Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
But the thing is, these days it's possible to be well read without actually reading books. You can learn a lot online without the need to read books to get this information. That's why well read is actually an obsolete term.
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Nope. Well-informed ≠ well-read. No one can read everything, but well-read still implies a familiarity with literature. Facts are important, but someone who’s only read the Wikipedia entries on various great books is not well-read. Well-read necessitates engaging with a text, following a sustained narrative or argument, not getting a plot summary and a list of main characters.
I do find it bizarre that on a forum dedicated to reading and means of reading, that someone would argue that the concept of being well-read is obsolete. I think it’s another case of arguing from the personal and making it the standard. Any person might decide that being well-read is not something they care to pursue, and why not? As I said, there’s no test on Monday and in any case, it’s a goal that keep receding. But you can’t jump from, “I don’t wanna” to “It’s obsolete” and hope to persuade.