I think I may be losing my ability to enjoy reading

[ScribbleScribe]

I think I may be losing my ability to enjoy reading. The last book I read…The Stand by Stephen King…took me 3 months to finish. I am a very tenacious reader, so even if I hate a book, I will finish it.

But, I am tired of reading things I hate. I'm tired of reading things that are boring and dry. I'm tired of reading shallow novels that have lack of depth and writing ability in them. I'm tired of forcing myself to read.

I don't know what I want to read, but, it's not been what I've been reading lately. I need something good, not excessively hard, something that keeps my attention, and yet something with depth and beauty of language. I need something that's not technically dry like a sci fi novel or military thriller. Something without deus ex machinas in it, or cliches. Something that makes me feel like I've been challenged, without making me feel like I'm slogging through something unenjoyable. Something original, and thoughtful. Something that accurately and insightfully collects the human experience and reflects it back at me, instead of a pale imitation that doesn't measure up.

I'm probably asking for something that is too complicated to express in words. I'm not sure if someone on this forum will reccomend me something that fits. It's worth a shot though.

[lichtrausch]

even if I hate a book, I will finish it.

The obvious first step you should take is to give up this rule. Life is too short to spend hours and hours reading a book of no interest (or one you even hate!) just to satisfy some dogmatic principle to finish everything you start.

[Marbles]

You might be feeling burnt out if you have been reading voraciously before this set in. When this happens even topics which hitherto gave you immense pleasure become dull and boring. It doesn't mean you have lost interest in reading; it just means your brain is refusing to admit words your eyes scan for it. The only way to get over it is to let it pass till you again feel the urge to pick a book. If you love books you'll be reading them again. It may take a while though. A couple of years ago I had to go without books - and even without magazines and journals - for full six months before I could read again.

Or it might be that you have a very busy and mind-consuming daily schedule which leaves you with very little brain time to read and enjoy books?

[Vota]

It's definitely the refusal to stop reading a book even if you don't like it that's causing your burnout. Don't do this. It's a stupid rule. I tried to be like this for awhile and it makes reading a godamn chore.

If I read a book and its slow, I can accept that. If its an utter slog, has no redeeming qualities, or just flat out cannot grab my attention then I sell it. I'm at the point that if I read a book and can't ever see myself truly wanting to re-read it, then I sell it because I only have so much space for books.

You're not asking for something too complicated. I can recommend a book I recently read that wasn't what I would call challenging, but it did have clear, clean prose, a fairly interesting story considering the subject matter, and was intelligent, but not too highbrow. Its called Stoner by John Williams. It's not a happy book, but its a solid read.

You might also consider some classics like War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, things like that, if you haven't already read them. There are tons of great books out there.

I don't want to come off sounding pretentious, but one step in being a good reader is in knowing how to pre-select books that you are going to read. There's a book called "How To Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler. One of the things it teaches is how to rapidly scan books to see if you'd be really interested in reading it. A couple things are to read the title. Any significance? Then flip to the inside cover if its a hardcover because these are usually highly informative as to what the book is about. The back of the book usually presents a brief blurb about the book. Check the table of contents if it has one. By this point I almost always know whether I want to give a book a chance or not, but if I'm still not sure I randomly read a paragraph here and there to assess the writing style to some degree.

I know that sounds kinda duh, but having a process each time you pick up a book makes you extremely good at judging a book by its cover, so to speak.

I can't help you with not liking The Stand as I remember loving it, but I read it like 10 years ago so I don't know if it is still up to my current standards.

