and your book. The strange quietness occurs when I read with Steven's reader and we fall deeply into the story, and it remains quite until we return to reality.