Youth and Reading

[FuktLogik]

I read to learn, I read when the power goes out, and I used to spend my spare blocks in highschool baked out of my skull reading in the courtyard. Now that I have a job though, and have purchased around $20,000 worth of electronics and media, I don't read that many books. I read plenty online, but that's not really the same.

 

[NovaCascade]

Yes, I read a lot, or at least I used to. With me now going to university and having a part time job, I'm finding it harder and harder to find time to sit down for hours on end and read like I used to. I used to be a pretty fast reader too, I could knock out up to 100 pages an hour in a regular novel.

Most of the stuff I read is fantasy and sci-fi. I have most of the Star Wars EU novels, and the usual suspects like Harry Potter and LotR, but some of my other favourite series are Kevin J Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns, John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began, The Eragon books, Artemis Fowl, The Power of Five, and The Trinity by Fiona McIntosh. I would recommend all of those to people who enjoy a good read.

I've also been getting into reading a lot of fan fiction. There's a recommendations page on the tvtropes website that has a collection of really good fics from most established universes. Most of the fics I read are from Harry Potter or Mass Effect. If anyone is after some good ones (and doesn't want to get lost for hours at tvtropes) I'm happy to link you them.

 

[Professor James]

I'm an avid reader and I'm only 13 years old. Although not many kids my age share my enthusiasm but some do occasionally read in their free time. Right now I'm reading huckleberry finn.

 

[funguy2121]

Don't they realize that no movie can compare to a really good book, one that becomes a movie in your mind as you're drawn into the story? I read almost every night and my book collection is getting quite big.

Yawn. I couldn't disagree more with this statement. It's good that you read. Please stop bragging about it. The fact that you keep books so you can brag about it is rather obnoxious. And you're bragging about Tolkien? Call me when you've read the definitive Dostoyevski.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I read now and then, and I suspect that is true for my peers too.

I disagree with your assessment, I think films trump books in general.

 

[SirDeadly]

snip

I do not believe I said imagination once... I love movies and games just as much as any other person on this site. In my opinion reading a good book is better than watching a movie because when I read I can see the action play out before my eyes, that may be where you got imagination from.

Who are you to call me pretentious, condescending and snobby. You have never met me and you have no idea what my thoughts are. I have merely said that young people today do not like to read books. Sure what I said about movies compared to books is controversial but everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion and you should respect that, even if you think it is wrong.

Sure lots of young people read Harry Potter and Twilight, they're pretty much the only books the people I know have ever read. It wouldn't surprise me if half of those people started reading those books after seeing the movies because they want more of what they have enjoyed on screen.

 

[Phishfood]

As a kid I didn't read much, why would I need to when T.V and games did it all for me? However at my new job I've found plenty of free time to do lots of reading. In the past 5 months-ish I've read all of the Dresden Files to date and am about to finish the Mortal Engines quartlet sometime this week.

I'm actually considering buying an Amazon Kindle because I've already spent more than £150 on books alone. In the long run it could save me some money.

Also on a side note, anyone have any suggestions for some series I could look into.

I've just been hooked in by Lee Childs' "Jack Reacher" series. Been buying them as ebooks for my sony thing. Basic premise is Ex Military Police guy goes round, shoots/punches badguys in the face and usually gets the girl. Do I need to say more?

As for the OP - I read loads. I also agree its quite sad that the current generation seem to regard reading as a waste of time (I work in a school, so I do have some evidence for this statement). Much of the information in the world is written these days. Even if you don't read for pleasure you should be reading to learn.

 

[EcstaticObsessive]

When I was younger, I read all the time. I was told off in school for reading when I was supposed to be doing work. I was told off at home for reading at the dinner table, or hiding a flashlight under my shirt and reading under my bed covers. I got to the point where I didn't even get sick on long car ride anymore while reading, I built up a resistance.

I've noticed as I've gotten older, my love of reading has diminished. I'm preoccupied now with being with mates and being on the internet, and most of all, schoolwork. At least half my day is taken up by schoolwork >.<

I also find it hard to come across books I like anymore. There have been so many occasion where I've tried to sit down and read a book, and I find myself criticizing it. As in, I think the characters are Mary-Sues, or there's not enough description, or plot just seems silly. I almost never find books I enjoy nowadays, when I do, it's a real gem, that I never have time to read.

