John Scalzi has noted a recent article bemoaning the lack of pleasure reading in our society; apparently fewer than 50 out of 100 Americans admit to reading a novel, poem or play over the past year.
That's not so hard for me to imagine. I've been giving away books, and sometimes it's hard to find takers. I get together with a group of women friends most Saturday mornings, and I often take a small stack of books to hand out. Some of my friends read as voraciously as I do, some don't read at all, and at least one finds my taste bizarrely eclectic.
But I don't know that it's such a terrible thing that everyone isn't out there scavenging for reading material. While I can't imagine a life without books, I hardly ever get to the movies and, as at least one of my friends has repeatedly warned me, I am dangerously out of touch with contemporary culture. (Today the guy bagging my groceries commented on the young lady on the cover of People. I looked at the magazine, which I was actually purchasing, and had absolutely no idea who the woman was.) (I just went into the kitchen to check. The cover says she's Tori Spelling, which tells me nothing.)
The point is, time is limited. I love to read, and so sometimes I read nonsense for relaxation. People, for instance. Other people like movies. (I do, too; I just have no energy for going out on the week-ends.) A lot of people seem to like Oprah. (I have no idea why they like the show, but the magazine is sort of interesting. ) And a lot of people enjoy big parties much more than I do. There are many ways to spend what little free time we have, and I'm not sure that reading fiction has to be one of them for everyone.
On a related note, I have a child getting ready for the college application process and, because she and her friends are interested in the arts, I'm just realizing how many college film programs there are. Maybe film is taking the place of reading for a large segment of the population. Not a bad thing -- I caught up on In America, Mystic River, and The House of Sand and Fog last week-end, and they are all tremendous.
What's the point of this little ramble? I have no idea. I guess it's just this: I couldn't survive more than an hour or so without reading, but if other people can, well, that's okay by me.
4 comments:
I am always amazed at how many people don't read. I guess that comes from having grown up in a family that visited the library as often as most people did the grocery store. Since those of us who do read get so much out of it, I'm convinced those who don't really are missing something. Movies just don't compare in depth and detail and variety.
I have such a passion for reading and am truly amazed that others do not find the joy in reading that I find. Though I don't necessarily care if others read or not, I think that kids today read less and less and that concerns me. My children grew up with a mother who reads all the time, and read to them all the time, and out of my 3, only 1 really enjoys picking up a book and reading. I really feel sad for my kids about this, but I can't make them love reading. Of the movies you mentioned above, I've read Mystic River and The House of Sand and Fog, but have not seen the movies. I always prefer the books...
I am a reading addict myself! I will read the side of a cereal box if I'm desperate and usually have a book propped while I'm brushing my teeth or blowdrying my hair as well. My husband and I both love to read, I read at least 5,000 books to my kids and neither one of them enjoy reading much at all. We have had six new bookcases built in over the past 4 years and they are all full of books people give us because they don't want them anymore. my husband I swear knows where every single book he's ever owned is sitting. I prefer library books, something about a book that someone else wanted too!!
I'm a reader. I can't imagine not reading books, magazines, newspapers - even the cereal box mentioned in a previous comment. My favorite place to read - the bathtub.
Oh and I'm definitely a library person, I was headed out to buy yet another bookcase a few years ago and decided that it was ridiculous. There are very few books that I will read twice and the library will still have them if I feel the need.
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