I can't read anymore

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6 Comments

I used to love reading, I got through stephen king's 1000+ page novel the stand in two readings, I read everyday, always looking for the next great book to read, reading the stand, reading Robert mccammon's a boy's life and blindness by José saramago are are strong memories for me yet slowly I gradually stopped reading.

I decided to start again as I missed it, I downloaded a book I'd started years ago but never finished, ghost story by peter straub, but I just can't read it, I was looking forward to it, exited to revisit it yet I read the words and find it's like my mind is elsewhere, I can't focus, I read a paragraph only to realise it hadn't remained with me and read it again, I get impatient and skip the odd sentence, it isn't as if the book isn't well written, I'm a fan of straub and his prose I just seem incapable of enjoying reading like I used to

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Did you find the problem went away if you stuck with it? I miss reading and want to enjoy it again but I don't know why I'm having a hard time concentrating

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85% Normal
Based on 61 votes (52 yes)
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Comments ( 6 )
  • Oana
    7 years ago

    Do you spend a lot of time on your computer? I had a similar problem when I started working on my computer from 9 to 7 every day. I can't really tell you why it has this effect but it does. It might be because computers are much more dynamic and what you see while working on a computer is much more intense, that's why it consumes a lot of your attention and focus. When you switch to reading, your brain is still used to be ultra captivated and you get that feeling of I will skip this sentence and I can't focus at all.

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    • Hermitaf
      7 years ago

      I have a similar issue how did you fix this?

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  • Cuntsiclestick
    9 years ago

    Perhaps you should start with re-reading the books you have fond memories of?

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  • squirrelgirl
    9 years ago

    I used to spend all of my free time reading when I was a child, but once I got a computer my days of enjoying literature were pretty much over. I have tried getting back into reading but have only finished about 6 novels in the past 13 years. 5 out of 6 of those I forced myself to power through but didn't enjoy. The one book I did enjoy was "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters. Her descriptions of Victorian England were so vivid that it felt like I was actually living there myself. I wish so badly that there were more authors out there who could use their writing abilities to transport me to my favorite points in history like that!

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  • galen
    9 years ago

    I dunno, I read a lot, but I don't read a lot of novels. In fact I don't read novels unless they're considerably older than me and the author is six feet under.

    If you're tackling a book you started long ago but never finished, maybe there was a reason you never finished it then, and for much the same reason you're not making headway on it now, even if in some sense you're excited to get back to it? Maybe try a book that grabs you, that you never tried before?

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  • kelili
    9 years ago

    Get the real book with real paper! Those e-books are unreadable. My opinion.

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