Chris and books -

[renomakicwc]

Hey everyone. It's been awhile since I posted anything here. So I figured I'd just toss up a little something to babble about for our amusement.

Mainly, I can't help but wonder at the moment about the kind of books or comics Chris read over the years. We know he read Goosebumps a lot during his life, but what about other books? It's not like he only watches TV and plays videogames all the time to pass the time. Even the biggest couch potato has read a book here and there once in awhile. What kind of other books do you think he has read up to the current point in his life?

I am fairly certain he has gotten into Sonic the Hedgehog comics during his early days as a Sonic fanatic. He has even traced using an issue or two while making Sonichu, his own comic. But, upon thinking about it, I don't recall really seeing any piles of Sonic comics anywhere in his room. Makes one wonder where they went...

Also, we all know how Chris tends to get involved in whatever is popular at the time (besides Harry Potter), so maybe he has tried to read a best seller at one point. Whatever he thought of it, though, I don't know, and that's if he really did read a book like the Lord of the Rings.

 

[Henry Bemis]

You forgot about Alec Grevin's How to Talk to Girls, which Chris seems to have discounted because the author (a nine-year-old, mind you) suggested that the male should be the active party in pursuing a relationship. And he says he read Pamela Anderson's Star. Oh, yeah, he "read" it, all right.

He also has a token appreciation for the Sonic comics by Archie, but the TV jargon used in Sonichu shows a stronger influence from the cartoons.

Reading is an implicit contract; the words will only take you halfway, and you'll agree to fill in the rest, be it imagining what everything really looks like to making your own interpretations. However, Chris was not raised in an environment conducive to stretching his imagination or asking questions of anything or anybody.

 

[KFC]

You forgot R.L. Stine.

 

[Bridechu]

He was into Goosebumps and Fear Street, which are great for younger kids having trouble reading but not much good beyond that. He claimed to Kacey's dad he'd just read To Kill a Mockingbird, but then confused the plot with Of Mice and Men. He's also mentioned the Giver; he was likely forced to read all three in high school. He also read Pamela Anderson's autobiography, of course.

I believe he purchased a ton of comics on the Playstation, I'll have to check which ones...

Edit: He bought a "game" for DS called 100 Classic Books from BestBuy, it almost certainly never got out of its package.

 

[Marvin]

It's not like he only watches TV and plays videogames all the time to pass the time. Even the biggest couch potato has read a book here and there once in awhile. What kind of other books do you think he has read up to the current point in his life?

Uhh... I don't know, he very well might only watch TV and plays videogames all the time. Essentially, what Henry Bemis said.

 

[MysticMisty]

Chris doesn't read unless the book has a childlike mentality and doesn't use big words. Even that's not a guarantee. It doesn't seem that anybody encouraged him to read during his elementary school days. Sure he was all into Goosebumps in high school, but has he read them since them like he used to? I personally doubt it.

 

[DykesDykesChina]

He just finished reading "The Search for Lost Time" and plans to dig into "Ulysses" right away.

 

[Alp_Aslan]

He should read 1984 it would suit him very much.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

And he says he read Pamela Anderson's Star. Oh, yeah, he "read" it, all right.

He stopped once he realized there weren't any pictures.

I wish I was kidding.

 

[DrChristianTroy]

And he says he read Pamela Anderson's Star. Oh, yeah, he "read" it, all right.

He stopped once he realized there weren't any pictures.

I wish I was kidding.

Wait.... really?!?!?!?

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

^Well, I think he kept reading a little longer hoping that there would be some explicit sex stories. But he didn't make it more than halfway through.

 

[ChurchOfGodBear]

He didn't even flip through it at the bookstore/newsstand/goodwill/hobo using it for a pillow first?? I mean, it's pretty easy to see if a book has pictures or not.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

Chris probably reads strategy guides and instructional booklets to vidya, and that's about it.

I do kinda hope he still reads kid's books. Imagine tomgirl Chris in the children's section of the library or book store

Outside of high school and college, I doubt Chris really reads that much. A lot of people have commented on his poor grasp of English, and while it is a sign of da 'tism it's also a symptom of not reading a lot. He's also not exactly an intellectual giant, you know, even if he boasts Robotnik's IQ.

 

[Anchuent Christory]

Even the biggest couch potato has read a book here and there once in awhile.

I think you'd be surprised (and disappointed), books only seem to be "cool" at the moment due to Harry Potter, Twilight, and 50 Shades, and even then there were a lot of people who read them just because everybody else did. There's a disturbing amount of people in the civilised world who've never read a book.

Reading is an implicit contract; the words will only take you halfway, and you'll agree to fill in the rest, be it imagining what everything really looks like to making your own interpretations. However, Chris was not raised in an environment conducive to stretching his imagination or asking questions of anything or anybody.

This. Television is just so much easier for Chris because it does all the work for him and he just has to sit and watch. More importantly, we've all seen the bizarre way Chris processes and interprets written information (the whole "Koreans at the door" thing) So god only knows what's going on in that head of his when he's reading a book.

 

[Henry Bemis]

So god only knows what's going on in that head of his when he's reading a book.

Chris comes to a word he doesn't understand; he then screams at the book to look up the definition for him.

 

[Furina]

I doubt Chris would actually enjoy reading or find it stimulating in any way for several important reasons.

Alpha) You need an imagination to flesh out the words. The words will guide you but you have to fill in the details with your own imagination and experiences. Chris has no imagination or experiences from outside his bedroom and the false reality of television.

Beta) Chris's autistic mind, as has been shown, is very bad at understanding metaphor, hyperbole and other conventions found in literature. If he read anything more complicated than an R.L Stein novel, half of it would go right over his head and he'd probably misunderstand or misinterpret the other other half. Let's say he read Conrad's Heart of Darkness, what do think he'd take away from that? I'm actually interested in what you guys think about this.

Gamma) Chris has a pretty poor vocabulary and uses a lot of his words incorrectly. Reading an adult book would be like reading a foreign language for him.

Chris does read but a childish level. The Pamela Anderson bio was probably the mature thing he's read in his life and that's written about someone only slightly smarter than OPL. Like everything in Chris's life, his reading skills are stuck in their infancy.

 

[DykesDykesChina]

Why exactly do 9-year-olds nowadays need pick up artist guides?? When I was in elementary school, neither me nor any of my classmates had trouble talking to girls: "You suck! You smell! You got the cooties ugh!!! All girls are stupid! Nya nya nya!!"

 

[Shadow Fox]

I would be very surprised to learn that Chris has read even a single book a year since he got out of college.

 

[renomakicwc]

I wonder if Chris even bothered to reread Sonichu, his own "master piece"?

 

[Henry Bemis]

I wonder if Chris even bothered to reread Sonichu, his own "master piece"?

Well, he kinda did for his Videobooks. But even then, he freely changed around enough parts of the story so as to render them an even less definitive version of the comics.