informal poll: readers?

[anotheranon]

Coming out of several conversations I've had recently, I'm going to throw this out there:

1) Do you enjoy reading for pleasure? Why or why not? Note: I'm not talking about not having the time to read, or having a poor local library system, or other inhibitions to recreational reading. I'm asking - do you enjoy it when you get the chance?

2) If you DO enjoy reading, do you know people who don't? If so, what are their reasons (if any)?

3) Are people truly reading less? Why or why not?

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

1) Yes. I love the visuals and other sensations created when I'm reading. Even non-fiction gives me a lot more than the words on the page.

2) I do know a few people who don't enjoy it. I really don't know why, other than in one or two cases they just don't seem to want to take the time.

3) I think the general public may be reading less, but I don't have any good data. Most people I know seem to be reading about the same or more lately. The biggest reason I can see for drop is time isn't being taken/made, voluntarily or otherwise.

[ex-idragosa.livejournal.com]

1) Yes -- I read constantly, whenever I get a chance, and usually have several books going at once, both fiction and non-fiction...

2) I have met people who don't read... I couldn't understand why they didn;t like to read... they think it's boring or not 'fun' or whatever... if they tell me, I just gawk at them in disbelief...

3) Hard to say... I really don't know.

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

1) LOVELOVELOVE reading ... IMHO, it truly is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Not only new books, but the rereading of old favourites. :-)

2) My father wasn't fond of reading ... the newspaper and Hoard's Dairyman (a monthly journal for dairy farmers) were pretty much it. Not surprising, since he grew up in a house without books. However he did enjoy listening to others read aloud ... I have fond memories of my family lazing out in the yard on the summer evenings between planting and harvest, taking turns reading a book. Dad was always well-informed, and had a wicked and very literate sense of humour ... he just fed his mind by means other than books is all.

3) I know I'm reading fewer books than I used to, but part of that is becoming more selective/discriminating as I grow older ... the books I choose now have more substance and demand slower reading, but I'm getting far more out of them.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Re: 2) IMHO listening to others read still qualifies as reading. It seems for your dad, content wasn't the issue - it was the delivery/format. He was still a reader, in my book (pun not intended, but there it is anyway :P)

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

I suppose. Although, for Dad, listening to somebody read was kinda like listening to the radio ... he never sought anybody out and asked them to read ... just enjoyed it if that's what happened to be playing. :-)

[madbodger.livejournal.com]

1. Absolutely. Always have. I like to learn, I like to lose myself in other realities, and I avoid boredom assiduously. Lately, I've been spending a few hours a day commuting, and without books (and magazines) I'd have gone postal pretty quickly.
2. Most of the people I know also enjoy reading. Never really thought much about the "reasons", as it just seemed like a pleasant thing to do (like eating, or kissing).
3. Reading less? Since when? I would guess that people read less now than they did 50-80 years ago. But that's on average. There seems to be a greater split today than there used to be. Lots of people read a lot, lots of people don't read much at all.

[tommdroid.livejournal.com]

1) Oh yes! I do read for pleasure! Because it makes me wind down, escape this mad reality, learn and giggle...even laugh out loud at time. And it makes me think, for days, and months or even years if I'm lucky and the book was extraordinary. I also read alot of comics, especially underground comics.

2) I happen to know a few people who do not read and do not enjoy reading. They claim it is boring to read. I hear them allright, but I fail in understanding. Perhaps their right book never came their way, or they are simply put together in a different way than me.

3) I don't think people are reading less. But perhaps those who were reading are reading more, and those who read alittle is not reading at all. I also think, and that is kind of amazing, that singel books can have an huge impact on a generation's reading. Look at Harry Potter. Still in our time with this enormous amount of books to choose from. Swedish media has been full of stories of kids who discovered the pleasures of reading thorugh Harry Potter.

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

The right book/hook IS essential. One author that my Dad WOULD pounce upon and read was Patrick F. McManus. And I don't blame him ... I'm not exactly into camping/hunting/fishing and yet I own virtually every McManus book published ***grin***. Even his cookbook. He's a "hook" author extraordinaire!