What's the Point of Reading?

Today at the library, I picked up a copy of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights". I read this book in high school. I use the term "read" loosely because I probably didn't really put a lot of effort into it at the time. The fact is, I hated it. A lot of that feeling probably came from the fact that I didn't understand it at the time, but maybe I just didn't like it.

Since high school, I've often wondered about "Wuthering Heights". It's a classic, right? But why? I can't think of a single person I know who likes it (maybe some do, I'm just not aware of it). But the fact remains that it's required reading for a lot of students, and it holds a firm place in literature. All of this leads me to the question: what is the point of reading?

If the point of reading is to always love what I'm reading, I'm not going to grow much as a person. Yes, there are a lot of books out there written purely for entertainment, and that's fine. Sometimes it's nice to just get lost in a story and not have to do a lot of thinking. But I think that's what defines literature: it makes you think. It doesn't let you be passive. The reader has to question things, and this may lead a person to dislike the answers they come up with, which in turn may lead them to thinking they dislike the book. Granted, there are some books that people just don't like for no other reason than they just don't, and that's fine. I know for myself there are several books I have read and disliked the outcome, but they still made me analyze my own thinking. That makes them worth the read.

Which is what brings me back to "Wuthering Heights". I don't think I was mature enough to understand the point of reading when I originally read this book. So I'll try it again. If I finish it and still don't like it this time around, at least I'll have a more concrete understanding of why that is. And hopefully I'll have done some good thinking along the way.