THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP discussion
Break Out Area
carl wrote: "AR, there's a library in Alexandria that would like to talk to you.":)
and glad to be a recipient of one of your left overs AR. I have been threatened many times by my wife that another book on stalingrad and I am out - so hopefully she is not home when Ostkrieg arrives in the mail. As Ric knows am moving house, having been successful in throwing out much of my wife's books and have had wall of shelving built to accommodate my books and CDs. No electronic readers or iPods for moi.
I hope the move goes smoothly Alex and your wife doesn't catch you with Ostkrieg in your hands, caught in the act of sneaking it into the house :)
I came across this story in The Washington Post. I figured a GR group would be a good place to post it and stir the pot:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w...
Interesting article MR9, thanks for posting the link.
Pretty sad statistics Manray9.
I dont go with the economic theory. Afterall when does one usually fall in love with literatoor? When you're a poor starving student/young person. Now if it was mentioned the price of a new book was too high...
carl wrote: "I dont go with the economic theory. Afterall when does one usually fall in love with literatoor? When you're a poor starving student/young person. Now if it was mentioned the price of a new book ..."
Carl: prices are high, but used books are dirt cheap and public libraries are free.
I would guess that it is, to a certain extent, due to the massive decline in educational standards. I know that I have interviewed many job applicants in the past few years that have high school diplomas (and some with BAs) that are practically functional illiterates. But they do know how to tweet and Facebook....
I agree MR9, that was my point in there somewhere. A lot of classics are free on line also, should they only be able to use a phone.
carl wrote: "I agree MR9, that was my point in there somewhere. A lot of classics are free on line also, should they only be able to use a phone."
I think the answer has less to do with cost than with intellectual laziness.
That article was interesting MR.Back in my day (years and years ago) when in university it was mandatory to take English Lit, where we were "forced, obligated" to read Hardy, Melville, Vonnegut... and even some poetry. Don't know if that is still the case currently in university where English Lit is a required course?
There were students back then that complained "why do I have to take this, I want to be an engineer, doctor..." I would assume that would be even more commonplace today.
Mikey B. wrote: "That article was interesting MR.Back in my day (years and years ago) when in university it was mandatory to take English Lit, where we were "forced, obligated" to read Hardy, Melville, Vonnegut....."
Mikey: In my days too. Even science students took English lit. It was considered part of a thorough education. I believe reading -- not just in school, but throughout life -- develops one intellectually and improves skills of critical thinking. It's as valuable to think about what you've read (and discuss it) as it is to do the reading itself.
Yes - I was a science student (and today pretty removed from that area!). I still remember some of the essays I wrote - and came back to some of the readings (but not all).It should be mandatory to take a literature course - part of our upbringing and historical- artistic heritage.
I went into computer programming as my career - and remember one guy saying that literature gives one a good background for computer languages - as in a greater comprehension of the meaning of terms, expressions, syntax... - which is quite essential in computer programming.
Interesting stats. Thanks for posting Manray9.
When I went to uni I did an Arts (Liberal Arts in the US) degree pretty much my entire peer group did science, engineering, or finance. Most of them had to do a single semester of a literature/humanities, and I remember one of them came to me and said he had a newfound respect for Arts students afterwards, as he hadn't realised the amount of reading, critical reading, and interpretation that went into what we did (I was doing history and politics at the time, and both had pretty hefty research requirements).I do wonder what impact Kindles have had, as some people have started reading again because of those, but perhaps over time they tend to get shut in the drawer and forgotten about.
10 years ago, when a friend of mine was going into the teaching profession, he wrote an email asking us to tell him about our best teacher. As all of us in the bunch were from the same secondary school, we unanimously chose an English literature teacher. We ALL went on to study science and engineering but we all felt he made a difference to how we read since.English literature is an unpopular choice in Singapore over the past decades because it is hard to get an 'A' compared to maths or science subjects. But I'm glad to say that my daughter loves English Literature now that she's in secondary school.
When I told her that some members here said that English Literature was compulsory in their universities, she said: "These are the great universities."
Chin Joo wrote: "10 years ago, when a friend of mine was going into the teaching profession, he wrote an email asking us to tell him about our best teacher. As all of us in the bunch were from the same secondary sc..."Chin Joo: It was compulsory at my university -- way back in the early seventies. I don't know if that remains true.
That's a great story Chin Joo!
Dunno where to post this but here seems as good a place as any. I've just attempted to post a new topic but got the 'you must verify your email' message. Forgive me for being stupid but I think I did this when I joined goodreads? Am I required to do the same for individual groups? If so how do I do it here?
I'm not aware of that requirement in this group Adam but we prefer that before anyone starts a new topic you run it past the monitors first so as to keep the number of threads manageable.
That's the message I got? That said how do I go clearing it with the the mods? By PM?
That's best Adam, send me a message if you like.
