Heard a guy at a coffee shop say 'reading is just watching movies in your head' and I couldn't let it go

I was grabbing a latte last Saturday near downtown and this dude at the next table said that to his friend. It got under my skin because I think reading is way more active than watching something. When you read, YOU build the world, the faces, the sounds. A movie hands it to you. The book that really proved this to me was 'House of Leaves' with its weird formatting and footnotes. You can't just zone out and watch that. Has anyone else had a conversation like that that made you defend reading?

2 comments

2 Comments

stella27914d ago

Honestly, that guy sounds like someone who thinks a coloring book is the same as painting a mural. Like yeah, both involve pictures, but one is way more work and way more personal. Tbh, "House of Leaves" is the perfect example, that book is basically a puzzle you have to solve, not something you can just passively consume. Ngl, I probably wouldve snorted my drink and said something dumb if I heard that in person. It's like saying a chef and a microwave dinner are the same because they both make food warm.

cameron31814d ago

Man, that's a killer analogy. I'm totally with you @stella279, comparing a coloring book to a mural is like comparing my beat-up old pressure washer to a brand new truck, same basic idea but worlds apart in effort. House of Leaves is a whole different beast, you gotta earn that story.