Why are books so boring?

[Queen Michael]

I'm a big believer in show over tell, and books by their nature are entirely tell.

That's not what that expression means, though. It means "have somebody slam his fist onto the table instead of just having him state that he's angry."

 

[Lightspeaker]

I don't know if you're exaggerating but if you're literally getting bored after the first page the problem is probably your attention span.

Also if you don't have a history of reading (like if you didn't read much/at all as a kid) then it's probably going to harder to start later on in life.

Pretty much these two. If you really can't concentrate for long enough to clear at least a few pages then you've probably got an attention span problem, might even be something a doctor can help with.

Although I have to say I always find it really funny when I hear people saying "books are boring" as if all books are one and the same. It'd be like saying "I don't like films, its just a bunch of flashing lights" or "I don't listen to music, its just noise" or even "I don't eat food, it tastes funny". Its the same problem video games suffers from in that people dismiss the entire thing as all the same.

 

[Muspelheim]

Remember; it's alright. It might not just be something for you, simple as. And that's fine, there is plenty of other stuff. A lot of people will expect you to defend that preference somehow, but that's not worth the trouble. Find something else you like instead.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I dunno about boring, but I do know no horror book has ever scared me. Stephen King, Lovecraft, Stoker, Dante...nothing even remotely close to a goosebump. I guess printed word isn't a good medium for oppressive atmospheres and jumpscares.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

I've tried reading books in the past and they're so boring. I can barely get past the first page. I don't know if it's because they fail to grip me or something else.

People keep asking me trto try to read but nothing I can find is good.

Don't blame yourself if you can't get past the first page, it's the crappy book's fault for not grabbing your attention. Don't blame yourself.

I would recommend ignoring genre and just try to find an author you like as a person, follow their twitter or goodreads, and if you like what they say, give their book a chance.

To me that is much more important than just looking for books with spaceships, because you will definitely find a book with spaceships, but it might be a shitty book with spaceships.

 

[ultrabiome]

Books can be as engaging as a video game, but it takes time and effort to get there. Books do have a few advantages over movies and video games in unexpected ways. Inner monologues are a great example as they are usually done poorly if at all in movies and video games, while they are quite frequent in books and flow right along. Books also have the time to set up lots of plot threads that can be intertwined and concluded without running up against movie length or gamer attention span. Books can be expressive in just the way things are described, the vernacular used, or even slang, bringing the reader up to speed on terms and culture that a movie would quickly flash over because the plot demands engagement to characters. Books can describe things, people, animals, cities, planets that never existed - and the beauty is that each one of us will "see" something different, putting our own personal imaginative spin on them.

If attention span is your thing, maybe start with stuff that is easy to read with a quick pace. Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a great place to start as it is very easy to read quickly, but with lots of incidental quips and jokes - and is great comedic science fiction.

Also, Harry Potter. I read all 7 books over a summer. The books start out easy going and slightly childish, but by the end they mature along with Harry and the future wizards they portray.

 

[happyninja42]

I suppose the first step would be to read something you know you'll be interested in?

I've tried genres I'm intrested in, they can not grasp me. Then I feel stupider for trying.

Is it possibly a learning/comprehension issue? Aside from that being the case *shrugs* I guess you just don't like reading.

Some people don't. I've been an avid reader my entire life, reading books well beyond my age bracket, and nowadays, I don't read either.

I mainly get audiobooks. I just don't have the patience/time to read anymore. There are other things I'd rather do with my time these days. My job permits me to listen to audiobooks while I do my daily routine, so it's a great way to get the story. But when I get home, I don't feel like reading an actual book anymore. I just...don't. *shrugs*

I wouldn't feel bad about it, if it's not a learning disorder issue, and is just simply "I find this medium of entertainment delivery to be dull" *shrugs* Then don't worry about it. Go watch a movie or something instead and enjoy your life.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Perhaps sir is reading the wrong books? In seriousness, many, many people, particularly boys stop reading the very instant they no longer have to. It's actually very common. Boys around age 12-14 either never pick up another book or go on to be avid readers for the rest of their lives. Girls don't have the same issue; women are much more likely to just pick up a book at some point.

