The data shows that 19% of the post-90s can't finish reading a book in a year, and at the same time, the proportion of people who read more than 10 books a year is as high as 19%.
Some people are going farther and farther in the pursuit of fragmented "reading", and some people are getting deeper and deeper in deep reading.
In fact, "reading" and "not reading" are the norm.
How long have you not read a book?
Why do we still read books?
The meaning of reading books need not be said. But when the benefits of reading are repeatedly mentioned and even become a source of anxiety, we can't help but get tired of the problem. There are also very real questions about this:
I really don't have time to read a book;
Reading hasn't changed my life too obviously;
I just can't read the book, is there something wrong?
My reading habits developed very late. One summer in college, because I was living in a place close to the library, I soaked in the library for a month and read books. I remembered that it was the first time I experienced the joy of deep reading.
About 10 years ago, I started writing. At the same time, in order to let yourself read more books, so I began to write some book reviews on the Internet, and slowly Wrote more and more, it was natural to become a so-called book reviewer and reading blogger.
Wei Xiaohe compiled his reading essays into a book
Another reason for being a reading blogger is that I'm not a person who likes to go to work.
Everyone should have the experience that if your work is not driven by you autonomously, you are just completing a lot of tasks, and these tasks are cut, you are just a link in the gear, then your sense of achievement and satisfaction will be very low.
It's actually a lot like reading. Reading itself is a fun thing, an interest, not because everyone is stressing that reading is important, and you are under pressure to choose to read, so it is actually difficult to have fun.
So even as a reading blogger, I don't emphasize that everyone should read, or that everyone should be a deep reader.
Everyone has their own hobbies, and reading is just one possibility.
For me, it is important to have fun and feel the experience of beauty in reading, and the first purpose of reading books is not to acquire knowledge, so I read more books about literature.
A deeper meaning may be that in the process of reading, you will establish some network of thinking systems, which will make you less easily pulled by the atmosphere of the times.
But that's probably not something everyone can appreciate. My grandmother couldn't read, but I thought she was very wise. It's not necessary to read one way to live a good life.
The work of book editing is different from what many people think, but it is actually very cumbersome.
I often work 10-hour shifts a day and come home just to watch a play.
Therefore, most of my reading time is basically concentrated on the weekend, whether it is reading manuscripts or reading books that interest me, I almost only have time and interest on weekends.
Stills from the movie "The Chronicle of the Boat"
But the experience of reading a book last year gave me a new inspiration. During that time, even though I was tired when I came home every day, I still wanted to read the book after everything I had done, because it was so beautiful and attractive to me.
I think more often people don't want to read, probably because a lot of books aren't actually that good, it's not so appealing to you.
I find myself reading a lot of times in order to quickly end a book with the purpose of "cleaning up the shelves". Read with this mentality, you will find that korean dramas are much more interesting.
In my opinion, the essence of reading should be interesting, whether fictional or non-fiction, it is not much different from the Korean dramas we love to watch, in fact, it is "picture" and "story". Although some books may not be in the form of a story, they may be in the form of pure theory, but the process of reading it should also be a process of vivid and vivid dialogue.
If you find the book in your hand boring, you may wish to try a few more.
I grew up in rural Shandong, and when I was a child, I didn't have any books to read. I remember when my sister gave me a copy of "Three Hundred Poems of Tang Dynasty", I don't know how many times I turned it over and over again, when I was fine at home, I turned it over, most of the poems in it were memorized before I learned, and finally the books were broken. Later, I studied classical philology and entered the publishing industry, which has a lot to do with this book.
Although I really like to read books and work in books, I have always felt that reading is a hard thing to do. It's not like, as many people say, how joyful it is to read, and nothing can replace the joy of reading.
I think this joy of reading is sometimes really going to be some pain. If it's purely for fun, it might be easier to get it from short videos.
But for me, watching short videos, watching movies, watching TV series, can't let me get the kind of psychological peace that I only have when reading.
Even if it's a very thin book, after reading the last page, closing the book, the kind of satisfaction that I get in my heart at this time, the kind of peace that I really have never obtained in other channels.
Wang Rongxin shared his reading notes when he was young
There are many advantages to reading, which I do not deny. But is reading necessary? I don't think so.
Since ancient times, only a few people have really made a living by reading. Most people read for the purpose of obtaining information and entertainment. For an entertainment project, reading has a threshold, and for the channels of access to information, reading is not the most effective. Before radio, television, and the Internet became widespread, information and experience were often passed on by word of mouth, with only a relatively small amount of wisdom preserved through books.
After the popularity of smart phones, there are short videos, there are podcasts, whether in front of video or audio, reading is relatively niche. So let's not look at reading too pessimistically, I don't think that form has faded. Because it probably didn't go mainstream from the start.
As a children's book marketing editor, a big part of my job is communicating with readers, so I have access to a lot of kids and parents.
I met a parent who was a stay-at-home mom.
In the process of growing up, she always accompanies the child to read, and in the process, she will consciously record some feedback when the child reads the book, such as when the child encounters a problem or finds it interesting, she will try to sort it out and then share it with others.
Slowly, she developed the habit of writing book reviews, and the more she wrote book reviews, the better they were.
Now, she is a children's picture book instructor, which has become her passion for business. It's never too late to start reading.
In children, we can often discover the essence of many things, including reading.
To make children develop the habit of reading, the most important thing is to let him know that reading is a very fun thing. In this process, do not impose the anxiety of adults on it, and the idea of "what kind of person I want you to become through reading" should not be conveyed to the child, and respect his preferences.
Reading is a fun thing to enjoy anytime, anywhere
I was very impressed that when I was young, my dad would take me to the bookstore every week, and he would let me choose a book by myself, and there were some books that might seem to my parents to be unnourishing and giggly, but my dad would definitely buy them for me.
Because I chose the books myself, I read them every time. In the end, reading became the only habit in my life that I did not deliberately use willpower and maintained for so many years.
The same is true of many of the things we face as adults, you do it entirely on your own will, without imposing goals, you will do better.
In an age when time is extremely fragmented, our relationship with reading is indeed changing. It no longer matters whether or not to continue reading in the traditional way.
But please never stop exploring knowledge and having fun.
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Written by / Li Mengqi
Design / Drink mutton soup
Photography / Chen Jingdong