And no, I have yet to come across a person my age who enjoys reading. For them, it's a trial and a waste of time. To most kids my age, books are 'lame'. And you know what? I find that a real shame. I know how much fun you can get from reading, and I know that it's not a waste of time. I just wish some people would try to accept that.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

It has come to my attention that hardly anyone at my school will actually read a book for entertainment. I just finished The Fellowship of the Ring and thought it was much better than the movie but when I asked a friend to read it she simply said "boring."

I've read the book a number of times and seen the film. I liked the movie better too and "boring" is likely the first word I'd use to describe the book despite my love for Tolkein's worldbuilding and some of his other books (The Silmarillion in particular). If you mean she was unwilling to even try the book, that's perhaps more unfortunate.

Don't they realize that no movie can compare to a really good book, one that becomes a movie in your mind as you're drawn into the story (that's my opinion)? I read almost every night and my book collection is getting quite big.

Apples and oranges my friend. There will never be a movie that can do all of the things a book can and there will never be a book that can do all of the things a movie can. Also, while I don't mean to accuse you specifically, the whole "movie is never better than the book" is a trite platitude usually used by people to prove cultural superiority, similar to people haughtily informing everyone that they don't watch TV. Movies can be great and can certainly be better than books. It comes down largely to taste when you compare what is widely considered one of the best film series of the last century to what is often considered one of the best book series of the last century like this, but there are plenty of wonderful movies based on terrible books and vice versa.

DO you yourself read?

Both for work and pleasure. I read much more nonfiction than I used to though and it's become relatively rare that I find a book of fiction with both a premise that hooks me and writing decent enough to keep me interested.

I read far, far fewer books than when I was younger and the internet is mostly to blame. Then again, the sheer bulk of text I read each day has exploded since that development - I imagine I read a good ten times what I did back then.

Do you know many young people who do?

Read for pleasure, not many. But then again, I'm not sure that there have ever been many young people reading for pleasure. It's always tempting to see things as going downhill, but I imagine that growing up with the internet their entire lives has lead to a substantial increase in the amount of text read and written in today's youth.

This is why I always find it so odd that the same people complaining that young people don't write letters or read anymore (again, as if they ever did) are the ones decrying texting, email, and the internet.

What do you think the lack of interest in books from the youth will mean to the future of stories and books?

Again, I don't think anything has changed substantially. I think each generation just sees each following generation as falling further and that current generations especially are being cast as a pack of sad literary pariahs because previous generations don't understand that the reading and writing has just moved into a new space.

 

[claymoreguy18]

I kinda see where you're coming from. My sister and I (the older ones) read books all the time she is a fan of books like twilight and The chocolate wars and I am a diehard fan of The Dresden files and Christine feehan's dark series. However my younger brother and sister show no interest in books. I think Its just that there is less of a demand to read nowadays as opposed to ten or fifteen years ago.

 

[Nexoram]

I do read myself and, to be fair to your friend, I don't find Tolkien's style enjoyable either. I know about five other people who read on a constant basis, and we've all been reading since we were about thirteen or so. I also personally prefer reading to films in general, but I have enjoyed certain good films more than certain good books.

Hey uro vii, I also didn't like Toliken's style of writing, it was really quite boring and didn't quite capture me as much as the movies did. Don't get me wrong, I read heaps. When I was in primary, I read every day back then and even had a book on my school desk for any spare moments I might had have. I don't read as much now because GAMES! are enticing me more and more but I still love curling up in my bed and having a a good book xD. Also, books can be better than the films and usually are but any story that gets jumped from one medium to another usually sucks.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

I used to read a lot, lots of different books every night. Then I was forced to read, deconstruct and analyse bad (or ones I disliked) books by school, I also hate to say this but I think in a way gaming has ruined books for me. Before I found online gaming I used to stop playing my RPG at around 9-10pm (generally, unless I'd just gotten it) and spend a couple hours before bed reading, now I play games, talk with friends etc etc until 2, 3, 4am and by then I just crash asleep. I guess you could also attribute things like mobile phones and Facebook to this.

 

[Zac Smith]

"Don't they realize that no movie can compare to a really good book" - Don't you realize that i'm right and you're wrong?

