Nonfiction

[leonwingstein]

Personally, I do not like nonfiction books. They always come off as too dry and boring to really be enjoyed. In fact, most of the time I find myself criticizing the writing patterns of the author and of the people that he/she has direct quotes from. For example, in his journal, George Washington did not put a subject to his sentence, because he considered his writing to be informal and not for people to study 300 years later.

Anyway, does anyone else have a hard time reading nonfiction?

[nickusp]

I'm really selective when it comes to nonfiction. My nonfiction reads are mostly biographical in nature as I never could get my head around history or technical things. But I think if I had read most nonfiction instead of only fantasy as a child I might be more willing to read it now...

[Silva]

It really depends on the book for me. Some nonfiction is dry and horribly boring and impossible for me to read, and others are humorous or at least interesting. For one thing, I enjoyed the memoir by Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle. I love history so that's a bit easier to read than other nonfiction, like technical manuals. Then, I did read an entire encyclopedia on the cat once because for the longest time I've been rather fixated on cats.

[leonwingstein]

Well I'm reading 1776 by David McCullough for history class and it's interesting, like, in class, I like learning about these sorts of things, and the book isn't even badly written. I am just bored by it.

[onlyaworkingtitle]

I'm a fan of the memoir -- someone at the end of an experience (a life, a journey, pretty much anything) looking back on it reflectively. Good examples of this are Out of Africa (by Isak Dinesen, on her time owning a farm in colonial Kenya), Confessions of Lady Nijo (by a 12th-century Japanese courtesan on her life), and China Men (by Maxine Hong Kingston on her Chinese forefathers).

The only non-memoir nonfiction I've enjoyed is A World Lit Only by Fire, by William Manchester, which describes Europe in the Dark Ages through the Renaissance, speaking in intelligent but conversational tones to avoid the historian trap of "dryness." My copy is viciously highlighted.

[Marina]

I don't think I read non-fiction unless it's out of a history book, or requirement for school. I think the only one I remember reading is The Last Chance to See by Douglass Adams was pretty good. It was a travel memoir, I think. In the Heart of Sea, I had to read for AP Lit, it had it's dry parts but overall it was pretty good.
I really liked Stephen King's On Writing Memoir, he's inspiring, even though he comes off as an alcoholic who can't remember some of his bestsellers. So I guess, I won't read something if I find it boring, I just don't go for non-fiction in general.

[sophi]

Almost half (8 out of 18) of the books I've read so far this year have been non-fiction! Part of it is that I read a lot of feminist/women's studies book, but I also have a lot of books of memoirs and essays and stuff like that. I'm a huge fan of Sarah Vowell - if you're interested in American history at all, you should definitely check her out because she's really funny and makes the stuff that she writes about really accessible.

[gravyboat]

i'm taking a creative nonfiction writing course atm, and we've read some interesting stuff

most of it is memoir, but some of it isn't. it depends on how it's written, i guess. i like david mccullough, too. he's a great writer as well as a great historian

[alyoshka]

I love reading nonfiction. Specifically about the Middle East and Asia.

[leonwingstein]

I did enjoy On Writing by Stephen King - he did a Thad job with that.

[thestrangewinston]

I love nonfiction! But it obviously has to be on a topic that relates to me/interests me

[Dodger Thirteen]

I'm not drawn to it, but I find history books fascinating. Lies My Teacher Told Me was fascinating to me.

[casey]

Memoirs are often engrossing because they read like fiction. I love a good memoir. Bob Woodward writes probably the most respected historical/political works and they often read like fiction as well, if you can believe it! I read a lot of nonfiction about feminism and religion and things like that. They are sometimes harder to get through but they always feel worthwhile afterwards.

[ashleeoh]

Have you guys read anything by Joan Didion, Eliot Weinberger, or Nigel Slater?

I let nonfiction slide to the back burner for a while until my English professor dished out some essays last semester. And yeah, I settle much more quickly into a memoir than, for instance, books like Fast Food Nation.