On Reading Big Books
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- Опубліковано 9 бер 2020
- Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/leafbyleaf
What is a big book? Why read a big book? How to read a big book?
Relevant videos:
31 Books on Reading: • 31 Books on Reading
10 Big Books I Love: • 10 Big Books I Love
True story, reading also helped me quit drugs. I remember thinking about how crappy my life was and how it wasn't what I'd hoped it would be. It hit me that it never would be what I wanted if I kept living how I was living. I decided right them to quit all the drugs, including nicotine and alcohol, and filled all my free time with reading. If I didn't keep myself occupied, it would have been easier to fall back into my habits. Reading was good, because it activated other pleasure centers in my brain that counterbalanced the areas the drugs had been activating. It was still really hard for about a month, but I was determine and forced myself to stay focused. After the first month, it only got easier. 14 years later I'm still clean and still reading.
That is beautiful! What a testament to the power of literature when we decide to engage with it like our life depends on it. Thanks so much for posting this here.
Similar situation in ways, quit smoking and drinking so much so I could actually remember and be present with the books I love
What a fantastic use of books. I applaud you.
You have no idea how much the response is appreciated. Your videos have made me finally take the leap towards actually reading Philosophy and the big chunker books I doubted myself in being able to finish. Thank you for all the great work!
@@lizardoi3396 This is beautiful.
I always liked reading and wanted to read the classics but I thought I wasn't smart enough and was intimidated by them. I finally got around to reading Crime and Punishment and enjoyed it so much I couldn't put it down. I found it a perfect gateway with how much of an intense page turner it was. After finishing it I read The Idiot and then I started reading Camus, Kafka, Hesse, Hamsun and thought to myself, I can do this. I've just started Infinite Jest and I'm about 60 pages in, enjoying it so far despite its difficult reputation.
You are a treasure.
Many, many thanks. 🙏
Started “Crime and Punishment,” and then life started happening pretty hard. I read the first 40 pages and felt great about it and was loving it.
I think the advice about flirting with other books is what I needed to hear because I feel as though I’m trying to juggle it with some other lighter reading instead of just jumping in head first.
Thank you!!
Hey-life always takes precedence. (Pesky life! Lol)
Yeah, you have to watch out for those unread books. They are incredibly needy and know how to tell you al the things you want to hear.
Crime and Punishment is a quality investment of however much time it takes you. Enjoy!
I'm also reading that book lol.
I've had Infinite Jest on my shelf for 4 years! I tried giving it a read back when i bought it, I was a bit intimidated haha. The last big book i read was Crime and Punishment (which I'm looking forward to reading again sometime), two years ago. Thank you so much for this video, I am thrilled to have discovered your channel! I've been in a slump for ages, and your videos get me excited to read again.
I got a free copy of "I.J." and I am still just staring at it. 📖 📚
I'm surprised I just found your channel, I really like your open and independent approach to reading!
Glad you found me! Enjoying your comments and questions.
Excellent advice. Thank you so much. I struggle to find time to read and my attention span is lessening with years but your tips have been a real help.
Thrilled to hear you got something out of this video, James! At the moment, my time is getting stretched very thin, too, so I empathize.
You've got to keep at it and make reading a priority. TV was wasting my time. It's still sitting here but I rarely watch it. I get a lot more out of books.
Yep. That's the long and the short of it: make reading a priority.
Another inspirational and helpful video, Chris! I really appreciate the time you took to break down the whole endeavor of "reading big books." From the classifications you used all the way to the tips for scheduling reading time and eliminating distractions, these were all sage words of advice. I feel a bit more prepared to tackle 2666 this year now! :) Thanks again...love your channel!
Thanks so much! There's a reading group for 2666 starting next month. It's on Instagram: instagram.com/therecognitionsbookclub/. I plan to launch a video for each of the five parts, starting end of April.
Great video! I used to LOVE big books, but I find that lately I get halfway through and suddenly I think of other books I want to read. I really need to get over my book ADD lol. Thanks for the great tips .
“So many books; so little time.” It is the maxim that looms over all of us readers!
relationship is a good analogy - good job!
Grazie! I extend this metaphor in an upcoming podcast with The Great Concavity Show.
I love big books as well, after a while youre so deep into it that your life starts imitating the book, you start thinking like the book, of course regular and short books can do that too but it's easier with a big ol book
Still watched the vid cuz of your amazing insight, thanks and im glad to see youre keepin the great content coming, gotta catch up!
Ah, yes, I can tell you know the feeling all too well. There's something enchanting (in the classical sense of the word) about big books.
Thanks for watching, and I'm glad you enjoyed it!
So happy I found your videos! I'm re-reading The Recognitions and came upon your review about it. Thanks for not only this, but your other videos as well.
Glad you found me, too! Happy reading!
is this a good place to start with Gaddis? big fan of Pynchon and Wallace and the Russians if that means anything
love the tips you gave about reading big books! Moreover, I see these tips are great for any size. Thank you
My pleasure!
Great advice! I think I'm gonna utilize it in my current first reading of The Magic Mountain
A great book! Enjoy! Glad you got something out of the video.
I love your hair. Thanks for the amazing tips. I will try them. I will have to watch again to make notes.
Thanks! I’ve since dispensed with the long locks, but perhaps I’ll grow them out again one day.
Great video and fantastic advice! I love reading big books because of the immersion and complexity of thought.
When I start a big book that I'm interested in I have this sense of defeat (in a good way) because of the big task ahead of me, but also very excited. This combination leads me feeling patient and serene.
