Started reading a book by Irish humorist Ross O’Carroll-Kelley.
It’s full of Dublin slang specific to the 90’s I think. I don’t understand a lot of it but it’s fascinating to sort of listen in on the patois.
The joy of reading books you don't understand
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Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#32Some books "you don't understand" can change the reader, so the (new) reader experiences a (new) book in their next reading.
R.A. Lafferty, from “Selenium Ghosts of the Eighteen Seventies” (1978), an alternate history of television, https://www.wired.com/story/who-is-r-a-lafferty-best-sci-fi-...
There seemed to be several meetings in this room superimposed on one another, and they cannot be sorted out. To sort them out would have been to destroy their effect, however, for they achieved syntheses of their several aspects and became the true meeting that never really took place but which contained all the other meetings in one theatrical unity.
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I finished Infinite Jest without taking notes. I definitely missed a lot of stuff but I loved the experience and it ended up being one of my favorite books. I think Infinite Jest is a great example for this sort of thing because I later realized that I had completely missed the entire main plot. By the author: > There is an ending as far as I’m concerned. Certain kind of parallel lines are supposed to start convergin…
I like the short form stuff DFW wrote for Harper's Magazine. The one about his trip to the state fair with an old flame is sublime.
Agreed. His short stuff is excellent. I'll also call out his commencement speech on the meaning of a liberal arts education, "This is Water".
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#34I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#35A useful habit that I've begun to follow with more complicated books—especially when reading them out of personal interest—is to actively avoid taking notes or worrying about background material on a first read. I've recently read and greatly enjoyed a historical fiction novel called "Augustus" written by John Edward Williams and published in 1972. On the surface level, it's about the events of the life of Augustus C…
I have no research to back this up, but I think the need to understand everything may result from low self-esteem. Specifically, when not knowing something, people with low self-esteem may feel stupid. To eliminate this feeling, they† focus on learning. It is a good adaptive mechanism, especially compared to maladaptive ones like avoidance behaviors. A potentially better one is learning not to derive self-worth from…
But it's kind of high self esteem to think that you're actually capable of understanding everything.
Low self esteem would assume they're not capable of understanding and just give up.
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#36Can someone tell me why this website asks if you are between 13 and 15 years old?
Could this be it?
>Our websites are designed for children aged 13 and up. We do not sell any children’s data for monetary consideration. Website pages that are aimed at children under 16 are configured so that we do not knowingly share any children’s data with third party advertising companies unless the website visitor opts-in to allow the sharing or indicates that they are 16 and over.
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#37Those that read 'The Book of the New Sun' will know the feeling
I love reading books that I don't understand and not understanding them. As long as I know there is something there, which I could either look up what others have pieced together online, or reread carefully myself. Funny thing is looking that stuff up or figuring it out is optional, I still enjoy the read where I'm in the dark enough that sometimes I move on. And look back fondly on the book. Gene Wolfe books are ver…
I find that some of the books i don't understand come to me very slowly over time. I'll just have some insight one day and out of the blue I'll think "oh like that one thing in zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance", 20 years after i read it (or similar).
As for looking like a poser - most people will respond well to "tbh I didn't really understand what I read, tell me more and I'll keep it in mind if I revisit" (or "help me understand this other thing I have some concrete memory about", etc). Some jerks will scoff or dismiss you, most people I've encountered are pretty open to a good discussion even after it's been revealed.
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#38Can someone tell me why this website asks if you are between 13 and 15 years old?
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Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#39I do like some "hard" fiction like the Stephenson mentioned in TFA, as well as Pynchon and David Foster Wallace, but my mind immediately went to some of the harder technical writing I've enjoyed - The Art of Computer Programming; SICP and other Lisp texts, math books, etc. I once spent a very pleasant short vacation on a beach on Lake Michigan reading Peter Gabriel Bergmann's "Introduction to the Theory of Relativity…
Don't leave us hanging, what happened at the end of the beach on Lake Michigan?
Jokes aside, I do the no note taking on the first read thing as well. Because I like reading, I do sometimes skip the problems in technical books the first time round, but I'm consciously aware it's a form of procrastination when I'm doing it.
Re: The joy of reading books you don't understand
#40I spent so much time on "Road to Reality". I was mostly confused, but then every once in a while something would click and it was mind blowing. Now I'm going back through linear algebra. I'm also looking at the hardest book I've tried "Moonshine beyond the monster" I'm trying...