I’m always amazed to see how some of my friends are just able to read any book recommended to them with no hesitation at all; whereas with me, I need to research what kind of book it is, what ideas the book will be wrestling with, the author and their writing style. Like currently, I am struggling to give “Being and Time” by Martin Heidegger a try as I am more of a fan of Bertrand Russel and analytical philosophy which seems to be scientific in nature – especially when compared to that of Heidegger, so I’ve heard. I feel that if I am spending my time reading something, that I should come away at the end of the book having learned something of value (to me, that’s a pretty subjective statement). I think this is a good thing, as just about every book I’ve chosen to read has been an enlightening and somewhat euphoric experience that cannot be replaced. I wonder though, does anyone else relate?
If it’s a recommendation to “just get through it, it’s worth it” then yeah I can force a book. Generally I read fiction, but this rule is kind of universal for me:
I will give you 1 to 3 chapters. If I’m not seeing potential or really enjoying myself, I’m out.
I like to read about 2 books a month, and if I don’t like it I read much more slowly.
I will pick something up without knowing anything about it, but I am pretty quick to give up on a book if I don’t like it.
One time this backfired on me : I started the book ‘Gone Girl’ and gave up in the first chapter because I couldn’t stand the smug yuppie narrator. Later I saw the movie and read other books by the same author. I realized she was really good at creating unlikeable characters.
Ah I see, I sort of like reading things I disagree with; even in fiction. (I am extremely picky with fiction.) I find it more interesting to argue with characters in my head or in journals and sometimes they might poke holes in my belief system that I have to think about in order to patch it up – if it can be. It seems to be more rewarding to read unlikable characters; do you agree?
If you’re looking for an unlikeable character, allow me to introduce you to General Sir Harry Flashman, VC.
Rapist, slave owner, coward, bully, thief, and general poltroon. The perfect antidote for pious heroes like Horatio Hornblower.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/flashman-george-macdonald-fraser/11179260?ean=9780452259614
Well, I am intrigued! I’ll give it a look; thank you!
enjoy
I’m willing to try any book - if I can find it at my local library. But, if I’m not captured within the first couple of chapters, I’ll stop reading.
Last book I dropped was Red Rising. It was recommended to me by a friend who I convinced to start reading Sanderson, so i figured it was worth a try. Turns out I’m not a fan of the edgy YA fiction, Hunger Games but Horny and Violent genre.
I’m not a fan of fiction in general; but especially YA fiction; did you ever like YA fiction when you were younger, and have outgrown the genre or has it never really been your thing?
Growing up, sure, I enjoyed Hunger Games and a handful of others. But my least favorite trope of all time is the Myers Briggs Proxy that Sorts You Into a Clique Forever. Houses, Guilds, Colors, whatever it is, I hate it. But that’s just my personal taste.
There’s so much great fiction out there. I’m a sucker for a sci fi or fantasy epic series.
lol heidegger is one of the most notoriously cryptic writers ever
that, and he was a nazi https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/is-heidegger-contaminated-by-nazism
Very true, but I figured it can’t be that much more difficult than reading Robert Burton’s compendium “The Anatomy of Melancholy.” And that is true, I read that in the introduction of the copy I have, which is interesting. How do you feel about it? Apparently it is a very polarizing work.
The books I read are probably a lot lighter than the ones you’re talking about, but I definitely am choosey with the ones I do pick up.
I’m pickier about petty things in fiction but it’s because cliches and shorthands rip me out of the flow of reading. I refuse to read a fiction book with too many apostrophes on the first page because that usually indicates the author spent more time on world building and making the elves/aliens different than writing a decent story and I’ll spend more time being distracted than invested. Another one that annoys me that I forget the name of is using strange words when a normal one would do, like younglings instead of children.
Non fiction-wise, I’ll do a little more research on if the author is a horrible person, like I wouldn’t read a book by Jordan Peterson (not trying to drum up politics, just getting that recommendation from a former friend was a sign of them disappearing into the far right) if it were recommended to me, as a low hanging example. Getting a gist of the overall ideas of the book to make sure I’m not walking into known BS territory is usually on the list as well.
When I do find a good book, it’s great, but separating wheat from chaff has definitely slowed and reduced my reading.
That is interesting, you don’t find that world building further engulfs you in the setting; or is it that when world building is overdone? I see this complaint a lot with The Lord of the Rings, and agree that it can be overdone – however I do feel that verbose world building done right can be extremely immersive. What do you think? Do you prefer simple settings and descriptions? We might differ on vocabulary usage, I find that learning new words in fiction can be a bit fun, though distracting, to your point; but I find overusing normal words can be a dull and banal experience. Do you like sprinkles of strange words in small dosages or do you prefer just normal words with as little honeyed words as possible?
I can agree with you there – I am not a big fan of Peterson myself, even before becoming a fan of Destiny and Dawkins; but I do find myself more engaged when reading things I disagree with to strengthen my arguments and worldview. Have you ever had this experience?
I agree – especially after a particularly good book, it can be hard to find something to follow up with!
Two scifi book series I’ve enjoyed are the Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie and the Bobiverse by Dennis E Taylor.
The former has a lot of names and history, but the thing that I really enjoyed about it was the concept of ancillary, a human that has been turned into part of a ship’s AI. The idea of being just a piece of a being, what it’s like to be separated from that, what the legal ramifications would be for an ancillary, and so forth, were absolutely brilliant. That premise was still handled with simple vocabulary. In the rest of the story, there were a bunch of names that were hard to get a handle on, but otherwise the world building was interesting and how the different parts of culture and history that were important to the story were presented. I don’t remember many of the details, though, and only one name. It’s the interesting concepts that stuck with me.
