This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
The hardest part of going on holiday is choosing which books to take with you. A lightweight thriller or a serious nonfiction? An old favorite or the latest hot literary title?
(Of course, those who use ebook readers might say, "All of the above and more.")
Every decent-sized airport has a bookstore. Each summer brings about one of the biggest annual spikes for book sales. We even have a term, "beach read," to describe a certain kind of pageturner. What is it about books that makes them such important travel companions?
Advertisement
Partly, it's about escape. A book is a doorway to a self-contained world in which the reader is a spectator. On one level, our participation in that world is entirely passive -- we watch as things unfold, and nobody asks anything of us in order for things to happen. There are no phones to answer, no dishes to be done, no difficult questions to answer or things to feel guilty about related to these completed narratives.
And unlike in the real world, we can hear what people are actually thinking, discover what is happening concurrently in different places, leap instantly from one character to another, peer behind closed doors, all the while wrapped up in a narrative arc neater and more linear than our true, disparate and complicated existences. Sometimes, these stories end happily. Occasionally, even happily ever after.
And yet, in the case of the best books, what happens on the page is also so involving that it demands our emotional and intellectual attention as we try to interpret, predict, imagine, understand the meaning and consequences of each piece of information. They grab us by the throat, they make us reluctant to do anything but keep reading, to find the secrets hinted at, to witness the inevitable showdown.
Just as a vacation is intended to take our bodies out of their punishing routines to rest and rejuvenate, so books do the same for our minds. They relax us, engage us, transport us.
Advertisement
If stress is an accumlation of guilt, responsibility, expectation and fear, so a great book is an outpouring of baser, heartpounding emotions that dissipate the moment that you close its covers.
We read to be transported away from ourselves, just for a little while, and then return back to our lives richer for the experience. A great book is the very definition of a de-stress tool. It says, "Let me take you away from this for a while," and then, like a mystical masseuse for the mind, it does so.
More on HuffPost Books:
Editors Picks: Best Books 2012
Support HuffPost
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you’ll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.