Yeah it feels like grief, almost like someone close to you has died :(

I can't believe op actually censored his name. Like WTF.

I've often seen it called a "book hangover."

It’s crazy to me how many people in this subreddit go absolutely gaga for this book. To me, it was perfectly fine, but utterly forgettable. Just a silly little story about a guy and a silly little spider creature. But every week someone posts about how it was a life-changing book.

I felt the same way after finishing Project Hail Mary, I want a sequel.

just happened to me. I just finished Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (i finished it literally 10 minutes ago) and i’m so sad it’s over. The weird mix of happiness and grief is overwhelming

I call it empty

I heard it used a while ago, not my original term, but it’s stuck with me since.

Had that feeling after reading Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Wanted to start on The Girl Who Played With Fire but was intimidated by the thickness of the book.

i actually felt completely relieved when i was done reading andy weir's the martian. it was one of the worst books i've ever read.

That last sentence was similar to my immediate thought after finishing the story just now: Never mind the ones who walk away from Omelas, why aren’t there ones who attempt Scapegoat-Child-Rescue Crimes in Omelas? This to me is a major practical problem with the conceit: There could never be a society 100% free of violence and oppression but for a single scapegoat whose suffering is known and accepted by all, because there would always be a few who would try to wreck the bargain by direct action, and now we have a conflict which motivates violence.

One could say "It's part of the premise that nobody decides to do that." But:

1. The story already concedes that not everybody accepts the bargain; that's the entire point of having ones who walk away. What's stopping some of them from dealing with those same feelings by willfully violating the rules (child rescue attempt; attempt to remove the scary mops), instead of walking away? I see nothing except possibly authorial fiat.
2. If the beings in this story include not even a tiny minority of individuals who attempt a rescue of any kind, then this story is about a different species, not ours.

He was born in 1928.

And it’s okay to say Dick, as that was his actual name.

I don't see from Le Guin's commentary on the story that this was something she was mainly trying to convey, but regardless of authorial intention, I think you're pointing out something important to be drawn from the work here. I bet UKL would have agreed.

Take heart: You may finish a good book, but that doesn't mean that it's finished with you.

If only my book club would read faster 🙎 I do need a new side book. My preferred way of reading is via audio books and often after I finish a good book I'll spend a day or two listening to music instead of 'read'. I need something familiar while I am in the post-book melancholy before I can get to know new characters and stories. I'm definitely going to be the person who listens to certain books over and over again to fill this void.

That's a good word for it lol, I was going to say yearning (for the story world) or booksickness (after homesickness)

I don’t know any real words for it, but I call it bookstalgia.

I get the same feeling after knocking one out :(

It's ok though all things end good and bad. You just need another book :)

I think it’s dated for sure. It was a novel humor at the time. I wouldn’t reread.

I loved this book but found it to drag at some points, especially relative to "The Martian"

Of course, I read in a foreign language and have difficulties, but progress is important every day. Try to mark "6 pages" and after those 6 you feel valid that you have read all the way with your whole brain. That's how you'll progress every month. 🤞

I almost exclusively read in English, but it is not my native language and - same as you - I’m reading on a slightly slower pace than when reading in my native one. I think it’s completely normal to read slower if it’s not your native language. (Also shoutout to you for not seeing reading as a competition. I have to remind myself of that often enough when seeing others, mostly native speakers, flying through mindblowing amount of books.) As long as you have fun, everything is fine 😊

One of my favorites, too.

Right? What is this post?

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