/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.3050757]

>Does your family read books, /lit/?

It's interesting to note that the average person is dumb as a brick. Which explains why trash TV shows, fast food, get rich overnight, and diet pills have mass appeal. Here are some interesting statistics:

"1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.8 hours per day, on average)"

Imagine people reading, on average, 3 hours per day. How educated would the average American be? People are dumb as fuck - that is the reality we cannot deny.

Jennifer Jolan - some chick who sells ebooks on Amazon - is banking million of dollars by writing short, 30 page "books" on dieting. This reviewer explains:

"As with many of Ms. Jolan's "books" I cannot help be struck by the fact that reading her work is like reading that of an average eight grader. The writing style is of such poor quality, I cringed my way through it.

As a business woman however, she gets a lot of credit for finding and packaging each new fringe notion of the weight loss realm that she encounters, dumbs it down in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator out there, such as the desperate but lazy types who are still unwilling to really dig in, take responsibility for their health, pursue and implement any of the quality work on this topic out there"

Too long, didn't read: people are dumb who want get rich over night schemes. Now go out there and sell them stuff, so they can put it on their credit card.

Sources:

[1] http://hotforwords.com/2011/04/11/42-of-people-who-graduate-from-college-never-read-another-book/www
.jenkinsgroupInc.com

[2] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm

>mfw the general public is dumb.

[Anonymous No.3050770]

Millions? are you sure? I looked at her amazon store page and they're ridiculous but if she was making millions surely each of her twenty ebooks would have more than around 7 reviews apiece?

[Anonymous No.3050802]

this is not news

[Anonymous No.3050808]

>>3050802
Doesn't mean we can't bitch.

[Anonymous No.3050810]

I try and convince my friends to read all the time by giving them books I've read and talking about them, but none of them care. Apparently the average person doesn't think reading is worth their time.

[Anonymous No.3050811]

My parents both read. My mom doesn't read much because it puts her to sleep... and it's mostly self-help bs. My dad is an avid reader of some of the most esoteric stuff you can imagine. Some day I'll inherit a hell of a rare book collection.

Fortunately most of my friends read. The college grad stats are really sad to me.

[Anonymous No.3050814]

I'm not American, but I got first hand confirmation of this a couple of weeks ago.

>finished with university, and moved back home
>joined the library
>while signing up, I asked if there were any book groups
>librarian says no, there's only a fortnightly group for teenagers for graphic novels
>there's no interest for any book groups
>I'd try setting one up but apparently it's been tried before to no avail

I ran a reading volunteering group for high school students and a book club at university, I was really disappointed when I came home and there's absolutely no interest. I don't even live in some backwater, there's 5 second-hand bookshops in town, so you'd think some people might be interested in reading.

[Anonymous No.3050818]

>>3050802
>>3050810
>im so smart

people like you are insufferable

[Anonymous No.3050823]

My dad reads Time Best Books of 2012 stuff
My mom does not read. She read The Hunger Games this year and Diane Keaton's autobiography last year. As a younger woman she read Serious Literature, though.
My older sister is a Serious Reader. My younger brother is growing into one. Feels ok mang

[Omar B !xeS.CIM.Jk No.3050841]

My parents read. I got into James Bond novels and all the other spy/technothriller/adventure books from him. He's a big fan of action novels and I inherited his love for them as well as a sizable number of his books. My mother reads a lot, but it's usually classics and romance novels women are usually into.

[Anonymous No.3050842]

>1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
Holy fuck this is truly terrifying.

[Anonymous No.3050851]

>>3050842
bear in mind that of those who did read a book it was often something like Fifty Shades or Twilight or Harry Potter based on how well they sell

[Anonymous No.3050862]

>>3050842
how do you even come to get this statistic.

i doubt it's even true. never reading a single book? were these people literate in the first place? if not, then they shouldn't be included in that statistic.

[Anonymous No.3050867]

>>3050842
Yeah, if you have "normal fag" friends, their days consist of going work (or school), then browsing facebook or watching TV, eating shit food, and sleeping.

[SadCat No.3050920]

>>3050862
>i doubt it's even true.
I think it's not surprising.
I read in class a lot. The other day I was doing so, and some people gathered around me. Someone asked me what book it was. I told them, and then they asked how many books I've read in my life. I thought that was a stupid question, and I said I didn't know. They felt free to tell me how many they had read. They were six or seven people. Half of them said said they had never read a single book. The rest took pride in saying they had read between two and three.
Since I was very, very young, I was taught by every adult that you should always read because it was both fun and made you smarter. So was every kid I knew. What the fuck happened? Why is reading such a freaky thing to do?

My dad and my brother don't read a whole lot, but still read between four and five books a year. My mom does not at all.

[Anonymous No.3050921]

Can't blame most people for it, though. Reading is a serious investment and most people simply don't have that kind of time, at least not where I live.

Take a look at my own case: I get up 6 AM everyday and set out 6:30 to get to my university in time. Classes end around 12:00 AM and I have to run all the way to my work if I don't want to miss my shift. Work end around 8 PM, though I am usually still there by 9 PM. From work to my house it takes one to one and a half hour, so I pretty much arrive and go to sleep. Thankfully, I can read while riding the bus and the subway.

[Anonymous No.3050952]

>>3050921
Yeah, I completely understand, because most people are super busy, commuting to work, going to work, coming home form the commute. It's exhausting as fuck. Or students going to school full time and then working part-time.

However ... the average American watch 3 HOURS OF TV PER DAY. That's the average. Those hours could have been use reading a book, even if they're exhausted.

>Reading is a serious investment and most people simply don't have that kind of time,

Have to disagree with you there, because library books are free. Or they could buy a cheap e-reader. How much energy does a person expend reading 30 minutes per day vs the 3 hours watching TV?

[Anonymous No.3050956]

My mom reads all the time. She goes through so many books it would blow your mind, we have a library of thousands. My mom mostly reads romance and my dad is a big history buff.

[Anonymous No.3050962]

>>3050952
Reading 3 minutes of Deleuze takes more effort than watching 3 seasons of Lost.

[Anonymous No.3050966]

>>3050920
People don't typically express pride over reading a couple of books - when people read none they feel the need to make that a source of pride as if they were escaping a chore.

Some people are too stupid to appreciate books and that's the long and short of it. Most people are too stupid to appreciate good books. Ever try reading a proper novel as a kid? Sure you can get through all the words but you realise by the end of the chapter you've retained nothing and wasted your time - people can stay like that forever.

[Anonymous No.3050970]

>>3050962
>Reading 3 minutes of Deleuze takes more effort than watching 3 seasons of Lost.
Yeah the public are dumb fucks. No denying it but you can't blame them - perhaps humans are genetically programmed to take the route of less resistance / effort.

[Anonymous No.3050973]

>>3050920
i would agree with you if the statistic was "few" books, but "zero" books is just nonsense. considering the ability of certain authors to reach audiences that otherwise wouldn't read - e.g. the harry potter and twilight series - reading even a single book out of high school is almost a certainty as you age.

>>3050952
reading is an investment for some people, analogous in some ways to exercise. most people who regularly exercise can't understand why they didn't start sooner, because the endorphins are so amazing and they feel great that they're in shape. and yet we have america, a nation whose population is well-situated to become whatever they want to be, and where a significant percentage becomes obese and lazy.

not all forms of relaxation or fun are made equal. reading is a pleasure for some, and a chore for others. i'm sure more people would like it if they tried it, but as it is, televised entertainment is literally an arm's reach away.

>>3050966
do you program? many people program for enjoymant. are you too stupid, if you don't program, to appreciate it, or do you just not enjoy doing it for other reasons?

reading doesn't have to be dense. nor does it have to be feathery fiction works. it all depends on what the reader wants to get out of it. same with anything else in life.

[Anonymous No.3050974]

>>3050862
look at the speed of /v/ and /tv/ compared to /lit/

[Anonymous No.3050993]

>"1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

[Anonymous No.3050997]

>>3050974
>look at the speed of /v/ and /tv/
Not surprisingly, /v/ and /tv/ is a huge fucking cesspool.

[Anonymous No.3050998]

>>3050993
I'm having a real moment right now. This breaks my heart.

