Reading in the dark - Reader's block
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Reader's block
I have read a couple of posts on this subject lately and, as I experienced this at the end of last year, I thought I would write about what I did to recover from this insidious and distressing condition.
During November and December of last year I found myself really struggling with a feeling of reader's ennui. I had never in my life as far as I could remember experienced a lack of interest in reading, not even when I had serious eye problems. I was griping about it at a party one night and someone said, "Well, maybe you're just not in a mood to read anything; I feel like that sometimes." I didn't reply verbally to this idea, but I'm positive my expression conveyed my thoughts of "Do I know you? or more to the point, do you know me?"
What I finally did was take a long look at what I had been reading and try to determine, much as if I was considering my nutritional intake, if I was getting what I needed out of my reading choices. My new habit of posting what I read over the past month and the source of those books is one of the things I am trying to do in order to more proactively think about what I am reading. I'm also conscious of the fact that I seem to have entered a phase as a reader where I am much more critical regarding not wanting to read a story that seems to be like a hundred or even a dozen other books I have read before.
For a number of years I was a full-time student who spent much of her time scanning textbooks and research material, so it was only recently that I had the time to really choose what I read. I had fallen into a lazy habit of just reading whatever I found in an already accessible format on Bookshare.org or the National Library for the Blind. These libraries tend to reflect tastes that are more mainstream and, while this was what I needed in my down time while I was a student, once I had more time to choose what I read, I felt I wasn't really reading the sort of more complex books I wanted to read. The impression I had was of feeling sort of malnourished, from a reader's standpoint. I decided that perhaps I would read fewer books but, instead of reading whatever came to hand, I would choose more carefully and then scan the books I really wanted. You'll notice, if you look at the source of the books I have been reading this year, that roughly half I have scanned myself. This also recaptures for me the sense I had as a sighted reader, of enjoying the process of browsing itself, and of choosing carefully. In a sense it is much like when I was a kid and could only take out x number of books from the library, so I would spend a couple of hours just deciding what I would check out. I wonder if to some degree the almost infinite choices that the Internet offers for being able to purchase almost any book has not in some way dulled the sense of using one's own, call it a literary current or an undertow, perhaps: that sense of being drawn toward certain narratives, certain stories and subjects that distinctly speak to you, personally, as a reader.
Ultimately, what I found to be a "cure" for reader's block is t rediscover the browsing process and to be aware of your own narrative fetishes, the sort of stories which truly excite you on a very personal level. At the same time, I tink it is important to consider keeping a record of which books you liked and which you didn't, along with even a single reason why you liked or disliked those books. I have found, for instance, that I no longer have the patience to read a three hundred or four hundred plus book where nothing has happened by the first seventy to one hundred pages. Now I am trying to refine what I mean by this idea of "something happening": roughly I mean a sense of movement, although that sense of movement does not have to be external action. It can be a sense of movement conveyed through internal dialogue that the character is interacting with the world, is reflecting on what happens to him or her, and is wrestling with acting more than merely reacting with complaints or angstt (this is where a lot of chicklit or "novels of manners" lose me).
These suggestions may not work for other people, I'm just saying they have worked for me and I have been quite pleased to feel that I have recaptured that sense of getting excited about the books I read.
Current Location: aerye
Current Mood: accomplished
Tags: books, readng
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![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/23457373/1511936) | | From: | ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cvirtue |
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| Date: | April 13th, 2008 03:53 pm (UTC) |
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"The impression I had was of feeling sort of malnourished, from a reader's standpoint."
That is such an interesting thing to consider! A friend of mine mentioned about a year ago that he was having the sort of ennui you mention (I think) and he had concluded that he had been reading so much on the web, which was sort of like junk food, that in retrospect he wasn't that surprised that he didn't have the appetite for more substantial reading.
A lot to think about here; I've been suffering intermittently from reader's block for the last few years, without really understanding what causes it (other than being a student and having my reading circumscribed for much of the year, though it never feels like a release when I get to the end of the syllabus each time, more a burden). At your suggestion, I shall be inspecting my reading tastes more closely, to see what is going on here.
![[User Picture]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/44941078/2744467) | | From: | gyzki |
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| Date: | April 13th, 2008 05:22 pm (UTC) |
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I think it is important to consider keeping a record of which books you liked and which you didn't, along with even a single reason why you liked or disliked those books.
Many megadittoes. I've been feeling much more invested in what I read, since I started writing up my reviews. Before starting, I'm thinking more about whether it's a book I really want to read; while reading, I'm thinking about what's working for me; after finishing, I have to decide just how much I liked it. All that extra thinking makes me feel like a more active, less passive, reader.
Edited at 2008-04-13 05:23 pm (UTC)
FYI ... On the digital talking books side, at least, it seems that NLS's offerings are expanding ever so slightly (they have Accelerando and Rainbows End, for instance). But yeah, I know what you mean about reading what you can find just because you can find it.
I've found that I'm paying closer attention to things I read now that I'm logging them all to Goodreads, since it lets you give an immediate rating (5 point scale) and review. I've been reading a ridiculous amount of stuff lately. I was surprised to note that reviewing my list for this year, that I still had very clear thoughts about all of them.
Edited at 2008-04-13 05:35 pm (UTC)
Re NLS: yes, but both of those books were released as free etexts through the Net long before they were available through NLS, so for me it proved redundant. But agreed, I have seen some web braille books posted that seemed to promise more contemporary and varied literature might be made available through NLS. I'm noticing some good young adult fiction in particular coming out in web braille.
Strange to hear you say YOU(stress) can not find anything to read. You always seemed to be a mega reader to me.
But I like your idea of browsing your reading materials, It is too easy to get sucked into a pretty prose and realize half way through the book you hate every single character.
I find what I pick is shaped by what I am currently involved with. i.e. Job and/ or lifestyles.
Looking back over the amount of junk food for the mind I have collected over the years. I realize I am not that picky. grin.
Yes, it is good to be excited about books, at least occasionally.
I have found, for instance, that I no longer have the patience to read a three hundred or four hundred plus book where nothing has happened by the first seventy to one hundred pages.
Do you find that your tolerances wax and wane? Because sometimes I don't mind that at all, but much of the time I definitely have to be in the mood. If my brain is doing especially badly, slow movement is all I can handle, for example.
I probably do have much more tolerance for long rambling bit during the winter, when I tend to crave long rambling novels. When I'm sick, I am more inclined toward slow-moving stories, like English house mysteries by Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers. I also have seasonal preferences, I'll post separately about that. |
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