Does Literature Give Life Meaning? 

Your creation is this channel, your reviews, your comments, the community you have created! I appreciate how you use your intelligence, experience and kindness to critique books and to share with the universe. Only good things will come back to you from this!🙏🏼

Eric, on my roamings across the Internet looking for worthwhile books to feed my Kindle with - unfortunately, I keep buying more of them than I will ever be able to read (along with all the printed books that I own on top) - I often land on your channel, which is kind of special. So much real talk, genuine feelings and honest opinions. Your enthusiasm is contagious, your struggles are touching, and you have led me to many a book to add to my reading list. Don't say you've achieved so little in life. Your literary experience, taste, and judgement, and what this channel means to the people who follow it, prove the opposite.

Hello Eric, you reminded me of a character from Korean director Hong Sang Soo’s “The Novelist’s Film”. A woman who was a writer decides to leave everything behind and open a bookshop in a small town. She says that she found the pleasure of reading. It was so moving that she left behind the pressure to be a famous writer and enjoyed reading, just for the pleasure of it. So I think you are happy doing that with your channel. Thanks for helping me and Michael to do it too. ❤

If I'm being honest, I had great ambition when I was younger. Or perhaps daydreams is a better word than ambition, I don't know. My ambition was to be an actor and playwright, but I have not achieved any acting success on a grand scale, and my playwriting is different than what I expected. I have over 30 plays published, but mostly for school and community theater markets, and I do not come close to making a living. These last years, more than I would like to count, I have been taking care of my father who succumbs further each day into dementia, and the stress and lack of routine and stability has taken any time and, frankly, energy I used to dedicate to writing (and for any social life, but that's another story, I suppose). I feel like my ambition has been stripped in some sense. I still have daydreams from time to time, though. And most of my comfort, most of my quiet peace time, does come from reading. Sorry if this is oversharing and beyond the points you were looking to discuss. In any case, thanks for the video, and your channel.

I think your life belongs to you and meaning can be found in many different ways that have nothing to do with recognition from the world. It has taken me my own life journey to come to this conclusion as I had my own ambitions as young person. But I can say, a life without reading would be very hollow indeed.

Just what I think every day. I am 75 and my life is always enhanced by reading I too wonder about the meaning of life I love your channel. You have enhanced my life so keep on doing what you do so well.Reading is breathing It is the way we learn about the world. I must try Martyr again. I am sadly in a reading slump and need to crawl out of it Thanks for all you do

Thank for expressing these thoughts. I have had a rich and useful life but it is miles away from the grand ambitions I had as a young woman to change the world. I have found peace with that and relish that I get to live many other lives through reading. The way you share your reading with others is a gift so I am glad that you don't underestimate that as a purpose and contribution in life, as well as enjoying books for yourself. Sounds like I should read Martyr too.

For me the tipping point was 27. And I always was obsessed with reading so I found a way to live more simply and spend more time with books . I always wrote in notebooks but just for myself , every morning , early , I write for myself a few pages before reading. I realized when discussing books with friends that I have a hyper vivid picture in my mind as I read , and I feel characters emotions, this may be why I get so absorbed in books and enjoy re-reading . I also love poetry . You can spend a life reading - you create your own wild academia .

Hi Eric, thank you so much for this very thoughtful and thought-provoking video. I can totally relate. I think often about how easy it is to think in terms of ‘shoulds’ - eg, I really should push myself to be ambitious and make the most of any creative talents I have. Society does not in general support the idea that just because one can do something, it does not mean that one should or must. But I have been enjoying as I get older coming more and more to the realisation that the most important thing is to work out what is right for us as an individual, and to be confident about going along that path, regardless of what others may say. The importance of the examined life and making choices accordingly, one might say. I very much value and enjoy the work of James Hollis, a Jungian analyst and scholar. His books and talks are so interesting - there are plenty freely available here on RU-vid. Thanks again Eric for feeling able to share your views in such a rich way. And I look forward to checking out Martyr too!

This was a really interesting video, Eric! I am 27 now and starting to feel a bit of that existential dread where I'm reflecting on my life so far, the choices I've made, values I've lived by etc, and whether they still align with my values now, and with what I want my "legacy " in life to be. It's daunting for sure, and sometimes quite an uncomfortable emotion, but for me, literature also helps me with these reflections!

Really love your channel, Olly. I recommended it to a couple of young women just today (given the book converstaion we were having at a local bookstore). I've had Kaveh Akbar's MARTYR! on my TBR list for a long time. I need to read it soon. Keep up the great work. Love your gentle spirit (even though you read some gruesome books).

Nothing wrong with not putting pressure on yourself to do things like writing. Ambition is good, but I think enjoyment of life is equally as important. I had lots of ambition as a young person and burned myself out a couple of times over, so now I try to take a more measured approach at the things I want to accomplish. Loved the thoughts on how books bring you back to different points in life.

