How do you feel when and after you read a book?

Ginny

Ginny

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Here is a quote from one of my favourite books. I think it describes most closely what I feel after I have finished a book, specifically those I love the most.

"She’d stretched out reading them as long as she could, but it was May now and she’d just turned the last page of the last book. That’s all there is, she thought, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them with her arms. She felt indistinctly morose, unsettled even, as she often did when she’d finished a favorite novel. Even when the ending was happy, it was like a death or at least a going away for a long time, this having to say goodbye to characters she’d come to know and love.

In fact, she wasn’t sure if the happy ending didn’t simply make her feel worse. It was the sort of happy ending that tied up everything neatly and never actually turned up in real life, where endings, if they happened at all, were messy, and love wasn’t always rewarded or punished: sometimes it just faded away into the background, part of the great clamoring mass of unanswered questions that eventually you just had to learn to live with if you wanted to grow up."
​
What are your feelings about reading beloved books?
 
Depends on how good the book is.

If it's a crappy book, or a book I can't get in to I give up. When I was younger, I used to force my way through every book I started. But now I get so little time to just enjoy myself, why suffer through something thats frustrating me?

The better books totally trasport me. I am totally lost in the story to the point I can see myself there, I'm unaware of my surroundings. When it's done, I don't know what to do with my life. lol Sounds silly, but it's true for a few hours to a few days. Literature can really affect you.
 
Isabella said:
If it's a good book (normally if I get past the first chapter, I'll carry on, otherwise I discard it)....I'll read it all over again (minus the highlighter - yes I'm one of those who scribbles all over the pages).
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I can see the advantage, but doesn't it keep you from developing new ideas when you read it again after a while? I am the kind of person that only applies a pencil to a book to correct the typos :blush::innocent: otherwise I just feel like it "sullies" the book. I even do everything to prevent any damage to the book's spine.
 
I don't write notes in the margins, but I do underline sentences or passages that speak to me. I don't think it sullies anything. Sometimes it highlights a frame of mind I was in at the time. I'll return to a book 6 years later, sometimes the same pieces speak to me, sometimes they don't.

Most of my books are second hand. I love buying books other people have marked, as often I don't understand why they underlined the parts they did. The beauty of literature. It just shows me how it speaks to us all in different ways.
 
When I actually do get into a good book, while I'm reading I'm totally in a different realm. It's like I'm not even in my body anymore.

When it's over I usually freak out and cope by obsessing over anything related to it or what people recommend if you like it. Or even various things within the book if I can find them in the real world somehow.

Pretty sure the whole reason fanfics exist is because it's largely a coping mechanism for that sense of loss.
 
Wyote said:
When I actually do get into a good book, while I'm reading I'm totally in a different realm. It's like I'm not even in my body anymore.

When it's over I usually freak out and cope by obsessing over anything related to it or what people recommend if you like it. Or even various things within the book if I can find them in the real world somehow.

Pretty sure the whole reason fanfics exist is because it's largely a coping mechanism for that sense of loss.
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That's funny, I was asking because of a fanfiction. Only I started it because of its author; I read something of hers and wanted to know what else she wrote. Unfortunately it was her debut, but when I read the Wikipedia article and found out about the fanfiction, I felt compelled to read it. That, and my dissatisfaction with the development of the original (of the fanfiction). What better combination is there?
 
Lost in my own world, and now I have to wake up. :( :D There is an "Ahhhh" sigh that follows, a sense of accomplishment. It's almost like you've been resting on a fluffy cloud in the sky, and now you have to float back to earth. Slightly disappointing but completely satisfying.
 
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I have a degree in literature and have worked closely with massive quantities of books for over 6 years. This may sound weird but I sort of hate books now. The last time I read a book was War And Peace which I finished in December last year and I thought it was some of the worst trash I have ever read, it made me so angry and really turned me off reading. The best book I've ever read was Ulysses, I feel like no book can ever be as mindblowing as that so why bother? I've been thinking about reading the last Kafka novel I haven't read which is Amerika but I dunno, I already own so many books I haven't read and it feels wrong to buy more. I always crack my spines (they look way better on the shelf that way), I use a lot of post-its on my pages, and sometimes I graffiti the covers if it is a book that I particularly loved or hated.

When I'm reading a book I feel impatient, wanting it to be over. When I finish it I feel relieved that it's over.
 
