Do you read books?

[BigOC]

I don't doubt that, but if you read 10-15 hours a day, it seems like you must've missed out on a lot more than just TV. Like... life.[/quote]

that same claim can be made for anyone who has been homeschooled, who has missed out on the whole social aspect of life. four of us are in college curently and i daresay doing great socially, so which part of life did we miss again?

 

[Jzero]

Read a TON until about high school when I was just too busy to read much. After I graduated college and I had more free time, I began to read again. I mostly read sci-fi, but I wander all over the spectrum. Right now I'm about halfway through the Edith Grossman translation of Don Quixote.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: thirtythree

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
You people are sad. Sad, sad. I am not surpised, however.

Who's sad, and why?

People who have never in their life finished a book. Those that only read books because they were "forced" to in school.

Reading is one of the few universal activities that exercises your mind, while building your vocabulary skills, linguistic knowledge, comprehension abilities, and potential factual knowledge (based on material.)

It's sad for the exact same reason someone saying "I've never exercised in my life" is sad. What a waste.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Read a book a week on average. Keeps the mind active and is much more fullfilling than watching tv.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: thirtythree
Those that only read books because they were "forced" to in school.

Of course, forcing students to read in school is a major reason why so many people hate to read. School turned it into a chore; an idiotic orgy of over-analyzing, over-questioning, and reading awful, dated works simply because someone somewhere decided they were "classics."

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: BigOC

I don't doubt that, but if you read 10-15 hours a day, it seems like you must've missed out on a lot more than just TV. Like... life.

that same claim can be made for anyone who has been homeschooled, who has missed out on the whole social aspect of life. four of us are in college curently and i daresay doing great socially, so which part of life did we miss again?

Most people I know who have been homeschooled didn't spend 10-15 hours a day doing school stuff and were quite social, so the same claim can't really be made of anyone who's been homeschooled. And missing out on things != being messed up later in life. It just seems like it would've been hard to have friends or many other hobbies when you spent so much time reading.

 

[bandana163]

Yes, but I'm very selective regarding my books and I don't speed read (I'm pretty fast, but it ruins the enjoyment).
I try to avoid "average" books, but I tend to re-read the best ones.
My favorite genres are: philosophical novel (Faust, Divina Comedia, The Tragedy of Man), comedy (Svejk) and fantasy (Dragonlance...). I also like post-modern and surrealist novels, but finding a really good one is never easy.

 

[Cheezeit]

i forgot how to read

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Those that only read books because they were "forced" to in school.

Of course, forcing students to read in school is a major reason why so many people hate to read. School turned it into a chore; an idiotic orgy of over-analyzing, over-questioning, and reading awful, dated works simply because someone somewhere decided they were "classics."

Of course, I can understand some of that. But to be fair. Many people are now adults and have the ability to counter this obvious character flaw.

I hated eating vegetables when I was a child because I was made to do so. Now that I am an adult, after a few years of smuggly not eating them, I realize how absurd that was and gradually picked them back up. You have the ability to change your behaviours. Blaming others for everything is merely a cop-out.

Much as I realized brocolli was not only good for you, but good tasting, you, too, can realize that Catcher in the Rye is not only a classic tale, but an interesting and though-provoking one as well. :thumbsup:

 

[hevnsnt]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: thirtythree

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
You people are sad. Sad, sad. I am not surpised, however.

Who's sad, and why?

People who have never in their life finished a book. Those that only read books because they were "forced" to in school.

Reading is one of the few universal activities that exercises your mind, while building your vocabulary skills, linguistic knowledge, comprehension abilities, and potential factual knowledge (based on material.)

It's sad for the exact same reason someone saying "I've never exercised in my life" is sad. What a waste.

your a nerd

I keep my mind stimulated by "hacking" and riding my motorcycle. Not reading books.

 

[jjones]

I read books every day. I find it odd that some people don't like to read.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: thirtythree

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
You people are sad. Sad, sad. I am not surpised, however.

Who's sad, and why?

People who have never in their life finished a book. Those that only read books because they were "forced" to in school.

Reading is one of the few universal activities that exercises your mind, while building your vocabulary skills, linguistic knowledge, comprehension abilities, and potential factual knowledge (based on material.)

It's sad for the exact same reason someone saying "I've never exercised in my life" is sad. What a waste.

your a nerd

I keep my mind stimulated by "hacking" and riding my motorcycle. Not reading books.

