I had and still sorta have the same problem, which is why I failed in english when it came to reading

The ironic twist though is that when it came to writing essays, I got pretty good grades. Of course, if it had to do with "What happened in this book and what's the theme?", I usually failed miserably and the teachers would say so.

>>19396
I too can write pretty well, I would say. I guess it just uses a different part of the brain. Apparently, I was slow to start talking, and took extra time to understand advanced speech. Might have something to do with it, otherwise I'm not dyslectic or anything. Did you just grow out of it or something?

Post edited on 9th Jan 2015, 4:25pm

>>19397
I guess I'm just more used to reading non-fiction, so it's pretty hard for me to interpret fiction novels.

I can write alright essays about things in real life (Mostly like rants about stuff), but I'm pretty much sub-fanfic author level when I try my hand at attempting to write fiction, something that I've unfortunately had no choice but to do when I was in school... thankfully they weren't exactly too shameful

Although now I have rather unique ideas for stories, I'm really the last person you'd want writing them, and they're probably stories that no one would ever want to read

I finished a Japanese book about a month ago but haven't started reading anything else. Old novels are a lot harder to read and more satisfying when you finish. But I have a lot of moments where I have no idea what I'm reading and start the page or sentence again but I still have no idea what I'm reading. I just can't be bothered reading a lot of the time. Even manga isn't doing it for me lately. Something light and easy is of course easy to read but it becomes boring eight volumes later. More serious manga like Punpun or something require more focus but some pages or even panels I have to read several times to actually comprehend what I'm reading. I read it in my head, and I hear the sounds but the meaning just doesn't come to me.

I haven't finished an English book for about three years. I tried reading Fall of the House of Usher but I read a few pages and just can't be bothered carrying on. There are words I don't know every few pages and long sentences where you forget what the sentence was about by the time you finish reading the sentence. And times where you finish reading a page then ask yourself 'what did I just read' and have absolutely no idea.

I'm also bad at writing. I passed English in high school but I have no confidence in my written skills. I was always scared of people reading my writing because it was so bad and it took years before I could make posts on the internet.

I just don't read if I don't feel like reading. I've tried stuff like setting goals such as 50 pages a day, one hour of reading a day but what's the point. I just do what I feel like doing. Fuck trying to make myself smarter.

I have the same issue.
Luckily (?), I don't really want to read anything.

>>19395
There's Mortimer's famous book "How to Read a Book". All you have to do is read this book in order to know how to read one.

>>19406
I was instructed to read it when I started taking courses on history and philosophy of science; the only thing I remember from it is the concept of quick view: to read the index, and then only the first sentence of each paragraph of the text. If the book is well written, the main ideas should be there and the rest is just their development; it's not perfect but, as they stressed, it's better than nothing. It proved really helpful when I was forced to go through 500+ pages books in a short time (and I'm the slowest reader ever); that way you do quickly get a general idea of the subject.

Another great thing to do, especially with pdf and such, is to read exclusively the text around key words. Examples:

1) In just one seat, I could easily and fairly get through Kuhn's main thesis in 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions' by only reading around the terms "Copernicus" and "copernican".

2) In just one seat, I could grasp the core of Baudrillard's philosophy by just reading around the term "reality" throughout several works of him (I actually saved those notes in one single file and it became extremely handy).

However, the most important thing, for me at least, is to underline and make marks of the important parts as you read. Normally one day after I read something I forgot pretty much everything except some of the marked stuff (the more dramatic the visual mark, the best it sticks in my mind) and, in any case, it makes it WAY easier to read it a second time. I even underline fiction books too with favorite parts, like taking screencaps from the best parts of an anime. I underline and take notes of fucking everything.

Post edited on 10th Jan 2015, 11:40am

I get tired when I try to read long posts, even ones I have written myself. Because of this most of the time I don't read over them for typos and things.

>>19410
I just tried to read some Japanese news article for exercise and got too tired. Oyasumi...

>>19408
Your post has inspired me to start training my ability to read. I found a website about reading faster (not English), it has some exercises I can try. Your tips on understanding a message without reading the whole thing were interesting, and I'll try them out whenever I'm in a pinch. Thanks.

>>19395
>This thread is about despairing over painfully bad reading skills.
That doesn't match me.

>If only I could open a book with peace, read it page by page, and not get stuck on the same sentence, become sleepy, and itch and scratch on my head.
oh.
Yes I get this. I can't read anymore. I used to become engrossed in every book I could get my hands on. Now I can't read more than a few pages without getting bored, stuck, sleepy, and quitting.

The same thing happens to me. I also noticed that my mind's eye is completely blank for the most part. When people read, do they normally envision the scene inside their head? I really have to struggle visualize what's going on and it makes reading more exhausting than entertaining. Sucks being an uncreative faggot.

I can't read for shit anymore. I take almost one hour to go through 10 pages because I'm constantly phasing out and putting the book aside, forgetting what I just read on the previous paragraph or having to reread the same sentences over and over until they sink in.

>>19486
I think I see what you mean. A lack of skill in reading might not be the issue.

>>19492
I don't envision a picture in my head but I'd say my reading skills are better than average. I guess maybe it's an abstract skill of gathering concepts or something of the sort and guessing how the sentences flow; what goes on in my head is a lot more different then when I watch or see something.

If we're to throw in terminology you could say that my mind tends to focus on what some would call formalism/structuralism.

