People who don't read books.

smash

Audio books FTW.

El Horseboxo

I love reading and tend to read really quickly. Most weeks i'd read about 3 books. Sometimes more. Can't stand fiction though and i'm running out of books that interest me.

Pherekydes

BrensBenz wrote: »

In terms of human evolution, popular reading is a fairly recent development. We survived for tens of thousands of years without reading the latest chic-lit and we will survive when it has long turned to compost.

Book reading is around a lot longer than computers, TV or Air travel.

And do you really think that the literacy levels of our children will be raised simply by reading the latest tripe?

Not all fiction is tripe. It's quite alright to pick and choose. It all comes down to personal preference. Just like TV, movies, music or food.

Don't let people tell you what you're eating or reading is tripe.

Edit: Forgot to add that, yes, children's literacy levels will improve by consuming literature. I thought that would be trivial.

[Rasta]

I read one book once, it was merely an attempt to see if I could get into reading books more often. It was enjoyable but I have far more interesting and enjoyable things to do throughout the day so I just don't read at all. Even on the internet, if an article/post is longer than about 20 lines I don't bother reading it

I am more of a visual person, who needs graphs, images, videos and things to learn rather than the good old 50 pages of text. As regards imagination, I generally pull ideas from what I've seen rather than what I've read. I don't see reading as a requirement to become 'intelligent', as I'm considered intelligent and yet have only ever read 1 book(da vinci code or something like that).

Who would want to read the news anyway? It is always the same over and over and over, people getting massacred in the middle east, general politics no one cares about, banking, along with uninteresting facts and skewed statistics. The only remotely interesting bits of news are the latest advancements in science and technology.

I also feel genuinely sorry for all those who read up on celebrity gossip 24/7. Life well spent!

fallen01angel

I have to say I find it odd if someone has never picked up a book to read for the pleasure of it but each to their own,I just feel it's a matter of finding the right book and it just goes from there,the 1st book I bought(community jumble sale) was a Sven Hassel world war 2 novel-I was 11 and hooked,ended up getting the whole collection and v p*ssed off when a few years later my Mum dumped them.......I genuinely could not imagine my life without books in it.

meoklmrk91

I would read a fair amount, it always depends on what's going on though. If I have a busy month then I may get no books read, but then I may read a lot as I am stressed out and it relaxes me it all depends. I have read ever since I was a kid and I used to go through books at an amazing pace. I don't know where I got it from since no one in my family really read then.

Most of the people I know don't read, I find it weird but sure it's their own choice. One of my sisters who never read as a child or a teen unless she had to now goes through books like gangbusters. And my mam even reads the odd time now. My best friend does do a bit of reading, usually those Jordan books:( which I wouldn't read if I was paid. All it takes is one book, a really good one to drag people in a they will never stop then. Also everyone should get their kids books, get them ones that they are interested in and don't force it on them. You will be doing them a massive favour.

Contessa Raven

I love reading. My favourite way to relax and unwind is to get lost in a great book. My favourite genres are urban fantasy, fantasy and historical fiction. I dabble in other genres too.

I have three female best friends. Two of them are bookworms like me and we all have similar tastes so we usually end up reading the same books at some point.
The friend who doesn't read always gets angry at us for talking about the books we've read when we're all together. (Although it's not like we do it the whole time. We talk about other things too!)
It's gotten to the point now where I meet up with the bookworms separately so we can talk about books just so we don't alienate the other friend.

pickarooney

Pherekydes wrote: »

Don't let people tell you what you're eating or reading is tripe.

Unless you're actually eating tripe although in that case it would be a bit redundant for someone to tell you that.

Mindkiller

[Rasta] wrote: »

I am more of a visual person, who needs graphs, images, videos and things to learn rather than the good old 50 pages of text. As regards imagination, I generally pull ideas from what I've seen rather than what I've read. I don't see reading as a requirement to become 'intelligent', as I'm considered intelligent and yet have only ever read 1 book(da vinci code or something like that).

