Books are an escape that open the world as they open the mind.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
In a world where the internet teems with content and people generate millions of AI prompts daily, it could be argued that the act of reading is alive and well. Unfortunately, there’s a malady hidden by that apparent health.
Although there are Canadians who read avidly, and some of our authors are world-famous, we are not a nation of readers. Not of books, anyway.
In 2022, only one-third of Canadians picked up a book every day. And a 2024 survey found that even self-identified readers didn’t read very much. Barely half of them read more than five books annually.
There’s an important distinction to be made here between the sort of browsing done online and sitting down with a book. An artificial intelligence-generated summary can tell a person what happened in The Odyssey – spoiler, he got home – but that doesn’t replace the value of actually reading the epic poem.
Reading helps us focus and makes us reflect. It stretches our intellect even as it nourishes it. And the private act of reading can, ironically, help make people better citizens.
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This latter point may be unwelcome territory for anyone who remembers being told as a child to read something “because it is good for you.” Or a book-club member who slogged through a tome because it was expected of them.
So let’s begin with the personal benefits that reading brings. Because they are plentiful.
Books have the power to transport. While reading about another country is not as illuminating as travelling to it, a book offers a much more affordable sort of visit than a plane ticket. Books are an escape that open the world as they open the mind. And they are the only way that people can journey through ages past.
Reading can educate and inspire. Knowing that others have faced similar situations provides comfort, or solutions. The sense of being part of a greater whole prompts action and promotes humility. Open-minded reading is the antidote to misanthropy.
Books encourage valuable focus in a world trying hard to distract. Research shows that attention spans are dropping. A study published in 2023 found the average adult had an attention span of barely longer than a minute. The ability to focus is like a muscle that can atrophy unless exercised. Reading is a great way to make it stronger.
Reading is also good for the brain. It improves memory and allows for better sleep. It reduces stress and promotes relaxation. It may slow cognitive decline.
Finally, digging into a book is one of the few remaining socially acceptable ways to be quiet and alone. In a loud and busy modern life that demands connection, reading is a reprieve. It is a licence for solitude.
Paradoxically, that solitary pursuit can improve civic participation. That is because meaningful democracy requires an educated population. Staying on top of the news is a start, but only a start. Voters without a sense of history have no context against which to weigh politicians’ promises. Without the empathy reading can nurture they are less willing to accept that, in the give and take of electoral politics, sometimes their side loses. Without critical thinking, they are easy prey for AI deceptions and misinformation campaigns.
The diminishment of reading comes as something of a surprise.
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The invention of the printing press allowed the written word to spread far and wide. People were eager to read. Books were still expensive, because they were costly to produce, but they increasingly became available to regular people. And their value went beyond mere price. There was a time when books were prized.
That time survives in Iceland. During the war – when consumer goods were scarce but paper was not rationed – Icelanders began a lovely tradition of giving books for Christmas. The practice is so popular now that the term Jolobokaflod, which translates as Christmas book flood, has come to mean both the release of new titles and the giving of them.
People exchange these gifts on Dec. 24 and then settle in with a hot beverage and their new book.
This country doesn’t have that same tradition, though many Canadians will have been given books last month. Hopefully they took the time to curl up and immerse themselves in the pages. Those hours, unplugged from devices and lost in the written word, are one of the greatest gifts of all.