When I was young I used to read a lot of fiction, like Redwall

Pull the trigger.

Best reason to read deeply is to communicate, so the best way to read deeply is to write.

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>>9012639
When you are reading scrunch up your face while reading. Make sure you are straining your facial muscles. Your face should be sore after a reading session. Remember no pain no gain.

Bump.

I don't think it's a ridiculous question, considering that there are entire university courses dedicated to the dissection of literature. Please help.

>>9012646
This

I often pick up on literary techniques and devices by imagining myself writing. It's not perfect; I'm not the person whose book I'm reading. But, for some reason, you need to write (to some extent) to be able to read (again, to some extent).

>>9012639
>Reading is little more than scanning the pages, feeling what I'm ought to feel according to the story, and then shelving the book and moving on to the next one.

That's where you're wrong. On the one hand, a good author can manipulate the reader's feelings and impressions, and some stories are really just that. But to read deeply you have to engage intellectually with the material. Exit the emotional system of the book, and think about what it all means.

When character X dies, what did the author mean by that? You might be sad at the death until you realize something like "oh, the author has been alluding to death as not being the end. He implies life after death". So then what would traditionally be a sad ending could be turned into a happy one. A story can gain layers of meaning as you pick it apart, and that, to me, is the greatest joy of reading and writing.

>>9012639
>you can find countless essays on the themes and whatnot of a single book, and that is what intrigues me.

Do you actually read those essays?

Even if you don't necessarily believe it, try to imagine there is some objective truth or emotion the author is trying to express. Perhaps more importantly, pay attention to the methods he or she uses to do this. If you don't know where to begin, try looking up a basic list of these mechanisms.