At the moment I'm reading Proust's In search of lost time.
It's been exactly 3 months since I started and I'm currently going through the 5th volume and my excitement is still high. I think it helped me to have some small breaks in between volumes.
Another big book I loved is The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. I think it's my favorite novel of all time, I can't stop thinking about it. I would highly recommend.
I love you channel! :)
Thanks do much! I love your description of what it feels like to knock on the door of a big book, so to speak.
Proust's Search is, and will most likely permanently be, in my top 10 favorites books of all time. Reading through those volumes was a sublime experience.
Mann's Mountain I need to visit again. It was a great read, but it had such depths that I feel I only took away dried paint shavings. Putting that on my reread list now.
@@LeafbyLeaf Thank you for the reply and kind words.
Proust is already of my favourite authors! I can't wait to get to that last volume (Time regained), I heard great things about the ending of this novel.
Hope you do get to reread the Magic Mountain.
Your channel is one of my favourites on booktube! Great stuff!
Thanks for that, helped a lot
Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much! So glad it was helpful!
Just finished Joseph and His Brothers recently, I read The Wind in the Willows immediately afterwards for an obvious change. I think having some variation in what you’re reading before and after a long book is important to stay motivated/excited.
That is great advice! I forgot to mention that, so I’m glad you took the time to comment. I quite often do that. Even in between the main portions of TMWQ, I would throw in a short book or some short stories. Great point!
This was excellent, big book lovers unite! :D
We have nothing to lose but wasted time!
Awesome video! And a truly fascinating topic. What helped me the most with reading more huge books is switching to a Kindle. Sounds ridiculous but taking away the daunting physical aspect of a huge book helped me tremendously.
Thanks! I don't think that sounds ridiculous at all; it really makes a lot of sense.
I have Stephen King's " OnWriting" on my reading list for my painters! And I crafted my 'painters tool box' from his writers toolbox! Love it. And I don't read King, (only a few of his short stories).
Thank you!!
I got that book many, many years ago when I thought I was going to be a big-time genre writer. But that was before college when I discovered literary depths that changed my whole perspective. Yet--as you say--the fruit of SK's book on craft has proven wide-ranging and timeless. I have continued to read it over the years and it never fails to inspire.
I watch this video almost every day for the past week.
You're a great inspiration, especially for non-native like myself.
12:02 my bookmark.
I am so thrilled to know that the video is useful for you! 🙏
Thank you, I have been reading a lot this year and recognize a lot of this advice. Will say that, with nonfiction, I keep my phone handy (for good and ill) to snap a photo of any page where the author mentions a source book that sounds interesting. Most of my reading is library books so markup is not an option.
With library books or books that are rare/OOP/expensive I resort to marking up a journal. Good tip on the quick photo-snap of a page!
New to your channel. Great job with the videos. I Especially like this one.
Very nice of you to say! Glad you enjoyed it. Take care!
Never thought I would hear such great relationship advice in a video about big books
🤣😁
Thanks for the motivation! I'm currently reading through the International Booker prize longlist, and I definitely needed some encouragement to tackle The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili which is a 900+ page beast. Btw, I'm really looking forward to your review of 2666!
Awesome! I’ve been watching your posts. Very admirable.
All your tips are good. Thanks. Some years ago I found reading more than one book at a time helped improve my overall daily reading experience and helped me to some big books. For example, whilst reading Bolano’s 2666, especially the part describing women that were raped, (over 100), I found I could only read 10 to 20 pages a day. So I allocated about 30 minutes to ‘2666’ that I found a difficult read and read another, shorter book. I did the same thing with ‘Infinite Jest’ and ‘Clarissa’. Reading 3 hours of Clarissa a day would have driven me batty. Mind you, I am glad I read Clarissa and will never forget her or Mr. Lovelace.
Those are solid points. (I'm set to read 2666 for the first time next month, so perhaps I'll use this advice after all for that notoriously brutal section.) There have been many times that I have used books to balance books. In fact I did do that here and there with The Man without Qualities. But the simultaneous books are usually in different categories. For example, I read a history book, a theology book, and a philosophy book here and there to offset TMWQ. But I rarely read two fiction books at the same time if one of them is a big book. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on here!
This video is helping me read Gravity’s Rainbow. Thank you!
Great! So glad you're finding the video useful. Happy reading!
I have found I like the idea of reading more than reading itself sometimes. I fantasize about the hundreds of classics I will read and how much knowledge it will give me, but when it comes down to it I probably only average about 5-10 books a year, I'm just such a slow reader. I really struggle with those last 50-100 pages, I will often read the first half of any given book in maybe a day or two, and then slowly as the book goes on it gets slower and slower, and the fire slowly dies.. haha. I do try to keep positive and remind myself, even if 5-10 pages a day I will finish this book.
21 minutes into this video, and I'm finding your advice and reasoning very very compelling (I'll finish watching another time, but for now it's time to turn off youtube/amazon/goodreads/etc. and get into a big book!) In all seriousness, after watching other videos of yours, I like your set-up and conversational tone. No exaggeration, this particular video came at the perfect time for me, I've been frustrated with my reading habits (generally) for quite some time, (lack of focus/waning discipline/loss of interest/etc.) So far, this video has offered up some good perspective on the matter. Thanks!
Many thanks for your kind words. So glad it was helpful for you. Which big book did you end up getting?
@@LeafbyLeaf Infinite Jest!
🤙🏼
It seems that I found your channel at just the right time in my life. I've always loved books and reading, but up until now, have mostly read whatever I felt like whenever I felt like it (mostly contemporary, some classics).
