/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.9781414]

Whoah

[Anonymous No.9781421]

>>9781414
You could read anything based on how much words are on each page.

[Anonymous No.9781435]

how the math works out if i read 150 pages on average per day?

[Anonymous No.9781438]

>>9781435
It works out to "you're an antisocial weirdo"

[Anonymous No.9781454]

>>9781438
I can read at work. I could easily do 150 a day if I want so absorbed in other studies.

[Anonymous No.9781468]

>>9781438

150 pages only takes a couple of hours, what else are you gonna do? watch tv?

[Anonymous No.9781471]

>>9781468
>>9781454
Just joshing ya m8s

[Anonymous No.9781472]

>>9781414
All those books are shit though

[Anonymous No.9781474]

>>9781472

[Anonymous No.9781478]

>reading books just to tick them off your goodreads
Aside from that, if you read 20 pages per day, you won't fully absorb the books because it will be so disjointed.

[Anonymous No.9781480]

>>9781478
I can't manage more than 3-4 chapters of War and Peace a day, the characters are all so samey and they just hang around ballrooms all the time

[Anonymous No.9781481]

I don't see anything wrong with this but incenticizing reading like this just leads to reading for the sake of being able to say that you've read x or y rather than a genuine love of the text.
That said I sure fucking wish I could read as much as I procrastinated on 4chan and spend 20 minutes max on 4chan instead but I'm a lazy fuck.
pic related is basically me.

[Anonymous No.9781488]

>>9781414
Fucking gross.

"if you force yourself to read the bare minimum a day, you can read these books your highschool teacher wanted you to read"

Who the fuck posted this- is this on buzzfeed. Did you find this on buzzfeed, OP you fuck

[Anonymous No.9781515]

>>9781488
No one is saying you have to read those specific books you fucking sperg. Those books are simply a selection of commonly known books for reference that people can see and think 'wow if I read all of those in one year I'd be reading all day every day' when in actuality they could accomplish those or any other books with just 20 pages a day. This isn't 1920 anymore, finding time to read, for people that actually have lives, isn't such an easy task. The entire point is that you could read more than you think with a small amount of commitment.

[Anonymous No.9781517]

>>9781414
The problem with getting people to read, for whatever reason you'd be trying to do that, is that there needs to be a reason for them to do so, in their eyes. It's not enough to say it's beautiful sublime literature that gives you perspective and wisdom, there's gotta be a rational and practical use. That's why normies read ASOIF, so they can be familiar with the show and know be invested in it, that's why grown men and women read Harry Potter so late, to catch up with the "culture" and furor of every little meme and clickbait that Rowling can muster up. That's why they read Flynn, so they can look forward to the next film adaptation and talk about it at work, feel included.

There's no reason to talk about Proust in the gym or before the meeting or during the bus ride home, the Uber driver wont know what the fuck you're talking about when you mention madeleines. The average person that claims they read has The Great Gatsby as their favorite book, and if you try to explain the premise of Lolita you'll be ousted as a perv. Just buying it a book store, wether it be a chain or a local mom n' pop joint, will make the cashier go quiet and look away.

[Anonymous No.9781537]

>>9781515
so you did get it off buzzfeed

[Anonymous No.9781545]

>>9781468
>150 pages
>A couple hours

One thing I have always hated about myself is how slow I read. I fairly well educated but man... the way I read books takes me so much longer than most of my peers. It sucks.

[Anonymous No.9781566]

>>9781545
I know that feel. People say you can read faster by killing your subvocalization, but I have no idea how.
I've managed a couple times by running my finger under the words as I'm reading them. You can control the speed that way, but I didn't enjoy it.

[Anonymous No.9781624]

20 pages a day is fuck all, can't believe there are anons getting assblasted by such a low number

well it is /lit/ i guess

[Anonymous No.9781629]

>>9781517
>and if you try to explain the premise of Lolita you'll be ousted as a perv. Just buying it a book store, wether it be a chain or a local mom n' pop joint, will make the cashier go quiet and look away.
Lmao, where do you live?
>>9781624
I can barely read ten pages a day

[Anonymous No.9781639]

>>9781629
Greatest country in the world, baby. The United States of America.

[Anonymous No.9781643]

>>9781414
I usually read 40-50 pages a day, and that still feels like a low number

[Anonymous No.9781666]

>>9781517
Where does it indicate that it is trying to get non-readers to read? It's a general statement, you guys are being way too autistic about it. I used to be a huge reader and as life got busier the amount of books I read per year dropped from like 120 to 50 to 1 in a matter of three years. Seeing the op text is a little motivating and makes me want to read more and is encouraging to see how much I can get done if I squeezed in at least 20 pages a day and made it a habit.

