The compulsion to read is not unlike a lot of other compulsions, I suppose.
I mean, was going to say that the reading urge is more of a simple please than all the other addictions and desires of the flesh – but I am not sure that is true.
My need to be alone and to be lost in my thoughts, back and forth between the pages of a book, is as real and as physical as the need for food and the need of relationship.
At least I think so. 🤷‍♂️
I feel as though I cannot breathe without it.
For I spent many afternoons in college and graduate school in similar poses, lost among the stacks.
My kind of downtime…
The most striking part of Elon’s character as a young boy was his compulsion to read. From a very young age, he seemed to have a book in his hands at all times. “It was not unusual for him to read ten hours a day,” said Kimbal. “If it was the weekend, he could go through two books in a day.” The family went on numerous shopping excursions in which they realized mid-trip that Elon had gone missing. Maye or Kimbal would pop into the nearest bookstore and find Elon somewhere near the back sitting on the floor and reading in one of his trancelike states.
-Ashley Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Amazon)