Interesting article, though unfortunately unsurprising. Thanx for posting it, Manray9. I would guess that I am somewhat anomalous, even in this particular group of extremely varied individuals from various parts of the world, in that I did not have the privilege of a college/university education. To be quite honest, the only reason I possess a high school diploma is that the principal of the third and last high school I attended was an incredibly kind man who, through an extremely creative interpretation of my school records, was able to cobble together enough credits for me to graduate. Having said that, I have been absolutely appalled and utterly sickened throughout the last 30 years or so by not only the increasing prevalence here in the U.S. of functional illiteracy, but even more by the abysmal, and worse, willful ignorance of not only the rest of the world but even of the most basic points of U.S. history & government, not to mention geography etc. All my friends (and of course my long-suffering wife) have listened many times over the years while I would froth at the mouth with rage about the fact that, in this country, we have not only compulsory free education from kindergarten through the 12th grade, but also an extensive network of fabulous free public libraries (even some of the extraordinarily beautiful libraries built through the charitable gifts of Andrew Carnegie, though many of those have been sadly closed and even demolished since I was a child). Given those facts, there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for the nearly total ignorance of the world at large that is so horrifyingly common here, and hence my use of the term "willful". In other words, it is not simply that these people have not been exposed to knowledge, or even that they lack the means to acquire it; they are simply too damned lazy and worthless to take advantage of the immense privilege of living in a society where the means to educate yourself are freely and easily obtainable even to those of us who live below the "poverty line". What is worse is that so many here are actually proud of their ignorance, which as far as I am concerned proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that their ignorance is in fact willful. Goodreads, incidentally, aside from the excellent & erudite company and consequent social interaction, is in many ways one of the few places of refuge I have from the grotesque cesspit of ignorance which I am forced to enter daily in order to make my living...Please pardon me while I wipe the froth off my mouth...
That's a great post Liam and I am sure many people here in the group would agree with you. I myself cannot understand why people can not or do not enjoy reading a good book. For me, Not only does a book have the ablity to take you somewhere but the things you can learn in the process just makes reading so enjoyable. I never go anywhere without a book with me and any spare time I have I read, sometimes to be honest I enjoy my book more than some of the people I come across during my day :)
In one of my jobs during my working career I found reading to be the one thing that kept me sane and connected to society. Anyhow thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts on the subject.
Liam: I am old enough to recall when ignorance was a condition about which people were embarrassed or, at least, reluctant to admit. They certainly didn't boast about such. Now there appears to be a certain glee expressed about the same. It is, as you wrote, willful. It's a sad state of affairs.
If we count the person in front of me at every traffic light, reading seems to be up.
I've come across a few people who boast about never having read a book & who wear the fact like a badge of honour. IMO it's pointless to attempt to explain what they are missing so I just leave them to their own devices.
Colin wrote: "We call them liberals"Not funny.
Most people here...http://www.ozy.com/acumen/theres-a-word-for-buying-books-and-not-reading-them/71898
I intend to read all 269 unread books in my library lol.
You can lend me your time machine when you're finished with it then!
Good one! I'm working on more modest pile, down to 22.Chin Joo wrote: "Most people here...
http://www.ozy.com/acumen/theres-a-wo..."
Excellent article from Chin Jooliked the line
Collecting books and not reading them ... At least for some of you, and you know who you are."
Who me??!!
Chin Joo wrote: "Most people here...http://www.ozy.com/acumen/theres-a-wo..."
I suffer from tsundoku. Just look around my house. I purchase at a rate four or five times faster than I read. It's terminal.
I've got the same problem MR9 but hey, its a harmless vice (not sure my wife agrees)
Manray9 wrote: "I suffer from tsundoku. Just look around my house. I purchase at a rate four or five times faster than I read. It's terminal..."Same here. I've read 55 so far this year and probably purchased twice that in the same time. Love the article and the bonus audio track so I know how to pronounce tsundoku.
Mike wrote: "Love the article..."We all do. Because it makes us feel better. :)
It's one thing for a TBR list to grow longer, it's another if it's a list of unread books. However, the confessions of the members here make us all feel that we are not alone. Thanks!
message 1341:
by
Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
(new)
My name is Geevee, thanks for having me here with this self-help group as I buy books and haven't read them all...
Hi my name is Mike and it has been 48 hours that I haven't bought a book either online or in a store(a round of applause....)
message 1344:
by
Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces
(new)
Wow well done Mike what a great step...just don't read anything on GR for the next year and good luck ;)
Mikey B. wrote: "Hi my name is Mike and it has been 48 hours that I haven't bought a book either online or in a store(a round of applause....)"
Not me. Last night I ordered two from University of Chicago Press's Autumn Sale catalog. I'm hooked. Can't stop. Need treatment.
There's is a library book sale coming up next weekend - which is why I am refraining(it will be hard to walk out empty-handed from that...)
This a a group of Enablers not very well disguised as self-helpers.Geevee wrote: "My name is Geevee, thanks for having me here with this self-help group as I buy books and haven't read them all..."
I am guilty as well. I have entire bookshelves of books I've not read 'yet'. And probably never will. Its like a Hydra. Read one, then buy three more and not read them.
Personally, since Mrs. Happy works in our local library, most of what I read comes from there. I do frequent the local used bookstores along with local branches of Barnes and Noble - this mainly gives me ideas of what to ask the library to get for me. While I am no Mike, AR or Manray, once in a while I will come home with something. Those books are mostly unread :)
THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP
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Charles: I have sold a good number of books via Amazon over the past eight years -- some for surprisingly high prices. It's worked well for me.