I was wondering if anyone here did a whole lot of reading. (If so, favourite book(s)???) But yeah, that's not the point of the thread. One thing that I've been thinking a lot about lately is reading. I used to be way into it, though I can't really understand why, looking back. I could never really get into books. At least, not like it seems a lot of people get into them. And the older I get, the more I realize that I can't get into books. I used to have a ridiculously high reading level (college reading level in first or second grade). Now, whenever I attempt to read any kind of book, even something pleasurable or something that would be considered low-class fiction (Harry Potter springs to mind...), I can never really maintain focus on what I'm reading. When I actually can get through a page, I'll get to the bottom and realize that I don't have any idea what I just read. It's not like I'm not trying, because I would really like to start reading again like I used to. It's like this with almost everything too, from novels to magazines. It always feels like I'm missing out on a lot when I have to go through and sparknote books I'm supposed to be reading for class because I can't read the books themselves and actually take anything from them. So I guess what I'm trying to ask, has anyone gone through something like this? Anyone have any tips or tricks that they use to help gain comprehensive skills? Anything like that?
i think its related to the apparent memory problem you've described elsewhere. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/how-does-your-memory-work/
Ya dude, with the way your mind works, it's hard to see what you'd get out of reading. I visualize what I read constantly and my mind is transported to the scene I am reading about. If I can't visualize, I can't finish the book.
Yeah. I've sorta been realizing that even though I used to do a ton of reading and I've been trying to get back into it lately and everything, I don't really get anything out of what I read. So it's starting to seem like an enormous waste of time to me. Which is really sad. That Rule of The Bone book sounds super cool. I kindasorta need a credit card sometime so I can start getting books off Amazon or something. Our libraries around here blow.
So I've heard ;D I can read non-fiction books and stuff like that. I read National Geographic all the time. And all that stuff is fine for me. And I learn and everything. But fiction == epicfail
let me know if you read Rule of the Bone or anything by Russell Banks. your library might have SOMETHING by him
I like how you claim to have college reading level in first grade and you aren't even college age yet. I go through phases of reading for my own enjoyment and I will pick it up eventually but with work and my favorite hobby guitar, I only have enough time to read my college books for school. I don't even get through all those alot of the time.
I read a lot, I would much rather read non-fiction, poetry, philosophy over fictional stories. I just finished The Lords and the New Creatures : Jim Morrison and I am reading Woody Allen by Stig Bjorkman. I don't like to have favorites, but Some good authors though are Augusten Burroughs, Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is one of my tops... haha), William S. Burroughs... I love me some Allen Ginsberg.........
i can read a book, my problem is getting a third of the way through it and dropping it. favorite book i've read for fun probabaly brave new world. i'm trying to read food of the gods by terrence mckenna, good but hard to follow alot of the time.
I love reading. I read way more comics and graphic novels, but I do prefer books over any medium. That being said, I can't pay attention to any book that doesn't draw me in. Either a good writing style, introduction, or something that strikes my curiosity beforehand is required for me to be able to read a book. My suggestion would be to try reading books that your favorite movies or shows are based on, or to read the first page or two before even trying to read a book. I also suggest trying books that are a bit older, cause most prose today is very very bland.
Im always reading something, recently got msot of Irvene Welshs books, reading Marabou Stork Nightmares at the moment, Ive always loved his immersive graphic writing style. Loved reading since I could read by myself and before that my dad would read to me for half an hour or so each night, actually he did this until I was about 8 :tongue:
I read CONSTANTLY... I mostly read books that have to do with history, religion, paranormal, conspiracy. The last full book I read was "The Cosmic Connection" by Carl Sagan and right now I am reading this...really strange book called "Dolphins, Extraterrestrials, Angels: Adventures among Spiritual Intelligences" by Timothy Wyllie. Its really blowing my mind. Very strange book.
I'll probably go check in one of the libraries in a city near here. I'm pretty certain that they wouldn't have anything in the school or local libraries. There's a pretty good sized library in Lansing though, on MSU campus. Schools use reading aptitude assignment programs where you take a test and answer various questions based on vocab, grammar, and things like that. They then take the average scores that a person of first grade gets, a person of second grade, and so on, up to college. That's how they categorize the different scores. So when you take the test in elementary school, they give you a printout full of information that tells your strengths and weaknesses in reading, and also the level that you read at. http://www.renlearn.com/sr/ I'm like that nowadays. I haven't finished a book on my own accord for quite some time (except for The Martian Chronicles, which I had to force myself through, even though it was a relatively short book (and one I actually quite enjoyed.)) Although, now that I think about it, I read 'Misery' too (by Stephen King). I've actually got Brave New World sitting in my books-to-read pile. I've tried reading books that sound interesting. And they're interesting. But I still can't get drawn into them. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are the only two authors that have actually got me to feel any sort of emotion through their writing. At least, the only two that come to mind. I've got an extensive list of books that I want to get around to reading. I'll list them. I can never decide which one to start next, so they're all just sorta sitting around. - Lord of The Rings Trilogy - Watership Down - The Idiot - On The Road - The Republic - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - King Lear - The Fountainhead - Atlas Shrugged - The Talisman - Broca's Brain - Brave New World - Old Man and the Sea - Dune - Needful Things - Shadows Of Forgotten Ancestors Yeahhh. That's a lot of books that I haven't got around to reading. Any of those in there something you'd strongly recommend?
Actually the only ones I've read (King Lear and Brave New World) I would NOT recommend to people who are trying to pick up reading at all. On the Road is on my to read list =D What are some of your favorite movies? I want to see if I can think of anyone whose writing can keep my attention that fits your taste, and all I'm getting from this list is you're intellectual (aside from the LOTR )
brave new world for sure, that book rules. i think i read it in one night. stranger in a strange land by robert heinlein is great... if you want to experience ecstacy without taking the drug read this book
really? king lear i can understand, but brave new world? that book is fascinatingly interesting to anyone with even a little bit of interest in future worlds/alternate worlds/science fiction. not to mention the society in this is millions of times more complex and interesting than that in 1984, and everyone seems to love that book.