[Omar B !xeS.CIM.Jk No.3051016]

I remember when I was in college working some crap job a guy came in and we got to talking about some movie coming out. The commercial was on and he said something like "Thats gonna be good, the book was good." So I say "How was it." He responded "I didnt read it, I just heard it was good, never read a book in my life." He said that with pride by the way.

[Anonymous No.3051022]

>>3051016
america has been anti-intellectual for some time. that people are proud of their ignorance isn't really new.

[Anonymous No.3051045]

>>3050993
>"1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
>80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
>Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.8 hours per day, on average)"

My face when I heard that news.

[Anonymous No.3051050]

>>3050993
Another face.

[Anonymous No.3051052]

>>3050921
>Can't blame most people for it, though. Reading is a serious investment and most people simply don't have that kind of time, at least not where I live.
Bull-fucking-shit. Anyone can find an hour daily. Anyone. Most people spend that precious hour to watch America's Most Aweosme Idol or something
>Take a look at my own case
No, fuck you. You post on 4chan right now. Stop lying to us.

[Anonymous No.3051055]

>>3051022
>america has been anti-intellectual for some time.

How did this become to be? Because of their culture, or because the ruling class knows that the more ignorant the mass is, the more they can profit and control?

(Similar to the college degree bubble right now, herds of people going to debt for a paper because "everyone is doing it")

[Anonymous No.3051060]

>>3050921
>Reading is a serious investment and most people simply don't have that kind of time

But ...

1) Library books are free
2) On average, Americans spend 3 hours watching TV
3) Reading books isn't a physical exhausting

Maybe ... maybe ... people are just dumb fucks.

[Anonymous No.3051064]

Whats wrong with you, America? My parents read all the time. It is mostly some garbage pulp fiction or trendy contemporaries, but still, they do it almost every day.

[Anonymous No.3051066]

if all of america started reading and became smarter that would mean /lit/s would have to read twice as much just to maintain their smug level of superiority

[Anonymous No.3051068]

>>3051060
It's mentally draining - could I sit watch tv for 8 hours straight if I wanted to? easily. I enjoy reading but I don't think I could get through 8 hours of it solid.

Remember the feelies from Brave New World - that hit home for me.

[Anonymous No.3051071]

>>3051055
i'd say it's because america has classically been of the mind that 'all men are created equal' - meaning that if you are exceptional you're ostracized from other people. not always, of course, but find me a school in the ghetto where smart people aren't either used or picked on and i'll give you $50.

i don't think corporations necessarily had sinister plans to keep everybody stupid, but it was easy for an enterprising person to capitalize on the malleability of their neighbors and it grew from a simple snake oil salesman to enormous corporations telling you what you want, and getting you to buy it.

[Anonymous No.3051075]

>>3050921

Nah. Most people have time. It's just time they'd rather spend playing vidya or going on 4chan. My mum is the worst. She works 4 days every fortnight, cleans the house and watches about eight hours of television every day. She says she doesn't have time to read books.

I've been trying to fit in 3-5 hours a day reading. I should be reading now...

[Anonymous No.3051077]

I don't get it, wouldn't it be a good thing that such a small amount of people read books? It means your much more intellectually informed than most of the population, and thus, superior to them.

[Anonymous No.3051078]

>>3051055
Somewhere along the line, intellectualism became elitism and politicians used that as a means of dividing people.

[Anonymous No.3051082]

>>3051068
>It's mentally draining - could I sit watch tv for 8 hours straight if I wanted to? easily. I enjoy reading but I don't think I could get through 8 hours of it solid.

Yeah, I agree. But can the average American read for 10 to 30 minutes? You bet. Yet ... they don't read.

>2012
>still watching TV
>hahaha, stya pleb.

[Anonymous No.3051086]

>>3051078
It's always been that way, though.

[Anonymous No.3051092]

>>3051086
Seems like it's gotten worse in recent years though. Hell, look at the tea party. Most of them can't even make a fucking sign without misspelling something.

[Anonymous No.3051096]

>>3051092
chalk that up to religious fundamentalism. people are trying to rewrite history.

[Anonymous No.3051097]

>>3051082
I don't watch TV. I don't own a TV, but I know how easy it is to turn on tune in and just drop out.

as for 10-30 minutes I don't believe you can do that just because you'd either be going so slow that you were never interested or not fast enough to the point where you can't stand the pace and you take it more seriously. if you read a novel for 15 minutes a day bearing in mind you have to pick up steam a bit to get back into the mindset it'd take forever to finish.

My reading sessions are typically 45 minutes to 3 hours, occasionally less and sometimes up to five.

[Anonymous No.3051106]

Some more horrifying stats:

>2004. 56.6% of adult Americans said they read at least one book, fiction or non-fiction, between August 2001 and August 2002 compared to 60.9% ten years prior.

>2002. 57% of the US population read a book. See report. [meaning, the other 40 percent never read]

>70% of Americans haven't visited a bookstore in five (5) years.

>People reduced their time reading between 1996 and 2001 to 2.1 hours/month. [note: average American watches 3 HOURS of TV per day (on average)

There is a stat where "60 percent of people who buy books don't read pass the first chapter" but I can't find it.

Source:

http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm

[Anonymous No.3051113]

>>3051106
>There is a stat where "60 percent of people who buy books don't read pass the first chapter" but I can't find it.
I definitely have no trouble believing that. Second hand books in charity shops are usually not broken in.

[Anonymous No.3051123]

>>3051113

>uncracked spines

[Anonymous No.3051150]

>>3051123
>Aha! I knew they were just there for show!

[Omar B !xeS.CIM.Jk No.3051184]

I don't see TV as any impediment. I and my dad read while watching TV. It's not hard to pay attention to both. Like on Sunday while watching football I usually get in a while book or the majority of one. If I'm sitting in front of the TV i'm gonna also be reading or practicing guitar, no use just being a vegetable.

[Anonymous No.3051186]

>>3051150
I know this hipster bitch who never reads, and she had a shelve of books. Every word she says is something trite, or a sound bite from a TV show.

She also happens to be psycho - she moved in with her boyfriend and heckled him at work.

[Anonymous No.3051187]

>>3051184
>Omar B
Not so fast, nigger.

[Anonymous No.3051191]

>>3051186
You have to rub the back of the paperbacks with one finger surreptitiously for the crease to tell whether or not they're posing

But I mean sometimes I read a library or borrowed or e-book, buy it afterwards and never open it.

I'm a poser!

[Anonymous No.3051197]

>>3051187
>>>/b/

lol omar

[Omar B !xeS.CIM.Jk No.3051199]

>>3051187
What are you trying to say here? Can't multitask?

[Anonymous No.3051218]

>>3050811
Can you think of any titles at all from your dad's collection?

[Anonymous No.3051219]

Ausfag here, I work at a large department store in a shopping complex that has a book section half the size of an average store. In the last year the only books that have been bought are:
Hunger Games series, 50 Shades of Grey series and the new JK Rowling novel
Of course there are one or two exceptions but those are pretty much all that sell.
On another note, the shopping complex itself used to have three bookstores and now there is one. (Could have something to do with the outrageous prices book stores charge though).

[Anonymous No.3051234]

I still have a bunch of books from when I mostly read trashy fantasy and science fiction. She doesn't care for the fantasy stuff, but occasionally my grandma will ask for a sci-fi recommendation. Recently she read Fahrenheit 451 and told me she thought it was weird.

A new friend from my Creative Writing class both reads and writes. Except she's reading a Song Of Ice and Fire. She's also world building for a novel she's writing and isn't even trying to deviate from fantasy cliches. Yesterday she commented that she "needs a quest" for her characters.

[Anonymous No.3051235]

my parents read more than watch tv, and as a kid they always nagged me or forced me to read and write book reports for them. which really took the pleasure out of it.

id read once in a blue moon throughout life, but only like...a book or two per year. and that's if I even finished them. and even as I grew older I still had my dad nagging at me to read more when all I wanted to do was play vidya instead.

HOWEVER
pic related
I've been needing to cut back on spending and I can't afford too many vidyagames or TV. So I decided that with my taste, I should try some hard scifi or fantasy, especially since I always thought they were so ridiculous in the past and I couldn't take them seriously.

One day I picked up "Know no Fear" by Dan Abnett, and now I've started collecting Warhammer novels and I try to read for a while each night before I go to bed. At least a chapter or so. Or if I have to wait somewhere, I always keep a book with me to read.

it's awesome. ever since reading that one book, I've been much more willing to look into other one and finally really enjoy myself and take pleasure in letting my imagination go nuts.

