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Slow goings

sparkchaser

sparkchaser

Administrator and Stuntman
Staff member
Have you ever read a book that, for some reason or another, you moved through at a snail's pace?

I'm dealing with that now on An Army at Dawn. I find the book interesting but I still find myself moving through it too slow for my liking. I have less than 200 pages to go before finishing it so shelving it at this point really isn't an option I'd be satisfied with.
 
I've learned to expect this phenomenon with writers such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Vladimir Nabakov. It has caused me to rexamine my personal definition of what a 'good read' looks like. Just because a book takes a little work, doesn't make it a bad experience. On the contrary; the books I've had to take slower have often yielded the best rewards.
 
That happens to me quite often and sometimes I have a difficult time determining whether it's the book or my mindset.
 
It happens to me when I'm reading a book that holds my attention just enough for me to want to continue, but not enough to focus on it for any length of time.
 
Farewell Anatolia -Dido Sotiriou ,I had a hard time with it being in Greek.I think I would have enjoyed it more in English.
 
Robert said:
It happens to me when I'm reading a book that holds my attention just enough for me to want to continue, but not enough to focus on it for any length of time.
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Sometimes I'll stop and ask myself 'Do I really give a fig how this story plays out?' How I answer that question determines what happens next. With a truly good book(for me, at the given time) I'm taking longer because there's a lot to chew on, and to go faster would be counterproductive.
 
abecedarian said:
Sometimes I'll stop and ask myself 'Do I really give a fig how this story plays out?' How I answer that question determines what happens next. With a truly good book(for me, at the given time) I'm taking longer because there's a lot to chew on, and to go faster would be counterproductive.
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It might be a little different for me. ADD/ADHD runs in my family.
 
Robert said:
It might be a little different for me. ADD/ADHD runs in my family.
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Dare I bring this up? Could age and stress play a part in this equation? I've noticed over the last year or so that my ability to concentrate or focus is different.. I'm not saying either of us are old, but I would ask about stress...
 
abecedarian said:
Dare I bring this up? Could age and stress play a part in this equation? I've noticed over the last year or so that my ability to concentrate or focus is different.. I'm not saying either of us are old, but I would ask about stress...
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Yes,Abe,the joys of puting the milk in the cabinet and looking for it in the fridge later.:whistling:
 
Libra said:
Yes,Abe,the joys of puting the milk in the cabinet and looking for it in the fridge later.:whistling:
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Did I ever tell you about my friend Lena? Her Windex went missing once. Imagine her shock to find it in the fridge next to the Koolaide:lol:
 
abecedarian said:
Dare I bring this up? Could age and stress play a part in this equation? I've noticed over the last year or so that my ability to concentrate or focus is different.. I'm not saying either of us are old, but I would ask about stress...
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Stress isn't an issue. Age has a part, but I don't know if I should put it under advantage or disadvantage.
 
Robert said:
Stress isn't an issue. Age has a part, but I don't know if I should put it under advantage or disadvantage.
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I hear ya. I suppose if the goal was to buzz through as many books as possible for some imaginary race, taking one's time would be detrimental. If there's no race, is there really a problem?
 
I know lots of people loved the book, ¨The Time Traveller´s Wife¨, but for about 100-200 of the pages, I struggled with the different time frames and only towards the finish, did I understand what was actually going on.

I agree that age does play a factor in reading. When I was studying at university, I could study with music playing and I could read with noise - now I have to have absolute quiet so I can concentrate!
 
abecedarian said:
I hear ya. I suppose if the goal was to buzz through as many books as possible for some imaginary race, taking one's time would be detrimental. If there's no race, is there really a problem?
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Whether or not there is a problem depends on the book. Some authors are easy to read even with common distractions. Others require enough focus that any discraction will send me back a paragraph or so.
 
Robert said:
Whether or not there is a problem depends on the book. Some authors are easy to read even with common distractions. Others require enough focus that any discraction will send me back a paragraph or so.
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How do you decide whether to stick with the book or throw in the towel? I find it varies so much, there really isn't a formula..often just a feeling that it's time.
 
abecedarian said:
How do you decide whether to stick with the book or throw in the towel? I find it varies so much, there really isn't a formula..often just a feeling that it's time.
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What I usually do is put the book aside for one that allows for more distractions. I can come back to a book when the time is right. I started Last of the Mohicans three times before I was able to get into it.

The things is that I can't stop my mind from bouncing around. A little movement, a sound or a vibration can make my thoughts bounce between the book and the cause of the disturbance. The cats can be a nightmare.
 
Robert said:
What I usually do is put the book aside for one that allows for more distractions. I can come back to a book when the time is right. I started Last of the Mohicans three times before I was able to get into it.

The things is that I can't stop my mind from bouncing around. A little movement, a sound or a vibration can make my thoughts bounce between the book and the cause of the disturbance. The cats can be a nightmare.
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Well now, cats deserve their own special distraction category.Goofy things. I think part of what makes it take so long for me to wade through a worthy book(ie one I like) is that the writer puts so much food for thought in the book..in those cases, the effort is worth it. For instance, when I read Cancer Ward, I kept comparing the book to my mother's stories of her experience in a sanitorium in the late 40s. That sort of distraction if fine.
 
abecedarian said:
Well now, cats deserve their own special distraction category.Goofy things. I think part of what makes it take so long for me to wade through a worthy book(ie one I like) is that the writer puts so much food for thought in the book..in those cases, the effort is worth it. For instance, when I read Cancer Ward, I kept comparing the book to my mother's stories of her experience in a sanitorium in the late 40s. That sort of distraction if fine.
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Some distractions are fine. Sometimes I'll sitting there reading something and I'll wonder about the accuracy of a history being protrayed or whether it ever really happened. I'm trying to read the book but what I'm really thinking about is what I know about the subject. I'm trying to apply the information to what I think I know or I'm trying to understand the apparent conflict. What can I learn from it? That's a good distraction. So what if it means taking two weeks to finish a 450 page novel? No hurry.
 
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