I have to admit that this thread got way toooo off subject and I fear the ego has clouded a good portion with it's storm. Personally, I could spend my life worrying about what goes on around me, the people below or above me, the cars, the tv, the food, the education, you name it, and get so caught up I forget the world breathes and so do I. To the OP: I think Poe's works are absolutely fantastic, especially the short stories, but that is just me, seeing he is one of my favorite writers.. If you can get through his poetic prose and flare he adds (since he enjoyed using words obscure and complex for the sake of forcing the reader to read proactively) I think you'll find them magnificent and easy reads. Some, at first glance, think Poe was a doom and gloom kind of guy, but the reality is, he is a romantic in every sense of the word and a dreamer... the world was beautiful to him, almost too beautiful.. and that is one of the things that captivated me the most about his work. The suggestion about Palahniuk's works are also fine too, though sometimes his writing lacks... Diary is definitely an interesting twist if you enjoy conspiracies. There is also a ton of good fantasy out there, with great stories and relable characters, that unfortuntately are not written superbly, but were still awesome reads imo. David Eddings specifically, though he and his wife do a great job. The Belgariad and Mallorean... along with The Elenium and Tamuli There is a lot of intrigue intertwined in those stories ontop of a whole underbelly society he created that practically is it's own character. that's my two cents... -Ghost
Right. I'm saying this has value. The more effective you are at this analysis, the better you can review others' work and your own, the better solutions you bring to the table in the editing process, the better reader and writer you are. It starts with an active curiosity, a drive to go deeper than, "Well it's boring." Not to mention that reading boring things improves the concentration, though it may feel like work. BTW OP, daily meditation helps with focus, believe it or not, I've become a much better reader since.
I distinguish between reading for pleasure or reading for other reasons [research/critiquing]: when I read for pleasure, my time is simply too precious to waste it on writing that fails to engage me. It's the duty of a writer to write an engaging story, if they fail at that, I will toss their writing in a corner and pick up the next book. If, on the other hand, I'm reading for other reasons, then I can suspend my necessity to be engaged, as long there is a purpose, either gaining information that can be used in my own work, or my promise to another writer to analyze their work to help them improve themselves.
@assassin Fair enough! It is true we need some sort of filter (and we really don't have a choice) in figuring what's worth our time. But there should be a difference when checking out a 99ยข ebook and approaching an acclaimed or classic author. It's important to recognize when the author isn't engaging us, and when a work is challenging and requires effort to engage with it. A lot of times, a book is all the more rewarding because it is challenging. But yeah, it would be absurd to suggest that we trudge through dreary mediocrity in order to exercise our patience and analyze failure. I definitely agree.
This post actually got me thinking! To begin with I considered that I agreed that I very rarely read and rarely read at school as I didn't engage with the storylines or characters in the literature I was offered. But I always had straight A's in English and I came to realise this is probably partly because Im a strong public speaker and an avid reader of non fiction work. I've won prizes doing debating and I think part of my ability to write persuasively came from being able to translate those skills to effectively just put a 'speech' to paper and present it as an essay. Now that I've recently started writing fiction I think that it serves me well as I am experienced in reading and writing from a first person, non fiction perspective and I am now able to apply fictional concepts to the same communication style. - The point being that just because you aren't reading full length novels doesn't mean you dont read in some context. Although, in my career I would always suggest that newer staff should look to successful role models within the team or wider business to identify "high performance behaviours" which they can learn from and adapt to hone their own skills. The same basic thing would apply here, if you can find an author who writes in a style you aspire to then it can only be a good thing to study their work and identify the strengths from it which you can learn from and apply to your own work.
I think there is a big difference between the active role you have to take on when writing and the more passive role of reading. The two things can complement each other in your writing but they are very distinct and separate activities. I generally enjoy both activities though I do often find it difficult to read mutiple works by the same author. As there is often a pattern to an authors works that can make them a bit too predictable after you have read one or two. And I like the suspense of not knowing too early where a story is going. There are exceptions in my experience of writers who are genuinely innovative in most of their works. Such as the Dune series, Frank Herbert, as someone mentioned previously in this thread. I found this to be continually innovative in its approach and I think it takes this to keep my interest. You can not worry about plot so much and just focus on the content and the characters. But if the plot structure is too predictable and typical I find this difficult to do.
you have read books, and some that you read are good. the hardest part is finding a good book. I have put down many books half way through. I just quit New York Trilogy by Paul Auster half way through it. it got a hundreds of great reviews in amazon, but was terrible. Now I am re-reading Glamoram by Bret Easton Ellis for the 3rd time (i could read his books over and over) The more that i have read, the more i think i would just rather read BEE books over and over i wouldn't put too much into needing to read a lot to write. Lots of published book are junk you would rather not copy. You get better at writing by writing. also, i would recommend for you to read Less Than Zero by bret easton ellis. -- short, good, not boring, no fluff.
