/lit/ - Literature

>>3239262
Nope, haven't read a book voluntarily in about five years.

I only post on /lit/. You mad?

I only read non-fiction since leaving school, specifically compilations of research studies with the occasional autobiography.

>>3239294
>I only read non-fiction since leaving school,

Oh yeah, reading fiction is for fucking plebs. Non fiction only master race.

>>3239262
Serious readers (20 or more books a year) tend to be college grads
with income levels over $100,000. Source: Reading habits change in new
on-line revolution. Houston Business Journal. M. Ray Perryman. July
25, 1997.
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1997/07/28/editorial4.html

>>3239294

The average American will watch 9 years of television in his/her lifetime.

The average American over the age of 2 spends more than 34 hours a week watching live television, says a new Nielsen report — plus another three to six hours watching taped programs.

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2012/09/the-average-american-watches-more-tv-than-the-average-tv-critic/

Leadership coach Tim Sanders surveyed chief executives officers of
companies with more than 500 employees. He found that the average CEO
reads seven business books a year, compared with the average person,
who reads less than one.
Source: You like me, you really like me. Wallace Immen. June 1, 2005.

what else is new? plebs have always been plebs, and will continue to be so
at least they CAN read now

Actually, I don't know which is sadder, being a pleb and not being able to read, or being a pleb, having the ability to read and choosing not to

>>3239346>>3239346
>Actually, I don't know which is sadder, being a pleb and not being able to read, or being a pleb, having the ability to read and choosing not to

Definitely the later.
On average, CEOs earn between 7.5 to 17 million dollars per year. They also read 30+ books per year.

>>3239262
>33 percent of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
>80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
>70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
>57 percent of new books are not read to completion.

Source?

>>3239351
Books on business and people skills and CEO-ing

I'll pass kthx

>>3239262

>33 percent of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.

But they'll read the fuck out of a 10mb text file fandom shit.

>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.

The diploma means you don't need to read anymore, you can just talk shit and people will take your word for it. DUH!

>80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.

It's called being poor. You don't have time to read if you're too busy keeping up with the bills.

>70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

Why should I? I got a Kindle motherfucker.

>57 percent of new books are not read to completion.

Because most of what's in them is shit. Why should I waste time reading shit?

>>3239352
>>3239352
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129394

>implying /lit/ reads

my.fucking.sides.jpg

This is nothing new. Perhaps more people read in, say, the 90s or 80s (no internet), but it's usually true for all times - people just don't read.

There's an essay by George Orwell on this. About his experiences working in a London book store.

>>3239360

>poor

Oh fuck off. Forty to fifty hour weeks leave you plenty of time to read.

I know that my family often spent five hours watching television a day. We've never been rich.

And scientists complain that people don't science.
Mathematicians complain that people don't math.
Plebs complain that people don't pleb.

Pick any hobby. The members of that hobby will feign confusion over why the entire world does not share their hobby.

I see the allen ginsburg reference

>>3240391

Reading isn't a hobby, bro. People that read are often far smarter and more interesting people than people that don't.

If you don't read, I don't really want anything to do with you. Similarly, I won't hire you: it shows you can't commit to anything worthwhile.

>>3240395

partially true. but lots of retards read alot too.

just look at this board any day.

>>3240389

Link or name of essay?

>>3240405
>lots of retards read
Confirmed by walking down the book section of WHS. Actually I'm surprised by the amount of schmuck sold at Waterstone and Blackwell

>>3240409
http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/bookshop/english/e_shop

lol at mention of 1930's twilight/50 shades

at least that bullshit isn't new bullshit, eh?

>>3240437

Thanks

>>3239351
You guys should go to some third world countries and meet people who can't read at all. They're such simpletons its impossible to relate to them. When you say something that extends beyond their daily activities like food, family, tv etc theyre visibly shaken, its like they see you as some kind of alien. Even if you're speaking their language they're like "wuhhh?" if you start talking about philosophy or something. But then plebs are like that in the west too.

>>3239360
>what is a library

>>3240389
>but it's usually true for all times - people just don't read.

Interesting...

>>3240454

this is very true, but at least ppl in america can watch tv.

>>3240391
>Pick any hobby. The members of that hobby will feign confusion over why the entire world does not share their hobby.

