Why Reading Slumps Happen: Understanding Attunement and Attachment

Summary

This video delves into the common yet often overlooked issue of 'reading slumps,' where personal taste clashes with a book's content. It explores the concept of attunement, drawing parallels between literature and other art forms like music. The speaker discusses how societal expectations and media influence can create a disconnect between what we think we should enjoy and what we genuinely like. The video suggests overcoming reading slumps by experiencing books firsthand, unfiltered by external opinions, to find true literary enjoyment.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video discusses the common issue of 'reading slumps', where readers find themselves unable to enjoy a book as expected.
• 🤔 A reading slump often occurs due to a mismatch between a reader's expectations and the actual content of the book.
• 🎶 The concept of attunement is introduced, illustrating how it applies to various forms of art and media, not just literature.
• 🎵 Attunement to music can happen quickly or develop over time, and is compared to the process of becoming attuned to a book.
• 👩‍🎓 The video references Zadie Smith's experience with Joni Mitchell's music, highlighting how personal and societal influences can affect attunement.
• 📖 The act of reading involves interpretation, which can create a barrier to attunement compared to more direct media like music.
• 📚 The book 'Hooked on Art and Attachment' by Rita Felski is mentioned, providing insights into the psychology behind attunement to art.
• 🌐 The shift from a 'reading public' to a 'media public' is discussed, noting how it affects the way we engage with books.
• 🔍 The video suggests that overexposure to media can create expectations that lead to reading slumps, by judging books before experiencing them.
• 💡 A solution proposed is to resist media influence and read books without preconceived notions to find genuine attunement and enjoyment.
• 🔗 The video ends with a sponsorship message for brilliant.org, promoting their platform for learning critical thinking and AI.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is the problem of a reading slump, which is a situation where a book lover finds themselves unable to enjoy their current read and is unsure whether to continue or pick up something else.

What causes a reading slump according to the video?

A reading slump is caused by a mismatch between the reader's expectations of a book and the book itself, often stemming from a tension between what one thinks they want to read and what they actually want to read.

How does the video relate the concept of 'attunement' to reading slumps?

The video suggests that 'attunement' is a process where one becomes connected to a piece of work, and a lack of attunement can lead to a reading slump. It involves a personal alignment with the material that may not always align with external factors like bestseller lists or popular opinion.

What is the role of personal taste in experiencing a reading slump?

Personal taste plays a significant role in reading slumps as it determines what a reader genuinely connects with. If the book does not align with the reader's personal taste, it can lead to disengagement and a reading slump.

Why does the video mention the works of Zadie Smith and her experience with Joni Mitchell's music?

The video mentions Zadie Smith's experience to illustrate how attunement can change over time and that initial resistance to a piece of art can eventually transform into appreciation, which is relevant to the discussion of reading slumps.

What does the video suggest as a solution to overcome a reading slump?

The video suggests resisting the influence of media and preconceived notions about a book and instead, to immerse oneself in the reading experience without prior judgments or expectations.

How does the video connect the concept of attunement to other forms of media besides literature?

The video connects attunement to music, suggesting that the process of becoming attuned or attached to a piece of music is similar to that of literature, and this concept can be extended to other forms of media as well.

What is the role of the media public in influencing our reading choices, as discussed in the video?

The media public influences our reading choices by providing immediate access to images, sounds, and reviews, which can create a gap between our expectations of a book and the actual reading experience, potentially leading to reading slumps.

Why does the video recommend reading a book without prior knowledge of its content?

Reading a book without prior knowledge allows for a more authentic attunement to the material, free from external influences like reviews or marketing, which can skew one's perception and enjoyment of the book.

What is the significance of the book 'Hooked on Art and Attachment' by Rita Felski in the video?

The book 'Hooked on Art and Attachment' is significant as it provides theoretical insights into the concept of attunement and attachment to art, which the video uses to explore and explain the phenomenon of reading slumps.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Enigma of Reading Slumps

This paragraph introduces the concept of 'reading slumps,' a phenomenon where readers find themselves unable to enjoy a book as they normally would. It discusses the internal conflict between what one thinks they should like to read and what they actually enjoy, often leading to a mismatch between expectations and reality. The speaker also touches on the idea that our tastes can be influenced by societal perceptions of culture and high art, leading to a struggle with self-image and literary preferences.