Like most other people I've kept mental (and physical) bucket lists of some of those big classics I really want to tackle during my lifetime. However those books have been part of my mental awareness for so many years, that I sometimes get the feeling I'm already familiar with them, when in actuality I've never even read one page.
It's such a strange relationship one can have to those books, isn't it? We feel like we know them, but we don't.
Then a few months ago it really hit me.
I need to actually start reading them, and I need to be more selective in my reading going forward. It's about quality, not quantity.
I found a good way into Dostojevskij, and watching your videos about how to be a better reader and so on, really helps me to reflect and be more careful about my reading habits. So thank you for that :)
Hey there! Seems we have two other things in common as well: a love of Mozart and Twin Peaks--I love David Lynch!
You're right: eventually, quality becomes more important than quantity. I think it's a fine thing to spend a good while casually reading whatever, as diversely and widely as possible. But, again, eventually it becomes important to be selective and read the important books.
There are so many great books that suffer from cultural familiarity: Ulysses, Moby-Dick, the Bible. We have heard so much, we thing we grasp the main crux of their value. Then we encounter something altogether startling when we read for ourselves.
Enjoy your time with the gloomy-but-sublime Russian!
Happy New Year!
@@LeafbyLeaf Oh I love everything by Lynch! I must have watched Twin Peaks at least 10 times through the years, and each time I get something new out of it. So incredible. And his films are amazing too, my favourite is Mulholland Drive, but Lost Highway and Blue Velvet are close on second.
As for Mozart, I love his Requiem, it has a special place in my heart, it's really one of those works that transcends me. I have lots of love for his operas as well, and some of his later orchestral works, which are more mature and seems to point forward towards the 19th century. His influence can also be heard on Beethoven especially in the earlier of his symphonies and other pieces. I love to see how artists influences each other, both in music, literature, art and film. It always gives me a bit of hope for humanity.
It just took me a year to finish "A History of the World In 100 Objects". Thankfully I read other things throughout that time. Have you read "The Ragged Trousered Philanthrapists"? A few years ago I gave it up after being about 2/3 of the way through, but want to try again next year.
Second new channel for me. I have had The Count of Monte Cristo on my shelves for a long time, but I had never picked up then a couple years ago I surprised my self. I picked it up getting more than half-way but all the sudden I stopped. It started seeming slow and a bit confusing, and I'm used to YA fiction, which has a faster pace to it and the plots don't feel as complicated. When you mentioned being distracted by other books, I thought, that is me in a nutshell. I keep thinking I have so many other books that won't take as long, and I try not to be a quantity over quality person, but in a way maybe I am.
You are certainly not alone at all. Books distracting us from other books plague us all. We in 2020 have millennia of reading at our disposal. When it comes down to it, read what you love--but never stop testing other waters. Take care!
Can’t wait for that Pynchon review, I’m halfway thru Gravity’s rainbow, I have to say it makes me feel dumb, I loved Against the day & Bleeding edge tho.
Nice! Enjoy! I’ll be reading Mason & Dixon pretty soon!
Not Ken Follett?... Lol. I'm so glad I discovered your channel! Happy reading, sir. :)
😜
I _love_ Ken Follett!
Big Hard Books & Classics Can I ask why?
@@bighardbooks770 also, how did you make italics on UA-cam?
Reading Gravity's Rainbow and Infinite Jest were goliaths for me. They were worth reading. Love the Plato quote. I'm trying to send it to a friend. Texting on touch phones are a struggle. Lol. Stay awesome.
P.S. Your video can be easily adapted for the long writing process of a novel/book. An Idea, Commitment, Routine, and a Finished Product. I'm still writing me novel.
I, too, struggle with typing on my phone!
Best of luck with your novel!
Recently found your channel, very engaging & thoughtful. I'm currently reading Dashiell Hammett's LoA collection (5 novels; 'Red Harvest', etc). Next BIG book on my shelf is Eugéne Sue's 'The Mysteries of Paris'. I noticed your goal of reading Murakami in other vids, have you also considered '1Q84', or did I miss something?
Hey, there and welcome! Sounds like you’re doing some good reading. I’m actually reading all of Murakami’s novels in order of original publication date in order to assuage all of my friends who’ve been hounding me about him for over a decade. Giving it my fairest, most considerate read possible. 1Q84 is just a few books away!
That's excellent! I completely enjoyed '1Q84', & I hope you find some true value within. Outside of Murakami's fiction, his interview book with Ozawa 'Absolutely on Music' adds nice insight to his musical (p)references. Thank you for the kind welcome.
12:10 start: how to read big books
Thanks for this. My preambles are often like a faulty starter.
Excellent video Chris, I loved the comparison between reading a large book and commiting to a long term relationship. Following that metaphor, the desire of squeezing dry every possible meaning that a large book (or any book on that matter) has to offer, seems to be as hopeless as wanting to completely understand every nook and cranny that makes up your partners psyche. As psychoanalysis teaches us, the other will always be an enigma, and I think it's safe to say the same when it comes to books. However, that permanent mystery should'nt be a turn off for reading a book. On the contraire, it should make it all the more attractive! (in Spanish we would say: "tiene un no-se-qué". Also we often get bored when a person we are with seems predictable to us... so that "no-se-qué" seems essential). I say this, but I am currently battling with Werner Jaegers "Paideia" for my masters thesis... videos like this rekindle the courage to carry on such an odyssey (pun intended haha). Greetings from Colombia! :)
Great extensions of the metaphor, Mateo! Glad to hear the video was inspirational. Best of luck with your studies and I hope to hear more from you!