Reading isn't a hobby bro. The quest for knowledge and getting smarter is important as fuck. Proles gonna prole.

>>3240405
>partially true. but lots of retards read alot too.
50 shades of gray, harry potter etc.

Yup.

>non-fiction master race reporting in
>you'll never know the feel of reading philosophy, economics, business, history, geography, science, math, psychology etc because you're too busy reading shit tier fiction OR WATCHING THE FUCKING TV

>>3240522

reading doesn't make you smarter anymore than riding a bike makes you strong.er

Reading stuff online should count as reading books.

I'm pretty sure my online words read count surpassed offline one by now.

>>3240550
And by that I mean:
glorifyng books as some kind of supermensch medium is irrational fetishism. 99% of books I read are non-fiction and 99% of stuff I read online is nonfiction as well: news, articles, analyses, papers, discussions. Both of those mediums have the same substance, only in different format and intensity.

>>3240454

It is the same exact way in the United States as well. It seems like all most American people are capable of talking about is sports, reality tv, and movies.

These no one reads books reports don't really rustle my jimmies anymore since I've started browsing /b/'s you rage you lose threads.

This is depressing. Ug.

>>3239331
So glad I no longer own a tv. It was sucking my soul and creativity out.

>>3239346
>having the ability to read and choosing not to
definitely this one.

>>3240390
and paying for cable is way more expensive than a trip to the library. you don't have to own it to read it, 'Merica.

>>3239331
>Don't watch television (at all). Only watch art films that expand your horizons
>>3239318
Read over 20 books a year. Serious books too, like Harry Potter (just kidding).

Shit, I'm going to make so much money when I finish my applied degree in computing.

>>3240383
Lit only reads the first paragraph before reading the synopsis on wikipedia and figuring out the hidden meaning from sparknotes. They then put the book on their coffee table for a month (changing the pages to random locations so that it gets that worn look) before moving it to their living room bookshelf. The purpose of this bookshelf is to impress guests.

They also always turn the channel to Discovery Network before turning it off.

>>3240548
>reading doesn't make you smarter anymore than riding a bike makes you strong.er

Bad analogy. Faggot.

(FYI, biking increases your stamina)

>>3240618
>This is depressing. Ug.

It doesn't have to be. Read more. Rise and be an ubermensch.

>>3241517
and reading makes you smarter
retarded analogy from a half-wit, yet still true

>>3240651
>Discovery Network
Man, who else here remembers Wild Discovery?

>>3241535
lying to oneself or being ignorant doesn't require you to be ubermensch, moran

>>3241548
It's Moron. Spell, Americlap.

>>3241552
>>>/reddit/

>>3239262
Also, 46% of Americans are creationists.

There are reasons why so many of us disavow our Americanness.

>>3241552
ya missed it.

>>3239262
>57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
That really says more about the books than the people.

>>3240538
>history
How are those maybees and cover-ups treatin ya?

>>3241592
We were created one way or the other.
Theres more than just the biblical definition of creationism.

>>3241659
>>>/x/

I mostly read non-fiction. My local library consistently throws out books because it is too small to have enough space to accommodate all of the books, and I have a shelf full of old programming textbooks because of it, alongside other books that I bought in the past, such as the New Age books on magic, mysticism and meditation that I bought a few years ago, and a copy of K&R that I bought for $67 (totally worth it). One mathematics professor from Rutgers also had a huge pile of books that he was giving away for free, so I grabbed a few books on differential equations and engineering. I also download a lot of books from the Tor Library and mises.org.

It was only a few weeks ago when I decided to read fiction when my brother suggested it as a means of developing my intuition and social skills. He recommended "The Dresden Files", and I finished the first book in less than a week. This series is totally awesome.

>>3241962
You know what, that's good for you, and I'm glad that you're enjoying some fiction. Good for you, buddy.

>>3239318

uggh, i only read 17 books this year..

sorry to let you down, america.


