onReading

Wendy Lohr: Okay, The Onion is something that everyone should probably take with a grain of salt. It has amusing twists on stories and this one was no different. The idea that people still sit down to read a novel probably is an astonishing thought. But, Philip Meyer is not alone. There are millions of people that sit down in their living rooms or bedrooms and read novels from cover to cover, and they don't skip paragraphs or pages or quickly turn to the last page to see how it ends. I'm one of those people. I love to read and my preference is an actual book to something on a computer screen. Something about physically turning the pages and coming away with black ink smudges on my thumbs is a satisfying feeling. Not only that, but it's a pleasure, a thrill, to escape into a different world brought to life by words. So, yes, even though the concept of reading a book may be foreign to some, it is not a concept that has completely died away or been replaced by the internet. People still read books and life still goes on.....so I say "Kudos!!" to Philip for not just reading a novel cover to cover, but actually reading //To Kill A Mockingbird// from cover to cover!

Peter Quattrociocchi III Taking The Onion with a grain of salt? I pour the whole bag on it! Not even the small bags, no. The huge one's you'd find at Cotsco. The Onion is purely fictional (re: boy who bankrupts the Make a Wish foundation with his infinite wish). However, I don't think it is odd for people to buy a book, sit down, and ready the whole thing. Anyone else?

John S. Rampersaud For me, the Onion is a means of trying to make a bad day funny with a good laugh. Even though the stories are false and loosely based on the truth this article shows the difference between people and reading a physical book. It is not strange for people to read a whole book, I am forced to each semester.

-Response to Wendy- James Gedling Meh, as far as the onion goes I tend to just view it as fiction with a hint of truthful mockery in it. Most of the time they are just silly random little stories that are made for amusement. Occassionally they parody popular culture problems that are going on, and help to step back and have a laugh about politics or society when it is getting to teeth grinding frustration. But I don't think its really all that unusual to read an entire book. Heck, talk to me in class, I tend to carry 2 books with me at most times, any time I find a few minutes to spare I pull one out and start reading.

Jeffery Reynolds: The Onion has been one of the internet's great sources of satire for the past decade. I've been reading it off and on for ten years now, and it's never failed to make me laugh. But every good piece of satire is based on a grain of truth, and this story is no different. While the characters may be fictional, the idea that reading novels is somehow quaint or strange is a real phenomena that has been growing in our society for years now.

Our society now caters to the short attention span, brevity, clips of moments that can be easily sliced and diced and reconfigured easily. I would say in some ways this is very similar to the technology used to do these tasks. The very protocols that underlie internet communications - TCP/IP for example - are designed to break large chunks of information up into smaller packets for easy delivery. Similarly we break our news and communications down into short text messages, synopsis of news stories, and even the "guide" that tells us all about a show we might want to watch, thus negating the need to bother watching it.

Having said that, I believe that reading novels will always remain something that is desired by a large portion of people. There are several reasons why, but my main feeling is that people do like to unplug from the hectic rapid fire pace of modern communications and immerse themselves in something deeper and slower. Running the rapids is a fine way to canoe, but slowly paddling around a still, quiet lake will always have its appeal. We will always find moments when we want to get lost in the deeper narrative of a book or novel.

Sam Sachs: The idea that many people not reading books these days is rather common. Reading books takes alot of time, time that most people would rather spend doing something else. In the digital age we live in if people want to read a book they have many options on how they do it. People are able to get a digital copy of most books and have the book read to them while doing something else.

Personally I used to hate reading and if there was a book that people said was really good that happened to be made into a movie, I would go and see it. However recently I have started to enjoy actually sitting down and reading books. As Jeffery said "We will always find moments when we want to get lost in the deeper narrative of a book or novel." When I read books I find myself engrossed in the novel and fall into the fantasy world of the book.

Mark Homayouni: The advances of technology in movies, TV, and games today are more appealing to newer generations. Reading requires effort, commitment, and concentration, the majority of our generation lack these skills. The article is described with extreme sarcasm claiming that Phil amazingly finished the book of his own free will! The article is funny but it is also very true about our generation. Why would we read a book when we can just look at a TV. Eventually all of society will end up like Peter Griffin, Homer, and Barney(Burp).

Time is also a critical factor for less readers today. We do live in a fast paced world, it is hard to settle down and have a read with so much ADD floating around. I bet more people would read books if there was a prize at the end. The sense of reward after completing a good book is not appreciated by most common folk. It would be funny if there was a book titled" How to Read Books" I bet it would be a best seller.

Karen H. I thought the article was amusing being that I am one of those freaks who have read //How to Kill a Mocking Bird// not only once but several //times, it is// one of my favorite books and movies of all time! I know the enjoyment that comes with reading a great book, and doubt that I will ever give up the pure pleasure of reading books. People that don't read books are missing out on one of the greatest pleasures a person can experience. While reading, one has the chance to exercise their imagination and gain understanding in a way that cannot be recreated by any other medium. Parts of our brain are activated while we read which are not activated by other mediums, and like all things biological areas that are not exercised tend to atrophy. A good book is like food from a great restaurant, prepared by a master chef, one may not be able to eat an such meal everyday but to never have the experience is a true loss.

-response to karen- I must agree with your thoughts on that one Karen. I find it kind of strange that people seem to find reading to be a chore. I would think with so MANY different books and topics out there, finding just one you would like shouldn't be too difficult. Personally, To Kill A Mocking Bird rather bored me, but I've read dozens of scifi adventures and can probably quote Warhammer and Warhammer 40k with ease. I tend to go around with at least 1 warhammer or starwars novel with me at most times just because I love the universes they are set in.

--To Mark-- Clifford Chamberlin The "How To Read A Book" book is genius. All of the people that are intimidated by those things with pages that they're so glad they'll never //HAVE TO// look at would probably say, "This could probably really help with the textbooks I have to read by Tuesday," and grab a copy. The book will become so mainstream that the Daily show would probably be interviewing Dan Brown about his latest best-seller: an art/murder/thriller novel whose protagonist keeps getting interrupted or side tracked into adventure every time he tries to finish a book that had the answers he needed all along. Maybe the Onion is hiring...