I'm just discovering this channel, and loving all your videos! I greatly appreciate your insistence on developing deep personal connections with whatever one is reading. Just finished The Recognitions and I'm realizing I fall into something like the opposite of Senioritis. the congealing mass of themes and events really carry me away around the final 1/3 of a book. Do you experience anything like this?
Welcome, and thanks! The Recognitions is a very special book to me. I have a 1-hour-long video on it coming up in about 3 weeks. I also have this review available: www.thisissplice.co.uk/2020/10/21/with-high-regard-though-seldom-played/
@@LeafbyLeaf I'm looking forward to the video! That was a wonderful review, it was enlightening hearing/reading your thoughts on how Science pertains to Wyatt's journey. Thank you for being so passionate about big books!
I love your channel!
Keep 'em coming!!
One thing: Should I plunge right in and start with 'The Pale King' and go insane or should I first read some short stories by Wallace and then move on to his novels? Is 'The Pale King' even the right novel to start my Wallace journey with?
Thanks so much!
I'm all for going insane, so go for it! Seriously though, I wouldn't start with the Pale King. Nor, however, would I start with Broom of the System. I think I would begin with the collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing.... Then, Broom. Then, Infinite Jest. But that's just my recommendation.
The oblivion stories collection is amazing
@@omarelric Agreed!
The Pale King is an unfinished novel, no? It’s pretty much esoterica for DFW freaks. You might be turned away from him as a writer if you start there.
Go with Brief Interviews With Hideous Men first (my personal fave) or Oblivion. Both are pretty accessible collections of short stories. Broom of the System is cool also tho a thinker of an early novel. Throw in his essay collections here and there... Er, maybe now you’ll be sick of him and will want to move onto some other writer. Then hit Infinite Jest. Sorry, I just can’t imagine anyone reading The Pale King as their first DFW. It’s like your first Star Wars movie being some unfinished yet super dense, highly ambitious unedited Star Wars production canceled during a 1980s death of George Lucas. Sounds cool but that’s not really Star Wars! Get a foundation first.
@@cntrlrb20 duly noted! Thanks for the recommendations.
Needed this for infinite jest, so thank you. Turns out my problem is reading it simultaneously with other books.
Glad to be of service! I’ve a video on IJ out here too.
I have the exact same bookmark. I've even got a shelf on GR dedicated to all the novels I've read over 500,000 words. Three cheers for big books, Chris!
Hear! Hear! I’m gonna check out that shelf now.
@@LeafbyLeaf you'll have to let me know which ones you've read. I'm guessing there's some overlap based on your voracious reading appetite! Next BIG book for me will either be Miss McIntosh or perhaps A Dance to the Music of Time. Choices, choices...
Almost done with Europe Central now. What a book!
I have started and stopped Powell’s cycle soooo many times! Not for any fault of the books. Choices, choices, as you say!
@@LeafbyLeaf It'll be a commitment to read, that's for sure. I'm hoping to begin sometime in April, but we'll see if the library cooperates.
It would be interesting to hear you talk about big small books, like Notes from the underground.
That’s a great idea!
would love to see some Infinite Jest/DFW content on this channel. Also Pynchon's Against the Day. And the big russian classics too (Brothers K, Anna K, War & Piece)
Definitely want to get every one of those in here. The only one I haven’t read is War & Peace. Infinite Jest and Brother K were incredible. Really hoping to get a video of IJ on here next year. Cheers!
Re: letting the book speak to you rather than constantly analyzing it while reading it, I thankfully broke that habit thirty-five years ago when I read a book called Ecology of Mind by Gregory Bateson, engaged with it actively throughout (filling up the margins with my own arguments, criticisms, etc.), and at the end of the (relatively short) book, I realized I didn't (and still don't!) have a clue what I had read and remembered only what I had said in response to it! From that day on I made it a point to do the opposite: immerse myself in a book the way a good listener listens to an interlocutor (I like your metaphor), let it cast its spell on me in its own way, then perhaps LATER to analyze and criticize it.
That's a fine example on a habit that I have to be deliberate about suppressing for that first reading. The more I compare the reading life to a relationship and a conversation, the more use I get out of the simile. Happy reading!
Superb video. Thanks for going to the trouble 👍
My pleasure!
Great video, Chris. Of course you're preaching to the choir with me but I trust and hope this video will help other readers.
One thing that crossed my mind near the end. At what point do you give up on a big book? I consider myself a fairly resilient reader, a careful reader, but I gave up on several big books last year and this. My chief reason was that the writing was poor/riddled with cliches and/or not engaging due to redundancy/monotony (for me, the style must be artistic and have some form of polyphony to justify its length). So maybe you can talk a bit about that, the acting of abandoning a reading project that doesn't stem from being a bad reader, as it were. Or is it always the reader's fault?
P.S. According to your parameters, my first big book was Infinite Jest and it changed my life.
Thanks, George! That is a fantastic idea. Didn’t think about including that very important topic of knowing when it isn’t worth pressing through. I’ve been thinking about making a video about the reading life in general, so it could fit nicely in there.
I’ve had so many signs pointing me back to Infinite Jest at this point that I know I’ll be reading it again this year. Very exciting!
Watching this and taking notes in preparation for a September read of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. The fact of its being one of Harold Bloom's favorites is making it impossible for me wave away.
Nice! I believe Bloom called it “an endless book.” Which I take to mean something like bottomless. I’ve crunched through it a time or two but never finished. Read Pamela. Still need to properly go through Clarissa. Have fun!
