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How well read are you?

I've read 10s of thousands of books, but I don't consider myself 'well read'. I cannot quote from the Bible or from Shakepeare, or from Chaucer or from Homer, etc (beside the basic stuff everyone knows). I DO love reading and books and can talk about them for hours on end!
 
Geenh said:
I've read 10s of thousands of books, but I don't consider myself 'well read'. I cannot quote from the Bible or from Shakepeare, or from Chaucer or from Homer, etc (beside the basic stuff everyone knows). I DO love reading and books and can talk about them for hours on end!
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Well said :)

I also really enjoy reading and I've read thousands of books. I've read since I was a little girl (not that I'm that much taller now! :rolleyes: ) and I really do believe that an early interest makes a difference.
 
The town where I reside is genarally thought of to be the "best read" town in the U.S.

I however, am far from being well read. I do enjoy a great variety of authors, some of my favorites unfortunately are no longer with us.

Off the top of my head without really thinking about it. Some of my favorites:

John Steinbeck
James Clavell
Stephen King
Terry Pratchett
Tolkien, of course
James Lee Burke
Tony Hillerman
Larry McMurtry
Louis Lamour.....I have every book that he has written and have read them all twice.
 
I wish I'd kept a list of everything I've read since the third grade..since that was soooooo long ago, I have to hazard a guess. I'm thinking in the 4-5000 range. Since I'm ancient, and if I use the formula of 100 books per year-with allowance for mol some years, I come up with over 4000. Since kids' books count, that's probably about right.
As for being well read, that's such a judgement call. I consider a person well read if they've read a variety of material. Someone who only reads classics is missing so much of the great stuff to be had. A well read person should be able to discuss children's literature-including picture books, as well as a variety of genres. A rut is a rut, even if it appears to be a sacred one. We have to be able to communicate with all sorts of people on this planet, and as readers, we have the greatest tool to prepare ourselves by reading a wide variety of books and stories.
 
I've read hundreds since I was little but that was basically because everytime I would finish a book, there would always be something within reaching distance. If not, my mother would pick me up something good at the local bookstore. She got quite a few good books out of the bargain bin :p One in particular was "Moonkid and Liberty" one of the greatest books I have ever read.
 
tryn to be well read

well m not tht wel read to be honest enuf!
got the interest in novels wen i was in senior sec!
after tht i have tried to read a lot of books but dont get much time as being a student i don get much time n have to frm time to tome prepare 4 exams! :(
but its my dream to have my own library with good collection so reading newsaper regularly to get the reviews of the books!
 
I'd consider myself well read compared to most of the losers I hang out with ... :p But well read per se? No. I hope to be, in a few decades ... As I mentioned somewhere around the forum I just bought the book Genius by Harlold Bloom (a book about a hundred literary geniuses throughout history and the world) and I'm just blown away by the sheer vastness of his reading. And not only has hea read all of the stuff, he can also discuss it, critique it, compare it, probably even quote it by heart! I will probably never reach his level but I'm aiming at it! :D
 
I read a lot that's for sure and yeah I would say I'm well read as well. I pretty much buy all the books I read from the local charity shops and so can end up with anything that catches my eye.

Recent reads have been Anne Sebold's The Lovely Bones, How To Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way (ordered of Amazon), Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett, Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas and The Republic by Plato (granted this is because I'm studying Philosophy and it's been on my reading list for the past year).

If I remember rightly during the recent 100 Best Reads poll I'd read about 80 of the books and the ones I hadn't read were the newer kids books in the poll. I still haven't got around to His Dark Materials yet.
 
For my age I suppose I am quite well read, but nowhere near as much as well read as I wish I was. Both my father and my grandfather are hugely well read, so it's an important influence and inspiration.
 
i've started a list of books i've read within a little notebook. i've got about 80 books in there even though i have no re-called all the books i've read since i was about 11 or 12. i dont really count the books i've read before then. i can't really estimate the amount of books i've read, but its well over a 100. [i'm 16] i started reading regularly again. i haven't really read beyond school assignments that much for 3 years or so.
 
first of all, can i point out that well read doesn't go on the basis of how many books you've read but which books you've read and what you've learned from them? i think i've read about....300 books in the last 3 or 4 years. i'm only 13, but i've read about 500 or more books, probably. i'm a complete bookworm!

i've kept a list of all the books i read in 5th grade, and i passed100. i'l try keeping a list of all books i've ever read.
 
