It got me thinking, is it just college that distracts people, or is
it everyday life? Are we too consumed with our newest iPhone or iPad? Are we too
busy with our work and social world these days to pick up a book and read—not
just skim, but really read?
I guess the 'book' theme is really fresh in my mind right now. I've been working on an essay/presentation about book agents and editors, and their roles past and present for a week now..I'm going a little bit insane. But, I digress. I'm just wondering what happened to the days of that good old fashion sit on my couch and delve into a good book with some milk and cookies? I mean be serious, we barely have time to sleep now let alone read a 300 pg book. Everything seems to be catered to our convenience now-we even have kindles so we don't have to bother straining our arms to turn the page. What's next? Will there be a robot who will do the reading for us?
What do you guys think-Are we reading less? Is the
act of reading becoming less entertainment and more of an
inconvenience?
I think that there is enough time in the world and in our life, but we just have to find it. Prioritize, if you will. We get distracted because we let things distract us. I guess you can call it temptation disease. I too loved Malcolm X's article; college shouldn't consistently be parties and 1001 ways to get your stomach pumped. However, what is one thing that you hear in high school your senior year? "College is where you find yourself." And on that path of "enlightenment," you are going to find distractions, but I guess what matters is how you handle them and what happens in the end. I do agree that college has become less of a place where you can find people sitting down and actually reading. But I suppose everyone finds their niche after a few failed exams :)
ReplyDeleteBooks to Nooks
ReplyDeleteI see the shift from paper to electronic communication much like the shift according to Plato from oral to written communication. We do seem to lose something along the way but do we gain as well?
Writing lacks such tonal cues of the human voice as pitch and stress, not to mention the physical cues that accompany face to face communication, but it also permits new ways of bridging time and space. Conversations become letters. Sagas become novels. (Baron, p.15)
Generally speaking, it seems as if the idea of losing our memory from shifting to the written word is how books, which we enjoy so much today, came to be—I personally cannot stand to read online but that is the way communication has evolved for those fortunate enough or not to afford and be able to utilize the technology. Our current generation is almost exclusively electronic, from texting, email, Facebook, blogging, and e-cards, (even Hallmark sold out) no wonder books are being replaced by nooks in droves.
… we often lose sight of writing as technology, until, that is, a new technology like the computer comes along and we are thrown into excitement and confusion as we try it on, try it out, reject it, and then adapt it to our lives—and of course, adapt our lives to it. (Baron, p. 1)
It would be interesting to research whether or not this electronic age of ours has increased or decreased reading among youth. As times change you have to change with them or be left behind and as Baron expresses above we will all eventually learn to adapt, even though there will always be die-hards like us who aren’t afraid to risk the paper cut.
With that said I hope the paradigm shift from a prior technological breakthrough, the pencil or the more recent pixel—is just a sign of the times and that no matter what we use to read or write that we never lose appreciation for the end product.
Just as a side-note, last summer I read Stephen King’s Insomnia (hard cover) and enjoyed turning all 832 pages!
submitted by Angela (a to zinnia)
We're definitely reading less, especially those of us who are still in college. I used to be a voracious reader. I read books like they were food. I'd read for days on end and block the rest of the world out. Now I spend a lot more of my time web surfing and checking out books on Amazon, but a lot less of my time reading. When I do read nowadays, I binge, then I have to purge. I'll explain. Last semester was my first fall semester in grad school. I can't remember reading more than a few books for pleasure. This spring semester I read nine books over four week period after Spring Break. I have been following this weird pattern ever since I was in undergrad. One semester I wouldn't read much, the next semester I'd read too much. When I was in middle school and high school, I was pretty consistent. I noticed that I didn't start using a laptop or going on a computer or the internet until I went to college. Somehow all of our classes and the technology are taking away all of attention and our ability to find the time to do some good old fashioned reading. I don't fret too much about it because I have a wish list of all the hundreds of books I want to read before I die, (which include obvious classics like Moby Dick) and guess what? I'm using a website that had a virtual bookshelf to help me keep track of what I'm reading. So we can make reading more convenient for us in this technological era, we just have to consciously try to incorporate it into our idle time.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely reading less. During my junior year as an undergrad, I took all literature classes one semester, so I felt like I was reading because I had to and not because I wanted to. I've never really recovered from that particular semester. If I actually take the time, I can read for pleasure. But it's so much easier for me to watch the movie. In fact, a good movie is usually what influences me to read a book (sadly). Plus there's something about the movie experience that is really appealing to me. I love paying too much money for tickets and popcorn and watching something in a crowded theater.
ReplyDelete