The Basement of History

Books are disappearing. Not because of the recent rise in eReaders and eBooks; that is not the issue here.

The crisis facing us today is not the digital replacement of the tangible bound book as has been with us since the toga-wearing days. An infinitely more serious problem is that the book as a form of entertainment is rapidly descending into the dark, mouldy basement of history.

 

For the purposes of this blog, 'book' shall refer specifically to any book that we read for pleasure, including anything from travel writing to poetry to fiction, whether digital or on paper. This kind of book, the book that is read for pleasure alone, is becoming a very rare bird in society.

As an example, this report found that "65% of college freshmen [in America] read for pleasure for less than an hour per week or not at all ... by the time they become college seniors, one in three students read nothing at all for pleasure in a given week."

Even those who can be seen carrying books around may not necessarily be reading them. According to a 2005 article in The Guardian, more than one in three people surveyed admitted to buying a book merely to look intelligent or cultured, often without bothering to read them.

Clearly, reading personal enjoyment is a dying art. Most people are simply not reading for themselves any more. They might read for school, or to improve their business strategies, or to get ideas for their new garden. But not for themselves. Not for fun.

Clearly, something is going wrong.

The Too Hard Basket

Many people currently do not see books as a viable source of entertainment; young people are often inclined to relegate them straight to the 'too hard basket'.

Books are more difficult than many of the other entertainment options available. Reading, like many things in life, is a skill that needs to be learnt to a certain standard before it becomes enjoyable. For many who have not yet attained this standard, this is a major turn-off.

In contrast, films and TV programmes require no imagination, as the sound, visuals, and everything else is given already. One article explains it this way: "TV and computer games have their place, but they are more like amusement. Amusement comes from two words 'a' [non] and 'muse' [think]. Amusement is non-thinking activities."

With books, the instant gratification, or immediate entertainment value is only there for experienced readers, those who have learnt the skill of visualisation through practice. Learning to read well so as to get truly immersed in a story is an effort. An effort which for many is too great.

 

Our schools are doing little to help.

Another issue is that many people feel they have been "ruined" by their school years, as books in school are so very firmly associated with work.

Pages 13-14 of a report by the UK National Literary Trust notes that in a document called the 'National Literacy Strategy', under the heading of reading, not one out of seventy-one activities listed included the word "enjoy", suggesting that enjoyment is at best an optional extra. That is not good incentive to continue reading in your spare time, or even to like it.

According to this statistic, one third of US high school leavers and over forty percent of college graduates never read another book. Ever.

This is not good.

More than Just a Pretty Face

Is this really any better? Honestly.

So why should we even bother reading for pleasure? Surely, from what we've discussed, it's just a more difficult way to procrastinate.

Actually, it is much more than that; for one, reading can improve our mind.

How so? The NLT paper Reading for pleasure describes it as the easiest way to improve reading and writing ability. How? It states: "[readers for pleasure] acquire, involuntarily and without conscious effort, nearly all of the so-called “language skills” many people are so concerned about" including vocabulary, reading comprehension, spelling, grammar, etcetera; without such a reading habit, "children simply do not have a chance".

Books: more than just a pretty face.

And it doesn't stop there. An article here describes many of the skills that reading teaches us, including improved memory (we have to remember characters, plotlines, settings, and so on), better focus and creativity, and general knowledge.

One column even stated: "There is perhaps no greater avenue to learning than through reading. All people ... have learned more things by reading than practically any ... other way. When we continue to read, we have the ability to expand our minds tremendously."

Remember: the brain is a muscle, and it needs exercise no matter what age you are, whether a child or a pensioner. Reading is good exercise.

Readers, like books, are more than just pretty faces.

Social Gold

Dr Seuss, by the way, is required reading. Just brilliant.

In fact, even our social life benefits from reading, and not in a nerdy book club kind of way.

As the aforementioned article noted, well-read people (or people who have read a lot on a wide range of subjects) can have more in-depth conversations, and are able to relate to a wider range of people.

This even benefits our own self-esteem. When we learn new things we get a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of "I knew that!" when we hear it again. This is good news for our self-esteem.

Another benefit or reading comes from reading fiction. Fiction is all about the characters. What this means is that when reading fiction (whether Jane Austen or a murder mystery), we actively and unconsciously try to guess at the mental state of those characters: is he the murderer; is she secretly in love with him, no, him; can anyone be that nice... and so on. Doing this while reading fiction is excellent practice for real life.