05:01

🎵 The Power of Attunement in Music and Literature

The speaker explores the concept of attunement, using music as an example to illustrate how it can take time to develop a liking for a piece or an artist. They mention Zadie Smith's experience with Joni Mitchell's music, which initially did not resonate with her but eventually grew on her after a period of resistance. This anecdote serves as a metaphor for how readers can become attuned to books, suggesting that the process of reading and interpreting text can act as a barrier to immediate enjoyment, unlike music.

10:03

🌐 Navigating the Media Public and Reading Expectations

In this paragraph, the discussion shifts to the impact of the 'media public' on reading habits. The speaker contrasts the historical 'reading public' with the modern, media-influenced audience, where information and entertainment are often consumed visually rather than through reading. This shift has created a gap between the perceived appeal of a book and the actual reading experience. The speaker advocates for a return to the practice of reading a book without prior judgment or knowledge, to bridge the gap between expectation and reality and to potentially avoid reading slumps.

Keywords

💡Reading Slump

A 'reading slump' refers to a period where a reader's engagement with a book wanes, often due to a mismatch between personal taste and the book's content. In the video, the host discusses this phenomenon as a common struggle for book lovers, illustrating it with the dilemma of continuing to read a book that doesn't align with one's current interests or mood.

💡Attunement

Attunement, in the context of the video, is the process of becoming emotionally or intellectually aligned with a piece of art, such as music or literature. The video uses Zadie Smith's experience with Joni Mitchell's music to illustrate how attunement can evolve over time, even when initially resistant, showcasing the dynamic nature of personal taste.

💡Tumin

Tumin, as mentioned in the video, is a concept from the book 'Hooked on Art and Attachment' by Rita Felski. It refers to the moment of attunement when one suddenly connects with a piece of art or literature. The video uses the term to explain how readers can become unexpectedly attached to books they initially didn't find appealing.

💡Expectations vs. Reality

The video discusses the gap between what readers expect from a book and the actual experience of reading it. This concept is central to understanding reading slumps, as the host suggests that mismatched expectations can lead to disengagement. The video encourages readers to be open to the experience of reading without preconceived notions.

💡Media Public

The term 'media public' is used to describe a society where information and entertainment are primarily consumed through media like images and sounds, rather than through reading. The video argues that this shift has made it easier to form opinions about books without actually reading them, contributing to the problem of reading slumps.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is emphasized in the video as a valuable skill, particularly in the context of evaluating books and media. The host suggests that readers should engage with books critically, questioning initial impressions and resisting the urge to judge a book based solely on external reviews or appearances.

💡Bestseller Lists

Bestseller lists are mentioned as a common reference point for readers choosing books. However, the video argues that relying solely on these lists can limit readers' exposure to a diverse range of literature and may not always align with individual tastes, potentially leading to reading slumps.

💡Cultural Mismatch

Cultural mismatch is discussed in relation to Zadie Smith's initial resistance to Joni Mitchell's music, highlighting how personal background and cultural context can influence one's attunement to art. The video uses this example to show that attunement is not always immediate and can be influenced by various factors.

💡Book as Central Medium

The video references a historical period where the book was the central medium of cultural exchange, as observed by the philosopher Byung-Chul Han. This concept is used to contrast the current 'media public' era, where books are just one of many sources of information and entertainment, affecting how readers engage with literature.

💡Openness to Experience

Openness to experience is encouraged in the video as a way to overcome reading slumps. The host suggests that being open to new experiences and perspectives can lead to unexpected attunement with books and art, enriching one's reading life and preventing stagnation.

Highlights

The video discusses the uncommonly addressed issue of 'reading slumps' among book lovers.

Reading slumps occur when a book doesn't align with personal taste or current desires.

The struggle with reading slumps involves a tension between expected and actual reading preferences.

Sometimes our imagined cultural preferences don't match our genuine reading tastes.

The video introduces the concept of 'attunement' as a way to understand why we connect with certain literature.

