I've tried to get into books, really I have. I started with the Greeks, tried to work my way through the works of Plato then the Iliad and Odyssey. Tried a bit of oriental philosophy books along with Sun Tzu's Art of War. And I just...don't feel it. I really don't feel any motivation to keep going with it. Even fictional books meant to be 'fun' and whatnot bore me. I think there are two main problems I have with books. A) Very often people take 30-50 pages to describe a concept that could economically be explained in 3 paragraphs or less if you really wanted to. Most of the time I spend reading involves silently thinking "holy shit just get to the point already" and my mind wandering away after about 15 minutes. B) Books are entirely non-interactive in the sense that they are entirely "linear". What happens if you disagree with one of the fundamental premises of an argument being presented as an a priori? What if you think there is a very specific fault in a certain string of reasoning that the author is presenting? You can't argue with a book is what I'm saying, all you can do is read it.
That being said, am I a pleb? And if so, what can be done to help me overcome these two obstacles?
read what seems interesting to you, not some lit memes
Nathan Diaz
A) Just a case of reading better books, good writers know not to waste a single word.
B) It's probably better to finish a book before arguing with it, but if you dont like it just drop it.
Aside from that ask yourself why are you reading anyway, because of some vague idea of being "well read", or are you actually interested in reading them?
Carson Brown
Just start with some good fiction book that is highly related with you
Elijah Jones
Go with what moves you, user. You don't have to read at all, seeking knowledge in other ways is just as valid. Go do what you enjoy.
Nathaniel Sanders
>or are you actually interested in reading them?
I'm not sure really. I know a lot of people who deeply enjoy reading, so it just feels like I'm potentially missing out on something great and that I just need to try a bit harder.
Isaac Butler
Now that I think about it, there's probably only one book I've ever read that I actually enjoyed, that I looked forward to reading - the unabridged version of World War Z. Something about the vivid world building, impersonal narrative with little focus on actual characters, and general theme of amazing people going through amazing times kept me reading it through to the end.
Any more books like that?
Christian Morgan
I don't like you, but I'll offer a suggestion anyway. Cloud Atlas?
Dylan Morris
But user why don't you like me?
Henry Murphy
Just start with well known young adult books and very basic non fiction and work your way from there.
And, when I say work, I mean work. No pain no gain, faggot
Adrian Powell
Ready Player One
Aiden Sullivan
Disagreeing with the author is great. Starting with the Greeks comes down to learning how to listen to a long argument by someone you partially or vehemently disagree with and then engaging the text by asking "what about this?" and then searching for an answer in what was written. It teaches you not to read a text already convinced of another conclusion.
As long as you aren't someone spouting "spook" or "cuck" every ten seconds, there's tons of things to pull out of all of the classic texts. They aren't Holden Caufield red means this hurr durr. Every character in Plato represents a true and well-developed position held by a rational human being in Athens. In essay form characters can't engage or have individual narratives clash the way they do in books; and you can't see fully developed philosophies and world views clash the way they do in Sophocles, or later in Shakespeare, and Dostoevsky.
TLDR: read a classic, look at other perspectives, don't ask questions in terms of modern societal groups (ie don't think of darkies, think societally disadvantaged), assume the author is smarter than you, don't try this with Homer at first.
Adrian Turner
Also stop being addicted to distractions like tv and Veeky Forums. Kills motivation, concentration, interest and curiosity
Gabriel Edwards
John Green, Harry Potter, comics.
Samuel Nelson
Harry Potter bored me to tears. John Green is way too emotional and pretentious in his writing. The only comic I ever liked was The Killing Joke.
Jaxson Adams
Just go play video games, clearly that's all you want with your drivel about books not being interactive.
Alternatively try to stop thinking literally everything is about you. You don't read philosophy to argue with it, you read it to understand. It's not always about what you think about it, it's about gaining knowledge.
Dominic Hall
50 shades of grey, Twilight, The Wheel of Time, Divergent.
John Adams
This so much. Some books Veeky Forums pushes will become enjoyable in latter in life.
>(This is probably the biggest one) Impersonal narratives. Meaning, stories that aren't about characters, but rather a story about a setting, or a place, or an event wherein each named character is merely a constituent piece of that setting. Characters can be focused on, but there is no "protagonist" or "antagonist", rather just a story of a place and what happens in that place. >Stories usually centered around ordinary people struggling to survive in brutal and unforgiving environments, and detailing their lives throughout the process. >Reflections on human nature, violence, and the struggle for survival - along with how these usually intertwine with the Hobbesian "State of Nature" where only strength and brute force mean anything.
Do you have something to tell us, OP?
Jackson Hill
Dude, if you just read ALL of Plato and ALL of Homer, you are defiantly not a pleb.
Start smaller nigger
Noah Mitchell
Don't actually start with the greeks.
GET THE BALL ROLLING WITH THE RUSSIANS
TOLSTOY, DOSTOEVSKY, CHEKHOV.
Cameron Hernandez
Legit kek'd at the first statement.
Henry Long
listen to audiobok while you read it and drink coffee before
Easton Bell
You're not actually supposed to start with the Greeks. That's just a meme. You could honestly just read summaries of things like the Iliad and Odyssey without missing too much, reference-wise because they've become pop culture memes at this point. You should only do in depth readings of the Greeks if they're actually interesting to you.
That being said, you sound like a natural born pleb from your comments, so you might never be able to read anything other than genreshit and YA.
