I find that when reading literature that is more of a requirement than entertainment, making annotations periodically help immensely. It forces you to comprehend the text rather than just reading for reading's sake, and it allows you to relate more to the subject, which personally, makes it easier for me to become more interested in the topic if I was not before. It gets time-consuming, however, when you want to write every little thought down as I tend to do...
@@abdullahsaif9196 annotating is basically writing your thought process while reading, Making comments and highlighting important phrases in a book. If you’re interested I’ll link videos that explain further and give you an idea of the process.
i now even annotate most books i read for pleasure because i’m always thinking about something that i feel is important. for the most part i just underline the things that peak my interest and i’ll go back and look through and write everything down that i feel is important
This discussion has been quite relevant for me recently. The discomfort at the beginning is too often worth it when reading, sometimes it really takes time to appreciate what a book could possibly give you.
For me personally, reading Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and Don Quixote, changed my opinion on long books forever. Always give a chance to a book.
I'm same with The Brothers Karamazov, it's probably my favourite book and at the time I read it the longest book I had ever read, I almost prefer longer books now, I love when a really good book takes a few weeks to read. I might never gotten around to reading 1Q84 and Moby Dick, some of my other favourites, if I hadn't. I feel shorter books while they can be really enjoyable don't "stick" with you as much, like I'll always associate 1Q84 and TBK with the summer during lockdown, and Moby Dick with my first few weeks at a new job. Shorter books that I've really enjoyed don't really remind me of any specific time in my life. Except like Slaughterhouse 5 which I read a good few times as a teenager lol.
In the end, I think you need to know why you're reading a book. If I pick up a thriller, wanting to be entertained and halfway in I am still bored, then I won't finish reading it, it's a waste of time in my opinion. But if I pick up a classic (or a non-fiction book), then it is because I am interested in the topic. I want to see how books evolved, a glimpse of how the world was in that time, the way the author wrote and described things and then I won't put it down just because I'm bored (there are other reasons to not finish a classic, like sometimes you're just not in the right space at the moment or the writing makes it impossible to read (which is a big factor for me)). I think you mentioned something like this before, but I usually read multiple books at a time to not lose my overall interest in reading. Often I'll read a chapter of the classic that I'm on and then switch to some fantasy book if the classic is too boring at that moment. So as with most things in life, it's the right balance. But if you really just hate reading a book, I think it's okay to put it aside. Maybe in the future you'll have a better state of mind to attempt to read it again.
Reading Les Misérables was somewhat of a struggle, but I kept coming back to it and finished about a year after I started. Ulysses is still on my shelf unread. I am now reading Dubliners. I abandoned Gravity's Rainbow after about 50 pages. The big books I had at university had titles like: "Fundamentals of Physics" and "Calculus". Modern versions of those books are twice as big, because of all the color diagrams.
I've been on the "quit the book if it's boring" mindset and it sky rocketed my reading volume but this idea of slogging through difficult reading has been on the back of my mind lately. It reminds me of Lars Von Trier's film Dogville. The first 2 hours or so were excruciatingly boring and some parts were hard to watch but the ending was the most cathartic sequence I've experienced in cinema. Maybe eventually I'll finally grab 2666 from my shelf and read it.
I find that making notes and annotations throughout a book keeps me more involved in the act of reading it. Also flipping through the pages after it’s finished and finding a ton of highlighted lines and thoughtful scribbles is very satisfying!
This was my struggle during my first year of law school - going through walls of text of just dense, rambly legalese was TORTURE. Now that I’m on my third year it’s gotten better and I’ve also learned to optimize my study routine to better fit my needs and my attention span.
Bravo for you! I'm so glad you are trying to stick them out. Often a book will lead you through some very dry patches because that is what the character is feeling. The classics generally were leading up to something, and if you skipped a chapter, you might not ever know what it was. I know that the first time I ever watched La Strada, I was tired and worn out when the movie was over, yet I had loved it. Then I realized that that's exactly what I was supposed to feel - what the characters were feeling. People don't often realize that people who have read a book all the way through can spot a person who hasn't. I don't care how many Cliff's Notes and whatnot people read, in conversation you can tell they haven't read the book. So I completely agree with you that you do need to read the book to have the bragging rights. Or the intellectual knowledge or whatever it is you are seeking.
I'm midway through chapter 15 of Ullyses as the time of writing this. I've quitted this book like 5 times in the last 3-4 years, but always came back. I've read longer books, but this is a (very) hard one, man. This video is very motivational, I'll sit down and finish this little mf now!
I have a lot of books I know are good investments on my readlist. I saw it when I finished three last year, then took a gap of reading but I remember my writing being better from them. I never noticed until this video about the attention spurts,but I find it to be true.20ish pages in I was always warring against boredom and wanting instant gratification. I used to read a lot more pre 2010 and I remember my patience being a lot longer. I think,as you said we should judge the potential knowledge or experience a book may bring, via genre,summary,level of technicality or difficulty maybe and how much we can make use of it, then try to stick with it maybe one more week at least or a few more days, just give it a second shot before saying goodbye. If it still sucks well, we learned what we don't like but we still learned something rather than nothing from it
I’ve felt like this a lot while doing my latest readings, always anxious and trying to get to the end/ resolution- ironically the ones I’ve read lately have endings that are very much open to interpretation, with no concrete conclusion. But, when i began to notice this, i saw that i was trying to consume books the same way that i consume social media or news, that is, with very little effort that ends with a fast and dense reward, those bursts of info, sometimesi feel impatient even while on social media. So it’s been tiring starting a new one because i know that this is what’s going to happen.. Buttttt, even with the discomfort, when Im done,i always feel glad that i decided finish it Really like your content:))
The points in the video are currently ideas that I've been contemplating about for a while, and i've been contemplating them because every time I read, the way I think about ingesting literature evolves. You're right, society today has this peculiar fixation on expedited means of absorbing media, and in effect has diminished the attention span of the general public. Thats why I think that the act of reading literature for me allows me to develop resistance against the trend of a weak attention span since (in most cases) a book cant be finished as quickly as say a movie or a show. Reading forces me to absorb a medium slowly and allows me to appreciate everything about a book I read, from the grandiose writing style or the imagination of a certain author. I mean yes, there are mundane stories and yes, there are weaker writers and occasional books that should just be put down or saved for another season. But a book (I believe) in most cases is perceived as "boring" when the work of literature is not properly ingested by the reader, perhaps because of a novice reader expectation of wanting to gain the full benefit of a work of literature in the quickest means possible, or perhaps wanting to finish a book as quickly as possible to earn bragging rights of reading all the books in one's bookshelf. In many cases it is worth to give a book a patient chance. Some mundane stories can be written with great eloquence, and some weaker writers can conjure up stories that are fascinating enough for a reader to become attached to a story if they do so wish to. Personally, to get as much as I can from a reading session, I engage in a sort of pre-reading mental ritual before I read a book where I really condition my mind to absorb every word and every sentence, to tie every thought as much as possible rather than reading mindlessly and letting the words pass by my consciousness. This way, i'm able to maximize my reading experience and enjoy/soak in a nice work of literature the best way I see possible. *Sorry, this was a bit of a longer comment but I always like watching your videos so I thought to muster up the courage to drop a thought this time :)
Oh my goodness this is so relevant for me. I constantly just leave books in the middle to go read another or do something else! I'm trying to get myself to be able to be bored more often so I can finish what I read.
