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Just Read the Book Already

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Re: Just Read the Book Already

#21

Post by rayiner »

jihadjihad wrote: post #7

Nothing too revelatory here, but I can certainly agree with the ideas presented. So many of us are used to a constant, reliable dopamine drip while reading things on the internet that larger texts bore us. The conclusion at the end of the piece is right, though--it just takes willpower. Choosing delayed gratification in the form of good, rich, long-form writing is a lot like choosing a balanced diet. The benefits of…

I find the new trend of long form articles infuriating. Just get to the point, without all the rigamarole! Is there an actual benefit? Or is it just something people say?

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#22

Post by [deleted] »

rayiner wrote: post #15

“Readers” are so judgey. There is nothing wrong with reading the wikipedia summary of books instead of the whole thing. I read “Fellowship of the Ring” in middle school. Took forever! Put me off the whole enterprise.

[deleted]

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#23

Post by Raidion »

Problem I have with books is that it's much harder to justify the "time" to get lost in books. When I was a kid, I was near the top of the school's reading program and devoured books. But now, when I do have time on vacation or sick, I'd almost much rather read something that's educational-ish. It's hard to justify the X hours falling into a fantasy world, though it's still almost as fun as it used to be.

Practically I think I have more "ties" to the real world, with a job, family, etc, and it's harder for me to stop worrying about those things long enough to slip inside the mind of a character in a book.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#24

Post by jandrese »

hrktb wrote: post #13

> The narrative action struck her as intolerably slow. > She had, she concluded, “changed in ways I would never have predicted. I now read on the surface and very quickly; in fact, I read too fast to comprehend deeper levels Here she lays the blame solely on her, but I would think that it's also a writer's skill to hook the reader. It takes two to tango, and if she felt the narrative was so slow she started to skim t…

Editors have gotten indulgent IMHO, especially if the author is famous. For example, I'm sure George R. R. Martin is really interested in medieval royal feasts, but readers tend to get bored with yet another page filled with food items after the 20th time.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#25

Post by kornakiewicz »

rayiner wrote: post #21
jihadjihad wrote: post #7

Nothing too revelatory here, but I can certainly agree with the ideas presented. So many of us are used to a constant, reliable dopamine drip while reading things on the internet that larger texts bore us. The conclusion at the end of the piece is right, though--it just takes willpower. Choosing delayed gratification in the form of good, rich, long-form writing is a lot like choosing a balanced diet. The benefits of…

I find the new trend of long form articles infuriating. Just get to the point, without all the rigamarole! Is there an actual benefit? Or is it just something people say?

New trend?

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#27

Post by zebrafish »

Raidion wrote: post #23

Problem I have with books is that it's much harder to justify the "time" to get lost in books. When I was a kid, I was near the top of the school's reading program and devoured books. But now, when I do have time on vacation or sick, I'd almost much rather read something that's educational-ish. It's hard to justify the X hours falling into a fantasy world, though it's still almost as fun as it used to be. Practically…

Be careful with that. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you least expect it. Let yourself relax and get lost on occasion. It will do wonders for your mental health.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#28

Post by emodendroket »

Bucephalus355 wrote: post #3

For fiction I read e-books. However for all technical books, things like O’Reilly, No Starch, etc, I always buy physical. The decision to do that has very much 10x my learning. Even when it comes to long documentation (MySQL is an astounding 5,000+ pages) I’ll usually print out portions to cover if it’s reasonable. I don’t know why this has increased my learning so much. The best I can come up with is that memory is…

I like physical books for textbooks because they do much better with illustrations and tables and are far easier to flip back and forth in. For anything I"m going to read sequentially pretty strictly I'll go with an e-book.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#29

Post by emodendroket »

neaden wrote: post #16
Bucephalus355 wrote: post #3

For fiction I read e-books. However for all technical books, things like O’Reilly, No Starch, etc, I always buy physical. The decision to do that has very much 10x my learning. Even when it comes to long documentation (MySQL is an astounding 5,000+ pages) I’ll usually print out portions to cover if it’s reasonable. I don’t know why this has increased my learning so much. The best I can come up with is that memory is…

For books I'm trying to learn and retain from, like a textbook or a technical book it really helps me to take notes, underline, highlight, write questions, etc in the book itself. I think it both helps me retain it better the first time and then allows me to review the text later and get more out of it.

I find myself often marking up e-books a lot more

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#30

Post by emodendroket »

Raidion wrote: post #23

Problem I have with books is that it's much harder to justify the "time" to get lost in books. When I was a kid, I was near the top of the school's reading program and devoured books. But now, when I do have time on vacation or sick, I'd almost much rather read something that's educational-ish. It's hard to justify the X hours falling into a fantasy world, though it's still almost as fun as it used to be. Practically…

Maybe you could do history or classic literary fiction to combine the enjoyment with a somewhat educational feel.
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