Groups > sci.physics.relativity > #674605

Re: Fat books

From	Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid>
Newsgroups	alt.usage.english, sci.physics.relativity, rec.arts.sf.written
Subject	Re: Fat books
Date	2026-10-18 13:45 +0100
Message-ID	<njjtboFofa6U1@mid.individual.net> (permalink)
References	(3 earlier) <6AD45A20.55FF@ix.netcom.com> <6AD45B5D.570A@ix.netcom.com> <11b1nna$st4l$1@dont-email.me> <njjlb1Fmf6oU1@mid.individual.net> <_72BS.531021$FEvb.457620@fx12.ams4>

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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Le 18/10/2026 à 12:33, Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson a écrit :
> 
> Well, I'm not sure decline in reading fiction measures anything much.
> After all, people are inundated with more interesting storytelling
> methods nowadays, mostly videos.
> 
> A lot of people are "addicted" [1] to short form video dramas, the same
> way people listened to radio dramas -- literal soap operas -- in the
> 1930s.  These are shot in phone proportions and one minute segments to
> maximize advertisement revenue.  You can subscribe to these drama "sta-
> tions" to get rid of the ads.
> 
> As much of entertainment is literally slush [2], and people aren't very
> judgemental when bored, I don't see much value in reading physical books
> over audiobooks, or phone dramas, for consooming the fiction.
> 
> Of course, reading comprehension is developed over time and by reading
> lots of books, but we can also argue that reading comprehension isn't
> all that necessary in daily life for regular people.  After all, higher
> education is now considered "passe" -- the accent is missing -- and just
> a formality to get through to enter /adult life/ and employment; it
> really doesn't matter what education people get.  It's just a random
> flip of the coin by someone in H.R. if a person gets a job or not [3].
> 
> And to counter my prior arguments, sort of, I have to mention that I
> read a lot of nonfiction, which without reading comprehension, I would
> not understand at all.  You can see some of the easier tomes in the
> background of my BlueSky profile, linked below.
> 
> And to counter the counter argument, I'll finish with: I don't /need/
> regular people to have such reading comprehension to enjoy their daily
> lives.  I'm not an educational snob, and don't care if a particular per-
> son goes through higher education or not.
> 
> Then to finish off, we can discuss these things at length, but please
> have a well formed -- if not well informed -- opinion about regular peo-
> ple and reading, so at least we can argue in good faith and don't have
> to move the goal posts all over the battleground for the ensuing flame-
> war [4].


I've not expressed an opinion yet, save that the articles seem 
interesting. Here's one, though: the idea that books are good for people 
seems plausible.

I think I know a bit about a few subjects, and I've forgotten a lot 
about others. They are the ones in which I've read a number of books - 
which is not to say that books are the only way to acquire knowledge - 
far from it - but they do let one delve more deeply.

Films and videos, yes, love them; but novels are more versatile. It's 
hard to have a first-person viewpoint and inner narrative on film. 
'Nineteen Eighty-Four' and 'The Reader' just aren't the same on screen, 
and I don't think 'La métaphysique des tubes' could ever be filmed.

Fiction expands experience. One can live through alien invasions - in 'A 
for Andromeda', for instance; the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre; descend 
among the Morlocks, armed with just some matches and sulphur; hear about 
the politics of the Lilliputians; travel through Middle Earth; visit the 
Planet of the Apes; hunt for a mole in the Circus; suffer amorous 
bondage with Somerset Maugham, the torture of Japanese corporate life 
with Amélie Nothomb, or be a slave to pity with Stefan Zweig….

And writing? Writing is the least expensive medium and has the fewest 
limitations - and the pictures are even better than those on the radio.

