Reading is the unbelievably healthy way _x000D_ my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. _x000D_ Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to _x000D_ make contact with reality after a day of making things up.
Nora EphronRead
There is something called the rapture of the deep, and it refers to what happens when a deep-sea diver spends too much time at the bottom of the ocean and can't tell which way is up. When he surfaces, he's liable to have a condition called the bends, where the body can't adapt to the oxygen levels in the atmosphere. All of this happens to me when I surface from a great book.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the profound impact that reading a great book can have on a person, likening it to the physical effects of deep-sea diving.
Nora Ephron uses the metaphor of deep-sea diving to describe the immersive experience of reading a great book. Just as deep-sea divers can become disoriented and face physical challenges when resurfacing, readers may find themselves disoriented or changed after engaging deeply with the world of a book. This highlights the emotional and intellectual depth that literature can provide, leaving a lasting impression on the reader.
Themes
ReadingBooksImmersionLiteratureExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club discussion about the impact of literature.
More from Nora Ephron
All quotes →Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. ... Reading is bliss.
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Every so often I would look at my women friends who were happily married and didn't cook, and I would always find myself wondering how they did it. Would anyone love me if I couldn't cook? I always thought cooking was part of the package: Step right up, it's Rachel Samstat, she's bright, she's funny and she can cook!
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Marriages come and go, but divorce is forever.
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What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that if you melt butter and add flour and then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing! It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure; it has a mathematical certainty in a world where those of us who long for some kind of certainty are forced to settle for crossword puzzles.
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