George Vanderbilt, a late 19th century heir to the family fortune and builder of the Biltmore Estate, reportedly read 3,159 books during his lifetime (approximately 80 books per year). He kept a list of the books he had read in a diary; his last book was Henry Adams’ third U.S. history volume.
Most of us wish we could amass the knowledge that represents. Books give us insights into the perceptions and perspectives of foreign minds. They widen our horizons, and foster our understanding of beauty. But few of us will surpass Vanderbilt’s reading achievements (unless we inherit large fortunes and thus become able to amass and devour the contents of a 10,000-book library). We lack the time available to Vanderbilt; he had neither work nor Twitter to distract him from his reading.
Oh, come on, quit the whining. I have read 1,227 books since moving to Canada in 1998 (I keep a list, too). And that’s not counting articles and chapters I read for my research. I didn’t inherit anything and instead of a distracting Twitter I have a blog.
Those who want to read just go ahead and read. Those who want to make excuses complain that Twitter ate their library.
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