[Anonymous No.3051242]

>>3051235
oh I meant to say that because im going low on spending, Im getting more books from the library that are hard scifi/fantasy.

for any other warhammerbros, I'm reading 'A thousand Sons"by Grahm Mc'neil and having a good time with it. Better than Fulgrim which I read before that.

[Anonymous No.3051249]

You guys should be a part of the school system. For every casual reader there's ten kids who I can't even get to read Animal Farm over a five week period. Attention spans are nothing in this generation. Some of the kids I went to school with were lazy but nothing compared to the kids these days. And yes on the anti-intellectual comments... so much. I never realized people could be so proud over being absolute morons. I teach kids who are like neanderthals... if they dislike any menial thing they loudly declare how they'll beat that person over it. Some days I just want to say fuck it to the future. BNW had it wrong, most people don't even need soma because ignorance is the best bliss, no assistance required.

[Anonymous No.3051273]

>>3051249
We were, I was the quiet kid at the back that paid no attention, read books completely unrelated to the school list and left with an A at the exam - because the exam was basically "Point out some thematic shit in a book and explain its relevance"

Or even better was close reading where it's easy to get 95% or higher because they give you everything you need to answer the questions on the exam paper.

[Anonymous No.3051279]

Both of my parents read. My mom, just barely. Although, I'm often impressed with the books she chooses to read. A lot of it is Oprah club nonsense, but she will pick up something every now and then that surprises me. Last year she read Anna Karenina. It took her 3 months, but she read the whole thing. She didn't like it, but the fact that she even finished it was amazing to me. Of course, you'd have to know my mom to understand my sentiment. Either way, I love to see her reading something I can talk to her about. She misses a lot, but she has her own sort of motherly perspective to certain things that I love to hear.

My father is an avid reader. I'm convinced if he didn't have to work that would be the only thing he would do. Well, that and golf. I've often heard my mother make the same sort of remark with a hint of reproach, leaving my dad on the couch reading to run errands and coming back hours later and finding him in the same position on returning.

He reads so fast and so much of such a wide array of subjects and genres I can't keep up with all of it, but I always try to touch base when I can and hear what he has to say about anything he's read.

As for my friends, none of them read at all. It's pretty bad. A few have picked up ASOIAF since the show, but that's about it. Most of them can't seem to understand why someone would bother to read. In their eyes reading is obsolete, a grievance, something you have to do for school, and even then you can just look up the sparknotes. Any book that could actually be entertaining will just be made into a show or a movie that they can watch later on.

I enjoy the company of my friends. If I didn't I wouldn't hang out with them. They aren't stupid, they were raised well, and for the most part they did well in school. But you've got to wonder how so many people can make it through life ignoring books.

[Anonymous No.3051280]

>>3051273
I guess I mean being a teacher in a school system. And I assume most of /lit/ is at least 21 so it's been a while since they were students pre-college. If I was a kid these days and I couldn't escape to accelerated classes I think I'd beg to rush through high school online at home. It's more depressing as a teacher trying to lead this chaos. I always pity my diligent students who have become cynical thanks to being around their idiot peers for so many years.

[Anonymous No.3051286]

It's not only America. I'm from Finland and I'm guessing my father hasn't read a book in atleast a decade and my mom probably a few books in that time.

I'm also in college and one of my friends mentioned how I lack a common knowledge for I mentioned I hadn't played some video game he liked, it was supposed to be a bit sarcastic, but seeing how he has read almost no novels in years and I was curretly reading everything by Hemingway I felt kinda sad.

Another friend of mine, who's an English major btw, only reads trashy romance novels and popular stuff, but she reads like hundreds of pages a day. She doesn't care for most serious literature.

I'm guessing most people are just really fucking stupid.

[Anonymous No.3051293]

The U.S. sure is a place.

[Anonymous No.3051296]

>>3051293
are you seriously being pedantic about america=/=US? do you have nothing else to contribute to the conversation?

go away.

[Anonymous No.3051300]

Since Victorian England, has any society really been widely literate?

Also, yes, these statistics are somewhat horrifying, but given proper consideration you should almost expect them. Reading that rewards requires dedication and leisure. Now, distinguish leisure from "time-off" or "entertainment." I'm trying to arrive at a picture of a mind playfully at work, at its own pace pressing on with discovery. This is a phenomenon that descends directly from the educated, ruling class. Two things granted this class leisure: time and elite education. Leisure is not, never was, a widespread activity. One might deny that such a thing exists or is exclusive, but I think one should note the role that upbringing plays in passing on of tradition. In other words -- to appreciate reading, one must either be taught how to do it (by example or otherwise), or at least the conditions for it should be present. A child whose parent never imparts the experience of wonder one can glean from books will be less likely to discover it himself. Of course, peasants have been known to attain leisure even under poor conditions (Carlyle), but even though we've all the means, what motivations for this have we today?

Next, the older one is, the more mature the material needed to meaningfully move him. If, however, one has little previous reading history, some of the mature authors might simply be somehwat inaccessible. And even if they aren't -- where can one begin? TV and music occupy the immediate social milieu, and one always sees their eclectic offerings. Books, other than a few bestsellers, are simply never present in daily life. For the uninitiated they may very well be a total mystery.

[Anonymous No.3051301]

>>3051300
(cont.)

"Literacy" as such is still largely reserved to perhaps a quarter, if not less, of the population. The ability to read does not guarantee a reading and receptive public. Note, for example, modern, simplified Chinese. It was introduced to help spread literacy through the kingdom. As a result it is stripped of much subtlety, nuance. Basically, it is no longer as literary as it once was. Yet the masses can read. Compare this with a Canadian regulation I recently heard about. Certain newspapers are mandated to be written in a style and vocabulary not exceeding that of grade 6-8 reading level. In light of this, the statistics no longer seem all that shocking.

Do the best you can for yourself -- lamenting the imagined degradation of those who have always and will always be depraved is wasteful and fruitless.

[Anonymous No.3051317]

I try to spend some free time every day developing my math skills. I consider this to be a genuinely intellectual pastime, whereas literature is just entertainment.

You are not an intellectual just because you read Dostoevsky and Borges, I hate to break it to you.

[Anonymous No.3051329]

>>3051082
>still watching TV
B-but the political debates.

[Anonymous No.3051363]

>>3051317

You're not an intellectual just because you can do math. Mathematics is for the most part following extremely refined sets of definite rules. There's no thinking outside of the box, no originality.

We have machines to replace you. We're a long way from having machines to replace great innovators.

[Anonymous No.3051365]

>>3051363
you are fucking retarded.

[Anonymous No.3051369]

>>3051363
>you're not an intellectual because X

Well then. When does one "become" an intellectual?

[Anonymous No.3051372]

>>3051369

It's something only society can judge. Society won't remember you as an intellectual because you're proficient at algebra.

One who somehow uses this proficiency in producing something widely perceived as intellectual may then become, in essence, an intellectual.

[Anonymous No.3051375]

>>3051372
>essence
ISHIGGY

[Anonymous No.3051379]

My parents both read a ton. Neither of them are literary intellectuals, really. My mom was a judge and my dad teaches wilderness medicine. But I grew up having books read to me, and on long car trips my dad would make up hours-long stories or re-tell books he had read.

I love reading and writing so much, and I'm so goddamned glad that I had an appreciation of these instilled in me from a young age. Most of my friends barely read at all, though they're pretty smart. I wish I could talk more about books with them.

[Anonymous No.3051380]

>>3051363

What an embarrassing comment. I don't know if i should laugh or cringe at how ignorant you are.

[Anonymous No.3051382]

>>3051372
are you seriously implying that mathematicians like euler weren't incredibly creative to come up with their bending-around of difficult, new concepts?

go look up euler's formula and tell me it's not the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen.

mathematicians laugh to each other about how great serendipity is just like seasoned travelers will eagerly tell each other of their misadventures. apparently you think this isn't an "intellectual" approach to abstract concepts.

[Anonymous No.3051387]

Yes my parents read books, but they don't read a lot of fiction; they mostly read books on economics or political nonfiction.

My dad enjoys Herman Hesse but otherwise does not read a lot.

