Submitted by INTHEMIDSTOFLIONS t3_10on1vd in books
Hey Team
Has anyone noticed a declining interest in reading as you get older? When I was teens and twenties, I’d crush a book a week at least, even 500-600 pagers in a week, and the last few months I’ve noticed I’ll pick up a book I find interesting, get about 100 pages in, then lose interest.
It’s happened to several books I’ve read recently. I did finish one book a few weeks ago, but overall, I’ve just lost the edge in film, tv, and books.
As you got older, did you lose interest in reading?
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I wrote this in a comment below and figured I’d add it.
Almost every book I read is like starts off fine then goes head first into the darkest shit I’ve ever read. Even books that I don’t think are going to be dark just suddenly are about graphic deaths or “edgy” concepts.
Idk. I guess I’m just not reading “fun” books and not having fun while reading.
The only two books I’ve finished in the last six months are: After by Bruce Greyson (non fiction), and Dark as Day by Charles Sheffield (Scifi).
Yet books I’ve started and stopped about 1/2 through the last month or two are
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The Bourne identity (too dark)
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1984 (too dark)
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chasm city (too dark)
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a place in the darkness (too edgy and dark, dead hookers, etc)
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where the craw dads sing (it’s dark, but what lost my interest was the constant time jumps in story between 1950 and 1969)
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currently read “the fingerprints of the gods” by Graham Hancock and it’s interesting non fiction
I’ve quit books before due to darkness (American psycho, a game of thrones).
Idk. Maybe just the world is hard enough as it is and diving into a book takes too much emotional toll out of me. I can sit and read 120 pages if it’s something I like. I read dark as day in 3 days (450 pages) last month and liked it. Or I can sit and read through a Batman volume with no issues to attention (currently reading Batman: No Man’s Land (1999)). I think maybe it’s just the content of books is so heavy, and I am an empath so I really resonate with characters suffering. I’ve been told often “it’s just a book! It’s just a movie! It’s not real.” Because I become deeply upset at characters suffering (the end of avengers infinity war put in a really morose state for a few days, mind you, books like a game of thrones, I just can’t emotionally handle it when someone starts killing dogs…). I’m already on an SSRI for a few years
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>why don’t you just not read dark stuff? Expand your horizons
I’ve been trying to. I usually stick to only Scifi but I’ve been trying different books: 1984, Bourne identity, and where the craw dads sing were all me trying something new. They were all too dark. Unbeknownst to me. If you know they’re dark before reading them. That’s great. I didn’t. 9/10 if you look up book reviews or the introductory synopsis on Wikipedia, it contains major spoilers, so I avoid those. To my own chagrin. If a book or movie is spoiled, I won’t finish it. I lose interest bc I know what’s going to happen. This most recently happened when looking up the introductory synopsis of Dune Heretics, and now I can’t even muster myself to finish it. Some editor added a major spoiler in the first few lines on wiki. I’m not looking for book recommendations as that’s against the rules. More of, I’m in a slump, how many of y’all are in slumps, and what to do to get out of it?