/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.6080443]

Hello /lit/

I'm 30 years old and I have never read a single book. I know how to read and write on a basic level but I've never any interest in spending an hour or so looking at words. I want to understand the joy of reading from the perspective of someone who has read hundreds of books and finds reading slightly superior to watching movies and playing video games. What do you recommend I start reading first to develop a sense of enjoyment out of reading?

[Anonymous No.6080446]

>>6080443
Finnegans Wake

[Anonymous No.6080448]

lolita by nabokov

[Anonymous No.6080453]

Read some non-fiction first, visual media does it little justice

[Anonymous No.6080462]

Oscar Wilde is pretty simple, and has a good sense of humor.

[Anonymous No.6080507]

>>6080443
What kind of movies do you like?

[Anonymous No.6080525]

Though i love reading, there's a time when i'm bored to watch printed words and watch movie instead. So i guess i have a "reading" mood and "movie" mood.
However, i found reading slightly superior to watching movies cuz i can have the freedom of painting the pictures from what i read in my brain. It's just like watching a movie, only inside your brain, with whatever you want it to looks like.
I recommend read anything by Haruki Murakami (I suggest Kafka on the Shore and Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, avoid Norwegian Wood), it's pretty light but his books will makes your brain painting a pictures you've never seen before in your entire life.

[Anonymous No.6080528]

you're 30 and you've never read a single book in your life?

....... I really don't mean to be rude

but do you just not use your mind? like what is your occupation?

[Anonymous No.6080532]

i wanna fuc

[Anonymous No.6080533]

>>6080443
>I'm 30 years old and I have never read a single book

how does this happen?

[Anonymous No.6080543]

>>6080528
when I was a kid I'd try to read harry potter, goosebumps or animorphs. Before I could finish a chapter I was overcome with boredom and I remembered how much fun pokemon blue version and ocarina of time were to play and I would just stop. I've always prefered instant gratification to toiling toward an abstract and vague outcome.

[Anonymous No.6080549]

>>6080453
this

At least for me, although I had read before, when I was first getting into reading non-fiction was the only thing that could hold my interest. Pick a subject you like, such as history, science or whatever. Reading fiction after watching movies and listening to music your entire life is like going into a 70 F swimming pool after just getting out of the hot tub.

[Anonymous No.6080555]

>>6080533
looking at printed words bores me. Like watching baseball.

>>6080525
Thanks for the suggestions.

[Anonymous No.6080585]

>>6080443
read this book because it's fun and funny. also, ayn rand is in it and pynchon recommends it, so you'll have a bit of info on a couple of /lit/ memes

[Anonymous No.6080589]

>>6080555
You are a dull, stupid person.

[Anonymous No.6080596]

>>6080443
How the fuck do you make it through school without reading a single book? Is the education system really that bad now?

[Anonymous No.6080597]

>>6080589
at least he's trying to rid himself of the terrible affliction of plebdom

anyway opie Start with the Greeks

[Anonymous No.6080598]

>>6080596
yes

[Anonymous No.6080610]

>>6080443
Start with the Greeks.

[Anonymous No.6080614]

>>6080446
lelled heartily

[Anonymous No.6080619]

>>6080525
>reading for muh imagination
lel

[Anonymous No.6080629]

>>6080543
Christ, that's pretty sad. You're saying you've lived your whole life onanistically as a sort of slave to your impulses.
If that's been you for 30 years then I don't know how you're going to dig yourself out now; the reason behind "toiling toward an abstract and vague outcome" is that the toiling is fun. That the work is what gives you instant gratification.

Maybe you should start out w/ commercial fiction or something comedic like Douglas Adams. Though, who knows, you might even like Infinite Jest.

[Anonymous No.6080635]

>>6080549
>like going into a 70 F swimming pool after just getting out of the hot tub
You mean invigorating and refreshing?

