Books - Literary Reading in Dramatic Decline

Soz · 08-30-2004, 02:37 AM

I mentioned this briefly in the post counts thread and thought it deserved its own thread.

http://arts.endow.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html

I've also heard a lot about book sales dropping each year and all of this really scares me, both as a reader and as a writer.

Crossbow · 08-30-2004, 02:00 PM

That is really scary.

It may not be as bad as it sounds, though, at least with adults - as more and more people are required to read at work, they may just not feel like reading books. Since my current job is 100% reading and writing, I know I spend less time reading novels than I used to.

But the 28% drop in the youngest groups - that's incredibly frightening.

22 Umbrellas · 09-05-2004, 01:45 AM

I have a book called Comics to Classics that's sort of a guide to reading for preteens to teens to adults. It has a lot of interesting info about books and a lot of recs. But anyway, there's a statistic in there that says the average adult in the US reads only about 1.2 books a year (this was published in the early nineties). That already horrified me. Now to read that it's declining even more...

28% drop in youngest groups...again, horrified, but not surprised. I've heard honors English students say the only books they've ever read are the Harry Potter series. I've heard, "Nothing you do will make me read." And I've heard people laugh when they're asked if they like to read. I just don't know what to think anymore.

Stars_And_Sunsets · 09-05-2004, 03:40 AM

I don't understand why younger people don't like to read.

I know that it's not considered 'cool' in High School, but reading is such a huge part of my life and it's sad that people are missing out on some good books.

I guess I'm one of the rare teenagers who loves to read.

dukesmom · 09-13-2004, 12:08 AM

Although I was exposed to books frequently as a child (Mother loved to read, Dad was a school teacher, trips to the bookmobile), it wasn't until I moved out on my own to attend college that I became an active reader. Most of the reading I did during my primary and secondary education consisted only of those books assigned for schoolwork.

I've tried to spark the interest in my niece and nephew by making sure they have books and taking my niece to a used book store, but I'm not sure it's working. Maybe like me, the light will suddenly click on when they venture out on their own. I hope so. Until then, I will keep trying.

thescoobygang · 09-13-2004, 05:20 PM

This topic reminds me of the time I was in a bookstore and noticed a teenage girl looking for a book. Her boyfriend was standing around useless. Finally he said to her, "why do you need to read? Books are boring. Why read if you can watch TV?"

And that unfortunately, is the way a lot of people feel these days. In their opinion, reading is nothing but a time-consuming chore. I ask a lot of my co-workers if they read...and their number one reply is "are you kidding? I don't have time to read." And then 15 minutes later they are yapping about The Apprentice, Fear Factor or the basketball game. In other words, they really do have time but they don't want to waste it on reading.

Maybe that's why the world is becoming so narrow-minded. Reading helps expand the imagination and how you see the world.

Crossbow · 09-13-2004, 07:25 PM

Heh. I don't think anyone in my office either reads or wathes TV - they're too busy "stamping."

Everyone here reads on their lunch breaks, though.

dukesmom · 09-13-2004, 09:51 PM

We've got a group that takes over our lunch room from noon-1pm to watch their soap.

We've also got a fair amount of readers at work, although I hear many people say they don't have time due to family commitments (shuttling the kids to and from various activities). I've loaned out many books and we've actually got a small shelf of books in the lunch room that is supposed to be a "book swap" pile.

StellaSlight · 09-17-2004, 08:33 PM

I've asked myself why in the world would people read less and less nowadays. Actually, after putting some thoughts in it, I've come to wonder why in the would should people read?

Our modern (and western) society, with all the entertainments and technologie, turned us for most part into a bunch of lazy asses. The decline of literary reading can mostly be explained by the gradual disappearance of necessity of reading books in the past decades.
For centuries, books have been the only way for people to evade and expand their imagination. Now we have movies, TV, videogames, internet, and hundreds of entertainment, and to tell the truth, all easier to get in than a book. It's proved, TV requires less cerebral involvement than books. Like I said earlier, today's youth has become a bunch of lazy asses. Why walk or use stairs when one has cars, elevators and escalators?
And as for books as a way of information... television and internet are formidable tools of information, where all the different topics are displayed.

I also think that it's sad that school always approaches the subject of literature in a scholar, boring way. While I was one who actually enjoyed the assigned books at school, I can understand that most of the students weren't passionate by literature.

