Do you "read" enough?

[mercalia]

I was listening to the World at One on radio a report by Emma Jane Kirby ( only some one with a moniker like that would be ) sent to Thorpe in Suffolk to interview a collection of young-with-too-much-money paying to get away just to read.( Thorpe is a good place to go for that as there aint much else there other than the house in the clouds and a boating lake ) The item was about people not reading enough. Come off it how many people get away with not reading some time during the day. AHHH what they mean is the BBC/middle class affection for reading fiction - you aint reading otherwise I am not a fan of that type of reading, but I still read a lot. What about others here? Do you read enough and would you pay to stay some where just to sit on your backside and read ( because you are too weak willed to do it at home for free)?

[Cyril Haearn]

I read too much, I do not cycle enough or talk to other people enough
No need to pay for help to read
Mind, we were forced to do Shakespeare at school, never wanted to read that

I have been thinking of creating a poll, "what social class do you belong to?", surely most of us are middle class but does class have to do with wealth or education or what?

Blair Eric came from the "lower upper middle class"

[Flinders]

I read too much. And not always the right things - I have a pile of 'work reading' I am behind with, but wasted both work time and work reading time yesterday reading the collected letters of an 18th C novelist.
The penalty of being self-employed.
Which reminds me, time I went back to work, coffee break over........

[[XAP]Bob]

I wouldn't pay to go away and read - because the limiting factor is time, not money.

[Si]

I read at least an hour a day fiction...would love to have the time and resources to read more.

I read several times that amount of non-fiction, mostly the dross you get on social media / internet which is often painful to read and contains little in the way of important information, but there is some stuff well worth reading; plus a load of mongy old email, reports, etc at work. Likewise, I also spend too much time contributing to these areas and not enough writing fiction (although....some of my reports...no, don't go there! ).

[Cyril Haearn]

One problem is, many books are so good one wants to read them a second time

I do love short books and collections of short stories

[fausto copy]

This morning I just finished reading my sixth novel this year.
I always read for an hour or so in bed each night and sometimes lounging around after breakfast.
Most of the books I buy are from charity shops, so nothing planned really, just whatever happens to take my fancy.

I have been thinking of creating a poll, "what social class do you belong to?", surely most of us are middle class but does class have to do with wealth or education or what?

I'm just wondering why you make that assumption as I imagined most, like myself, on here were "of the lower orders"
I was in the middle set for English at school and we were entered for CSE not GCE, hence didn't "do" any of the classics (thankfully).
To this day I cannot fathom what on earth is going on in Shakespeare and the Brontes etc.
Luckily there are plenty of books written in basic English for me to understand and enjoy.

Having said that, the Gunter Glass book I recently mentioned went way above my head, even thought the translation was fine.
What planet was he living on?

[mercalia]

This morning I just finished reading my sixth novel this year.
I always read for an hour or so in bed each night and sometimes lounging around after breakfast.
Most of the books I buy are from charity shops, so nothing planned really, just whatever happens to take my fancy.

I have been thinking of creating a poll, "what social class do you belong to?", surely most of us are middle class but does class have to do with wealth or education or what?

I'm just wondering why you make that assumption as I imagined most, like myself, on here were "of the lower orders"
I was in the middle set for English at school and we were entered for CSE not GCE, hence didn't "do" any of the classics (thankfully).
To this day I cannot fathom what on earth is going on in Shakespeare and the Brontes etc.
Luckily there are plenty of books written in basic English for me to understand and enjoy.

Having said that, the Gunter Glass book I recently mentioned went way above my head, even thought the translation was fine.
What planet was he living on?

you chose the wrong type of name - need a name like emma jane kirby or james smythe fotheringale
I agree with your opinon have no interrest in William S or the Brontes now Predator vs the Bronte Sisters or The Secret Life of William S ( he had one in Stratford upon Avon & another in London - spanish I think, a real dog he was ) would be another matter

[Cyril Haearn]

This morning I just finished reading my sixth novel this year.
I always read for an hour or so in bed each night and sometimes lounging around after breakfast.
Most of the books I buy are from charity shops, so nothing planned really, just whatever happens to take my fancy.

I have been thinking of creating a poll, "what social class do you belong to?", surely most of us are middle class but does class have to do with wealth or education or what?

