Do you read books?

[sinfonia]

Has anyone here successfully taught themselves to read?

My working memory is so poor that when I try to read a block of text, it goes over my head. I usually have to reread a sentence multiple times before it sticks. I eventually get very frustrated and give up.

*Read easier books (eg. children's books)
*Trace the lines with your fingers
*Don't put too much weight on individual words or sentences; try to see the bigger picture

 

[ms_beaverhousen]

SS book club when?

This isn't a terrible idea.
Although I just had an image of me being insubordinate and choosing 50 Shades of Grey when it was my turn to choose a title. There were a lot of red cheeks at that meeting

 

[JordanF]

History books are honestly so good, at least when you find the right one. It's nice because there's so many interesting people that were real and had crazy impacts on the world. Right now I'm reading a book on Che Guevara

 

[SoulWhisperer]

Yup, books are a large part of what I consider to be my "essence". From Carl Sagan's scientific thinking, to classic writers such as Dostoevsky, Homer (gotta love the greeks) and Shakespeare. We all know the benefits of reading (improved memory, focus, empathy). But, in my opinion, the greatest benefit is: you become wiser. One good book equals a lifetime of knowledge/experience. When you read The Odyssey, for example, you not only enjoy one of the greatest stories ever written, but you understand what people from the past (greeks, in this case) believed in, how they behaved, what were their worries, their idea of the Cosmos, and you start to compare that to your own ideas and beliefs. You become humble, you become curious, you become wiser.

However, of course, knowing too much is not bound to make you happy, unfortunately.

Do you know Carl Sagan? What you wrote reminded me of one of the episodes from his tv series, Cosmos. Check it out, he speaks in such a passionate manner:

Also, did you get a digital copy of a discourse on voluntary death? If so, could you PLEASE send me the file/link? I've been looking for this book for months now, but the only pdfs I find are made of photos, terrible to read.

Also, what were the books recommended to you on suicide? I've read Suicide, by edouard levé, and it was so intimate I felt it was me he was writing about. (He committed suicide short after writing it, which makes it even more interesting)

I agree with the opening of your reply
Also idk Carl, I just based my thinking off what I learnt from my literature, English, psychology and communication teachers. Some were cool people with cool minds. I'll have a look at the vid after work (if I remember).
For books I only buy physical ones, maybe there's digital copies from Amazon? That's where I get my books mostly but idk how digital books are like
For the books I recommend you can try looking at the list I sent up here in this thread, I commented some too

 

[ImnotCTB]

I don't know if it would be considered books but I read fictions on Royalroad. I drop it when it nears the end so that I can leave it to imagination

Has anyone here successfully taught themselves to read?

My working memory is so poor that when I try to read a block of text, it goes over my head. I usually have to reread a sentence multiple times before it sticks. I eventually get very frustrated and give up.

Don't try to remember the entire thing, eidetic memory is not real. I solve it by automatically forgetting what the imagery looked like and reform it with my own words. I don't really do it consciously, it's just natural.

 

[permanently tired]

The books seem so serious in this thread lol. I usually read romance or fantasy. I'm currently reading a webnovel, omniscient reader's viewpoint. It's unlike things I've read before bc it's like I'm reading a game tutorial and diary. I've read the atlas six series (I lost my page in the last book and never got back to it ) and the captive prince series in the last two yrs. I usually get thru a book quite fast until I inevitably take a break and then I don't get back to reading it (idk why). I have the house in the cerulean sea on my ipad, but I've yet to get thru a single page. I had a wattpad phase and I've read some good writing on there too. I must be subconsciously longing for a partner cuz I eat that romance shit up. Fantasy bc it makes me feel powerful or I could be, similar to that feeling when u finish a movie and u imagine u were in that universe with powers.

 

[SoulWhisperer]

I occasionally go to the library to get games from, but I've been thinking about getting books from there too. There's a category for books about suicide there, so I should probably try reading some of those despite that the books are in Finnish which isn't my native language, but I need to get better at it anyway.

The closest library I have is owned by a very mean old woman so I avoid it, I'd rather build my own collection anyway

SS book club when?

I actually think it'd be pretty fun

History books are honestly so good, at least when you find the right one. It's nice because there's so many interesting people that were real and had crazy impacts on the world. Right now I'm reading a book on Che Guevara

History is cool too, it helps you understand many interesting things and views of the past and if you know much and enough you can even try to predict some things, so I've been told

 

[Pluto]

 

[karakoltriste]

Yes, but depression make it difficult... I like read YA novels and books about anarchy, antipsychiatry, classism, sexims and other political and social topics.

 

[SoulWhisperer]

Yes, but depression make it difficult... I like read YA novels and books about anarchy, antipsychiatry, classism, sexims and other political and social topics.

Interesting topics indeed

 

[Aergia]

I actually think it'd be pretty fun

I've loved multiple recs I got on here. I think SS-coded literature is a thing. Psychological fiction is discussed a lot here, for instance.

You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discover that it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that he is alone. This is why art is important.

—James Baldwin

 

[FoxSauce]

I tried to like for example wattpad. Ofc ik what kind of unholy stuff is in there but some stories are good.

Dang I havent sat down and read something.

Ik its a short story but lobe the story of Tala tale heart by Edgar Allan Poe.