I don't know if this will help anyone, but this year I rediscovered goodreads and I decided to use that social media to share with my friends what I'm reading and show the progress that I'm doing. They do the same, and we keep each other motivated. We're basically using a social media that so far has only been beneficial (instead of scrolling through other apps, we go there and support each other) and it's creating a healthy competition between us to see who reads more books 😃
Actually, I had difficulty finishing reading my set university texts 35 years ago, before the internet. It was called being fed up with studying and wanting to live a little.
You have no idea how many books I’ve got but haven’t read yet...the worst thing is that I continue to buy more. Btw, how do you read short stories? In order? Or by random?
As for short stories, I'd recommend reading them in order if they're held together by a unifying theme or depict character progression (like the first two anthologies of The Witcher series). If you're simply smitten with the author's voice/prose, you can opt for the random approach since there are bound to be some of their stories that don't instantly grab your attention, so by all means, skip them or circle back to them some other time. In some cases, reading 1-2 stories before going to sleep, or on a bus ride, can turn that whole exercise into some sort of ritual or meditation to calm down or ground yourself - just wanted to add that particular perspective for completeness' sake.
Don’t read shorts but I have a little tip regarding buying books. - You only buy a book after you finished one. So you have “a gap” that you can fill in with a new one - Have only one shelf with unread books - Do not go into a bookstore, even if you want to just look.
@@cherryjuice9705 I am trying to abide by that first rule. The second one is never a problem, but that third one! If I go out and pass a bookstore, there is no way I can resist. It's just awful. I need someone to ride shotgun to keep me out of those places. Well, I shouldn't be that hard on myself - since Covid I have been ordering online. And I am totally insisting that that does not count. 🤭
@@cherryjuice9705 honey, it ain’t about going to a bookstore anymore now that Amazon is at my fingertips😂 But yes, I’ve deleted the app along with some others so now if I have to order essentials, I only do it on my computer. Thanks for the tips! Why don’t you recommend shorts though? I’m curious to know.
I just finished a book that I loved so much, I'd recommend it for anyone who sees my comment it's called "The Stationery Shop" maybe it will help someone with a reading slump. 😊
@@Malikin it's taken from Goodreads Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink. Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer-handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry-and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran. A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts-a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on-to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England-until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?
@@hatsunevocaloids Oh really! That's beautiful 💕 I cried as well especially those war scenes and Mr. Fakhri... so beautiful and tragic at the same time
For a longer book, even a little bit of note taking helps a lot. Earlier this year, I read Don Quixote. I found that a key to getting through it was to write down all the character names and the page number where they first appear. That way, when I put the book down for a couple days and then picked it up and saw a reference to Doña Rodríguez de Grijalba, for example, I could refresh my memory on who she is and the context in which she operates.
Great video, Robin. You are wiser than your age. I finished reading Ulysses two weeks ago. I am a huge fan of Joyce. He is exceptional. It took me one year to finish it. It was a marathon, Robin. You can't access Ulysses without reading (1) Dubliners (2) A Portrait Of The Artist (3) The Odessey since Ulysses is the retelling of this book but from a new lens. (4) Hamlet (5) Bible King James Version (optional). James Joyce assumes that you have read all this before approaching Ulysses. Joyce doesn't go easy on anyone. That's why I admire him. My next goal is to read Finnegans Wake but to read this, I have to read Giambattista Vico’s The New Science. 🙌
To be fair, as a Chemist, reading scientific papers is as boring after a couple of pages. Specially when you have to read three of four papers in a roll.
I am currently reading Hegel and Marx, not the easiest literature to say the least. My goal is to finish their Opus magnum (Phenomenology of Spirit and The Capital, respectively) during my bachelor's aka in the next two years. If I would read both books half an hour each day, I could finish them in the next ~3-4 months. But there is no reason to rush, at least in my opinion. It's about understanding, not about checking a bucket list
@@ryanoneiljohnson8743 This depends on the concrete usage of the word Literature. It can broadly be any collection of written work or a specific form of art like fiction etc. I obviously used the first definition.
It's clear to me how much you read based on how clearly you speak and explain your point. Great video, thanks! For me, I'm just going to finish my leisure book so I can read another one already.
I am 67, and I haven't read the literature I had wanted to read by now. I have this problem of having trouble persevering with books, especially in the 2nd quarter or so of a book. Once I am past the halfway point of a book, it seems to get easier to want to finish the book. I have a list of 100 well known books I am trying to read. (It is the PBS Great American Read list.) I have them in a spreadsheet, sorted by number of pages. I am trying to read the shorter books first, to build momentum.
The same problem occurs when you are writing a book (musicology in my case). It is extremely hard to decide that it is finished. You always think you might have more ideas or find more primary sources. It took me several months to decide that I had to stop and send it to the publisher
I believe it’s beneficial to think of book chapters as blog posts. Read the parts that you need and leave out the rest. But we also have to build patience and read book not only for information but for unwinding from constant stimulation and recharging .
I am struggling to finish 1984 but this makes sense it’s exactly what happens there’s pages that have me amazed and interested but others make me wonder why did I even buy this book 😂 Thanks man
I think this topic is really interesting. The desire to read large books but needing to have the focus and the determination to finish could be lacking. I feel like culture and social has definitely cultivated this instant burst of excitement and it transcends into what we are looking for into books.
I was shocked by the title because here I find it hard to put a book once I have start it... That's why I don't really at night because then next day I am always sleep deprived
If each page of the book offers a different "chunk of big burst of information", then flipping through pages can feel the same as switching between social media platforms / tv channels and the reader might not even realize how they have reached the very last page without getting to feel bored even once.