Do you remember the first big book you read? Awesome video, man! Very particular! I think that there isn't anything like this on youtube.
Ps. My first big book was anna karenina(I read it in eight grade).
Now that's something I'm going to have to think about. If we're talking strictly fiction, I think it was Gravity's Rainbow, but I need to think about it. Thanks as always for your kind comments.
Great video! please do one of those on lit theory/crit and a maybe a top 10 list of your prefered littheory books
Thanks! That’s a pretty good idea. Have you seen my literary studies bookshelf tour and my video on Longinus? There will be relevant stuff in both of those in the meantime.
@@LeafbyLeaf I saw the Lit studies bookshelf tour (never thought that 40min would seem actually short, could spend hours watching that) and your list of philosophy books. And I immediately thought you should have one of those for lit crit as well. I'm a scholar of literature myself (I teach French language and lit at an University) , but I'm not that familiar with anglophone literary criticism, so it was really interesting to see that video (Auerbach, also my favorite!) and it would be cool to see what you would advise to read in that field! (There are very few videos on that by the way). Your videos are really good! Congrats!
Merci mille fois, Yuri ! I appreciate your compliments and I’m thrilled you enjoyed the videos. You’re not the only one asking for videos in the way of my take on literary criticism. It’s definitely in the works!
@@LeafbyLeaf if I may, can I make just a small suggestion? Maybe you could add more info about the book(s) you are talking about in a video in your video description. For onstance the full reference (edition, year, translator) and about the books you mention as well. I was watching some of the videos and had a difficult time to find the parts where you mention one or other author. It would help a lot if we could just go to the description and take note of them. Wish you all the success! Best.
@@yuricer87 Excellent suggestion! In other videos, I try to add the "books mentioned" to the description, but I fully admit that I am not 100% diligent about this and I usually only list title and author. Your comment will surely help keep me in check on this matter, as I agree that it is important. On my checklist of to-do items for making videos, I will add a task for including a bibliography. Thanks so much!
"The Unfortunates" is one of my favourites. Not many people have heard of it, I'm amazed it made it to America.
I really enjoy your videos. You talk about a lot of books and authors I have heard about before through other sources (KCRW's bookworm with Michael Silverblatt is a great one) and I definitely want to read (and I already have them waiting on my shelves: Gaddis, Vollmann, Barth, McElroy, Sorrentino, Theroux, even Evan Dara), but: English isn't my first language. Though I can read through a, say, Salinger without a dictionary, I do need help with those Gasses and Pynchons and Wests (Paul). So either I read them with help of my phone or computer or I have the German version of it with me (which are usually one and a half time as long as the original - for example Infinite Jest in German has 1500 pages). This way I'm easily distracted is what I want to say, and never make it through the whole thing. On the internet I stumble upon so many great English or American books ... I guess, I should, as you say, just turn it off for a while and read Musil and Proust (there's no way I can read him in French, so ...) and Nádas. Do you have any experience reading big books in another language?
To be fair, native English speakers need help with a lot of these authors. I have only attempted Proust in terms of big books in another language, and I didn’t make it far. It’s the only other language in which I can read, but Proust shut me down. You’ve presented a mighty topic here indeed! Also-I love the Bookworm podcast!
Mr. Klugmann, I can't say I know the feeling or offer any sure advice, but I think when you have read Sorrentino and gotten half the jokes, you have arrived further into the language than most English readers.
Forget the page numbers is good advice, Sometime you read more then you intend to when it's a good book and it goes faster then you think.
Exactly right!
Thank you for this channel, you've clarified a lot of things to me, and answered a lot of my puzzling questions. I want to ask you about your journal, in this video you claimed that after highlighting then annotating you write a summary with red on your journal, but what about the black and blue writings? do you recopy the highlights and annotations or you expand more, is it in the first reading or second reading? I ask those questions as i try to put your framework in parallel with Mortimer J. Adler - How to read a book framework - i.e. inspectional reading, then second analytical reading, Specially that i am starting to read philosophy based on your philosophy reading list. My second question did you read Sonke Ahrene's - How to take smart notes? and if yes what is your opinion about his method i.e. Luhmann's slip box method?
My process may not be as systematic as Adler's (and Susan Wise Bauer's in The Well-Educated Mind, which she adopted from Adler). To answer your first question: I am not 100% clear on the question, but, in general, on successive reads of a given book I use a new ink color to take notes in the journal completely independently of the previous notes. If an excerpt that I highlighted before springs forth a new insight I will re-copy that excerpt and write in my new insight in the new ink color. At the end of a subsequent reading, it is always interesting to go back to the journal and read through the notes in chronological order. To answer your second question: No, I haven't read that one! Thanks for putting it on my radar.
@@LeafbyLeaf Thank you for your response. you have clarified to me what i was asking about, in your answers. wish me luck in philosophy reading as i am returning to reading after 3 years of complete stoppage, that is why i was asking your process in details; I was searching for a good philosophy reading list through the internet for months, and i found yours are very helpful in contrast to others, it is straight forward and have the major works. your channel is really a great effort and i hope to see more videos from you.
Really appreciate your kind words. Thank you. And I wish you much luck in your journey. Take your time, don’t sweat over “getting” every single passage, and, most importantly, have fun. I recommend Gregory B. Sadler’s channel as a great resource for your journey.
Great video. I wish I had your patience. I tried to read Infinite Jest but couldn’t finish it. But-his ”Consider the Lobster” is excellent.