To be fair though, there are a ton of things which can't be properly articulated with videos and graphs. One of the reasons why the movie adaptation of Ulysses was such a pile of pointless poo.

--LOS--

I wouldnt judge anyone for it, not having an interest in music is a way bigger deal imo. personally I don't read a lot of normal books because if I'm reading something it is for college, scientific books, journal papers, articles.

[Rasta]

Mindkiller wrote: »

To be fair though, there are a ton of things which can't be properly articulated with videos and graphs. One of the reasons why the movie adaptation of Ulysses was such a pile of pointless poo.

Plenty movies out there (especially those asian martial arts ones) would be worthless in a book imo, and in the end its a matter of taste and what you have accustomed yourself to, which will decide which your prefer. Everyone interprets things differently and just because Ulysses was a pile of pointless poo to you doesn't mean someone else wont get something of use out of it.

Fluorescence

I talked about something similar a while back on my blog, Here's a related part:

I have always read. In my house we were born with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in the other. I’ve never not been in the middle of some book or other. When I was in 6th class of primary school, I once got in trouble with my teacher for reading Malory Towers under the desk during lessons. Ever since I first read my first real fantasy novel The Hobbit I have been obsessed with Fantasy books. I hoover them up. When I don’t have new books to read I re-read the many that fill my shelves. I usually get through 2 a week, at a casual rate. When I was in my final year of secondary school my English teacher forbade me from reading and told me to only read the core texts I would be examined on for the next few months.

Obviously, when you consider this, I find it baffling (truly baffling) that some people just hate books. I know different people like different things, but reading has always been a huge part of my life. Books make me feel a range of emotions: joy, satisfaction, deep sadness, restlessness or just frustration. If I finish a book I've really gotten into I sometimes feel bereft.

In general, I find them infinitely more engaging than films, because the length really lets you get your teeth into a good story. I'm not a snob about it, not a bit. I just cannot comprehend a life without books. Nowadays there's more literature available than ever before, with literacy rates the highest they've ever been. I'm so very grateful for that. I just find it very difficult to accept that other people don't take advantage of their lucky situation.

Snakeblood

fluorescence wrote: »

I talked about something similar a while back on my blog, Here's a related part:



Obviously, when you consider this, I find it baffling (truly baffling) that some people just hate books. I know different people like different things, but reading has always been a huge part of my life. Books make me feel a range of emotions: joy, satisfaction, deep sadness, restlessness or just frustration. If I finish a book I've really gotten into I sometimes feel bereft.

In general, I find them infinitely more engaging than films, because the length really lets you get your teeth into a good story. I'm not a snob about it, not a bit. I just cannot comprehend a life without books. Nowadays there's more literature available than ever before, with literacy rates the highest they've ever been. I'm so very grateful for that. I just find it very difficult to accept that other people don't take advantage of their lucky situation.

Hah, I got done for reading Famous Five when I was in primary. Blyton fans unite.

Dudess

BrensBenz wrote: »

In terms of human evolution, popular reading is a fairly recent development. We survived for tens of thousands of years without reading the latest chic-lit and we will survive when it has long turned to compost.
Personally, I have a hang-up about “the best”. As a kid, I read lots of stuff. Then I read Dickens and thought “that’s it” - nothing can beat that.” Since then, a few authors have stood out (e.g. Steinbeck; Flann O’Brian, etc.) but, for me, the vast majority don’t come anyway near that standard. I can’t help but go into compare / contrast mode and then resort to text books describing how to do useful stuff!
I can’t read Shakespeare! Some might say I’m a philistine but the generations of educators and professional students telling me how great Shakespeare is – and failing my exams if I dare to disagree – only bring out the rebel in me.
I would staunchly resist being beaten up by the reading police because I don’t have the latest whodunnit or (shudder) boy meets girl in my bumbag or Kindle. And do you really think that the literacy levels of our children will be raised simply by reading the latest tripe?
A very wise man once asked me how to get a pig upstairs. “You point him towards the stairs and pull him away from it”. If you want kids to read, show them where the books are and tell them not to open them.