I'm about a quarter of the way through Swann's Way. I don't get much read in that from one day to the next; speeding through it greatly lowers my enjoyment. But I'm also reading a couple books of short stories, crime fiction, humor, etc., that I can turn to when I want the instant (though not long satisfying) fix or the feeling of satisfaction or accomplishment when get to the end of a story.
I have a lot trouble sitting down for long periods of time and focusing on one thing, although it's easier for me to meditate than to read because there's nothing to be distracted by. I find that meditation obviously works, but also exercise; when I'm worn out from walking around all day focusing is a lot easier because I don't get the urge to get up and pace like I usually do. I think it's important for me to use up my excess energy and get endorphins running if I want to focus intensely.
I just found your channel. I’m an engineering student but I want to read more fiction but somehow I don’t find myself sitting down to read anything that is not solving equations and theories.
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned as a slow reader is: do NOT return to the beginning. Doesn’t matter if you haven’t picked up the book in a year - always put some scrap of paper in it to mark where you left off. I’ve never found a story where I couldn’t reorient myself within a few pages. One thing I’ve been thinking about because I hear it a lot is the valuing of books by dead people over living people. I read 1Q84 over the course of three months and loved it. Right now I am reading Janet Fitch’s The Revolution of Marina M. which is a true door stopper yet beautifully written. And I am also working on The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg - which obviously is many works between its two covers but still has 900 pages. And I guess I’m just bothered by the focus on the dead. I remember I once had a discussion with a colleague on a train where she said she loved Jane Austen and only ever read old books. And I think it’s especially relevant with long works because if the dead are inherently better than the living certainly we will never consider something over 500 pages by someone who is writing today. Also, I thought it was very funny when you mentioned two hours for Ulysses. Maybe for someone who is studying literature. I can barely fit in two hours at the piano and my job is to teach the instrument…
I must be the only person who would choose a big book over a blog post or article. I do read hard copy and electronic books, depending what I can get, but I'm much more inclined to grab a book than look through an eReader or websites. Yes braille books take up a lot of space, but I'm that person who would have a house full of books if I could.
Hi, I think try your hardest not to quit, but if the book really sucked then its just a risk you have to take, maybe do some research on it before you even pick it up, unless you don't want to spoil it then just read it...interesting subject thank you, BTW I agree totally with one of the other comments ask yourself "the reason you want to read it" etc
This is so true, I saw the title and then looked at how long the video was...I know myself that well that if the video was like 19 minutes long instead of 9 I would never clicked on it..
My main issue with a lot of books are mindnumbingly boring dialogue that adds nothing to characters, yhw world, nor the plot. To many books are filled with meaningless dialogue.
I haven't been able to finish Ulysses by Joyce. I read about 500 pages, and had to put it down. At least for now I am failing to see the brilliance of the novel, hopefully I can find the patience to pick it back up and complete it...one day.
Since I'm portuguese, I have a portuguese edition of Don Quixote, but it's an old translation in a very old portuguese language, even though it sounds so romantic it's so complicated to read. I hope I can do it someday! Or I'll just buy a modern translation.
I read Don Quixote earlier this year, reading the English translation by Edith Grossman, which was really good and accessible since it was a modern translation completed in 2003.
google the military rank, write them down and keep them next to you. or just google them everytime you encounter one. Not every book explains everything, some books expect you to know certain things before hand. Don't be afraid of spoilers, if a book is ruined by spoilers it wasn't a very good book to begin with. The only thing that got me through 'crime and punishment' was literally googling every character name i saw and reading a character synopsis. Russian books use first/middle/last/nick- names seemingly at random and its confusing for a non-native reader even in english. The first time i tried to read this book i found out halfway though that two characters where actually the same exact person, they just decided to use his middle name instead of his first name in random places leading me to think it was a second person.
@@oscarlove4394 thanks for the advice, i’m gonna use it! i get it, slavic patronymics are sometimes hard to grasp for non-native speakers but there lies a beauty in diversity of our languages
I also feel like social media and modern forms of entertainment have set up ‘slower’ forms of entertainment to fail. We expect everything to be a 100% entertaining all the time. We aren’t used to working towards something becoming entertaining. As our understanding develops, as we read through multitudes of pages, and the pleasure that that final ah ha! Or moment of revelation brings, is not something we are used to. We aren’t used to waiting or sitting through boring stuff anymore. And everything is in a sense dull for us.
Part of the problem is publishers have minimum word limits. Technically a novel is 40,000 words, but most main stream publishers won't accept anything under 70,000, and those are for fiction. Nonfiction is typically around 120,000. A big part of this is due to the fact digital and online stories, especially self-published ones, already cater to readers of short story, flash fiction, wattpad, etc. Rather than compete with what is essentially free, publishers leverage their prestige and "big book means smart" marketing to insist on books being a certain length and in turn a certain price.
For me, part of the focus problem is adhd + a heart problem that will get worse if I take any stimulant, which all adhd meds are. Video essays help a lot, bc I don't have to be the engine which drives the information train, the video goes on its own. This helps my adhd brain, but also my migraine prone brain to not have to focus my eyes so much.
I think the drop it if it's not fun/ stick it out dichotomy isn't necessarily a mutually exclusive one. I read basically as little as possible, bc of prior mentioned migraines. Pushing myself in a way that would make my disability worse isn't something I want to do. And commercial fiction is usually about enjoyment, so if you're not enjoying reading it, there seems to be little point in continuing to do so. On classics etc... I see your point that it might change your life, but idk. I'm biased against a lot of them bc of my experience in middle & high school, being forced to read literary fiction, which I hated then bc I wanted nothing more than to escape this miserable planet & life. I'm less depressed now, and better appreciate the feelings parts of stories, but still tend to be pretty irritated at a lot of literary fiction. The scarlet letter and tess of the durbervilles will both always be terrible. But it's worth trying something new sometimes. This is where reviews, from friends & strangers both, can be helpful. Give an idea what they felt after reading it. And also, when it's a text book kind of thing...... it suuuuuucks to read, it's not fun, but I appreciate getting knowledge or of the deal.
i feel sometimes i quit a book because not that its specifically boring but i am just maybe not in the mood for that genre so i would switch to another book and i would read later i could come back to the same book and think that its interesting
Usually my mood disorder(schizoaffective) gets in the way of a big book say 500+ (Infinite Jest) pages but I am able to read books 400- books as well. I’d say, read 10 pages a day for several days, get used to it, then increase the amount by every 10 pages and get used to that set up. I plan on reading Democracy In America and I hope I don’t get put off by the size.
