Audio Coursesby JellypodLesson 08 of 8
Overview
John: Hey everyone, welcome back to CríticaZoma. I'm John, and I'm here with Grace. Today we're talking about something that's honestly been bugging me for a while—why is it so hard for people to finish a book these days? I mean, really finish. Not just skim or read a summary, but actually get to the last page and close the cover with a sense of satisfaction.
Grace: Hola, everyone. It's true, John. Even at the university, I see it all the time. Students—bright, motivated people—confess that they've never finished a novel for class. They read summaries, or just the first and last chapters. Sometimes, they don't even pretend. I remember my first year teaching, I asked, "Who finished the book?" and only two hands went up. The rest looked... well, a mix of embarrassed and just tired.
John: Yeah, and it's not just students, right? I mean, Gallup had this report in 2022—something like 76% of Americans say they're burned out, and almost a third feel burned out all the time. After a day of emails and, you know, endless notifications, the idea of sitting down with, say, A hundred years of solitude, just doesn't sound relaxing. It's more like, "Can I just watch one more episode of something instead?"
Grace: Exactly. It's not laziness. Students are exhausted. Their mental energy is gone before they even open a book. And I think, sometimes, they feel a bit ashamed about it, but it's so common now.
Grace: And you know, John, it's not only about burnout. There's something deeper in how we teach reading. When I talk to my students about reading a whole novel, I see frustration, even anger. Some feel like they're being set up to fail. It's not just the workload—it's like they've never built up the stamina for it.
John: Yeah, that's a good point. If you look back, schools used to teach reading with phonics—breaking down words, building up skills bit by bit. But then, in the 60s, there was this shift to "whole language" learning. The idea was, kids would just sort of absorb reading naturally, like osmosis. But, uh, the results weren't great. Literacy rates dropped in a bunch of countries that tried it.
Grace: Yes, and then, with policies like No Child Left Behind and Common Core, the focus moved to short texts. Instead of reading full novels, students practiced with little excerpts, just enough to answer test questions. It's like training for a marathon by only running sprints.
John: Oh, totally. I actually edited a textbook a few years ago—this is embarrassing, but we replaced entire novels with just a few pages from each. The publisher wanted to "keep things manageable." But, honestly, it felt like we were cheating the students out of the real experience of reading a book from start to finish.
Grace: And now, most students never get to develop that reading stamina. It's not their fault. The system just doesn't ask them to do it anymore.
John: And then, of course, there's the elephant in the room—our phones. I read that the average person checks their phone 58 times a day. Fifty-eight! That's, like, every few minutes. No wonder our attention is all over the place.
Grace: It's true. And it's not just phones. Platforms like Netflix design their shows to grab you instantly. They know if you don't get hooked in the first seven seconds, you'll probably leave. So, everything is fast, loud, immediate. Our brains get used to that constant stimulation.
John: Yes, and it's not just about being distracted. It's like our brains are being rewired. Nicholas Carr wrote about this in The Shallows—how the internet changes the way we think, how deeply we can focus. I mean, sometimes I try to read a long article and I catch myself skimming, even when I don't want to.
Grace: Me too. And I wonder, are we losing the ability to sit with something difficult? To let a story unfold slowly? It's not just about time, it's about the kind of attention that deep reading needs.
John: And honestly, even when I have the time and the quiet, sometimes I just can't do it. My mind wants to jump to the next thing. It's like my attention muscle is out of shape.
Grace: Now, there's a new twist—AI. Tools like ChatGPT can summarize a whole book in seconds. It's so tempting, right? Why read 300 pages when you can get the main ideas in a paragraph?
John: Again, it's not about being lazy. People genuinely want to learn, but they feel like they don't have the time. So they use AI to get the "gold" from a book. But something gets lost. The emotional depth, the voice of the author—it's not the same in a summary.
Grace: Exactly. Can an AI really give you the experience of reading Dostoevsky? Or García Márquez? The slow build, the atmosphere, the way the story seeps into you over days or weeks? I don't think so. At least, not yet.
John: Exactly, you can get the bullet points, but you miss the journey. And sometimes, the journey is the whole point.
Grace: So, what do we do? I think attention is like a muscle. If we want to get better at deep reading, we have to train it. Maybe that means digital detoxes—leaving the phone in another room, making reading a ritual again.
John: And setting small goals. Like, five pages today, ten tomorrow. Or joining a book club. I used to think book clubs were kind of cheesy, but honestly, they're a lifeline. And, uh, I started doing these Sunday afternoons with no screens—just me, a book, and some coffee. At first, it was hard, but now I actually look forward to it. It's helped me finish books again, for the first time in years.
Grace: I love that. And I think it's important to remember—our brains aren't broken. They're just overstimulated. We can rebuild that stamina, little by little. And maybe, in a world that's always rushing, slowing down to read is the most radical thing we can do.
John: I couldn't agree more. So, that's it for today. Thanks for joining us on CríticaZoma. We'll be back soon with more on books, reading, and everything in between. Grace, always a pleasure.
Grace: Gracias, John. And thank you to everyone listening. Take care, and happy reading. See you next time!
