I rarely consciously "analyze" fiction while reading. I figure if the author did his/her job, whatever I need to know will stick, and I'll be able to call it up later.
I try to make a mental note of things that strike me (in terms of style or technique) while I'm reading. It's not unusual for me to go back and reread a book I've admired in a more analytical mode later on, sometimes even taking notes.
Why would this ruin the book? From my experience, assuming the book is good, analyzing it makes me appreciate and like the book even more. I've read Catch-22 several times now, and each time I notice things I hadn't noticed before. Part of appreciating books includes rereading them and really thinking about what's going on.
Perhaps I wasn't clear in my initial post. What i meant to say was that when i first read a book i read it for the story and the characters and to get fully immersed into it. That's how i enjoy a book, film or game. My idea this time around is to re-read a few of my recent books but with a more analytic eye. I would hate to ruin my initial enjoyment of the book on the first read by looking too in depth at the writing style etc, id rather just enjoy it. It seems a bit too 'researchy', i wouldn't get into it properly.
In my junior year of high school, our Lit teacher, seeing that all but three in our class had already read Animal Farm, convinced the school to allow him to substitute Catch-22 instead on our reading list for the year (no small feat for an all-boys Catholic high school in 1969). I asked him what I should read, since I'd already read Catch-22 as well. "Read it again," he said. When I asked him why, he said, "What did you think of it when you read it?" I told him I thought it was hysterically funny. He nodded. "Read it again and tell me what you think." So, I did. And when I finished, I went to him and told him that I'd found it extremely bitter. "Read it a third time," he said. When I did, it was very philosophical. Which is how I started re-reading books.
I've often started out to re-read favourite books, thinking 'I'll analyze how the author wrote this.' And no. Doesn't work. If they are great books, I get sucked straight back into the story, and emerge out the other end much the same as I did the first (several) time around. Dazed, but happy. I can only analyze books that are not my favourites as I read them, because I'm not immersed in them. And at the end of the day, they're not the books I'm going to want to emulate, are they? I can certainly think about structure, etc, AFTER I've finished reading a favourite book, or think about how characters were developed, etc. Or go back to check phraseology, or how dialogue gets handled, etc. But not while I'm reading. When I'm reading, I'm in the moment. I'm just a sucker for a great story.
Right now, actually. With my favorite novel. I have a copy of it in Google Drive: one doc for each chapter, in which I write many comments. For each chapter, I also have a separate doc where I write a plot synopsis and a separate doc where I analyze the themes and the overall story / storytelling techniques. Kind of like I am playing the role of both an editor and someone writing for CliffsNotes. I am about halfway through it. Only good things have come from this. I enjoy the story more (even though I recognize many flaws for the first time), I am learning why I enjoy it, and I am becoming a better writer.
In a first read of a book, I like to just read it for enjoyment purposes only. Sometimes things will pop out at me that I want to make note of, but for the most part, I let myself get lost in the story. If it's good enough that I'll want to read it again, I go through and look for things that make the book good. How did the author word this? How did they describe that? Why did I like this particular character while hating another? How did they make everything tie together? My thoughts exactly.
If you're worried about dampening the enjoyment of a story, then I would definitely avoid this overtly analytical approach in the first go of a work. When reading for a second or third time, however, I don't much see how you're going to create negatives, unless you discover problems in something you were originally blindly in love with. Sure, there's the likelihood that you won't become as immersed. Sure, there's a likelihood that you won't love the story as much on a second read when applying a stringent analytical eye; but, you have can reference your original love of the story in thought or memory. It is not as though you are removing a past appreciation of the novel, unless, as I previously said, your analysis provides disheartening insight. Then, this in-depth view of the work could create even more room for appreciation. As well, I would think, if you do this over time, it would become more second hand, and you may reach a point where you can simply read, enjoy, and analyze all at the same time -- for the most part. After all, some things are just damn hard to read, and one cannot simply ingest in a one-go sort of way. Moderation, a good balance, take and give -- key to all effective approach. I think doing a more gluttonous read for the first time would work well. Then, do a second to explore the intricacies. It is all prerogative, however.
Since I started writing, I've found it much harder to enjoy reading, because it's hard for me to turn off the analytical part of my brain and get lost in the story. I know it's a really great book when I'm able to just sink into it. And then I don't want to ruin the experience by going back and rereading with an analytical eye.
How come you didn't just ready Animal Farm again (and again) if that was the whole point Father Furtey was trying to make?
I mostly feel emotional reading reactions, productive reading requires various things as a reader who read for Mechanics, To Identify basic craft elements also to Summarize and Organize your findings.
Forever War is an amazing feast of a book, I absolutely love it. I never analyse anything I read, I just like to enjoy literature and make up my own mind about it. That was one reason i couldn't stand studying English Lit in college. No writer writes like critics analyse after all.
At this point I've gotten used to reading/enjoying the story and analyzing it from a writer's POV (not from a literary critic's) at the same time, although I never seem to be able to do in-depth dissections of novels. I can't stop the analysis from happening, it's running in the background while I'm living the story. My favorite novel breaks so many rules I couldn't -- as a non-pubbed writer -- even make them, I'm sure. .
One of my reasons for reading is to improve my writing. But I also read for reasons that have nothing to do with my writing. P. D. James, the famous mystery writer, put her finger on one of my most important reasons: "The more we live in a society in which we feel our problems are literally beyond our ability to solve, the more reassuring it is to read a popular form of fiction which itself has a problem at the heart of it--one which the reader knows will be solved by the end of the story." What are some of the reasons you read?
Getting inside the narrator and/or a character's head is fun. This is something that movies and TV are bereft of (not all the time. There are narrative movies, which most film critics don't like). Also, you get to be the film director of the book. You bring your own actors, your own props, your own creative vision on the film screen inside your mind.
I've always enjoyed reading as entertainment more than TV or films. My imagination creates far grander, more colourful, more dramatic environments and characters than most actors and films. I never read just to learn how to write. I may read a particular book(s) to learn period styles and language styles, but I would still pick an entertaining book and not a textbook. Also I can enjoyable read for five minutes or several hours as I choose, while TV and films work best when you are able to watch the entire thing through in one go.
If someone talks to me, or talks about something that interests me, then I listen. If someone writes to me, or writes something that interests me, then I read. Simple as that. Writing is simply one of the ways we communicate to each other, so "why do you read?" is a specific version of "when people communicate to you, why do you pay attention?" Some of the best things people can do for each other are accomplished by communicating to each other.
I read a lot on the internet. Mainly topics about science, and computer science issues. Especially with science, if you don't constantly read it, you quickly forget what it was about. But somehow, something stays. That's why reading is important for me. You might forget the book name, the characters, the plot, hell even the whole month when you read the novel. But there will always be something that stays. When you read, you ask yourself many questions. Be it in science, where the article starts with a question or a good book with an open ending. Your mind spends time trying to solve it, and somehow, something of this story stays. It forms you, it gives you something. Maybe in a moment of need, your subconsciousness picks up something you've read and helps you to get along. Maybe during the next discussion you notice that your motivation slightly changed. All this comes from a good story. Even a sieve needs to be washed, because there will always be a piece stuck in between.
I read it for the stories. That's the same reason I write. Stories can come in any form. I believe that movie is actually the best format, but because it is expensive and more difficult there are whole lot of stories that I would miss if I didn't read. Reading non-fiction is a great form of education too.