२१ सप्टेंबर, २०२६

"'What are you reading?' I asked. Here’s what 5 strangers told me."

Nora Krug — in WaPo — experiments with what seems to be an excellent topic as she provides more evidence that there really is — as I've said I'd observed — a talking-to-strangers trend.

२६ टिप्पण्या:

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Gilbert Ryle The Concept of Mind. A conversation ender by the way.

mongo म्हणाले...

The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes. After our revolution England needed somewhere to put their convicts and decided to ship them to Australia. It is a fascinating story but definitely not for those with faint hearts or weak stomachs.

RCOCEAN II म्हणाले...

I cant think of anything that would get more quizzical looks outside of a College town or a library then " What are you reading?".

RCOCEAN II म्हणाले...

I'm now reading, or listenting to, James Jones' "Some came running". So far Shirley MacLaine and Dean Martin haven't made an appearance.

RCOCEAN II म्हणाले...

Also a book on the Tizard mission of 1940. This british mission brought many of their new scientific inventions to the attention of USA officials. Amazing how far behind the USA was in 1940 in many areas. Not only were the Germans far ahead of us in Rockets and nerve gas, the brits had gone way ahead of us in nuclear research, jet engines, radar, and sonar.

Josephbleau म्हणाले...

I am making a restart of Proust’s seven vol novel “In Search of Lost Time” or as it was earlier translated ,“ Remembrance of Things Past”.I gave up the last time, perhaps I have more old memories to compare this time. The first one is “Swann’s Way”. You should only read this from a musty brown paged print copy.

Mason G म्हणाले...

"'What are you reading?' I asked."

"How to Kill a Total Stranger and Get Away With It"

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"After our revolution England needed somewhere to put their convicts and decided to ship them to Australia."

I learned that recently while in Australia; reading a book on Australian history in the library of a B&B in Bathurst, NSW. I didn't know that England had shipped their convicts to North America, but my Aussie friends all seemed to know it.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

Mason: LOL

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"I cant think of anything that would get more quizzical looks outside of a College town or a library then " What are you reading?"

The question was asked of people who were, at the time, reading.

You have to find other ways to start a conversation with a stranger who is not reading. I think people are trying to be observant and say something about the immediately visible world, but not make a personal remark about the stranger. I think it's good to say "I love your hat" but not "You look lovely today." But it's better to find something to say about the immediate environment — bird/plant identification or something you think you see out there on the lake.

We have Gen Z people saying things to us that seem deliberately intended to practice sociability. I think it's particularly easy to speak sociably to an older man and woman who are outside walking, so we probably get more of this than a man or woman walking alone or a much younger couple.

Specific examples: We've had someone overhear something we were saying and just add to the conversation as if they were already in it. Another time we were asked if we knew what some building on the other side of the lake was. (I think I said I don't know but *that* building is the one where they kept Ed Gein). Another time some college girls said they just had to tell us how adorable we were, seemingly just by being an old couple sitting, companionably, on a bench by the lake.

Of course, at sunrise, everyone has a shared interest in the sunrise, so it's very easy to comment on the sunrise ± so easy that I don't perceive that as part of the talking-to-strangers trend.

Rory म्हणाले...

My decennial reading of Patrick O'Brian's series of novels about Jack Aubrey, British sea captain in the Napoleonic era, and his ship's surgeon, Stephen Maturin. A reading of all twenty books in the series is known as "a circumnavigation."

Mason G म्हणाले...

"You have to find other ways to start a conversation with a stranger who is not reading."

You have to find other ways to start a conversation with a stranger who is not reading and appears to be open to talking to you.

FIFY

Just because I'm not reading, doesn't mean I want to have a conversation with you.

What is it with people, thinking that others were put on this earth to entertain you? Can't you endure being alone with your own thoughts?

Joe Bar म्हणाले...

Oh, boy. Currenty reading "Whirlwind. Air War against Japan, 1942-1945" Barrett Tillman.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"What is it with people, thinking that others were put on this earth to entertain you? Can't you endure being alone with your own thoughts?"

No, most people can't.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

Which one is Gen Z?
I always have to look that stuff up.

Jaq म्हणाले...

One thing I try to do is to say hello to people, establish that we are both human, then start a transaction on the basis of our mutual humanity. In France it is considered rude to just start an interaction without saying bonjour first, and I came to appreciate it. I am not perfect, but I try, especially if someone appears frazzled.

Mason G म्हणाले...

"No, most people can't."

And they're the ones who think people who don't want to have a conversation with them are flawed.

Jaq म्हणाले...

I guess I should have made clear that I meant when talking to service workers, not to say hello to everyone that I encounter.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

Great moments in hubris:

"A NYT reporter in a high-poverty school f-ing changes the school … I can go to that school and say there is a problem and it gets fixed immediately” - Nikole Hannah-Jones

Wow.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

Oops. Wrong thread. I'll repost it.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"And they're the ones who think people who don't want to have a conversation with them are flawed."

Extroverts do feel superior.

Mason G म्हणाले...

"Extroverts do feel superior."

I've noticed that.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” -- Blaise Pascal

n.n म्हणाले...

Green eggs and ham.

SteveSc म्हणाले...

Reading the Ian Banks Culture series of 10 books, on the last one.

NKP म्हणाले...

Agree with clarification by Althouse. Even then, I’m unlikely to ask, “What…?” More likely, “Interesting book, I liked it” or “… I learned a lot from that.” Depending on response, I shut-up or continue. This sort of thing is kinda limited to those adjacent on trains and planes or in crowded cafes.

“Hello” is always a good start. I would have missed some great experiences and relationships if I’d minded my own business.

Almost 40 years ago, while riding a train into Copenhagen, my compartment companion busied himself examining his belongings and staring out the window. I did the same, as I had things on my mind that morning.

After about half an hour, I the weight of determined silence became too heavy and I spoke. We were both relieved of the tension that goes with ignoring what’s right in front of you.

We immediately learned we shared a professional and personal interest in aerospace. We spoke the same language, dealt with the same issues and had more than a few common acquaintances, including a close friendship with the then Editor in Chief of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, Don Fink.

It doesn’t always turn-out so well. Sometimes, within mere seconds you realize your new pal is a complete moron. As Forrest would say, “life is like a box of chocolates.”

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