My folks didn't get a television until I was a teenager; so I did not grow up watching Saturday morning cartoons like most kids did. I read books. I liked reading books. I started out with Roy Rogers comic books, and progressed to the Walter Farley Black Stallion series. After that came science fiction, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, any kind of sci-fi novel was fine. Even after we got a television, I preferred to read a book, and very seldom watched tv except for a few favorite programs , westerns of course. If there wasn't a horse, I didn't watch it. Now, I either read on the ipad or on my Kindle. The Kindle is very lightweight and a perfect size for me to hold and read a book. The ipad was fine until I got the external keyboard, and then it became a lot heavier, and doesn't turn as easily as it did without the keyboard. So I use it if I am reading something where I need to see pictures, since it is larger than the Kindle, and the Kindle is perfect for taking along in my purse if we are going somewhere that I will want to sit and read a book.
I'm with you, Yvonne. If i have my way, my tombstone will read, "I'd rather be reading." I've also got a passion for golden age science fiction because my dad got me started of his collection some fifty-odd years ago. I just never met an Asimov book I didn't like!
Sir Isaac Asimov was one of my favorite authors, too, Peter ! It has been a long time since I read any of his books (most back when I was a teenager); but I remember that his stories were always excellent. I also read some of the HP Lovecraft books, and they were pretty creepy. (sounds like they even fit into the Sandy Hook story, but that is another thread for the conspiracy topics) Did you ever read a book called "Slan" ? ? It must have come out in the late 40's or maybe early 50's. Maybe even before that. My dad (my parents were readers, too) had shelves and shelves of old paperbacks, which I read my way through, good or bad, and Slan was one of that collection. I looked it up once, and it is apparently sort of an early cult book, or whatever they call it. Slan was about a superior race of humans that had more mental capabilities, and I think they could also read minds. They had little tendrils in the top of their head, which they tried to keep hidden in their hair because the Slan were hated (and feared?) by the regular people. Sound familiar ? ? Don't have any idea who wrote it anymore.
Slan (one of my favorite books) was by A.E. Van Vogt (one of my favorite authors--the man who also gave us the Null Universe. He also did a sequel called Slan Hunter and don't miss his magnum opus The Voyage of the Space Beagle. Right up there with John Wyndham's Day of the Triffids as far as I'm concerned.
I've always loved reading. I was the kid reading a book during recess while the other kids ran around screaming their heads off. I remember my mom took me to the library at the end of my first grade year and signed me up for my own library card. I loved all the Black Stallions books too. I have a Nook but really don't use it for reading, I still much prefer paper books.
It was lost when my parents' house burned to the ground while I was away in college, but my parents had a report card of mine from the third grade, where the teacher had written, "Reads too much." Throughout school, rather than choosing from among the books on the recommended reading lists, I would read all of them, and more. I like pretty much anything that is well written. Among them was Isaac Asimov and I was in elementary school when I read Lovecraft's Cthulu stories. I found that John Steinbeck wrote far more books than most people ever heard of, and I have every one of them that I was able to get my hands on, and some of them required eBay, more recently. Although a couple of his books seemed to be loosely put together for the purpose paying the mortgage, I liked most of Kurt Vonnegut's stuff, but there was also Ken Kesey, Michael Crichton, Ted Dekker, W.P. Kinsella, Jerzy Kosinski, E.L. Doctorow, and Graham Greene. Even translated into English from the German, I liked Gunter Grass. Although very different, I have several of Erskine Caldwell's books, and Orson Scott Card is one of my favorites. When I was in Bible college, I would go to a 24-hour restaurant in Fullerton, California often. After ten o'clock, their overflow room would be closed, but they'd let me go in there since I would buy a meal, drink coffee all night, and leave a very large tip. I had trouble studying at home because there were so many distractions so I found that was a good place for me to go if I needed to write a paper or study. Often, another man would come in and sit in the other side of the overflow room, appearing to do pretty much the same thing. Both of us were a little old to be in college but since there were a few colleges in Fullerton, I figured that was what he was doing. One night, we got there at about the same time, and said hello. He introduced himself as Phil Dick, as in Philip K. Dick, an author whose books I had already read. I knew he was living in the area because some of his books had local settings that I was familiar with, but had no idea that was who it was. If you're not familiar with Philip K. Dick, he wrote the books that the movies, Blade Runner, The Man in the High Castle, Radio Free Albemuth, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, and others were based on, although he died before most of them became movies.
I completely agree with you. Whilst my kids are glued to the television, I'd just be outside in my recliner and read a nice novel. Although there would be times where I would watch the television such as my favourite western tv shows, or whenever we are watching a movie with the family. It is convenient but I'd rather read any other day.
I was the opposite way around - we had a TV when I was born (albeit black and white and with only 3 channels). My mother tried for years to get me to read for fun; she bought me good books appopriate with my age, but I never got past the first few pages. It was commuting to work in the 80s that started me off (post Uni!) and now decades later, I read veraciously - anything.
One of the good things with living in a country with terrible TV - my kids read. My youngest, at 13, has hundreds of thousands of followers on writing web sites - she writes fan fiction and other fantasy and horror stuff [Proud dad]
I had a similar experience to you RIchard; when I was younger my dad used to try to make me read for atleast half an hour a day. But I would just pick up the book and walk away after a few minutes. Even within that time I wouldn't read a single line, I just wasn't that into books as I am now. Only until high school was when I started to read more.
I think that these are actually two completely different activities. Watching TV is a more passive activity, something you can do without any effort or while falling asleep. Reading a book on the other hand does require some effort and is more of an active thing. So it depends on what I'm in the mood for. Sometimes I'm so tired that watching TV seems to be the "easier" form of entertainment.
I see reading as an activity that requires effort, you have to pay attention to the story line to keep from getting lost, who the charactors are and what part they play in the story. Watching tv you can see the person which will remind you who that person is and after a few lines what their part in the storyline maybe. When I was a kid I watched westerns, still do watch westerns. My daughters use to go oh no a western, I don't understand why you like them so, she had thechance to see a good classic and fell in love. The shows today I find to be either to gross or violent for my taste, often I will turn the tv off and start to read a good book.
I also find books to be really interesting, especially non fictional ones. The knowledge in such books is incomprehensible. One will always be able to learn from reading teachings from other religions and their practices. Wisdom has been passed down through the ages in writings, and to read them is to begin the path of enlightenment. Reading and wondering about the ancients and their understandings in their interactions with the world is beneficial to enhance everyday life.
I love reading, probably got the habit from my dad who is a voracious reader himself. I started in the first months of my high school years with the Perry Masons & those Agatha Christie's mysteries.
Reading is my first love and writing my second passion. I remember when i was in college, i was forced to stop schooling for one semester because of lack of money. To fill my day, after doing household chores, i would hike to the nearest public library, read one book, borrow one book to be returned the following day, and that's my routine on the whole semester that i quit school. By the next semester, i applied and was admitted as a student assistant in a university library . I got my diploma with the help of my meager salary as an SA.