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Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

theatlantic.com

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Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#51

Post by logicprog »

oska wrote: post #37
logicprog wrote: post #17

I absolutely love reading. I can't make it through four seasons of TV (my most recent failure is Battlestar Galactica '04) and I can't seem to get myself to suffer through repeated failure at video gaming for more then thirty minutes at a time, but I absolutely love books. My trio of hobbies are coding, writing, and reading and it's a really happy and productive combination! I prefer fiction, generally hard science f…

I suspect your downvote (not from me) came from your calling Shogun 'truly exceptional historical fiction'.

Okay yeah that's fair! I was wondering about that. Honestly, thank you for pointing that out. I'm aware it's not really accurate, but more of a western fairy tale, what I more meant by exceptional was unique and with some kind of enjoyment value. If I want to read a history book I can, so as long as I keep in mind that Shogun isn't accurate it should be fine right? (:

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#52

Post by elyobo »

shrumm wrote: post #45

The author talks about picking up a book as an alternative to your phone or watching TV as a post dinner activity. If anything, modern life has consolidated activities from specialised ‘things’ like radios, phones, books, TV to computing devices. I’ve been reading on my iPad and phone for years now. This makes me wonder what the impact is to kids - since they learn so much by watching you. If you pick up a book, you…

I have a similar concern with my daughter; I have a Kindle and have had for years, have more or less ceased reading physical books, and do most of my reading before sleeping - so while I read daily, my daughter sees very little of it and almost never something that looks like a book!

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#53

Post by _nalply »

alexhutcheson wrote: post #18
lucidguppy wrote: post #5

I go through periods of intensive reading, then downtimes. These both span for months. Problem is a lot of it is dreck. Some books draw out a story for 1100 pages then stuff all the cool stuff in the last 200 pages. It feels dishonest. A lot of classics aren't. A lot of pulp is captivating and fast paced. I tried reading infinite jest - I had to return it. I finished fear an loathing in las vegas in a day. It's a cra…

The key is to just put it down and move on to another book if you’re not enjoying it. Many people have a completist attitude towards reading - they continue to slog through to the end of a book once they’ve started, even if they don’t like it. They’ll make slow progress, and it blocks them from picking up a new book. Cut your losses early - your total reading throughput will be much higher, and most nonfiction books…

A trick if I decide that a book is not worth my time: I open Wikipedia and read the summary.

However once it happened that I changed my mind and continued the book because I found a part of the summary interesting. Usually I take care not to read a lot about a book before starting, because it would be a pity if I learnt about an explanation before figuring it out by myself. So it is a real switch for me, and then I read Wikipedia slowly, ready to stop midsentence if I want to resume the book.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#54

Post by _nalply »

bigred100 wrote: post #50
alexhutcheson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key is to just put it down and move on to another book if you’re not enjoying it. Many people have a completist attitude towards reading - they continue to slog through to the end of a book once they’ve started, even if they don’t like it. They’ll make slow progress, and it blocks them from picking up a new book. Cut your losses early - your total reading throughput will be much higher, and most nonfiction books…

Books aren’t about enjoyment. They’re about suffering and talking about Montaigne at a party. That’s why I forced myself to read 800 pages of Babur complaining about melons.

You live only once.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#56

Post by amiga_500 »

everyone wrote: post #47

If your're reading non-fiction, then you're probably learning something. If your're reading fiction, then it is most likely just entertainment. So, its equivalent to watching a fiction movie or tv show, or whatnot. I find it odd thats its encouraged and considered good to just read , regardless of content. What you're reading is critical. You can read 'Harry Potter' and divert and entertain yourself, or read 'A Brief…

Not a great example. Harry Potter is a book for children. If you are reading Zola, it's still fiction, but it's deeper.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#57

Post by bsenftner »

everyone wrote: post #47

If your're reading non-fiction, then you're probably learning something. If your're reading fiction, then it is most likely just entertainment. So, its equivalent to watching a fiction movie or tv show, or whatnot. I find it odd thats its encouraged and considered good to just read , regardless of content. What you're reading is critical. You can read 'Harry Potter' and divert and entertain yourself, or read 'A Brief…

Reading any of "The Classics" is much more than entertainment, it is living another life with a depth you'll never achieve on you own. Very worth one's time to push mature ideas and contemplation into your head.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#58

Post by allcentury »

mrbonner wrote: post #29

Reading for me goes through cycles. For months, I would not feel like reading at all, except for the daily dose of WSJ.com or HN and Reddit programming. Then, all the sudden I happen to discover a book from those online sources and spend most of my free time to read it. Sometimes, I went back to finish books I abandoned ages ago if they happen to coincide with what interest me at the moment. For example, I started to…

I think that aligns with their third point on motivation.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#59

Post by detritus »

mirimir wrote: post #15
ericol wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've devoured everything William Gibson's... up to a point. I really, really liked the first trilogy. The second one was also entertaining, although not as _*punk_ as the first one. I kind of enjoyed "Pattern Recognition" (mostly because it was the first in the "almost viable" trilogy. But "Spook Country" was, for me, unreadable. I don't think I made it past the 2nd chapter. Can't quite put my finger on it; but I thi…

After a while, in my opinion, he just wrote the ~same novel, again and again. There's always the tough young woman. And the wimpy guy, typically a druggie. And often, the Case equivalent. But I still like them well enough.

I had this sad realisation with the last Iain M Banks book I read - Hydrogen Sonata. It was a good book, but I felt like I'd seen its skeleton at least three or four times before.

Re: Why Some People Become Lifelong Readers

#60

Post by bsenftner »

akjsndkas wrote: post #32

I've never read a book. At least not a non-technical, fictional one. At school I'd just dig up a summary. Didn't stop me from getting a job at a FANG. Whenever I read, I feel like I'm wasting my time. It's slow, boring and feels superficial. Just something arbitrary someone wrote. I can't focus and get no value from it.

You're only experiencing a limited fraction of your life, due to total blindness of your time and place in the human journey. Literature enables one to identify where they are in the sea of humanity in time. You're simply adrift, refusing to use aid to see and learn what others before you have said about where you are, in the ageless language of introspection essays.
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