[Anonymous No.9781700]

>>9781666
It is clearly meant for non-readers. All of those are ubiquitous classics, some of which are taught in high schools, three or four of those are highly influential even in pop-culture. If you're a reader yo are already familiar or have read most of these or works by those authors.

[Anonymous No.9781766]

Don't forget that if you read just 5 pages a day you're above the average person

[Anonymous No.9781771]

>tfw it takes you 4 hours to read 20 pages

[Anonymous No.9781826]

>>9781472
Nobody thinks you're clever because you're contrary, anon.

[Anonymous No.9781834]

whoa like no one totally reflects on shit while they read along books are like films you see

[Anonymous No.9781870]

>all those books are shit though

[Anonymous No.9781880]

>>9781414
if you read 20 pages a day you won't have so much time for shitposting on /lit/

[Anonymous No.9781925]

>>9781414
>reading beckett
>just another 20pgs

[Anonymous No.9781973]

Reading for the finish, so you can make everyone so jealous on your Goodreads account.

[Anonymous No.9782080]

>>9781480
Yeah but each chapter is about 150 pages long so

[Anonymous No.9782194]

>>9781973
>Reading for the finish
How does one stop doing this? I'm guilty

[Anonymous No.9782215]

How much you read makes no difference if you aren't comprehending what you're reading.

[Anonymous No.9782225]

>>9781414
Why read all this when you can reread Infinite Jest instead?

[Anonymous No.9782228]

>>9782194
I think you fell for le patrician meme. It happened to me with music as well. At some point you will either stop because you actually start enjoying the medium you're engaging with, or you stop prentending to like something that you really dont like and stop engaging with said medium altogheter.

[Anonymous No.9782309]

Pro-tip: read your books printed on a scroll so you can read 20 books a day.

[Anonymous No.9782330]

I'm sorry, I have 4451 pages of Game of Thrones read. Maybe next year!

[Anonymous No.9782353]

>>9781771
Heh...
so it's.... wait for it... ... ... 420? hahah blaze it son

[Anonymous No.9782429]

>>9781566
Just hover with your vision over the words but advance with a fix pace, not letting your inner voice pronoumce the word. You'll realize you're understanding what you read, sometimes in real time and sometimes the word you just passed lingers a bit while you advance but it eventually gets understood. Idk its hard to explain just move your eyes

[Anonymous No.9783250]

>>9782228
How does anyone fall for the patrician meme? Do people actually take 4chan seriously?

[Anonymous No.9783274]

I read about 20 pages per hour.

I have to reread sentences quite often because my mind tends to daydream without my knowing whilst my eyes are still scanning the text. I can read whole paragraphs before I realize I was just scanning and subvocalising and not really giving attention.

Also the text tends to ignite my imagination being as I aspire to write myself, and I can't help but look up from the page every couple of minutes to indulge in the images that the text prompts me to conjure. I don't really think it's all that admirable to be a "speed reader" to begin with. I have, however, found it rather easy to go on reading without break while reading the fictional works of Zweig. He's got that kind of touch. Though I don't know whether that is necessarily a compliment or not, I think it's because he does not overwhelm with too much visual description but focuses more on the inner life of the characters.

It's harder to become uninterruptedly immersed for long periods in non-fiction I think.

[Anonymous No.9783276]

>>9781414

>or you could not do that, keep doing what you're doing, and be successful at whatever that is

I think I'll pass

[Anonymous No.9783279]

For me, reading for pleasure with a relatively dense page, I usually average 10 pages ever 40 minutes assuming my mind doesn't wander while reading and I'm forced to go back.

Is that average for normal people when they read?

I try to read at least 10 pages every day but have consistently read 40 plus per day if I get really into a book. Some days though I feel too tired to read and only end up reading 5 pages.

I subvocalize, largely because I want to enjoy reading and don't need to feel like a sprint runner.

[Anonymous No.9783289]

>>9783250
A fair number of newcomers remain spellbound by it for sometimes years until they see with growing clarity what sad jaded cunts we all are.

[Anonymous No.9783331]

>>9783289

I honestly can't wait until they close this fucking place.

[Anonymous No.9783352]

>>9781414
pretty sure doing this would make people quit reading

the only classic literature i enjoyed reading was don quixote. i mean, those mentioned arent bad but fuck you if you sincerely think they are fun reading

[Anonymous No.9783354]

>>9782228
/mu/ could just never spook me with "patrician music", i know what's good and it never gets BNM on pitchfork

[Anonymous No.9783361]

>>9783352
Seriously? The fuck are you doing on the literature board?

[Anonymous No.9783370]

>>9782228
Reading takes some degree of concentration, especially when compared to other media, so you can't help but view it through the lens of work and accomplishment.