I agree! Which was your favorite essay from that collection?
I liked “Consider the Lobster,“ lol. The one that gives the collection its title. Which one did you like the best? And among his books? I read a very odd article about this woman who decided to eat one page a day of his Infinite Jest!
Maybe I should try the book again. We are all self-quarantining over here, so I’ll have time. Schools will be closed for the next two weeks!
Telma ML bibliophagia! Yikes! I don’t have the book at hand at the moment, but there were two from that collection I liked-one had all the editorial corrections; and the other was about Kafka’s humor. I liked all of Oblivion and A Supposedly Fun Thing....
Telma ML we are quarantining here too. I started The Twenty Days of Turin last night. And I’ve got Amy Hempel’s short fiction and The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories to carry me through! Quarantining only enhances readers’ lives!
Excellent video! Currently 300 pages into William Gass’ “The Tunnel” (truly his magnum opus), and I am curious if this has appeared on your reading lists. If so, when do you plan to start? If not, why not?
Oh, yes--I love The Tunnel! I briefly talk about it in my latest video on Gass's A TEMPLE OF TEXTS. I read it last in 2018, but I plan to read it again and review it on this channel.
@@LeafbyLeaf Wonderful to hear. Very much look forward to watching your review of that novel! And, in general, thank you for the wealth of in-depth content!
I appreciate your kind words! 🙏
I watched this video a few days ago and I’ve thought about it often. I found your arguments compelling even if I disagree strongly on the matter of longer = + gratification. I tend to gravitate away from massive books, especially if they were written after the 20th century. The reason why I value not brevity but synthesis, was already unbeatably expressed by Borges, and even by Aira, whom we talked about before.
But I do feel I must defend myself and brief books by saying that my preference is not due to a frantic search of quick gratification. Brief and concise writing, at least for me and only in the best of cases, requires slower reading and rereading. And I don’t believe that the greatest satisfaction obtained from reading is finishing the book. I can read three brief books in the time it takes me reading a long book and not necessarily feel more accomplished. Although I can understand why this would seem the case. In fact, I have often thought that “low literature” tends to be longer because people make a simplistic calculation: if the book is longer, I obtain more for my money. Different views on how consumerism affects reading.
Of course, this does not apply to the books which you refer to, which have obvious artistic merit. I’m on the last third of _À la recherche du temps perdu_ (in Spanish, my French is more basic than yours) and it has been an unforgettable, changing experience. I’m also almost halfway through _Infinite Jest,_ and I’m still not sure about it. I can maybe agree that he was a genius, but I’m not sure if I believe that he was a great writer, if this makes any sense. I feel that Jest is too cluttered with efforts to show the author’s enormous intelligence, and this can get in the way of real art, at least for me. I’ve read some of his other shorter books, by the way. And even if this is a very premature evaluation of _Infinite Jest,_ I think it articulates the problems I have with many contemporary long books.
It could also be that my constant reading of poetry has conditioned my reading of fiction. I’m referring to contemporary poetry mostly, of course, since epic poetry can be very long.
Still, after all of this, I understand the charm of immersion, and it now seems absurd how many of my favorite books, and how many of the books on my to-read-list, are very long.
Seems ironic that my defense of brevity has resulted in such a lengthy comment. I apologize. However, it does support my point that saying things in few words is hard and precious. I do hope the grammatical errors are not too egregious.
Thank you so much for sharing these great thoughts! Of course, length is just one single factor; the books have to meet all the other criteria, too, to achieve gratification. And you're right--there are a load of short books out there that reach the impact of long books and beg for rereading and savoring (Walker Percy's THE MOVIEGOER immediately springs to mind). I could see how poetry could affect the reception of long prose, for sure. I love poetry, from epic (Homer, Vergil, Ovid, Dante, Milton) to fragment (Sappho) to symbolist (RImbaud, Mallarmé) and modernists (Rilke, Whitman, Stevens, Dickinson, Hart Crane). Poetry's compressive nature is a catalyst for intensity. And it's true that the short books I favor tend to often be very poetically written--prose poems really (HOUSEKEEPING; AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RED). If I drink deeply of impressionistic poetry and then turn to a longer work, it can sometimes have a jarring effect. And--listen--it's OK not to like Infinite Jest or any other book, no matter what anyone says.
@@LeafbyLeaf Well, I wouldn’t say I don’t like _Infinite Jest_ yet, it can certainly be very impressive, and I’ve highlighted several passages. I will let you know when I finish, which will take a while. The one advice I cannot follow is sticking to one long book at the time.
Buddy Read helps to get through big books. And if it’s classic, many website with contexts & explanations so we avoid boredom from not understanding.
Great suggestions, June! Thanks for sharing them here.
Faulkner told an interviewer Don Quixote was his favorite novel. "Isn't it too long? asked the interviewer. Faulkner replied, "I hadn't noticed."
Exactly!
Thanks for the wonderful advice. What do you think about reading more than one book at the same time?
I don’t that almost constantly, but I usually don’t read more than one type of books (novel, poetry, short stories, nonfiction) at a time. If I’m immersed in a really big book, as with Infinite Jest over the last month, I will make that my only focus. But right now I’m reading a biography and several critical works at the same time.
James here.
This was a great video and good effort. How do you read a long book? Firstly, you must want to. This is exactly how I tackle other challenging, but not entirely necessary, facets of life. Like 400-1000 pushups a day. Why do I do that? Honestly I don’t know.
You are living a great life and making great videos. Hats off to you. And I’m waiting on the Mason & Dixon review. (!!!)
