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Do we learn something from the books we read or just filling up our free time?

I also read multiple books at a time. Reading is like breathing and eating, so basic to my nature I don't notice the effort. I do learn from most books I read, and I tend to re-read most of them more than once. I always see something I missed the last round. Learning something I didn't know IS entertainment to me. There's so much to know and learn and we have such a finite amount of time to do it.
 
In trying to balance all the nonsense that whips at us on an hourly basis, I find reading for pure pleasure not usually justified... I know it sounds strange, but I can get plain old entertainment just about anywhere in the western world these days. The marketers and retailers have it out to make our lives one big party. Of course they fail. Nonetheless, if I'm going to sit down and scan my eyeballs over thousands of lines of text, I want more out of it than a "yeeee haaaa!" I go to trash movies for that. So, like a true prig, I take notes. No matter what I'm reading, I jot down anything that strikes me as poignant or worthwhile. Some books fill pages of comments. Others fill a mere few lines. After all, it's actually pretty hard to read a full book and not learn something, be it a word, a factoid or even how not to do or think about something. Reading should entertain, true, but it's intellectual by nature and should at least give something worthwhile for the effort. My .000002 cents (adjusted for inflation).
 
I don't really understand this debate of entertainment vs education in regards to reading. For me, there isn't such a huge difference between reading for entertainment and reading to learn. Any book can spark my curiosity and cause me to do personal research on a given topic. What REALLY makes my day, is something that happened a couple of weeks ago..one of those "THIS is why we read moments". My mother inlaw has always used a funny expression whenever she wanted to say there was a lot of food on hand..she'd say, "I've got enough food here to feed Coxey's Army"(although it sounded like she said Cox's Army)..whenever I asked who Cox was, she just said it was something she grew up hearing(in rural Arkansas). Fast forward to two weeks ago, and I was reading a book called Bold Spirit:Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America, which had set on my shelf for a good five years, I know. I got to the place where Helga gets to Ohio, where she meets a fella named Jacob Coxey, who was a reformer, who led a 400-man march on Washington DC to call attention to the plight of laborers. He led two marches, in 1894 and 1914..That would have been when my mother inlaw's parents were children. So, I feel confident I found the source of her expression that she grew up hearing, but did not know what it meant. That was just too much fun.
 
abecedarian said:
I don't really understand this debate of entertainment vs education in regards to reading. For me, there isn't such a huge difference between reading for entertainment and reading to learn. Any book can spark my curiosity and cause me to do personal research on a given topic. What REALLY makes my day, is something that happened a couple of weeks ago..one of those "THIS is why we read moments". My mother inlaw has always used a funny expression whenever she wanted to say there was a lot of food on hand..she'd say, "I've got enough food here to feed Coxey's Army"(although it sounded like she said Cox's Army)..whenever I asked who Cox was, she just said it was something she grew up hearing(in rural Arkansas). Fast forward to two weeks ago, and I was reading a book called Bold Spirit:Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America, which had set on my shelf for a good five years, I know. I got to the place where Helga gets to Ohio, where she meets a fella named Jacob Coxey, who was a reformer, who led a 400-man march on Washington DC to call attention to the plight of laborers. He led two marches, in 1894 and 1914..That would have been when my mother inlaw's parents were children. So, I feel confident I found the source of her expression that she grew up hearing, but did not know what it meant. That was just too much fun.
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My grandma used to say the same thing. :)
 
Alix said:
It occurs to me that it doesn't matter WHY we read, as long as we do read.
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I think you're right for the most part, although experts will tell us that reading with a purpose will net better learning results. I know from my own experience, I glean a lot from a well written piece of fiction..and that usually sends me off on a personal research project involving plenty of non-fiction sources. If I find that entertaining, who is harmed? I believe from reading this thread, I'm in great company!
 
We learn from books just as we learn living life.

I wrote an essay on the subject.

Because most novel's characters are so life-like with emotion, we can learn from their experiences. What difference is it to sit with your father or his father and listen to their life, gaining experience through them? Books offer experiences and by taking it in, we may apply it to our lives.

Let us examine Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the story of a man who dedicated his life to gaining the attention of a lover who had "got away".

After reading this story, I realized the harm in such persistance. From this tale, I gained a life-lesson and never had to suffer the consequence of action.

This is why we read - to learn about life without having to suffer.
 
A2R. said:
We learn from books just as we learn living life.

I wrote an essay on the subject.

Because most novel's characters are so life-like with emotion, we can learn from their experiences. What difference is it to sit with your father or his father and listen to their life, gaining experience through them? Books offer experiences and by taking it in, we may apply it to our lives.

Let us examine Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the story of a man who dedicated his life to gaining the attention of a lover who had "got away".

After reading this story, I realized the harm in such persistance. From this tale, I gained a life-lesson and never had to suffer the consequence of action.

This is why we read - to learn about life without having to suffer.
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Thank you. You just reinforced my belief that as a mom, I really don't need to go crazy trying to censor my kids' reading. While I wouldn't give Lolita to my 12 year old, I certainly would like to discuss it with my high school aged children. That's just one example. I have always felt I'd rather my kids read about poor choices and their consequences than to face life with no vicarious experience at all.
 
Even in reading books that are nothing more than literary fluff, I learn about how to use the English language. I've probably learned more vocabulary from simply reading than I have from classes dedicated to expanding it.

I've also learned plenty of what not to do. Things like writing about Victorian anything and using too much first person narration.
 
abecedarian said:
Me too. I just happen to enjoy learning something new, so I can read from all over the library:flowers:
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Lets face it, humans antics are entertaining, and if we learn something NOT to do along the way, great! It's fun and interesting learning how people live, and since fiction isn't far from the truth, or at least someone's version of it, it's all instructive.

It's fascinating to see what makes some people tick IOW. ;)

Without the fallout of suffering the same fate. :whistling:
 
Do we need a reason to breathe fresh air, to admire beauty of nature or to give plenty of love to people who matter? For me, reading books is akin to these basic human instincts, an activity that connects me with a thousand minds, refreshes me with a billion ideas. I would never ever need any excuse to indulge in such a fruitful activity.
 
When I was younger, the literature I read was about "other" people, out "there," and viewed in third person; and the stories were enjoyable in themselves as they also filled in my awareness of alternate worldscapes.

Now that years have gradually gone by, my life has grown more complicated and I have found myself in situations I could never imagine occurring in my own lifetime. I now find that almost every book I pick up has some character, scene or situation that resonates directly with my own life in some way.

Reading is no longer as disconnected with life as it once was.
 
anu said:
Do we need a reason to breathe fresh air, to admire beauty of nature or to give plenty of love to people who matter? For me, reading books is akin to these basic human instincts, an activity that connects me with a thousand minds, refreshes me with a billion ideas. I would never ever need any excuse to indulge in such a fruitful activity.
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Very well put.:flowers:
 
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