[Anonymous No.6080640]

>>6080585
+1

[Anonymous No.6080643]

>>6080596
maybe he got shitty grades

[Anonymous No.6080644]

Douglas Adam probably the best recommendation here

or try some grisham King Hannibal lecter or Dan brown books that you find at airports


there's no way you're ready to read any book that has any real value rn

[Anonymous No.6080646]

Fucking kill yourself

[Anonymous No.6080658]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Anonymous No.6080660]

>>6080646
le patrician face xd

[Anonymous No.6080669]

>>6080443

read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood that is a fun book

what made you decide to try reading? The advantage most of us had (I assume) was a steady immersion in books from early childhood on. When I was young my mom would read me books. I moved around a lot as a kid so I spent many long hours reading in cars or airplanes. My family never had cable until I was 14 years old and for two years we had no tv at all. Plenty of vidya on PC but I always loved books. I never really had a lot of friends (people used to throw rocks at me) so maybe I had more time alone.

[Anonymous No.6080705]

>>6080619
>reading for anything other than aesthetics

sorry, friend

[Anonymous No.6080763]

Try Kafka's Metamorphosis.
It's short and starts immediately with something interesting.

For a very "readable" novel, I also recommend The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis. Fast and entertaining, closest I've experienced to a movie in book form. It's about a chess genius girl making it.

[Anonymous No.6080771]

>tfw she'll never sit on my face

[Anonymous No.6080775]

>>6080771
>you will never have sex

[Anonymous No.6080776]

>>6080775

[Anonymous No.6080781]

>>6080543
If you can't get through Goosebumps then my friend I'm afraid the ship has sailed too far for you.

[Anonymous No.6081167]

>>6080443
I dunno if there are English translations out there. However, read Jerry Cotton series. He's FBI and a real guy. It's fun to read and action based. You will see how your imagination sets in, when you are reading. To do so take your time for reading, as you are rookie this will not happen immediately. Take a quarter of an hour only to read and to do nothing else. So that you will get used to reading process. Sometimes you will make up scenes you know from TV, but then you make up your "own" movies. You will stop reading and think about specific scenes. Enjoy reading.
BTW hot pic.

[Anonymous No.6081170]

>>6080443
>I have never read a single book
>Epic hot girl.jpg

we can tell

[Anonymous No.6081182]

>>6081167
>Take a quarter of an hour only
*dang this is wrong in English
Take your time approx 45 minutes will suffice. In first 5-10 minutes you will be struggling as there are other things on your mind. But after a while a story gets you attention you are asking yourself what's happening next. Sometimes you laugh about main characters as they are total madman.

Don't be afraid to read passages twice. Have fun.

I've recently started reading fiction again after a long time of abstinence.

>>6080585
This looks interesting.

[Anonymous No.6081195]

>>6080669
>(people used to throw rocks at me)

[Anonymous No.6081246]

>>6080669
>(people used to throw rocks at me)
lmfao bro

[Anonymous No.6081381]

>>6080543
>and I remembered how much fun pokemon blue version and ocarina of time were to play
You were a little old to be playing those weren't you?

[Anonymous No.6081389]

>>6080443
You can't go wrong with JD Salinger's /Catcher in the Rye/. I've read it a few times and I'd love to read it again. Mark Chapman started reading it after killing John Lennon, so naturally it has to be good.

[Anonymous No.6081399]

>>6081381
>not playing ocarina and pokemon now

[Anonymous No.6081400]

>>6080705
>reading as not a labour in preparation for duty to humanity
stay pleb

[Anonymous No.6081401]

there are different kinds of reading

there's the escapist kind where you just read to pass the time
this is neither better nor worse than video games; it's really the same kind of pastime. In a way, this can be called the art of reading. Usually you are better off reading pulp fiction for this because the more artistic works will distract you from the world by calling attention to their formal structure.

then there's the formalist kind of reading where you read to appreciate the art of writing.
this usually involves analysis.
this is the discipline of scholars of the last few centuries (mostly the last century). Honestly this is the worst form of reading. People of this sort read widely in the "canon" of literature. They think reading a lot will make them wise, when really it only makes them pretentious paragraph-gobblers.

Then there's reading to give yourself an ethic, an ideal, a code. This usually involves only reading a few books that preach the same or similar ideal(s). This has the potential to lead to wisdom if you read the right books.

honestly, video games are better than books as entertainment.