Tbh I don't like the idea to not finish the book. I haven't yet read any book which I couldn't complete even if it take 3 fucking months to complete it. In the end you feel some sort of good that you didn't leave that book in half.
After the first 15 hours of Brothers Karamazov I got stuck into a sort of sunken cost mentality. I hadn't enjoyed the book to that point and wouldn't after that but I felt like if I didn't finish it I wasted my time.
I have a really bad time sitting down and reading for more than 3 pages, my attention spam sucks. I start reading without actually absorbing any of the information, you know? But this video inspired me a little, I'm gonna try again. Trying to read Crime and Punishment
I always thought it was easiest to have one or two other books to switch between, so that you can create these "random busts of information" we're used to
The older i get, the more I realise that no one knows anything for show and even the people I imagined to know everything and have all the the answers and who I thought would know how I could solve my problems are still trying to figure stuff out no matter how old or wise they are, and at the end of the day all they are sharing is their perception of the world and I just take their advice because I assume that if they have a good life or have had a long life, they’d know for sure what the answers are because they got a chance to get it wrong. In reality there’s literally no way to know when you got it wrong, and no way to know the answers. All we can do is speculate.
high school ruined my view on books- having to annotate made me dreadfully hate reading. i remember one year we had to annotate every single book we read except the last one. one of them was crime and punishment may i add which was utter fucking torture lmdao but i didn’t retain any information out of any annotated book. the book i didnt annotate i retained all of it. in college now and i read for fun and look forward to it everydsu
Perhaps it’s not the length of a book, but the time period in which it was written that leads to concentration difficulties. The ability to focus is one thing, and the skill to be able to focus on something that is uninteresting to someone is entirely different. Technology may disrupt concentration, but it is enhancing life with new forms of media that may be more useful than long form literature.
when I first tried to read Demian I gave up because I found it too boring but years later I pick up the book again and finished it in 5 days. The same thing with in cold blood because the beggining of the book has a long description I almost gave up but now is one of my favorites I' ve read it again many times since the first time.
I think its because this whole generation is a failed product of forced out development. We are depressed to the extent we don't know we are, contrast to earlier poetic depressions. We just want more out of our life. The objective yes and no's and when a book throws you piece of lifelike adventure, we feel that this too was boring. Does that make sense?
Ive been reading a book called the rise and reign of mammals. Somtimes it goes from rlly exiciting to incredibly boring. Cant for the life of me finish it for some reason I keep stopping
my issue is that i loved reading but now in highschool since it's mandatory i hate it cuz the books they made me read are not enjoyable, and when i found one that actually is I'm like "reading 400 pages in two days" mode 🤠🔫
All the books I read are ones that I have handpicked and know that I'm highly interested in. In today's world, it's too hard to simply just start reading a random book. There are just too many distractions in order for you to just settle with a mediocre book. The issue I have is that I start books but then it takes me a lifetime to finish any one of them. Right now I'm in the middle of reading 17 books, and there is no way of knowing when I will be finished with any of them. I don't have a problem with this per se but it does create this kind of cognitive dissonance where you feel weird that you have not 'conquered' any of these, and you are simply pussyfooting around.
it's really simple...if a book is boring and not compelling just put it down and read a different one till you find one that is compelling. I don't buy the argument that we are programmed to enjoy shorter things thanks to technology. The brain has always loved short winnable "games". If the chapter is boring and not fun and winnable then it is the book. It's stupid to force yourself to read a book that is not compelling. There are too many out there to get stressed abt something like this.
I think if the book is absolutely unbearable to read, a person should quit reading it, however, other than that, people should just hunker down. Many times I've thought about quitting reading several books but in the end, I don't regret reading them until the very end.
I've been struggling with The Count of Monte Cristo for 10 years. 10 YEARS! My mother gifted it to me when I was 17, is the full piece, about 1100+ pages with so much dialogue and filler that it's been really hard for me to pass the second part of the story. Every year I think it would be the year that I'll finally finish this book and I think 2021 won't be any different. Maybe 2022 would be the year, maybe not. Is just... so much that sometimes it hurts mentally (and metaphorically)
My friend gave me a book, which I think is boring but I feel like I have to finish it because she gave it to me. The problem is that the book has such two dimensional characters, a horrible slow telling and is just random. It’s about 200 sides long and I am just at the second chapter
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I find that when reading literature that is more of a requirement than entertainment, making annotations periodically help immensely. It forces you to comprehend the text rather than just reading for reading's sake, and it allows you to relate more to the subject, which personally, makes it easier for me to become more interested in the topic if I was not before.
It gets time-consuming, however, when you want to write every little thought down as I tend to do...
Making annotations has been so helpful! (I'm not a student)
Could you explain how write annotation and about what.
@@abdullahsaif9196 annotating is basically writing your thought process while reading, Making comments and highlighting important phrases in a book. If you’re interested I’ll link videos that explain further and give you an idea of the process.
i now even annotate most books i read for pleasure because i’m always thinking about something that i feel is important. for the most part i just underline the things that peak my interest and i’ll go back and look through and write everything down that i feel is important
@@Ana-vq9qlHello! Me! I would like those videos please!
This discussion has been quite relevant for me recently. The discomfort at the beginning is too often worth it when reading, sometimes it really takes time to appreciate what a book could possibly give you.
For me personally, reading Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov and Don Quixote, changed my opinion on long books forever. Always give a chance to a book.
I'm same with The Brothers Karamazov, it's probably my favourite book and at the time I read it the longest book I had ever read, I almost prefer longer books now, I love when a really good book takes a few weeks to read. I might never gotten around to reading 1Q84 and Moby Dick, some of my other favourites, if I hadn't. I feel shorter books while they can be really enjoyable don't "stick" with you as much, like I'll always associate 1Q84 and TBK with the summer during lockdown, and Moby Dick with my first few weeks at a new job. Shorter books that I've really enjoyed don't really remind me of any specific time in my life. Except like Slaughterhouse 5 which I read a good few times as a teenager lol.
