Too busy to get off Twitter but want to read a book at the same time? University College London English professor, John Sutherland, understands your pain, and so, with 140 words, the emeritus instructor tells the stories within the limit of a quick tweet allows.
Per Irish Examiner, Sutherland despises the idea that reading is becoming more obsolete as social media continues to rise. However, he believes that this shall pass, at least, when the digital-centered generation goes into adulthood, a time he predicts sharing everything online is no longer a must.
"One of the things that strikes me, is, as telephone communications become shorter, narrative is becoming terribly long. Look at Breaking Bad or True Detective," Sutherland argues via Irish Examiner.
"These are not soap operas. These are narrative stories with a beginning, middle and end. After we've sent off our 140-character text message we sit down and watch these long narratives. The long narrative is what books were invented for," he added.
On that juncture, Sutherland had a lot of books in a tweet to share. Here are some.
1. "Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone" by JK Rowling
Orphan 11yo Harry = wizard! Off 2wizard skool. Temp defeats Lord Voldie (whohe?) + 3 headed dog 2 bag the stone
2. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Katniss+Peeta r 'tributes' in dystopian TVised fite2death. P ^3 K. K goes wiv it, as luv story= 4survival. They win 2getha
3. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
30s U.S,6yo Scout+bro Jem try2c recluse Boo. Dad=lawyer4Tom, innocent black victim2racist trial. S+J attackd, saved by B & lern life-lessn
But for those who really want to get into a book but not one whose thickness and length scare one off, Buzzfeed recommends some short books to check out:
These include "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, a comedy sci-fi page-turner full of jokes, adventures and space, "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson, a gripping tale of an estate murder and "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, a timeless allegorical and dystopian classic that's always significant.
For those who want to take on the challenge and leave Twitter for a while for an excruciatingly lengthy read, check out "In Search of Lost Time," a novel by Marcel Proust that's so long it was given the Guinness Book of World Records for very obvious reasons. According to Shortlist, it had eye-popping 1,267,069 words on 3,031 pages. That means there are 9,609,000 characters to follow and remember.