Is it my imagination or is there no such thing as people who read books anymore? Real books.?

Question

Alone, I rot in the city where I live. No one here reads books or, if they do, it is the typical Nora Roberts or Dan Brown or Twilight thriller that everyone else told them is a great read. The people I know do not read, but instead watch television religiously and text all day. Then their conversations are about little else than opinions on what the characters on tv are going to do in the next episode, and also discussions about their text messages and facebook chats. I just want to know that there are places out there where people challenge their own ideas with books and discussions of those books. And where life means a little more than True Blood and Facebook.

Answer 1

It's your imagination. I see people reading books all of the time.



P.S. A lot of what you refer to as "real books" (I'm assuming you mean books written by established authors like Hemingway and Fitzgerald) were considered shallow and just a part of the "low culture" when they were first published, the same way the Twilight series or The DaVinci Code is today. And there is nothing wrong with someone reading something "that everyone else told them is a great read." When you read a book that is considered a part of the English canon (which the great works of literature that you come across in a college literature course usually are), you are by definition reading something that someone else told you is a great read. If someone enjoys a book (or a television series, or a website), that's their business, and it's no one else's place to judge or act superior.

Answer 2

For some reason this really made me laugh. I had this really great good natured Hamlet vs Oedipus debate about who's fate is worse with this friend of mine about a month ago and there is honestly nothing more fulfilling, intellectually. I'm stubbornly optimistic so I think where there's life, there's hope so I thought everyone dying is worst than everyone feeling guilty and being outcasts and rejects for the rest of their lives, so I argued Hamlet while he argued Oedipus. And I haven't had a better conversation since. You would have loved it.



I do talk about the shallow things other people like, because if you truly are a clever person you have to take into account that not everyone is as clever as you and treat them accordingly, and I'll be inquisitive and ask them all kinds of questions even if I don't really care--it's amazing how much people like it when you do. Like I asked my sister what made a pickle perfect and she had a blast considering seeds vs peel, dill vs sweet, and just all the angles I made her consider. But I don't get how people find that fun. I get told all the time that I'm really fun, but when I remember what they're talking about, for me the moment wasn't really THAT great. Yes I wish people had more depth, I am constantly on the prowl for a mind like my own, but sometimes you just have to get over yourself and play along, even if you'll wind up mostly entertaining yourself. At least it's better than being surly.



When I meet another book lover, we both like instantly latch onto each other. But even in the range of book lovers, I am so sick of having the Twilight debate. Which then usually is followed be a bbm convo recap concerning people I vaguely know and don't care about, dispersed with me sitting there watching them text. It's tedious, but have faith in humanity--I exist, you exist, so surely there must be others. But in the meantime of searching for our Holy Grails', it's bearable if you can just learn how to deal with people.

Answer 3

You are a very smart person. As a 12 year old I can tell you firsthand that my generation is nearly fully comprised of those kind of people. I have watched a girl sit at a computer and facebook for hours on end. Almost everyone I know claims to despise reading thoroughly. I have never seen anyone my age read anything over Percy Jackson.

Answer 4

You must remember CH that you are living in the present.

At no time in history were only "Real Books" published and read.

Even when your "so called" classics were written, they shared

shelf space with Dime Novels, Penny Posts, and Pulp Magazines

that make today's trash T.V. look like Masterpiece Theater.



You see it all today, and only see the treasures of the past.

It is an unfair comparison.

Answer 5

I read a lot of books...True Blood being one of many. My taste in books may differ from yours but that doesn't make me any less a reader.

Answer 6

It's your imagination because I read books and most of the people around me reads books and enjoys reading. I don't blame you for thinking that way though since it is true that there are less people that reads books nowadays. Understand that as much as there are ppl who doesn't read, there are plenty of people who does read.

Answer 7

You are one of those stuck up I think I know everything about everything kinda guys. That's why you post stuff like this, just to make your self SEEM smarter or better than others. The sad thing is you KNOW you're not better or smarter than anyone else you just post things like this to get responses from people in hopes of feeling that way. good luck with that hun you need it. =)

Answer 8

Indeed, and the best way to get people who read typical, best-seller books to move on to more weighty material is to revile their current taste in literature.

Answer 9

Theres many book readers out there. youve been hanging around the wrong crowd. hopefully when they grow up they will realize how much wisdom you can learn from reading.

Answer 10

http://www.aboutemerson.com/amscholar.htm

Answer 11

yes.