How do you put aside your own feelings when reading?

The discussion about the novel Starship Troopers and the views about it, got me wondering:

Is it hard or easy to put aside your own personal views when you read a book? Or is it out right impossible?
 

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The discussion about the novel Starship Troopers and the views about it, got me wondering:

Is it hard or easy to put aside your own personal views when you read a book? Or is it out right impossible?

People are always going to filter what they consume through their own bias. I dont think its possible to be truly objective in this way. You can certainly inspect your bias after, and interrogate what you think you believe about something, but your first take? Thats filtered imo.
 


I think every book is a conversation between the author and the reader. I also think about Lex Luthor's quote, delivered so well by Gene Hackman "Some people can read War and Peace and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story. Others can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe."

For example, when I read Robert E. Howard years ago, then as I revisited them more recently, I saw the racist elements that a younger me didn't. So that conversation can change over the years, as we change, though the texts remain the same.
 

They are too many variables to list. I will say that there are some things that are important enough to me that I will not engage with the work in any way that benefits those behind it (whether that's buying/renting the book/movie/game/etc or participating in the fandom thereof).

For just an example, I will not read/watch/play/or otherwise engage with any media that contains within it any sort of direct bigotry, especially homophobia or transphobia (to think of the hundreds of hours I've saved never playing a Persona game). This is similarly true if the artist(s)/author(s)/whomever primarily stands to benefit from my purchase/engagement with the brand turns out similarly to be a bigot, even if the work itself is benign (you do not, or at least should not, need me to name the predominant example here).

Once we get past dealbreakers, it follows to coming down to why I'm engaging with the work, and whether the work is ultimately suiting that purpose. There are certainly reasons to consume media outside of pure enjoyment/entertainment, so if I'm in a mood to be challenged I will happily partake in challenging text. If I'm not getting out of it what I wanted to get out of it and I'm not liking what I am, I will stop.

Life's too short (and I have plenty of other 100+ hour video games to enjoy)
 

The discussion about the novel Starship Troopers and the views about it, got me wondering:

Is it hard or easy to put aside your own personal views when you read a book? Or is it out right impossible?
Why would I bother trying to do so? Authors generally try to engage people with their writings - that may be positive, it may be negative. Either way, I'm going to read because it's got my passions, my interests, and my view/feelings riled up.
And if I'm not engaged, I'm reading because, for some reason, I HAVE to (probably because of an assignment or other work).

I may be trying to see varying perspectives in what I'm reading, but I'm always going to have my own as well. I have to acknowledge that will always be true and recognize what those perspectives are. I don't try to put them aside or suppress them. I just don't let them dominate everything.
 

Assuming that the writer has a style that I actively enjoy reading....

I find it fairly easy to put aside my personal feelings in order to examine my assumptions, or examine my thought processes on how things can work. Questioning my morals is a different story. They have evolved over decades to a place, which is very far from where I started, that I'm now quite comfortable with. If I feel that an author is trying to convince me to regress, possibly because that matches their own personal world view, that's not something I'm comfortable with.
 

I'm not sure why I would put aside my feelings when reading. Even for non-fiction: reacting to facts or interpretations, to history, to things said and unsaid, and figuring out why I feel that way, it's good, right? Unless it's learning calculus or organic chem or something, feelings are kind of the point. (Looking at you, old-style sci-fi about scientific principles and/or solving immediate crises with science! Get with the program!)
 

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