I've already read a couple of books, but they were all light reading or straight to the point. Today I started volume 1 of Capital. I read for about 2 hours and I realized I feel like I can't do this; it's very dense and abstract. Are there any habits, thoughts, or other helpful things that keep you focused?

  • aaaaaaadjsf [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I download digital copies of the works, and highlight parts I want to come back to later, re read, or found insightful using an app like moonreader. I only read for 40-80 minutes at a time, unless I'm engrossed in it.

    If the work is relatively recent, I'll look for explanations or lectures by the author about the concepts I'm struggling with on the internet. With books by Michael Parenti, Samir Amin and Vijay Prashad, this is pretty easy. There's plenty of stuff on YouTube, etc.

    I would not recommend starting with capital. Starting with more contemporary works, and working back is how I did it.

    • FunkyStuff [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      Awesome advice, thanks. I am not starting with Capital, I started with Wage Labor and Capital way back in the day, and have read several books on history and political economy since then, but nothing that was nearly as dense.