My mom is getting interested in American lit, which she hasn't read much of because she is an immigrant.

[Anonymous No.3051389]

>>3051387

Oh and my sister reads a lot too; she likes JD Salinger.

[Anonymous No.3051390]

What I don't get is that, for me, reading is just so much FUN. It's incomprehensible to me that people see it as a chore.

[Anonymous No.3051391]

>>3050867
I am a normalfag and I have normalfag friends. My day consists of going to work (or school) eating good food, reading, sometimes sociaising and sleeping.

Ridiculous generalisations only make you look retarded.

[Anonymous No.3051393]

>>3051391

Yeah if anything the people who don't read books are the abnormal ones.

[Anonymous No.3051398]

I get enough reading on the internet instead.

[Anonymous No.3051428]

>>3050757
OP here again. It got me thinking in a deeper level.

People fail to read and execrise because they're not self actualized. For example, you tell a fat fuck to put down the donut, get off the couch and go for a run. You give him a motivational speech, and he might actually jog - perhaps for a week. Then he'll revert back to his old self of watching TV and eating donuts.

The problem is within - he lacks the fundamental belief that if he exercise, he can lose weight, actually see his dick and live longer. But deep down he doesn't care THAT much to change because he's comfortable where he's at. Why bust your ass and run outside when you can be comfy at home, munching on pizza while watching American Idol re-runs?

Why eat a salad when you can munch on a pizza?
Why read a book when you can watch American Idol?
Why bust your ass in the gym when you can take diet pills?

Perhaps it's our genetic programming. We just want to be comfortable and cruise through life. Why expend more energy then you have too? Some people want to self improvement but few can stick to it in the long run because they're not self actualize (very feel people strive to attain it)

[Anonymous No.3051430]

>>3051428

Why eat a salad when you can munch on a pizza?
Why read a book when you can watch American Idol?
Why bust your ass in the gym when you can take diet pills?

A person who is self actualize (or to use a new age term, "higher level of consciousness) will choose the first option because he fights against his biological programming. That's what makes him above the herd.

[Anonymous No.3051432]

>>3051428
it isn't genetic. it's cultural. if your parents read to you as a kid and you see them reading, you'll mimic that behaviour.

[Anonymous No.3051435]

>>3051391
>My day consists of going to work (or school) eating good food, reading, sometimes sociaising and sleeping.

>eating good food

I assume you mean healthy food. Most Americans are overweight and obese. Most Americans don't read but watch TV. It's not generalizing when it's backed up by statistics:

>People reduced their time reading between 1996 and 2001 to 2.1 hours/month. [note: average American watches 3 HOURS of TV per day (on average)

Source:

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm

http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/statistics.cfm

[Anonymous No.3051439]

>>3051391
Sorry but you and your friend is a tiny sample. You can't argue with the US buereau of labor statistics and the obesity rate.

People like watching TV, and eating bad food. Ya dig?

[Anonymous No.3051440]

Do you guys know any authors who deal with this issue of uneven distribution of knowledge? It's history, why and how. This really defines one big aspect of the human experience and I'm wondering if anyone has tried to elaborate on this issue from an existential point of view. For some reason we are still seeing this Pythagorean-cult schematic where true knowledge seems to be kept for the few as the real wonder for knowledge is eradicated through the tedious school system in order to get the workforce that fills out the rather unmindful occupations that keep society running and help us push towards technological advancement.

That's really hard on my mind, I need to read a book touching on this issue, anyone?

[Anonymous No.3051443]

>>3051432
>if your parents read to you as a kid and you see them reading, you'll mimic that behaviour

does not always apply. in fact it's in my experience about 50/50

[Anonymous No.3051448]

>>3050814
>there's 5 second-hand bookshops in town, so you'd think some people might be interested in reading.

I have a personal library of 150+ books, but I've never once been interested in a book club.

Maybe years ago there was a lot more interest in those clubs, for adults, but nowadays I'd wager Internet forums have taken up a lot of that demographic.

[Anonymous No.3051449]

>>3051440
Try reading books by Alvin Toffler - I recommend Future Shock and Third Wave. He addresses these issues.

If you want to go further into the rabbit hole, read books by David Ickes, "The Lion Sleeps No More"

[Anonymous No.3051453]

>>3051448
>I have a personal library of 150+ books, but I've never once been interested in a book club.

are you trying to imply that's a large personal library

because many of the users on /lit/ buy/read that many per year

[Anonymous No.3051452]

>>3051428
To add onto this, people response to incentive. If the guy is comfy, with his job and his body, he doesn't feel the need to exercise or eat healthy.

Because he's comfy. It used to be that, if you're a fat fuck, you're shamed by your community and peers. Not anymore. So he doesn't have the incentive to lose weight.

You see a very similar effect with women who get married and become fat fucks.

[Anonymous No.3051455]

>>3051453
personal library, implying he's bought all of them.

i think we can safely assume most people on this board don't purchase a very large percentage of the books they read.

[Anonymous No.3051456]

>>3051452
>You see a very similar effect with women who get married and become fat fucks.

You don't say.

[Anonymous No.3051458]

>>3051456
>no more fat shaming pls, I can be fat and get a man.

[Anonymous No.3051459]

>>3051455
No, yeah, I got that.

I'm still talking about physical, bought books. Have you never seen the magnitude of the hauls in the recent purchases threads? Shit is crazy.

[Anonymous No.3051460]

>>3051459
yeah. i'd probably have a big library if i had cash to spend and a good bookstore nearby. but at least i have the school library.

[Anonymous No.3051462]

>>3051055
>How did this become to be?

Americans are the descendants of ex-slaves, endentured servants, and poorly educated lower class immigrants.

With that sort of lineage making up the bulk of the population, is it really any wonder that the culture became what it is?

[Anonymous No.3051468]

>>3051462
True ... but Americans became the world super power for a while. So I guess it's only the elites / upper middle class that are intellectual, while the mass of retards enjoy hot dogs and TV shows.

[Anonymous No.3051469]

>>3051459
>implying purchase threads represent the norm

[Anonymous No.3051470]

>honey boo boo!
>spietti
>bonus point if you get the reference and picture.

[Anonymous No.3051477]

>>3051469
Didn't say it was the norm, just that "many" do it. There's enough variety and frequency in the threads to warrant a "many" imo, if we disregard the lurkers.

[Anonymous No.3051478]

>>3051462
>Americans are the descendants of ex-slaves, endentured servants, and poorly educated lower class immigrants.
>With that sort of lineage making up the bulk of the population, is it really any wonder that the culture became what it is?

lol, as if that matters

[Anonymous No.3051482]

>>3051478
>lol, as if that matters

I'd love to see a proper retort on why it doesn't.

[Anonymous No.3051486]

>>3051390

I think the school system is the blame for this. You spend weeks going over a book no one likes and at the end you're told to write a five page essay. So I'm not surprised reading has a negative connotation.

[Anonymous No.3051489]

>>3050757

I read a lot because I like to do so.

My sister is in high school and read what they give her, and she seems to enjoy them when I ask her about the books. She also reads a few random books here and there.

My mom mostly read self help kind of books, so whatever.

My dad doesn't really read, but sometimes my mom shares stuff with him. He enjoys watching a lot of "How it's made" and nature documentaries, and pretty much avoids dumb TV.

[Anonymous No.3051491]

Is there a world wide research for this? I imagine americans are amongst those that read the most, since they have so many authors and publishers and the most books are sold there.

[Anonymous No.3051493]

>>3050920

My pals "muy macho" brother prides himself on having read very few books, and even skipping the school ones.

The only book he has pride in reading is "The Art of War," which he quotes and has almost memorized.

It's werid.

[Anonymous No.3051506]

>>3051363
>Mathematics is for the most part following extremely refined sets of definite rules. There's no thinking outside of the box, no originality.
nigga u jus dun goofed

[Anonymous No.3051507]

>>3051491
>I imagine americans are amongst those that read the most
U wot mate?