[Anonymous No.6081425]

>>6081401
>then there's the formalist kind of reading where you read to appreciate the art of writing.
>this usually involves analysis.
>this is the discipline of scholars of the last few centuries (mostly the last century). Honestly this is the worst form of reading. People of this sort read widely in the "canon" of literature. They think reading a lot will make them wise, when really it only makes them pretentious paragraph-gobblers.

It's rare to read such wisdom on 4chan. I couldn't agree more.

[Anonymous No.6081427]

>>6081401
Where does reading to understand principles stand? For example, analysing Shakespeare's sonnets and linking such tropes to other forms of art of the time and before, with hopes to understand an underlying principle? It seems to be a combination of analysis and reading for search of the ethos.

[Anonymous No.6081473]

>>6080443
If reading is not something that you enjoy then don't force yourself. You're not meant to toil and struggle to finish every page. Locked in a constant clash with boredom. If this isn't stemming from a love for literature then why even bother.

I feel like you're just trying this in some vain attempt to appear more cultured. Well I've got news for you. Nobody who actually enjoys literature is going to be fooled. If the love isn't there the best you can hope for is to become some pseudo-intellectual who's trying to hard to be something he's not.

Go back to the video games and Chinese cartoons that you love. Life is to short to be a phoney.

[Anonymous No.6081485]

>>6081427
do u need validation by some pretentious loser who ranks Reasons To Read that badly lol

[Anonymous No.6081492]

You've never read a technical manual?

[Anonymous No.6081504]

>>6081401
This is idiotic. Literature can contain more than one "kind" of approach

[Anonymous No.6081513]

>>6080443
To develop a sense of enjoyment out of reading;
What do you enjoy doing/consuming?
What sort of genre/style/body of work does that most correlate with?
How can you tackle your evident shitty attention span?

To develop a sense of 'how the fuck do people even enjoy reading,' you might venture into dystopian (check the sticky), Brave New World & Nineteen Eighty-Four & Fahrenheit 451 all discuss this to a reasonable degree. There's attempts at it that fall into other shit you've probably seen on 4chan, like Amusing Ourselves to Death (regular image posted on pol, potentially on lit, fuck if I know). These might awaken an impulse to not be a useless piece of shit, if that's something you give a fuck about. But, even then, there's sentiments explored in there that directly explore a pretty mainstream interpretation of books versus alternative mediums.

>>6081504
+1 :^)

[Anonymous No.6081521]

>>6080597
>>6080610
Horrible suggestion for someone just getting started in reading. I lol at some guy who's literature education peaked at Goosebumps trying to slog through Pope's translation of The Odyssey.

[Anonymous No.6081531]

>>6081521
hi this is the meme police I've got a report of a hilarious gag at your expense

[Anonymous No.6081534]

I read because I enjoy learning, especially about people. A great fiction writer can teach you a lot about another's outlook on life, and you can study how they were shaped by the time and place they were in, and the people and events they were around. It can be like thinking with another person's brain, or walking in their shoes.

And of course you can learn a lot from non-fiction as well, right?

Some people don't enjoy learning as much, or this kind of learning. There is a lot of intelligence and thought and learning that goes into athleticism and graceful movement, like dance or sports, which I admire but don't enjoy as much.

My brother was into supersmash pretty hard at one point years ago and he enjoyed really digging into the technical aspects of the game, as well as playing with a little flair and style.

Chess is just a "game" too after all.

That said there are lots of different books with different goals. And lots of different movies and video games, etc...

[Anonymous No.6081541]

>>6080443
and as far as "spending an hour or so looking at words", I feel you but it's something you can get used to pretty easily. To put it differently, I feel the same way about spending an hour or so looking at a tv screen

[Anonymous No.6081549]

>>6080443

Had a student once about your age who was in the same predicament. He started with American classics and was thoroughly enjoying them.

So I would say start with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and go from there.

[Anonymous No.6081569]

>>6080443
What games or movies do you enjoy?

