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Edit: I've clearly made a terrible mistake and wondered into the wrong neighbourhood, I'm sorry. Please ignore this post and everything that follows. ---- I'm 30+, have probably read well over a thousand books okay more like 400 books, and then basically stopped reading novels because I had started to doubt after all that if it was really worth it. Over and over again, it seemed to be the same thing - characters I couldn't relate to doing things I didn't particularly enjoy reading about and ending in a profoundly unsatisfying manner, across genres and authors, and on top of all that it felt like I'd seen it all before anyway. I spent the last couple years without finishing a single novel (although I did try to start a few before getting bored or frustrated and giving up). The last fiction book I remember actually enjoying was the Illuminatus Trilogy, which was, like... three years ago. Short stories were basically my fiction limit - they generally had something to say, didn't beat around the bush, and if it sucked, well, I hadn't lost much of value, but mostly I stuck to non-fiction because at least I could get some use out of it. Then I grabbed a copy of Catch-22 for 50 cents for a plane ride, and by god - I was hooked immediately. It was hilarious. It was full of characters who, for the first time in a long time, I could relate to, character's with motivations I could understand and quirks I could empathize with, dealing with events in ways that successfully evoked sympathy for their actions. It switched things up, kept things interesting, constantly gave me different viewpoints, and retroactively added layers of meaning to things I'd already read to the extent that I would read things and get excited for what I knew would be revealed about them later. It was essentially my one last go at long form fiction before giving it up for good, and it convinced me not to. It made me feel like I did devouring a book over a decade ago, in high school or college. It managed to convince me to want to read again, for it's own sake and not just to pass the time, which I had thought was impossible. What I'm saying is: It was pretty good, imo. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 17:02
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Most of those suggestions sound genuinely horrible. If I have to pick, I guess I'd want to hear more about this "weird Czechoslovakian modernism full of obtuse references to 17th century Raskolniky theology" thing, though.
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Jun 9, 2016 19:01
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blue squares posted:The point of my actual, serious suggestion was for you to read a book that has the explicit purpose of alienating the reader from the main character, because you are way too hung up on "relating" to characters. I'm "hung up" on it because I enjoyed reading a book where it finally happened, that was also really good independent from that? Tell me more, I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean or how your book suggestion will help me address this terrible problem. (Maybe it was just nice to have a change of pace for once. I'm reading the Jungle now and I very much doubt there's going to be anyone in this book I feel any sort of kinship with, but I'm reading it anyway and might even enjoy it now that I've got some enthusiasm back) GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 19:20
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blue squares posted:You said you were going to quit reading literature because it was a waste of time. Let's say you're right and I am needlessly hung up on relatable characters. Or, hell, let's say you're wrong, and I'm merely hung up on a book having some combination of a multitude of things that might help me avoid regretting the attempt to read it. I'm still not entirely sure I understand the logic that leads you to thinking "Hey, I think you should read this book that perfectly encapsulates every reason why you were going to give stop reading literature to begin with" would be a good suggestion? GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Jun 10, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 19:53
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blue squares posted:you should read a good, thought-provoking, immensely influential work that might change your mind and open you to a vast collection of works Maybe you should suggest one of those, then, instead. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 20:36
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blue squares posted:You don't understand this thread. Half of it is dedicated to insulting one another. Was I supposed to give you a high five for reading a book? Okay, good job. But that doesn't accomplish anything. Instead, I tried to help you expand your horizons There, there. There, there.
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Jun 9, 2016 20:58
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Oxxidation posted:The Stranger is actually really good and can be polished off in an afternoon, don't let blue squares' tragicomic life choices put you off. I'll keep an eye out for it (and the Mersault Investigation, which does seem like an interesting followup). I'll try harder not to set him off with posts that I didn't intend to be taken so seriously in the future. Oxxidation posted:e: it might also help to know what these "thousands of books" you read actually were, in the general sense, since I've gone through library shelves like Pac-Man since I was old enough to walk and I still wouldn't peg my personal record that high. The estimate was a big exaggeration in hindsight (although I said over a thousand, not thousands, that's too big a claim even for me), it's probably around 400. Also a lot of them were complete garbage, I'm sure. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jun 9, 2016 |
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Jun 9, 2016 21:23
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david crosby posted:You need to give us concrete examples of what you read. Because you were either reading tons of poo poo or are a huge dumbass, and It's important to kno which so that we can deal with your posts appropriately. I was reading tons of poo poo and the entire point of the original post was that Catch-22 had turned me on to literature and I was excited to read more good poo poo, but apparently I'm also a huge dumbass who can't communicate, so it's definitely both.
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Jun 10, 2016 01:02
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