[Anonymous No.9783384]

I read 15-30 pages on an average weekday because I have other stuff to do - but, as previously mentioned, that's far above the average and so I don't worry about it

[Anonymous No.9783436]

>>9781472
Is this...the most perfect example of a brainlet /lit/ has ever seen??!

I think it is.

I really think it is.

[Anonymous No.9783447]

>>9782429
Whenever I try to do this, I hold my breath. It's very strange. I have been able to read without subvocalizing for extended periods of time but it requires more focus than I'm used to, and I just read for entertainment so it's not really worth it.

[Anonymous No.9783561]

>>9783447
I guess not. I find it useful because some books are long and with lots of characters, so I need to read 'quickly' in order to hold data more fresh, especially if I read in English (I speak Spanish)

[Anonymous No.9784354]

>>9783250
it's much older than 4chan

The notion of being well read appeals to a lot of young mens' insecurities.

[Anonymous No.9784552]

>>9781481
The motive in the OP pic is arguably lame ("read just to say you read"), but the method has something going for it. Especially for long and/or dry books, chipping away at them is much easier than trying them all at once.

I just spent 23 days reading "rise and fall of the third reich," 50 (plus or minus a few) pages every day. Keeping a pace in mind helped me stick with it, and every day gave me just enough reading to start getting tired of it without getting to that point where your reading starts getting really unproductive.

Doing something similar with Runciman's history of the crusades now (50 pages/day, should take ~18 days) and Dante (~40 pages/day, should take ~12 days). I do other reading too, that's done more by ear, but it helps to have some ongoing structure in your reading habits IMO

[Anonymous No.9784572]

>tfw get almost no books read in a year because I only read like once a month at best

[Anonymous No.9784583]

>>9781414
And doesn't In Search of Lost Time have like, 4000 pages? That means you could read 20 books of 200 pages.

[Anonymous No.9784966]

>>9781414
reading literature is not a duty; we should conserve our sense of duty for the things which truly need our attention

[Anonymous No.9784967]

>>9781414
Proust did NOT write all those books.

[Anonymous No.9784988]

>>9784967
wow the quibbles, so shakespearean

[Anonymous No.9784992]

>>9781478
20 pages a day really isn't that much...

[Anonymous No.9785020]

>tfw no idea how many pages i'm reading because kindle

[Anonymous No.9785154]

>>9782330
Got is literally light reading. I'm a slow reader but I finished the series in a couple of months because my pace got to something like 50-60 pages per hour at points. Still, reading past asos is both a horrible mistake and a terrible waste of time. Your irony isn't lost but it's definitely useless

[Anonymous No.9785269]

>>9784988
I like to think of it more as a quipple.

[Anonymous No.9785810]

>>9785154
A couple months?, took me about 1 month.

seriously

[Anonymous No.9785838]

>>9781414

The Internet has ruined my attention span.

[Anonymous No.9785842]

>>9785838
This is such a meme excuse

I'm just as addicted to the internet as much as anyone else. All you have to do is remove distractions. It takes a minimum level of discipline.

[Anonymous No.9786644]

>>9785810
What part of 'I'm a slow reader' did you miss

[Anonymous No.9786723]

>>9785154
>Got is literally light reading
Because it's not intellectually demanding?

[Anonymous No.9787282]

>>9786723
The writing is simple, The characters are distinct (one-dimensional background characters) and apart from the religions there are no complex concepts. How much lighter can you get

[Anonymous No.9788129]

>>9785842
>dude just be disciplined lmao

thanks motivation facebook image

[Anonymous No.9788156]

>>9781414
the fuck?
how could anyone sit down and read only 20 pages?
20 pages, you can read that before you even lose yourself in the book.
also, yeah, good luck getting anything out of this book you're reading at the pace of snails fucking. old snails.
like that fuckin' bible bullshit "lol read a paragraph each night" like for what fuckin' purpose? so I can forget the 1st page halfway though the 4th?
if you can stop reading to go do something else, then you're fucking doing it wrong.
Try picking your head off the table at the end of the book and not even knowing where or when you are. that's when you've made it, lads.

[Anonymous No.9788170]

>>9788156
>lose yourself in the book

still being 12 is fun huh

[Anonymous No.9788175]

>>9788170
A lot more fun than having mental deficiencies, brainlet.

[Anonymous No.9788182]

>>9781545
these guys are memeing, have no recall, or they read trash.

[Anonymous No.9788183]

>>9788175
>read 21 pages
>"lose yourelf" in a fantasy world where you stab dragons with your sword
>not a total fucking brainlet

oh ok

[Anonymous No.9788195]

>>9788156
Lol what the fuck are you talking about. Even if the book is good its still a damn chore compared to other activities. If you are reading like its the greatest thing ever you have some sort of mental illness. I enjoy reading, but lets be real video games and other activities are much more fun albeit less stimulating for the mind.

