Tap into your instincts. If you pick up a book, and you're not excited to read it, don't. Pick another.
If nothing excites you, try reading the first couple of chapters. If you you don't want to read more, this is probably not the book for you.
'Joy' might be an intimidating word, but basically, if you love reading it, read it. Hit up your local library and explore to see what else is out there without having to fork over too much $$
Yes and no. Some books are hard and challenging. The joy can sometimes come after persevering for more than two chapters. (Not always--but often enough.) And other times, a book that brought joy at first turns out to be a dud. A few of the stories George has given us are ones I probably would have never read before, or never finished. But then we begin the close observing of the masters. And everything changes. Hard to give advice to others on what or how to read, I think. I press books on others all of the time and they rarely read them. I am me and they are themselves. You just never know. Sometimes i'll say, look, at first you're not going to like this one, but hang in there! Wolf Hall, for instance. Thank God i hung in there as it is a masterpiece.
It's not that I love difficulty in fiction, but with Wolf Hall it was the difficulty that grew on me and kept me in there. Page after page I found I was thinking "Now let's go back over that paragraph or page", and on second reading things fleshed out, densified. Being obliged to revisit the twists and turns of Mantel's style led to a richer experience and now I'm sounding like a chocolate salesman so I'll stop.
My first try i had to quit after 50 pages because i couldn't figure out the narrator. Then, I tried again and finally had the A-ha! moment of understanding the POV voice. After that, all made sense and I read the book with absolute glee. That one is a wonder! But yes, the difficulty--I just HAD to get it!
I had a similar experience with Gravity's Rainbow fifty years ago. I thought the first fifty pages or so were great, and then the book faltered and I couldn't get past what I could not understand or appreciate. I must have tried ten times, which means I read those first fifty pages ten times and then stopped. The 11th time, I forced myself to keep going, and the book improved for me immeasurably, and while not as good as the beginning, it was still a great experience to read it completely. Similarly, Knaussgaards's My Struggle, while tedious and unnecessarily long, has opening pages that are some of the best writing I have ever read. It begins, "For the heart, life is simple: it beats for as long as it can. Then it stops." This section has little to do with the rest of the six volumes and thousands of pages. Very few people would have time to read all of them. I certainly don't (and didn't!). I do love reading new things, but when they begin to disinterest me I put them down. I feel I don't have time to waste on them. I return to old favorites, and each time I read something I have read and loved before, even if I have read it many times, I learn something new. I've said this before in this forum - rereading is a little like rewriting. One sees more each time. Stories are a different experience, easier to manage simply because they are short - one can spend the time necessary to get all the way through a story, even if it doesn't resonate at first. That doesn't mean they are less complex, or a lesser art form, not to me anyway. It seems that everyone I know (myself included) has less time for reading. After digesting the day's news, and worrying about it, and negotiating one's way through the world, reading becomes a luxury. This is not to say it's unnecessary - it just requires a commitment. So I have good intentions now that I have nearly retired, to read more and to do it every day, with the seriousness I brought to my work life.
That's true. But even in a challenging book, something needs to motivate us to keep turning pages, even if it's just to answer the question "What's the hype about?"
Oh it was more of a query into the heavens than an asking for тАЬhowтАЭ? IтАЩm rarely dissatisfied with my reading choices. Always something to glean. Thanks for the response, Sonal! I think we have the same outlook!
I just finished Wharton's The Age of Innocence, which I found in a free box in my neighborhood, and which I loved far more than I thought I would. Right before that, I read Everett Percival's Dr. No, which I thought I was going to love (like I did his book The Trees) and which I found as a remainder at Powells, the large bookstore near me, the book was okay, good enough to get through, but not something I loved, like the Wharton . You're right, it's tough to know what books will bring you joy. I don't think one can know until they've started to read the book, or maybe with some books halfway through the book.
Ah! That's the mystery Lee. 'Informed instinct' plays a role in teeing me up to decide 'I'll like that' or 'I won't like that'. Then there's the old opportunity cost to be factored in I guess (somewhere in the back rooms of my mind where Rob's Numb Skulls lurk and work away) keeping me alert to the danger that too many reads in too tight a timescale will likely be, well, numbing!
I agree, but in looking at books on a table or shelf, how do you know what will bring you joy, or do you mean choosing by a genre or form you like?
Tap into your instincts. If you pick up a book, and you're not excited to read it, don't. Pick another.
If nothing excites you, try reading the first couple of chapters. If you you don't want to read more, this is probably not the book for you.