Ah, are you THE James? I didn't make the connection between here and Goodreads. Mason & Dixon will be here before long, but I'll probably hit 2666 first.
Mason & Dixon later because you’re bit saddened by the prospect of eliminating the virginity of what you know will be an unforgettable read and so delaying your schedule, I presume. I’ve held onto Moby Dick forever for the same reason. Against the Day as well-don’t want to kill off all my Pynchons!
Just started Miss MacIntosh, My Darling today. Long book. Incredibly readable yet artful and ornate prose. Anyway, as always, thanks for making vids like this.
Have you done the reread I _Gravity's Rainbow,_ yet? Noah and I are reading (a reread for me) _Against the Day,_ next year. Ive read _2666_ twice; wanna read _Savage Detectives_ and his new one, to boot: _The Spirit of Science Fiction._
Not yet! I’ve got several in line for reread with videos (Gaddis’s J R and The Recognitions I am currently rereading, writing reviews for, and planning to post videos of). Gravity’s Rainbow, A Naked Singularity, Infinite Jest, The Brothers Karamazov, and Gödel Escher Bach are among my books on deck for reread and video.
I sort of rediscovered you. Really enjoying your content. Great BookTuber!
Welcome back! And thanks!
I've never considered big books as any different from smaller books. I just think of the story. I've read some bigger books quicker than smaller books, just because the story was more engaging. Now that my son and I are on booktube, I've been more diligent about giving myself a timeline to finish books. Like you mentioned, that is good discipline. I'm currently reading a mammoth on Virginia Woolf and just finished a section which describes how she read books. I thought it was fascinating. Of course I read nonfiction differently. It's so refreshing to find videos like yours, because so many booktube channels do seem to be more about the quantity of certain books that neither my son nor I are interested. Not bad, just not our interest. We like books with some meat.
Just as Flaubert said: “What a scholar one would be if one knew only a half-dozen books well.” (Of course, he meant a certain ilk of books, but the quality over quantity argument remains.)
Which book on Woolf are you reading?
@@LeafbyLeaf I'm so sorry. I'm reading a biography titled Virginia Wollf by Hermione Lee. I've only read one book written by Woolf; A Room of One's Own and didn't care for it. I have two more of her books that I will try. I usually give an author three chances or three strikes.
@@BookZealots I'm ordering that book right now! Your grace system is a good one. We should never write off a writer from a single writing!
Based on what I've heard of it, I want to read atlas shrugged until I see it (such mass!) on the a shelf. I'll get a used copy and start.
Good news is, it reads pretty quickly. It’s not a sense as people would have you think. It’s already a great book to use to differentiate between capitalist- and socialist-leaning readers. A great book for deep discussion. But also a tight story, too. Enjoy!
there are about a million other books I would prioritize reading before giving an iota of attention to atlas shrugged.
Can’t argue with that!
I had a friend who decided to physically cut Atlas Shrugged into its sections to find it less daunting, however it didn't help him get through it. However, they managed to read The Fountainhead, which I'd suggest reading instead, because it's shorter, a little less 'all-encompassing' but more concise and less 'problematic'. Both have very simple sentences and plots relative to other big books, so you'll be fine, just be steady!
After reading Ayn Rands Atlas Shrugged it changed me in unexpected ways and the effects lasted for years.
So funny you left this comment. Just yesterday I was driving into the office and this book popped into my head. I took it with me on a trip to Belgium many moons ago and was absolutely sucked into it. It changed the way I view certain socio-politico-economic situations and I expressed my view to an acquaintance. As it would turn out, he had the exact _opposite_ takeaway from the book! That's when I knew it was, after all, an important book.
I like reading big books with depth. After reading a few of those, I feel like I need more.
I completely understand. 🙌
@@LeafbyLeaf I finished Don Quijote (in Spanish as it is my native language), and now I am reading William James' writings (the Library of America book that is like 1300 pages). What do you think of William James?
Fernando del Paso's Palinuro of Mexico is my favorite big, and brilliant, book.
Yet another one on my TBR for way too long…
@@LeafbyLeaf I admire the generous eclecticism of your reading habits. I imagine a thousand books waiting to be read.
If only it were that few… 😝
Hey there, thanks for this video! Had a question for you: Have you ever read any of Will Self's novels?
Thanks,
- Drew
Yes--The Umbrella! Excellent, excellent book!
@@LeafbyLeaf indeed! Umbrella is great. Years after purchasing it, I'm still slogging through with a pen, making notes in the margins. Also, it turns out he's released two other books that are a continuation of Umbrella: Shark, and Phone, respectively. It's the first I've heard of a trilogy in the modernist style!
@@LeafbyLeaf also, thanks again for taking the time to respond!
Is that your personal library, of books, in the background ?
Yes, this is my beloved personal library. 😁
How do you feel about audiobooks? Do you think they are effective?
I think it’s effective for auditory learners (I’m a visual learner) and only then for nonfiction. It’s a totally different medium from reading a book. The books I read must be savored down to the very syntax: the use of commas, dashes, etc. Your brain voice is so different and there’s what Toni Morrison calls the private space of language when a person is silently reading a book. If I were an auditory learner, I would probably utilize audiobooks for nonfiction all the time.