You've your own preferences - not many are going to have a problem with that. And why would the reading police have a problem with you not having a kindle or the latest whodunnit or boy meets girl book? I'd have thought such folks wouldn't be a fan of the latter. You're coming up with fairly strange logic. Also, why are you pretending literature is only tripe/chick-lit?
Just read what you want - don't see why you feel compelled to explain yourself.

Princess Peach

Everybody should read 2 books a week and buy all their books in my bookshop.

I REALLY need a bonus this month.

Scanlas The 2nd

--LOS-- wrote: »

I wouldnt judge anyone for it, not having an interest in music is a way bigger deal imo. personally I don't read a lot of normal books because if I'm reading something it is for college, scientific books, journal papers, articles.

I like music but would struggle to name bands,albums songs. Just don't care. Like listening to it but don't get people's obsession with knowing the details.

old hippy

El Horseboxo wrote: »

I love reading and tend to read really quickly. Most weeks i'd read about 3 books. Sometimes more. Can't stand fiction though and i'm running out of books that interest me.

That's a pity. Which fiction don't you like? The classics? Crime? Sci fi? All?

Pherekydes

Domo230 wrote: »

4 percent of people have a condition called amusia and cant process music correctly. It all sounds the same to them and they think music sucks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4655352.stm

They could get a job writing music for Jedward.

ilovesleep

I love browsing bookshops and I sometimes I might buy a book with good intentions but I just never get around to reading any.

I find myself getting completely lost after a paragraph or two and I have to start over. It just doesn't register with me. So I very rarely get past the first page or two.

I would much prefer to play a game on the nintendo.

old hippy

Princess Peach wrote: »

Everybody should read 2 books a week and buy all their books in my bookshop.

I REALLY need a bonus this month.

Is it a second hand/charity bookshop? Cos that's where I buy all mine...

bnt

kowloon wrote: »

There is a fair bit of snobbery around the printed word.

That's a turnip for the books. Back in the day, it was the working class (and academics) who had pretensions of betterment, and who read because it offered a temporary escape from the reality of life. The cream of society - rich and thick - had no need of betterment, since they had money.

For example, Charles Dickens became wildly successful through serialisation of his novels in popular magazines: available to all without the need to go near a library. Now everyone, regardless of class, has access to every form of mass entertainment, and books are too hard. Well, if you're going to watch a movie, how about renting Idiocracy?

PS: yes, I know, it's really a turn-up. Bite the turnip.

Shattered Dreamer

Yeah I have to say people who think they are better than others because they read more really need to get a life! Just because you're "well read" doesn't mean you're "intelligent" and this thread has made it clear to me a few amongst us here don't know the difference.

kincsem

Their always loosing things and looking for advise.

old hippy

Shattered Dreamer wrote: »

Yeah I have to say people who think they are better than others because they read more really need to get a life! Just because you're "well read" doesn't mean you're "intelligent" and this thread has made it clear to me a few amongst us here don't know the difference.

It's not an application for mensa. It's just a lot of people enjoy reading.

dammitjanet

I always feel if I don't read I'm not as sharp. Reading keeps my mind active.
That said, I spend a lot of time playing xbox and watching **** on tv, but I need to read my chapter each night, just closes the day for me.

I love book shopping, hate libaries. I like to buy my books and trade them in to an exchange bookshop after.

old hippy

dammitjanet wrote: »

I love book shopping, hate libaries. I like to buy my books and trade them in to an exchange bookshop after.

Why not buy them in second hand/charity shop in the beginning, save a lot of money?

Da Shins Kelly

ScumLord wrote: »

But they're still biased and their intention is to tell a particular persons storey. If you really wanted a fair description of the time you'd have to read all accounts and remove peoples bias from the equation.