HermioneWeasley said:
first of all, can i point out that well read doesn't go on the basis of how many books you've read but which books you've read and what you've learned from them?
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Good point, HW. I think it's great to hear that from one of the younger members, and I mean that with a great deal of respect. I think that as we mature as readers we begin to realise that not all books are equal and it takes a greater amount of understanding to fully comprehend some works.

I don't really like the term "well read" as a term, because it implies that there is a point at which you are intelligent. I think it's a process, and the more you read the more you grow.

Do you think that "well read" is something that one should perceive in oneself, or something that others perceive? Or is it both? If someone sees themselves as "well read" should it follow that others do? I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if one is "well read" in the purest sense of the word, which I take to be widely versed in literature, style, themes and history (an essential part of appreciating literature IMHO), then shouldn't one be able to communicate appropriately? Is communication part of being "well read" or is reading passive and requires no ability for the reader to be able to explain their 'reading' of a book?

Edit: Kook is frustrated by bad grammar/spelling on some other threads! Sorry... :eek: But the questions still stand...
 
HermioneWeasley said:
first of all, can i point out that well read doesn't go on the basis of how many books you've read but which books you've read and what you've learned from them?
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If you haven't understood and learned from a book, provided it has something to teach, then you have not read it. Regardless if you stared at each and every letter in the book.

And just continuing on Kook's comment about bad grammer, is there a teenager online that has a 'Shift' key on their keyboard?! Not a 'Caps Lock' key but a 'Shift' key. Capitalize! Please! Pisses me off. If people don't take the time to write a post properly, and the shift key takes oh so much time, why the hell should anyone take the time to read it?
 
ions said:
And just continuing on Kook's comment about bad grammer, is there a teenager online that has a 'Shift' key on their keyboard?! Not a 'Caps Lock' key but a 'Shift' key. Capitalize! Please! Pisses me off. If people don't take the time to write a post properly, and the shift key takes oh so much time, why the hell should anyone take the time to read it?
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That's probably a little out of context in this thread, it was just something that grated on me when I posted it and was driving me insane. I was reading a thread in which someone was talking about a literary work and trying to sounds "well read"... but the grammar, spelling and abbreviations were just rendering that null, really. I think there are better threads to talk about poor grammar, though.

Oh, and it's not just teenagers, btw. Scary!
 
As I hijack the thread: Yes I realize that bad grammar isn't exclusive to the teens but there are two examples of teens w/o shift keys just above. Seemed an opportune time to mention it since you already brought up grammar and spelling. :eek:

How well read am I? Well enough read to be able to write with decent grammar. ;) This is related, maybe not directly, but I think people who are well read are probably going to be better communicators than those that are not well read. Being in an international setting we have to remember that english may be someone's second, third, or even fourth language. But if your location says Smalltown USA and you can't get your 'they're' 'there' and 'their's straight you are not well read. The more I read the gooder speak I do.
 
?That's probably me with the no capitalizing. sometimes i have a lot to say so I rush and dont' bother to capitalize. Thank you for the comment, Kook. And I believe there is a thread somewhere on this board debating the meaning of "well read". I thought about it and asked my parents what they thought well read means, just to get their opinions, and they said someone who's read a wide range of literature, and has read books that aren't as well know, and someone who understands those books and can talk about them. Also, someone who has read books of authors of different cultures. And I'd probably have to agree with that. I'd also say if you're well read, or if you're being well read, then you read constantly-not 1 or 2 books a year.

i counted and i've read about 375 books since i was 10, and i'm almost 14 now. so that's almost 100 books a year, i guess. i'm still counting!
 
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