In the end, I think you need to know why you're reading a book. If I pick up a thriller, wanting to be entertained and halfway in I am still bored, then I won't finish reading it, it's a waste of time in my opinion. But if I pick up a classic (or a non-fiction book), then it is because I am interested in the topic. I want to see how books evolved, a glimpse of how the world was in that time, the way the author wrote and described things and then I won't put it down just because I'm bored (there are other reasons to not finish a classic, like sometimes you're just not in the right space at the moment or the writing makes it impossible to read (which is a big factor for me)).
I think you mentioned something like this before, but I usually read multiple books at a time to not lose my overall interest in reading. Often I'll read a chapter of the classic that I'm on and then switch to some fantasy book if the classic is too boring at that moment.
So as with most things in life, it's the right balance. But if you really just hate reading a book, I think it's okay to put it aside. Maybe in the future you'll have a better state of mind to attempt to read it again.
that’s exactly what i’m going through i’m reading a thriller and it’s taking forever to get interesting. i haven’t touched it in months
Good point
Reading Les Misérables was somewhat of a struggle, but I kept coming back to it and finished about a year after I started. Ulysses is still on my shelf unread. I am now reading Dubliners. I abandoned Gravity's Rainbow after about 50 pages. The big books I had at university had titles like: "Fundamentals of Physics" and "Calculus". Modern versions of those books are twice as big, because of all the color diagrams.
I read Les Miserables. I am also part French
I've been on the "quit the book if it's boring" mindset and it sky rocketed my reading volume but this idea of slogging through difficult reading has been on the back of my mind lately. It reminds me of Lars Von Trier's film Dogville. The first 2 hours or so were excruciatingly boring and some parts were hard to watch but the ending was the most cathartic sequence I've experienced in cinema. Maybe eventually I'll finally grab 2666 from my shelf and read it.
I find that making notes and annotations throughout a book keeps me more involved in the act of reading it. Also flipping through the pages after it’s finished and finding a ton of highlighted lines and thoughtful scribbles is very satisfying!
Today is my birthday, so this video my friend, is one of my gifts, thank you. :)
Happy birthday ♡♡ hope u have a great day :)
Happy Birthday beautiful soul :)
Happy Birthday beautiful person!! I hope you have a great year ahead of you!
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
I find it difficult to start something new these days because there's always this internal pressure to finish what you start
This was my struggle during my first year of law school - going through walls of text of just dense, rambly legalese was TORTURE. Now that I’m on my third year it’s gotten better and I’ve also learned to optimize my study routine to better fit my needs and my attention span.
What is ur study routine? I am also doing law this year at university
Bravo for you! I'm so glad you are trying to stick them out. Often a book will lead you through some very dry patches because that is what the character is feeling. The classics generally were leading up to something, and if you skipped a chapter, you might not ever know what it was.
I know that the first time I ever watched La Strada, I was tired and worn out when the movie was over, yet I had loved it. Then I realized that that's exactly what I was supposed to feel - what the characters were feeling.
People don't often realize that people who have read a book all the way through can spot a person who hasn't. I don't care how many Cliff's Notes and whatnot people read, in conversation you can tell they haven't read the book. So I completely agree with you that you do need to read the book to have the bragging rights. Or the intellectual knowledge or whatever it is you are seeking.
I'm midway through chapter 15 of Ullyses as the time of writing this. I've quitted this book like 5 times in the last 3-4 years, but always came back. I've read longer books, but this is a (very) hard one, man. This video is very motivational, I'll sit down and finish this little mf now!
I have a lot of books I know are good investments on my readlist. I saw it when I finished three last year, then took a gap of reading but I remember my writing being better from them. I never noticed until this video about the attention spurts,but I find it to be true.20ish pages in I was always warring against boredom and wanting instant gratification. I used to read a lot more pre 2010 and I remember my patience being a lot longer. I think,as you said we should judge the potential knowledge or experience a book may bring, via genre,summary,level of technicality or difficulty maybe and how much we can make use of it, then try to stick with it maybe one more week at least or a few more days, just give it a second shot before saying goodbye. If it still sucks well, we learned what we don't like but we still learned something rather than nothing from it
I’ve felt like this a lot while doing my latest readings, always anxious and trying to get to the end/ resolution- ironically the ones I’ve read lately have endings that are very much open to interpretation, with no concrete conclusion. But, when i began to notice this, i saw that i was trying to consume books the same way that i consume social media or news, that is, with very little effort that ends with a fast and dense reward, those bursts of info, sometimesi feel impatient even while on social media. So it’s been tiring starting a new one because i know that this is what’s going to happen.. Buttttt, even with the discomfort, when Im done,i always feel glad that i decided finish it
Really like your content:))
The points in the video are currently ideas that I've been contemplating about for a while, and i've been contemplating them because every time I read, the way I think about ingesting literature evolves.
You're right, society today has this peculiar fixation on expedited means of absorbing media, and in effect has diminished the attention span of the general public. Thats why I think that the act of reading literature for me allows me to develop resistance against the trend of a weak attention span since (in most cases) a book cant be finished as quickly as say a movie or a show. Reading forces me to absorb a medium slowly and allows me to appreciate everything about a book I read, from the grandiose writing style or the imagination of a certain author.
I mean yes, there are mundane stories and yes, there are weaker writers and occasional books that should just be put down or saved for another season. But a book (I believe) in most cases is perceived as "boring" when the work of literature is not properly ingested by the reader, perhaps because of a novice reader expectation of wanting to gain the full benefit of a work of literature in the quickest means possible, or perhaps wanting to finish a book as quickly as possible to earn bragging rights of reading all the books in one's bookshelf. In many cases it is worth to give a book a patient chance. Some mundane stories can be written with great eloquence, and some weaker writers can conjure up stories that are fascinating enough for a reader to become attached to a story if they do so wish to.
Personally, to get as much as I can from a reading session, I engage in a sort of pre-reading mental ritual before I read a book where I really condition my mind to absorb every word and every sentence, to tie every thought as much as possible rather than reading mindlessly and letting the words pass by my consciousness. This way, i'm able to maximize my reading experience and enjoy/soak in a nice work of literature the best way I see possible.
*Sorry, this was a bit of a longer comment but I always like watching your videos so I thought to muster up the courage to drop a thought this time :)
Thank you. This was a lovely comment
It's worth practicing getting to the end of "the book." A learned skill that must be earned.
Oh my goodness this is so relevant for me. I constantly just leave books in the middle to go read another or do something else! I'm trying to get myself to be able to be bored more often so I can finish what I read.