Thread

Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-17 11:47 -0700
  Re: Fat books Blaine <cactus_DAC@yahoo.com> - 2026-10-17 12:54 -0600
    Re: Fat books Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> - 2026-10-18 09:40 +1300
    Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-17 22:33 -0700
      Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-17 22:38 -0700
        Re: Fat books BobbieSellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.invalid> - 2026-10-17 23:07 -0700
          Re: Fat books Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> - 2026-10-18 21:02 +1300
            Re: Fat books BobbieSellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.invalid> - 2026-10-18 07:42 -0700
              Re: Fat books William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-10-18 16:42 -0400
                Re: Fat books Blaine <cactus_DAC@yahoo.com> - 2026-10-18 14:48 -0600
              Re: Fat books kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-10-18 20:48 -0400
                Re: Fat books BobbieSellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.invalid> - 2026-10-18 18:56 -0700
                Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 19:53 -0700
                Re: Fat books Tony Cooper <tonycooper214@gmail.com> - 2026-10-18 23:39 -0400
                Re: Fat books BobbieSellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.invalid> - 2026-10-18 21:51 -0700
          Re: Fat books Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-10-18 11:28 +0100
            Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-18 19:33 +0800
              Re: Fat books Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-10-18 13:45 +0100
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 20:35 +0800
                Re: Fat books Torbjorn Lindgren <tl@none.invalid> - 2026-10-20 14:19 +0000
            Re: Fat books Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2026-10-18 09:04 -0700
              Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 13:02 -0700
                Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 17:25 -0700
            Re: Fat books nospam@de-ster.demon.nl (J. J. Lodder) - 2026-10-18 21:39 +0200
              Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 17:06 -0700
              Re: Fat books Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-10-19 14:00 +0100
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-19 21:04 +0800
                Re: Fat books Aidan Kehoe <kehoea@parhasard.net> - 2026-10-19 18:31 +0100
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 05:55 +0800
                Re: Fat books Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2026-10-20 10:37 +0100
                Re: Fat books Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> - 2026-10-20 05:39 +0200
                Re: Fat books Hibou <vpaereru-unmonitored@yahoo.com.invalid> - 2026-10-20 07:01 +0100
                Re: Fat books Aidan Kehoe <kehoea@parhasard.net> - 2026-10-20 08:57 +0100
                Re: Fat books Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2026-10-20 10:42 +0100
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 20:51 +0800
                Re: Fat books nospam@de-ster.demon.nl (J. J. Lodder) - 2026-10-19 21:40 +0200
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 05:58 +0800
                Re: Fat books nospam@de-ster.demon.nl (J. J. Lodder) - 2026-10-20 13:09 +0200
                Re: Fat books Charles Hope <clh@candehope.me.uk> - 2026-10-20 14:00 +0000
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 22:06 +0800
                Re: Fat books Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-10-21 01:01 +0100
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-21 10:38 +0800
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-20 07:18 -0700
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 23:02 +0800
                Re: Fat books Adam Funk <a24061@ducksburg.com> - 2026-10-20 15:15 +0100
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-20 08:05 -0700
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-20 08:28 -0700
                Re: Fat books kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-10-20 12:14 -0400
                Re: Fat books Charles Hope <clh@candehope.me.uk> - 2026-10-20 19:15 +0000
                Re: Fat books Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-10-20 12:43 -0700
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-20 15:29 -0700
                Re: Fat books Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-10-20 18:32 -0700
                Re: Fat books Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> - 2026-10-22 12:02 +1300
                Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-21 20:35 -0700
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-21 10:28 -0700
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-21 10:44 -0700
                Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-22 01:49 +0800
                Re: Fat books Ross Finlayson <ross.a.finlayson@gmail.com> - 2026-10-21 10:59 -0700
                Re: Fat books kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-10-20 12:13 -0400
                Re: Fat books Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2026-10-20 09:13 -0700
                Re: Fat books Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-10-20 09:53 -0700
          Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 19:50 -0700
  Re: Fat books BobbieSellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.invalid> - 2026-10-17 18:59 -0700
    Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-18 19:46 +0800
      Re: Fat books William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-10-18 16:57 -0400
        Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 16:48 -0700
        Re: Fat books The Starmaker <starmaker@ix.netcom.com> - 2026-10-18 16:57 -0700
        Re: Fat books Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-10-20 21:04 +0800
          Re: Fat books William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-10-20 15:09 -0400

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