I read fiction as an escape. I do not keep a bulletin board covered in note cards and red string for each book. It goes in my eyes, fizzles on my neurons for a few seconds, and then dissipates like a fart on a summer breeze.
this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2026
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as a non-fiction reader for escape my desk, notebooks, and walls are remarkably similar to that description minus the string.
i'm glad that there are people that just read for reading off-screen. it is an excellent expenditure of being no matter the accoutrements.
“I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I read too many books to remember all of the plots. I recommend books to people based on the vibe I get from a book. “Oh! You like dystopian romance? Try out the Mercenary Librarians books! I don’t remember what happened, but I loved them!”
So there's this kid that gets abducted by his parents dangerous cult, despite the best efforts of his aunt and uncle. He then plunders his dad's trust fund in a civil war within said cult, and then kills a political leader before deciding to be a cop
Harry Potter?
Best efforts of course means child abuse.
Star wars?
Star Potter?
Sometimes a book leaves no impression on me and I promptly forget I ever read it.
I came to the realization recently that most of my books I read are just as much disposable entertainment to me as watching sitcoms is for my parents. I'll feel bad about forgetting the details of some light novel I read a month ago when they can provide a detailed summary of the rerun of Two and a Half Men or whatever it was they were watching a month ago.
For some reason our culture fetishizes the act of reading fiction. Personally I prefer books that are a little bit engaging, but light reading is not something you shoul feel guilty about. Not every piece of art is a masterpiece, and not all books are deep dives into the human condition
I got really into Dragon Age Inquisition when it came out, and my brother gave me a themed shirt for my birthday. Its a badass shirt, so its been in my clothing rotation for many years now.
The other day, this girl came up to me and wanted to talk details of this game. But by this point, the biggest thing i could remember about my time playing it is that I really enjoyed it. Sucks.
Y’all don’t remember the plot of books you read???
In my experience people who can read a book in a day or two don't remember shit. Plot points, character details, colors, jokes, they're all lost to them. They vaguely remember the jist of the story.
Why even read
'Cause it's fun.
I read to enjoy in the moment, not to memorize. How do you enjoy books?
I enjoy the moment and don’t need to memorize it like a school book to remember the plot of what I’ve read
whilst I agree that people should be able to point to at least 3 things they take away from a piece of media in order to not simply mindlessly consume it, I do respect that plot isn't always the highlight
Maybe people think I mean a flawless recollection of every event in the entire narrative but I’m willing to be pretty flexible here as to what constitutes a reasonable memory of the plot of a media
Like surely people are just not recognizing they do in fact remember the basics of what happened, even if they need something to prompt their memory
There is also something to the idea that people just read to escape their terrible reality, and it literally does not matter what it is. I once read the whole Twilight saga and I to this day cannot tell you more than 3 facts about it:
- Girl dates a vampire
- Something civil war
- Werewolf falls in love with a baby
people just read to escape their terrible reality, and it literally does not matter what it is
I remember the good old days of reading the ingredients list of shampoo bottles while taking a shit.
Well in all fairness that’s basically an accurate recollection of most of the plot
Do you remember every episode of every TV programme you've seen?
No but the general plot is usually pretty hard to forget.
Only some of them. For example, a few years I went through a period of reading all the fiction I could find by Isaac Asimov, and then Heinlein. I distinctly remember the plot of Asimov’s Nightfall and some of the scenes. I remember a select few plots and scenes from some of the many short stories, but can’t reliably recall even which of those two authors they were from, let alone which story or book. Others are just dust in the wind.
I have a very good memory for many things, but a book plot just isn’t something my mind has felt is necessary to retain. Like another poster said, I read for the escape, not as a learning experience.
Girl went on a mission, fell asleep but I can’t remember quite why, it was something about a cave. She wakes up 500 years later, kingdom conquered…it’s about her life among the people after. I need to read it again.
Girl went on a mission, fell asleep but I can’t remember quite why
probably just sick of everyone's shit.
yeah I'm tired now, fuck you guys. I'm out.