Zadie Smith's experience with Joni Mitchell's music illustrates how attunement can develop over time.

Attunement can lead to a transformative experience, changing our perception and appreciation of art.

The video contrasts the immediacy of music attunement with the complexity of engaging with books.

Bypassing the media's influence can help in genuinely connecting with a book's content.

Rita Felski's personal experience of discovering 'The Unconsoled'未经预先了解即被吸引，highlights the joy of unexpected literary attunement.

Critics' reviews can sometimes misalign with an individual's personal attunement to a book.

The video suggests resisting the urge to look up books online and instead reading them first to form an unbiased opinion.

The concept of 'media public' is introduced, explaining how it affects our preconceived notions about books.

The video concludes by encouraging viewers to be open to reading experiences without preconceived judgments.

Sponsor segment on Brilliant.org highlights the platform's focus on critical thinking and interactive learning.

Transcripts

today's episode is brought to you by

brilliant.org and welcome back to

another video and today we're going to

talk about something that's not commonly

talked about in the book Community or

it's not really talked about anywhere

else so I hope in this video I get to

use some of little tip bits from my

recent research into this kind of

question that I think every book lover

is currently struggling with or have

struggled with at some point in their

lives and this problem right here is

none other than the problem of a reading

slump so just a set of saying sometimes

you're reading a book everything is

going great you enjoy a book you can't

wait to finish the book you can't wait

to wake up the next morning or the next

evening to read the book again but

sometimes you're run into this tricky

experience kind of reading slump where

what you're reading isn't exactly

aligned with your personal taste or

isn't exactly aligned with what you want

to be doing at this moment and something

just isn't working right and when this

happens you secretly think to yourself

should I keep reading this book or

should I just run off and do something

else or should I pick up another book

sometimes we're simply unwilling to let

the book go and we find ourselves stuck

in this kind of limbo mode where we

can't pick up another book and at the

same time we can't really work up to

courage to finish this book in our hands

and that ladies and gentlemen that's a

reading slump for you and generally

speaking reading slumps happen when

there's a mismatch between your

expectations of the book and the book at

hand or in other words it stems from a

tension between what we think we want to

read versus what we actually want to

read because sometimes what you want to

read could be quite different from what

you think you want to read because as we

know as imaginative creatures we all

would like to think that we're better

people than we actually are so in our

heads we want to be the kind of person

who enjoys the Poetry of b or we want to

think of ourselves as people who can

just enjoy a play by Shakespeare and aai

you know something High cultured but as

the writer Robert es carpet observed the

cultured man who knows Rin would never

be so full hearty as to admit that what

he really loves is T hence sometimes we

find it really hard to put down a book

that we think we enjoy because we can't

swallow our pride because we can't

really allow ourselves to think that

we've somehow misjudged our own taste

but the same observation also raises new

questions so why is it the case that

sometimes our hearts are drawn toward

different works of literature or

different material for consumption or

different music or different films while

other times we just kind of feel like

you know what's on a bestselling lists

they don't really tickle our fancy what

are these mysterious mechanics that are

going on behind the scene and why are we

drawn to certain books and not others

and how do we use this mechanism to our

advantage and to find things that we're

actually going to enjoy and for that let

us dive into this discussion about how a

tumin works why are we drawn to certain

things and not others and just as a bit

of a side note I will be drawing a lot

from one of the books that I've read

recently called hooked art and

attachment by R felsky even though the

content of this book is quite amazing

and quite interesting to read and there

are some really really Illuminating

insights in here but I actually would

not recommend you to read this let me

read it for you because this is quite

dry and academic and at certain points

you won't even know what the hell you're

reading so unless you are also uh in the

field of uh doing research or doing

academic work I wouldn't really put you

through this reading experience just um

listen to this video if you're

interested I'm going to list this book

in the description down below as a bit

of a citation moment but other than that

sit back and relax so a tumin an

attachment this is something that's

quite Universal that's not just limited

to literature or not just limited to

high art it's also something that you

can experience when you attached to a

piece of music attached to a piece of

film or attached to a really funny TV

show so at first let's pick a medium

that's a lot more immediate than

