For me it was my father, he had a massive library and would always encourage me to read. He even employed some reverse psychology by limiting how much I could read before bed ( this was when I was 8 or 9ish), knowing that I would rebel and want to read more.
What are your stories Veeky Forums?
poor, broken family. local library was a sanctuary with free entertainment.
How bourgeois.
books provided an escape from the daily drudge of school and as a source of entertainment for when there was nothing to do.
When I was in my late 20s I'd never read much before, but I gained an interest in reading. I bought myself a kindle and downloaded the only book which I'd ever thought to read, 1984. I didn't get it and struggled to read it, and ended up putting it down for several months. Fast forward to late 2015, I met a person on steam (the computer app for playing games) who shared an interest in music (which I was deeply enveloped in at the time) but would also talk about books. He showed me a video by cliff sergeant's better than food book reviews about dostoyevsky's notes from underground, and clarice lispector's the passion according to g.h. I was enthralled, and I ordered those books after some hesitation.
I then ordered 1984, with more determination and confidence, after finishing some established classics, like the metamorphosis by franz kafka, and the stranger by albert camus. I read 1984 in about 3 days, completing about 100 pages a day. I ended up finishing about 10 books in 2016, and getting a ways through a good many other books which I was never really able to finish, like moby dick, brave new world, nausea, notes from underground, and hunger.
I have since been a bit obsessed with reading classic literature, and I attribute this to my rabid curiosity of all forms of art, and my obsessive need to explore and develop a deeper knowledge of art. This is how I used to feel about video games, and still do to a lesser extent feel about music (although I now focus a lot on classical music, and not so much the numerous other genres I've come to know).
When I was a child I wrote little stories about things I experienced, like catching a fish and such, but it didn't stick and by now it's been destroyed due to a flood. wasn't important anyways. When I was just barely a teenager I discovered what RPing was online, on a forum. With that I started developing my writing ability by writing multiple-paragraph RP posts. I did this for years, right up until my late-teens before I stopped and by then was probably considered one of the best and most highly detailed RPers on the forum.
After a few years, largely terrible years, I eventually got into it again in my early-mid 20s. Further improved my writing abilities until 2016 when I decided to write a book, which is something I've wanted to do for many years. I basically stopped RPing altogether now, in exchange for writing books. I also discovered my love of reading in my early 20s when I spent some time locked up, but sadly I also don't read much anymore because I focus most of my time writing books.
Back in 2015 I was doing a lot of psychedelics, dissociatives, and amphetimines. At the peak of my insanity, I wanted to do and learn EVERYTHING. I had a psychotic break and had to cut the crap. Certain feelings stuck with me though. As my short term memory, passion, and attention span were coming back and the strange unreal and "divine" feelings were going away, I though that since my anhedonia made normal entertainment pointless, I should rather invest in the memory of wanting to learn it all and spend my ghost-like days reading. They say knowledge is its own reward, so it doesn't have to be fun.
At first it was a lot of spooky new age garbage like Alan watts, Terrence McKenna, and Ram dass, but through speculation I found it didn't hold up like the other philosophies I was studying. My dad is a big philosophy buff so I have a nice collection of Greek philosophy books. After that pseudo-nonsense, I got into Russian literature and existentialism. They alone captured the strange feelings that occupied my days.
Now that I have stopped all drugs and it has been a few years I'm almost all back. I've gotten my focus up enough to finish books I have always wanted to read this year. Such as the Iliad, Crime and punishment, and now I'm on the bandwagon and reading Infinite Jest.
As a child, I didn't have many friends, but I did have access to as many books as I could read. I was a voracious reader, devouring everything I could get my hands on. Books transported me to another world at an instant's notice, and they could be taken anywhere.
My first encounter with the classics was the Great Illustrated Classics Series, which are retellings of classic novels with some pictures. They were much more enjoyable than the other garbage that teachers encouraged us to read, so I began tackling the unabridged classics as soon as I could.
When I realized that I could create my own worlds, I became a writer. I had specific tastes, and often couldn't find books that satisfied them, so I started scribbling my own little stories in a composition book. Although I never really developed into a very good writer, I still do it as a sort of therapy.
books are for nerds
Initially I started out with hedonism. I took pleasure in small things. Such as the feeling of wet leaves or the smell of a well lotioned massage parlour.
Soon I started to look at portraits and landscape paintings and was impressed by how much emotion could be brought out in a person by mere paint. Fascinated by it really.
I then started paying attention to films. And how the imagery used in them made you feel. How classical music and the blues made you feel. How colours and smell also made you feel.
I indulged in the Nymphomania vol1 + 2, and somehow learnt about Celine's Journey to the end of the night.
I then started to read Bukowski, among other poets, and a wide range of novels.
I quickly became impressed with how much imagery and emotion a well written piece of literature can make you experience. And thus I continued to read as much as possible. And I write, little, in an attempt to create the same experiences on a page as I have felt in my life.
Personally I think writing is the most impressive way of making a person feel something. The idea of mere letters on a blank page causing a person to re-evaluate things and feel strong emotion excites me.
So yeah.
That's the size of it.