Now, I must admit, I know that reading was never really on the Top Ten List of Things Kids Love To Do. But I never really understood why. I'm just gonna say it- I'm a book worm. I currently own more than 400 books and I've read hundreds more. But this obsession is deeply rooted in the fiber of my being (its not just a simple passtime). My mother read books to me from the time I was an infant. When I was a baby, I didn't play with toys; I would go through my little bookshelf, pull out a book, and beg the nearest adult to read it to me. I realized early on that I was an exception to the rule. None of my other friends loved reading as much as I did. But I continued in my personal literary lust.
Now that I'm older, I see even less reason in teenager's aversion to books. When I was a kid, I was content to play outside like everyone else, running around in the park and making up games. But now that I've grown up and I don't do those kinds of things anymore, I'm even more avid about reading than I was before. Reading allows an escape from reality. Some people say its boring, but I completely disagree. I guess you have to have a certain amount of imagination to truly appreciate the tales spun by a really good author, but yet and still, I'm surprised at how many lack the skill. Teens prefer movies, in which they are simply given an image to evaluate. In books, you have to make up your own interpretation of the image, and then assess the situation. In addition, teens are to the point and do not enjoy the "fluff" that many author's are guilty of including in their extended descriptions of scenery, emotions, and even character's appearances. I have admittedly skipped a paragraph or two of my favorite books, reluctant to endulge in an entire page about the way a forest looks. But still, books allow for special effects that movies could never provide; characters that only the reader's mind could form; creatures and places that no artist could capture as perfectly as the reader themself. I guess kids don't want to have to work [mentally] for their entertainment. They want movies and TV shows and video games that occupy their minds without actually exercising them. And thus America's youth slowly becomes a horde of braindead couch potatoes [but not really].
Despite all the negative factors, I still love to read. And I am always amazed by the look of shock that passes over every face to which I describe this passion. There is, however, one problem with my addiction- I'm running out of room. The seven bookcases in my house are heavily laiden with the objects of my affection and soon I won't have any room left for my ever-expanding collection. I'm sure I'll find a way to fit the in; I always do. =D
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although i am a book-lover myself, i disagree with your entry. i think that everyone reads, it is just that not everyone reads books. my mom reads magazines, my dad reads on the internet, and my sister learns from pictures. all of these methods are similar absorptions of information, but just in different forms besides books.
i think that the rise of the internet has greatly contributed to a decline in physical book-reading though and has transformed it into other "acceptable" forms.
plus there is so much out there to read, it is overwhelming. i think this mere fact turns a lot of people away from reading. of course there is something for everyone, but it takes a degree of searching and motivation to locate such a match. then again, today almost anything can be published...
speaking of books - i love to talk books! since you are such an avid reader -- what is your favorite book? i am looking for a good read?
I have some good reads listed on my profile page. ;-) Here, under "Favorite Books."
Have fun.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
So much Fantasy
that can't be very healthy
;-p
Saint O Nothin' Says
Always go FORWARD, going straight will get you no where!
-Greenday
There's definitely Science Fiction in there too.
What else am I gonna read? The Bible? Pffft. I'm Catholic. We don't do that.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
haha
catholic.
Is the Fire and Ice by George R.R. Martin any good
my brother is trying to read that
and Isaac Asimov, I've only read I, Robot (which Will Smith was not in, Where the hell did the movie come from?) what else has he done.
as you can see i like horror and stuff that will make you puke.(not kidding read Haunted- by Chuck Palahniuk....)
Saint O Nothin' Says
Always go FORWARD, going straight will get you no where!
-Greenday
Fire and Ice is incredibly good. I have to warn you though, GRRM has a tendency to keep saying his next book is coming out any day now and it doesn't happen. He's been saying the next book in the series is going to be out soon for like the past 2 years. So, once you're hooked, it's kind of a torturous wait.
Asimov has written a little over 515 books, fiction and non. Some of them include the Foundation Series, and the rest of the Robot series (that movie was loosely based on ideas in his book, not really on the book itself. I still thought it was a fun movie). I think my favorite Asimov book so far, though, has been The End of Eternity.
You know what, I think you might really like Asimov. :-)
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
Most likely i will
again i read I, Robot and enjoyed it... though now i can barely tell you what happened in some of them.
The GRRM thing, Oh god i know, my poor brother routinely goes to the library every weekend to see if it is on hold, supposedly it is coming and he should have a copy of it in a couple of weeks.
