Do u find reading novels difficult?

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I have a very strong right brain / feeling and intuitive nature and love a good and simple novel.

However. Because of Executive Functioning complexities and poor working memory, I have to work really hard at understanding the narrative, otherwise it it usually evades me. This often triggers my need for perfection and absolute clarity and the whole experience can become exhausting.

I am unable to understand complex narratives and easily become bored and then focus on my special interest which is bird behaviour and identification.

I am aware of how many of us with AS can find narratives (creating them as well as processing them) challenging.

I think I can relate to this....it depends on what you mean by "complex."

If I'm reading a novel that has a lot of backstory, or is all about the relationships between characters, I tend to get lost--and then frustrated. This happens because I can't picture anything of what the author is talking about, and I can't keep everything in mind, in the appropriate sequence. I end up re-reading things over and over again in an attempt to compensate.

Yes, and it's the same with movies. I have trouble remembering all the characters' names, and even more trouble remembering a face with a name. For this reason, I don't really like reading novels or watching movies with complicated plots. The only exceptions I could think of were the Harry Potter books. Rowling focused alot on character development so it was very easy to remember who was who.

No. I'm rather good at reading and writing such things.

I'm horrible at accounting, however, as I have dyscalculia (though this only affects my mathematical ability as far as arithmetic goes). I excelled in many areas of upper mathematics and have a minor degree in mathematics.

Only if I find the book boring.

Sometimes I have to re- read sentences to make sense of them in novels, but I still enjoy reading them. But I have to agree about sometimes having to skip back and forth in them to really make sense of them.

i have tried to read Harry Potter and couldn't get past the first sentence of chapter one of the first book. can't even read twilight.

but i can watch the movies just fine....

I find reading anything a little challenging these days.

I've never been able to really get into fiction, I managed to get into reading fiction a few years ago but struggled to find anything as good as I read back then so kind of gave up. Now I find it even more difficult to read anything, let alone fiction - I struggle to concentrate, everything distracts me, I could be in a white sound-proof room with no furniture and still get distracted by my hair, nails, some thought that pops into my head, the feel of my clothes, etc.

Last edited by Bloodheart on 18 Apr 2011, 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i have trouble holding narratives in my head, also visualizing where the writer spends a paragraph or 2 just drawing a picture. just include a real picture ffs or give me the basics with some poetic flourishes so i can imagine it myself.

I find im tending to favour novels that are more centred on emotions, ideas dialogue. when the writings good, theres more chance of feeling that euphoria page by page, in moments that stand by themselves vs the nagging feeling that ive missed something and might not be deriving the full appreciation.

I thought it might be helpful to take notes on a bookmark to keep track of relationships and places. has anyone tried this?

Here's the weird thing about me and novels. I am an English major (with a writing minor) and writing is one the areas in which I excel the most. However, I find reading to be difficult unless it is a short story. Oftentimes while reading a novel I will simply get bored and want to read something else, or I will put the book down in order to play RPG video games. The trouble is that my mind wanders as I read a sentence that strikes me and I begin to think about something else...and then that something leads to another thing and so on. I've always liked playing with language and how words sound together, but I've never had the patience or attention span to get through a novel (even though I plan on writing one someday:X) Could this be related to asperger's or some form of ADD? Or maybe I just spent too much of my formative years playing video games, thus shortening my attention span.

i must have found reading easy as a young child because apparently i read a lot, up until a computer arrived in the house...

i expect any acquired ADD thing is probably reversible. the internet is certainly an enabling factor in distraction, because if something in a novel piques my interest, i can be on wikipedia a moment later. (sometimes im tempted to phone my ISP and negotiate them cutting me off at certain times of day)

have you considered that by playing RPGs your potentially spoiling the great fantasy & sci-fi sagas which they borrow most of their ideas from?

Ha. Agreed. I'm an NT (I think) and I find that long fiction takes far too long to get into. I think everybody's programmed to want information. A story involves a setup and contrived suspense, and it's rare that the end product is worth the suspense. There's too much to say. Why delay it?

I love reading novels, and like to share my favorite books with people, but I am terrible at relating what happens in books back to other people. I'll forget big plot points only a few weeks after reading something. When I talk up books, I usually emphasize the writing style and similarities to other books and genres. I have to re-read books to get a really good handle on plot. I like descriptive passages more than anything, and I like creative use of language. Narrative is challenging for me to digest and recreate, but I think I'm getting better at it as I'm studying children's and YA literature. Gotta start simple!
I reeaaally struggle with movies more than anything. I always watch with captions, and constantly ask other what just happened if it is something that wasn't explained in the captions. I'm not deaf, but I have trouble processing speech as quickly as other people. Is that an AS symptom, or something else? Not sure.

I hate reading novels. I read alot on Internet though.