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The generation that doesn't read
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Post by
606231
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Lombax
I read a lot, probably the most of my whole class. With that being said, I can read a couple of thousand pages a week and I can read around ten, it all depends on my mood.
Post by
OverZealous
I read a lot, probably the most of my whole class. With that being said, I can read a couple of thousand pages a week and I can read around ten, it all depends on my mood.
Yeah, same - there are periods when I just won't bother reading at all - typically, those periods are in-between good book releases and I tend to be careful about buying (our library isn't amazing) new books/series, especially when I don't know much about them.
And yeah, Adams - how come you go all condescending the minute Atik posts anything?
^^
Post by
Patty
How though? They're basically comics. Which I wouldn't class as books. :P
Also, if people are /flexing their e-peens about reading, I read the Hunger Games trilogy (~1350 pages) in about three days, in between other stuff. :P
/flex
I can't find the second two anywhere!
Hmm
Yes, I know about the film! And we got the trilogy from Waterstones (other than WHSmith pretty much the only shop that we have that sells books!), so maybe try there? And the guy they cast as Gale looks nothing like how I imagined him looking. Deeeeeerp. >.> Same with Cato, but oh well.
Post by
pioneers14
I remember that I didn't start reading (for fun) until well after high school. The summer after I graduated I babysat my neighbors kids for up to 12 hours a day. I remember one day I decided to "try reading" lol and went to Borders that night to try and find something that looked interesting to me. I ended up with Dan Brown's book "The DaVinci Code" and ended up finishing in less than a week.
Now It seems that I always have a book cracked open somewhere. I was introduced to the fantasy genre and have read everything from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series to Charles DeLint and so on.
I know that a lot of people have bashed on writers like Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) but I give them both a little praise because it least they both got thousands upon thousands of people from the younger generation to "pick up a book."
Post by
Patty
I remember that I didn't start reading (for fun) until well after high school. The summer after I graduated I babysat my neighbors kids for up to 12 hours a day. I remember one day I decided to "try reading" lol and went to Borders that night to try and find something that looked interesting to me. I ended up with Dan Brown's book "The DaVinci Code" and ended up finishing in less than a week.
Now It seems that I always have a book cracked open somewhere. I was introduced to the fantasy genre and have read everything from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series to Charles DeLint and so on.
I know that a lot of people have bashed on writers like Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) but I give them both a little praise because it least they both got thousands upon thousands of people from the younger generation to "pick up a book."
That's true, but I don't think a direct comparison between Meyer and Rowling is exactly fair. :P
Post by
Lombax
Oh, the Hunger Games movie? Awesome!
Post by
606231
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Patty
Oh, the Hunger Games movie? Awesome!
It's out on the 23rd of March, iirc. Catching Fire is due out in late 2013, and Mockingjay... well, no idea when that will be out. We're sort of derailing now though. ;) Maybe best to continue this train of thought in the bin or movie thread or something, lol.
Edit: lol, they should do. It was on 3 for 2 when we got it, so we just bought the entire trilogy! Then lost the first... but I replaced it. :P Jennifer Lawrence seems like a pretty good choice for Kat though.
Post by
pioneers14
I remember that I didn't start reading (for fun) until well after high school. The summer after I graduated I babysat my neighbors kids for up to 12 hours a day. I remember one day I decided to "try reading" lol and went to Borders that night to try and find something that looked interesting to me. I ended up with Dan Brown's book "The DaVinci Code" and ended up finishing in less than a week.
Now It seems that I always have a book cracked open somewhere. I was introduced to the fantasy genre and have read everything from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series to Charles DeLint and so on.
I know that a lot of people have bashed on writers like Stephanie Meyer (Twilight) and J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) but I give them both a little praise because it least they both got thousands upon thousands of people from the younger generation to "pick up a book."
That's true, but I don't think a direct comparison between Meyer and Rowling is exactly fair. :P
Sorry - I wasn't comparing them to each other. It's just they have both written books aimed at a younger audience.