literature to kind of understand how

this mechanism Works take music for

example sometimes you get lucky you

listen to a piece of music and you think

to yourself This is Amazing why haven't

I heard of this piece of music before

and let me stalk this artist on Spotify

straight away because I want to listen

to everything that they have to offer by

other times it takes a little longer for

us to get a tune to a piece of music

maybe the timeing is not quite right

maybe you've dated someone who liked

this piece of music and now uh you make

your mission to dislike that piece of

music but sometimes even when you're not

immediately attuned to a piece of music

after a while or if you listen to the

music 20,000 times and someday if you

really decide to get into someone's

music and you make your mission to like

that piece of music a tumin can happen

again you can get attached to the piece

of music through a kind of conscious

process and this is what happened to the

writer Zade Smith he her New York

article some notes on a tumin Zade Smith

described her complicated relationship

with Joanie Mitchell's music because as

a woman of color she's not exactly the

kind of person who grew up with the

demographic of the kind of people who

would enjoy Jony Mitchell's music and

eventually when zady Smith went up to

college she was bombarded by people

basically saying to her what's wrong

with you why don't you like jie

Mitchell's music because you know she's

one of these amazing musicians back in

the day and this is probably cheing your

experience too maybe there's that

musician that everyone's talking about

or everyone's raving about but you're

sitting there thinking that like I think

I'm an idiot for not liking this

musician why am I not connected to their

work and in those situations you can

either resist to work or try to really

fit in and get into it but in Zade

Smith's case she decided to resist jny

Mitchell's music and perceived her

albums as tuneless discordant a white

girls warbling that was a little more

than noise pretty harsh judgment I know

but that's not really the end of the

story after a decad la effort of

resisting Joanie Mitchell's music Smith

was in her 30s and she found herself in

a car uh driving with her husband to a

wedding in Wales and coincidentally

Joanie Mitchell's music was playing on

the radio but that was the last thing on

Zade Smith's mind at the time she was in

a foul mood and as the article had it

she was craving a sausage roll from a

gas station so she wasn't really in the

right heads space to really think about

the music but then she looked out at the

window watching the scenes passing by

her listening to the music and she found

herself humming Joanie Mitchell's music

and in a moment of Attunement as I

remember it some flooded the area my

husband quoted a line from one of Lucy

poems I began humming a strange piece of

music humming Joanie yet not conscious

of the transformation so what happened

there was a sudden moment of Attunement

she learned to appreciate a piece of

music or a musician that she didn't

previously like and these moments tend

to go beyond a music itself sometimes

you find yourself living in a fresh new

reality after you've learned to

appreciate a new piece of music new

piece of art and in a case of reading a

new piece of literature when you get

lucky sometimes you can read the first

line of a novel and get immediately

sucked in you're Bewitched you can't

wait to turn to Pages you can't wait to

finish the book and you can't wait to

tell everyone about the book and those

moments they tend to make up some of our

Fondest Memories when it comes out to

reading like those rainy days under the

cover like those uh long nights when

you're eting with a lamp underneath your

bed sheet but as we get older we find it

more and more difficult to click into

these moments sometimes we wonder to

ourselves have we lost the capacity to

be attached to a certain piece of work

have we lost that capacity to get really

excited about a piece of Novel well the

answer to that is not really but it is

the case that books are just a little

bit trickier to deal with than music in

the case of music what you hear is kind

of what you're going to get so a tumin

is a very straightforward process you

either like the music or you don't like

it you listen to it five times times or

you leave it in a trash but with a book

The Act of interpreting the text or the

act of reading the text that kind of

serves as a barrier between you and

being attached to this piece of work and

also there's an additional layer in his

book ocracy The Korean German

philosopher biano Han observed that from

the enlightenment to the end of the 20th

century the book was the central medium

at the time writers and journalists they

occupy the center stage of culture

whenever you want to know something

about the world a magazine or book they

are the devices that you'll turn to to

know something about the world and

whenever you want some kind of

entertainment all you have are really

cartoons and story books and novels so

this public that banahan described was a

reading public it is not the kind of

public that gets to know the world

through all these wonderful devices that

we have around us words served as the

main mediator between events and the

public in our world however we don't

really have a reading public what we

have is kind of like a media public