Im a massive lotr fan but cant get into the book i think its becuse its quite daunting and very dence and a lot of info to take in i read 30 pages a day at the moment before bed i dont read it to quick 1 becuse i dont read alot but want to read more and 2 becuse i want to absorbe all the info and rmember all the cool details any tips am i doing it ok or am i not also am i douing good i dont know 😊😑😐😊
I don't think there's any right or wrong way in terms of reading speed. If you absorb more at a slower pace, then by all means stay with that pace. I will say that for most people reading before bed usually drastically limits how much you'll be able to read each day because the mind is ready to shut down by then. Perhaps try to utilize time in the morning--go to bed earlier and get up earlier for reading. Read on lunch break if you can. Etc.
The genre you are reading also makes a big difference. I read Stephen King's "It" twice. Not so sure would bother with James Michener.
Oh well...off to read Delaney's "Dhalgren" for the first time...
🙄😳🤯
Absolutely.
Haha. I was watching this before bed and then I grab a 75 page book.
What a delicious irony!
You know I have war and peace of Leo Tolstoi and I can't seem to read it and I have it in my own language Spanish to tell yeah if is in Spanish it will be better for me but when I begin to read I can't pass 10 pages 😁
I haven’t read it yet either! Always opted for Dostoevsky over Tolstoy (though I have read Hadji Murad).
Sorry to cut your video short but gotta go read Musashi.
By all means--go forth and read! :)
If a great novel is 1000 + pages long, you'll hardly notice it if the author's on his game. I remember reading "Journey To The End Of The Night" and "Death On Credit" consecutively and not wanting either of them to end.
Absolutely! Celine, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Wallace, Pynchon, Rand...I can't get enough of their stuff
It's nice to recall that, for instance, Brothers Karamazov, is still a big book. And i get why you had to fling out a limit, but to most Moby Dick is a big book--my guess would be that among US Americans the most attempted and unfinished among the great big books...
It’s definitely a big book and happens to be my favorite American novel.
@@LeafbyLeaf For me based on number of reads it is ahead of Recognitions, but that may change...
Same here.
Doesn’t it give you FONO? I can read 3 McCarthy novel for one Infinite Jest.
I guess I don't really approach reading that way. My thinking is: I'll read the 3 McCarthy novels _and_ DFW's doorstopper. :)
@@LeafbyLeaf okay, I’m probably just still intimidated by big books. I’ll try a couple this year.
Or even just pick one that you’re really interested in and give it a shot. No pressure. We will never get to all the books we wanna read in even several lifetimes, so, as readers, we have to dispense with things like FOMO or we’ll always feel the weight of all the books we’re not getting around to and focus on each book we do read as its own journey and destination. Cheers!
i love big books , only if i can read it
Makes sense to me!
True haha:. Rather crummy one-off boy aquaintance of my sister saideth, "I only read obscure books."
For an encore, he twisted my t-shirt.
My brother told us that the Third Reich was, "A good idea taken too far.". Do these people need no book?
XD
If you want a good big book consider: "Human Action" by Ludwig Von Mises :)
Thanks for this! Looks like a good one to consider after I finish the unabridged Rising Up and Rising Down by William T. Vollmann. I also have Gramsci's Prison Notebooks.
Get a fat dictionary! Best decision I made in a long time. Used to get sucked down the internet every time I googled an unfamiliar word
The Internet can be such a time thief! Right you are! Did I not talk about dictionaries in this video?! I’ll have to made a video on that to supplement my video on the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus. Plus, i just discovered a writer who explodes some of my methods! I have an American Heritage Dictionary that is precious to me. And a concise OED. My dream is to own a complete set of OED. What’s your dictionary of choice?
@@LeafbyLeaf that American Heritage dictionary sounds like a real pleasure! I've only been more seriously reading for a short time, I'm a freshman in uni, so I wanted to get something pretty complete and with the most utility to the dollar. So, I nabbed a 3rd edition New Oxford American Dictionary for ~35 bucks and I couldn't be happier with it.
Very nice! Long live printed dictionaries! Best wishes for your studies.
Big? Min. 700 p
Always tough to come up with a solid quantitative measurement. For example, _Solenoid_ by Mircea Cărtărescu is less than 700 but is absolutely a big book.
easy for this dude to say..by virtue of how fast he says he read My Struggle he reads at leas a hundred pages an hour...well good for you
Oh, no no no. That lightning reading of the first few _My Struggle_ books was a total outlier and should in no way be deemed my norm/avg. I still wonder if those two evenings-late nights really happened. My average for fiction is 20pp/hour, and for dense non-fiction (e.g. philosophy), about 10-15/hour.
@@LeafbyLeaf Well in that case you are very very kind or incredibly resilient. (my guess is both). I actually have a suggestion for you. Not a writer of enormous books per say. Haldor Laxness: Independent People, World Light, The Fish Can Sing, Iceland's Bell. He slips past a lot of people's radar but he is one of the truly great novelist of the 20th century and really a creative genius for an entire culture. His books are also very readable. (Which to me makes him a better writer) The other suggestion I have for you is the collected short stories of Breece Pancake. Seriously even better than early Hemingway. Best Wishes
He's well read; it's well known. His books may be petty, obfuscating, evasive, pedantic, envious and pretentious but... they're BIG!!!! lmfao
You can also add weight. 😂
Please forgive me: I'm having a dull moment, and I'm afraid the comment is lost on me!
@@LeafbyLeaf Weight as a criteria to define a big book.
Oooooohhhh! Haha! It's been so long, I forgot I defined criteria for a big book. That's an excellent suggestion. Every reader should own a scale on which to place a book to determine its "weight class"!
@@LeafbyLeaf I’m watching some of your backlog. No wonder you don’t remember.
😁
Now read Anatomy of the State 😈
I’m not familiar with that title. Who’s the author?