[Anonymous No.3051510]

>>3051449
>The Lion Sleeps No More
>His most staggering revelation is that the Earth and the collective human mind is manipulated from the Moon, which, he says, is not a ‘heavenly body’, but an artificial construct – a gigantic ‘spacecraft’ (probably a hollowed-out 'planetoid') – which is home to the extraterrestrial group that has been manipulating humanity for aeons.
>He describes what he calls the ‘Moon Matrix’, a fake reality broadcast from the Moon which is decoded by the human body/mind in much the same way as portrayed in the Matrix movie trilogy. The Moon Matrix has ‘hacked’ into the human ‘body-computer’ system, he says, and it is feeding us a manipulated sense of self and the world 24/7.
...thanks. I'll check this out.

[Anonymous No.3051511]

>>3051363
>jelly mad english major

[Anonymous No.3051513]

>>3051511
>maths major
>any job I want
>300k starting

[Anonymous No.3051531]

My mum reads quite a lot. Some of it is garbage, she read 50 Shades of Grey, but said it was an awfully written book. I lent her Fear and Loving in Las Vegas which she is reading right now.

My dad likes to read philosophy and Greek mythology books.

[Anonymous No.3051556]

>>3051486
You (or at least someone in this thread) should read this as it;s relevant to what you just saidas well as mathematics which were brought up earlier. It's only 20 or so pages, you can breeze through it http://www.maa.org/devlin/lockhartslament.pdf

[Anonymous No.3051558]

My parents read a lot. My father has thousands of books (over half of which are plays) and I love diving in the unorganized shelves and finding new treasures. My mom also reads a lot, more contemporary literature though, and some pulpy detective novels. Both read about 50 books a year.

I only started reading at age 20 despite all this.

[Anonymous No.3051631]

My father reads, he reads quite a bit. He got me reading C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Bradbury when I was younger. I eventually got into Douglas Adams and all the popular dystopian works. I'm currently reading Russian literature and Meiji Era Japanese literature. My father bought everything he ever read and we have a library in our house with most classics, books on religion, psychology, and a lot of history; WW2 and Soviet history books that Baby Boomers love so much. I'm very fortunate to have grown up onto such a well read family. I no longer live at home but some of my best childhood memories are picking up Gray's Anatomy and looking up pictures of sexual organs and brain cross-sections. Also a helluva lot of books on natural history. The concept of God was not well received in my household.

[Anonymous No.3051639]

>>3050814
At least you had it at uni brah, I'm doing an English degree and most fellow students don't even manage to complete all the required reading

[Anonymous No.3051642]

There are people that read that are fucking retarded. What now? I'm not defending illiteracy or anything by any means, but I want to know - what does it really matter? Someone could read stacks of penny-dreadful romances every month. Are they any better than someone watching reality TV in the same amount of time?

[Anonymous No.3051644]

>>3051477
Recent purchase threads will see more books now that at any other time because uni/college have started and thus reading lists and loans have come in

[Anonymous No.3051667]

My mum reads a lot, has her whole life. My dad used to read, but these days he barely does anymore, my brother never picked up a book of his own free will.

[Anonymous No.3051678]

I watch keeping up with the kardashians ironically.

[Anonymous No.3051682]

>>3051631
Holy fuck your childhood sounds awesome.

[Anonymous No.3051696]

>>3051642
Yes, because what "I" like is intrinsically better and of more value than what "they" like.

[Anonymous No.3051749]

>>3051123
Every book I own has an intact spine and they are all read. Some people just like to take care of their shit.

[Anonymous No.3051756]

>>3051749
Intact spine master race!

It disgusts me when I see people nearly snapping their books in half for the purposes of comfort.

[Anonymous No.3051804]

>reading books to glean some key idea or 'moral' and affirm yourself that you've 'grown' from reading it

[Anonymous No.3051806]

>>3051804
>doing anything in the hopes of self-improvement

[Anonymous No.3051808]

>>3051756
This. Fucking this.

I start crying when I see people ruining their book spines.

[Franz !!8ZELb56UWUx No.3051818]

>>3051749
>>3051756
>>3051808

This. I love the feel of a book that's "used." You can feel the pages practically get softer. But I hate fucking up the spine. Ugh.

[Anonymous No.3051836]

I like reading. I love it. On the e-reader.

[Anonymous No.3052025]

>>3051836
Now on topic what do we think of e-readers in relation to allowing more of society to read?

The fact that I can get any book I can think of without shuffling through a library or bookstore or used bookstore quickly and freely has contributed to me reading a lot more of them.

[Anonymous No.3052034]

>>3052025
The only people I know who use them were already reading healthily.

[Anonymous No.3052036]

>It's interesting to note that the average person is dumb as a brick
Source?

[Anonymous No.3052037]

>>3052034
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=82143

My guess is if your school couldn't afford textbooks you'd treasure one of these. It gave me the idea anyway.

I'm reading healthier I guess with it than without.

[absinthe !!kzppLsGBIAD No.3052046]

>>3052036

anecdotal, but i feel as though it's kind of obvious. not saying im smart, but i feel as though i am at least a little more intelligent than your "average joe"

[Anonymous No.3052053]

>>3052046
>feel as though
confirmed for retard

[Anonymous No.3052057]

>>3052053

>calling people retards
>stay classy /lit

[Anonymous No.3052062]

>>3052025
Well, ebooks are overselling paperbacks on the Amazon. In the future, paperbacks will be dead, much like vinyl records and cassette players being outdated.

We went from a casset paper to CDs to mp3 revolution, we're going through the same with paper backs to e-readers.

But will more people read? Probably not, they'll be busy watching TV like plebs.

[Anonymous No.3052063]

>>3052046
Average Joe also feels he's more intelligent than the average Joe

[Anonymous No.3052066]

>>3052062
Amazon: Kindle books outselling paperbacks

For the first time, Amazon.com reports that it is selling more Kindle e-books than paperbacks. Since January 1, for every 100 paperback books Amazon sold, the company sold 115 Kindle books.

>http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20029839-1.html

e-readers is the future, and paperback libraries will be the thing of the past. It's simple economics, because kindle books are so fucking cheap (or you can pirate it)

Also, it feels good having 1000s of books in the palm of your hand. When e-readers improve, you'll be able to read your pdfs without a problem.

[Anonymous No.3052069]

>>3052046
Sure is Dunning kruger in here

[Anonymous No.3052072]

>book - A set of written, printed, or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers

[Anonymous No.3052089]

>>3052072
>average /lit/ anon

[Anonymous No.3052112]

>>3052062

I think that won't be the case and the parallel to audio industry is not too spot on. The Vinyl -> casset -> CD -> Mp3 move made audio more accessible and improved the quality of the experience.

The move from books to e-books makes it more accessible, but in terms of quality.. and it has few more other factors going for it compared to the audio revolution.

>No electricity (batteries) equals no reading
>Unmatched reading experience as far as text quality goes
>People like having physical media. Ever read a 200 year old book that has been held by real people from different eras? Ones and zeroes on plastic don't compare.
>etc

So in general yes, e-books will take over the market because of plebs and poorfags. I'd say 80% by 2030-40. But saying paperbacks will die, no.

[Anonymous No.3052124]

>>3052066
>Also, it feels good having 1000s of books in the palm of your hand.

This sentiment seems increasingly stupid the more often I hear it. As if you're reading more than one, maybe two, books at any time.

[Anonymous No.3052127]

>>3052124
People used to say it about .mp3 players too,

>tfw you have 1000 vinyls in your pocket

[Anonymous No.3052128]

>>3052112
>I'd say 80% by 2030-40. But saying paperbacks will die, no.

Paperbacks will die, perhaps by 2100. E-link technology is improving my quantum leaps, it's amazing.

[Anonymous No.3052129]

>>3052124
>This sentiment seems increasingly stupid the more often I hear it. As if you're reading more than one, maybe two, books at any time.

Saves space, brah (and cheaper too). A room full of books is replaced by a kindle. feels good mang.

[Anonymous No.3052147]

>>3051363
>Mathematics is for the most part following extremely refined sets of definite rules.

Nope

If that were true then Asia with the 7:30 to 10:30pm school days and world beating Maths education would be topping the world in scientists and mathematicians.

But nope, still Western Europe, Russia, and America dominate.

[Anonymous No.3052154]

>>3052069
>dunning Kruger

People need to stop throwing this out every time someone casually mentions they're better at something or smarter than another. Not everyone with ability is incapable of recognizing it.

[Anonymous No.3052155]

>>3052128

circa 1980:

Pen and paper will die, perhaps by 2010. Printing and home computing is improving my quantum leaps [sic], it's amazing.

