During our trip to a bookstore about an hour from home, we picked up a copy of The Odyssey and one of 100 Years of Solitude. I chose the latter because so many people seemed to be inspired by its spiritual ideas. And is was a few decades old, unlike the Odyssey. In fact, the book was displayed in the bookstore entrance vestibule alongside other "classics" in decorative bindings. Solitude was just a paperback, but now that I'm older and have learned many things over my 75 years, I'm looking forward to reading it and seeing if it livens up my spiritual life. Here's to a lifetime of reading, Alvaro, no matter how many years we have left.
Hi Sue! This is great what you are telling. I, curiously, have homer's odyssey in English and not in Spanish. Although I usually read in Spanish, sometimes I have gotten my hands, by coincidences of life, books in English. I have also read a lot of Isaac Asimov in English.
It is more difficult, but I also enjoy them.
Hopefully we will be able to read for many years to come.
Indeed, as long as our eyes last, we will be able to read. David Zoll of Substack has been rhapsodizing about Robert Lewis Stevenson books. His current read is Treasure Island, which spurred me to get a copy and read it before my grandson is old enough and hopefully will enjoy it. He was writing yesterday about studies comparing reading formats ... print medium, e-book, audio, and audio-print. ,,, for reader comprehension. The authors of those studies found there was little difference in readers' comprehension of the books no matter what the format. Well, that hopefully puts that argument to sleep.
I think there are other problems involved with readers' comprehension. Sometimes, one's mind is just so filled with whatever's going on that they can't concentrate. Then there is the language or how a reader understands the cultural settings and customs that are being written about. Our mental libraries that hold our experiences etc. help us see the world portrayed in a story. Anyhow, reading is a complex activity and can vary widely between readers. The argument about which format is better is, to me, ludicrous.
This is an interesting idea re preserving that which has already been preserved. The thoughts from the Guatemalan author are poetic and yet I suspect that there are some older items that get preserved just because they are old.
There is a statistical tendency that if something have existed for a long tiem, it increases even more the probability that it will be kept. That doesn't necessarily imply that it's better, although it usually is. In books it's more subjective, you're right, but think about the light bulb - does anyone think that invention will be abandoned soon? Knives? Maybe cars?
The simpler and more integrated into our lives, the more timeless tend to be.
This is a very good point, though one could also argue that the incandescent light bulb is close to being forgotten.
Even if something may not be perceived to be of high quality perhaps it is still worth keeping because the fact that historical actors kept it, means it was valuable to them and hence it cold provide historians with access to those periods.
During our trip to a bookstore about an hour from home, we picked up a copy of The Odyssey and one of 100 Years of Solitude. I chose the latter because so many people seemed to be inspired by its spiritual ideas. And is was a few decades old, unlike the Odyssey. In fact, the book was displayed in the bookstore entrance vestibule alongside other "classics" in decorative bindings. Solitude was just a paperback, but now that I'm older and have learned many things over my 75 years, I'm looking forward to reading it and seeing if it livens up my spiritual life. Here's to a lifetime of reading, Alvaro, no matter how many years we have left.
Hi Sue! This is great what you are telling. I, curiously, have homer's odyssey in English and not in Spanish. Although I usually read in Spanish, sometimes I have gotten my hands, by coincidences of life, books in English. I have also read a lot of Isaac Asimov in English.
It is more difficult, but I also enjoy them.
Hopefully we will be able to read for many years to come.
Indeed, as long as our eyes last, we will be able to read. David Zoll of Substack has been rhapsodizing about Robert Lewis Stevenson books. His current read is Treasure Island, which spurred me to get a copy and read it before my grandson is old enough and hopefully will enjoy it. He was writing yesterday about studies comparing reading formats ... print medium, e-book, audio, and audio-print. ,,, for reader comprehension. The authors of those studies found there was little difference in readers' comprehension of the books no matter what the format. Well, that hopefully puts that argument to sleep.
I didn't know that, for some reason I thought there must be differences in compression. It's curious.
I think there are other problems involved with readers' comprehension. Sometimes, one's mind is just so filled with whatever's going on that they can't concentrate. Then there is the language or how a reader understands the cultural settings and customs that are being written about. Our mental libraries that hold our experiences etc. help us see the world portrayed in a story. Anyhow, reading is a complex activity and can vary widely between readers. The argument about which format is better is, to me, ludicrous.
This is an interesting idea re preserving that which has already been preserved. The thoughts from the Guatemalan author are poetic and yet I suspect that there are some older items that get preserved just because they are old.
Hello! You are right in your reflection.
There is a statistical tendency that if something have existed for a long tiem, it increases even more the probability that it will be kept. That doesn't necessarily imply that it's better, although it usually is. In books it's more subjective, you're right, but think about the light bulb - does anyone think that invention will be abandoned soon? Knives? Maybe cars?
The simpler and more integrated into our lives, the more timeless tend to be.
This is a very good point, though one could also argue that the incandescent light bulb is close to being forgotten.
Even if something may not be perceived to be of high quality perhaps it is still worth keeping because the fact that historical actors kept it, means it was valuable to them and hence it cold provide historians with access to those periods.