I have to ask i absolutely adored Kurt Vonnegut's book "the monkey house" it was a series of short stories about the future, reality, and a couple of odd bits, but my question is does Asimov write like that. From what i remember he likes to write about the future but does he spend any time on ummmm like reality, and solipsism, and things like that, or is he chief on just robotics
Saint O Nothin' Says
Always go FORWARD, going straight will get you no where!
-Greenday
I've never actually read anything by Kurt Vonnegut, but from what you describe, I think you should start with "The End of Eternity." It's about time travel and alternative universes existing because of it, etc. I actually saw something on TV a few months ago (I think it was on PBS) that was talking about time travel and how it could actually be made into a possibility and I was listening to the methods they would use and I thought, This sounds really familiar... It took me a little bit to figure out they were using basically the same method Asimov did in the book he wrote in 1955. The man was a genius. Literally. Vice president of Mensa International.
You should also look into Heinlein's books, if Solipsism is a huge interest to you--he created the idea of World as Myth (a very good author creates a parallel universe just by writing about it). His books on this are:
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Don Williams, Jr.
Read my Blog!
The Sex Change Blog
OHHH (bounces up and down)
you have to read Vonnegut, He is sooooo good.
When he starts about time and people, and god, and like everything
it justs blows your mind
Everytime i finish one of his books i just sit back for like 5hours thinking about it and looking for anyone who would listen to my jaber.
same thing with a book called Rant
i love books that just make you sit back and just think what ifs for the rest of the day
Saint O Nothin' Says
Always go FORWARD, going straight will get you no where!
-Greenday
Well, I don't have nearly 400 books, mostly because I'm poor and cannot afford that many books. I've read hundreds, but couldn't tell you all the ones I've read. The library is my friend, and I'm so happy they're expanding the one down here, so that they can fit more books and I won't have to patiently wait for them to be transferred to my local branch.
My sister, who is 10, loves to read. She's aiming for getting a $50 gift certificate from the library for her reading. My other sister, who is 12, doesn't like it so much, because she has difficulty with it. And I'm a horrible out-loud reader (I tend to stumble over my words a lot). So, she opts for the movies, and creating her own stories in her head while she's playing outside. My other other sister, who is almost 19, loves to read as well, but loves writing even more. She can spend hours and hours on the computer typing away her own stories, and even got one of her books published (albeit through an independent publisher thanks to one of her high school teachers).
~C
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Okay let me see, i don't have 400 but I absolutely adore reading (though in a turn i have started reading educating non-fiction to help with a debate but that is off subject) Now Im an "American Teen" and i like to read and although kids aren't reading books anymore that isn't saying they don't read, Fencer07 is right by saying that the internet and magazines and such are a prominent reading source (but come on nothing is as good as a terrific book). But I find that (this is just an interesting point about me) that im starting to get into the really wierd stuff when i
started reading it was Dr. Suess, then it was Goosebumps and Harry Pottter, then in the ummmm7th grade it was Stephen King (whom i still adore), now well...now....its Chuck Palahniuk and anyone else creepy i can find.
But yeah you didn't explain what you read, im curious?
Also i thought i should put a few of my favorites (not that you care)
but for an odd fun
"Welcome to the Monkey House"
"Rant", "Stranger Than Fiction", "Fight Club", "Lullabye", Invisible Monsters
Insomnia, Salem's Lot, Carrie,
Anthem, The Fountainhead, Timequake, Breakfast Of Champions, Thank You Dr.Kavorkian, I AM AMERICA AND SO CAN YOU, 1984, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Slaughter House Five, and i know im forgeting so much.
Saint O Nothin' Says
Always go FORWARD, going straight will get you no where!
-Greenday
Great post! Nice thought...
I myself was read to as a kid because we didn't have a lot of money and my mom had to take care of me and my brother during the day while my dad worked, so we frequented the library. I think it's because of this that I really got attached to reading. As my ability to read developed, an interest in writing flared up. I still love to write to this day
I agree with you that a lot of writers today distract from their own books with "fluff." I think the main problem is that kids today have so many more things to do than decades back, and as technology becomes more developed, there are more distractions from simple pleasures like reading. Now we've got the internet, all kinds of computer games, online games, all kinds of game systems like Xbox 360 and Wii. Add to that all the extra curricular stuff that people get their kids involved in like ballet lessons, horse riding lessons, little league baseball, soccer...on and on.
Also, I think older generations valued reading more because education wasn't as easy to come by, and so not as taken for granted as it is today. The key, I think, is to do like your mother and my mother did - getting kids interested early in reading and the incentives it provides.