I was talking to a friend and he said that you shouldnt read too many fictional books as you’re escaping from the real world and if you do it all the time you’re not gonna have a chance to live your own life. What do you think? Kids at school are always encouraged to read as much as possible.
Complete and utter nonsense. While I suppose you could theoretically take it too far, as he’s saying, I think the benefits FAR outweigh any risks to a normal, well-balanced child.
There is no way you can read too much.
Well you could read to much if you got up every morning read all day, went to bed and that was your day. But no one does that, right?
It sounds like your friend is trying to justify not reading. I know thats the excuse my sister gives whenever the subject comes up…
If you start telling people that they “swear like a Camaar Fishwife” and expect them to know what you’re talking about , you might have read too much.
I suppose it would be reading too much if your book habit interfered with work, relationships, your health, the welfare of your children, and all that.
Well, actually . . . 
I have days like that all the time. I call them “weekends.”
You can’t read too much, in my opinion, or read the “wrong” things. In almost any book you can learn * something, * even if it’s just a little snippet of trivia.
Heck, I’d even rather a kid read comic books or trashy romance novels than nothing at all. Reading stretches the immagination, expands the vocabulary and helps teach people good communication skills.
People who don’t read tend to be dull, in my experience. The first thing I look for upon entering an acquaintance’s house is the presence of books. If I don’t find any, I get nervous.
I think ** The Griffin’s** friend’s attitude is very sad. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.
I find myself losing touch with reality if I DON’T read often. It’s a stress release for me, and also a reward for hard work. I always have a book going, but I only allow myself to read it on the bus, or AFTER all my studying is done for the day.
Now, if reading is all I EVER did, I could see how that would be a problem. But I’ve read a book a week, on average, for the past 5 years, and I’m none the worse for wear. Although I’ve probably accumulated far more random trivia than can be good for me. And I never get to USE any of it!
Just for fun, I’ll ring in on the less popular side here.
I discovered the joy of reading fiction as a pretty young kid. Over the years, I have found few things that have a strong a pleasure-to-effort ratio as reading. Other forms of fiction, such as movies and TV, run a moderately close second.
The result is a person who is downright anti-social, a near recluse by choice. Or, as I sometimes describe myself, the only person I’ve ever known who was too lazy to have fun! While I’m sure reading didn’t create my laziness (which is far and away the worst characteristic I have), it certainly has led me into temptation way too often, and thus probably has exacerbated the problem. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy my life. But I suspect I’d be a lot socially, physcially, and emotionally healthier if I didn’t enjoy reading quite so much.
On the plus side, however, I’m virtually never bored, and acquired an excellent vocabulary and a pretty decent writing style at a pretty young age. But, that doesn’t get my dogs walked…
Just my two cents worth.
Oh, you di-in’t just compare comics to trashy romance novels!
I agree that The Griffin’s seems to just be justifying the fact that he doesn’t read much. I hear that a lot, and not just limited to books either.
“Why are you watching that? It’s so fake.”
“I’d rather read something real.”
The moral of the story is that people need to shut up when I’m reading.
**AvhHines, ** my life is somewhat similar. Hubby and I spend the majority of our free time in “anti-social” activities. I read, and he plays computer games. We socialize very infrequently.
Other people can’t understand it, but we’re very happy. We’ve been urged to have children to fill our “empty” lives, and to “get out of the house” more often. Our lives don’t feel empty, however, and the best place in the world is between these four walls. I know I’ll have more fun snuggled into the couch reading a good book than exchanging bland chit-chat at a party.
I’ve paid the price, however. My neighbors (who are also my husband’s co-workers) gossip viciously about me. They say I’m a stand-offish snob, who won’t “let” my husband socialize. (They think that his protestations that he really wants to go home are just excuses to hide the real reason.) They say I don’t go to neighborhood barbecues because I think I’m “better” than them. It’s painful to hear these things said about me, because, in reality, the truth is that I’m just a very reserved person who prefers quiet persuits to roccous parties, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
Other people take pity on me, the “bookworm.” Some seem to think that I read because I don’t have any other choice, so they redouble their invitations and activity suggestions. The idea that I might prefer a good book to socializing or shopping seems utterly foreign to them.
I can’t seem to make people understand how utterly content Hubnby and I are with our lives.
I don’t understand how people CAN’T read. What do you do while you’re waiting at the doctor’s office? On your break at work and there’s no one to talk to? In between classes?
