Getting the most out of reading?

[Lover]

Hi :wave: I garner immense pleasure from reading and I spend a great deal of my time reading, but I still feel that I am not getting as much out of it intellectually as I would if I were... smart :blush2:. I would not go so far as to say I am veritably dumb, but I am pretty much average (and average is not all that smart), but I notice that a lot of y'all are above average (major understatement) and I am hoping you could guide me to read literature the way it is supposed to be read. I am sorry if this does not make sense, bye! :leaving:

[Michael T]

Hi :wave: I garner immense pleasure from reading and I spend a great deal of my time reading, but I still feel that I am not getting as much out of it intellectually as I would if I were... smart :blush2:. I would not go so far as to say I am veritably dumb, but I am pretty much average (and average is not all that smart), but I notice that a lot of y'all are above average (major understatement) and I am hoping you could guide me to read literature the way it is supposed to be read. I am sorry if this does not make sense, bye! :leaving:

Help is at hand...

Go immediately to the 'Reading in the bath' thread. :smilewinkgrin:

[Charles Darnay]

This is an interesting "problem" - and I use the word lightly because I don't think you actually have a problem here. There seems to be a thought that if you more academically you approach literature, the more you enjoy it -and this is not really the case.

Getting "more enjoyment" out of literature really just means thinking more about it. You could read "passively" - just read a book, enjoy it, move on - and there's nothing wrong with that. But what you seem to be striving towards is reading with thought. And so all you really have to do is maybe slow down at parts, re-read sections to see if anything unusual is at play - and reflect. Start with moments that really make you stop and go "hmmm" or some other expression....and ask yourself why?

then of course there is the academic side to things. Doing research to see if scholars have written about the book you are reading and provided insight into it. I (and I can only speak for myself here) don't tend to do that with every book I read, but there are some books (such as Ulysses) that I found my "enjoyment" increased by the secondary sources that I read.

Hope some of this helps!


Help is at hand...

Go immediately to the 'Reading in the bath' thread. :smilewinkgrin:

And this is also a good idea.

[JBI]

Everyone is an average reader - that is why the texts are so powerful themselves.

If only an "elevated" talent could read, the books would probably lose their appeal.

That being said, education is still necessary for a sort of understanding. Likewise context generally helps.

Reading Blake as a kid is different than what I am doing now, for instance, in that I missed the big picture by a long shot (which happens when you only read Songs of Innocence and Experience and miss the bigger issues that he deals with in things like America, the French Revolution, and The Marriage Between Heaven and Hell in between, not to mention other more confused works). Simply put, there is a great deal behind books that one must tune one's ear to.

If you really want to learn how to read, you probably need to slow down and think; why are you reading, and what do you think is in the book. It's a form of exploration after all, like learning a new language, so it should be difficult at first.

Likewise many readers miss things because they stick within one genre, and do not need criticism - that restricts as well.

Getting the most is always a struggle, because good texts are not possibly digested in full - one always, for instance, has something new that can be enjoyed from something as large and powerful as Milton's Paradise Lost, or something as small and outwardly simple as Blake's Sick Rose.

If you want to learn how to read, my advice is to approach reading like a language - learn the rules, the terms, and then look for the particular functions - how argument develops, how items relate, how plot develops, or how characters change.

Likewise, learn terms to express these notions; once the critical vocabulary is understood, figuring out what is what becomes easier, and you will find you are able to get into the work more thoroughly - reading becomes second nature.

Generally, the more you read, the more certain things make sense. One can figure things out, which takes more work, or one can have things explained, which is sometimes preferable.

[Michael T]

When buying or lending books, attempt to get copies with good introductions and notes.
Here in the UK we have books published by Penguin which provide copious amounts of both and also further reading lists. Perhaps some forum member from the USA could provide information on any equivalent publishers there. I seem to recall that Norton were good for that. :)

[JBI]

Um, about the above post, what? Victoria came to the throne well after the time of Blake.

Besides which, Blake is the most reclusive and evasive of the Great Romantics and didn't really hit success in his own time.

If anything he is playing with the implications of the rise of empire and the revolutions in the States and in France in his own mythological world.