I can list off some books I have read that can be challenging, are well written, and generally have nice prose:

1. The Iliad- Robert Fagles or Richmond Lattimore translations, Fagles for force and verve, Lattimore for beauty and stateliness
2. The Odyssey- Robert Fagles or Robert Fitzgerald
3. Of Mice and Men
4. Moby Dick
5. Crime and Punishment
6. Notes From Underground
7. War and Peace
8. The Cossacks
9. Gulliver's Travels
10. Gargantua and Pantagruel(only read the first 1/4 or so, but its hilarious and really deep in some ways.)
11. Paradise Lost
12. Hamlet
13. Oedipus the King
14. The Jungle
15. The Old Man and the Sea
16. Brave New World
17. The Autobiography of John Stuart Mill
18. The Sorrows of Young Werther
19. Death In Venice

These are all works I have read within the past two years that I think sort of fit into your criteria. There are so many books out there. There are more books that you would probably love to read than you will ever find the time to read. I get anxious before each new work I read because that time element is always present. I don't want to waste my time reading crap. Now, something doesn't have to be profound or amazingly written for it for it to not qualify as crap, it just has to entertain or enlighten me. I try to mix in works of science fiction and fantasy every few books or plays for sheer pleasure, but prefer to spend my time reading quality literature.

I dunno. Check a few of these out and see if any of them look like something you would want to read.

[Pompey Bum]

I'm a dissenting voice in that I keep the rule about finishing every book, but you should only make that a rule for yourself if you want to--if it's important to you for some reason that you do that. Whether you decide to keep the rule or not, Vota is correct that you need to have a system for deciding whether to start a book. There are lots of ways to do that, so just find something that works for you. Another suggestion is to try non-fiction for a while. I read history to the exclusion of everything else for a period of maybe seven or eight years before I got back into literature. Or maybe just take a break and listen to music for a while. Whatever you do, don't make yourself hate reading. It's just too wonderful a thing to have in life. Good luck!

[sandy14]

I recommend Ian Banks - or Iain M Banks - The Crow Road, A Song of Stone, The Bridge or The Player of Games (a nice SF novel) might be good.

Perhaps a Richard Harris thriller such as Enigma - which neatly balanced historical events with a thriller - certainly it's a rollocking good read, which has a bit more depth than most.

Jack Kerouac's Desolation Angels or Dharma Bums might also work

Oh, and then there's J G Ballard - Empire of the Sun, Supercannes or Cocaine Nights might suit.

[free]

I know this feeling, Scribble. When I finished my university study (literature) I was so much tired with reading that it took me months to start reading again. Make a pause or try books on physics. They help me a lot to reorganise my mind and read belletristic again.

[YesNo]

I rarely finish books. Sometimes I start skimming if I think I should continue for some reason. I don't even finish all of the movies I've rented. Even if I do finish a book, I wonder if I really understood it.

[Vota]

There's nothing wrong with having a rule that you finish every book you read, as long as it doesn't take away from your overall enthusiasm for reading.

I'm currently reading The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, and it is quite enjoyable, but it isn't what I would call fast paced or incredibly fascinating, but I pull 15-20 pages a day and its nearing completion. The book is about 420 pages long and will have taken me about a month to finish, whereas I read War and Peace in 3 weeks at +1500 pages, but I'm still glad to have slowly lumbered through this book.

[ennison]

Read to enjoy then you won't have to ask yourself if you "understood" it. A few heavier items scattered across the months in among light fiction and interesting non-fiction will work wonders for your reading and your READING. And I agree very much with reading the likes of Harris ... or Grisham for thrillers. Not brain taxing but fun and brain gripping.

[ScribbleScribe]

You might be feeling burnt out if you have been reading voraciously before this set in. When this happens even topics which hitherto gave you immense pleasure become dull and boring.

This may be what is happening to me. Right now I'm reading a piece of victorian literature…The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and I'm finding it rather…erm…shallow and dull. I mean, who cares about a plot centered around a self-serving cruel hedonistic protagonist?

Mayhap I just don't like cruel people and the cruelty and vanity I am seeing in this book is turning me off.

Usually though I adore Victorian Literature.

I might be overloading myself.

[ScribbleScribe]

The obvious first step you should take is to give up this rule. Life is too short to spend hours and hours reading a book of no interest (or one you even hate!) just to satisfy some dogmatic principle to finish everything you start.