If you'd dare not read the compulsory books in a Romanian school, I doubt you'd successfully go through high school. You should thank your lucky stars you don't live here, lol. Anyway, look. In my opinion, you can't really write without acquiring a vast amount of information from books first. Without doing so, how else could you possibly tell the difference between a decent work of art and a terrible work of art? You won't be as inspired as other authors/poets/etc who happen to be avid readers, and I doubt your writing skills will elevate and rise above the average level. Just my two cents.
I'm more in this direction, myself. But I must add one thing. I consider looking for some books (and being here) as 'research' for my story. But there comes a time for fun. I also like to go through hobbyist magazines when I go to a bookstore--which is probably +four times most weeks. You can't track the developing trends if you don't know where the mob is headed. In doing this, I also get an education by accident. You'd be amazed on how many bits and snatches you find in the least likely periodicals.
So it's about getting the balance right then. Nietzsche said in Ecce Homo never to read in the morning as this is when your mind is most fresh, and so best suited to being more creative. On the whole I would agree with this suggestion. You don't want to saturate your mind with other peoples thoughts about things as it will compromise your ability to use the information you have gathered in a creative way. Read at night or in evening, sleep on it, and then use that information creatively the next morning for your writing. That would be my advice. Though I very rarely even take it myself in such a straightforward way as this.
So far it has been a few weeks and I have successfully read Brave New World. My boyfriend thought it would be a good read that I have not yet to pick up and I did both read the book and listen to the audio book version of it. Reading it was soo much better. I tried to read more of lovecraft and was bored after the first two stories I read. I find I am interested into science fiction, conceptual and post apocalyptic genre.
What made 'Brave New World' a good read for you? What kept your interest? What was it about the lovecraft material that turned you off?
Lovecraft does have a ton of imagination to it but the mysticism behind it lost me a little bit. Brave New World has very similar ideas to the ideas I write about and the ideas I am influenced by. I put it in the same category as 1984 and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. On a side note I do love stories that create a world with structure and there is either a person, event or a new idea that is introduced that breaks the story down and evolves into the truth and reality. I became interested in these types of novels and these genres because of the book 1984 and the ideas when comparing the story to reality were horrifyingly true, of course not to exact detail. Another medium that influenced this was music, especially the band Queensryche with their albums Warning, Screaming in Digital, and Operation Mindcrime . It had a science fiction and fiction setting revolving around the idea of man vs. machine and man vs. reality.
So it's the concept, that keeps you interested, not necessarily the writing itself. It has to be a thyme you're interested in.
Don't get me wrong there are books that I have read that I dearly enjoyed and I keep in my bookshelf to read once in awhile. Some of them are: Anything written by Jorge Luis Borges Invention of Morel by Adolfo Boyd Casares Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (one of the books that changed my life in a way) etc. The rest I have at my other house that I cannot remember off the top of my head It is silly but it is like my taste in movies. There is a variety I have watched but only few that I really enjoyed.
What's interesting is that you seem to really enjoy the idea of robots and Artificial Intelligence. I'm a former computer designer, including advanced automated systems. I have actual designs for A.I. systems, though the technology hasn't gotten to the point of being practical yet.
I hear about it all the time from my younger brother. He is only 20 years old, autistic and the biggest science fiction/star trek/space and computer geek I have ever met. He introduces me to movies and books around the ideas. I have not been able to borrow a book from him in 6 months.
A real fan it sounds like. It's good he has something in his life that excites him. Everyone should have something that does that to them.
Yes, He has been afraid all of his life and he finally found an outlet. Now it rubbed off on me a little bit.
Things are always better when you have a friend to share it with. Especially when it's something that bores the hell out of must people.
How I am starting to read Slaughterhouse five. Good beginning to the book and so far there are concepts in it that Wowed me
Great point. I know that this thread is about your interest in reading but, live2write, why do you write?
I write for pleasure in a way where it helps me vent and calm me down in stressful situations. Also there are times where I want to talk to myself and physically tell a story. I write it down so I can remember them. I also know that my writing needs improvement. I enjoy improving myself but also giving my words an actual voice.
For that, I ride, shoot or lift to exorcize the demons of discontent. Then I can write. The thing that stops me is mind chatter. Even with an overall story arc, if I cannot get my thoughts straight I cannot seem to get the words down. (On a personal note, who's the redhead in your avatar? My story has a redheaded monarch, and those red eyes are something I've seen in my dreams for thirty years...)
