He lost his appetite for reading. He was afraid of being overwhelmed again. In mystery novels people died like dolls being discarded; in science fiction enormities of space and time conspired to crush the humans ; and even in P.G. Wodehouse he felt a hollowness, a turning away from reality that was implicitly bitter, and became explicit in the comic figures of futile parsons. John Updike
About This Quote

When a person loses interest in reading they have likely, had a bad experience with a book, a bad experience with a character or a bad experience that has affected them significantly. Either this is due to the book being boring or the story being too far-fetched for the individual to relate to; however the most common reason is that it has taken over their life and has become more than they can handle.

Source: Pigeon Feathers And Other Stories

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  3. We shouldn't teach great books we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement. - B.F. Skinner
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More Quotes By John Updike
  1. It is easy to love people in memory the hard thing is to love them when they are there in front of you.
  2. Suspect each moment, for it is a thief, tiptoeing away with more than it brings.
  3. If you have the guts to be yourself, other people'll pay your price.
  4. The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding.
  5. Being able to write becomes a kind of shield, a way of hiding, a way of too instantly transforming pain into honey.
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