I love this existential angst account of why we read. I, for one, see it in a bipolar form. Both a running from and a running toward. I am running from perceived inadequacies in my intellectual understanding of the world by which reading is my primary mode of remediation. I am also running toward this vague notion of wisdom, something which is never fully realized, and always just over on the next horizon.

Writers on writing would be an interesting series.

Series ideas: 1.) Literary analysis walkthrough the classics 2.) Metamorphosis from antireader to bibliomaniac (since everyone is different would be interesting to see these books) 3.) Applying literature to areas of life (how epics such as Paradise Lost can help with understanding recursion in code or how Crime and Punishment teaches Sociology) 4.) Interviews with authors or weekly podcast. Long time subscriber. These videos have changed the game!!

Congratulations on a wonderful series, Chris! It was one of the early videos in the series (maybe even the first) that led me to your channel for the first time. Despite the grand finale, I do hope there will be yet more to come as you continue to discover more reasons we readers read. Just keep the door open a crack, and see what happens. As for your next series, I for one would love your 'Books That Made Me' idea that you teased at the end there. Since you've clearly already been pondering the contents of such a series, I trust you already have some fascinating ideas about how books shape us as readers and as people, and great personalized examples tethered to those ideas. Can't wait!

A bright series about Harold Bloom’s books in full bloom, sprouting from soaking wet word soil.

These last few videos have been exemplary. Really enjoy your reflections, recommendations, & encouragement in these videos. 💯📖📚

Wonderful, inspirational, really! I feel enriched as a reader/writer/person and am grateful for this series. Some of my favorite You(Book)Tube content yet. Thank you. One that did wonders for me that you may or may not have heard of was Brian Dillon's Suppose a Sentence.

Well done as always Chris

Really enjoyed this Chris. Perhaps you could do a series on one book/author from every country that you would recommend reading.

I feel that I'm looking for a book I haven't found yet, maybe that is an analog of what I wish to become

Great books (like any great art) sculp our souls.

Hey Chris! Will surely check it out. I just needed a little help. I was reading a passage from Melville's masterpiece and I came across this line, 'O Nature, and O soul of man! how far beyond all utterance are your linked analogies! not the smallest atom stirs or lives on matter, but has its cunning duplicate in mind." If you have the time can you briefly explain to me your interpretation of it?? You are the foremost authority in literature/ philosophy I can correspond to and I would be extremely grateful.

A very satisfying coda. By the amount of episodes of WDWRF I speculate you're not superstitious :) I find Self's stuff sometimes irksome and sometimes delightful- sometimes at the same time. In the end, he can write (or re-write, like his version of Dorian Gray) but, more to the point, he can read. "I would much rather talk about the books that I read than about myself": same here but then again, is there any difference? Which reminds me, it's time to abridge myself or, as non-readers would have it, have a shave.

Love this series

I commented on an old video kinda making fun of you for saying uh and umm a lot. Just wanted to let you know you talk a lot more fluently now. Awesome to see. Btw I'm reading 2666 and loving it

When are you going to review french provocateur Michel Houellebecq?

such a shame you went over the 12 mark threshhold on this series, looks like you have to make 24 now ;)

is that an IQ test you are wearing (the t-shirt) 😊? because i didn't pass it, didn't recognize the reference 😊

gm

Uhhh 🤔 guess I’ll have to see this to believe this? Or “understand” it? Belief and understanding being synonymous ?🧐

I want to wholeheartedly second @alecasanchez_ 's suggestions about the interviews of authors, I know you would be a great interviewer. I'll go as far as saying you would be a Michael Silverblatt level kind of interviewer. You are so good at asking questions to books, you would be amazing at listening to answers by their authors and, not only authors, but translators as well, or publishers. This would be amazing. I'm pretty sure Sean Cotter would be game. Or try to have D.T. Max on for your next DFW videos. You know you want to (he said snarkily trying to bait him into doing it).