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How I Consume Books

mubaris.blog

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Re: How I Consume Books

#41

Post by Bakary »

wildleaf wrote: post #16
nostalgk wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Reading any good book and fully understanding it takes a lot more than a simple once-through hearing. Sure, you might catch the themes and be able to have a water cooler conversation, but the best books are the ones that aren't page turners; ones that you spend all night on, and only make it through 20 pages. Besides, when I read something really good, like Hitchhiker's Guide, I usually flip it over and star…

The idea that consuming fiction is a waste of time always irks me. The entire concept of 'wasting time' is so contrived it makes my stomach churn. It reminds me of people who become a doctor for the money. You're mistaking the game for reality.. play whichever game you want but make sure you're doing it for the right reasons.

It's a consequence of absolutely every aspect of life or thought being commoditized in some form.

Re: How I Consume Books

#42

Post by Kiro »

nostalgk wrote: post #5
Barrin92 wrote: post #2

>his knowledge is small compared to non-fiction. Rest of the book is for your entertainment. And fiction does a good job of presenting the idea. To absorb the idea, it doesn’t require a thorough reading of the book (sometimes it does). For the same reason, I find audiobooks are a better medium for consuming fiction. By doing so, you also save your time. this is such a horrible take on fiction that I've seen popup in…

Exactly. Reading any good book and fully understanding it takes a lot more than a simple once-through hearing. Sure, you might catch the themes and be able to have a water cooler conversation, but the best books are the ones that aren't page turners; ones that you spend all night on, and only make it through 20 pages. Besides, when I read something really good, like Hitchhiker's Guide, I usually flip it over and star…

I'm pretty sure most fiction books I read don't have any deeper meaning. You make it sound like everything out there is some deep philosophical hard sci-fi. I would never want to read something where I spend the whole night just to make it through 20 pages. Sounds exhausting and not enjoyable at all.

Re: How I Consume Books

#43

Post by mhh__ »

rimher wrote: post #8

Any tips on how to handle reading through more technical books?

I have a theory that I've made up for being not particularly quick by just throwing time and effort at the problem.

Get the book on your phone, and just read it every now and again and if it doesn't make sense, try to use it as a detailed study plan e.g. Many compiler textbooks emphasize the importance of instruction scheduling without necessarily teaching it very well, but now you know that you need to understand instruction scheduling from somewhere.

^ If I'm learning a new topic I'll usually grab one famous book and two more modern one's and alternate between books if something is vague/confusing

Re: How I Consume Books

#45

Post by kthejoker2 »

hawski wrote: post #33
nostalgk wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Reading any good book and fully understanding it takes a lot more than a simple once-through hearing. Sure, you might catch the themes and be able to have a water cooler conversation, but the best books are the ones that aren't page turners; ones that you spend all night on, and only make it through 20 pages. Besides, when I read something really good, like Hitchhiker's Guide, I usually flip it over and star…

I know that I'm in minority, but could you tell me what do you find great about Hitchhiker's Guide? I find it ok-ish. It feels overly chaotic for me. Like it really tries to wave the idea of improbability at me and eventually shove it. Of course everything is exaggerated for comedic effects, but for me it's like it tries too hard. The result is very incoherent. It reminds me of a few movies I enjoyed dearly when I wa…

Yeah ... HHGTTG is like a super extended standup routine or vaudeville act. Reading for "coherence" or "an idea" is missing the point.

Re: How I Consume Books

#48

Post by ohaideredevs »

Barrin92 wrote: post #2

>his knowledge is small compared to non-fiction. Rest of the book is for your entertainment. And fiction does a good job of presenting the idea. To absorb the idea, it doesn’t require a thorough reading of the book (sometimes it does). For the same reason, I find audiobooks are a better medium for consuming fiction. By doing so, you also save your time. this is such a horrible take on fiction that I've seen popup in…

I hate the 2-day book "Lambo guy", but this has nothing to do with him. Edit: "Hate" is giving him too much credit, but I do think he is profiting of fooling already confused and lost people.

I learned some important lessons in life from fiction books, which quite literally changed my life.

Good fiction reflects reality - that's why authors like Branden Sanderson will always be a complete joke, they don't understand anything meaningful "irl".

Re: How I Consume Books

#49

Post by Bakary »

Loughla wrote: post #36
Hemospectrum wrote: post #4

I was honestly looking forward to an explanation of what utensils to use, and what sort of wines to pair them with. As it turns out, lignin is not especially nutritious to human beings, so perhaps “read books” would be a more helpful choice of words. Obviously the implication is that you only read a book once, but I’m not sure I can get on board with that. I think I’ll go reread Red Dragon , which has a lot to say on…

This may not be the best forum for this, but I actually have a (what I believe to be) really good story about consuming books. The first time I read Howl by Ginsberg, it was a copy given to me by someone who, as I look back now, was trying to guide my life away from its trajectory at the time. I was young, had, again as I look back now, an un-diagnosed mental illness, and was self-medicating through a combination of…

I'm grateful that you shared that. Even if the experience seems unfamiliar to me the feelings seem oddly familiar.

Re: How I Consume Books

#50

Post by alexhutcheson »

moab wrote: post #38
Barrin92 wrote: post #2

>his knowledge is small compared to non-fiction. Rest of the book is for your entertainment. And fiction does a good job of presenting the idea. To absorb the idea, it doesn’t require a thorough reading of the book (sometimes it does). For the same reason, I find audiobooks are a better medium for consuming fiction. By doing so, you also save your time. this is such a horrible take on fiction that I've seen popup in…

Absolutely agree. Unfortunately this kind of "always optimizing" viewpoint seems to have spread like a virus over this past decade. It is sometimes difficult to remember that spending time to read/understand things slowly is not a waste of time, but an important way to appreciate the work of a master in a way that speeding through it at 1.5x on an audiobook simply will not provide. Do we speed-walk through the Louvre…

> Do we speed-walk through the Louvre to see the masterpieces as quickly as possible?

This cracked me up, because I actually did that. I only had a couple hours, and the size of the museum is almost overwhelming.

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