[Anonymous No.9788202]

>>9788183
>Don't understand a simple concept
>someone else must be the retard
cool beans

[Anonymous No.9788203]

>>9788156
Don't you have a fantasy general to post in or maybe some goodreads profile to update or something like that?

[Anonymous No.9788209]

>>9788195
>I enjoy reading, but lets be real video games and other activities are much more fun albeit less stimulating for the mind.
Yep
I read, but certainly not because it's the most fun thing I could be doing in that time

Obivously video games are skinner boxes made for retards and it pains me, but it's even more obvious that the are muh more fun
Reading is enjoyable but it just can't compete with anything in terms of fun

[Anonymous No.9788214]

>>9783274
>I have to reread sentences quite often because my mind tends to daydream without my knowing whilst my eyes are still scanning the text.
Stop being me I don't like it

[Anonymous No.9788216]

>>9783274
>I have to reread sentences quite often because my mind tends to daydream without my knowing whilst my eyes are still scanning the text. I can read whole paragraphs before I realize I was just scanning and subvocalising and not really giving attention.

this is why books suck

[Anonymous No.9788221]

>>9781566
the no subvocalization thing is just a meme.

[Anonymous No.9788226]

>>9788216
All you have to do is literally try harder. That's it. Focus.

[Anonymous No.9788245]

>>9788156
he types like a memer asshole but it's weird how everyone unanimously hates this guy for enjoying reading.

i agree that you shouldn't be reading if it's such a chore.

[Anonymous No.9788255]

>>9788214
>>9788216
this passes for me after reading for 20 minutes or so. faster if i'm really enjoying what i'm reading.

[Anonymous No.9788258]

>>9788245
It's not about enjoying reading, it's that he insists 20 pages isn't enough to """lose yourself in the book""" or that if you stop reading because you have to do something, or want to do something else like go to the bathroom, you're ""doing it wrong"". Pure retardation.

[Anonymous No.9788279]

>>9788258
yeah, true, very reddit and shitty. i agree though that having to force yourself to read 20 pages then stopping is symptomatic of you not actually enjoying what you're doing. you should "lose yourself" to some degree, but you don't need piss bottles to read

[Anonymous No.9788291]

>>9788279
I really don't know what he's on about, I get into the easy reading rhythm within the first couple of pages. Sure sometimes I'm really caught by the book and end up sitting for a couple of hours just to finish it in one sitting, but usually a couple dozen pages is enough for a session.

[Anonymous No.9788447]

>>9785020
you know you can enable the page number at the bottom left, right?

[Anonymous No.9788477]

>>9784583
Yeah, but why would you do that when you can read In Search of Lost Time instead?

[Anonymous No.9788506]

If you read 20 words a day, you can read Hardy Boys: The Mystery at Devil's Paw in one year.

[Anonymous No.9788949]

>>9788129
"Remove distractions" is almost the opposite of be disciplined. You need just a little bit of discipline to go to the library, and then reading should be easy.

[Anonymous No.9788970]

>>9788506
oh shit, some kid let me borrow that in 3rd grade or so, and i finished it in 2 days and it blew his mind, then i sperged out and read every hardy boys and considered it a personal failure if it took 3 days

[Anonymous No.9788999]

>have to read 20 page short story for class next Thursday
>haven't started yet
Will it really take me a year? I don't think there's a year this week, even if I cut my video games down to only 4 hours a day.

[Anonymous No.9789117]

>>9788999
>cut down to 4 hours a day
You are like a head in a vat.

[Anonymous No.9789154]

>>9788970
Weird, I also used to pride myself in reading a Hardy Boys book in two days and considered it a personal failure if it took three. Pic related was my favorite.

[Anonymous No.9789165]

>>9789154
What was the mystery?

[Anonymous No.9789399]

>>9782353
Uptoked

[Anonymous No.9789679]

>>9781472

[Anonymous No.9789723]

>>9786723
A lot of fiction is if you really think about it. Most fictions exist entirely self-contained in the book you are reading. There's really no drawing any mental connections from real life experiences to the sentence:

"Mordred rode from Valecia to be here, the road had left him weary but none the worse for his troubles. At least he had not been harassed by the Turmian deserters known to lurk the way - base cowards turned to baser banditry in their flight from duty to the crown."

Like none of that has any actual reference to real life. You're basically just making a mental image based on the words. It's not like hard science fiction where shit will draw on your existing basic knowledge models and then force you to break them in a certain way to allow for this crazy form of techno-magic or another.

Fantasy can be hard fantasy too, particularly historical fantasy, but most fiction - even most science fiction - is simple enough to be light. There is convoluted light fiction though, a lot of it actually. To many writers seem to shoot for word counts rather than effective story telling.