Is bewildered.

[lepapillon]

One in four Americans read no books last year.I know this shouldn't surprise me, but it does and it saddens me most of all. I find books to be the best adventure outside of life itself. And I think unfortunately this supports my theory that people are getting stupider too

Comments

[lepapillon]

I'm not sure if this poll talked about perhaps reading newspapers and magazines too because I do consider that reading though not quite book level reading but at least people are doing that still.

I guess I just find it really sad that so few people read anymore. It's a dying art.

[expatiates]

ONE IN FOUR?

that's...wow. like you said, i don't know why that surprises me. i guess i didn't think it was that bad. i mean...i don't know. i watch tons of tv and waste time on the internet and generally pants around doing nothing, but i still manage to read books! what's WITH people? gah.

[lepapillon]

See I know! That's just it. People CAN read and still do other fun things like the internet, tv, movies, anything! I think reading tends to just come in last place in a choice of entertainment which I can understand on one level but not fully because for me, reading is entertainment just as much as my beloved tv shows are.

[superskittles76]

I honestly don't read as much as I should, especially for a future *crosses fingers* librarian. I'm trying to get back into it though. That statistic doesn't really surprise me though since I work with college freshmen in developmental reading classes everyday and I would have to support your "people are getting stupider" theory. It boggles the mind sometimes how little they know or understand.

[lepapillon]

I didn't read as much in undergrad. Like really, pleasure reading was out because I was too busy with all my class reading so I know how hard it can be for college students such as ourselves to find time for fun reading.

And it seems like college freshmen are becoming dumber unfortunately. And I mean, I know you don't have to be a marvelous reader to get by in life, but you still have to have some basic comprehension and analytical skills and I don't know how students are surviving without those nowadays. I have to say, you should be really proud of yourself for helping those students. I would be so frustrated I think.

[cookiethief]

i've never read catcher in the rye but it still amazes me when people come in the bookstore looking for "some book about baseball and grass" by an unknown, possibly "very obscure author."

[cookiethief]

by the way, that was meant to be my illustration of the general population's stupidity about books. i mean, fine, i know a lot of people haven't read "the classics," but it baffles me when people don't even know who mark twain or george orwell are - or even worse, shakespeare.

[lepapillon]

I've never read Catcher in the Rye either! I always mean to just haven't.

but it baffles me when people don't even know who mark twain or george orwell are - or even worse, shakespeare.
Baffles me too! Seriously, literary wonders such as Shakespeare, Twain, Austen, etc are just a dying breed being replaced by celebrities. It's really sad and I know it's hypocritical of me because heck, I love movie stars and gossip, I do, but I couldn't imagine a world without my beloved Austen or even Shakespeare, whom I'm not that fond of but who I can appreciate.

[cookiethief]

That's what I mean though, even if you're not fond of one of these authors, even if you haven't read them, you still know who they are. These people just have no clue, and I feel like they've lived in a box forever. Even with the influence of TV and movies and such - pop culture references these authors because they're so well known, yet no one has a clue! It's maddening.

[lovexmusic]

That's a shame. I don't read tons of books every year, but I couldn't not read at least one book for a whole year.

I love seviet's artwork.

[lepapillon]

And I don't expect people to read tons of books every year! That is hard to do in this fast world with lots of things going on but like you said, you can make time for a few books and I wish more people would do that.