I wanted to turn this around so I started with simple novels, such as Dan Brown (last year). It just seemed like a mindlessly boring activity back then. Fast forward to now and I've fallen into the habit of reading a book every week or every two weeks (if it's Anna Karenina or something that takes more dedication). Actually, I'm reading plenty of russian writers right now. If you're anything like me then it's gonna be boring for the first few books, but then I started craving more. Still not my favorite activity but it's kinda rewarding.

So it goes!

Slowly working my way through A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I really like the style of writing, but it can be confusing at times.

Start with an understanding of the overarching ideas/themes and context of the work. Details of your strategy will vary according to the type of content you're reading, but this is generally a sound practice.

It's important to recognize that ~90% of writing is usually filler, or at least not strictly necessary for your comprehension of the underlying ideational content. This is especially true in academic literature where rigor and formalism are prioritized over readability and concision. Academic writing is occasionally a statement of fashion over a detached description of ideas; unless you enjoy watching people masturbate and inevitably being ejaculated upon, there's little reason to endure it. Fiction can be heavy on irrelevant details and assorted minutiae as well, so it's important to exercise discrimination and selectivity by identifying what you want out of the experience.

Depending on how bad the writer is, fiction can be unbearable. Far too many times I've burned away hours on gratuitous exposition and characterization to be left with a relatively simple political or philosophical message. I no longer have the patience to deal with authors who "explore" ideas through conventional narrative elements and generally prefer to just research the intellectual topics in isolation.

Post edited on 1st Mar 2015, 10:59am

After not reading a book for a while and not being a huge reader I picked up 'house of leaves" and decided to read it.

Started off alright..

I have a feeling similar to this, in a way. It's a bit difficult to explain.

I'll often put off something that I KNOW I will enjoy, such as reading, a certain anime or video game, anything really.
I try and put them off until I feel like I'm in the proper "mood" to read them, but I never actually wind up in that mood, and I always wind up putting it off until tomorrow indefinitely and doing my normal routine.

I wish I could stop doing that.

>>19741
What I'm getting out of this is something like "mindful selectiveness" (I made that up, don't take it seriously). Going about lit that might strengthen the feeling of being in charge of the reading, rather than being a slave of the book. Interesting read. Another Patchubutt, although Touhou isn't populare on TC.

>>19756
I know what you mean, but I think that's different, but no less problematic. It's kind of like procrastination, but with different emotions. When I was younger, I used to think that if you were going to do something enjoyable for yourself, you had to do it on Friday or Saturday night with snacks and soda. I've been trying to be more impulsive when I realized this was hindering my enjoyment with things.

>>19756
I have a similar problem. I am often too anxious to try to engage in activities precious to me. I always set myself up in very specific, sometimes asinine conditions when I need to do such things.

Listening to my favorite song? Ok you I have to not listen to any other song unless I listen to this, and when I do, I have to make sure it's in my room ONLY and it's quiet.

Reading Manga or watching Anime? Make sure it's in a very dark and quiet room for maximum viewing pleasure. Though this condition I actually like because it provides a surreal experience, I lose all sense of time and just engage in what I'm doing like crazy, it's amazing.

Oh hey I'm having a hard time beating this boss. Ok now I literally cannot do ANYTHING unless you beat that part you're stuck on, otherwise, I'll never get over it! I know I really need to take as shower as I smell like sweat and cum but just bare with yourself until you're done that game.

I need to put my phone in my pocket? Make sure it's on my left pocket because my heart is on the left side of my chest, after all I do have pictures of my waifu on there.

It goes on, but that's about the gist of it. Man I have problems.


Anyway, back on topic. I also can't read a book for more than a hour, for instance I could never grasp what the author was trying to tell me in a drawing tutorial book. I always needed much more information and found myself reading it over and over again until I just gave up.

But if were talking about manga, then shit, I can read and finish it with absolute ease quickly and still remember what happened months later.

I have problems reading too. It can take me 30 minutes to finish a page, but little web posts on a screen are fine; I guess I'm a millennial, or maybe I have late onset A.D.D.. If I want to learn something, I usually first look to youtube, and there are a lot of audiobooks on there.
I've also taken to using this site http://www.readsy.co/ which you can enter bodies of text into and it displays the words in an animated sequence like in my picture. My mileage often varies with how some things are written but even if I can't get the gist of it, when I look back at the article I feel myself reading it a lot faster because I'm finishing sentences in my head, remembering the words.

Also when I read physical books, the best thing I do to not get lost on the page is take a pencil or bookmark and hold it near the line I'm reading. When it's digital, I highlight the text as I'm reading.

>>19885
If you're reading something difficult (or just something thats just written in a far too complex way, which is far too common..) its common to need to read the same sentance several times to understand it.

Whenever I try to read something, especially if I get really into it, I stop every couple lines because I start fantasizing about something related and usually this occurs for about half an hour until I realize I haven't progressed at all in reading. I honestly try and stop it but I can't.

>>19887
I do this too. Mainly with reading but also with writing or other activities that takes effort. It can take me a day to do things other people finish in a couple of hours.

I found another tool to help me read faster, called BeeLine reader, which I have as a bowser plug-in and it makes websites start showing text in color gradients. It doesn't work on imageboard sites though. I'm not sure if it actually helps and sometimes it's inconvenient and sometimes it's more daunting to see walls of text when they're colorful, but I'd figure I'd share.

>>20386
It looks quite straining on the eyes, but it might really help with skipping/rereading lines.