States of Desire, Edmund White
Gang Leader for a Day, Sudhir Venkatesh
Food Rules, Michal Pollan
The Man who Sold the World, William Klienecht
The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai
Africa’s Turn, Edward Miguel
Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon
The Nature of Economies, Jane Jacobs
America, Jean Baudrillard
White Noise, Don Delillo
Elisabeth Costello, JM Coetze
No Logo, Naomi Klien
Swimming Lessons, Rohinton Mistry
Farewell Waltz, Milan Kundera
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
The First Third, Neal Cassady
Bhutanese Folk Tales, Kunzang Choden
The Society of the Spectacle, Guy Debord

>>3239318
I always love it when I'm not easily pigeonholed.

College drop-out earning around $35k.
I read more than the majority of the people I know (50+ books annually for the last 6 years) and I still have time to dick around on the computer, watch movies, and play vidya games. Not to mention working 40+ hrs each week.

>>3240556
>glorifyng books as some kind of supermensch medium is irrational fetishism.

I agree. however, the rest of your argument supporting that statement kinda flops

>57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
All the time. I love reading, but I always get swept up in other things in life and books get misplaced or I forget where I am. It literally takes me five months to read a whole book.

I doubt most people here will ever play an instrument or do math for fun after highschool either.

Are you fucking serious? Surely most educated people play a musical instrument?


As for mathematics - I tried to avoid doing that at school as well, but people who were good at it at school tend to like those math puzzle things.

>>3240390
What about people who work a 40-hour job, and a 20-30 hour part time job, and are trying to take care of their kids and have something resembling a social life?

>>3244213

Those people should have paid more attention at school, then maybe they wouldn't be part of the underclass. Or they should shut the fuck up and get pack to cleaning my piss-stained toilet bowl.

>working two jobs

>>3244237

>working no jobs

I'm in for some shit in the future but I'm currently enjoying all the reading/writing time.

>>3244213
What sort of third world country do you live in where a man needs to work 70 hours a week just to provide for his family?

>too poor to read
Fucking lel.

>>3245555
"Too poor to read" = "ew gross, library books? They're so...used. I only buy Everyman Library new."

B-b-but how can that be?!

Harry Potter... and... and Harry Potter made a bunch of people read, and it made reading more popular, and Harry Potter saved literature forever, so reading can't be going down, it has to be going up!

>33 percent of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
26. I read every day and set a goal to read a set number of books from different genera by the end of the year, every year. This year, I've read around 230.

>42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
In college. In addition to the books and requisite course work, I still make time to read outside of school.

>80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
17 new physical books. I have an archive of over 26000 ebooks -- the same archive that's been floating around and is easy enough to find. My goal is to read everything in it.

>70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
That "70%" needs to be shot in the face.

>57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
If the book is utter shit, then put it down and find a better one.

>>3245597
>That "70%" needs to be shot in the face.

Blame Amazon dot com.

>>3245597
I wish i was a special erudite snowflake like you :3

I've read at least a couple hundred books or so since high school

Dropped out of college

I bought about a hundred books last year, read around fifty or more.

I check the local thrift stores weekly for new picks.

I leave very few books incomplete. Less Than Zero was one of them.

>>3245597
>read 230 books
bullshit

>>3245793
If the average book read is between 550-1000 pages and you read on average, 70-100 pages a day ... Figure it out. January to December. Easy math. No excuse for not reading during a break at work, during breakfast, lunch, dinner. No excuse to pick something up and learn something new.

>>3245727 I hate how Amazon tries to lock authors into exclusivity with them. Bastards. The kindle fire and it's apps are a huge distraction, too. No thanks, if I'm going to use an ereader, I'm going to go with a simple e-ink b&w screen. No glare when you read outside.

>>3245766
Snowflakes are unique and "pretty." I fail to meet the prerequisites. Just another tattooed, goateed beatnik asshole striving to succeed in an IT job and get my happy ass through college. Sorry, just another ugly cliche here.

>>3245830
um. with that math you'd be reading maybe a book every five days at the most. which would be 73 a year.

>>3245548
Great Britain

>>3245830
>Easy math
>Doesn't know math

>>3245830
>reads all the time
>Still can't use "its" correctly

American here, I'm trying to augment my reading stamina and comprehension. I went to B&N and purchased this book. What's the best way to read this 520 page book? I've noticed that if I read too long, I get tired and my reading suffers. Should I go 1-2 chapters a night?

>>3245830
>If the average book read is between 550-1000
>pages
the hell?