If any of you enjoy reading but don't know why, or don't understand the mechanics of reading...

If any of you enjoy reading but don't know why, or don't understand the mechanics of reading, I highly recommend this book. I literally didn't know how to read a book before hand. I spent a whole year reading difficult novels recommended here on lit, that I frankly did not understand a lick but did enjoy, for reasons I could not articulate. If you're like me, this book will do good things for you. I can now read Henry James and enjoy the craftsmanship of his art, instead of sleeping because he wasn't referencing pop culture or astrophysics or etc...

If you're not memeing, thanks OP

No im being serious. I just want this board to be able to read better because I feel like many people are like myself here, and are intelligent people but were never taught how to read, or never taught the craft of reading literature, so they're stuck not being able to tell what is innovative about a certain writer or how impressive some writer's method of demonstrating some complex truth or pattern is. So it seems to me that a lot of writing here is judged based on how well researched or theoretical it is, while there are many other more fascinating and subtle things going on, not that research or information or ideas should be disregarded as criteria or whatever.

The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing by Thomas Kane is basically the same kind of book, but for writing. If you read How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler, David Lodge's book, and Thomas Kane's book, then you should be well on you way to adopting the habits and skills necessary to become comfortably Veeky Forums.

>I spent a whole year reading difficult novels recommended here on lit, that I frankly did not understand a lick but did enjoy, for reasons I could not articulate.

You seem kind of dumb, but I will check out the book anyway. Seems much more substantial than that stupid How to Read Literature like a Professor book.

Anglos are so dumb they need to read manuals before they read novels.

top kek

Can you give a small example of the subtle things that make fictions enjoyable?

OR maybe you can stop floundering around with these pop-literary books and actually go through the Norton Anthology of theory to actually understand it

Both are good. I don't see the point of being a smug cunt about it.

Here's the simple reading order:
1. Art of Fiction to get the basics down.
2. Read a bunch of classics, make observations, and form your own opinions.
3. Read Norton to get your mind blown.

Ah, I see, the classic Veeky Forums quiz. Post a page from a book and I'll tell you.
>You seem kind of dumb
Good things always come from trying to refute these accusations. This may be true, but I think that I was just never taught how to read. I used to think that books were vehicles for ideas. The artistic aspects of novels/stories aren't taught in schools, only the machinery of reading.
I've been reading theory for a while now. I don't find it particularly useful for enjoying a novel although I do appreciate some theorists like Kant, Bakhtin, and Jung.

I just want a small example. Is this book about literary constructs or how to absorb information effectively?

But I guess I could just google it too ... It would just help you if you want people to read this book

I don't particularly care if anyone actually reads it, but I hope they do

...

Sample page on intertexuality

Thanks looks interesting, thanks. Bought it now

GOOD book

>If any of you enjoy reading but don't know why
>I spent a whole year reading difficult novels... but did enjoy [them]
>I can now read Henry James and enjoy [his work]... instead of sleeping

Did you like reading before or not? Jesus dude

What are you trying to say?

Jew

I'll read it, I'm in the same situation you were. Thanks for the rec.

>2017
>posting reasonable recommendation
Goddamn OP, you just made yourself to the grand history of chan culture

Gonna read these, thanks blokes.

bad advice - theory is useless for a reader or a writer, its just for academics