讀書時代已逝？

讀書時代已逝？

Too busy to read a book, people jump online

What is a bookworm?

Ren Jing considers herself a bit of a bookworm.

She reads book reviews on popular websites, visits online bookstores and buys at least five books a month.

But the problem is, she never has time to read them.

Ren, a 27-year-old public relations manager, is among a growing number of Chinese people who are finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to read each day because of their busy schedules.

It's this sort of trend that has sent alarm bells ringing across China that perhaps not enough people are burying their heads in a book once in a while.

A National survey conducted last year by the China Institute of Public Science revealed that only 48.7 percent of the population read books, a decrease for the sixth consecutive year.

Meanwhile, the number of people using the Internet in China increased drastically to 136 million by the end of last year, perhaps an indicator that more people's reading habits are vastly changing.

Even the country's publishing industry is feeling the pinch.

The Yilin Press, a leading publisher in China, has been grappling with how to cope with losing many of its readers to digital media.

"There were times when we used to sell more than 1 million copies of a book," Zhao Wei, a Yilin Press director, said.

"Now a book is considered a bestseller when its sales reach about 50,000 copies."

Chen Li, deputy director of the National Library, blamed current social values that encourage overnight fame and success - instead of good old hard work.

"Many people forget how important it is to read and study to cultivate their creativeness and skills."

Xia Xueluan, a sociology professor at Peking University, said: "It is an era of reading pictures from magazine or websites. People like sensational and visual impact."

However, Xia warned: "Books offer the essence of theories, which cannot be gained by only reading 'fast-food' information online."

任靜覺得自己多少可以算得上是個愛讀書的人了。

她在一些知名網站上看書評、逛網上書店、每月至少買五本書。

但問題在於，她從來沒有時間來看這些書。

和這位27歲的公關經理一樣，越來越多的中國人發現由於整天忙忙碌碌，每天擠時間看書越來越困難。

這一趨勢爲全中國敲響了警鐘，如今擠時間看書的人實在很少。

中國公共科學研究所去年開展的一項全國性調查顯示，目前我國只有48.7%的人口還有看書的習慣，這一比例已是連續第六年下跌。

同時，截至去年年底，中國的互聯網用戶激增至1.36億，這或許可以說明越來越多人的閱讀習慣正在發生巨大變化。

甚至連我國的出版業也受到了影響。

國內主要出版社之一--譯林出版社一直在探索如何解決大量讀者流失至網絡媒體的問題。

譯林出版社的趙薇主任說：“我們曾經一本書買出過100多萬冊。”

“但現在一本書能賣出5萬冊左右就算是暢銷書了。”

國家圖書館副館長陳力認爲這主要歸咎於當今社會鼓勵一夜成名或快速成功的社會價值觀，而擯棄了過去的那種靠勤奮努力獲得成功的觀念。

“很多人忘記了讀書、學習對於培養他們的創造力和技能有多麼重要。”

北京大學社會學教授夏學鑾說：“現在是個讀圖時代。人們更喜歡新奇的和帶有視覺衝擊的東西。”

但夏教授發出警告：“書集聚了理論的精華，這僅靠在互聯網上瀏覽‘速食’信息是無法得來的。”