The point of reading for entertainment is to:

1. Have fun.

If you don't like the book you're reading, put it down. Life is too short for bad books.

2. Leave a general impression on you.

For example, some books just change your outlook on life. Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy, or Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy, or Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastard's trilogy are all great series that take you on emotional roller-coasters, make you change you perspective on life, etc.

Reading makes people more empathic, and kinder. It helps give you different points of view. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315838511_Turner_R_...)

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.”

Presumably you can also get this from film and television?

The study seems to indicate that reading is more effective / engaging.

My gut tells me that film and television is to reading as a snack is to a meal.

there are not 40+ episodes or even multipart movies of discworld, sadly. And while there are a few adaptions, I don't see how spending less time absorbed into the fantasy would be desirable ;)

Discworld just could not be adapted to the screen... you'd lose the puns, the outrageous descriptions and the hilarity of it all. I mean... maybe if it was stylistically something like A Series of Unfortunate Events with the over-the-top costumes, make up, and set pieces... but it still wouldn't quite capture Pratchett's little piece of un-reality.

attributed often to Emmerson: ‘I cannot remember the dinners I have eaten, nor the books I have read, but all have helped to make me.’

I used to beat myself up about not remembering details of books, even ones I read only a few months ago. I still try to take notes and revisit those often, but PG's take on this help ed reduced my anxiety about it:

> Reading and experience train your model of the world. And even if you forget the experience or what you read, its effect on your model of the world persists. Your mind is like a compiled program you've lost the source of. It works, but you don't know why.

http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html

Quite a lot -- I actually take notes after each read to remind myself what I thought of the book -- the very act of doing so strengthens recall very well, even if the notes are just a few sentences.

I read a fair whack. It feels like I've forgotten more than I learned but then there's a situation every now and then that reminds me about something from one of those many books that turns out to work well.

It's almost like placing the dots and then they'll connect themselves later. It's probably inefficient but I enjoy reading and those situations make it worth it.

How do you "retain" things read for entertainment?

If you can't remember what happened on the last page, you're not retaining. If you can't remember the flow of the plot or why a chapter was important, you're not retaining. At that point you're just reading an outline of the plot.

There's plenty of things to retain in books read for entertainment.

How much of what you see in your browser do you retain?