I love the story my sister read it for a class presentation and I gave it a read and it was amazing.

 

[psp3000]

took an opportunity to get back into reading books so then I can probably win some money and various other rewards from a summer reading event

and I also agree with others in the thread that there should definitely be an SS book/reading club

[v] the perks of being a wallflower
[v] Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon
[ ] Tuesdays with Morrie
[v] On suicide a discourse on voluntary death, Jean Améri
[v] Johnny Got His Gun
[v] No longer human osamu dazai
[v] Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
[ ] Rich dad and poor dad
[ ] Thinking fast and slow
[ ] The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley, by Shaun David Hutchinson
[v] Suicide Notes, by Michael Thomas Ford
[ ] The Neuroscience of Suicidal Behavior, by Kees Van Heeringen
[v] Why People Die by Suicide, by Thomas Joiner

I have some of these on my To Read List on Goodreads ! very nice list !

have you read or heard of

Or Not To Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes by Marc Etkind

or

Suicide by Édouard Levé ?

also some of Yukio Mashima's (Kimitake Hiraoka)
novels

 

[SilentSadness]

I exclusively read manga, and not much. The only thing I get from it is escapism.

 

[SoulWhisperer]

I've loved multiple recs I got on here. I think SS-coded literature is a thing. Psychological fiction is discussed a lot here, for instance.


—James Baldwin

I can't recall the exact excerpts/quote, but I recall reading somewhere that anything that's happened has happened before and that the only people to reach out for new things are philosophers, something like that. It had a much better meaning but I can't recall the source sadly

took an opportunity to get back into reading books so then I can probably win some money and various other rewards from a summer reading event

and I also agree with others in the thread that there should definitely be an SS book/reading club


I have some of these on my To Read List on Goodreads ! very nice list !

have you read or heard of

Or Not To Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes by Marc Etkind

or

Suicide by Édouard Levé ?

also some of Yukio Mashima's (Kimitake Hiraoka)
novels

I didn't cuz I hardly know things unless they get recommended/shown to me but I'll definitely take a look, I have about 230 euros of coupons left I can use to buy more books

 

[thereisnoneed]

it gets harder finding things that can catch my interest, there was a time 5/6 years ago where i could read for 4 hours a day relatively easily.

 

[alleine]

I dont read books... It takes a lot of effort mentally... Although everything takes a lot of effort, this takes more. And then I wouldnt even know what book to read... I already have trouble finding movies or series, and Im bored most of the time....

 

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

Well, I do, but I've been reading the same few books for a few months simply because my schedule collapsed around exam season.

Here's my GR, if you want for whatever reason

 

[LilyLaroux2000]

I have been reading almost my whole life. I was basicaly trying to read even before learning too. My relatives told me as much. When I was in middle school almost all I did was read, I did study too of course. I had no friends so I had plenty of free time - I used it all to read. My mom forced me to go outside a lot, so I ended up reading outside for hours and hours, only realizing the day has gone by when it got dark. My mom didnt like how much I was reading and used to lock up my books.

Now when Im older, I know why I used to read so much. I was hiding from reality and all that pain it brought me. Dont get me wrong, I still read, and I still read a lot. I just dont have that much time on me anymore. There was a time in my life when I was really depressed, I didnt enjoy reading at that time and I was really miserable. Im thanful I got into reading again.

Lately I've been reading classical litelature. My all favourite autor is Osamu Dazai, I've read almost all the books from him I could. I have also gotten into poetry, Alan Edgar Poe is great as well.

Around the beggining of this year I finaly wrote a book. Im still working on publishing it and thinking about translating it from my native language into english. I need to somehow "advertise" my book. So I thought about trying to share things about it on social media, but Im really bad with those.

Publishing a book is a forgoten dream I had as a kid, and I'd like to make it happen.

Recently my mental health has gotten really bad again, and Im not reading much again. I miss those times when I could read a book in one day.


Thanks for reading all that, have a nice day.

 

[deathbydesign]

I really want to read books; I think my ADHD just prevents me from ever finishing them. I find myself having to re-read sentences over and over again constantly. I hate my ADHD.

I just bought a copy of No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai because I heard it was about a person who felt alienated from the rest of society and doesn't understand other human beings -- just like me. I want to want to read it, if that makes any sense? But so far, I haven't been able to muster up enough motivation to pick it up.

I think I am more motivated to do things when I have someone doing them with me. But, for the past few years, I've just been so alone. I don't have any sort of special confidant in this world, so I don't have anyone to share the excitement of reading this book with me. When one partakes in all their hobbies all by their lonesome, it starts to feel joyless and pointless. I feel like I would read more if I had some friends who liked to read too.

So I have really bad adhd too. But I am a huge reader. I tried audiobooks but I zone out too quickly listening to someone talk lol

But I can't just read a book I still need an external source of stimulation. Like the TV needs to have a movie or show going, or music needs to be playing.

Every once in a while I realize I read a few pages but was zoned out and gotta re -read but not often

It's always been such a good escape for me - I get so sad when a great book ends because o realize how immersed I was once I'm done. The downfall of it is that I am an extremely fast reader - so a full length novel typically only lasts me 2-3 hours if I don't have anything else to do

 

[neverwashereatall]

books and cartoons is about all i have. and a cat