In short, books are mental and social gold.

A Final Word

We have seen that reading as a form of entertainment is rapidly becoming a dying art. We have also seen why that is a problem, and what benefits the activity can (still) bring to those who enjoy and practice it. So why not give books a go? After all, they have the power to improve our mind and social skills, stir every human emotion, and, of course, they are great entertainment.

So to conclude, here’s some advice on how to read for pleasure successfully:

1.   Start slowly. No one will be impressed by a shelf-full of unread classics.
2.   Persist. Reading takes time and commitment, but once you have learnt to truly immerse yourself in a book, you will never regret making the effort.

3.   Experiment. There are books on everything, so try something new every so often. 

4.   As Oscar Wilde said: “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” The best books get better with every encounter. (Click here for more) 
5.   Don't pre-judge a book. Neither cover nor thickness is a reliable guide to quality.
6.   Recommendations can be useful. Often, though, only by reading a book will you discover its worth to you.

Above all, books are like people. Some are horrible, or annoying, or bland. Some are entertaining yet shallow, or too serious. But there are always some who can hold you and move you to laughter and thoughtfulness and tears and joy, and who never lose their appeal. These are the ones worth cherishing, for as Ernest Hemingway once stated:

"There is no friend as loyal as a book."

List of Links

Here are ten of the main links that were used in the blog. They range from the long, information-packed and painfully dull to the really quite interesting. Some of them are government papers, others are media articles, others are filter-blogs like this one. Have a look, if you like.

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/832287-ereaders-vs-bound-books

A rambling discussion on the ‘ereaders vs. real books’ debate that continues well into the comments.

http://www.nea.gov/research/toread.pdf

Produced by the US National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). A 99 page report containing statistics about reading for pleasure in the US by demographic which then examines many angles and conclusions relating to these.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/oct/24/books.booksnews

An interesting Guardian article on a survey of Londoners, declaring “books are the new snobbery”. The statistics could use a little more explanation, but it’s an interesting idea nevertheless.

http://www.helium.com/items/1774899-are-books-an-outdated-form-of-entertainment

A well-reasoned (albeit unsubstantiated) column about the reasons some have for not reading for pleasure. The reasons listed are all plausible and offer some good explanations for the recent decline.

http://www.learn-to-read-prince-george.com/why-is-reading-important.html

This filter blog gives many convincingly written points on the benefits of reading. It makes a particularly good point about the benefits of reading in contrast with film and television (etc.).

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/0562/Reading_pleasure_2006.pdf

Research findings put out by the British National Literacy Trust regarding reading for pleasure in school-age children. It is balanced to the point of foggy obscurity in places, but some points were particularly well expressed, especially (and ironically) in some of the sources it quotes.

http://hotforwords.com/2011/04/11/42-of-people-who-graduate-from-college-never-read-another-book/

An … interesting site. Not much in the way of anything useful other than the statistics regarding college- and school-leavers not reading after graduating.

http://www.persistenceunlimited.com/2007/12/the-26-major-advantages-to-reading-more-books-and-why-3-in-4-people-are-being-shut-out-of-success/

A depressingly keen website that goes a little overboard, but did have a few more possible benefits of reading than other sites I visited.

http://ezinearticles.com/1077342

A very general yet well-expressed article that reinforces the idea that reading has benefits far beyond basic language skills.

http://artofmanliness.com/2012/04/29/why-men-should-read-more-fiction/

An unusually in-depth look at some of the benefits of reading fiction on the male mind in particular. It was both articulate and intriguing, and goes into much greater detail than I was able to in my blog.

APA Reference List

Ball, D. (ed.). National Endowment for the Arts, Office of Research & Analysis. (2007). To read or not to read : A question of national consequence. Retrieved from website: http://www.nea.gov/research/toread.pdf

Belcher, D. (2008, March 29). The Benefits of Reading. Retrieved September 23, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-­Benefits-­of-­Reading&id=1077342

Clark, C., & Rumbold, K. National Literacy Trust, (2006). Reading for pleasure: A research overview. Retrieved from website: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/0562/Reading_pleasure_2006.pdf

Ezard, J. (2005, October 24). One in three has bought a book just to look intelligent. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/oct/24/books.booksnews

Sheehy, C. (2012, February 21). Fiction addiction: Re-reading benefits mental health. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10786987