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felipeforte@lemmygrad.ml

Any advice for reading older books? (lemmygrad.ml)

submitted 1 day ago by King_Simp@lemmygrad.ml to c/comradeship@lemmygrad.ml

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For a while I thought I just sucked at reading. And to a certain extent I do have trouble (maybe dyslexia, maybe just really bad adhd), but I noticed that when I read older books it's legitimately a workout compared to books from the last century or so.

This does somewhat include Capital and such, but because I've been exposed to a lot of the terminology and because I inherently understand some of the logic, I can get through it.

But for instance I was trying to read Thomas Carlye's "The French Revolution" and I got through the preface and first two chapters before feeling exhausted. I can't really describe my issue beyond just having to process each an every sentence like I'm a toddler trying to learn how to read.

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[–] Maeve1@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 day ago

From my personal experience it's "letting reach exceed grasp." It's tedious and slow, but in the past, what worked was a pen, notebook and dictionary. I'd read until I reached a word/concept I didn't grasp then physically write it down along with the definition in my own words. Then I'd have to reread the paragraph until I looked at notes to grasp it. Then when the book was finished, I had forgotten half. I put the book away for a time to mull over notes and what I remembered, then went back and reread it later, referring to notes as needed. By the third or fourth reading, I pretty much had it. I did this with Shakespeare, Hawking and Dawkins.

I've been wanting to read more now but am putting it off because I've several vision problems that are degenerative. They can be corrected with surgery that costs a lot and I am currently uninsured. Add to that my current devices lack storage and reading online is a bit more challenging, even with corrective lenses. I can do it, but miss a good bit that I don't realize on first or second readings.