Books soothe, give bright emotions, help to better understand ourselves and others, and sometimes even can change our lives. Why do we enjoy reading? And can books cause a psychotherapeutic effect?
Psychologies: Reading is one of the greatest pleasures in our lives. It tops the top 10 most calming activities, that bring the greatest feeling of happiness and life satisfaction. What do you think is its magical power?
Stanislav Raevsky, Jungian analyst: The main magic of reading, it seems to me, is that it awakens the imagination. One of the hypotheses why man became so smart, separated from animals, is that he learned to imagine. And when we read, we give free rein to fantasy and imagination. Moreover, modern books in the non-fiction genre, in my opinion, are more interesting and significant than fiction in this sense. We meet in them both a detective story and elements of psychoanalysis; deep emotional dramas sometimes unfold there.
Even if the author talks about such seemingly abstract topics as physics, he not only writes in a living human language, but also projects his inner reality onto external circumstances, what happens to him, what is relevant to him, all those emotions, which he is experiencing. And the world around us comes alive.
Speaking of literature in the broadest sense, how therapeutic is it to read books?
It’s definitely therapeutic. First of all, we ourselves live in a novel. Narrative psychologists like to say that each of us lives in a certain plot from which it is very difficult to get out. And we tell ourselves the same story all the time. And when we read, we have a rare opportunity to move from this, our own, history to another. And this happens thanks to the mirror neurons, which, along with the imagination, have done so much for the development of civilization.
They help us to understand another person, to feel his inner world, to be in his story.
This ability to live the life of another is, of course, an incredible pleasure. As a psychologist, I live many different destinies every day, joining my clients. And readers can do this by connecting with the heroes of the books and sincerely empathizing with them.
Reading different books and thus connecting with different characters, we in a sense connect different subpersonalities in ourselves. After all, it only seems to us that one person lives in us, which is realized in one specific way. “Living” different books, we can try different texts on ourselves, different genres. And this, of course, makes us more holistic, more interesting – for ourselves.
What books do you particularly recommend to your clients?
I am very fond of books that, in addition to good language, have a road or a path. When the author is well aware of some area. Most often, we are concerned with the search for meaning. For many people, the meaning of their life is not obvious: where to go, what to do? Why did we even come into this world? And when the author can give answers to these questions, it is very significant. Therefore, I recommend semantic books, including fiction books, to my clients.
For example, I love Hyoga’s novels very much. I always identify with his characters. This is both a detective and very deep reflections on the meaning of life. It seems to me that it is always good when the author has a light at the end of the tunnel. I am not a supporter of literature in which this light is closed.
An interesting study was conducted by psychologist Shira Gabriel from the University of Buffalo (USA). Participants in her experiment read excerpts from Harry Potter and then answered questions on a test. It turned out that they began to perceive themselves differently: they seemed to enter the world of the heroes of the book, feeling like witnesses or even participants in events. Some even claimed to have magical powers. It turns out that reading, allowing us to immerse ourselves in another world, on the one hand, helps to get away from problems, but on the other hand, can not violent imagination take us too far?
Very important question. Reading can really become a kind of drug for us, albeit the safest one. It can create such a beautiful illusion that we are immersed in, moving away from real life, avoiding some kind of suffering. But if a person goes into the world of fantasy, his life does not change in any way. And books that are more semantic, over which you want to reflect, argue with the author, can be applied to your life. It is very important.
After reading a book, you can completely change your destiny, even start it all over again
When I came to study at the Jung Institute in Zurich, I was struck by the fact that all the people there were much older than me. I was then about 30 years old, and most of them were 50-60 years old. And I was surprised how people learn at that age. And they finished part of their destiny and in the second half decided to study psychology, to become professional psychologists.
When I asked what prompted them to do this, they answered: “Jung’s book” Memories, Dreams, Reflections, “we read and understood that it was all written about us, and we only want to do this.”
And the same thing happened in Russia: many of my colleagues admitted that Vladimir Levy’s The Art of Being Yourself, the only psychological book available in the Soviet Union, made them become psychologists. In the same way, I am sure that some, by reading some books of mathematicians, become mathematicians, and some, by reading some other books, become writers.
Can a book change a life or not? What do you think?
The book, no doubt, can have a very strong effect and in some sense change our lives. With an important condition: the book must be in the zone of proximal development. Now, if we already have a certain preset inside by this moment, a readiness for change has ripened, the book becomes a catalyst that starts this process. Something changes inside me – and then I find answers to my questions in the book. Then it really opens the way and can change a lot.
In order for a person to feel the need to read, the book must become a familiar and necessary companion of life as early as childhood. The habit of reading must be developed. Today’s children – generally speaking – have no interest in reading. When is it not too late to fix everything and how to help your child fall in love with reading?
The most important thing in education is an example! The child reproduces our style of behavior
If we are stuck on gadgets or watching TV, it is unlikely that he will read. And it’s pointless to tell him: “Please read a book, while I’ll watch TV.” This is rather strange. I think if both parents read all the time, then the child will automatically become interested in reading.
In addition, we live in a magical time, the best children’s literature is available, we have a huge selection of books that are hard to put down. You need to buy, try different books. The child will definitely find his book and understand that reading is very pleasant, it develops. In a word, there should be a lot of books in the house.
Until what age should you read books aloud?
I think you should read to death. I’m not even talking about children now, but about each other, about a couple. I advise my clients to read with a partner. It is a great pleasure and one of the most beautiful forms of love when we read good books to each other.
About expert
Stanislav Raevsky – Jungian analyst, director of the Institute for Creative Psychology.
The interview was recorded for the joint project of Psychologies and radio “Culture” “Status: in a relationship”, radio “Culture”, November 2016.