This man is alleged to have read over 10,000 books in his life, /lit/.
Do you think that's possible?
I'm not convinced that it's possible to give that many books the proper amount of thought/consideration for the sake of reading. Too many people read without thinking, or rather, read without thinking about what they've read. Read merely for the sake of reading. I think this is an example of just that.
Schopenhauer said we should think at least as much, if not more, than what we read. Likewise Kant, quoting Abbé Terrasson, pointed out:
>"If we measured a book, not by the number of its pages, but by the time we require for mastering it, then it could be said of many a book that it would be shorter if it were not so short."
Harold Bloom has read 100,000
>>8220858
>Schopenhauer said
>Likewise Kant
>quoting Abbé Terrasson
Kill yourself
50 years x 200 books a year. Problem where?
Nonfiction books that you're mining for data especially don't take a lot of time nor attention
>>8220871
My dad has read 1,000,000.
>>8220875
>200 books a year
>365 days/year
I mean, I could see it being possible if you're a full-time NEET.
Maybe.
>>8220871
Source?
I think TR said he did lots of things. Reminds me of Benjamin Franklin. They didn't hyperbolize for other people and what they might gain. They did it for their own personal vanity. I think the thought process goes, "1,000, 5,000, 10,000... It's all about the same, right? I may have miscounted by a bit, but it's true by and large."
>>8220874
>Implying any of them aren't worth quoting
>Implying you are
>Implying I'm not giving you much more credit than you deserve by quoting you right now
>>8220881
Oh yeah? MY dad read 1,000,001
>>8220875
how much reading do you think he got done when he was fighting in foreign lands, going on hunting trips all over the globe, campaigning for election, and serving as president of the united states?
>>8220858
He pretty much did speedreading.
From an article about speed reading I found:
>In addition to reading quickly, Roosevelt looked for places where he could skim and scan. In a letter to his son Kermit about the best way to read Dickens, Roosevelt said: “The wise thing to do is simply to skip the bosh and twaddle and vulgarity and untruth, and get the benefit out of the rest.” We can follow that advice for most things we read.
>>8220894
>quoting
>>8220858
teddy was a great man. he was a cripple who exercised his disabilities away.
>>8220894
You're an autist
>>8220904
>Advocating speed/skim-reading
>Ever
>>8220904
Tai Lopez is the modern day TR. Who knew?
Like >>8220875 said you can generally speed-read a non-fiction book relatively quick and still get quite a lot out of it. Lots of authors tend to summarize major points at the end of each chapter, I've gotten a pretty solid gist of books within two hours. I think I read that Roosevelt favored that sort of approach (but don't quote me on that, I don't remember where I read it and might be pulling it out of my ass).
Still, if you just skim you'll inevitably sacrifice breadth for depth and you always miss some nuance when you speedread. I personally think you should only do it when you're either in a hurry or only passingly interested in the subject.
>>8220881
But he sucked twice as many cocks. LMOA
>>8220922
Found where I read the skimming thing - it was on Art of Manliness so it's blog shit and who knows how accurate it is, but it sounds reasonable.
"While Roosevelt was renowned for his ability to direct his full attention to a book, he was not at all opposed to the idea of skimming when necessary. He would jump around to try to get the meaty nuggets of text that would inspire him or force him to think critically about something. Regarding Dickens, he wrote, “The wise thing to do is simply to skip the bosh and twaddle and vulgarity and untruth, and get the benefit out of the rest.” When reading Greek history, he might take in a chapter or two before setting it back down for a few months."
Speedreading is terrible.
If you read more than approximately 3 books per week, I can guarantee you aren't paying enough attention or thought.
The trick is determining which subjects merit reading a book, and which merit merely some sort of quick summary.
>>8220881
What were Big Teddy's favorite books ?
>>8220939
I can't even imagine reading 2 or 3 books in the first place.
I guess if I spent less time shitposting on 4chan and more time reading I could manage, but I don't know how to do that.
>it's an episode where chronic procrastinators try to argue that people who read more than them are pseuds, instead of cutting down on shitposting and masturbating time to read more themselves
Without TV or internet, and considering all the ocean voyages he took, I dont think 200 books a year is particularly amazing.
>>8221007
Add to that the fact that the upper class circles he moved in no doubt dropped books like assholes at dinner parties today drop The Wire and Game of Thrones.
>>8221011
The wire was amazing.
>>8220969
>but I don't know how to do that
Turn off your computer, find a comfortable place to read, open the book, interpret the letters and symbols printed on the paper and at the very least attempt to keep this sequence going for 1 hour per day
>>8221024
I've tried this before, but I just get really anxious and have to go back on the computer again.
>>8220858
Gass has read around 19,000, and Umberto Eco has read around 40,000, so it's definitely possible, if you have the time and drive.
>>8220858
opinions are the most useless way to make a argument.
Think of how much reading you do in terms of text you see here on the internet, 4chan and otherwise. Now apply that to a time period where the only comparable alternative was reading books.
>>8221028
Then I feel sorry for you if you can't even control your mind to read for 1 hour and let your impulses to be in front of a computer dominates you.
There's no way around it, you just don't have will power
>>8221039
>19,000
>40,000
really now
>>8221039
>Umberto Eco has read around 40,000
Are you sure you aren't mistaking that number for how many books he owns? Because he hasn't read every book in his library. He's pretty honest about how many of the books he owns is unread.
I read a book a week and it does me fine.
I barely read fiction however.
>>8220858
woah i didnt even know there were 10,000 books!
>>8220940
That's him!
That's really dependent on what a 'book' is. You've got to keep in mind that he was alive in a time before the internet and television. If you wanted to know anything you'd have to read a book and not everyone reads a book from cover to cover.
If you combine that with the fact that books were the main source of entertainment then it seems possible for plenty of smart people to hit that number.
My grandmother has read about 1 book a day for the last 5 years. She doesn't do anything else.
I think I've read 10,000 4chan posts
>>8220943
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/02/03/the-libraries-of-great-men-theodore-roosevelts-reading-list/
Not necessary his favorite, but you might get the idea.
>>8220887
If he read 1 per day, it would take him 273 years. Sooooo...go figure.
>>8222494
365.25 days per year. 10000 days = 27.38 (2 d.p.) years.
>>8222622
Since when is 10000 100000?
>>8220916
close reading is a meme though. go for pure volume. not even kidding.
>>8223187
I loled hard
>>8223187
>tfw I googled to see which is better
>>8220858
Maybe I'm retarded, but can someone explain the Kant quote to me? I've spent like 10 minutes trying to figure it out. Is he saying longer books take less time to understand?
>>8220881
The Great Leader has written 1,000,000
>>8220904
Learning how to be a good reader is also learning how to skim the fluff, Roosevelt was right. An author who wrote as much as Dickens can't produce pure gold in every paragraph.
Stalin read 15,000
Putin has read 35,000
Get on their level
>>8222494
>1 per day.
How short are the books he reads?
No way he reads a average 200 page book in a day with getting something done.
>>8225770
There's an article about his reading habits where he stays up most of the night (due to his insomnia) reading 2 or 3 books overnight. Also he's just a freakishly fast reader anyway, due to first learning English visually, and due to reading incessantly pretty much his whole life.
