Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Disheartening or encouraging? How many books to read in a lifetime

Norm picks up on the calculation that 14,000 books is a reasonable calculation for a lifetime's reading based on 4 books per week for 70 years.

I really do not know whether to be disheartened by such a calculation in light of all the books published (it amounts to a measly 0.008324477724 per cent of books), encouraged by the idea that I could reach such a level of reading, or further disheartened that there remain so many people who don't have access to literacy skills or reading materials.*

Have I read enough? Never enough.



*I'm going to try and not think too hard about those who have the skill to read but do not use it.

5 comments:

Persephone said...

Four books per week? That's not reading; that's skimming. Does Norm have kids? I take it he doesn't do the cooking, either...

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Pesephone: his children are very grown up and he's an emeritus academic. Plus, there are many kinds of reading. It would sort of depend on what you're reading as well....

Point taken though, that having a family (young ones especially - by which I mean still living at home) does significantly reduce available reading time.

Norman Geras said...

I didn't say that I read 4 books a week! I wish I could, but I'm a slow reader. I picked that figure to show that even if one does read that much, and over a lifetime, it would still only cover the tiniest fraction of what there is.

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

We is only teasing - although you would have to say that you have probably read a lot more than many people!

John said...

Even if you read 4 books a week there's no guarantee they'd be any good. You're better off being selective and attentive. Read all the books written by Norm and his family. That should keep you going. ;-)