I'm reading jane eyre atm, and im on the last 100 pages, and I have to admit it has been a bit of a slog, in parts. It's old, it's dense, and while I love gothic fiction, romance is not a genre I gravitate to. Having said that, I've found reading it an incredibly rewarding experience. This has happened to me with a lot of books, especially classics or well-regarded but difficult books. I wouldn't say I've always enjoyed the experience, but more often than not, by the end of a well-regarded book I've at least been able to understand why it has such praise.
Now I went on r/books to see a discussion about jane eyre and saw so many people say If you're not enjoying it, stop reading." And I found myself getting a little frustrated. Like, is art just for enjoyment? If all we did was read page turners full of subject matter we gravitate towards, how many excellent books would be missed? The same goes for films. I feel like with difficult narrative art, sometimes enjoyment isn't always the main draw, but if you persevere, it can be rewarding in a way that exceeds enjoyment, and just telling people to give up the second they don't enjoy something is robbing them of that. What do others think?
by stinkface_lover
19 Comments
Depends on what else is going on. If I’m reading for enjoyment and distraction and whatnot and I’m not enjoying it then yeah, I’ll stop.
If it’s a book that I’m reading for other reasons then I may not stop.
This person made the same post 17 days ago.
I think a better approach is “if it isn’t nourishing, stop, reading”. Nourishing is a bit of a wanky term, but I like it because it encompasses so many different ways reading can be enrichment. A book can be worth continuing if it’s intellectually stimulating, if it challenges your worldview, or if it simply brings you joy. But if you’re not gaining anything from the experience – don’t bother.
There are different sorts of enjoyment. Some books are simply more challenging to read. Not everyone appreciates that. But I find these books are usually the ones which are more rewarding in the end.
“Sunk Cost Fallacy”
We tell them to just stop reading because it’s the only way to get them to stop whining about how much they hate the book. It’s not for them, it’s for us.
It’s a difference between not enjoying what you’re reading and parts that are a bit underwhelming compared to the rest of the book. It’s very normal to stop if you dislike the writing, characters, the plot itself etc.
I prefer to enjoy my time reading when I’m reading for something other than work. I’ve yet to find a novel that was a chore to read that was worth it, and the literature I read for work would not fall into the domain of art imo.
There is nothing from frustrating reads that I can’t find in more enjoyable novels, to a greater or lesser extent. Why would I want to not enjoy my experience reading?
Life is difficult. Reading is my escape. If Im not feeling it, I will definitely stop.
Totally get your frustration. That “if you’re not enjoying it stop reading” line feels like teh easiest answer, but it also treats books like snacks instead of things you can learn from. Some novels are slow or awkward but end up changing how you think, and finishing them can be oddly satisfying.
That said, quitting is fine if a book is just draining you or stealing time from others you love. Try switching to an annotated edition, skim the parts that drag, or take breaks and come back later to recieve the payoff. Reading should be a mix of pleasure and challenge, not a rulebook.
Life is very short to read book you don’t enjoy
Joy is complex.
After the fact we might think we enjoyed the entire thing but he didn’t. We enjoyed something that kept us going
>I’ve found reading it an incredibly rewarding experience
Why?
Is it because you can now say you read it? Or is it something in the process that you found rewarding? How long did it take you do feel it was rewarding?
That, I’d argue is part of what people mean when they say “if you’re enjoying” it.
I’ve read books that are exactly for me, that I wouldn’t read again but that I found rewarding.
I read “To the Lighthouse” from start to finish. Nothing that made me think “rewarding”
I think it really depends on the genre.
I slog through some nonfiction because I enjoy the new knowledge, even if I don’t always like the author’s voice or structure of the book.
I picked up a few popular romance novels this year and if I didn’t like it or find the romance/characters/premise compelling enough, I’d drop it because there’s plenty of other romance novels I can spend my time enjoying.
Some classic literature I definitely had to give myself breaks on to really absorb it, but I think you’re right in that it’s sometimes worth getting through all of it even if it isn’t the best read ever. I personally loved Jane Erye in high school, when it was assigned for class reading.
> Having said that, I’ve found reading it an incredibly rewarding experience
isn’t this just a different way of saying ”you enjoyed the book”?
we’re not suggesting that people only read books were they continually have a smile on their face the entire time, and as soon as a frown appears to drop the book.
what we mean by ”if you’re not enjoying it”, is if you’re not getting *anything* out of it. or not getting *enough* out of it to force yourself to continue.
usually, when someone comes on here to complain about a book, they’re not saying ”it’s such a profound experience and it’s changed the way i look at things, but it is a bit of a slog, should i continue?”. people are saying ”i don’t get it, i don’t like it, i’m not enjoying it at all, i don’t get the point, should i continue?”
Is art just for my enjoyment? A lot of the time yes. Sometimes I’ll pick a project book that I’m interested in for the content or style and the challenge is part of the process. But I’ve picked up a book to relax after work within my 90mins leisure time of the day window I’m definitely going to ditch anything I don’t enjoy.
Don’t enjoy, don’t do.
You have to put up with plenty in life, so when it comes to my reading…..
I think the trouble is that “If you’re not enjoying it…” is effectively a slogan, which is only ever going to be a distillation of a more complex position.
If we use the word enjoyment loosely, one could say that you enjoyed *Jane Eyre!* You got more satisfaction out of it than dissatisfaction, even if that satisfaction wasn’t in the form of warm fuzzy feelings. Particularly with older books, though, reading them can take a bit more effort. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that one *should* be reading this stuff, no matter how unhappy one gets. Inevitably, people have less fun reading, then start reading less.
“If you’re not enjoying it…” is, as I see it, a reminder not to get too caught up in a mindset of self-improvement, or to let one’s reading habits be dictated by a fear of missing out. It’s about giving oneself permission to enjoy ‘lowbrow’ books, as well as the ‘highbrow’. Like all positions, it can be taken too far, and can seem to emphasise fleeting pleasures at the cost of slower ones. It’s a way to give oneself permission not to slog through to the end of something unpleasant—I know that I often struggle to let myself do that. Certainly, I think more people would benefit from taking the time to struggle with a difficult book, but if it stops them from reading altogether, that’s not so good.
I think that my life is too short to read books I don’t enjoy. You seem to get something out of it, I personally don’t.
Well, there is a difference between a difficult classic, and some modern pulp fiction.
A classic is a classic because people have already decided it has value, so there is something there to gain by reading, even if it’s just the cultural history.
Ramdom pulp fiction might actually just be trash with no value besides entertainment… So if you’re not being entertained, why continue?