Thread 24596328

I am not a reader at all. However, I want to begin reading, because I really hate the fact that I'm on my phone and computer all the time. But I don't really have the attention span to read. I tried to read White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky because I heard he was a good author and it seemed short, but it sucked and I couldn't finish it. How do I get better at reading?

>>24596328 (OP)
>But I don't really have the attention span to read.
Then read like a hunter and gatherer, not like an academic.

>>24596344
What the fuck does this mean? I'm obviously a retard, can you spell it out?

>>24596349
Don't go through the ABCs like
A
B
C
D
E
you need to think like a hunter and gatherer. perhaps some Fs, a little more Gs, maybe put an O somewhere with an T. an academic would go "NO NO NO ITS ABC"

>>24596328 (OP)
Go to the store. pick out a book you like. make a day of it. have fun. you only live here for a short time.

>>24596328 (OP)
Maybe just read manga

>>24596328 (OP)

I've seen on /lit/ sometimes where they have said to begin with the Greeks, usually with regards to philosophy, that you should read philosophy starting with the Greek philosophers.

Here is an ebook I read a couple of years ago while staying in the Philippines with some relatives. The book is called "The Story of the Greeks" by H. A. Guerber. Easy to read history but reads like fiction. Mentions other classic books regarding Greek History like Xenophon's mercenary work under a Persian pretender to the Persian throne, their defeat and retreat back to Western Anatolia and Greece. The book covers Ancient Greece's beginnings up to the Roman period, if I remember correctly.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23495

>>24596344
>>24596817
This nigga speaks only in riddles.

>>24596328 (OP)
Russians are hard bc the ones generally liked require a lot of cultural background and its audience was aimed at aristocrats.
Personally I’d say read prayer for Owen meaney or something US and modern and go backwards.

>>24596328 (OP)
I don't find him to be a great author at all, but if you want to build up the habit of reading, consider checking out Chuck Palahniuk, especially Fight Club and Haunted. His style is accessible, the sentences tend to be short and direct, his scenarios are absurd and attention grabbing, and he can be read pretty quickly.

>>24596328 (OP)
Start with children's books

Read the great comics. Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Saga of The Swamp Thing, The Sandman by The Rapist Niel Gaiman. I think that can get you started into real literature.

>>24596328 (OP)
>I tried to read White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky because I heard he was a good author and it seemed short, but it sucked and I couldn't finish it.

tip number one: stop reading recommendations from tiktok

tip number 2: start with reading easy shit that was written in English or whatever language you're reading in. stuff you would read in high school

tip number 3: read finnegans wake

>>24596328 (OP)
start with the greeks

>>24596328 (OP)
Stop falling for the philosophy meme and read something fun or something interesting. Nobody fucking enjoys reading Dostoyevsky or Any Rand or Nietzsche. If you want to have a pleasant time, pick a fiction book of a genre you enjoy. If you want to learn, pick an educational book about something you find interesting. One of the big reasons people fail to pick up reading is thinking they ought to read "great works" instead of just what they like

>>24597232
This. Your mind has been ruined by the Internet and you will need to basically start from the beginning.

Genuinely start with these. These are all fun, easy and light
>the very hungry caterpillar
>the time machine
>treasure island
>around the world in 80 days
>artemis fowl the eternity code
>a series of unfortunate events
>the complete calvin and hobbes

>>24599796

Dostoyevsky - Read by professors and his books will sometimes by required reading.

Ayn Rand - Your female classmates in college read Ayn Rand.

Nietzsche - Was in a fiction writing club and the president and vice president of the club both read Nietszche and many other philosophers and use philosophy in their writings.

But you're right about the other stuff. OP should just read stuff he enjoys. However, there are many books in genre literature that can be considered to be "great works."

Adventure/Historical fiction - Moby Dick, Ivanhoe, The 3 Musketeers, Robinson Crusoe

Gothic - Edgar Allan Poe, Northanger Abbey, The Turn of the Screw, Edgar Huntly

Science Fiction - The Time Machine, Dune, 1984

Fantasy - The Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia

I also recommended >>24597219 since it is an easy read.

>>24596328 (OP)
Find fiction you enjoy even if it's genre or YA. Just research what you like and go off vibes.

>>24596328 (OP)
consult the charts -- none of these are necessarily good or something you'll enjoy, they're just to rev-up those reading fryers.
when I started reading I chose the Gulag Archipelago, I couldn't penetrate the second chapter, it was so 'literary', I just didn't get it. starting with easy stuff gets you used to literary language.

>>24602371
more baby shite

>>24596328 (OP)
read what you want to read thats literally it read what will make you want to keep reading figure out what genre is your favorite and find a book in that genre that you really want to read its literally that simple

>>24602379
what in the fuck is that clockwork orange cover lmao