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/lit/ - Literature

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10578650 No.10578650 [Reply] [Original]

Hello /lit/. /fit/izen and /biz/nessman here who has a legitimate question: how can I inspire myself to read more?

When I was younger, reading was my favorite activity. I would while away hours losing complete track of time, devouring mostly fantasy novels that were at least a thousand pages, one after the other. During and after college, I had a hard time focusing and enjoying a book the way I used to. Even when I try to sit down and read, I just can't get drawn into the world as much. It doesn't matter what genre, fiction or non-fiction. I can't achieve the immersion and comprehension I used to and it has me frustrated. I get bored very quickly and my comprehension seems to be much more shallow.

It used to be my dream to be a professional author, and I still have this dream...except it seems even more impossible now that I can't even bring myself to finish a book.

Have any of you struggled with this? How did you overcome it? Is it just me getting older?

Thanks in advance.

>> No.10578691

Well, coming from someone that very rarely read during my young adults years, I can tell you that identifying with a lot of the ideas or philosophies in certain books is what compelled me to continue reading. I went through a fairly nihilistic period during my younger years and I didn't really have any literature to help explain my feelings at the time. Now I am exploring the works of several pseuds like Nitschze, Dostoyevsky, Stirner, Tolstoy, etc... and the ideas I am identifying with in their books are so scarily relatable that I literally can't stop reading them because it helps explain so much of my life.

>> No.10578708

>How did you overcome it?
I started by reading things I knew I would enjoy, mainly things I read as a teenager (normie-tier stuff, Vonnegut, Dan Brown, etc.).
Set short page goals for yourself every day, gradually increase the goal as you go. Eventually, you'll find yourself not setting goals, but rather just reading because you're enjoying it. Don't read things for /lit/ pseud acceptance points.
>Is it just me getting older?
I'm in the same boat as you, I used to read all the time as a kid. Most people blame school for killing any potential love they may have had for reading, which is fair because reading shouldn't be something you force somebody to do (unless you're teaching your child how to read), especially considering that the books kids are reading in high schools these days are trash with zero literary merit and they know it (plus, with the existence of sites like Sparknotes, etc., cheating your way through tests is simple). Any self-respecting person should be at least somewhat well-read; I think it's some 80-90% of people don't read a book after high school? It's never too late to start.

>> No.10578807

>>10578650
I hope you just mean businessman, and not that you actually go on /biz. That place is a shithole 100X worse than /pol.

>> No.10580109

>>10578650

1. Obtain a small selection of books that "you've always wanted to read"

2. Deprive yourself of all electronic devices whatsoever (this included TV, music players, radio) for 11 hours a day

3. That's it. You WILL read eventually.