Has Reading Become Obsolete?

Reading. It’s pretty common to see a billboard or some sort of flyer calling parents to make their children read, to teach them how to read and how to reap the benefits of that skill. But this blog post (my first in fact!) is a slightly different call.

I’m calling all the adults out there … WE NEED TO READ MORE.

I was talking with a co-worker over lunch yesterday and the topic of reading came up. I mentioned that I didn’t watch as much TV as I used to and that I actually spend a fair amount of time reading books. With a dumbfounded look on his face, my co-worker said, “Wow, I can’t remember the last time I read a book.” That got me thinking. I am sure he is not the only post-high school or post-college adult who could say that. It seems our culture, in its obsession with instant gratification, has drifted well away from the “old-fashioned” practice of reading novels for pleasure or heavy volumes for information, replacing such with a quick TV show or movie or a Google/Wikipedia search. Ha, even this blog is going to be relatively short so no one’s attention span is stretched too far.

So, why read novels or biographies or extended essays anymore? Isn’t a well-crafted movie or TV episode a better use of our precious time? Well, here are some reasons that I believe reading books is still an immensely valuable activity:

- Being able to read well benefits you in many areas of life (e.g. following detailed instructions at work, appreciating a newspaper or magazine article, sifting through important legal documents)

- Reading a novel can be a more satisfying and deeper experience than watching a movie, even a really good flick. For example, a character in a movie only has one face, one voice - that of the actor. In a book, all the characters take on whatever look or sound your mind gives to them. Use of imagination is not limited to only little children!

- Like many things in life, that which takes longer and is perhaps more difficult is often more worth the effort in the end.

- Whatever you learn from reading a whole book is probably going to sink in much deeper and be more easily remembered than a quicker version of the same lesson.

- Finishing a book gives you a really nice sense of accomplishment...especially a long one!

Anyone else have more reasons to read? Or perhaps reasons not to?