Friday, September 19, 2008

Weekly Geeks Quote #5

Here's a quote for Weekly Geeks Quote Week from author Herbert True. This one makes me really sad.

One half who graduate from college never read another book.


Reminds me of a college friend and fellow English major who admitted to me, and not shamefully, that she had never read a book all the way through college. Her boyfriend was also and English major. They took all their classes together, and he just told her about the books. I never understood the point. Why would one choose to be an English major, yet never read a book?

Quote #4 here.
Quote #3 here.
Weekly Geeks Quote #2 here.
Weekly Geeks Quote #1 here.

4 comments:

Jill said...

I was an English Lit major, and I rarely read any of the books assigned to me (and I graduated with honors). I would dissect the book by reading the last chapter first, then reading the first chapter, and then reading every 3-4chapters.

For me, I wasn't reading for pleasure. I was reading to pass a test, which meant plot and character development took a back seat to foreshadowing, literary allusions and analyzing narrative techniques.

NOW, I read for pleasure, but I can still hear those English Lit voices in my head screaming when I stumble upon literary trope!

=) Jill
http://mrstreme.livejournal.com

Laura said...

I dunno. I was an English major and history minor because I loved to read. The idea of earning a degree for something that was sheer pleasure made me love every English class I took. And I read all the books - and a few more that weren't assigned for my coursework, but were for other professors' classes.

Obviously that's not the case for everyone.

j said...

Yow. Jill's comment on reading to pass a test makes sense. Once schooling becomes all about measurement and good grades it loses something. Taking a book apart in order to "learn" about it may destroy the joy of reading. Maybe it depends on the teaching philosophy of the English program.

Bleah.

Luke Holzmann said...

Since college I have read only a handful of books. But reading is hard for me. I've listened to several more in audio format, which works great for me.

Now I just need to start actually utilizing the various audio book sources that are available.

~Luke