I'm just wondering why you make that assumption as I imagined most, like myself, on here were "of the lower orders"
I was in the middle set for English at school and we were entered for CSE not GCE, hence didn't "do" any of the classics (thankfully).
To this day I cannot fathom what on earth is going on in Shakespeare and the Brontes etc.
Luckily there are plenty of books written in basic English for me to understand and enjoy.

Having said that, the Gunter Glass book I recently mentioned went way above my head, even thought the translation was fine.
What planet was he living on?

I thought you were getting on well with GG but I guess Duerrenmatt was right, he said: "Grass is just not intelligent enough to write such thick books", I have not read his long novels either
W G Sebald is one of my favourites, if you keep looking you will find some of his books, "Austerlitz" is set partly in Wales

I do recommend 'My Century' by GG, lots of short chapters, you could try that
When I was learning to read German I suffered (if it isn't hurting it isn't working) but now it is easy

My belief is that most of society (70-80%) is middle class, maybe 3% are upper class

[Cyril Haearn]

I did read The Great Gatsby, thought I should cos it is so famous and fortunately quite short
Can't remember much about it mind

[Cunobelin]

I have three types of book that I read

1. The easy reads - If I have projects that require concentration and detail then I tend to read (and enjoy) the "No brain strain" thrillers such as Mark Dawson and David Archer

2. More serious - These are the ones that I read when I am just relaxing, they need a bit more thought and effort to follow the plots Lee Child type thrillers, and some of the "heavier" plots

3. "Educational" - Often I find something fascinating and wish to follow up. The real story behind "Whisky Galore", the grounding of teh SS Politician for instance is a much darker and brutal story than the original

As to time, about 60 - 90 minutes per day

However I am off on a cruise shortly and intend to do a lot of catching up and perhaps inappropriately on my list is "Wreckers" by Stella Bathurst, a session on Photoshop skills and revisit Pern and its dragons

[Vorpal]

I am constantly reading and writing stuff at work. I have to write instructions, read specifications, that sort of thing.

I don't read for entertainment every day. I go a week or two without reading, and then I read voraciously for a couple of weeks. I read 3 novels and a non-fiction book in January, but haven't started anything new. I like to read almost anything, though I've never gotten into romance novels or westerns.

I've been reading older child /young adult novels in Norwegian lately. I do that to improve my Norwegian, but it's hard work. I keep having to look something up and re-read it to make sure I understand. I only read about half as fast as in English. In between I read something entertaining, mostly science fiction and fantasy.

[fausto copy]

Having said that, the Gunter Glass book I recently mentioned went way above my head, even thought the translation was fine.
What planet was he living on?

I thought you were getting on well with GG but I guess Duerrenmatt was right, he said: "Grass is just not intelligent enough to write such thick books", I have not read his long novels either
W G Sebald is one of my favourites, if you keep looking you will find some of his books, "Austerlitz" is set partly in Wales

I do recommend 'My Century' by GG, lots of short chapters, you could try that
When I was learning to read German I suffered (if it isn't hurting it isn't working) but now it is easy

My belief is that most of society (70-80%) is middle class, maybe 3% are upper class

The GG book I read was "The Box" which was a short novel and fairly light reading.
I just couldn't see the point of the whole thing.

I'm still surprised on your views on the class make-up.
Maybe the percentage is so high in Germany, but here in Wales, no way.

[pwa]

The class thing is hard to get to grips with because while it does exist, the closer you look at it the less defined it becomes. I've known a couple of people who in almost every aspect of their lives could easily be described as "working class", but who are also very well read and very cultured. I know of middle class people who are neither.

[Vorpal]

I like Shakespeare, though I don't like all of the classics. Some are just boring. I'm more inclined to read stuff like Dostoyevsky than the Brontes.

I don't like splitting people up by class. It's just another divide in a world that is too divided. I feel the same about race.

But there are different ways to look at it; there is a social class and an economic class. They don't always match. The social class is, perhaps, less important to most people than it once was. But there are, and likely always will be people who value class of either sort, or both.

My roots are working class, but when I was young, I was bullied sometimes for various things; reading 'too much' and the way I spoke often featured. My mother was well-educated and expected us to speak properly on the basis that it would improve our opportunities in life. I'm glad, now that she was particular about it. I think it has helped me, but I certainly didn't appreciate it when I was young. I learned to speak like my peers to avoid being different.