I don't know if this will help anyone, but this year I rediscovered goodreads and I decided to use that social media to share with my friends what I'm reading and show the progress that I'm doing. They do the same, and we keep each other motivated. We're basically using a social media that so far has only been beneficial (instead of scrolling through other apps, we go there and support each other) and it's creating a healthy competition between us to see who reads more books 😃
Actually, I had difficulty finishing reading my set university texts 35 years ago, before the internet. It was called being fed up with studying and wanting to live a little.
You have no idea how many books I’ve got but haven’t read yet...the worst thing is that I continue to buy more.
Btw, how do you read short stories? In order? Or by random?
As for short stories, I'd recommend reading them in order if they're held together by a unifying theme or depict character progression (like the first two anthologies of The Witcher series).
If you're simply smitten with the author's voice/prose, you can opt for the random approach since there are bound to be some of their stories that don't instantly grab your attention, so by all means, skip them or circle back to them some other time.
In some cases, reading 1-2 stories before going to sleep, or on a bus ride, can turn that whole exercise into some sort of ritual or meditation to calm down or ground yourself - just wanted to add that particular perspective for completeness' sake.
Don’t read shorts but I have a little tip regarding buying books.
- You only buy a book after you finished one. So you have “a gap” that you can fill in with a new one
- Have only one shelf with unread books
- Do not go into a bookstore, even if you want to just look.
Regarding short stories, I read them on random and skip the titles that don't get me interested ;)
@@cherryjuice9705 I am trying to abide by that first rule. The second one is never a problem, but that third one! If I go out and pass a bookstore, there is no way I can resist. It's just awful. I need someone to ride shotgun to keep me out of those places. Well, I shouldn't be that hard on myself - since Covid I have been ordering online. And I am totally insisting that that does not count. 🤭
@@cherryjuice9705 honey, it ain’t about going to a bookstore anymore now that Amazon is at my fingertips😂
But yes, I’ve deleted the app along with some others so now if I have to order essentials, I only do it on my computer.
Thanks for the tips!
Why don’t you recommend shorts though? I’m curious to know.
I just finished a book that I loved so much, I'd recommend it for anyone who sees my comment it's called "The Stationery Shop" maybe it will help someone with a reading slump. 😊
can you summarize it so you know how much you remember from it, and we learn what you know?
@@Malikin it's taken from Goodreads
Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.
Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer-handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry-and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.
A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts-a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on-to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England-until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?
@@whateverbabe hello there, can you tell me why does bahman leave? i left the book half way idk I've to prepare for exams lol
oh my god i loved stationery shop i reread that book so many times and still cry every time
@@hatsunevocaloids Oh really! That's beautiful 💕 I cried as well especially those war scenes and Mr. Fakhri... so beautiful and tragic at the same time
For a longer book, even a little bit of note taking helps a lot.
Earlier this year, I read Don Quixote. I found that a key to getting through it was to write down all the character names and the page number where they first appear. That way, when I put the book down for a couple days and then picked it up and saw a reference to Doña Rodríguez de Grijalba, for example, I could refresh my memory on who she is and the context in which she operates.
Great video, Robin. You are wiser than your age. I finished reading Ulysses two weeks ago. I am a huge fan of Joyce. He is exceptional. It took me one year to finish it. It was a marathon, Robin. You can't access Ulysses without reading (1) Dubliners (2) A Portrait Of The Artist (3) The Odessey since Ulysses is the retelling of this book but from a new lens. (4) Hamlet (5) Bible King James Version (optional). James Joyce assumes that you have read all this before approaching Ulysses. Joyce doesn't go easy on anyone. That's why I admire him.
My next goal is to read Finnegans Wake but to read this, I have to read Giambattista Vico’s The New Science. 🙌
To be fair, as a Chemist, reading scientific papers is as boring after a couple of pages. Specially when you have to read three of four papers in a roll.
Just wanted to say thanks from the heart for this analysis!
This is the sign. I need to pick up that book again.
I am currently reading Hegel and Marx, not the easiest literature to say the least.
My goal is to finish their Opus magnum (Phenomenology of Spirit and The Capital, respectively) during my bachelor's aka in the next two years.
If I would read both books half an hour each day, I could finish them in the next ~3-4 months. But there is no reason to rush, at least in my opinion. It's about understanding, not about checking a bucket list
Umm, that not Literature but Philosophy. Literature studies on social while Philosophy studies on idea.
@@ryanoneiljohnson8743
This depends on the concrete usage of the word Literature. It can broadly be any collection of written work or a specific form of art like fiction etc.
I obviously used the first definition.
It's clear to me how much you read based on how clearly you speak and explain your point. Great video, thanks! For me, I'm just going to finish my leisure book so I can read another one already.
I am 67, and I haven't read the literature I had wanted to read by now. I have this problem of having trouble persevering with books, especially in the 2nd quarter or so of a book. Once I am past the halfway point of a book, it seems to get easier to want to finish the book. I have a list of 100 well known books I am trying to read. (It is the PBS Great American Read list.) I have them in a spreadsheet, sorted by number of pages. I am trying to read the shorter books first, to build momentum.
The same problem occurs when you are writing a book (musicology in my case). It is extremely hard to decide that it is finished. You always think you might have more ideas or find more primary sources. It took me several months to decide that I had to stop and send it to the publisher
You pronounced Don Quijote perfectly!!!!!
Regards from Spain! 🌇
I believe it’s beneficial to think of book chapters as blog posts. Read the parts that you need and leave out the rest.
But we also have to build patience and read book not only for information but for unwinding from constant stimulation and recharging .
I am struggling to finish 1984 but this makes sense it’s exactly what happens there’s pages that have me amazed and interested but others make me wonder why did I even buy this book 😂
Thanks man
I think this topic is really interesting. The desire to read large books but needing to have the focus and the determination to finish could be lacking. I feel like culture and social has definitely cultivated this instant burst of excitement and it transcends into what we are looking for into books.
I was shocked by the title because here I find it hard to put a book once I have start it... That's why I don't really at night because then next day I am always sleep deprived
I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this but I’d love to see a closet tour, or your favorite clothes you like to wear, I’d find it fascinating🥰❤️
If each page of the book offers a different "chunk of big burst of information", then flipping through pages can feel the same as switching between social media platforms / tv channels and the reader might not even realize how they have reached the very last page without getting to feel bored even once.
Just keep read they book it will get better and when you come to the end you will say others done
I'm about a quarter of the way through Swann's Way. I don't get much read in that from one day to the next; speeding through it greatly lowers my enjoyment. But I'm also reading a couple books of short stories, crime fiction, humor, etc., that I can turn to when I want the instant (though not long satisfying) fix or the feeling of satisfaction or accomplishment when get to the end of a story.