Anyway, it's really sad to see that today's youth reads less and less. It's such a shame, because reading can only be positive for one's growing into the world. My only hope is that reading is a taste that develops with maturity, and that today's youth will be tomorrow's fervent generation of readers.

Soz · 09-17-2004, 08:57 PM

What really disturbs me is not only are younger people reading less, but so are adults. I've heard that if your parents read, you will most likely read too, and the best way for parents to pass on their love for books is to read to their children.

I read less now as an adult than I did as a child or teen because I have more responsibilities now, but I still make time to read every day and I average about 50 books per year. I can't imagine not loving to read and I really feel pity for people who don't enjoy it because they don't know what they are missing.

StellaSlight · 09-17-2004, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Soz
I've heard that if your parents read, you will most likely read too, and the best way for parents to pass on their love for books is to read to their children.

I can't agree more with you, Soz.
It is my firm belief that parents are the key to a child's love for literature.

Unlike you, I read more books now than I did when I was a child and a teenager. I have less spare time to do so, but my interests are more diverse, therefore I read more. I used to read mostly classics and fictions when I was younger, but now I tend to read essays and studies, biographies and history books, law and political books, along with my eternal classics and fictions.

JudyC · 09-23-2004, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crossbow
That is really scary.

It may not be as bad as it sounds, though, at least with adults - as more and more people are required to read at work, they may just not feel like reading books. Since my current job is 100% reading and writing, I know I spend less time reading novels than I used to.

But the 28% drop in the youngest groups - that's incredibly frightening.

I agree with this. My job involves business writing and editing, and most of the books I've read in the last few years have been more of the "self-help" or instructional kind. I used to devour novels, but I have read less in the last couple of years. Recently I realized how many novels I've missed out on and am trying to get back into the habit of reading regularly.

ITA about the number of entertainment choices out there today. But I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with watching TV/movies and the Internet. I watch sports as well. I love doing all of these things, in addition to reading. But I think the key is having a balance. Among all of these choices, I think the Internet is the most interesting, in terms of its positive and negative attributes. On the one hand, information is available on all different topics and we are all so connected today. On the other hand, being able to click and get information and multimedia so easily and quickly contributes to shorter attention spans. And you can waste hours on the Internet without even realizing how much time you've spent.

It's interesting that society in general doesn't read as much, but at the same time so many movies and TV are being adapted by novels or comic books. That's why I don't understand how reading couldn't be considered "cool." Ideally, a movie should inspire someone to read the book it was based on, but many people may not get that far.

As far as getting kids to read books, another great resource is "How to Get Your Child to Love Reading" by Esmé Raji Codell. It has recommendations and related activities to make reading even more fun, to encourage the child to make associations between what they've read and their own lives.

JudyC

barelylegal · 09-23-2004, 07:37 PM

You know, people who read are either seen as great goddesses that, just because they read should know everything in the whole wide world (stereotype "nerd". They somehow expect that from you.) or, most of the time, are seen as boring, elitist people. Which is not true at all.

Sure, some roll eyes when someone says something really really dumb, but that is because it's actually dumb. (redundant I know) I don't expect people to know everything ( I sure don't know it all), but a bit of culture won't harm at all. Nothing against visual media, but one should read something. If it's not a book, then at least a newspaper or a worthwhile magazine. Informing oneself is very important these days. And by reading one can acquire a nice vocabulary.

We are supposed to accept stupidity, but intelligence is apparently crap.

xallyx · 09-28-2004, 04:01 AM

I love reading. I'm sure that if I hadn't started reading novels by myself in primary school, my english wouldn't be up to the standard it is today at school...I think it's mainly the reason why it has become one of my best subjects.

It's sad that people seem to be reading less and less these days but, I guess it's kind of expected considering how the internet and tv have become such a huge part of our lives. I always try to encourage those around me to read anyway...I recommend and lend books whenever I can.

Luckylyn64 · 09-28-2004, 03:10 PM

I spent years trying to spread my love of books to my nephew and I failed. Try as I might he won't read anything unless it's assigned by a professor. I'm considered unusual in my family cause my bedroom is packed with books, and I constantly have a book to read with me. They act like it's weird to love books. I've never understood why there was a stigma attached to a love of books. Now I've turned my efforts to reading to my nieces. They love to be read to.