If you don't enjoy reading, you don't enjoy reading. It can't be helped. We read for the pleasure. Books are literary works of art...they do with words what painters do with paints, sculptors with marble, musicians with musical notes. A writer tells a story with words, hopefully well written, artistic, poetic. They can build excitement, make us laugh, shock us and surprise us. The best writers are the ones whose books you can't put down. As you reach the end of a chapter you simply turn the page before you consider that there's an outside world.

I'm glad the OP is being encouraged to read but sorry to hear it isn't taking hold. Perhaps he prefers to be engaged in different ways, such as visually (film or TV), challenged by debate or aurally with music. It could be that you just need to find a book that will engage you. Are there any genres or things your particularly interested in that a story would be more interesting? Given some understanding of what you like, perhaps we can make some tailored suggestions?

Video games emerged out of an apocalyptic understanding of the approaching death of the world and of "system failure", hence the need for hackers to "build, understand, and control" a new, virtual system, which would eventually (sooner than they thought) replace the old, corrupt one.

Books are often considered part of the "old world", shunned by many while accompanied by guilt and "looking back on days gone by". As a *medium* they are considered dead, not part of the new vibrant, inherently wise and culturally accurate, art represented by video games, however in terms of *content* books can certainly be valuable in this day and age, just as words remain valuable in a binary world of zeroes and ones.

But even while this is recognized, the mere act of picking up a book often leads one to think they belong in a museum, as dust on the cover contrasts so deeply with the sheer silicon shine of the digital world.

I cannot remember the last time I've read such utter rubbish on this forum. Is that some new-age, hippy philosophy? If you sober up again, I'd be interested in trying whatever the heck you're smoking. Absolute nonsense on all counts, not one sensible word in your entire post.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

You haven't been wired to enjoy literature.

Because your parents never encouraged you, never taught you how, never read to you and/or never gave you any books at all. Instead you spent the majority of your childhood watching TV right after school or during dinner with the whole family, choosing the quicker, more superficial story and having it spelled out for you three-ways.

Reading is a kind of language, and languages are ways of thinking. And much like a second way of thinking, you're probably never going to fully master it properly if you don't get going as soon as possible (roughly by ages 7-8).

This isn't to discourage you from reading, but to help you understand why it doesn't come naturally for you. You'll need a tremendous amount of will if you can't make it past a single page. So go offline, turn off your cellphone, look for a comfy place to sit or lay down and strictly appoint yourself with an objective (one hour of reading, three chapters, etc).

 

[Broderick]

Why are video games so boring? You see, the problem with the title of your forum post, as well as the original post, is that you make it seem like all books are the same. Is history book the same as a programming book? Is it the same as a biography? Is it the same as a story about a magical sword and dragons? How about a book detailing the fictional life of a women forced into marriage? NONE of those are the same, and to just put them under one umbrella and name them all "boring", is not only short sighted, it is a little baffling.

My advice, find out what genre you like, and look for books in that genre. Not everyone finds it easy to read, especially if they have some problems like dyslexia. However, a good lot of the time, you will find that it is not the books that are boring; you just have not found the right book that fits your wants. I mean, I loved 1984 and Animal Farm, but The Great Gatsby bored the hell out me. Does that mean The Great Gatsby is a bad book? No, just that it wasn't for me. Just like Totalbiscuit not liking Titan Souls because it wasn't his thing, people have different tastes when it comes to books as well.

If reading in and of itself is boring, perhaps you should look into getting audiobooks instead. Just listening to people reading particular books can be quite nice.

 

[MasterOfHisOwnDomain]

As an English Literature Major (I use the term for the benefit of our American friends) I find this view fairly distressing; I actually cannot imagine going an entire life without always reading one book or another. As others have said, I think the issue with coming to reading books without a background is that they're very different from any other medium. Music and films will continue without your involvement and you can enjoy them passively, whilst video games tend to be highly stimulating. Books will sit there until you have opened them.

You may have to train yourself to enjoy a medium that doesn't immediately reward you, but which will slowly grow in its rewards the more you engage with it. For starters I might recommend something like the series "A Song of Ice and Fire" (source for the TV series "A Game of Thrones"; George R R Martin wrote for TV previously, and hence the books are geared with a certain sense of gratification and "must keep reading" from the offset; crime fiction, somewhat similarly, tends to exert the same hold on people.

