The tragic death of the good read - Mark Morford

[madokie]

Has this happened to you? Have you, whilst attempting to read an actual, dead-tree novel or lengthy magazine article, inadvertently swiped at the page with your finger, expecting a Delete tab to appear? Maybe you’ve tapped a photo hoping to expand it, or pinch-zoomed a page to make the font bigger, or glanced to the top of a page to see what site you’re on, only to realize you’re holding, you know, paper. “Silly me!” you chuckle to yourself, awkwardly.

Maybe you’ve done the even more ridiculous thing, and actually become impatient with said printed material, given how the damnable thing won’t scroll, or play music, or light your way to the bathroom, or instantly Command-Tab over to some porn when you get bored. Right? So cute. And sad.

You are not alone. Researchers say our brains are getting so heavily iTrained to leap around like panicky jackrabbits, any sentence that dares to contain more than eight words, any paragraph that contains multiple clauses, any long-form work that offers deep background info or long-winded, roundabout verbiage – AKA “literature” – merely leaves you sighing heavily and wishing for Candy Crush Saga.

It’s happening everywhere, suggests this WaPo piece, not at all scientifically. English profs are reporting that their students are struggling more than ever to make it through the classics, because Henry James and Nathaniel Hawthorne don’t read like Gawker. Comprehension rates appear to suffer when reading on screen versus paper. Generation Twitter just can’t handle sentences with complex syntax, much less nuanced tone and multiple layers of meaning. Is it true?

http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/04/08/the-tragic-death-of-the-good-read/

[WinkyDink]

1. "Has this happened to you?" No. But I'm old.

[Skink]

2. Sometimes after parking I try to use the remote to get into my apt..

[Nitram]

3. Nope, never mistook a book for an iPad

Love my devices but, for reading, nothing can replace a good book. I'm old, like WinkyDink.

[eShirl]

4. no, but

a few years back when power lines were down for a week, I kept pushing my computer's power switch out of habit

[marble falls]

5. Paper books are the real deal.

[malaise]

6. I read mostly journal articles on line

Still love my paper books

[el_bryanto]

7. I use a kindle myself; but I tend to switch books between chapters

So that I'm reading three-four books at once. I'm reading more these days than I did previously when I did most of my reading with paper backs - I also have less clutter in my apartment.

Bryant

[PatSeg]

15. I read more since I got a Kindle

So does my son. He's read more the past few years than he ever has. Still like paper books for anything instructional though. It is easier to go back to previous entries or look up a particular item.

[toby jo]

8. I get jumpy with my Sunday paper - there's so many good, long reads.

I used to cruise through them, but now I get jumpy, you're right. Info crazed.

I still enjoy a good book, though. Just picked up 'Fall on your Knees' from the library. Story time !


What makes me nuts is watching kids who are glued to their smartphones. Was at the Carnegie with a group of students last week and they all had them on and continually checked them. This, in the midst of a museum with stimulating artwork everywhere you look. Ugh.

[Laffy Kat]

10. "Fall on Your Knees" is a great read.

A few years back I picked it up to simply start the first chapter and eight hours later the kids were unfed, the dog was doing the pee-dance, and hubby was fuming at me. Could. Not. Put. Down.

[tanyev]

9. As I go back and forth between iPad and Kindle, I do sometimes touch the Kindle screen

and wonder for a brief moment why the page isn't turning.

[rhett o rick]

11. I think it's part of the Grand Plan. The human brain goes soft at the same time the Earth

rejects humans, leaving only Cheney and his army of robots.

[treestar]

12. Struggling throughout the classics was something

I was able to do long before the internet. Some of them, at least.

[ancianita]

13. I used to combine screen time with out loud reading and discussion time. It tended to keep

students' concentrating. But screen addiction and fast-paced passive intake is a problem; I know because it is for old lady me, who has acquired a taste for what the kids go for. Just not gaming.

By the way, American Literature is a truly adult, difficult literature, and giving exposure to it should be well thought out by any AmLit teacher. Henry James -- in the canon, but not necessarily a "classic" author -- should only be tackled in college. It's unfair to judge student mental capacities when they're forced to read what are poorly selected writings. There are plenty more American writers to arouse student interest other than the problematic authors presented here.

[derby378]

14. I'm proud to say that THE IMPOSSIBLE STATE is on my bedside table

Have I gotten all the way through it yet? Nope, but that's not the point. I'm reading.

[Smarmie Doofus]

16. Kick. Everybody should have a shot at this one. n /t

[niyad]

17. k and r