[Michael T]

Um, about the above post, what?

Sorry JBI my bad!:blush:To be honest I never was much of a fan of Blake - just had a vague memory of Holy Thursday and thought it might be a good example to use.

[Drkshadow03]

I find my book blog in which I write a post for each book I read is actually very helpful.

It allows me to write down my thoughts on a book, which naturally forces one to think a little more deeply about the book, it provides a convenient reference for me to look at it again years/months later to jog my memory, and occasionally people comment and tell me I'm wrong or I'm missing something important, which allows me to correct my errors. Or they tell me why they enjoyed a book I disliked or thought was just okay, which at the very least gives me another perspective. Or it's a student who tells me they used my website to do their homework, which always makes me laugh.

I agree with JBI that delving into criticism can't hurt.

[JBI]

I find my book blog in which I write a post for each book I read is actually very helpful.

It allows me to write down my thoughts on a book, which naturally forces one to think a little more deeply about the book, it provides a convenient reference for me to look at it again years/months later to jog my memory, and occasionally people comment and tell me I'm wrong or I'm missing something important, which allows me to correct my errors. Or they tell me why they enjoyed a book I disliked or thought was just okay, which at the very least gives me another perspective. Or it's a student who tells me they used my website to do their homework, which always makes me laugh.

I agree with JBI that delving into criticism can't hurt.
True, but just as a recommendation, if you are new to criticism, it may be best to start with texts written before 1970 if you are not versed in theoretical discussion. Something like Northrop Frye or Meyer Abrams would be a better place to start than the more chaotic theory-informed writings that take shape in the 70s and 80s.

I guess the trick to reading is to develop a personalized exegetical method, which usually takes time and experience, and changes drastically as one becomes more informed.

[osho]

Reading is fun and everybody is always a beginner though he might have a mountain of books and a legend of writing behind him. We all are not above average and are journeymen. Reading is an adventure and an untiring and unstoppable one and do it with several books unmindful about what others will have to advise since all else matters or anybody's opinions may matter little compared to your own taking on this course of reading literature.

[mal4mac]

Because I used to think I was smart I used to take too intellectual approach to books. I chose the hardest books (Kant, Joyce, Proust...) to try to prove to myself how smart I am. I would assiduously read notes from "great scholars" to try and make myself smarter. I was not enjoying my reading. Now I read authors like Tolstoy, Dickens, and Kipling. *Now * I get great pleasure from reading. To keep the pleasure flowing, I skip notes, or get editions with no notes, so I'm not bogged down by tedious scholarship.

[Scheherazade]

I chose the hardest books (Kant, Joyce, Proust...) to try to prove to myself how smart I am.But now you read Stephen King's books?

:D

[Abookinthebath]

Hi :wave: I garner immense pleasure from reading and I spend a great deal of my time reading, but I still feel that I am not getting as much out of it intellectually as I would if I were... smart :blush2:. I would not go so far as to say I am veritably dumb, but I am pretty much average (and average is not all that smart), but I notice that a lot of y'all are above average (major understatement) and I am hoping you could guide me to read literature the way it is supposed to be read. I am sorry if this does not make sense, bye! :leaving:

I'll echo this, its one of the reasons I joined!

I've not been here long, but certainly even looking through the various points of view of different contributors on the relative merits of authors and texts is an eye opener which has made me think differently.....

[kiki1982]

Being able to talk about books is one of the great enjoyments, though.

And, at times, it teaches you something. (referring to the smarter people who are studying lit here :D)

[osho]

This is a tricky topic. Getting the most out of what one is reading is something hard to put forth here. It mostly depends upon what stuff you are reading and if it is the novels of my choice like reading Gogol, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Tolstoy or Dickens is one thing and reading Milton or Homer or James Joyce is quite another. Out of the reading of the former ones I garner abundantly and out of the latter one I get very little and at times nothing. I have read James Joyce' two novels and several stories under Dubliners and among his works Ulysses has been too much tough and I must say honestly honestly I got little out of reading this all time great book.

I often switch to Economics and am fond of reading Adam Smith's the Wealth of Nations and though it is different disciplines I found it unputdownable.