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Just Read the Book Already

slate.com

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Re: Just Read the Book Already

#131

Post by commandlinefan »

dmd wrote: post #117
darioush wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you work that has doors?

I would never in a million years even consider working someplace that doesn't.

Honest question - how do you have that flexibility? I'm qualified as hell - or at least, I look really good on paper. Yet I probably have at least a 3-to-1 rejection ratio for jobs that I'm insanely qualified for. As much as they go on about a "tech labor shortage", I feel pretty grateful when I find full time work because I get turned down so often - plus, I feel like even if I demanded (the quiet that I actually need to work effectively but who cares, right?), they could rescind that at any moment and I'd be left choosing between quitting and being unemployed again or just gritting my teeth and taking what they dish out.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#132

Post by twoquestions »

bitwize wrote: post #99
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…

If you have to justify it, you're doing it wrong. Your free time is your playground. Take half an hour -- or ten minutes -- each day and enjoy those fantasy worlds. They might refresh you.

Hard disagree there.

Your 'free' time is valuable currency, and every minute must be invested as productively as possible, or you'll lose to someone else who does in this kill or die monkey knife fight economy [https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/].

(edit: corrected link. Thank you!)

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#133

Post by ma2rten »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #63

I've gone from reading 10 books a year to reading 25+ books a year over the last few years. Mostly I've cut down on my screen time. I am on a computer all day for work but once I go home I try to spend as little time as possible on a computer. What do I do now? Come home, do yoga for 15-30 minutes, make tea, meditate for 10 minutes, read for 15 - 50 minutes. Then I'll allow myself to do other things that may occupy m…

I don't read a lot because I have ADHD which makes it hard to focus. Do you also have that problem?

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#134

Post by zeroego »

SCdF wrote: post #85
bowlich wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fiction has suffered the same bloat. Used to be that letting an author ramble for 200,000+ words was considered indulgent. Dune told it's entire story in around 180,000 words, I can hardly say anything more intriguing is going on in Song of Ice & Fire at 1.7 million words.

That's not a perspective I expected someone to argue, and I'd argue directly the opposite. I find the older the book, the slower and more waffly (if you want to be uncharitable) its prose. I haven't looked into this at all, but it always feels to me like editors are a new edition to the writing process. Ironically I usually really enjoy the actual prose they wrote, because it's often beautiful, but after dozens and d…

>I find the older the book, the slower and more waffly (if you want to be uncharitable) its prose.

In some cases older writers were actually paid per word. Dickens comes to mind.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#135

Post by smt88 »

ma2rten wrote: post #133
AlwaysRock wrote: post #63

I've gone from reading 10 books a year to reading 25+ books a year over the last few years. Mostly I've cut down on my screen time. I am on a computer all day for work but once I go home I try to spend as little time as possible on a computer. What do I do now? Come home, do yoga for 15-30 minutes, make tea, meditate for 10 minutes, read for 15 - 50 minutes. Then I'll allow myself to do other things that may occupy m…

I don't read a lot because I have ADHD which makes it hard to focus. Do you also have that problem?

I had a problem focusing on reading until I started just listening to books on Audible while doing chores or taking walks. The physical activity occupies my mind enough to allow me to focus on the content.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#136

Post by forgottenpass »

Perhaps ironically, it's pablum like this Slate article killing my ability to read. The onslaught of digital publishers cranking out vapid nonsense and pushing it far and wide means I only skim. This article is 2k words and I've got shit to do today.

The only thing I can read cover-to-cover is fiction. Often documentation and emails if I'm convinced they're useful. Anything else my brain gets stuck in skimming mode and I have to concentrate harder on reading every word than the content itself.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#137

Post by singingboyo »

darioush wrote: post #108
bitwize wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have to justify it, you're doing it wrong. Your free time is your playground. Take half an hour -- or ten minutes -- each day and enjoy those fantasy worlds. They might refresh you.

A problem with fantasy worlds is the escapism is mild, and I develop something like tolerance to it. The tolerance effect makes finishing very long fantasy books / trilogies slow, since it causes me to put them down in the middle if the story slows down at any point. Once I've put it down for a few days, the mild escapism isn't enough to pull me back and I start losing touch with the characters and plot. I experience…

This got out of hand. TL; DR: If the fantasy novels you're reading don't work for you, try different styles or even different genres. We don't all have to read the same books.

I'd disagree strongly that fantasy novels have only mild escapism, but that leads me to this point: It sounds more like you need a different genre of book or style of writing. Fantasy may just not be engaging for you, or maybe you need something less Tolkien/Robert Jordan/Steven Erikson style. Something more escapist/lighthearted (Brandon Sanderson is good, R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novels are good, L.E. Modesitt Jr's Imager series, etc.). Or vice/versa - escapism may just not work for you, in which case something more thoughtful like Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen may be worth trying.

I will say I've rarely put down a fantasy series in the middle the way you've mentioned. Scifi will get me to do that though - I have the entire Mars trilogy on my bookshelf, but I've only read half of the first book - it's just too dry for me (and, frankly, I dislike the author's style. Revealing plot points near the beginning of the novel was a very poor choice). On the other hand, I very much enjoy the Culture novels, and Peter Hamilton's work.

For other unrelated genres: I really don't do mystery novels at all, as they don't interest me. Alternate history, I quite enjoy (at least Harry Turtledove's work- I can't say I've read much else)

Incidentally, there's one other thing that just kind of happens, but avoids me avoid dropping a novel - I rarely start a new series with only a short time to read. Get 15 minutes in to a series and go away for the day, and you may not feel that it's interesting enough to come back. Get an hour in, and usually that's not a problem.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#138

Post by pnathan »

SCdF wrote: post #85
bowlich wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fiction has suffered the same bloat. Used to be that letting an author ramble for 200,000+ words was considered indulgent. Dune told it's entire story in around 180,000 words, I can hardly say anything more intriguing is going on in Song of Ice & Fire at 1.7 million words.

That's not a perspective I expected someone to argue, and I'd argue directly the opposite. I find the older the book, the slower and more waffly (if you want to be uncharitable) its prose. I haven't looked into this at all, but it always feels to me like editors are a new edition to the writing process. Ironically I usually really enjoy the actual prose they wrote, because it's often beautiful, but after dozens and d…

The term is purple prose. It peaked around 1920 or so, I think.

Our aesthetics have changed, that is for sure.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#139

Post by singingboyo »

twoquestions wrote: post #132
bitwize wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have to justify it, you're doing it wrong. Your free time is your playground. Take half an hour -- or ten minutes -- each day and enjoy those fantasy worlds. They might refresh you.

Hard disagree there. Your 'free' time is valuable currency, and every minute must be invested as productively as possible, or you'll lose to someone else who does in this kill or die monkey knife fight economy [ https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ ]. (edit: corrected link. Thank you!)

Poe's law may be in effect here, especially as I'm unfamiliar with SSC Moloch, but I can't agree with you if you are serious.

I don't need to win a knife fight against an opponent who poisons himself. And, well, we're on HN: as we all know, burnout will pretty quickly put you out of the fight.

Re: Just Read the Book Already

#140

Post by asdffdsa321 »

abootstrapper wrote: post #78

Speaking of unnecessarily difficult, the writing style of this article, by itself, seems to be trying to prove the author’s point.

The article was excellently written and worth the time to read & digest. Your comment is beautifully indicative of the shallow "garbage in, garbage out" point the author made at the end.
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