If you like Halo then get a Halo book. If you like action movies get a comic book. Whatever. If you've never read a book in your life, this will get you into reading. People who write also tend to read, and they can't help but drop references to things they love into their own work. This could lead you on to more writing. Or you could discover you're just not into reading. As David Letterman said, we all have a purpose in life. Maybe yours is watching tv

[Anonymous No.6081574]

>>6081401
>honestly, video games are better than books as entertainment.
I can read a book for a few hours. I can only play a video game for 45 minutes to an hour. I would disagree personally.

[Anonymous No.6081591]

>>6081521
You don't have many friends, do you?

[Anonymous No.6081902]

>>6080443
If you want to find entertainment in reading, I suggest you don't even start with it. Video games and film are far superior in delivering this kind of escapism.

Books are great whenever you are searching for a greater insight or learning.

[Anonymous No.6081973]

>>6080705
>valuing aesthetics over meaning
stick to your shitty "epic" fantasy/sci-fi garbage.

[Anonymous No.6082049]

>>6080596
believe me, it's easier than you might think.

[Anonymous No.6082656]

>>6080585
I haven't even heard of this until this post, going to check it out as well.

[Anonymous No.6082667]

>>6081591
Do pets count? Family?

When I was in high school, I had to list my three best friends. The first was my brother, the second was my cat, and I couldn't think of a third so I just put Jesus, even though I'm not Christian and don't believe in it.

[Anonymous No.6082689]

>>6081400
>duty
>reading for getting spooks inside the head

welp, stay plebe

[Anonymous No.6082694]

>>6082667
kek

[Anonymous No.6082757]

>>6080763
>The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

anyone have an epub of this?

[Anonymous No.6082777]

>>6082667
oh man

[Anonymous No.6083059]

>>6081399
Patrician videogamer confirmed.

[Anonymous No.6083621]

>>6080596
Not OP. We had to do Of Mice and Men. We watched the film instead of reading the book.

[Anonymous No.6083625]

Not OP but for someone who's not that well versed in literature, would Crime and Punishment be a good start?

[Anonymous No.6083633]

>>6080635
Thus

[Anonymous No.6083674]

>>6083625
not right off the bat perhaps but its do able.

[Anonymous No.6083678]

>>6080443
S A U C E
A
U
C
E

[Anonymous No.6083684]

>people around me always telling me how well read I am
>tfw I only read the most well known fantasy shit as a teen and started to get into philosophy 2 years ago
>try to explain it to them
>they don't buy it

I think I should give up and settle for pseudo-intellectualism

[Anonymous No.6083685]

>>6083674
Well, I have some other books like Lolita, some oscar Wilde and Twain. Coul start with them first, C&P just really interests me. What about Heart of Darkness?

[Anonymous No.6084310]

>>6083685
Heart of Darkness is not a book for beginners. It can be read, but the language doesn't flow well, and there isn't a lot of plot. Unless you're reading it to advance your knowledge of literature, it's pretty painful

[Anonymous No.6084316]

>>6080443

Start with Vonnegut. Seriously.

[Anonymous No.6084432]

>>6084310
Reading it for pleasure can be fun, though. At least for me

[Anonymous No.6085211]

>>6083625
not an ideal starting point in my opinion
I would read something shorter, maybe Siddartha

[Anonymous No.6085213]

>>6080443
i bet her butt smells amazing

[Anonymous No.6085274]

>>6080443
HNNNNNNGGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNGNG

[Anonymous No.6085365]

Something entertaining and with low entry level...Terry Pratchett, maybe?

[Anonymous No.6085383]

>>6080775
That's why God invented Bangkok & Reno, bro

[Anonymous No.6086579]

1984/Animal Farm is a gentle start to Literature, maybe also The Great Gatsby.

[Anonymous No.6086645]

>>6085213
I'd swipe a credit card down that crack.

[Anonymous No.6086670]

>>6080443
WHY SO FLAT

[Anonymous No.6086750]

>>6080585
First time I've heard of this. My library doesn't even have it. Just ordered the hardcover off of amazon, it'll be here in two days, I hope you're not trolling with this suggestion.