![]() |
#1 |
Banned
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 397
Karma: 85500
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Sydney
Device: Sony PRS350, Onyx M92, Onyx T68 (defective!)
|
Am I bad at reading or what?
I tried reading "Moby Dick", I found it extremely difficult to understand and three chapters into the book I gave up. The style is just too ancient for me.
Does anyone else have difficulty reading old classics? Last edited by FinancialWar; 12-30-2011 at 08:48 PM. Reason: spelling |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#2 |
Grand Sorcerer
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 28,555
Karma: 204127028
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
It can be difficult at times. But I find that if I slow down and give myself plenty of time to absorb the prose, I can adapt to most any writing style... and often end up enjoying it tremendously.
![]() I don't remember Melville's writing being very ancient or archaic, though. Perhaps it was the nautical setting and language you had trouble with. |
![]() |
![]() |
Advert | |
|
![]() |
#3 | |
Blue Captain
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 1,595
Karma: 5000236
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini
|
Quote:
That is, lots of people will find it really, really boring. |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#4 |
Series Addict
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 6,180
Karma: 167189477
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Florida, USA
Device: Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Gen)
|
One of the reasons I never picked it up in the first place. My best friend, at the time, read it before I was going to, and thankfully saved me the trouble.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#5 |
Are you gonna eat that?
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 1,633
Karma: 23215128
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phillipsburg, NJ
Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG
|
call me ignorant but i find most classics unreadable sleeping pills, i can't handle anything written before the 1920s and 30s (unless its hg wells). i read for fun, i don't want to have to work at or study something.
|
![]() |
![]() |
Advert | |
|
![]() |
#6 |
Banned
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 397
Karma: 85500
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Sydney
Device: Sony PRS350, Onyx M92, Onyx T68 (defective!)
|
lol, good it's not just me who find "Moby Dick" unbearable. lol
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#7 |
Connoisseur
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 69
Karma: 828088
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Fife Scotland
Device: Kindle 3 Paperwhite
|
It can't be any worse than "Last of the Mohicans" which was deadly tedious and wordy. Whoever did the screenwriting for the film was an absolute genius.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#8 |
Comic book artist
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 553
Karma: 1760679
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Detroit
Device: Nook Glowlight, iPad, iPhone
|
I've tried twice to read it, once in 2006 and once in 2007. Both times I tapped out by a quarter of the way into it. I want to try again, and I have it on my Nook right now, because I feel like once I get into the meat of the story I'll enjoy it more. But it is very hard to follow sometimes and there's too much exposition.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#9 |
eBook Enthusiast
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383099
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
I read a lot of 18th and 19th century novels, as well as more modern stuff. The writing style of the late 18th and 19th centuries is completely different to the way modern writers write, and you need to make a definite mental adjustment to be able to enjoy it, I find.
When I first read Jane Austen, for example, I found it unbearably tedious. Why would anyone want to read this? Nothing HAPPENS! It's just people gossipping about each other and having tea parties and dances. But someone gave me a piece of useful advice: don't try to rush it and EXPECT things to happen. Just take it as it comes, and enjoy it. And you know what? It worked. 18th and 19th century novels were written to be slowly savoured, not gulped down. Relax. Take it slowly, and absorb the atmosphere. For me, at least, something "clicked" and I "got it". |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#10 | |
Series Addict
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 6,180
Karma: 167189477
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Florida, USA
Device: Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Gen)
|
Quote:
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#11 |
eBook Enthusiast
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383099
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
I have to confess that I do find Forster terribly heavy going myself. I haven't read "A Room with a View", but I struggled to make it through "A Passage to India". Not one of my favourite authors.
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#12 |
Zealot
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 142
Karma: 248484
Join Date: May 2011
Device: ipod touch, Kindle3
|
I asked about reading it in college for a project. My English prof said no one should be made to read Moby Dick.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#13 |
eBook Enthusiast
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383099
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#14 |
Busy Read'n
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 980
Karma: 5039283
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Auburn, WA
Device: Pocketbook Touch Lux 5
|
All this discussion really made me want to see what the fuss is about.. just downloaded Moby Dick LRF from the MR library.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
#15 | |
Can one read too much?
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Posts: 2,029
Karma: 2487799
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Naples, FL
Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650
|
Quote:
During the movie, I complained to my friend much of the time: "This is sooooo boring!" |
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Reading a Book Versus a Screen: Different Reading Devices | wodin | General Discussions | 9 | 10-25-2011 05:05 PM |
Anybody else love reading bad reviews? | xg4bx | General Discussions | 38 | 10-21-2011 11:45 AM |
Speed reading - does it add or detract for fiction reading? | kiwidude | General Discussions | 14 | 09-17-2011 03:25 PM |
bad card, or bad card reader, or... ? | zelda_pinwheel | Fictionwise eBookwise | 5 | 02-08-2008 10:32 AM |
Environmental study: 30 min of e-paper reading = 30 mins of print reading | Steven Lyle Jordan | News | 36 | 12-14-2007 03:29 PM |