Reading something one in a while would have clued you in that it's "You're a nerd."

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Many people are now adults and have the ability to counter this obvious character flaw.

Adults still base their actions on reward. You tried reading in school. It was tedious and boring. You have spent your entire life without reading for leisure and have not experienced any noticeable negative consequences for it, so unless you want to try it for the sake of doing so, you're not going to bother.

It's not blaming others at all. The fact of the matter is simply that the "normal" education system we have, instead of cultivating a love and interest for reading, has become obsessed with the force-feeding of so-called classics and picking them apart ad nauseum. I learned to read very young. I learned to read for pleasure before school taught me to read for pain. Many others were not as lucky as I.

 

[hevnsnt]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: hevnsnt

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: thirtythree

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
You people are sad. Sad, sad. I am not surpised, however.

Who's sad, and why?

People who have never in their life finished a book. Those that only read books because they were "forced" to in school.

Reading is one of the few universal activities that exercises your mind, while building your vocabulary skills, linguistic knowledge, comprehension abilities, and potential factual knowledge (based on material.)

It's sad for the exact same reason someone saying "I've never exercised in my life" is sad. What a waste.

your a nerd

I keep my mind stimulated by "hacking" and riding my motorcycle. Not reading books.

Reading something one in a while would have clued you in that it's "You're a nerd."

LOL I deserved that one!

 

[Kevin1211]

yes. Im currently reading "Biggest Brother:The Life of Major Dick Winters,The Man Who Led The Band of Brother." I'll read anything based on WWII.

 

[igowerf]

I've always read outside of school, even in elementary school. Ironically, I hated most school assigned reading, but now that I've graduated college, I'll never have that again.

 

[vi edit]

When I was traveling a lot, I read quite a bit. Nothing better to do when you have a 3 hour layover in an airport and then a 4 hour flight.

Lately though, I've been spending a lot of my spare time reading...except it's the study guides/walkthroughs for Tech Certifications.

Certainly not as entertaining or as enjoyable as a good fiction book.

:frown:

 

[Kelemvor]

Some people that don't have an imagination and reading books doesn't work for them. They have to see the movie to understand it.

I read but I only read Sci-Fi/Fantasy books.

 

[HombrePequeno]

I'm reading Catch-22 right now. Generally I read non-fiction though. If I do get around to reading fiction, the book had to have an impact on how things are/were done. I don't see the point in reading something like Tom Clancy when you get just as much out of it when you watch a movie.

 

[vi edit]

I don't see the point in reading something like Tom Clancy when you get just as much out of it when you watch a movie.

A movie couldn't begin to go into the plot and character development that a book can. That's why so many movies based off of books get such bad reviews from people that and read and seen both.

Jurrasic Park was a good movie, but the book was so much more dark and chaotic and the movie completely lost that aspect.

Same thing with Clancy novels. The movies are all about explosions and show of force. They can't relay the mental games and strategical chess matches the books can provide.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

I don't see the point in reading something like Tom Clancy when you get just as much out of it when you watch a movie.

A movie couldn't begin to go into the plot and character development that a book can. That's why so many movies based off of books get such bad reviews from people that and read and seen both.

Jurrasic Park was a good movie, but the book was so much more dark and chaotic and the movie completely lost that aspect.

Same thing with Clancy novels. The movies are all about explosions and show of force. They can't relay the mental games and strategical chess matches the books can provide.

With the Count of Monte Cristo, it took about 2 hours of the book on CD to get through what was covered in the first few minutes of the movie (although I will admit they did a decent job compressing it). I'm now about 10 hours in with 30+ hours to go, and it's covered well over half the movie. I can only assume that in the next 30 hours, I'll come across some things that were totally left out of the movie.

 

I read as much as i can, usually at the beach or before bed.

 

[minus1972]

Executive Orders was the only Clancy book I read and there's no way they could make a movie to stand up to it.

 

[SketchMaster]

Funny, it seems that alot of people that hang out on the fourms like to read read.

Yet when someone posts something thats longer than a paragraph the only remarks they get are "OMG CLIFS!".

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: SketchMaster
Funny, it seems that alot of people that hang out on the fourms like to read read.

Yet when someone posts something thats longer than a paragraph the only remarks they get are "OMG CLIFS!".

"The vocal minority." Plus, the average YAGT poster is no Dickenson or Twain. :thumbsup: