1y ago

How do you read novels?

These past few months I've come back to reading novels for the first time, really, since I was a kid. I just read them an alternative to scrolling, though, so I don't really pay much attention. When I sit down to watch a film, I try to make sure my mind is clear, my environment is undistracting, and I try to watch observantly and engage on multiple levels. Not always easy to maintain that level of attention even for a 1.5-3h movie, to try to do so for a novel seems unreasonable. I've felt mostly indifferent about the novels I've been reading during this streak. I had one moment where I felt moved but I can't really speak eloquently as to why or how. I have too many goals that matter infinitely more to me to make becoming a more refined conscientious fiction reader a goal, but I'm curious by-the-by how other (more experienced?) people approaach their reading.

16 comments

I just read? On the bus, on the toilet, when trying to fall asleep, when bored, etc. It's a novel, not the critique of pure reason.
- Nobody has to take it seriously but I suspect it's more fun if they do. Some writers plot and foreshadow as baroquely as if they were building up a philosophical argument. I just read a review of a novel I'd read and the reviewer quoted some beautiful sentences I have no memory of.
  
  It's more about informational density and ease of comprehension. Imagine, instead of a flowery description, you have a set of axioms that redefine certain common technical terms, and the rest of the book is derived from those axioms. You can skip the description and most likely not lose too much of the story, but you won't go any further if you don't comprehend those axioms and the exact way those terms are redefined. So. get ready to read the same pages for a few hours while also looking up interpretations. It's an extreme example, but even the less literary challenged philosophers have me rereading parts many times before I'm done with the book.
  I just read a review of a novel I’d read and the reviewer quoted some beautiful sentences I have no memory of.
  I know that feeling. I've legit read some novels multiple times and discovered something new every time.
I find that reading actual paper books, or even on something closer to paper, like an e-ink screen, greatly helps my ability to focus on a book. Also, I usually read when/where I'd be able to focus on it.
Books aren't a 1 to 1 replacement for scrolling, because most "scrolling" content is bite sized and easily digestible, where books are usually written for people able to focus on them a bit more.
Voraciously.
My problem isn't sinking into a book, I can do that while lifting weights on a machine or getting head. The problem is getting out of the book long enough to move to the next machine or say nice things to the person doing their best to make me drop the book.
Mind you, not every machine is reading friendly, even in the age of tablets and dedicated ereaders. And you certainly don't want to try reading during other activities if the person or people involved aren't on board.
In other words, if people will leave me alone long enough, I can read anywhere and immerse myself deep enough that the real world falls away and my hyperphantasia (just what I call it) kicks in.
- My problem isn’t sinking into a book, I can do that while lifting weights on a machine or getting head.
  I just did that recently. Read a book while cycling (the stationary / exercise machine) and gave myself a very bad case of motion sickness. No reading while doing anything like that from now on 😀
I read books that are probably too young for me, but not like children’s books.
I’m a slow reader, I’ve always had difficulty with it, and as I read my mind wanders a lot, so something like the lord of the rings can be too much rangeants and imagery to really capture me.
I don’t bother with the books my wife reads, they’re at a level I don’t enjoy, she reads mostly modern fantasy like GRR Martin.
In a wingback chair, with a tumbler of whiskey.
Which is to say, I've built up a slow-burn ritual with sitting down to the novel as the last step/payoff. It helps get me in the right mood.
I need absolute quiet to read and it's taxing for me to read for long periods of time. However, I'm more an audio person, so I mostly listen to books, and if given the opportunity, I could listen to books all day.
My library uses Libby and Hoopla apps to provide access to ebooks on my phone so any time I'm tempted to look at my phone I make an effort to read instead of scroll social media.
The best opportunities are during lunch at work and in the hours before bed. I rarely get more than 20 minutes at a time and that would be on the weekends or on a vacation or something. Even if it's just a page or two it's still progress.
Keeping attention can be hard! Our devices are designed to grab our attention any chance it can so reading on them is convenient but not as immersive as a paper book imo. But over time I've gotten better with it
I wouldn’t say I’m an experienced reader, however I’ve been in a similar predicament trying to get back into reading.
On my iPhone I set up a focus mode that promotes reading during hours I’m typically at home with free time. What I’ve done is set a large reading widget front and center on the page with reading companion apps underneath with all of my social media/video apps are out of sight.
As for goals, I don’t really make any until I’ve had a couple books finished otherwise I force myself into finishing rather than concentrating on the material.
I have attention issues, so I have to sit in a distraction-free area. No noise of any kind. My wife can read in a war zone, bless her. But I mostly read non-fiction nowadays, because fiction gives me anxiety.
I’m not sure I entirely understand your question. I just sit down and read. I engage with the book much like I engaged with your post — I read the content, consider it, and move onto the next piece of content.
- I dunno, I just mean like, in a qualitative way. A painter just puts the paint on the canvas, mechanically speaking, but there's some idiosyncratic internal imagery going on as they make the decisions as to what goes where, right? Some people do things faster than others. I imagine some people read more by theme, maybe including reading several pieces on the same thing in sequence. Others read more by character. Some people see literature as being morally instructive, others as escapism. Some people are very sentimental and loving towards some aspect of a work and not an other. Some people re-read a lot. I actually re-read about half of a novel because I initially came into it with a lot of suspicion but as I became sympathetic to the protagonist and author midway through the book I wanted to go back and suck in what I'd already read with more generosity and love. We all do things a little differently, it's fun to hear about how folks do it.
  
  I don't think so deeply about it. I am like the poster above, just pick up the book and read it, just like you pick up the phone and read any post, before scrolling to the next.
  I did use to skim on most of the descriptions, so I would get the meat of the story, but not all the flowery imagery with it, but that was when I was more into finishing more books than actually enjoying them. Now I don't care about that, just focus on what I am reading and try to enjoy it.
I use my eyes.

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