The Great Gatsby bored the hell out me. Does that mean The Great Gatsby is a bad book? No, just that it wasn't for me.

People are horrified when I say The Great Gatsby did nothing for me, but honestly it has to be one of the most over-rated works of literature ever written.

 

[Guffe]

I don't read much, but when I get an autobiography in front of me I like to read. Before that I did the Lord of the Rings, some Warhammer40k universe stuff and then Song of Ice and Fire, so there was some Fantasy at one time in my youth.
But these days I like myself a read about actual people, maybe someday I'll start reading classics, who knows.

You need to find your genre, start from there, and for Gods sake, don't stop at page 2 or 3 -.-

 

[RaikuFA]

I've tried reading books in the past and they're so boring. I can barely get past the first page. I don't know if it's because they fail to grip me or something else.

People keep asking me trto try to read but nothing I can find is good.

I could barely get past the second sentence of this post.

I don't know if you're exaggerating but if you're literally getting bored after the first page the problem is probably your attention span.

Also if you don't have a history of reading (like if you didn't read much/at all as a kid) then it's probably going to harder to start later on in life.

I probably know more people who don't read than do so don't concern yourself too much. It's not uncommon.

That's part of the issue. I read all the time as a kid. I would get 5-10 books each time I went to the library. Now I hate going in there.

Maybe it's a imagery thing. I know some books I tried reading would go into a 5 page tirade on what someone is wearing.

And sadly, I've tried Pratchett, could not get into it *puts up shield*.

 

[Gizmo1990]

I've tried reading books in the past and they're so boring. I can barely get past the first page. I don't know if it's because they fail to grip me or something else.

People keep asking me trto try to read but nothing I can find is good.

This is not a problem I have any real personal experience of, however, when I was at school some of the mandatory reading was soul-crushingly boring. I found that one way of combating this was imagining it being read in an amusing style. For instance, I found a good way of getting through Shakespeare (I don't care what anyone says it has not stood the test of time) was to imagine it being read by Brian Blessed.

I am with you that reading at school was boring but I had the added problem with being forced to read a book as a class. We were forced to each read a few pages out loud and then the next person would take over. The probelm is that everyone in my class read so slowly that it would make a boring book even worse. I would normaly lose my patience after the first few people and then read ahead. By the time the teacher got to me I would be 3 chapters ahead and unable to read to the class. She would then get pissed off with me and give me detention.

I kept doing it tho and she eventualy took the hint and never asked me to read to the class. I then began to take the book jacket from the boring book and put it on a book I actually wanted to read. My class was reading Pride and Prejudice and I was reading The Dresden Files. Problem solved.

And I am totaly reading my next book while imagining it is being read by Brian Blessed. You are a genius.

OT:
I would not worry about it. Some people simply don't enjoy reading a book. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Bizzaro Stormy]

You could try finding a book club. Look for a group in your area who is reading a specific book and talk about it while socializing and join in. The social atmosphere may make the idea of reading the book better. You could also try looking at online reviews and seeing which ones interest you.

You could also try to stop fucking with everyone here!! You're posting on a web forum! This medium requires reading and for the most part not very interesting reading. You expect me to believe you could wade through this crap for six years and yet you can't make it past page one of a book! Seriously dude my right leg is starting to hurt could you pull the other one for a while?

 

[Johnny Impact]

I could barely get past the second sentence of this post.

I don't know if you're exaggerating but if you're literally getting bored after the first page the problem is probably your attention span.

Also if you don't have a history of reading (like if you didn't read much/at all as a kid) then it's probably going to harder to start later on in life.

I probably know more people who don't read than do so don't concern yourself too much. It's not uncommon.

This.

When I was a kid, TV had two network channels plus a third that only came in when it felt like it. Cable wasn't available in our area. No cell phones, no browser games, and (wrap your head around this if you can) the entire Internet didn't exist. Living in a rural area with an overprotective mother meant I didn't really have friends or a social life. What I *did* have was a house full of books. So I read. I read everything. I stood beside Captain Nemo, laughed as The Luggage intimidated yet another would-be thief, watched the ending and rebirth of the human race in Childhood's End, stretched my brain to accommodate deep thoughts of science fiction and fact by Asimov and others, fought vampires in Salem's Lot, plumbed the depths of the oceans and the depths of space, and dozens more. And I loved it.

