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  • MJRH
    Senior Member
    • Nov 2006
    • 418

    Originally posted by Faust View Post
    Which has led me to a question - my attention span has definitely been eviscerated by the Internet to a point where I am second-guessing myself when putting down a book, wondering if it's the book that's bad or if I have ADD. Anyone else have thought along the same lines?
    Have you ever forced yourself to read a novel that wasn't immediately gripping, and found it to be rewarding by the end? Talking fiction here, not philosophy/science/etc.

    I sure haven't, but that's me. Think of it this way: if the internet's really preventing you from reading this stuff, it probably was bunk anyway.
    ain't no beauty queens in this locality

    Comment

    • Faust
      kitsch killer
      • Sep 2006
      • 37849

      Thank you MJRH for that much needed dose of optimism :-)
      Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

      StyleZeitgeist Magazine

      Comment

      • dduyyy
        Senior Member
        • Jul 2014
        • 138

        Originally posted by bukka View Post
        Ftfy.
        Haha thank you, I didnt notice that. Also can you recommend me some other books of her?

        Comment

        • bukka
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2011
          • 821

          Originally posted by dduyyy View Post
          Haha thank you, I didnt notice that. Also can you recommend me some other books of her?
          Kitchen is her most famous work.
          Eternity is in love with the productions of time

          Comment

          • PoubelleMaBelle
            Senior Member
            • Feb 2012
            • 180

            Originally posted by Faust View Post
            Thank you MJRH for that much needed dose of optimism :-)
            sorry for the reality-check, but you are indeed fucked.


            a great read (if you can manage to read it ) :

            The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

            review/abstract – http://tatamail.com/pdf/tata_review_...net_effect.pdf


            and a related discussion on npr (has audio)

            As rapidly evolving technology changes how we read - taking us from page to screen and back again - our brains change and readers can sometimes find longer, denser texts more difficult to read over time. We consider how technology is changing our reading brains and how we might strike a balance between types of reading at different ages.



            so yeah, you're not alone. noticed this as a big problem for myself last year; & at 27, to strain on something you'd read with pleasure ten years prior... pretty disheartening. fwiw i found it helped to start small/simple – aka poetry/pulp/mystery/sci-fi (thank you PKD) – then, just built from there... attention span as muscle etc

            and of course cut down the mindless online skimming/scanning.


            curious how parents today are safeguarding against such things; you have children, no?
            Last edited by PoubelleMaBelle; 08-07-2015, 08:16 AM.

            Comment

            • Faust
              kitsch killer
              • Sep 2006
              • 37849

              My daughter has a strict time limit on iPad, but she mostly plays games there. She's one of very, very few of her classmates without a phone and social media presence. It's a losing battle, but I figure the longer I hold out the better her chances are overall.

              I also read with her every time we see each other and she reads a lot on her own. Not saying they are quality books, but at least she's reading.
              Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

              StyleZeitgeist Magazine

              Comment

              • DudleyGray
                Senior Member
                • Jul 2013
                • 1143

                I'm the same with limiting screen time for my son. He gets to have screentime once per day max, freedom to choose when without asking my permission, but if it happens to get cut short because he didn't pick a convenient time, then oh well, it sucks to be him. Otherwise, I just cut him off if I feel like it's been long enough, but usually something else comes up where that's not necessary. Sometimes he talks about wanting a phone and I just laugh.

                How old is your daughter if you don't mind my asking? Some of my son's classmates have cell phones but I haven't heard anything about social media accounts. I'm not on any social media, though, so I'm just kind of oblivious anyways.
                bandcamp | facebook | youtube

                Comment

                • Faust
                  kitsch killer
                  • Sep 2006
                  • 37849

                  My daughter is 11.5. Good job on your son (how old?). Look at it the American way - through competition - most kids are going to be so fucking retarded that ours will probably do quite well in life.
                  Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                  StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                  Comment

                  • DudleyGray
                    Senior Member
                    • Jul 2013
                    • 1143

                    He's 8. Oddly enough, I'm overall OK with him being exposed to violence or "daddy words" or whatever typical parents go out of their way to shelter their kids from, but god I just need him not to turn into that phone-stimulus zombie for as long as possible.
                    bandcamp | facebook | youtube

                    Comment

                    • stagename
                      Senior Member
                      • Oct 2011
                      • 497

                      Couple of things in the non-fiction department:

                      New prophets of capital by Aschoff, which although reheats arguments from others, is well-packaged and a fast read. Good intro on the subject.

                      K-Pop by John Lie, although lacking the prose of the previous book, is a great (acamdeic) take on the history of the genre.

                      Why love hurts by Illouz is a fascinating book on the social construction of love and its implications.

                      Comment

                      • GucciAmen
                        Senior Member
                        • Sep 2014
                        • 362

                        Recently finished Men Without Women--a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway (offers some of his finest works, I highly recommend reading "Hills Like White Elephants" the minimalistic writing style paired with the heavy symbolism is unlike anything I have read before).

                        Also kicked off a collection of short stories by Turgenev the other day, first off is: "The Diary of a Superfluous Man", obviously a near polar opposite of Hemingway, as Russian short-stories - atleast Turgenev's - are not all that short , but mainly, the difference lies in how laconic Hemingway is in comparison to how unreserved Turgenev can be (which is in no way a means of criticism for either writers).

                        Comment

                        • dash
                          Junior Member
                          • Jul 2010
                          • 16

                          Finished 'A very British coup' this weekend. Potentially pertinent considering the current offering from the Labour party.

                          www.gregdash.net
                          @gregjdash

                          Comment

                          • Faust
                            kitsch killer
                            • Sep 2006
                            • 37849

                            Had to put down Gomorrah - the melodramatic language did me in. How could this be a best seller? I don't get it.

                            Picked up Modernism: The Lure of Heresy by Peter Gay.
                            Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                            StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                            Comment

                            • deadboy
                              Senior Member
                              • Jul 2013
                              • 107

                              Reading D.V. on the pretense that it's some excellent and important fashion book. Finding it... difficult... to get through.

                              Comment

                              • Faust
                                kitsch killer
                                • Sep 2006
                                • 37849

                                Fuck Diana Vreeland. Fuck Anna Wintour. Fuck all these conventional haute bourgeois dinosaurs that are held up as some sort of cultural heroes. Burn it with fire.
                                Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months - Oscar Wilde

                                StyleZeitgeist Magazine

                                Comment

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