I have a lot trouble sitting down for long periods of time and focusing on one thing, although it's easier for me to meditate than to read because there's nothing to be distracted by. I find that meditation obviously works, but also exercise; when I'm worn out from walking around all day focusing is a lot easier because I don't get the urge to get up and pace like I usually do. I think it's important for me to use up my excess energy and get endorphins running if I want to focus intensely.
I just found your channel. I’m an engineering student but I want to read more fiction but somehow I don’t find myself sitting down to read anything that is not solving equations and theories.
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned as a slow reader is: do NOT return to the beginning. Doesn’t matter if you haven’t picked up the book in a year - always put some scrap of paper in it to mark where you left off. I’ve never found a story where I couldn’t reorient myself within a few pages.
One thing I’ve been thinking about because I hear it a lot is the valuing of books by dead people over living people. I read 1Q84 over the course of three months and loved it. Right now I am reading Janet Fitch’s The Revolution of Marina M. which is a true door stopper yet beautifully written. And I am also working on The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg - which obviously is many works between its two covers but still has 900 pages. And I guess I’m just bothered by the focus on the dead. I remember I once had a discussion with a colleague on a train where she said she loved Jane Austen and only ever read old books. And I think it’s especially relevant with long works because if the dead are inherently better than the living certainly we will never consider something over 500 pages by someone who is writing today.
Also, I thought it was very funny when you mentioned two hours for Ulysses. Maybe for someone who is studying literature. I can barely fit in two hours at the piano and my job is to teach the instrument…
I must be the only person who would choose a big book over a blog post or article. I do read hard copy and electronic books, depending what I can get, but I'm much more inclined to grab a book than look through an eReader or websites. Yes braille books take up a lot of space, but I'm that person who would have a house full of books if I could.
Hi, I think try your hardest not to quit, but if the book really sucked then its just a risk you have to take, maybe do some research on it before you even pick it up, unless you don't want to spoil it then just read it...interesting subject thank you, BTW I agree totally with one of the other comments ask yourself "the reason you want to read it" etc
This is so true, I saw the title and then looked at how long the video was...I know myself that well that if the video was like 19 minutes long instead of 9 I would never clicked on it..
My main issue with a lot of books are mindnumbingly boring dialogue that adds nothing to characters, yhw world, nor the plot. To many books are filled with meaningless dialogue.
I haven't been able to finish Ulysses by Joyce. I read about 500 pages, and had to put it down. At least for now I am failing to see the brilliance of the novel, hopefully I can find the patience to pick it back up and complete it...one day.
Listen to the audiobook. It's really worth it
I love Don Quixote, would love to finish reading it someday
Since I'm portuguese, I have a portuguese edition of Don Quixote, but it's an old translation in a very old portuguese language, even though it sounds so romantic it's so complicated to read. I hope I can do it someday! Or I'll just buy a modern translation.
I read Don Quixote earlier this year, reading the English translation by Edith Grossman, which was really good and accessible since it was a modern translation completed in 2003.
this video motivates me to keep on reading catch-22. i’m 30% through, but these confusing army ranks and lack of plot give me a massive headache
google the military rank, write them down and keep them next to you. or just google them everytime you encounter one.
Not every book explains everything, some books expect you to know certain things before hand. Don't be afraid of spoilers, if a book is ruined by spoilers it wasn't a very good book to begin with.
The only thing that got me through 'crime and punishment' was literally googling every character name i saw and reading a character synopsis. Russian books use first/middle/last/nick- names seemingly at random and its confusing for a non-native reader even in english. The first time i tried to read this book i found out halfway though that two characters where actually the same exact person, they just decided to use his middle name instead of his first name in random places leading me to think it was a second person.
@@oscarlove4394 thanks for the advice, i’m gonna use it! i get it, slavic patronymics are sometimes hard to grasp for non-native speakers but there lies a beauty in diversity of our languages
I'm so happy that I find this channel 😍😌🤞 so helpful
This video made me pick up my half finished copy of War and Peace- hopefully I will have the determination this time!!
So many books, so little time.
Read the books that nurture (in any way) you and the ones you have to.
I also feel like social media and modern forms of entertainment have set up ‘slower’ forms of entertainment to fail. We expect everything to be a 100% entertaining all the time. We aren’t used to working towards something becoming entertaining. As our understanding develops, as we read through multitudes of pages, and the pleasure that that final ah ha! Or moment of revelation brings, is not something we are used to. We aren’t used to waiting or sitting through boring stuff anymore. And everything is in a sense dull for us.
Part of the problem is publishers have minimum word limits. Technically a novel is 40,000 words, but most main stream publishers won't accept anything under 70,000, and those are for fiction. Nonfiction is typically around 120,000. A big part of this is due to the fact digital and online stories, especially self-published ones, already cater to readers of short story, flash fiction, wattpad, etc. Rather than compete with what is essentially free, publishers leverage their prestige and "big book means smart" marketing to insist on books being a certain length and in turn a certain price.
For me, part of the focus problem is adhd + a heart problem that will get worse if I take any stimulant, which all adhd meds are.
Video essays help a lot, bc I don't have to be the engine which drives the information train, the video goes on its own. This helps my adhd brain, but also my migraine prone brain to not have to focus my eyes so much.
I think the drop it if it's not fun/ stick it out dichotomy isn't necessarily a mutually exclusive one. I read basically as little as possible, bc of prior mentioned migraines. Pushing myself in a way that would make my disability worse isn't something I want to do.
And commercial fiction is usually about enjoyment, so if you're not enjoying reading it, there seems to be little point in continuing to do so.
On classics etc... I see your point that it might change your life, but idk. I'm biased against a lot of them bc of my experience in middle & high school, being forced to read literary fiction, which I hated then bc I wanted nothing more than to escape this miserable planet & life. I'm less depressed now, and better appreciate the feelings parts of stories, but still tend to be pretty irritated at a lot of literary fiction. The scarlet letter and tess of the durbervilles will both always be terrible.
But it's worth trying something new sometimes. This is where reviews, from friends & strangers both, can be helpful. Give an idea what they felt after reading it.
And also, when it's a text book kind of thing...... it suuuuuucks to read, it's not fun, but I appreciate getting knowledge or of the deal.
Fran Lebowitz once said "Reading prepares you for other reading". But she also doesn't own a mobile phone.
