A metaphor, the whole thing (How to read and why, Harold Bloom)

Somewhere Else

A good place to be today. Beats the snow we got again. It isn't an island I really want to read about. Truth is I would just as soon really be there.

Blog Questions

This blog has a lot in it about books. Literature is often the subject matter. On the other hand Literature my be just a metaphor for a desire to be different. A desire to be elsewhere, for a while anyway. This out of necessity requires that it represents being different than oneself.

Writing in many ways accomplishes the same thing. It comes from a desire to be elsewhere. In a different time and a different place.

Why Read .......In the book,"How to Read and Why"

by Harold Bloom it suggests an answer. It says to do so because

"it matters". We can prepare ourself for change and we can weigh and consider.

It adds that the pleasures of reading are selfish rather than social. The reason being that you cannot directly improve anyone else's life by reading better or more deeply.