You could say that about any version of history. Any history book you read will have the bare facts, but there's always some bias there, and people often have their own version of events sorted out in their heads before they even properly read up on a topic. Often I find that novels that deal with historical events do so in a much more accessible and straight-forward way than any history book, and often because it gives the point of view of people on the ground, I find it much easier to relate to. History books may give you the facts, but a lot of novels will give you an insight into how certain events made people feel and how that shapes societies. That's the interesting part. You can read the facts anywhere, but no history book will tell you exactly how historical events may have affected just normal individuals. That's what novels like these do - they give you a glimpse of that.

Anyway, there's a lot to be said for the art of storytelling, historical events aside.

Chris P. Bacon

I haven't read a book since i left school,and that was about 15 years ago.

--Kaiser--

Shattered Dreamer wrote: »

Yeah I have to say people who think they are better than others because they read more really need to get a life! Just because you're "well read" doesn't mean you're "intelligent" and this thread has made it clear to me a few amongst us here don't know the difference.

Humans largely think using words. Reading, in general, increases ones vocabulary, meaning you have more and better words with which to express your thoughts. People who read are also more likely to be knowledgeable about a wide range of subjects

Plumpynutt

Hadn't read a book in years until the summer, got back into it and absolutely love it again, just started 1984, enjoying it so far

the book that got me back into reading was The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

WindSock

I used to read books. Then I got a smartphone. Now all I do is read pissy opinions on the internet like this one.

Who's the smartphone now, eh?

old hippy

WindSock wrote: »

I used to read books. Then I got a smartphone. Now all I do is read pissy opinions on the internet like this one.

It really doesn't get any better than this, eh?

Bookworm85

As my username suggests, I'm an avid reader and I cannot comprehend a life without books. I can understand why some people dont like to read, find it boring etc, but I cannot fathom people who wont read anything and never intend to, not even a newspaper. There's a girl I'm friendly with who has never picked up a book in her life, not even in school! She spends all her free time in front of the telly and all she can talk about is how smashed she was at the weekend and who sang what in X-Factor.

conorhal wrote: »

It’s like George RR Martin said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before they die, a non reader lives only one.”

Oooh I'm robbing this for my sig. I'm actually on book 3 of the Game of Thrones series!

old hippy

Bookworm85 wrote: »

As my username suggests, I'm an avid reader and I cannot comprehend a life without books. I can understand why some people dont like to read, find it boring etc, but I cannot fathom people who wont read anything and never intend to, not even a newspaper. There's a girl I'm friendly with who has never picked up a book in her life, not even in school! She spends all her free time in front of the telly and all she can talk about is how smashed she was at the weekend and who sang what in X-Factor.



Oooh I'm robbing this for my sig. I'm actually on book 3 of the Game of Thrones series!

Give her The Alchemist as a present. Should appeal to that X-Factor "anyone can control their destiny" vibe...

Chuck Stone

Read way more when I was younger. Less distraction then I guess. The TV used to 'shut' at 12.30 am and the internet wasn't an option.

I recently got Richard Dawkins' book 'The Greatest Show on Earth' but I'm finding it difficult to turn off my net-book at night and really get stuck in.

I'm not really into fiction writing either (Loved Roald Dahl as a kid and even Enid Blyton)

Pure busy head I have me.

sink

I don't have the patience for lengthy books, I only very occasionally read novels. I was given a present of the first four books from the series 'A Song of Fire and Ice' a few months ago and despite enjoying the dramatised version and everyone telling me how great they are I have not felt the desire to start reading them.

That is not to say I don't read, I read several hours a day from newspapers, magazines and websites. I read mainly science, games and current affairs journalism. I spend at least another hour listening to music and several more hours playing video games and watching tv (mainly recorded/downloaded as I can't stand ad breaks). If people want to judge me then that's their prerogative but I will not pay them any heed.

Dudess

Shattered Dreamer wrote: »

Yeah I have to say people who think they are better than others because they read more really need to get a life! Just because you're "well read" doesn't mean you're "intelligent" and this thread has made it clear to me a few amongst us here don't know the difference.