On the other hand, the Bobiverse is about a cryogenically frozen guy that gets brought back as a self-replicating probe. His name is Bob. All of his replicas are called Bobs until they start giving themselves other names to help differentiate the ones that drifted away from the original spec. There are several secondary plots that are easily summed up and I remember a lot more of them: fights against other replicating probe groups, how a being that can’t forget can heal psychological trauma, the saving of a catlike sentient race from their dying planet, how an immortal being dealt with falling in love and the in laws that come with that, watching and protecting a primitive civilization without becoming a god, exploring a ring world filled with otter-like people, the weight of the differing opinions of all the Bobs and the schisms that happen. And aside from the names of the aliens, the language was pretty mundane. Some of the alien individuals are given handles that are easy to remember, like a smart one gets dubbed Archimedes. It was simply less work to store the details when they’re familiar.
Radch series is by far the one I enjoyed more, but also the one that I don’t remember nearly as much about. Radch also was much more literary, for lack of a better word, and I really enjoy the elevated writing in it, too, but the enjoyment of that sort of thing is usually much more fleeting.
As for non fiction, engaging with ideas I disagree with it text form is unsatisfying because I can’t drill into any of the specifics or get clarification; it covers exactly the parts of ideas the author finds convincing, usually cherry picks citations, and goes at the author’s pace. And if I find an issue with any of the fundamentals, none of what’s build on that foundation carries much weight. So for being challenged, I prefer conversations with people that want to explore and test ideas as opposed to win an argument or defend their viewpoint as the right one. But finding that is very, very rare.
Most of the nonfiction I read then is usually pop science like Nature’s Nether Regions by Menno Schilthuizen, about some of the weirder things sexual selection and evolutionary pressures have done to reproduction. I tend to avoid prescriptive non fiction as there’s so much chaff. A podcast I listen to called If Books Could Kill tears into some of the type I’m thinking about with a focus on “airport books” like Blink or Omnivore’s Dilemma. There are some less fun things I read, but I get the information I want from them and leave the rest.
Thanks for the interesting prompts!
I feel like I am the pickiest reader I know. I prefer reading light, humorous type books. But as it turns out, writing things that are genuinely funny is a difficult ask; generally, at least to me, a lot of “funny” writing comes off as trying too hard and failing miserably.
I will also just stop reading whatever if the book has any one of several items that piss me off. This includes, but is not limited to: bad/unrealistic dialogue, unnecessary romance/sex, cliche or unrealistic plots, or unlikable characters that I am supposed to root for.
I have started so many books - ones that were recommended by trusted friends or that were on a bestsellers list - only to put them down within the first few chapters because I just couldn’t stand whatever the book was doing or trying to do.
I’m actually genuinely sad I don’t enjoy reading more, but I refuse to slog through books that I just don’t like, so the end result is that I don’t read very much. It’s frustrating.
This is totally valid and understandable. Do you find yourself feeling this way in media as well; like TV shows or movies? BoJack Horseman comes to mind when you mentioned unlikable characters you are supposed to root for. I can’t say that I’ve had that experience within a book but I do find myself in certain shows rooting for some characters that are assholes or unlikable.
I can’t say that I have found much humorous works – though I haven’t particularly looked for it. The best I can think of is Christopher Hitchens’ “Hitch 22” memoir having some funny moment in there. Do you have any recommendations?
I am the same way with not reading more. It is why I choose super thick books to try to make the experience last longer if I like it. I end up rereading the same things until I might stumble upon something else. Is there a book or some books you find yourself rereading for comfort or extended enjoyment? I imagine this might be more difficult with fiction.
I read things on here, so I guess I can’t be that picky.
I’ve been like that my whole life. Sometimes I’ll read a chapter or two and put it down if I don’t enjoy it.
I can’t even bring myself to do that – I feel like it would be time wasted and get mad at myself for not having better and faster judgement lol. Better than me for at least giving it a try instead of researching and deciding based on that alone!
I feel the same way about media in general. I see posts about the latest Steam Sale and people freaking out over “OMG! I just bought 40 games!” and my reaction is “So… do you just have no taste? Or you legit can’t tell what’s going to be good and what will be bad by what you can find out about it?”
You wouldn’t go to a bar and order 1 of everything, the same goes for media.
I’m the same way… especially with the MMO genre. It’s really sad but I just end up playing the same games these days.
Very good point lol, that is a great way to put it – I might have to steal that from ya next time I’m bickering with some gaming friends.
It’s not really a matter of poor taste, just unrealistic time management. There are way too many good games out there for me to ever actually play them all. I only played like half a dozen games last year. I bought…more than that.
I have a fairly large Steam catalog, most of which I have never played. However, I’m pretty sure they are almost all good games and I will definitely get around to some of them.
My bookshelf is similar. I’ve only read roughly half the books I have staring me in the face every day.
But on the plus side, anytime I’m bored, I have a wealth of options!
You wouldn’t
Well certainly not at once, but I’ve definitely made my way around the menu over time.
I’m not really picky with what I read. Problem is that my “to read” list is pretty long and is just getting longer so maybe I should be more picky.
That is pretty amazing – do you continue reading a book you don’t particularly like? It is hard for me to continue something that doesn’t captivate me; especially with fiction. Are you more of a fiction or non-fiction reader? Or both?
