BOOKS...

[Bumpa STIKKA]

Books... They're everywhere. In shops, on my... book shelf!

People sit on the train with them, on planes with them...

What the fuck are they all about?

I used to read every now and then but I just don't have time now. I haven't read a book for years... and here's why...

They are too long.
They are too boring.
I forget the story line and characters too quickly.
It's inconvenient to carry them about with me.
I don't have the time.
Most are simply badly written.
TV and movies are much quicker and easier to digest.
Not enough pictures!

Am I missing out?

[f0xxee]

I voted compulsive: the house can burn down, the airplane land and people disembark and I remain oblivious....

[pacman]

Missing out? Do I really need to answer that question?

Despite getting out of my own book reading obsession habit, I would defend books to my dying breath. And I still love to pick up a recommended book & get lost in a 'new' world. (All books reside in the world of their author. We get to go on the journey he/she has written)

They are too long.    A good book is about 1000 pages too short IMO.

They are too boring.    Some of the best books I ever read were torture for the first 100 pages. Suddenly you get it or the story takes over. But best to read a review first. And learn to read between the lines of the reviewer. There are some very boring books out there waiting to be bought by the unwary. We all get caught.

I forget the story line and characters too quickly.    Focus. It will get easier.

It's inconvenient to carry them about with me.    That's not a valid complaint IMO. Just an excuse. I find breathing inconvenient at times too.

I don't have the time.    This is valid for the President of the US & other important people. Dubya was quoted as not being a reader & look at how well he turned out. All bios of great men I have ever read include the information they liked to read. But sometimes I leave a book a month or more before I can get back to it.

Most are simply badly written.    Some are, yes. Reviews can help but always thumb through a book before buying to get the flavour & style of the author. And some great stories are simply badly written.

TV and movies are much quicker and easier to digest.    Fast food versus gourmet food. Take your pick but don't complain if fast food ceases to satisfy. There is a time for both though. No one said reading required leaving our lifestyle behind.

Not enough pictures!   Ho Ho Ho. Droll bastard.

I know I am not arguing the case for books, just railing against the lack of inclination to pick one up & get into it. But each of us has the right to read whatever we please.

That was all explained in a book I read once. As were most things I have learnt in life.

[anthony70]

everynight, i head to bed half hour earlier than i plan to sleep.
20 minutes into a book, and im out of it.
i can never remember what i read,
but it takes the mind of day to day shit that keeps you awake.

i tend to only read the true stories of people who have had a shit time.
whether it be banged up in jail, or escaping from siberia on foot.

[guydesavoy]

Cook books are great. You only have to read one page at a time, nothing to remember as you're doing it as you read, and the whole family can join in.    
Don't have to carry them anywhere, they stay in the kitchen.
Lots of pictures too  

[Tomcat]

(pacman @ Jun. 15 2010,13:11) habit, I would defend books to my dying breath. And I still love to pick up a recommended book & get lost in a 'new' world

I must agree with Pacman here .

i have a pretty big and varied collection and would commit suicide if left alone without a book or magazine. For business i usually take Harvard Business Review.

A few books have also been kind to me when i first started business and i can honestly say that the advice given in a few books around twenty years ago helped me earn a decent pile. It helps to avoid the hard learning curve in business and books certainly help. Learn by others mistakes and not your own...or at least see what others think

Mostly now read Science books and some Philosophy/Art/ Sci Fi. I bought a intro book on Shakespeare a year ago but havent touched it yet.

Maybe we can get onto Magazines next. There are six monthlies i would never be without

[Torurot]

Compulsive.. You can pry my books from my cold dead hands. Like EVERYTHING else you have to make time for books, but the payback is pretty high. Books can transport you to another time and place.... On the other hand just like the film threads there are some REALLY really crap books out there.

[f0xxee]

(Tomcat @ Jun. 15 2010,16:00) Maybe we can get onto Magazines next. There are six monthlies i would never be without

TC

Name the magazines... I am intersted to see what the general population here reads.

Books have a texture and depth of vision that makes your immagination expand and develop: Movies spoon feed but books cultivate ideas and understanding.

IN my experience I remember and can quote books.... Movies, while pleasing, are in and out in an hour.

[Tomcat]

these are the mags i get.. there are more but these are definites

New Scientist
Scientific American
Economist
Genii
Harvard Bus Review
Metal Hammer
Prog Rock
Art review ( sometimes)
Philosophy now

[Torurot]

Books are active and "force' you to use imagination. Movies, like TV are passive. You don't have to do a lot to see them.

[f0xxee]

OK..

My Leftie/pinko/commie magazine List:

Vanity Fair
Newsweek
Motorcycle Sports and Leisure (and another 4 motorbike related magazines all doing road tests on the same bike in the same month at the same track... i am so gulible)
Australian Photography
And there is no #5 any more (National Lampoon died, The Bulletin AUS died...)

[guydesavoy]

The Economist is a must. I like the New Yorker too. Then Le Point or L'Express. But these are weeklys. For a monthly I like Le Monde Diplomatique, very dense but excellent coverage and analysis of African and 3rd world politics in general. (They seem to have a correspondent in every shanty town and hell hole. Not just stringers..). Billboard for industry guff. Some professional ones too but that's more esoteric  

[Tomcat]

How many books do you re visit

" The Mind of God" by Paul Davies i have read around six times and although dated is still a provoking book . You will never think the same again after reading this book.

btw Davies is an athiest and looks at the bigger picture of what its all about . Its not a dry book either

 

[Dieter]

Der Spiegel
Der Stern
Deutsche Stimme
German Economist
Die Boerse
Photoshop Professional
Der Gourmet
Handelsblatt
c't Computer magazine
Soldier of fortune



Dieter

[Tomcat]

(Dieter @ Jun. 15 2010,19:58) Soldier of fortune

:

I think thats banned now in the UK. That used to be on my list