I'm curious to find out what other people think qualifies a person as being "well read." Whenever someone uses this to describe a person I often wonder what they actually mean. Do they simply mean that the person likes to read, that the person reads a lot of books or is that they read from a wide range of genres?
If someone reads 50 books a year, but they are all books in the same genre, do they qualify as being well read? If another person reads 5 books a year, but they are from all different genres then do they qualify?
What do you think?
by Welsh_Poppy9506
10 Comments
I’ve always thought it eas more about *what* they read than the volume.
Culture, the western canon, history and philosophy, biographies etc.
Not sure reading vast amounts of pulp fiction mean you’re “well read”.
I think they usually are referencing education and general intelligence.
I always thought it was someone who like to read and reads often when they can.
But turns out, people (that I’ve heard) use it when they mean educated and slightly upper class. Like someone who reads an encyclopaedia for fun with a cup of tea in of those granny cups
If you read >5 books a year you are probably well read to the average person. Personally, I consider someone well-read if they can at least easily discuss most classics and popular books.
I don’t think it’s quantity alone but broad range of genres and areas of knowledge.
If they’re saying well-read within the context of some specific area of knowledge, then it’s a range of authors and quantity.
well read means understanding the world, 1 Carl Jung book will make you more well read than a 100 romance novels
You have to read at least eleventy books on various topic to be considered well read. /s
>If someone reads 50 books a year, but they are all books in the same genre, do they qualify as being well read? If another person reads 5 books a year, but they are from all different genres then do they qualify?
*Definitely* more the latter than the former.
I think it implies you have read *widely* in genres/subjects. And additionally, perhaps that you can relate what you’ve read to other things in life.
People who don’t read often have said that I am well-read because if a book pops up as a cultural reference I have more often than not read it. Or I can refer to famous books to make a point in a discussion. I read <10 books a year.
I am not especially well-read though because target famous/classic books and rarely read anything not at least somewhat notable. It just makes me seem well-read to some.
I don’t think people would generally perceive that somebody who *exclusively* reads murder mysteries or high fantasy or historical fiction or whatever to be well-read even if they read 100 books a year. It’s about variety and cultural relevance, imo.
To me being well read means you read a variety of books and genres and that you read regularly.
Here is the definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “well-informed or deeply versed through reading”
To me it means having knowledge in a breadth of subjects.. I have a friend who reads 50+ Agatha Christie/Stephen King type of books a year. To me she’s not “well-read”, she’s someone who loves reading.
Well-read also doesn’t have to be books, could be articles/papers..