Sorry this thread is full of such pretentious crap, such patronizing and ignorant horseshit. Its the same kind of nonsense thinking thats make people experience things like Alice in Wonderland or claymation "morph" and go "Hurr durr, they must be on drugs"; Your spiel is insulting to everyone that works in the non-book creative industry and utterly pathetic.

First of all, how on earth do you measure of quantify "Imagination"? By what scale can you put it against that it has "Declined"? How have you linked Television, and nothing else, to the "decline" of this unquantified entity?

Why don't books cause a decline in imagination? You're still being told what to think, you are not coming up with the characters, the setting, the plot or even the descriptions of what it all looks like; you're just visualizing those descriptions. The amount of imagination you're inputting when reading books is staggeringly small. But books don't just halt the decline of "Imagination", apparently, they buff it! Even though your imagination is actually doing next to nothing.

Why doesn't radio cause a decline in "imagination"? Hearing the words and descriptions, plus the addition of voiced characters and sound effects apparently doesn't cause any decline at all.

Why don't pictures, comics or manga's cause a decline in "imagination"? you're no longer having to visualize seeing the characters and settings, but still, no decline. It would probably be argued by some idiots that "Its still reading though! Herp de derp de derp"

Why don't plays and theater cause a decline in "imagination"? That is hearing words, voiced characters and effects PLUS visually seeing the scene played out in front of you. Never heard anybody call theater a scourge on the imagination.

So It can't be auditory stimulus on its own, it can't be visual stimulus on its own, and its apparently not auditory and visual stimulus together, maybe its the flickering lights! Maybe images playing at 24fps is some sort of inadvertent delete function for our brain. right?

No.

What it is, is pretentious, condescending, snobby bullshit from the kind of people that are convinced that *their* precious medium is superior, that its beneficial, that its more than any other competing medium could ever hope to achieve. Not only that, but all the main competing medium is detrimental to your mental health.

To sum it up in a singe phrase, you are all Book Fanboys. just as misguided and blindly arrogant as Xbox fanboys or PS3 fanboys or PC fanboys or RPG fanboys or FPS fanboys et cetera ad nauseum

Funniest thing? Young people read books all the time. Heard of Harry potter? twilight? How about goosebumps? sweet valley high?

I could go on, but wont.

This kind of crap annoys me because I write for film and television and i've watched film and television all my life. But no, nothing I ever do could ever compare, my imagination is damaged...if only I wrote it down in a book.

*Slow Clap*

That's a pretty long way of saying how I feel as well.

Let people enjoy what they want, anything in the quantity can be stimulating for the mind, and be negative

 

[J-dog42]

I think that a lot of young people do still read. To be honest I love reading and have devoured hundreds of books, but I found Tolkein's books to be hard going at times. What I worry about is the prevalence of e-books. They just aren't the same as a real book. Even if they are a fraction of the price. I guess I'm just very protective of my books.

 

[Canned Spam]

I used to read a lot, but then I just sort of stopped and can't really get back into it again. I really don't know why, but I suspect games and technology in general are at least partly to blame.

 

[Aerowaves]

I just finished The Fellowship of the Ring and thought it was much better than the movie but when I asked a friend to read it she simply said "boring." Don't they realize that no movie can compare to a really good book, one that becomes a movie in your mind as you're drawn into the story (that's my opinion)?

Did she actually try to read it? Don't get me wrong, I am a MEGA Tolkien fan but I can see how the Fellowship of the Ring would be boring to some people. Even some of those who did read a lot back in the day lost interest in reading LOTR because of the first 50 or so pages. I would try another book on her first

 

[Slash Dementia]

I read almost everyday, even if it's just a few pages out of a book. I like to read, and I always have, it's simply fun to get lost in a book from time to time.

There aren't really that many people that I know who read, I know that three of my friends do, and my girlfriend does (we read together sometimes). A lot of other people that I've talked say that books are stupid, so I just try to ignore that comment.

 

[Zeetchmen]

I've never read a book for entertainment, and the only books I've ever read were for school.

Assumeing they weren't on sparknotes. Books are old tech imo

 

[Rabish Bini]

There are so many books that I want to read, but I just can't bring myself to do so, because I hate reading.

It's weird, although I do read a bit about history and stuff, so I guess I do like to read, it just depends what.