I use audiobooks to read difficult books. They really helped a lot!
i feel sometimes i quit a book because not that its specifically boring but i am just maybe not in the mood for that genre so i would switch to another book and i would read later i could come back to the same book and think that its interesting
Hey Robin, have you think to do a podcast? It would be nice to hear you on a podcast
Usually my mood disorder(schizoaffective) gets in the way of a big book say 500+ (Infinite Jest) pages but I am able to read books 400- books as well. I’d say, read 10 pages a day for several days, get used to it, then increase the amount by every 10 pages and get used to that set up. I plan on reading Democracy In America and I hope I don’t get put off by the size.
Yes. Agree one hundred percent.
i've been reading more books atm, it's been nice :)
maybe you'd make a video on "Reading Fatigue"
Tbh I don't like the idea to not finish the book. I haven't yet read any book which I couldn't complete even if it take 3 fucking months to complete it. In the end you feel some sort of good that you didn't leave that book in half.
I need to takes notes cause I'll forget
After the first 15 hours of Brothers Karamazov I got stuck into a sort of sunken cost mentality. I hadn't enjoyed the book to that point and wouldn't after that but I felt like if I didn't finish it I wasted my time.
I have a really bad time sitting down and reading for more than 3 pages, my attention spam sucks. I start reading without actually absorbing any of the information, you know? But this video inspired me a little, I'm gonna try again. Trying to read Crime and Punishment
I always thought it was easiest to have one or two other books to switch between, so that you can create these "random busts of information" we're used to
The older i get, the more I realise that no one knows anything for show and even the people I imagined to know everything and have all the the answers and who I thought would know how I could solve my problems are still trying to figure stuff out no matter how old or wise they are, and at the end of the day all they are sharing is their perception of the world and I just take their advice because I assume that if they have a good life or have had a long life, they’d know for sure what the answers are because they got a chance to get it wrong. In reality there’s literally no way to know when you got it wrong, and no way to know the answers. All we can do is speculate.
"Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost." -Henry David Thoreau.
You should read The Shallows by Carr, it’s about how the internet changes our minds through neuroplastity. It’s a very great read
high school ruined my view on books- having to annotate made me dreadfully hate reading. i remember one year we had to annotate every single book we read except the last one. one of them was crime and punishment may i add which was utter fucking torture lmdao but i didn’t retain any information out of any annotated book. the book i didnt annotate i retained all of it. in college now and i read for fun and look forward to it everydsu
Perfect timing
Perhaps it’s not the length of a book, but the time period in which it was written that leads to concentration difficulties. The ability to focus is one thing, and the skill to be able to focus on something that is uninteresting to someone is entirely different. Technology may disrupt concentration, but it is enhancing life with new forms of media that may be more useful than long form literature.
Once you finish Ulysses, please make a video about that book (and maybe include your Prof.'s thought on that book)!!!!
My next video is going to be on Ulysses. :)
@@RCWaldun I'm eagerly waiting (🤩) !!!!!
i dont have this problem because i only read smutty romance
when I first tried to read Demian I gave up because I found it too boring but years later I pick up the book again and finished it in 5 days. The same thing with in cold blood because the beggining of the book has a long description I almost gave up but now is one of my favorites I' ve read it again many times since the first time.
You're getting close to a million subscribers
help i just cant pick them back up
bruh, I read the preface when I get to the middle of the book or any kind of lull while reading. it gives me a second wind.
I think its because this whole generation is a failed product of forced out development. We are depressed to the extent we don't know we are, contrast to earlier poetic depressions. We just want more out of our life. The objective yes and no's and when a book throws you piece of lifelike adventure, we feel that this too was boring. Does that make sense?
Thankyou i never read after 2chapters
Attention economy by Claudio Celis Bueno talks about this
Ive been reading a book called the rise and reign of mammals. Somtimes it goes from rlly exiciting to incredibly boring. Cant for the life of me finish it for some reason I keep stopping
my issue is that i loved reading but now in highschool since it's mandatory i hate it cuz the books they made me read are not enjoyable, and when i found one that actually is I'm like "reading 400 pages in two days" mode 🤠🔫
Am 16 not in university yet but I can’t but think why wouldn’t you just use audio books instead of book
In my case deepens on the book if the books is to good im going to read it really fast if is kinda boring is going take me more
Harmony between both Id say
The books that I struggle the most with are anthologies. It just takes me so much to get into it. Horror reader here 👋
All the books I read are ones that I have handpicked and know that I'm highly interested in. In today's world, it's too hard to simply just start reading a random book. There are just too many distractions in order for you to just settle with a mediocre book. The issue I have is that I start books but then it takes me a lifetime to finish any one of them. Right now I'm in the middle of reading 17 books, and there is no way of knowing when I will be finished with any of them. I don't have a problem with this per se but it does create this kind of cognitive dissonance where you feel weird that you have not 'conquered' any of these, and you are simply pussyfooting around.
it's really simple...if a book is boring and not compelling just put it down and read a different one till you find one that is compelling. I don't buy the argument that we are programmed to enjoy shorter things thanks to technology. The brain has always loved short winnable "games". If the chapter is boring and not fun and winnable then it is the book. It's stupid to force yourself to read a book that is not compelling. There are too many out there to get stressed abt something like this.
Do you ever get to a point then, where you concentration is more consistent? I really want to get better..
I feel like the contemporary books are easier in comparison to classics. It takes like 2-3 weeks for a classic.
a bunch of buzzing flies feeding you information. I like that phrasing
I think if the book is absolutely unbearable to read, a person should quit reading it, however, other than that, people should just hunker down. Many times I've thought about quitting reading several books but in the end, I don't regret reading them until the very end.
pop culture has really popped our brains
I've been struggling with The Count of Monte Cristo for 10 years. 10 YEARS! My mother gifted it to me when I was 17, is the full piece, about 1100+ pages with so much dialogue and filler that it's been really hard for me to pass the second part of the story. Every year I think it would be the year that I'll finally finish this book and I think 2021 won't be any different. Maybe 2022 would be the year, maybe not. Is just... so much that sometimes it hurts mentally (and metaphorically)
Howd this year go
My friend gave me a book, which I think is boring but I feel like I have to finish it because she gave it to me. The problem is that the book has such two dimensional characters, a horrible slow telling and is just random. It’s about 200 sides long and I am just at the second chapter
I needed it
"Zig Ziglar once said the books you don't read won't help." - Jim Rohn
Watching this while my 300 pages book judges me.