I also have read a lot of adult romance genre novels but I'm sick of them now. But I had a sense of compulsive fun while reading them. You just read them so fast. Sometimes the author comes out with something really witty or moving and it's pretty exciting.
 
invisible said:
I have a degree in literature and have worked closely with massive quantities of books for over 6 years. This may sound weird but I sort of hate books now. The last time I read a book was War And Peace which I finished in December last year and I thought it was some of the worst trash I have ever read, it made me so angry and really turned me off reading. The best book I've ever read was Ulysses, I feel like no book can ever be as mindblowing as that so why bother? I've been thinking about reading the last Kafka novel I haven't read which is Amerika but I dunno, I already own so many books I haven't read and it feels wrong to buy more. I always crack my spines (they look way better on the shelf that way), I use a lot of post-its on my pages, and sometimes I graffiti the covers if it is a book that I particularly loved or hated.

When I'm reading a book I feel impatient, wanting it to be over. When I finish it I feel relieved that it's over.
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Wow, that's harsh. I would hate myself if I started hating books. Otherwise the purchase of over 250 of them would have been for nothing. And I wouldn't read the odd book approx. 5 times. The only thing I have developed a love-hate-relationship with is Hamlet. Did it 4 times in as many semesters. Plus one paper. I did always chose my courses with care. If I had had to read those books I probably would hate literature too. From what I have heard of Joyce...
I don't break the spines because I want my books to prevail, not to fall apart after the fifth reading. I usually don't buy books that I only plan to read once. That includes Shakespeare, Austen and Doyle (B&N leather bound editions). And Marlowe, I loved Faustus last year in Stratford!
 
If I love a book I can't put it down, literally. 'If this is a Man' Primo Levi, about Auschwitz was like that for me and there have been many many others. I can't wait till it's read and then by the time it's finished I'm sad it's come to an end. I even read that book walking to school because I couldn't put it down. It's a book that is amazing, and teaches you about life and human nature, it's sad and inspiring and tragic. I like novels that have something serious to say about life and the human condition. That can be very nourishing somehow.
 
Ginny said:
Wow, that's harsh. I would hate myself if I started hating books. Otherwise the purchase of over 250 of them would have been for nothing. And I wouldn't read the odd book approx. 5 times. The only thing I have developed a love-hate-relationship with is Hamlet. Did it 4 times in as many semesters. Plus one paper. I did always chose my courses with care. If I had had to read those books I probably would hate literature too. From what I have heard of Joyce...
I don't break the spines because I want my books to prevail, not to fall apart after the fifth reading. I usually don't buy books that I only plan to read once. That includes Shakespeare, Austen and Doyle (B&N leather bound editions). And Marlowe, I loved Faustus last year in Stratford!
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Should I hate myself? I'm not sure.

What have you heard about Joyce?? He's wonderful. I thought everyone loves him. How could you not? That would be like disliking Beethoven. How could anyone dislike Beethoven, he was such a wonderful artist. The only people I've ever heard talk about disliking Ulysses are people who have tried to read it and not succeeded. I don't know what could possibly be bad about it. It's amazing. It's got everything you could ever want. If I took one thing to be stranded with on a desert island it would be Ulysses. I never read books twice (except for back in school) but I would read Ulysses again. No work of art could compare to it for me.

With these cultural monolith texts I'm always curious to read it myself and see what all the fuss is about. Sometimes it's a lot of very good reasons, like Ulysses. Sometimes it's a lot of very bad reasons that are part of the garbage dump of history, like Tolstoy's shitty books. Sometimes the reality accords with opinions of different types of readerships, sometimes not.

I love Hamlet, it seems like the first gothic literary product to me, although reading it 4 times would be pretty intense. Reading a text a lot of times out of choice takes a lot of devotion and a very avid reading habit. I don't have that, and there are way too many other important things that I haven't read once that I will never fit into reading in my lifetime.
 
invisible said:
Should I hate myself? I'm not sure.

What have you heard about Joyce?? He's wonderful. I thought everyone loves him. How could you not? That would be like disliking Beethoven. How could anyone dislike Beethoven, he was such a wonderful artist. The only people I've ever heard talk about disliking Ulysses are people who have tried to read it and not succeeded. I don't know what could possibly be bad about it. It's amazing. It's got everything you could ever want. If I took one thing to be stranded with on a desert island it would be Ulysses. I never read books twice (except for back in school) but I would read Ulysses again. No work of art could compare to it for me.