[Anonymous No.3052170]

>>3052127
The difference is you can easily listen to dozens of songs over a day and potentially hundreds over a week, so having thousands in your pocket has a legitimate practical function - and isn't just bullshit marketing fluff.

[Anonymous No.3052186]

>>3050920
>Since I was very, very young, I was taught by every adult that you should always read because it was both fun and made you smarter.

My father read me a few bed time stories when I was young, and I remember he used to read a lot. He never told me to read, I just did. I went through all his books and found some of his old childhood books and I read them simply because I could (It was when I had just learned to read by myself, and anything with sentences was exiting and new), and that just seems to stay with you.

It's not that people don't read, that's not what's terrible. What's terrible is that some people seem to lack the basic drive to learn any knew information or have any curiosity at all.

The solution to all of this mindpain, of course, is not to surround yourself with idiots. So I'm never even mad.

[Anonymous No.3052235]

>>3052147
I'd just like to point out that the asian nations have a higher median of understanding in both math and science than most in the west, whereas the west tends to be held afloat by high performing exceptions.

[Anonymous No.3052240]

>>3050962
>Reading 3 minutes of
Ha, Deleuze only requires a skill at word unravelling.

pic related, let's see you tackle this

[Anonymous No.3052247]

>>3051077
>doing it to be superior
scum

[Anonymous No.3052248]

>>3051086
>hurr its always been that way

pessimism is for drones

[Anonymous No.3052259]

>>3051428
>hurr genetic programming
>posts nazi pic

fuck i want to change that word to something more pc anyways, fucking atheists

[Anonymous No.3052260]

>>3051430
pretentious fuckwit
>implying you know for fact that any of this has to do with "biological programming"
>hurr above the herd

[Anonymous No.3052271]

>genetic determinism
>21st century

[Anonymous No.3052352]

I read as often as I can. I just finished up Hobo by Eddy Joe Cotton and I'm starting You Can't Win by Jack Black.

My younger brother (16) doesn't read all that often, but when he does it's non-fiction stuff about WWII or Desert Storm. He's joining the Air Force, so I can see why he reads all that stuff.

My other younger brother is 14 and hates reading. The other day I asked him when he last read a book and he was like "I read Scott Pilgrim yesterday" and I was like "No, an actual book" and his stance was basically "Reading is boring."

My dad enjoys reading, but rarely has the time for it. He's either working or sleeping, but there have been vacations where he reads a book and enjoys it.

My mom doesn't really like reading and she never went to college or anything. She just reads her Bible for the most part, but every once and a while I'll see her with a Danielle Steele or self-help book.

I want to guide my youngest brother into enjoying reading without forcing it on him. He's big into fantasy video games and shit, so I figure he'd enjoy some young adult fantasy (he's 14, but may as well be 11). Only problem is that I never read fantasy growing up (save for LOTR and Harry Potter), nor do I read it now, so i dunno what to do.

[Anonymous No.3052391]

Mom reads a lot of romance novels, one every few days. She appreciates literature but likes happy endings more. I feel like she read a lot of older literature long ago, her vocabulary is good. My dad mostly reads the Bible, as a kid he read some science fiction, Ray Bradbury etc.
I'm not much better, in college I read some extra books here and there. I tried reading Ulysses at least twice. I really enjoyed it but would forget to read and then it would be so long ago I'd just restart. My sister recently got into that "One for the Money" series. Brother is biomedical engineer, he doesn't see the point of working so hard to read for leisure when he could read something he needs to know.
My extended family puts me to shame for the most part. My younger cousin got into Nabokov in mid-high school.

side note: I used to be able to instantaneously locate the hot&steamy passage in a romance novel. Right around 2/3 of the way through.

[Anonymous No.3052435]

>tfw no Korean girl to read with you

[Anonymous No.3052438]

>>3052435
>average korean girls wanting to read with you at starbucks

[Anonymous No.3052441]

>>3052435
In the future, all Korean girls will be robot. And you will be able to read on them. Flick a nipple, turn a page. It's all good.

[Anonymous No.3052470]

>>3052435
That girl is Chinese.

[Anonymous No.3052476]

>>3052435
I would fuck her so hard, it's not even funny.

[Anonymous No.3052501]

>>3052470
I thought people suspected her to be a Korean anchor

[Anonymous No.3052502]

>>3051317
How do you do that? You follow some specific road?

[Anonymous No.3052512]

>>3052501
Yeah, I'm just making shit up.

I would bend her over and screw her into a coma though.

[Anonymous No.3052617]

>>3052441
>average korean girl

I wished America would have cheap plastic surgery like Korea ;__;

My last average korean gf looks like this, and she had Cup C implants at aged 20.

[Anonymous No.3052618]

>>3052470
Nope, she's 100 percent Korea. She's a god tier, trans-human Korean.

[Anonymous No.3052622]

>>3052618
>tfw no korean gf to cuddle and read Infinite Jest with :(

[Anonymous No.3052624]

>>3052622

Haha, enjoy being alone, faggot. Picture related, me and my bitch.

[Anonymous No.3052641]

>>3052622
>have kids with cute asian waifu
>your kids are freakish gremlins

I never

[Anonymous No.3053287]

>>3051440

Gutenberg Galaxy - Marshall Mcluhan

You're welcome.

[Anonymous No.3053303]

>>3052622
what am i looking at here exactly? is it before & after of plastic surgery, or a shop of some ugly asian woman?

[Anonymous No.3053353]

>>3051191
>tfw you check out a twenty year-old copy of Stoner from the library and the spine isn't broken

[Anonymous No.3053360]

>>3053303
before and after picture

[Anonymous No.3053416]

>>3050811
>some of the most esoteric stuff you can imagine.
I've been extremely intrigued by esoteric things lately. So, this >>3051218

[Anonymous No.3053439]

>go to local library
>the only book clubs are for children
>"there are none" was the reply I had at every single bookstore I went to
fml

[Anonymous No.3053467]

>>3052259
>>3052260
>not butthurt

[Anonymous No.3053481]

My parents both read quite often. My mother reads more than anybody else, but she's also a stay-at-home mom so no surprise there.

My father's a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, absolutely loves Arthur Conan Doyle.

[Anonymous No.3053504]

My mom rarely reads. When she does, it's usually some non-fiction shit by a neoconservative pundit.

My dad was the same, except he read a lot of historical fiction and practically every book about the Civil War ever.

My sister reads whatever flavor-of-the-month tripe is popular at the time.

None of my friends read other. One was interested so I loaned him Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but he got one chapter in before deciding that it was "too hard".

[Anonymous No.3053523]

>>3051329
Internet has already replaced live politics.

[Anonymous No.3053554]

Every house I've lived in has been full of books on shelves (we move between several countries quite often).

Some of my earliest memories are of playing at the foot of one of these bookshelves, and using the books to build forts for my toy sieges.

They belonged to my parents or were left for safekeeping by other relatives, and now my siblings and I have added to them.

So, we all read - pretty much all the time (there's books rotting everywhere in the place I'm in at the moment, because of the tropical climate), but my eldest sister can no longer read a shred of fiction; ever since she read for law, fiction puts her to sleep and she will take months and months to get through a single chapter. Non-fiction? She breezes through it. Pity to be deprived of that joy.

I suppose I only really started to actually "read" when I spent most of my recesses and lunchtimes in the library at the school I was attending at the time, as it was the only accessible air-conditioned building in which kids could loiter and escape the humid yuck.

3 years of that (spending recess and lunch) in the library and I not only truly developed an affinity for reading (from that point on, I've never been anywhere without a book - the book replaced the gameboy in my rucksack), but also unfortunately became rather fat and my eyesight deteriorated dramatically.

...

I only lost that fatness because I got TB and it was literally eaten out of me. Welp, 1/4 lung gone and several pairs of glasses later and I still read.

I found it most strange to find out when I did (in secondary school), that so many of my contemporaries - and their parents - did not read.

Ever the sickly child, I've found early on that it pays to have a companion in those doctor's waiting rooms, and, when I think of it, especially for long international flights (gameboy with magnifierlight was superseded by ebookreader with light).

[Anonymous No.3053558]

>>3053554
I actually read your whole post. Interesting. Thanks for the share.