I am happy to report that I've given up on this rule. Life is too short to finish a book that is terrible.

[Pompey Bum]

Welcome back, Scribble. I'm still finishing off all comers, but of course you need to follow your own course.

[Pike Bishop]

I think I may be losing my ability to enjoy reading. The last book I read…The Stand by Stephen King…took me 3 months to finish. I am a very tenacious reader, so even if I hate a book, I will finish it.

But, I am tired of reading things I hate. I'm tired of reading things that are boring and dry. I'm tired of reading shallow novels that have lack of depth and writing ability in them. I'm tired of forcing myself to read.

I don't know what I want to read, but, it's not been what I've been reading lately. I need something good, not excessively hard, something that keeps my attention, and yet something with depth and beauty of language. I need something that's not technically dry like a sci fi novel or military thriller. Something without deus ex machinas in it, or cliches. Something that makes me feel like I've been challenged, without making me feel like I'm slogging through something unenjoyable. Something original, and thoughtful. Something that accurately and insightfully collects the human experience and reflects it back at me, instead of a pale imitation that doesn't measure up.

I'm probably asking for something that is too complicated to express in words. I'm not sure if someone on this forum will reccomend me something that fits. It's worth a shot though.

I wouldn't say you're asking for something too complicated. However, you could be holding out for that dream prince/princess of a book that may not exist, while precluding yourself from excellent novels that you may still enjoy. I will try to address all of your pre-requisites.

1. I almost always demand "depth and beauty of language as well," and have, myself found Finnegan's Wake to be "excessively hard" (for me, at least). However, many of my favorite books are ones that demanded a high level of my effort and patience. My top ten of those novels are:

Ulysses
Gravity's Rainbow
The Golden Bowl--Henry James
Jacob's Room--Virginia Wolf
The Lime Twig--John Hawkes
The Dead Father--Donald Barthelme
The Sot-Weed Factor--John Barth
Tristram Shandy--Laurence Sterne
La Jalousie--Alain Robbe-Grillet
Molloy--Samuel Beckett

2. Many great sci-fi novels aren't technically dry, are original and thoughtful, and do accurately and insightfully collect the human experience and reflects it back at the reader. Here are ten of them:

Solaris--Stanislaw Lem
Neuromancer--William Gibson
Snow Crash--Neal Stephenson
Pattern Recognition--William Gibson
The Diamond Age--Neal Stephenson
Blood Music--Greg Beat
Tea From an Empty Cup--Pat Cadigan
The Bone Clocks--David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas--David Mitchell
Ghostwritten--David Mitchell

So, while I'm not even sure how many novels I've read that meet your demanding standards, there are many of them out there that meet many of them.

[Pike Bishop]

This may be what is happening to me. Right now I'm reading a piece of victorian literature…The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and I'm finding it rather…erm…shallow and dull. I mean, who cares about a plot centered around a self-serving cruel hedonistic protagonist?

I love texts about self-serving cruel hedonistic protagonists. What that says about me, I have no idea. Here are ten of my faves:

1. Hamlet--William Shakespeare
2. Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2--William Shakespeare
3. Don Juan--Lord Byron
4. The Great Gatsby--F. Scott Fitzgerald.
5. Absalom, Absalom (it has 2 of them)--William Faulkner
6. Madame Bovary--Gustave Flaubert
7. Sabbath's Theater--Philip Roth
8. A Hero of Our Time--Mikhail Lermontov
9. Querelle--Jean Genet
10. My Life as a Man--Philip Roth

# Movies:
1. Vertigo--Alfred Hitchcock
2. La Dolce Vita--Frederico Fellini
3, The Postman Always Rings Twice--Tay Garnett
4. Barry Lyndon--Stanley Kubrick
5. Raging Bull--Martin Scorsese
6. Hud--Martin Ritt
7. Elmer Gantry--Richard Brooks
8. A Face in the Crowd--Elia Kazan
9. Crimes and Misdemeanors--Woody Allen
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off--John Hughes

[bounty]

...But, I am tired of reading things I hate. I'm tired of reading things that are boring and dry. I'm tired of reading shallow novels that have lack of depth and writing ability in them. I'm tired of forcing myself to read.

