April 5, 2012
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Reading Novels For the Wrong Reason?
Reading. You're doing it right.Since The Hunger Games film debuted last week with huge acclaim, there's been an influx of readers. My Facebook feed has been littered with men, women, and gardener, Juan, boasting about how great the movie was, and how they can't wait to read the novel.
Is that all it takes to get people to read nowadays?
Cynically speaking, part of me thinks this is more bandwagon mentality reminiscent of that child-mongering warlord in some African country, again. The other hopeful and "the children are our future!" part of me encourages more kids to take up reading instead of stating my mother enjoys putting her mouth around a "particular genital" after destroying me in Call of Duty.
I used to enjoy reading. It immerses you in a whole different world. And it can also help you understand the mind frames of people and how ridiculous society and authority was in certain periods. It's a tool to understand the psychological depths in history. And it also opens new ideas of the world that you wouldn't have considered before. It provides insight on different perspective. It helps you understand in such entertaining ways.
I used to enjoy reading, then I went to college.
Admittedly, I'm not an avid reader of novels anymore. In fact, I can't stand them. With conditioning and the side-effects of technology, my attention span's been reduced to 140 characters or less. Written novella makes me turn my head. 140 pages? Give me 140 characters. The irony in this is the fact my posts far exceed that count.
'MURICA! F*CK YEAH!Unlike the few out there who soak up novellas like Kim Kardashian does Black penises and finish them in a weekend, what I dislike even more are the people who pick these books up and flaunt it around like a totem of mental aptitude, hoping some girl would notice him with book in hand. As if it's a benchmark for intelligence, and maybe the type of lure they need to grab that girl's attention. This is like girls who pretend to be "nerdy" and "love video games" to grab a boy's attention. Bish, just cause you wear glasses and play Angry Birds doesn't give you the right to use that label.
So, Starbucks guy who sits in the corner everyday, still thumbing around on that faded page 6, I'm into you.
tl;dr: Unicorns make for great see-saws during the summer solstice, but only after 4:05AM.
Comments (36)
But don't take my word for it!
BA DA BUM!
Get in line for diablo 3 5/15!
Muther freaken yes.
And it's not like The Hunger Games trilogy was even *all* that great. Psh.
I used to be a voracious reader, but like you, I lost all interest in it by the time I got to college. There's just no time for it with all the other useless crap they make you read.
Btw I'm typing this on my new tablet and I have a newfound hatred of virtual keyboards. So glad I'm getting that keyboard dock soon. It's like this' boards spacebar doesn't exist.
@behindthedimples - AGREE! It wasn't mind blowing!
The movie was terrible actually.
It was a horrible integration of Battle Royale, Truman show, the lottery, and romeo and juliet.
Anyone that thought it was a good movie never masturbated before.
Once in a blue moon, I'll read for leisure... but I'll admit to reading books because a movie version of the story exists.
I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy right before the movie came out because I wanted to compare. I also read The Da Vinci Code in one day (woke up pretty damn early and even took it to the dining table) so I could watch the movie the same night.
You were reading before reading was cool?
I love reading, I just feel like I don't have enough time to do it.
And who cares if people read something as a bandwagon thing, at least they're reading, which is doing something productive, and not just "liking" and "sharing" videos/pictures on facebook and forgetting about it a second later!
Usually bandwagoners annoy me, but if THAT is what it takes to get people to do something beneficial, then jump on! hahaha
tl;dr
If you read anything published by Scholastic you immediately become a scholar. It's basically right there in the name.
I didn't have the attention span for novels for six years after law school. Then one day it came back to me. No idea why. Hope it happens to you too.
Some people do it for the attention or to get into people's good side or pants.
I just really want to know stuff that isn't covered in the movie.
I watched Harry Potter: Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets. I didn't think I'd read the books. But then my sister rented Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets videogame. I played and beat the game for her... twice. They covered some stuff in the game that was in the book, but not in the movie. It made me want to read the 3rd book and onward before the 3rd movie came out.
TL;DR: It's cool (hipster) to generalize and shun the mainstream.
Eh - maybe it'll help them read books for legitimate reasons.
reading rainbow reference?
Books make people think. Movies do not. I am myself an avid reader, and as such, I know my own intellect far exceeds that of any of the posters in this blog. Therefore I mock the person who in turn attempts to mock those who read and proclaim 'see how smart I am because I can read?' I have noticed a decline in reading, and how it walks completely in step with the decline in our education system. Coincidence, no? Half the people I see out there cannot spell worth a damn. Again, coincidence? No wonder no one reads anymore. They CANNOT!
You're INto him? Don't you mean ON to ...? Or are you trying to tell us something.
@LegionOfLucifer - I second this.
Papi, as per the usual, I mock your lack of reading.
Seeing a man with a book in his hands is sexy in so many ways.
@mizzaimilei -
Yes, I am very sexy, but not because I can read. That would be thanks to my incredible good looks, nothing more. The fact I can read is a result of my own superior intellect.
if a movie makes people read then what is wrong with that?
i read alright...read sports news!
I don't care why anyone reads as long as they do it because they like it and not so that they can be pretentious dicks about it.
I don't read any books if they don't have colourful pictures within.
"I used to enjoy reading, then I went to college."
Pretty much. Reading lost its recreational feeling after college. XD I still read, but definitely not as often.
It's because people want instant gratification. Movies give them that. Then they think, "Well, shit. I can read the book and experience this all over again!" Personally I don't believe that simply reading one book after seeing a movie they like is necessarily 'good'. It's not going to improve their literacy, spelling, or overall exposure to the art form. It takes a lot more interest and reading to do that. Heck, if people read even ONE book a MONTH, I think you would see a huge increase in the quality and grammar of bloggers, facebook posts, etc.....
I love to read, and I will admit to occasionally getting elitist about it. As a result, I'm often torn between "DEAR LORD PUT THE TWILIGHT BOOK DOWN AND TAKE THREE STEPS BACK! PLEASE! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" and "Well, at least they're reading SOMETHING..." The problem is, shitty literature isn't always a gateway drug to something with real substance. In fact, if often sets you off in the completely wrong direction, like making you think that's a good topic for a thesis. (No joke...) It makes me sad that more people don't read, because I think it's such an awesome experience, but I'm less pushy about trying to get friends to read these days, because I know that forcing someone to read a book is the quickest way to get them to hate it. Most of the time, I just want someone to talk to about it! Haha
I used to be a book nerd. Now I'm too busy with work and school. I still read a book sometimes though.
I love reading novels, but being a student doesn't allow much time for it. Generally speaking, I prefer reading a novel before watching the movie as it does all the "filling in the blanks" for parts in which the movie doesn't incorporate. Rarely do I find a movie that I feel is as good as the novel (with James and the Giant Peach being an exception...). All that said, I ended up watching Hunger Games this morning and I've yet to read the novel. Woop.
I quit after book one, quit Twilight after 0.5 pages and I am still loving Harry Potter =D
I read the Hunger Games trilogy over the course of last week in anticipation of watching the movie. However, while the books were all right in my opinion, not sure I'd want to sit through the movie though. I've heard very mixed reviews about the movie and the love triangle thing seemed a bit too teenage angst-y to me.
wow, been a long time since ive been here. good to see you're still doin your thing man. are you working for xanga yet?? lol
So far, the Hunger Games still haven't gotten me laid yet. That was a week of work down the tube!
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