I see very very little of that myself tbh - I do see defensiveness over something that's not there though.

Shattered Dreamer

old hippy wrote: »

It's not an application for mensa. It's just a lot of people enjoy reading.

Thanks for proving my point:D

greenmachine88

I have a job so I don't have time to read

Dudess

I have a job too - 42 and a half hours a week... yet I still have time to read.

How did he prove your point, Shattered Dreamer?

Duckee

I'm an avid reader of books (fiction and non-fiction) and get through about 1 book a week that's not related to my job but I'm also an avid film goer too seeing about 1 movie a week at the cinema and watching several more at home.

I find this thread really interesting as like many posters I couldn't imagine my life without either books or movies (or music for that matter although its less of an active interest.) but as with everything in life, it's not everyone's bag.

What I don't get though is how one of the oft trotted out reasons for not reading books (novels specifically I suppose) is that they don't have the patience for it. Surely that's missing the point. Yes it takes longer to work through a storyline in a book than at the cinema but is the point of either medium purely about information retrieval??? If a plotline is good be it a film or a book, and the artists have done their job at pacing the story right, then I'll be absorbed by it whether it takes ten minutes or ten weeks to get through. Surely having/not having the time shouldn't be an issue.

A woman I know, who never reads, told me once that whenever she tried to read a book, it was just words on the page and that she could never 'picture' what was going on between the characters. I reckon this is probably closer to the truth for some people who don't read novels at least. She would struggle to translate the words she was reading into an image that made her want to keep reading.

Adamantium

LiamN wrote: »

In primary school, we were told to do a few minutes reading, mine was in the form of Final Fantasy games (which did, in fact, have a lot of reading as they didn't have voice acting till relatively recently, and have a pretty expansive story) and I ended up reading ahead of some people in our primary school class (along with two others) and with a fairly good vocabulary.

HIGH FIVE, could have wrote this paragraph myself, ff7-9 have a lot to answer for

used to have to read them to my younger brother while i played , like interactive storybooks, brilliant ones!

Shattered Dreamer

Dudess wrote: »

How did he prove your point, Shattered Dreamer?

He obviously felt insulted enough by my comment to use a reference to try to convey intelligence ie mentioning mensa lol

To me the whole point is moot when there are readers out there who buy "biographies" of people like Kate Price lol

Jaxxy

Shattered Dreamer wrote: »

He obviously felt insulted enough by my comment to use a reference to try to convey intelligence ie mentioning mensa lol

To me the whole point is moot when there are readers out there who buy "biographies" of people like Kate Price lol

Think you actually missed the point there completely.

What he meant is that it's a book, you don't need to be a member of Mensa to read one. It's not specifically a pursuit of the "intellectually" inclined.

Dudess

Shattered Dreamer wrote: »

He obviously felt insulted enough by my comment to use a reference to try to convey intelligence ie mentioning mensa lol

Meh, that just seems to be the way you choose to read it. I thought it looked like he was refuting your claim that people here who read are acting as if they're super-intelligent, hence is mention of Mensa.

To me the whole point is moot when there are readers out there who buy "biographies" of people like Kate Price lol

I dunno. What about all those readers who don't read that stuff?

Shattered Dreamer

Dudess wrote: »

I dunno. What about all those readers who don't read that stuff?

The point is there are more people who do. I think I better leave the Starbucks crowd to their dinner party conversation lol

Onesimus

I enjoy reading but... if there is a book that also compiles itself into a 90min movie I'll watch the movie instead.

Dudess

Shattered Dreamer wrote: »

The point is there are more people who do. I think I better leave the Starbucks crowd to their dinner party conversation lol

Oh I see - fine for you to be condescending and snide. And much of the condescension you alluded to earlier is all in your head.
But anyway, close the door on th' way out.

Shattered Dreamer

I'm sorry Dudess but it's hard to hear you from all the way up on your pedestal

starlit

I read books and I love reading books!