I have a hard time reading fiction now days

[Droopy]

I just can't get into it like I used to. Stephen King was my favorite fiction writer for a long time. I read the 1100 page version of The Stand in 5 days when I was a teenager. I could read for hours back then. Now days I can't get into any book unless I have a really strong interest in it.

I picked up Lisey's Story by King about a month ago. It was a hard cover on clearance and cheap. I guess that should have told me something. But it had been a long time since I had checked him out so I gave it a try. Now, a month later, my bookmark is at page 106 in that book. It's a 500 page book.

I get into non-fiction now. I have a biography about Stephen King and that's a lot more interesting than reading his stuff. I've read 3 books about coin collecting in the past couple of months. I just ordered a book about schizoaffective disorder that I was amazed to find. It's the only one of it's kind in print here in the States as far as I can tell. For those of you who know me here you'll probably remember that I have a special interest in that area. I've actually been considering writing my own book on the subject if I can get a little help from my fellow schizoaffective people, but nothing doing there yet.

How have your reading interests changed? Do you find it harder to read certain genres that you used to really get into? How has aging played a role in your reading habits?

[elleng]

1. I haven't read fiction in years.

Non-fiction has been much more compelling and interesting for me. Will see what happens as Prez O's term lengthens.

[WinkyDink]

2. I haven't read fiction for years, except to re-read Agatha Christie. I have always preferred

history (esp. modern U.S. politicial), biographies, true this or that, in other words.

Life is stranger than.....

P.S. Maybe it's because I used to teach literature, and studied the bejeebers out of enough fiction to last me!

[Heidi]

3. I used to read mostly fiction, but now I mostly read non-fiction.

I consider fiction a real treat, and it has to be really good for me to enjoy it. I dunno if it's about aging so much as the fact that my interests have changed. :hi:

[raccoon]

4. I used to read all Stephen King's works, stopped after IT, I believe.

Although I have read THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON.

I read lots and lots of mysteries. I've gotten now where I can't take graphic violence--in any genre. I prefer cozies. BTW, I'm in my late 50's.

In my college years, I read Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury, and I left them behind ages ago.

I don't like to read nonfiction as much as I did. Now, probably because of hard economic times, I don't want to read economic stuff as much; I want some escapism.

[travelingtypist]

5. I hate not reading like I used to.

I thought it was my TV, so I got rid of my TV. I have the
computer now and a portable DVD player. It's the Interwebs.
I have like 40 books -- am not kidding -- that I have tried
and failed to read. Valerie Plame, John Dean, Mercedes
Lackey, Vincent Bugliosi, Naomi Klein, Owen Barfield, the
list goes on. I'm hopeless and need and intervention.

[old mark]

6. I go through phases, right now reading a lot of fiction again and

unfortunately running out of authors I really enjoy.

I buy books either from goodwill stores or online because I read so many I could never afford to read at all if I bought them new.

I also sell a lot of books on eBay, which I enjoy as well.

mark

[driver8]

7. You have described me, perfectly.

I used to read everything that Stephen King wrote, but I have not read a fiction book in years.

I only read non-fiction, now.

[jobycom]

8. I've given up non-fiction, mostly, but I guess I went through stages.

I read both in high school, but more fiction. By grad school I read mostly non-fiction because I had to, though I was usually always working slowly through a novel at the time. After grad school I probably read more non-fiction for a while.

Now I don't read much non-fiction, at least not for fun. I feel like I'm wasting my time, usually. I may learn new facts or trivia, but I rarely run across something that changes the way I view the world. Often, I find myself arguing with author, feeling like they haven't gone far enough, or are going in the wrong direction. I don't read to memorize new facts I'll never use, I read to gain new insights into the world or human behavior or how things work. Most of the time I feel like I already know what the author is saying, even if I don't know all the details he or she is using, or I feel like I'm reading a bunch of details I don't really care to memorize to get at some insight that will not help me, or I already know, or often that I just disagree with, or too often that I don't think is even all that advanced.

I'm not saying I know everything already or I can't learn something new, I'm just saying that I have no real interest in memorizing all of the names and dates of Alexander the Great's campaign in India, and that the theories and insights I would learn from reading a 1000 page book on such a campaign only make sense if I want to memorize all of the names and dates in the book and compare them to other names and dates in other books. Maybe now and then I'd gain a new insight to life, but the payoff isn't high enough to slog through details I'm not interested in.

With fiction, I can gain new insights. I can look into a person's mind and see things from a new perspective, through new eyes. Even bad fiction shows me something, usually. I don't want to read dry facts about crime or some criminal--unless the facts are presented in some way that gives me real insight instead of just grisly detail--I want to know how a mind works, or how other people understand crime. A well-written crime novel, or even some poorly written crime novel, teaches me more than a file cabinet of facts or dry theories produced from those facts.

I still read non-fiction, just not as much, and not for fun. I have to feel like I need to learn something, or I don't bother, or more often, I just skim. It all starts looking alike, like I read the same book last year with different names.

I read Lisey's story very quickly, and fell in love with the novel. I've had King's biography on my nightstand (Hell, I just realized it's overdue) for almost two months and have gotten to page 30, maybe. I started it, put it down, read other novels, and never got back to it, though I swear I will, and as a hack writer I have a strong interest in the subject. Ultimately, though, I haven't read it because I learn more about Stephen King by reading his novels than by writing his autobiography.

Anyway, I wrote too much, and still didn't say what I mean, but I have to go. No one is reading this by now, anyway.:)

[Droopy]

9. I read it Joby! I read it!

We are kind of similar in our reasons to read what we do. I read to learn something that has value to me. I think you do, too, we just find it in different places. :)

[jobycom]

12. Thanks!

For slogging through it. Not the first time we've seen eye to eye, is it? :)

I think it's a cycle for me. I think eventually I'll get back to prefering non-fiction. I get to where one style or another no longer works. I do that with music, too. For long periods I'll listen to talk radio, then I'll switch to music and not be able to stand talk radio (usually sports, now, since my local AAR station went under). I think differently during those times, too. When I'm listening to music, I'm more creative, when talk, I'm more analytical.

[Bucky]

10. Rcrush has the same problem with beer that you have with books

[JitterbugPerfume]

11. I love good fiction

It teaches lessons on the human condition that can't be learned in any other way IMHO