When Bormann described reading as an act of realizing information, I totally agreed. For me, reading has always had this purpose, connecting my imagination to reality in new and different ways. Reading compels me to examine my experiences and helps me to understand who I am more fully. Without doubt, I believe that good literature makes me more aware of myself. Thus, I could readily understand Borgmann’s concept of entertainment reading versus active reading.
According to Borgmann, reading for entertainment concerns immediate gratification while reading actively corresponds to higher-level thinking. Reading actively forces a reader to use all of his experiences and knowledge to interpret the story, making it difficult for one to grasp the full meaning of the novel on the first read. Therefore, multiple readings are often necessary when one is attempting to read actively.
For example, when I first read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, I did not completely understand it. However, my ignorance forced me to pick up the book again and reread it in order to grasp what the novel was conveying according to my experiences at the time. Now, every time I read the novel, I feel something different because the context in which I read it has changed.
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