I just spent all afternoon, literally from somewhere around 3pm,

>>8353476
Geez, you don't have to read the whole book today, watch a movie or something.

>>8353476
What book are you reading?

>>8353493
I'm not telling you because 1 spoilers, and 2 I don't wanna get memed.

>>8353493
Gravity's Rainbow

it's so cerebral

>>8353494
It's Infinite Jest isn't it

>>8353494
You can tell me desu

>>8353498
Fine, it's A Game of Thrones. And before you start memeing, I know that's not the title of the series. It's the title of the first book.

>>8353476
Dude you're shits all retarded, you got it all wrong. The book is in service of you, not the other way around, read it when you feel like it, forcing yourself to read a certain amount of a certain level of difficulty will get you nowhere. It's best to read slowly and make sure you're getting the maximum impact of each section.

>>8353518
It's just genre fiction, take a break dude. You'll have your whole life to read George R R Martin's literary shit.

>>8353534
To be honest, 1984 has been pretty enthralling. It's been incredible to me how the book is full of moments where there's suspension of disbelief, the events fall into play like clockwork, it's stunningly brilliant, and the meaning behind the text in some moments is so palpable, it's enthralling to realize the significance of the things you're reading; I even took pictures of certain passages which amazed me with my phone, and I found one passage that was in sampled in a song by Manic street Preachers. It was a brilliant moment, hearing that song that I've been listening to for years have new meaning.

I put the book down because I feel that I can no longer absorb to the best of my abilities, I indeed don't want to sour the experience what so ever.
>>8353543
First of all, that's not OP and I'm not reading Game of Thrones, I'm reading 1984.

>>8353560
bro.....you think 1984 is a difficult read?

I don't mean to sound condescending....but really?

>>8353574
I've only read 6 books in my adult life, this will be my 7th. I'm 22 now, I decided in June of this year that I would pursue reading for pleasure.

>>8353583
okay. well you do you man. good on you for starting. like the other anon's said, it's not a race. read to enjoy.

>>8353583
1984 was like the second book I pursued, I mainly found it difficult because it felt like very little was happening. And I'm pretty sure that's true as well, a huge portion of it is just spent on describing the world and how everything works. It's worth it in the end though, I remember getting chills as I read the last line of the book.

What other books have you read? I'm still a pleb myself and need to bring myself to read some more.

>>8353676
I generally don't enjoy many of the books I read, but 1984 was an exception. Glad to see someone else enjoying it.

>>8353676
>And I'm pretty sure that's true as well, a huge portion of it is just spent on describing the world and how everything works.
I completely agree. It wasn't until around page 100 when it really started to pick up, and I started feeling like it was less tedious and confusing details about how the world in 1984 works, and more excitement.

I have read Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, The Strange by Albert Camus, The Wasp Factory by Ian M Banks, In The Miso Soup by Ryu Mirukami (probably misspelled that), The Catcher In The Rye by J D Salinger, and The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. All great, Dorian Grey was challenging and took me like a fucking month to get through though. Most of the books I mentioned are very short reads though, as in not that difficult.

>>8353699
1984 was an ephemeral read for me. Decent book, but no new ideas conceptually and highly forgettable.

>>8353476
OP, if this is only your 7th book, keep going like this, don't tackle the dense classics until you learn to be a good reader. Read lighter stuff that keeps you glued to the pages. Then slowly escalate.

>>8353723
I want to tackle 1 ridiculously dense book before the year is up. My goal this year is to read 10 books. I will read 2 more, then I'll tackle something like Paradise Lost, or The Tunnel by William Gass, or The Odyssey, something to set a precedent for myself and leave myself feeling accomplished.

>>8353741
Maybe tackle some ridiculously dense short stories first.

>>8353574
Fuck this guy

>>8353583
I'm proud of you OP, keep going, you're doing great. 1984 is a touchstone.

>>8353741
Do the Odyssey

>>8353476
That's pretty much what I do 4-5 days a week
The reading gets easier with time but just make sure to take care of ergonomy

>>8353583
OP you're cute. Keep reading, it will get easier and easier until you can read shit like Foucault.

>>8353476
>>8353723
exactly this. Don't read stuff that sucks to read for now. That stuff will forever suck to read, but you'll eventually get to a point where it becomes very very satisfying at moments to understand what's being conveyed.

My recommendation to all newbie-ish readers forever and always: A Confederacy of Dunces. Shit is hilarious, especially if you like the satire of 4chan, and it has relatively thinly-veiled social commentary that will let you digest something fairly easily and leave you satisfied. Seriously, I actually laughed out loud twice reading the book, and that's never happened before.

Also, don't read Paradise Lost as your first major work ffs. That's the most dry example of literature I can think of. I've had three separate nightmares since originally reading it three years ago that I had to read it again.

>>8353965
Yes, fuck yes! John Kennedy Toole was a fucking genius. Extremely easy to read while being high quality. Such a shame that he died thinking he was worthless.

>>8353965
Reading that right now actually.

It's so grotesque, yet I keep seeing Ignatius as an unaware mimicry of my own personality. It's really amusing yet still slightly concerning in the back of my mind.

>>8354081
Ignatius Reilly is the embodiment of /lit/.

>>8354099
he really is, but there are also characters in the book that represent /lit/'s equally irrational enemies, i.e. Myrna and Mr. Levy's wife.

>>8353583
1984 is great, there is a big crowd of people here who hate Orwell for no reason. Similar to Vonnegut, but he actually does somewhat deserve his meme status

>>8353965
>Confederacy of Dunces
I'm definitely going to read this by the end of the year, it gets recommended all the time. I could go for a good laugh. Anyways, I'm going to bed. Good night.