But that was thirty years ago. Almost nobody is that isolated anymore, and even fewer people read. My guess is you were raised on Flash games, YouTube, and TV shows that only showed four minutes of show between commercial breaks. Lack of imagination and a nonexistent attention span are unfortunate byproducts of too much media. I would tell you books are awesome but you clearly don't think so. People have been telling me for years that pro sports are awesome and I still have no idea what they're talking about. To each his own. Attention span is like a muscle, you can work it up if you really want to. There's no better way than books.

 

[TranshumanistG]

I've tried reading books in the past and they're so boring. I can barely get past the first page. I don't know if it's because they fail to grip me or something else.

People keep asking me trto try to read but nothing I can find is good.

I could barely get past the second sentence of this post.

I don't know if you're exaggerating but if you're literally getting bored after the first page the problem is probably your attention span.

Also if you don't have a history of reading (like if you didn't read much/at all as a kid) then it's probably going to harder to start later on in life.

I probably know more people who don't read than do so don't concern yourself too much. It's not uncommon.

That's part of the issue. I read all the time as a kid. I would get 5-10 books each time I went to the library. Now I hate going in there.

Maybe it's a imagery thing. I know some books I tried reading would go into a 5 page tirade on what someone is wearing.

And sadly, I've tried Pratchett, could not get into it *puts up shield*.

I think I get you. I was told that I learned to read when I was 4 which apparently was pretty early for my age. I don't know if that was due to general lack of other entertainment at home, like TV or video games or due to encouragement from parents, but soon after that reading became my primary hobby, with me reading practically every day, sometimes reading at night in bed until I doze off or reading with a flashlight under the blanket when I should be sleeping. During elementary school I noticed that many of my classmates struggled with reading basic text while I was devouring Tolkien, Lukyanenko and American Sci-Fi collections, even sometimes reading Norton or Zelazny from under my desk during a lesson.

With time however, the interest faded. Maybe it was because we finally got a TV and a computer, or because I got enough mandatory stuff to read at school, but as I passed grades, I started spending less and less time reading just for fun. I've tried getting back into regular reading a couple times and I know that it can be hard to stay concentrated while there's other stuff like games, movies and Internet. I find that reading short stories or novels to ease yourself into it helps. Then a longer book might catch your attention and not seem so daunting.

 

[Ikasury]

because the books they force us to read in school as 'classics' are stuck in their age where the writing was much drier and more on philosophical bs trying to make some point with plenty of purple prose thrown in if someone was trying to make the scene more 'dramatic' and not getting to the point (read anything by Anne Rice and you know what i mean) so you have literally PAGES upon PAGES of just describing one or two things with little going on...

or you have the flip side, which you see in most writing nowadays that SUCKS!! which comprises of 'description' limited to, quite literally, 'he/she said' and that is all... resulting in one of my greatest petpeeves of all time the 'bobblehead effect' where the author, for whatever freakin' reason, slips into the idiocy of just writing dialogue with nothing, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING connecting them or attributing to who is talking, i get that some people can follow these 'conversations' but that's just poor writing, its literally writing maybe a third if not less of the actual conversation...

also another annoyance i find with current writing? its all bland, tasteless and boring... so even fiction sounds like something out of a history textbook... its not fun to read...

i'm an avid reader and I DON'T WANT TO READ because books nowadays are just boring... thank god for the crack that is fanfiction... free and more interesting then about 80 percent of the books in print right now -.-

 

[Olas]

First of all, I've never heard of anyone getting into a book on the first page. Books can't immediately wow you with visuals and music the way a movie can so you need story investment. Basically, give it some time, I often find I have trouble starting books, but once I get about a third of the way through I have trouble putting them down.

Second, maybe the books you're trying to read aren't the right ones for you. Just because you enjoy a certain genre of movie doesn't mean you'll like books that are superficially similar. The mediums are fundamentally different.

Also, try not to state a personal opinion like it's an objective fact. For many people, probably even most people, books are not boring and saying that they are is almost borderline offensive.