Writer Rick Gekoski Explains Why Reading Is Overrated

guardian.co.uk:

I've been thinking about reading, and (as one does) got my Google finger out, and have been going through "reading quotations". That is: what has been memorably claimed about reading, and by whom? It's an interesting and surprisingly infuriating process.

Read the whole story: guardian.co.uk

Comments

[Nicole Dixson]

12:17 AM on 02/28/2011

No, it's not. Being able to lose myself in a book has at times been my salvation, especially during my teen years. Now I read for enjoyment and to stay out of trouble. :-)

[lolrus]

11:54 PM on 02/27/2011

If Gekoski thinks reading is overrated, then why did he write this stupid article expecting people to read it and take it seriously? Yep. That's just what society need to do- put less importance on reading (which coincidentally often goes hand in hand with learning). Picking apart a bunch of random quotes is the perfect way to prove reading has lost its value- NOT. Jeez. :p This coming from a high-schooler.

[nkadzi]

12:04 PM on 04/12/2011

Well said!!

[OneUnknown]

08:29 PM on 02/27/2011

Reading may be overrated, but writing can never be overrated since it can include content that cannot be realized by film.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and J.D. Salinger. two perfect examples of readings that are overrated.

[Grace Hulbert]

02:10 AM on 02/27/2011

Reading is not over rated but some authors certainly are.

[Olderandwiser55]

11:56 PM on 02/26/2011

I think the quote is overstated....Maxim Gorky once claimed that "everything which is good in me should be credited to books"

Books are great but everything good in me? Watching a sunset is one of the most purely enjoyable experiences of my life. I love my books, love to read. But I love a gorgeous sunset.

[52tucker]

04:05 PM on 02/26/2011

I would've read this, but I figured it would be overrated.

[Roy Robson]

10:48 AM on 02/25/2011

Reading has been replaced with Video games, Social networks, and texting... Todays children and young adults are used to the soundbite, not a drawn out discussion..So books take to long..

[Olderandwiser55]

12:01 AM on 02/27/2011

Actually I just read that adolescent/young adult fiction is the fastest growing Kindle category at amazon. The kids love the e-book format. I was browsing through Gutenberg for books and saw am obviously young person commented on an old classic "What a great writer you are, I hope to read your next book!'-of course the author was deceased.

[Roy Robson]

11:02 AM on 02/27/2011

I haven't seen to any kids in my neighborhood with any ebook, I know they have video games and computers.

[rjaxone]

12:01 AM on 02/25/2011

"Is Reading Overrated?" No, being stupid is over rated. Enter, Sarah Palin, Micelle Bachmann, et al..

[KellyKay]

09:26 PM on 02/22/2011

I have been thinking about reading this....but no, I don't want to go to the link.

[BlazesBoylan]

03:06 PM on 02/22/2011

This article fails to take into account how reading (and the significance of the written word) has changed over the centuries -- both technically and culturally.
It is "over-rated" only if its value is perceived as immutable, as the author seems to believe.
Ivan Illich sums it all up perfectly in his book In The Vineyard of the Text.

[thepointoforigin]

02:54 PM on 02/22/2011

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.
Albert Einstein
Before TV it was widely thought that reading was counterproductive to learning much in the same way tv and the computers are thought of today.
What we fail to recognize is, it is not the medium, but the material that is chosen by the individual.
In every medium there is material that can foster learning, and there is material that only serves to continue the widespread ignorance that plagues us everywhere.

the choice is up to each individual

[heroine addict]

11:40 AM on 02/22/2011

No one my generation ever reads anything but facebook.

It's depressing.

[RedDogBear]

07:55 PM on 02/22/2011

You need to meet different people.

[heroine addict]

08:34 PM on 02/22/2011

It's not that they aren't out there but of all the criticisms of my generation out there it's one of the few I find valid.

[Fabini]

10:52 AM on 02/22/2011

Reading is only overrated compared to breathing and a beating heart.

[thrdr]

06:57 AM on 02/22/2011

"Read in order to live."--Gustave Flaubert

[thrdr]

06:57 AM on 02/22/2011

"I honestly believe that there is nothing like going to bed with a good book--or a friend who's read one."--Phyllis Diller