Reader's block

[Sybarite]

Do you suffer from it? Does it matter?

A quite interesting article

Authors' comments.

2007 list of 'top' 10 unfinished books.

For me, it's Dickens. I love the actual plots, but the 'padding' that was necessary for serialising them just gets in the way and bogs me down.

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by Sybarite

Do you suffer from it? Does it matter?

I have done. Last year I read two books between January and February and then nothing for three months before getting back to reading.

This year a similar thing happened, after getting through twenty-nine books in the first three months, my pace slowed to ten over the next three months, and pretty much all ten were slight, coming in around a hundred pages each. I'm happy to report that I'm over all that again...at least for this year.

I don't know why it happens to me. But I just keep persisting, picking up one, putting it down if it doesn't grab and trying the next one. It's a bit of a pain that it does happen as I never get buyer's block, and I was also building up a bulk of review copies that I just wasn't getting to, which psychologically builds up a weight of obligation, especially as its been sent in good faith after I'd considered and accepted to read.

[fausto]

I don't know. My last block was probably ten years ago. What happens though is that I do slow down my reading, I read less. But then again, last time was when I was a student too busy drinking, chatting up, going to gigs, etc. Over 4 years ago now, and I kept on reading -- never leaving a book unfinished or any gap between one ending and getting started on a new one, even then.
The only book I didn't finish in the last few years was by Pierre Guyotat.

[nnyhav]

I've only read Wittgenstein's Mistress, which was good, but ... wait, this isn't the David Markson thread?

Oh, OK, I saw one of our own's plaint on this just tother day.

Something must be done! Operators are standing by. You can help, or you can turn the page.

[Heteronym]

The Alchemist is on the unfinished list: that sure filled my heart with warm, warm joy.

The problem here seems very simple: Britons don't like reading and yet they pretend they do. When they face the undesirable task of actually reading, they fail. Honesty would save them a lot of trouble. Like Saramago said, reading has always been for a small elite and always will be be, and no national program or campaign will change that.

My reader's blocks are usually caused by economic depression: no money, no books. Otherwise, I'm always reading. I seldom leave books unfinished: after years of reading, anyone who hasn't created a core group of favorite readers to return to, is doing something wrong. You seek novelty, get ready for disappointment. All new writers I seek come recommended by writers I already like, so chances of disappointment are smaller.

[PinaFreud]

I'm a voracious reader, I never suffered a real block... but sometimes I simply can't finish a book, because I don't like to struggle with a novel. If it's a fatigue, it's not worth it. I read for pleasure.

I didn't finish Il nome della rosa (Umberto Eco): after fifty pages I was bored to death.
I didn't finish La cognizione del dolore (Carlo Emilio Gadda): after 100 pages I was exhausted, I didn't follow the narrative.
Do I feel ashamed? NO!

[Beth]

I'm in a terrible reader's slump at the moment. Worse than the feeling generated by a morning's efforts to get a toddler ready to leave the house, only to glance at the clock and see that noon has past and you are still treading water. I usually suffer these slumps in the darkest days of winter; a surprise summer fizzout is no fun. Something will click at some point, but the interim is quite dispiriting.

[elcalifornio]

I sense a reader's block coming on shortly. I usually try to shore up a few good not-yet-read and reread books for these situations, but my bookshelf is in a terrible state and I can't seem to find the books that I want. Couple that with my plan B, the library, to whom I owe quite a lot of money for overdue books that took me too long to read. I'm up shit creek. Word of caution: do not follow up the great 19thC storytellers with mid-20thC experimentalists, it's a leap few can make...

I'm going to try to retreat into the Modernists and medieval literature.