An Appreciation for Literature

July 1, 2025 - Why do we read and write? Is it the feeling of calmness and content we seek, the slow feeling one gets when sitting outside a Parisian café, the present-focused city swarming around while the mind is engulfed in wonder? Or is it the feeling of purpose and accomplishment when one reads or writes a beautiful work that will live in the pantheon of literary contributions in years to come? 

Surely life cannot be this ideal or romantic! But if the consumption and production of such works would instead be tedious and choresome, why would anyone commit themselves to such a Sisyphean task?

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion..." - John Keating in Dead Poets Society

Writing is output, the out-pouring of the soul, the expression of humanity; and reading is input, the enjoyment of powerful yet fleeting feelings which only leap up from words written on a page. 

A cynic or fool would then ask why one would spend the time to write thousands of words just for it to communicate an idea or plot that one or two sentences can illustrate. Once again, author's expression and readers' relish; writers feel the urge to write beautiful things, and readers have fondness for such spices of life. Writing isn't just about putting down words or communicating an idea. It's about conveying feeling, conveying passion, to the reader in ways only it can truly do.