Post by
Patty
Sorry - I wasn't comparing them to each other. It's just they have both written books aimed at a younger audience.
There's no need to apologise, lol, I knew what you were saying. Every author has critics, it's just that those of popular works get (forgive the term) 'hipster' like haters who sort of hate things only because lots of other people like them, with no real reason to.
Post by
gamerunknown
^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoN6XfyQsr4
I only heard the song after it became famous!
Post by
142728
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Post by
706709
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Atik
I don't understand by "read things you should be"
The only things you "should be" reading are things you enjoy... (or are needed for school or work, ofc.)
It is why I have a problem with that junk food example. Eating junk food can be bad for you. Reading fantasy books isn't. I read the lord of the rings, and I never once felt like it was killing me.
And your other part is flawed, 'steer youngsters towards... Beowulf.'
Beowulf IS a fantasy book!
Post by
Adamsm
Beowulf does fit in with the Shakespeare example because it's a piece of classical literature; most people don't read those for fun if they can help it. I've tried once to read the original poem for Beowulf, but eventually gave up as it didn't hold my interest....same thing happened with most Shakespeare works, and unless I was required to read it for class, I stayed away from them.
Though, the opposite is true at times heh; out of my entire grade 12 class English class I was the only one who finished 1984 on my own; most of the rest just went to the second last part, then our teacher told us what happened and we watched the movie, and after that, I read Animal Farm on my own.
Though, worse 'classic novel' I have ever read was Old Man and the Sea....hated that book so much, so very very much.
Post by
Atik
Old man and the sea was horrible, agreed. It also was hardly a 'classic'.
I read Animal farm in English 9 and Thoroughly enjoyed it. I read Beowulf in English 12 and enjoyed it.
My most hated book in all of my English classes was "The Count of Monte Cristo" as the main character was a massive mary sue and the story was well beyond predictable with the foreshadowing spelled out.
Post by
Monday
I rather enjoyed
The Count of Monte Cristo
=/
Animal Farm
was also way better than
1984
, imo, and
Fahrenheit 451
is tied with
Animal Farm
.
My least favorite classic novel is anything written by Hemingway.
Post by
Sweetscot
I don't understand by "read things you should be"
The only things you "should be" reading are things you enjoy... (or are needed for school or work, ofc.)
It is why I have a problem with that junk food example. Eating junk food can be bad for you. Reading fantasy books isn't. I read the lord of the rings, and I never once felt like it was killing me.
And your other part is flawed, 'steer youngsters towards... Beowulf.'
Beowulf IS a fantasy book!
Holy guacamole I'm agreeing with Atik for a change. A classic should be a classic for a reason, and the whole point of books chosen for English classes should be that they teach something (not like morals like teaching about foreshadowing or about tragedies etc) I loved many classics as a youngster but I was a book worm so no surprises there. Beowulf is fantasy, it's also a classic, but I really don't think reading for school where you are compelled to translates well to reading for pleasure.
Also don't like Hemmingway, not really sure WHY the world of lit is so entranced by him...old drunks ftw?
I really think a person gets more benefit out of learning to read for pleasure than they do much of the reading done in English classes to teach them literary tenets. It's a necessary evil though as they WILL need to know those works and what they teach if they plan to pursue those types of classes in college and have a career in a that type of field. For everyone else though? You really don't use a knowledge of classical literature on an everyday basis, but you CAN use a knowledge of popular media to converse with friends or even coworkers and de-stress using books.
I am not sure you can teach pleasure reading in school though. The occaisional "find a book you might like and read it" assignments can push the envelope but I really think that picking up books is more a skill you learn at home or on your own.
Post by
Atik
The occaisional "find a book you might like and read it" assignments can push the envelope but I really think that picking up books is more a skill you learn at home or on your own.
These were always my favorite moments in English classes. We were allowed to pick a book and write an essay of some sort on them. One time I did Halo: Contact Harvest, and another time I did Dead Space: Martyr.
They were both the highest scoring essays I ever wrote in school.
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