amarok2005 said:-- Maybe off-topic, but that reminds me of how often people ask, "Have you read all these books?" and are astonished when I say no. I recently read an article wherein numerous bibliophiles admitted they get this question all the time.
Don't they realize how depressing that would be? All those books on the shelves -- and nothing fresh and new to read!
I have shelves and shelves of books - and I have read them all. I buy books I want to read, read them, then put them on the shelf. When I want something new to read, I buy more books.
Well, actually, there are quite a few books in my house that I haven`t read - but they`re my husband`s, so don`t really count. And maybe there are a few that I bought out of interest, but which turned out to be impossible to get through which are only half read.
Some of the most depressing bits of my life were the years when I lacked the language proficiency to read decent novels. There were all these appealing looking books about, but I couldn`t read them. Or if I could, my comprehension was shallow and there wasn`t much enjoyment to be had in it. These days though I can rip through a Japanese novel just as quickly as one in English, and usually prefer Japanese.
For some people, it is apparently very tiring to read or put the effort into thinking about some bit of literature while doing so. I`ll never be able to understand it, but they don`t really seem to be an uncommon group.