[Anonymous No.3053573]

My aunt is always reading pleb political books by people like Sean Hannity Glen Beck. My sister reads shit like the Hunger Games and Twilight. They have terrible tastes. Cousin reads shitty romance novels and chick shit. Grandma reads mystery novels cause she is old.

All have pleb tastes compared to me.

[Anonymous No.3053576]

>>3050862

I don't think I read a single book from the year I graduated high school in 2007 until I got back into it by reading Vladimir Bartol's Alamut in 2012

Just sayin'

[Anonymous No.3053581]

>>3053573
>All have pleb tastes compared to me.

You are amazing, anon-sama

[Anonymous No.3053582]

>>3053576
Yup.

>girlfriend book shelve, lined with harrypotter, and twlight. That's about it.

[Anonymous No.3053587]

>>3053576
I read a lot after I finished highschool. University on the other hand really put a dampener on reading that wasn't somehow course related or related to the general field of my studies.

And then, even when I had time for something more leisurely, I didn't feel like reading because I'd done so much already.
Dem eyes were tired man....

dem eyes were tired.

[Anonymous No.3053590]

>>3053587
Reading in sunlight only and e-link will help relief eye stress. Reading books under a lamp hurt my eyes after 5 mins.

[Anonymous No.3053611]

The Internet will save the world.

It's because the previous (and current) generation are raised so much with TVs, it's easiest to get most of your information from there. TVs are the main reason people are dumber now than they have ever been. It requires very little to no thought to process or understand. Whereas reading is a very mentally engaging activity. Neil Postman writes all about it in Amusing Ourselves to Death, which is a pretty good short non-fiction book if you are interested.

Luckily we now have the Internet, which has made information access even better, and will soon replace TV in a lot of areas. I predict that in the next generation or two reading levels will increase simply due to the fact that everyone uses the Internet, which is almost entirely literacy-based. They at least know how to read and type, even if it's just from using instant message programs. This will cause overall reading to go up.

[Anonymous No.3053616]

>>3053611 here
>>3050757
To answer your question yes, most of my family reads books. My parents are into mostly really thick shitty adventure novels like Tom Clancy books and Game of Thrones, but have turned me onto some actually good shit like Dune and The Lord of the Rings when I was young.
My sister reads Harry Potter and Christian literature.
I have two other siblings whom, now that I think of it, I have never once spoken to about any form of literature they read for fun in their free time. I think they may be non-readers which upsets me.
I love books, I will read any kind. I prefer non-fiction.
and yes, it's fucking depressing how dumb the general public is.

[Anonymous No.3053619]

>>3052618
Her eyes really fucking bother me.
Fucking anime eyes look creepy as shit.

[Anonymous No.3053622]

>>3053554
Fuck you non-fiction can be so much more interesting and wonderful than any story-book.
Non-fiction is better because it's about real fucking life, and some biographies are just incredible, even if they did fudge the details.
It's OK, it takes a greater mind to read non-fiction and realize all of its connections and significance to actual human life. Keep reading your bedtime stories.

[Anonymous No.3053628]

>>3053622
evidently nonfiction was unable to teach you how to be a kinder, wiser, and more empathetic person

[Anonymous No.3053635]

>>3053622
>posts in /lit/
>looks down on fiction

hahaha oh wow

[Anonymous No.3053637]

>>3053619
It's coz they're a product of plastic surgery (like 99% of "pretty" corean girls)

[Anonymous No.3054330]

>>3053611
>fool who still thinks the Internet will usher in an era of an enlightened populace

Check out the youtube comment section, facebook walls, etc. - pure trash.

[Anonymous No.3054337]

>>3053622
>it takes a greater mind to read non-fiction

False, and the opposite may actually be true.

[Anonymous No.3054374]

>>3053622

[Anonymous No.3054386]

>>3053622
Shit man, what are you talking about?

They're both great. Exclusively reading one or the other just seems silly.

[Anonymous No.3054573]

>>3053619
That's a doll not a person.

[Anonymous No.3054849]

>>3054573
>implying most women don't aspire to doll-like perfection

[Anonymous No.3054852]

My father laughs at me when I have a book in my hands and says "Why do you even bother? You will end up like me anyway"

[Anonymous No.3054861]

My parents read some, my siblings don't. My gf reads more than me.

But yeah, reading doesn't make people more intelligent. Seriously. You'll have to be somewhat intelligent to begin with to get anything out of literature.

[Anonymous No.3054865]

>>3054852
What a dick, how can anyone not find books enjoyable?

They're like movies in your mind.

[Anonymous No.3054873]

>>3054865
I take it as a joke. I find it more insulting when I hear it from younger people.

[Anonymous No.3054881]

>>3050842
Even I read at night.

[Anonymous No.3054884]

>>3051493
>this is what spics actually believe
sickening

[Anonymous No.3054895]

>>3051493
Where is the point in memorizing a book? I don't even memorize poems, I just learn to read them fluently.

If someone wants to explain this to me I'm open to expand my horizon.

[Anonymous No.3054901]

>>3054895
if it's the only book you've ever read, might as well memorize it

also I'm sure they think it looks cool to quote obscure passages of it at times when normal conversation would be more appropriate

[Anonymous No.3054902]

>>3051493
>The Art of War

[Anonymous No.3054935]

>>3054852
>My father laughs at me when I have a book in my hands and says "Why do you even bother? You will end up like me anyway"

Your dad confirmed for bro tier. You should troll him back with "In Soviet Russia, books read you!"

[Anonymous No.3054939]

>>3054902
China tactics has always been zerg rushing. Think of it as rushing enemies with knives in counter-strike, that's what primitive chinese people do.

[Anonymous No.3054964]

>>3054935
Once I asked him to drive me to my uncle to get me a book to read, it's pretty far away. He answered with "go walk".

[Anonymous No.3054968]

I used to be disappointed that my dad only reads Dean Koontz mystery novels but after reading this thread I'm fucking happy he at least reads a few hours everyday. And what's sad is until I read the Game of Thrones books, I know how much people on /lit/ hate them, I used to hate reading books. Now I read at least an hour a day.

[Anonymous No.3054997]

>>3054939
LOL

[Anonymous No.3055505]

bump

[Anonymous No.3055738]

>>3053611
No, the internet is massively used for pornography, or places that are more for social networking than for spreading ideas. They have character limits, or it seems like they do because nobody uses more than once sentence. Saying that the internet will increase general literacy because it is "literacy-based" is like claiming that television programming will increase eloquence because it is "speech-based".

People are getting worse and worse with rhetoric, in speech and in writing. Grammar is a neglected soul.

[Anonymous No.3056027]

>>3054852
lololololol

[Anonymous No.3056342]

>>3055738
The general public are dumb fucks. More news at 11.

[Anonymous No.3056354]

My dad almost only reads Vladimir Nabokov.

I haven't read one of them.

[Anonymous No.3056399]

My mum's a History teacher, so she reads quite a bit about her field, mostly national history books (Argentinian). But she loves reading in general, and we probably have 250-300 books in total at home. Granted, probably pleb-tier whatchamacallit books, and mostly in our mother tongue (Spanish), but still.

[Anonymous No.3056404]

I'm 20. My parent's don't read, but they're awesome. My sister never reads, but the other day she called me and asked me

"Hey uh.. since you read books and all, could you lend me your e-reader so I can read a book?"

"I don't know, what book is it?"

"It's called fifty shades of grey"

>mfw

[Anonymous No.3056423]

Ally mothers side reads a lot. I estimated my grandfathers library of books he read after retirement at around 2000. he read atleast one book a day, 80% crime fiction with a special place in his heart for mishima.

I always call my mum before buying a book to see if she has it first. She can remember every book on her shelves. If she doesnt have it then i buy it.

Non of my dads side reads.

[Anonymous No.3056435]

>people actually defending e-readers

Think about it faggots, would you rather have a massive personal library of 1000+ books, or a fucking kindle?

[Anonymous No.3056444]

I come a family of prolific readers. Our living room, basement, and bedrooms all contain at least three bookshelves completely stocked with books.

My dad reads more than any other person I know. He favors history and theological studies over everything else. My mom and sister are really into American literature, and my mom has recently got into this classic British literature kick where she's already read all of Dickens' works and now reading Hardy (this seems real bleak to me now that I think about it).