With these cultural monolith texts I'm always curious to read it myself and see what all the fuss is about. Sometimes it's a lot of very good reasons, like Ulysses. Sometimes it's a lot of very bad reasons that are part of the garbage dump of history, like Tolstoy's shitty books. Sometimes the reality accords with opinions of different types of readerships, sometimes not.
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I only said that I would hate myself, this doesn't necessarily apply to other people too. And omission does not automatically imply a bad thing. I just couldn't find a word to describe it. I never trusted myself to read Joyce because he is so complicated and not understanding something irritates me at the best of times. This also goes for other big authors and artists. But it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate them. I do listen to some piano concertos for instance, and not just to annoy people, thanks to John Williams and Murray Gold.
If I dare to read Joyce in the future, I would probably start with the shorter Dubliners, and see if I am able to read it stylistically. BTW, what I have heard of Ulysses is that how you read it changes with the reader, so every time you read it you interpret it differently. I think that means for me that I would feel urged to read it again after a while. Even if I didn't like it at first.
 
Ginny said:
I only said that I would hate myself, this doesn't necessarily apply to other people too. And omission does not automatically imply a bad thing. I just couldn't find a word to describe it. I never trusted myself to read Joyce because he is so complicated and not understanding something irritates me at the best of times. This also goes for other big authors and artists. But it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate them. I do listen to some piano concertos for instance, and not just to annoy people, thanks to John Williams and Murray Gold.
If I dare to read Joyce in the future, I would probably start with the shorter Dubliners, and see if I am able to read it stylistically. BTW, what I have heard of Ulysses is that how you read it changes with the reader, so every time you read it you interpret it differently. I think that means for me that I would feel urged to read it again after a while. Even if I didn't like it at first.
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Don't worry, I was just kidding around. I don't mind whether I hate books or not. I don't even mind if I hate myself. All is good, I am just teasing. There's an evil streak in me.

But, this is exactly why people don't succeed at reading "Ulysses". They are like "I need to understand everything". They come across something they don't understand and like "OMG! I don't understand this! I must understand this before I proceed!" Then, resignation ensues! "I cannot succeed!" This is even why people don't succeed in reading Homer's "Odyssey". "Who the fuck is that! I don't remember who is that!"

You're NEVER going to read a point where you're like "I understand everything that happens in Ulysses!" That is against Joyce's intention. When you read it you may "get" this. "Ulysses" is not strictly "English". I am not completely sure, but I think that I even saw some Welsh in there. If you've read a number of classics (translated in English) and a big lot of English literature then you're ready to read it. If you're not ready to read it yet, you will come back to it later. No big deal!

English "mastery" is very extremely difficult to achieve. Few people who are living contemporaneously will achieve it. Byatt will not achieve it, Atwood will not achieve it, although maybe they (or people similar to them) will come closer than anyone else during this time. Those of us who do not achieve it will just need to do our best, we will love it anyway.
 
:blush: I would probably freshen up on my ancient Greek to read Homer... and I've always wanted to learn Welsh, among other English dialects/languages.
 
invisible said:
I always crack my spines (they look way better on the shelf that way), I use a lot of post-its on my pages, and sometimes I graffiti the covers if it is a book that I particularly loved or hated.
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Triple like what you wrote here. :smile: I'm imagining all the different ways in which you could possibly graffiti the covers of your books. What a piece of artwork!! Funny how this may make some people cringe but I absolutely loved reading it - made my heart dance. For me, it shows how (creatively) you engage with what you're reading and the fact that you stamp it with your own print is wonderful. What a story in itself.
 
Ginny said:
I can see the advantage, but doesn't it keep you from developing new ideas when you read it again after a while? I am the kind of person that only applies a pencil to a book to correct the typos :blush::innocent: otherwise I just feel like it "sullies" the book. I even do everything to prevent any damage to the book's spine.
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Hello Ginny
The particular book I was referring to when I posted is nonfiction (these days I tend to read journal papers and nonfiction rather than novels). It was a laborious journey trying to get hold of this book so when I eventually did, I just wanted to devour it. The way my mind works makes it possible for me to continuously develop new thoughts and patterns until eventually I've exhausted myself - but then the process starts all over again. :smile: Second time of rereading the book, the highlighter remains in my handbag but makes a guest appearance every so often.
 
If it's a really good book it kind of gets absorbed into my overall sense of the world.
 
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