good (and very relevant to my own experience) thread... thanks...
I was an early and avid reader, with modes and subjects shifting through
time and context.
I have shifted 99% of my fiction (text) consumption to audio and boosted
my video fiction (4X) consumption significantly in the last 5-10 years
for lots of reasons (social engagement, more free time).
Like Jon said, "reading was (once) pure play", I've replaced it with
lower-engagement/demand alternatives which is a bit like replacing the
episodic wild berries in my diet with pure sugar or maybe pixie-stix?
Or maybe just candy-bars with *some* nuts and chocolate to buffer the
power-hit of refined sugar?
Following Glen's point, I do read more non-fiction via linear (and
resampled linear) text than I do fiction... and it is a mixed blessing.
I've always enjoyed nonlinear/hyperlinked prose (e.g. browsing/tracing
a dictionary/thesaurus/encyclopedia) as well as self-curation of
tech/history material using ToC and Index navigation, but also highly
value the author/editor's curation (what I think Marcus rankled at?).
(about) the only time I read much in significant linear batches is when
I soak in my clawfoot tub. After a significant physical activity
(usually chores) or during some mild illness (light flu/cold or taking a
chill from exposure) I will settle into a long hot bath where I can
sometimes read chapters and chapters from a book or some long-form
journalism which I normally crash out of after 5-10 mins max.
Mary is much more capable of dropping into a book (still) despite the
distractions and has not really shifted into audio-consumption of
fiction. Her stack of "have read" grows monthly and reinforcing my
"audio-forward" fiction, she reads aloud to me A) at bedtime; B) on
short and long drives; C) when something is acutely compelling to her.
I'm ashamed to admit that about all I have to offer in return to her is
"being a good listener" and an occasional short-segment of an audio-book
I've been listening to which is salient to whatever is afoot in the
moment in the world or between us. My offerings are a fraction of the
quantity (and quality?) of hers to me.
Too much of my reading happens from a screen (this one) and/but I can
*barely* read from my TS (tiny-screen phone) which saves me in some ways
(I spend less time staring at my palm than many) but not in others (when
I'm staring at my palm I'm likely just reading headline-fragments)....
My (midlife-adult) children both read modestly, though both have
commutes which have pushed them into audio (something I introduced them
to on car trips as children). Both prefer Kindle-class screen-readers
for portability/convenience but do still murder trees. ElderDotter
before-child commuted 1hr each way by rail and read a LOT during that
time. YungerDotter worked in our bookstore for a year while finishing
her BA in Santa Fe which reinforced her appreciation for the used-book
world, but the demands of parenting and careering and general adulting
have cut into *their* reading time. YD commutes in a TSLA (FU Elon
Musk!) but loathes the (f?)SD features and definitely doesn't Read While
Driving (best I know)....
ED records/rates (most of?) her conquests on GoodReads (yes, I know,
Bezos coopted that and is a dipshit for doing so) but does not review
much if at all there. So I know she is consuming (possibly on audio but
not exclusively) order 1-4 novels/nonfics a month, many of which I
myself have already read and. few which I have been inspired to (esp. if
Audio-available). Reading lists used to be an important part of my
larger social fabric, now it is just with my familial and some
professional intimates.
Mary's children are also mid-life/career readers still and some of their
consumption habits bleed into my awareness through her (2 are GoodReads
rater/reviewers). One D-in-Law is the most eclectic (a big Jane
Austen/Raymond Chandler/Agatha Chrisite fan who also reads AE. Van Vogt
and jack Williamson interleaved with heavy shite on Cancer (she is Stage
4 6 years in now), as well as Feminist and Ethnic studies). She is a
trained Librarian-Archivist which might explain her text-heavy
orientation. She and the son-husband declare to consume all their news
and politics and economics strictly through long-form journalism and I
(mostly) believe them. He's a serious film-buff so the cinema he
reports on is eclectic and arte-haus heavy. He broadens our watch list
significantly. Sharing their diets as-such with us enhances our
intergenerational coupling (gives us something to talk about besides
Trump-Reviling, when we chat).
My grandchildren (all 2 of them) are less likely to be lifelong readers
beyond the basics required by school and friend-networks... but I may be
wrong... the parents offer/push/expose them to as much as makes sense
in-context but tik-tok/video/"socials", etc are strong attractors of
attention. My own shift from written text on paper to screens and
linear to highly non-linear and from text to audio/video-narrative
follows their pattern with a little more plasticity/inertial resistance
than they naturally have. Mary's 2 (twin) grandchildren probably read
more than their general peers (fairly screen-time restricted at 9 years
old) and the boy, finally diagnosed Autism-Spectrum voraciously goes
through topics like the Titanic, the Vietnam War, still
illustration-heavy but concept/factiod dense. His social skills are
not always helped by being encyclopedic in his latest obsession.
My dog does not read nor listen to synthesized audio nor watch TV
(except through seideyez), although he is acutely aware of dogs barking,
doorbell and knocking sounds coming from the TV as well as animal-shapes
on TV (Dogs most acutely, cats sometimes, horses and other large
mammals. Mary reads to him sometimes and he does alert to her (tone
of) voice, but I don't think he's processing anything beyond "emotional
content".
Our mothers died with unfinished novels at their bedsides and our
fathers barely read at all (Mary's was marginally illiterate, my own
never bothered beyond Forestry and Grazing Journals in his early
career). Our grandparents (except 1) might have been
functionally/circumstantially illiterate with little time or available
material to read though all finished 8th grade and two graduated a
work-study hillbilly college in Geology.
I discuss way too much of my reading/listening with an LLM (re Jon's
reference) to my benefit and demise methinks. Youse guys have to hear
less of my reflections and observations that way, however. Net win?
Did I tell you about Daniel Boone, T.Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, G.
Cleveland, H. Arendt, Wengrow&Graeber, Sterling&Gibson, et al? (off my
very recent Audio-stack).
"TL;DR" is a bit too long even for a bumper sticker these days?
- Steve
On 1/26/26 5:05 pm, Jon Zingale wrote:
I remember loving the book "Last love in Constantinople". It is a
fiction book that comes with instructions suggesting that the reader
pull tarot using just the major arcana and then read the book's
chapters in the derived order.
Lately, I almost never find the place in myself to settle into reading
as deeply as I once enjoyed. When I would read a lot, I wouldn't
stress at all about how I moved through or sat with a text, linear or
not. Instead, reading itself was pure play. Much of that joy now feels
alien to me, a faint dream.
I can remember feeling the transition away from being situated in deep
focus as normal and into something much more reactive as the new
normal. It's almost like I expect to be smacked in the back of the
head at any moment. I feel as if my eyes are anxious not to waste
anymore time where they are.
Occasionally, when I get a few days off from work, step away from my
numerous obligations, get a few miles of running in, alternate between
the sauna and the cold, I briefly find myself remembering what it was
like to have a deeper reading practice.
I delight in those rare moments where I find that I can sit with a
math book, say, and have something I want to direct my attention
toward, and I don't mind at all that the content undresses slowly. I
don't even care that it would in some ways be more efficient to
discuss the topic with an LLM.
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