I share my dad's interest in history and my mom's in American lit, but I find myself reading more and more international authors. Right now I'm reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Nana". I'm thoroughly loving both.

My brother is the only one in my family who isn't an avid reader. He'll read best sellers, books everyone's talking about, and works of that nature, but not near as much as the rest of my family.

[Anonymous No.3056456]

>>3056435

Kindle is both, faggot

[Anonymous No.3056465]

>>3056435
>Not having a huge bookshelf to wander in front of until you pick out the book you want to read.
>Not owning an e-reader so you can flip through pages of titles so you can pick which book you want to read when you're on the road.
>Implying you have to choose between the two

[Anonymous No.3056591]

Parents only read their pleb newspaper, because they get it free from the grocery store. Sister is college educated but never reads, only reads news website.

I have a e-reader with well over 1000s of books. I finish about 1 book per week or so.

Shocking part: we're Asian. Such is the pleb life.

[Anonymous No.3056614]

>>3051068
I could easily read for 8 hours straight, when I started reading the Tomorrow When the War Began series, I spent a week doing nothing in my spare time but reading the books which was about 6 hours a day, even longer on the weekend.

[Anonymous No.3056617]

>>3056614

I don't think you could.

Why don't you?

My point is if you really wanted to you would and you'd find a way but you don't.

[Anonymous No.3056621]

>>3056591
do they give you shit for not having a STEM degree?

[Anonymous No.3056891]

>>3056465
Yeah I don't get the whole either or attitude.
Faggots.

>>3056444
>My brother is the only one in my family who isn't an avid reader. He'll read best sellers, books everyone's talking about, and works of that nature, but not near as much as the rest of my family.

He's obviously adopted; kill him in his sleep.

[Anonymous No.3056897]

>>3056614
>Tomorrow When the War Began
Curious:
Are you an Aussie?
(because if you're not and you're reading that, that's rather unusual)

[Anonymous No.3056902]

>>3050757
>Which explains why trash TV shows, fast food, get rich overnight, and diet pills have mass appeal.
Yeah, also, interesting statistics". They, too, have mass idiot appeal.

[Anonymous No.3057750]

I think the problem comes from that after reading academic books or lectures you get tired of the same thing and you lose interest in reading.

I actually got that the other way, Im in political science major and I didnt read before that, but then I got a huge interest into Theater and Plays.
So I was used in reading 1 book in 1 month or none at all, and now I read 4 books in 3 weeks.
And Im still buying more and more plays.
I still need to read Othello, Mandragora and stuff.

[Anonymous No.3059457]

>>3057750
>I think the problem comes from that after reading academic books or lectures you get tired of the same thing and you lose interest in reading.

Yeah, like how high school they make kids read Shakespare, when we don't fucking like shakespare.

I blame the Jews.

[Anonymous No.3059485]

>>3050757
>"1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

Why would reading go down after completion of higher education? I doubt your source.

>mfw this has probably been brought up already
>mfw tl;dr
>mfw I have no face

[Anonymous No.3059514]

I used to read all the goddamn time in high school, because I could not pay attention and pass the class. Slowed down a bit in college, focused more on the required text in certain classes (mostly Philosophy and the lit courses I took, but due to my workload I couldn't keep up with some of them). Ended up reading a lot more non-fiction in my later years in college, and now that I'm graduated, I find myself watching movies more than anything else.

Admittedly, I'm a filmmaker, so it's very important to be culturally up-to-date on a lot of TV shows and features, but I'm slowly working my way though Infinite Jest, which, while entertaining, is a very mentally intense read(it probably also doesn't help that I got distracted with Diceman in the middle). I'll probably go through my Solomon Kane anthology next.

I love reading, but I also love movies, and my need to catch up on so many things is slowing down my reading quite a bit.

[Anonymous No.3059561]

>>3050757
Television is still on top? That sounds SO 90's.

But yeah, reading is taken for granted far too often. I think part of it is that for a large portion of our lives, we're often forced to read shit we don't want to- resulting in a negative backlash. Conversely, people who begin reading something they enjoy seem to desire to read more.

Good example; former housemate hated reading until she discovered Twilight. *shudder*. Thankfully she realized that it was shit-tier when she got into other novels, like the Hunger Games.

[Anonymous No.3059567]

>>3059457
Ya, it's just too much for the dumbfuck teacher to let the students choose between a set of books instead makes them read 1 book or 1 play.

I fucking hated romeo and juliet, but I liked macbeth. And I would of much rather read 1984 or atlas shrugged than animal farm / lord of the flies / the scarlet letter

[Anonymous No.3059571]

>>3059561
>former housemate hated reading until she discovered Twilight. *shudder*. Thankfully she realized that it was shit-tier when she got into other novels, like the Hunger Games.

Not_sure_if_trolling.jpg

[Anonymous No.3059599]

>>3051280
And people ask me why I specifically do NOT want to be an English teacher.

[Anonymous No.3059619]

>>3059571
Actually, I'm not, especially since I was the one who suggested the novel (keep in mind this was before a movie was even announced for it, when the other two books weren't even published yet.)

The point is, even if it was Meyer, her reading something she enjoyed for once made her realize that reading can be enjoyable. In doing so, she was motivated to read more literature, and soon discover that Twilight is low tier at best. Surely even you can agree that Suzanne Collins is a superior writer all told.

[Anonymous No.3059627]

I grew up in a family of idiots. My reading level is in the 90th percentile and that terrifies me because I really am not all that smart.

[Anonymous No.3059654]

>>3059627
I passed out of all english reading and writing in college

My parents never finished 9th grade. My mensa IQ is 126, which isn't all that smart.

People call me bright, intelligent, and very smart and I die a little on the inside.

[Anonymous No.3059672]

>>3059514

Did you study film at college?

From my experience film students have no interest in philosophy and vice versa. I really think philosophy is an area more film students should pay attention to.

[Anonymous No.3059691]

Every angsty teenager goes through the phase where they think they are in the intelligent elite.

[Anonymous No.3059699]

>>3059691
>Every angsty teenager goes through the phase where they think they are in the intelligent elite.

Yeah but still, the public is dumb. Statistics don't lie.

[Anonymous No.3059701]

>>3059699
The truth is a lot of people who read books are also stupid

[Anonymous No.3059706]

>>3059691

and they probably are. Until people like you tell sentences like these long enough, so they will revert back to normalfag status due to social pressures.

Are you one of these people who "stopped being 14", "manned up", "got a real job" and "stopped asking useless questions that have no practical value in day to day life".

just sayin. . .

[Anonymous No.3059708]

>>3059691
Every time I leave the house I hear so much misinformation, ignorance and kindergarten fallacies committed by people past 30 - it's frustrating.

Luckily, I don't consider myself to be particularly smart so I don't buy into the whole intellectual elitism thing. I'm just another retard who happens to be more passive and skeptic.

[Anonymous No.3059718]

>>3059706
You'll end up there either way. You can't win.

Your parents have been telling you this since birth and yet you refuse to listen. You and your children will go through the exact same thing.

Growing up is accepting, conforming and keeping your shit to yourself.

[Anonymous No.3059721]

>>3059708
Let it forever be said that all of the world's negative societal changes and world devastating mistakes were caused by adults, and people who thought they knew better than everyone else.

I.E.: Every totalitarian dictator of the past century.

[Anonymous No.3059724]

>>3059718
One of the most common fallacies of becoming older is to mistake your own pessimistic view for reality.

[Anonymous No.3059727]

>>3059721
There has been good tyrants

[Anonymous No.3059728]

>>3059721
Was it caused because they thought they knew better or because people always get in the way of people who know better?

[Anonymous No.3059762]

This shit is disgusting. I'm constantly barraged daily by people at my uni with incessant questions about our required reading, because half of my class hasn't even read a page of The Odyssey. It literally makes me sick that those dumb fucks can't read to save their life.

[Anonymous No.3059767]

>>3059762

I mean, I don't do all of the required reading for my university classes on time. This is especially true if the class is some bullshit gen ed requirement that I had no desire to take in the first place.

[Anonymous No.3059787]

I thank my parents for raising me in a very culturally stimulating environment.

Promoting reading by exclusion through inability of participation in regular conversations and such.

[Anonymous No.3060343]

>you will turn into this if you don't read

[Anonymous No.3060453]

>>3051068
Oh God, the feelies.
No.