I don't know what I want to read, but, it's not been what I've been reading lately...

I'm not sure if someone on this forum will reccomend me something that fits. It's worth a shot though.

scribble, have you thought of finding some books that inspired movies you really enjoyed, and then reading those? that seems almost a safe bet...

[Pike Bishop]

scribble, have you thought of finding some books that inspired movies you really enjoyed, and then reading those? that seems almost a safe bet...

I don't know if that's such a safe bet. Some of the best movies were adaptations of some pretty mediocre-to-poor novels and/or short stories. Here are some examples:

1. The Godfather & Godfather 2
2. Jaws
3. The Exorcist
4. Rear Window
5. The Graduate
6. American Psycho
7. The Birds
8. Dr. Strangelove
9. The Searchers
10. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

All those excellent films came from poor-quality books. So, choosing books based on the outstanding movies they produced can lead one from the cinematic penthouse to the literary outhouse quite quickly.

[Eiseabhal]

It's been a few months now since the opening post and it would be interesting to hear if the impasse was broken and how. Reading should only be a chore for students who have to imbibe from dry academic texts. If there is a season when reading feels like a chore then leave it for a while. I know that with some of us the season might stretch out for a long time but there are other things to do than read. Buy an electronic chessboard. Get tuition in a musical instrument, a foreign language. Start growing things. Fill your head with interesting facts from non-fiction. Take up jogging. Get a dog. Take up geocaching. Don't slump in front of the tv.

[bounty]

sure---i'll buy that some worthy movies may have been inspired by some mediocre novels, so there is still an element of having to choose wisely.

by contrast though, ive enjoyed a fair number of books that have been on par with their movie version. some contemporary best seller types (Clancy with hunt for red October, and patriot games. grisham with the firm, and the pelican brief) and the ya fantasy (harry potter) and dystopian literature (hunger games) come to mind too.

[Pike Bishop]

Yes, but none of those books even come close to meeting the standards of high-quality literary novels the OP said s/he desired in his or her opening post. I'm aware you think pretty much any fiction is literature, but, as I showed in my last post, most great movies do not point back to great literary novels. They usually point back to the well-crafted, but non-complex, plainly-written, and non literary books you mentioned.

[ScribbleScribe]

I wouldn't say you're asking for something too complicated. However, you could be holding out for that dream prince/princess of a book that may not exist,

You may very well be right, and..you know what? The Picture of Dorian Gray did win me over in the end. I now think the entire thing was perfect, but deserving of a re-read because of philosophical parts I didn't quite grasp. The ending was…well, breathtaking for me.

It may be that because of my depression I get into stages where I'm not enjoying things. :(

Then again, I've been stuck on Dean Koontz, independent books written by sexist Reddit authors and Manga for so long that I may have become jaded. Thankfully I've worked through my list of those authors and don't plan on torturing myself anymore. It has caused me to learn what I don't like to read. (popular formulaic fiction)

It's just so hard to find books that aren't voted the best books by popular vote…the voters of which do not read much. :/

Several of the books you reccomended me look like they might a good read. I thank you for them.

[Pike Bishop]

My pleasure.

[lichtrausch]

It's just so hard to find books that aren't voted the best books by popular vote…the voters of which do not read much. :/

The voters of this list are some of the most well-read people in the world. The result is decent, but still flawed (heavy bias towards Western writers.)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews

[ScribbleScribe]

The voters of this list are some of the most well-read people in the world. The result is decent, but still flawed (heavy bias towards Western writers.)

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews


Now that's what I call a list! Although, still popular pieces of classical writing, there are quite a few entries on there that I don't have written down on my classic to-read list. Thanks!