I don’t believe one reads to escape reality. A person reads to confirm a reality he knows is there, but which he has not experienced.
'We live' writes Pursewarden somewhere 'lives based upon selected fictions. Our view of reality is conditioned by our position in space and time — not by our personalities as we like to think. Thus every interpretation oа reality is based upon a unique position. Two paces east or west and the whole picture is changed.
We should tackle reality in a slightly jokey way, otherwise we miss its point.
To be the equal of reality you must learn how to ignore it without danger.