There are so many books and so little time!!!!

Reading this one right now and so resonate with your thoughts

Oh! I bought that book yesterday.

Love the big issues. Thank you for sharing. ❤️

A beautiful framing on the life of a reader. And Martyr! is on my June TBR pile.

Touching on something that is this profound seems difficult for me to talk about but I've found that first, it's important for people to find things in their life that has meaning, no matter what those things are. And second, as a voracious reader, and embracing that identity, I feel that I not only bring meaning to my own life, but I bring meaning to other's lives as well. I think it's a powerful thing to have a resource in one's mind when a loved one is going through something difficult that can help them feel less alone, and understand their experiences. I have used books to help people through difficult times and that gives me such a huge sense of satisfaction. The human condition is approached in so many different ways in literature, but I think the importance of literacy and using books to connect and learn from is an extremely important life experience and skill. All that to say I identify with a lot of what you've said in this video. ::hugs::

Well, maybe one can distinguish writing to be published with writing, idk. I'm sorry I can't quite wrap my head around the concept of reading as a meaningful occupation, largely because when I find something substantial I like to spend time with it without interference from some other story. There's something incomparable about creating imaginary conversations and rendering settings, though perhaps the struggle is pulling out in time - before getting lost in the fictive world? Well, I do appreciate the substance of your comments, so thanks very much - enjoy!

I don't think literature give life meaning. They do give perspective and insightfully explore the human condition. Now, what we take away from it beyond mere entertainment depends on one's nature. Presently reading Vasilly Grossman's "Stalingrad." I'm an American male of Mexican descent and generation x. I have nothing in common with Grossman the man, his history, heritage, or generation, yet I understand the diverse characters in his intricate and harrowing book because first and foremost we are human beings. And what Grossman depicts is universally understood. I think that is the key to what is termed "literature." A key opening the door to us.

Eric, I would highly recommend these books: “The Worm at the Core” by Sheldon Solomon. This book does an analysis of one of the best non-fiction books written in the last 50 years - and winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 1974 - “The Denial of Death” by Ernest Becker. I think everyone should (and must) read this book. It will totally change your perspective on human behavior and mortality. Also by Becker: “Escape from Evil” and “The Birth and Death of Meaning”.

This is always the thing thrown at writers (who are also prodigious readers); how can we write about life when we are too busy sat at a desk writing rather than living life? For me, it's a more than fair exchange. In a way, we're writing about an alternative and likely more hopeful version of life.

Talk Talk: Interviews with Writers

I am extremely grateful for your accomplishments in growing a reading/reviewing life ❤ Your review of 'Martyr' has really made me interested in reading the novel. I'd let it just slide by me because I don't particularly enjoy the author's poetry.

At the age of 75, I find that reading gives me much more pleasure than writing. I have had wonderful and enlightening conversations and gained insights from my teachers, my students, my spouse, my friends, my children, my grandchildren, the people I’ve met in my job, on trains, in libraries, in bookstores, in airports, on booktube…well, just everywhere. Books have been my life, have kept me employed (as a literature teacher and later librarian) and have enhanced my relationships with people of all ages, genders, and beliefs.Books have made me aware of different cultures, of people who are very different from me, of many places of interest I have visited or will never visit, of the perceptions different age levels, of different philosophies, of different life styles. Wring brings me into myself, so has a place. But reading has helped me to understand just exactly what my place is. I know who I am in a more complete way. Reading has improved my soul. It continues to do so. I like to think I will die with a book in my hand …………and be very pissed that I didn’t get to finish it! Thank you for your contribution to all of this.

Once you truly know your self, the drive to prove yourself diminishes. It is replaced by doing the things you love. I think the reason we are here is to fully appreciate what god has created. If you can’t live in the moment now then better luck around next time.

Hi Eric. I would love to read the novel you wrote. Can you please provide the name of it - is it still in print? Thanks.

There probably was a time when reading gave my life meaning. There was also a time when reading and writing as a career was a vague dream of mine. Turns out, I think, that I'd been using reading as a substitute for a narrowed living. Once I got out into the real world I found I didn't have much to write about--and no audience. (This was before the internet had blossomed, before search engines, ad-sharing, etc.) Then I got distracted by gaming and the 24 hour online news cycle. These days I primarily read to find the meaning in/of a book (I'm old-fashioned that way) and then use that to expand my ways of thinking. I also want to further my understanding of the meanings that others use to interact with a text. Does any of that give my life more meaning? In some ways, I guess. Outside BookTube comments and unpursued BookTube recordings, I give myself few opportunities for my reading to affect my life, my spheres of influence and activity. In short, while my thought life has been improved by my reading, I'm not sure the world has benefited. If I could upload my mind for the benefit of mankind's further understanding of of itself, that would make me feel better about my reading life. This old-fashioned way of sharing thoughts is daunting--also wordy and time consuming.