In your experience, was that ability to read through difficult texts acquired or was it innate? I am sure it gets better with practice, but is there a pattern behind understanding?
I know that understanding symbolism, metaphors, and other literary techniques come through practice. But what about understanding the sentences? I find myself having trouble understanding what the author is saying in a literal sense, let alone the meaning behind it (which I know are related). Right now I am trying to read Nietzsche's Zarathustra but I cannot grasp most of it. And I do not think that he is one of the most difficult writers out there. And when I do understand what he says, I do not know if he is being serious or if he is mocking the reader. Similarly, I have not understood Homer, Dante, Foucault, and others. So instead of getting frustrated and giving up, I'm trying to understand how people have managed before me.
I've looked for answers online but found only unsatisfactory ones (read twice, summarize, highlight main points, paraphrase). Are those answers enough? In my experience, if you cannot read it or understand something different, reading it several times will not make you understand it better. Reading more books has not been given me any signs of improvement either.
Is the ability to comprehend innate? Are some people just born with it? Or is there a systematic way of learning?
Once you can understand everything Shakespeare, can you understand Friedrich Nietzsche, Henry James, and James Joyce? I know some are more difficult than others, but do they all have the same basic principle behind them or is each author unique in that sense?
Should I just start with easier books and slowly move up? (Which ones would those be?) And how does one build up on it? Buying annotated books and then trying to figure it out by myself with practice? Discussing it with friends? Help would be appreciated
I hope that the preamble filters answers like: "Each author is unique. You cannot simplify literature to that. You must read closely. Those books are filled with references" I am sure you know what I mean instead. Otherwise, tell me so and I will try and clarify.
So the two big questions I'm asking are:
1) How can I understand the literal surface?
2) How can I understand the meaning behind it?
Thanks people,
Yer