As a child, I was obsessed with reading, to the point that I would read pretty much anything I could get my hands on. Reading was a thrill that I never wanted to stop, and it was purely for myself. But at some point between then and now, something shifted; telling me that I should be selective with the books I read, that I should read books that have an element of difficulty to them. A book only felt like it had value if I had to work for it. Many of us feel this common pressure for our reading to have a certain level of intellectual value.
I suspect this shift happened sometime in school when reading started to be assigned as homework. Like many of us, for several years, I only read for school and abandoned any and all reading outside of it. This could explain why, when I started trying to read for myself again after leaving school, it felt like another way in which I should be trying to be productive. It also doesn’t help that when we do read for school, we are not just simply reading, we have to be constantly analysing the text and searching for something deeper. When this is drilled into us for years every time we read, it then can be hard to just appreciate a book for what it is without trying to find a hidden meaning. In my experience, school made me see reading as a chore rather than something to be enjoyed. I’m sure we have all experienced this, to the point where some of us never return to reading at all.
When I did return to reading myself, I felt I couldn’t read an easy book because that would be an unproductive use of my time. This sort of attitude is ingrained in us in all aspects of life by a society that fixates on productivity as being a sort of be-all and end-all. I’m sure most of us would struggle to remember the last time that we just sat and did nothing for a while with no pressure. We are told from an early age that everything we do must have a purpose, must be working towards something. We cannot just enjoy living for a minute, without a deep sense of guilt dragging us back to reality. Sometimes this is subconscious, but it is always there, reminding us that if we’re not working, we are no longer valuable. So it’s no wonder that this presents itself in the books we choose to read: if we aren’t reading books that feel like work, then is it even worth our time? Reading for a purpose, such as bettering yourself, is generally seen as much more valuable than reading just as a hobby. We have this idea that if there is no reason other than pleasure behind our reading, that it’s then viewed as a lesser form of reading.
At the root of this sentiment seems to be a guilt that comes with any pleasure that we don’t feel we have earned. This is an insidious by-product of capitalism that makes us feel that we have to struggle in order to have anything, including pleasure. For example, I know I’m guilty of not letting myself take a break if I don’t feel like I’ve been productive enough. We’ve got this idea built into us that we have to work for our rest, otherwise we don’t deserve it. We even feel guilty for taking breaks when we have ‘worked enough’; we could work non-stop and when we do get a day off to rest, we still feel like we should be doing something.
Yet, on the other side of this, there is the idea that reading a difficult book is a sort of rebellion against the fast-paced, instant gratification mindset that a lot of us have today because of social media. A difficult book provides us with a unique opportunity to actually slow down and put in some time and effort so that we gain a deeper sense of gratification at the end. It can be a form of mindfulness that lets us slow down for a bit. Many of us miss out on the opportunity to truly appreciate any form of art, unless it’s fed to us in short easily-digestible bursts. So reading longer, and harder, books can be a great way to really experience art at a slower pace.
I think we also use the books as a sign of our intelligence to others. Whether we like it or not, most of us are existing and performing for an invisible audience. We all care what other people think of us, even while we’re busy telling ourselves we don’t. If we read books that are more complex or take more effort to read, we feel that other people perceive us as smart. We can signal so many things through our reading: intelligence, education, money, class, values. It is a way to try to control how other people see us. If we read a book that is seen as easy, maybe we’re less educated or intelligent. Because it doesn’t take as much work, it then isn’t seen as serious reading. It is important in all of this to remember to read for ourselves rather than other people, as we will never be truly satisfied if we’re constantly worrying about what others think of us.
One thing we have forgotten in all this, however, is the value of joy in our reading. Without it, we miss out on a lot of the benefits of reading. When we live in a cycle of working and recovering from work, joy is an incredibly rare and valuable thing. We often get consumed by this cycle, trying to make sure everyone knows how stressed we are, so that they know that we’re successful. As this takes over our lives, finding little pockets of joy is what keeps us going. So if you have to read an easy book over a difficult and intellectual book in order to find these, then that is just as important as the books you work hard at reading. I think that many of us have forgotten that life is actually meant to be enjoyed.
Today, it feels like there is a strange combination of people avoiding having to work for things by using AI for everything, while simultaneously criticising people for enjoying life, for example by reading fun books. Working hard, learning lots and bettering yourself are important, but we only get one life, and it seems such a waste to spend that whole life avoiding anything easy and fun. To me, it seems that for a fulfilling and well-rounded life, you need to balance the difficult things that you have to work hard for with easy, simple joys.
There is immense value in an easy book; it can be the thing to bring back your love of reading. Easy books are often also the most popular ones, and there is this quite common feeling that popular things must therefore be less good because they are not as niche. We see this with music, with film, and obviously with books. But we often fail to consider the fact that popular things must be popular for a reason. These so-called easy books must be providing value to a decent number of people. Perhaps these are the people that are less concerned with how their reading is perceived by other people. And sometimes reading can be one of the only areas of your life fuelled purely by love. It can be the relief from an otherwise relentless and exhausting schedule. I find that an easy book, where I can quickly enter into its world, can be the thing to revive a bad day and bring back my drive in life. I find I’m much more easily engrossed in a book where I’m not having to work for it. I can really feel all of the emotions brought up in it when I’m actually immersed in the story. These are the books that I feel change me the most. For example, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a book that I have often seen criticised for its lack of depth, but at a time where I wasn’t reading as much due to other things occupying my time and my mind, that was exactly what I needed to get back into it.
If reading is your only break from work, then why should you have to turn it into more work? While reading difficult books is valuable, that doesn’t take away the value of an easy read. Reading shouldn’t be discounted or taken less seriously just because it’s enjoyable. If anything that makes it especially necessary, as what is the point of life without joy?