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Pleasure or Analysis

muggle

muggle

New Member
I have noticed 2 kinds of readers on the forum. Those that read for the pure enjoyment of the book and those that love to analyze the author's writing.

What type of reader are you.

I am one that reads for the enjoyment and could care less about trying to analyze the author's writing style. However, those that take part in analyzing the author's style, etc, I am sure get the same enjoyment that I do from reading.
 
Pure enjoyment! Reading a book to analyze it seems too much like school work. I'll discuss a book with pleasure, but I would not read a book for the purpose of discussing it.
 
Hi there, it just happens that you and I are living in the same State, which is Virginia. :)

To answer your question, I am a reader-analyst. First I will read for pure enjoyment and comprehension of the material. Then I will put the book away and try to recall everything I read, not verbatim, of course. Afterward I will analyse it in depth because I think analysis is good for critical thinking.

Because of this habit, I always remember the main contents of all the books I have read (but if you want me to recall the details, I wouldn't be able to do so!). I always enjoy looking at the books on my bookshelves because whenever I do that I have a feeling that I have absorbed the author's message very well.

In short, I like literature chiefly because of all the interesting analysis that I have to do! ;)
 
I read mostly for pleasure, although I do enjoy analyzing the writing, too. My favourite books are usually those, whioch I analyzed, you just get so much more of it.
But it does depend on the books I read, too. There is little use in analyzing 'The DaVinci Code', while Kafka takes some time.
 
For pleasure, though I do tend to analyze unconciously, but I do this with most things, as I am a very analytical person.
 
I read purely for pleasure, though I suspect my definition of that is different from muggle's. I get pleasure from a strong and distinctive writing style, from resonances in the text, from narrative tricks and games, even from pure self-indulgent authorial cleverness. None of this I would call analysis because it's much more natural than that suggests, an intrinsic part of the reading process for me rather than something added on to it at the end.

At the risk of blundering into topics from other threads, I would suggest that some books lend themselves to this sort of multi-faceted pleasure more than others do: those generally termed 'literary' rather than 'popular.' I have never seen the point in reading something that doesn't involve a little work on the reader's part; to just sit there and be talked to for several hundred pages is something I find boring - and unpleasurable!

I would also suggest that when muggle and others say they don't analyse at all (consciously or unconsciously), well, that can't be quite true - otherwise what would they be doing on a book discussion forum! If we all didn't think at all about the books we read, then there'd be no discussion going on here at all, save for 'I liked it' or 'I hated it' without any explanations.
 
I read almost entirely for pleasure. But, I get pleasure from fluff as well as more intellectual readings. Example: Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum is a very technical read, I struggled with it, and I think I need to read it again to get more out of it, whereas Matthew Reilly's Ice Station was pure adrenaline, action adventure and I breezed though it. And I loved them both.
 
I read purely for pleasure, however after I have read a book I think back over what I have read. It's not really a case of analysing the book, but to judge whether or not I would classify it as a good book and possibly recommend it to others. You do tend to think back on the style of writing, the characters and the plot. I do have a fairly analytical mind but I don't think anyone could read a book and not had an opinion on it.
 
Well, I'm a professional writer and editor, with a degree in English Literature. It's hard to turn the analysis off.
 
Obviously everyone on a book forum reads for pleasure at some level.

And I don't see how you can read anything without analyzing it, even just a little. You will automatically have a frame of reference available, of similar books you've read, other books by that author, experience you have had that might be near something in a book, opinions you have that agree or disagree with the author. All of these thoughts are analytical.

Now, you might not think that you are consciously analyzing a book, but it's just how the human mind works. Nothing is read in a vacuum. All analysis is, is bringing that frame of reference to bear.

You can be a lazy thinker who might not want to translate your analytical thoughts into words, but they exist nevertheless.
 
muggle said:
I have noticed 2 kinds of readers on the forum. Those that read for the pure enjoyment of the book and those that love to analyze the author's writing.

What type of reader are you.

I am one that reads for the enjoyment and could care less about trying to analyze the author's writing style. However, those that take part in analyzing the author's style, etc, I am sure get the same enjoyment that I do from reading.
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Enjoyment!!! I just love to read! :D :D :D
 
I do both, though if the writing is really bad I find I can't stop myself from analyzing it. Same thing happens with movies.
 
Pleasure!

5k3bme
 
Pleasure mostly, however, I DO analyse sometimes but not on purpose, I just do it somewhere in the back of my mind.

I, too, would rather read thn watch TV.
 
muggle said:
I have noticed 2 kinds of readers on the forum. Those that read for the pure enjoyment of the book and those that love to analyze the author's writing.

What type of reader are you.

I am one that reads for the enjoyment and could care less about trying to analyze the author's writing style. However, those that take part in analyzing the author's style, etc, I am sure get the same enjoyment that I do from reading.
Click to expand...


I usually read for enjoyment.
 
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