/lit/ - Literature

>>13040218
I couldnt finish stranger in a stange land.

>>13040218
of course i'm dropping. I read because i get something from the books. If i don't get it then what's the point?

>>13040218
i try to make sure what im getting into before i start to read it, but I had to stop reading Capital twice now because I can't stand how it's written. everything else i've finished or I powered through, I hate leaving a book unfinished. it'll stay in the back of my mind until i finish it.

>>13040218
Well, I always read for pleasure, but never just for pleasure. If it’s tough to get through, but I feel like I’m still getting something from it, I usually push through, depending on how far in I am. I’ve dropped a LOT of books after a day or two of reading though, and I think that’s ok, because I usually come back to them at some point when I feel compelled to.

>>13040218
It depends. If I'm struggling with the writing itself I assume I'm a brainlet and brute force my way into it, which works well. It starts as a slog but suddenly it will click and I'll start breezing through it. If the narrative is on the boring side I'll probably stick to it, but if it's bad I'll drop it like a rock.
>>13040743
Its gets a lot better startlingly quick. It's not my favorite Heinlein book by any means but it is good. Gets weird(er) as shit too.

>>13040218
I finish it if I see value in finishing it

I'm way past my "gotta finish it or the terrorists won" phase. My tolerance is extremely low these days, if a book dares to bore me for 10 pages straight I dump it immediately.

>>13040218
Up to you. I believe in finishing everything. Start reading another book to distract yourself if it's too hard.

I drop it. I don‘t care if someone had one or two worthy ideas. If i have to dig trough a mountain of shit to find it, the probability that someone has come up with the same ideas and can articulate them better is huge.
I‘d rather keep looking for someone like that.

Because "reading" is only done the second time you read the words of a book, I never unwillingly read a book, so this question is meaningless. Delete this thread.

>>13040218

>>13041921
t. Woman

>>13040218
I'm usually pretty good at choosing books I enjoy, but when my instincts fail me I usually finish them anyway. I'm bloodyminded like that, plus I think it's unfair to judge a book you haven't finished.

One notable exception was Notes from Underground. Life's too fucking short to read Dostoevsky.

>>13040218
>>13042061
Are ancient memes back? Is it time?

Just dropped Submission. It's like a pretentious Tom Clancy book.

>>13040218
If it's required, top-meme'd novels, I do my utmost to finish it. I'm not always successful though. I'd love to be some tastemaker, finding the lesser known gems out there, I just don't have the energy.

> reading for pleasure

kek

>>13044258
>reading

>>13040218
So far I've read everything until the end. Maybe I would consider quitting if it were a book with over 500 pages. Reading siddhartha rn which is not enjoyable, but the story itself is only about 120 pages.

I’m tempted to drop Doctor Zhivago at the moment. All the coincidences are aggravating me.
But I’m almost 400 pages in and only have 160 to go.

>>13040218
If I'm close to the end when I lose interest I'll push through. But I probably drop five books for every one I finish. I do not have enough time to read anything but the best.

>>13044376
I really liked Siddhartha, what is the problem?

>>13040218
Depends how long it is and how bad it is. If a book gives no reason to read it, then eave it alone. It yearns, earns, rest.

This is my biggest literary fear. Many books I've read don't get good until 50-75% of the story and I only finish them because of the acclaim or prestige behind the book. It makes me nervous because I don't think I'd read such books if it weren't for their praise. Which in turn makes me feel worried/inadequate to read books that weren't based on any recommendations.

>>13040759
just read "Value, Price, and Profit" and "Wage Labour and Capital" instead of Kapital. Also, read some dialectical stuff in addition

>>13044530
The book just isn't interesting to me. I just started Part Two which begins after Siddhartha leaves Govinda to be alone. Maybe I'll think differently once I finish. I've never been really interested in fiction though.

I don’t enjoy a lot of the things I read, but the pleasure I get from having read them is immense.

:3

>>13040218
Drop it. I forget who said it but you can't read enough of what is good and can't avoid enough of what is bad. Cruising through large books or forcing yourself to finish a book that you clearly don't find educational or entertaining is a waste of time. Just move on and keep things relative to your interests.

>>13044566
Try to learn more about literary criticism and *why* those books are classics in the first place - what artistic decisions those authors made and how they work together to make those books worthy of being considered "classics." There's a reason that books like The Great Gatsby and The Lord of the Flies are usually assigned to high schoolers: they have super obvious literary devices that you can easily practice analyzing literature with. Other books have them too but they're not as obvious. Once you learn to appreciate them you can enjoy seeing how books artfully use them to create themes or whatever.

How To Read Literature Like A Professor is a decent dummy's guide to this.

I always finish a book if it's poetry, fiction or personal accounts.
I drop biographies and history books without regret.
Philosophy? Sometimes.

>>13045720
Relevant to your interests*

>>13045756
Yeah, I drop non-fiction books all the time. There are so many books on every historical event that if you find a book boring there is no incentive to finish it. Just pick up another book and hope it explains things more to your liking. After you've accumulated a bit of general knowledge, much of what you are reading is repetitious, anyhow.

>>13045810
That's why I never drop historical accounts. Even it's wrong or just plain lies, it's interesting to know what the people who were there believed and wanted.
But history books? Grab my attention or fuck off.

>>13045687
You can also read it as a philosophical treatise, if that helps. Hesse's personal understanding/experience of Buddhism, Hinduism and living an ethical life.

>>13044081
They never left, Anon.
And yes, it's time.

>>13040218
dropped Great Expectations with 20 pages left. Just. Couldn't. Finish. Itt

>>13044081

>>13040218
why do wypipo make this face when i walk passed them on the street

If I'm not enjoying something I will probably still finish it. If I actively hate something I will probably not. Bonfire of the Vanities I gave up on with 100 pages left, thinking "well, it can't possibly get good in the time it has left."

>>13044081

>>13047594
...you *disliked* Bonfire of the Vanities?

How? I read the last two-thirds of it in a 16-hour marathon session between three different coffee shops on a summer day when I had nothing to do.

Depends, if it's boring, but is well written, has some historical value and I can learn something from it - eg. War and Peace, I keep reading until I finish, even if it takes me months. If it's some brainlet novel that I read purely to entertain myself - eg. Dan Brown's thrillers, yet still manages to bore me, I drop it without hesitation.