where we're immediately exposed to

images and sounds before we even have to

read a single thing so nowadays we no

longer have to be well-trained readers

or readers at all to get to know the

world which is a really fascinating

phenomenon and if we apply this

phenomenon to being attuned to certain

books we want to read can you see the

problem here because we're constantly

surrounded by images and sounds

sometimes we can know a book's content

or we can judge a book by its cover or

we can judge a book by an online review

without ever reading the first chapter

of the book so what this creates is kind

of a gap between between attuned to the

digital representation of the book

versus being attuned to the actual

reading experience of the book itself

just because you really like the sound

of a book from a review or from a

clipping on Instagram or from a Tik Tok

doesn't actually guarantee that you're

actually going to like the book when you

sit down to read it and when you spend a

lot of time building up this mental

image of the book in your head without

actually reading the book when you

actually get down to reading a book you

might actually discover that you don't

really like the book that much so that's

what kind of creas the gap between what

you think you want to read versus what

you actually want to read and when you

find yourself in one of these moments

you'll find yourself in a bit of a

reading slump and a solution to that

problem here is to somehow resist all

the incoming information from the media

public and to kind of forced your into

this ritual of reading a book before KN

anything about it first and this is what

happened to the author of this book Rita

felsky when she found herself in a

bookstore on vacation so she's not

really thinking about picking a specific

book to read she picked out shu's novel

The unconsoled in an English language

book shop Without Really knowing what

the book is about immediately after

reading the first line she found herself

completely gripped by the book She was

drawn abruptly and without recourse into

a mazik narrative setting an unnamed

central European city and it was a book

that she cannot not read until the book

is done but after she finished a book

put it away and fired up her laptop to

look at a reviews critics didn't really

agree with her James Wood commented

ishiguro's new novel has the virtue of

being un likee like anything else it

invents its own category of Badness

meanwhile mishiko kutani from The New

York Times considered the book A dogged

Shaggy Dog narrative that sorely tries

to readers patience and of course it's a

sad situation to like something I like

to find out that people around you don't

really agree with you but at the same

time had felsky read that book after

reading on the reviews she probably

wouldn't have the same uh Attunement

with the book and ishiguro's story

probably would have not taken her on

this extended journey through this

really fascinating narrative had felsky

agreed with the critics before ever

cracking open the first chapter coming

back to our experience if we first of

all look up the book on the internet if

we just read everything about the book

before ever reading the first chapter of

the book ourselves it is possible for us

to judge a book by its cover or judge

the book by its reviews as to miss out

on some potentially really interesting

reading experiences and as a result we

miss out on some great opportunities for

us to get lost in a book that we love

because we're so concerned concerned

with the bestselling list we're very

concerned about you know is this the

book that I should be reading or is this

what everyone else is reading and in

order for us to combat that judging a

book by its cover syndrome it's helpful

for us to just read the book first

without knowing anything about it you

know download a chapter from iBooks for

free or read a few pages at the

bookstore because nowadays we live in a

media public and it's actually easier

for us to know something before actually

experiencing it and long story short

that's the solution to reading slumps we

need to bridge the gap between the idea

of the book or what we think we'd like

to read versus what we're actually

reading to the point where the two kind

of merge into one that doesn't mean that

we'll never ever look up a bestseller

list ever again and it doesn't really

mean that we shouldn't struggle with

harder reading material just to get to

that point of ATT tumin and attachment

it simply means being open it simply

means not letting your ideas about a

thing getting the way of the actual

thing itself it simply means removing

all the conceptions or the

misconceptions that you have about a

book and just dive head in and just

enjoy yourself if you're not into James

Baldwin right now it's okay if you're

nodding to some poet's works it's okay

give it time let your circumstances

influence the way you think and maybe

one day after a few years of living life

then you decide to pick up some poem

that you've never read or decide to pick

up James Baldwin again or decide to

tackle ulyses one more time and this

time you might just find yourself

enjoying a book that you think you would

enjoy and that's all I have to say on

this problem of the reading slump or the

art of a tuman or the art of attachment

and I hope you guys have enjoyed today's

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