'Joy' might be an intimidating word, but basically, if you love reading it, read it. Hit up your local library and explore to see what else is out there without having to fork over too much $$
Yes and no. Some books are hard and challenging. The joy can sometimes come after persevering for more than two chapters. (Not always--but often enough.) And other times, a book that brought joy at first turns out to be a dud. A few of the stories George has given us are ones I probably would have never read before, or never finished. But then we begin the close observing of the masters. And everything changes. Hard to give advice to others on what or how to read, I think. I press books on others all of the time and they rarely read them. I am me and they are themselves. You just never know. Sometimes i'll say, look, at first you're not going to like this one, but hang in there! Wolf Hall, for instance. Thank God i hung in there as it is a masterpiece.
It's not that I love difficulty in fiction, but with Wolf Hall it was the difficulty that grew on me and kept me in there. Page after page I found I was thinking "Now let's go back over that paragraph or page", and on second reading things fleshed out, densified. Being obliged to revisit the twists and turns of Mantel's style led to a richer experience and now I'm sounding like a chocolate salesman so I'll stop.
My first try i had to quit after 50 pages because i couldn't figure out the narrator. Then, I tried again and finally had the A-ha! moment of understanding the POV voice. After that, all made sense and I read the book with absolute glee. That one is a wonder! But yes, the difficulty--I just HAD to get it!
I had a similar experience with Gravity's Rainbow fifty years ago. I thought the first fifty pages or so were great, and then the book faltered and I couldn't get past what I could not understand or appreciate. I must have tried ten times, which means I read those first fifty pages ten times and then stopped. The 11th time, I forced myself to keep going, and the book improved for me immeasurably, and while not as good as the beginning, it was still a great experience to read it completely. Similarly, Knaussgaards's My Struggle, while tedious and unnecessarily long, has opening pages that are some of the best writing I have ever read. It begins, "For the heart, life is simple: it beats for as long as it can. Then it stops." This section has little to do with the rest of the six volumes and thousands of pages. Very few people would have time to read all of them. I certainly don't (and didn't!). I do love reading new things, but when they begin to disinterest me I put them down. I feel I don't have time to waste on them. I return to old favorites, and each time I read something I have read and loved before, even if I have read it many times, I learn something new. I've said this before in this forum - rereading is a little like rewriting. One sees more each time. Stories are a different experience, easier to manage simply because they are short - one can spend the time necessary to get all the way through a story, even if it doesn't resonate at first. That doesn't mean they are less complex, or a lesser art form, not to me anyway. It seems that everyone I know (myself included) has less time for reading. After digesting the day's news, and worrying about it, and negotiating one's way through the world, reading becomes a luxury. This is not to say it's unnecessary - it just requires a commitment. So I have good intentions now that I have nearly retired, to read more and to do it every day, with the seriousness I brought to my work life.
Will I ever read Gravity's Rainbow? These are the kind of questions that haunt me
Fine, Mary. I will try Wolf Hall again! You donтАЩt have to be so pushy. :)
Ha! (Hope you like it.....)
Just looked up Wolf Hall - on the reading list it goes! So interested in Cromwell and More.
That's true. But even in a challenging book, something needs to motivate us to keep turning pages, even if it's just to answer the question "What's the hype about?"
I've a feeling we are actually saying the same thing! Good to chat with you here, Sonal.
Agreed! Nice chatting with you as well!
Oh it was more of a query into the heavens than an asking for тАЬhowтАЭ? IтАЩm rarely dissatisfied with my reading choices. Always something to glean. Thanks for the response, Sonal! I think we have the same outlook!
i know, Lee. Should have "replied" elsewhere as I was responding to Sonal, not you.
Oh I was responding to Sonal too, mary. My confusing responses
I just finished Wharton's The Age of Innocence, which I found in a free box in my neighborhood, and which I loved far more than I thought I would. Right before that, I read Everett Percival's Dr. No, which I thought I was going to love (like I did his book The Trees) and which I found as a remainder at Powells, the large bookstore near me, the book was okay, good enough to get through, but not something I loved, like the Wharton . You're right, it's tough to know what books will bring you joy. I don't think one can know until they've started to read the book, or maybe with some books halfway through the book.
Ah! That's the mystery Lee. 'Informed instinct' plays a role in teeing me up to decide 'I'll like that' or 'I won't like that'. Then there's the old opportunity cost to be factored in I guess (somewhere in the back rooms of my mind where Rob's Numb Skulls lurk and work away) keeping me alert to the danger that too many reads in too tight a timescale will likely be, well, numbing!
Rob's Numb Skull Elixir and Apothecary Cream has a nice ring to it..... or is it the sound of a snake rattle?
Rob's Preparations are guaranteed free of the least trace of snake oil.