I can’t NOT read. It’s like breathing.
Find that list of 12 warning signs of being an alcoholic.
Apply them to reading (“Have you ever missed a day a work because you were reading a book you couldn’t put down?”, “Have your family and friends suffered because of your reading?”)
It is not easy to make a vice of reading, but I have done it.
Yes, reading fiction is escapist, like TV and computer games and hiking and message boards; put its a hell of a lot easier on the world than dirt bikes.
So, does this friend read non-fiction?
bows I deeply apologize for inadvertantly drawing that comparison. I just picked two examples of genres which sometimes draw scathing comments from the hoi polloi.
Forgive me?
I was just talking to a friend of mine who’s “not a reader”. They, apparently, just sit there. I can’t imagine…well, just today, I had a 3 hour break between classes in addition to two 1 hour train rides. I call that five hours of reading time!
And I’m like Lissa, fortunately my girlfriend is too. We go out to the movies once a month, maybe a little more, but that’s “going out” to us. We spend our days off hanging out, watching movies, playing computer games, and reading. My thinking: I buy all these books, computer games, etc., we pay rent, we pay for power, why shouldn’t we stay home and enjoy it? Why would I want to pay rent for a place I never stay at?
Anyway, I think the OP’s friend is just looking for some excuse not to read. And, on thinking about it, maybe I don’t WANT to live my own life, especially when I worked a crappy retail job. Maybe I want to get away from the drudgery and idiots of a minimum wage job. Some people waste their nights drinking in a bar, I waste it playing video games or reading.
What if you’re quoting Xenophon of Ephesus to the guy standing next to you at the souvlaki stand? Eh? Eh?
It baffles me (like many others who’ve posted on this thread, apparently) that people don’t read. Sure, I suppose you can become “addicted” to reading, but any loss of fulfillment is your perception, one may feel fine reading constantly without much social contact, and there isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with that. However, I suppose, in some extreme instances, where other responsibilities are neglected in lieu of reading, there is a problem. Everquest junkies are the same way. Personally, any “escapism” that occurs in reading fiction is fundamentally necessary for me, if I only had the news to read every day I would be one cynical, embittered person (which I already am, in some ways). I find a lot of hope and faith in great works of others, and it’s nice to find something that sits well with your outlook and that you connect to in literature. I’ve also had some great relationships with people based upon similar books that we’ve read, and I’ve found the majority of the books I’ve read through trusted recommendations. Reading does not have to be anti-social in any ways, but even if it is, as long as it doens’t hurt anyone else, I find it absurd to harp on. Read, and let read.
Yeah, I guess if you’re reading instead of taking care of business, you’re probably doing it too much. But most readers I know don’t do that (and my friends and family are comprised mostly of readers). I can’t tell you how many times in my life people have assumed I’m college-educated (which I’m not), mainly because of my vocabulary. Where did I get my large vocabulary? All those great books I’ve been reading all these years!! Also, true story, reading a comic book once won me an autographed copy of a poem from the Poet Laureate of Maryland (his name has long since escaped me). I had recently read a B.C. comic book; in one of the strips, that funny little dude on the unicycle was riding along, composing a poem as he rode: "I think that I shall never see a poem so lovely. . . " and he crashes right into a tree! Then sighs, and says “The world will just have to wait for Joyce Kilmer” Well, when the Poet Laureate of MD was at our school, he was doing a little trivia time thing, and he recited the first line of that poem, and asked who wrote it. I was the only student in the school (IIRC, I was in the fourth grade) who knew! I never told anyone that the reason I knew was because of a B.C. comic.
Point is, I don’t think it matters much where your knowledge comes from, as long as you get it from somewhere!
I also don’t understand people who say “I don’t have time to read” I always think, if you don’t have time, then you’re not putting it high enough on your priority list. I read while I’m waiting for the train on the tracks to pass; while I’m stirring the spaghetti sauce; and what about the bathroom? Prime reading time!
The main objections to “reading too much” seem to be not the volume of reading but rather what you’re neglecting because you’re reading. This suggests that the problem is not the reading itself, as the same objections could easily apply to knitting, playing computer games or masturbating (although excessive reading is probably more likely to make you go blind).
You people make me so happy sometimes. I have nothing to add to this thread that hasn’t been said better already by someone else. Just consider yourself hugged!