Manga Only reader, strugging to get into reading the Light Novel versions

[vexxar]

Most of my favourite manga are adapted from Web novels or Light Novels and as someone who has never read a LN no matter how appealing the prospect it was, for example Monogatari series is my favourite anime of all time and even though the manga pales in comparison I still cherish it, and I still have to this day not read even a single volume of the Monogatari series LN, even though they are some of the best out there, I could only assume how good they are considering the masterful story writing the anime adaptation displayed.
Nowadays I don't really watch anime and only read manga and I've run into a situation where most of the manga I read are no where near catching up with the LN as manga chapters are released monthly and don't manage to cover much of the story whereas a LN volume may get released every 3-4 months which has about as much content as 2-3 volumes of a manga which can take up to a year or even longer.
With this dilemma I tried to get into reading LN but as someone who has very little affinity for written text as I've read less than 15 novels in my entire life, I just can't say I enjoy the experience as much as a reading a manga, I really want to enjoy it but I can't. Is there something that I'm missing? People always say read the LN it's much better but I just can't get into LN the same way I got into anime and then manga and manhwa.

 

[MavB_Ver]

but as someone who has very little affinity for written text

There you have it, don't try to force it. You can try web novels that have relative short chapters, or read light novels that are easy to read. Most importantly, stop, at anytime, when you feel like it's not going into your head any more. Save it for a later day.

 

[enryou]

Aged it like wine.
It works for me for anime <> manga.

 

[rkkn]

For novels, the translation quality needs to be a lot better than it does for manga or anime. since you don't get the context of images.
Also the original writing has to be pretty good too. A good story idea that isn't well written won't be fun to read.

anyway if you want to get into it, I'll suggest working your way up. Even when the writing is good, some stories are much easier to read than others if you aren't used to it. Something that starts with lots of description and exposition before getting to the action will be hard to get into.

 

[Jackone]

In my opinion I hate most novels and reading I like manga tho. My advice is to find a manga u are heavily invested in and it’s actaully killing you to find out what happens next and then read the light novel. You’ll start reading the light novel to see what happens in the story to only continue reading just to keep finding out what’s happening this only happened to me when I read the manga begging after the end.

 

[dudewithmagic]

I don't think it's something that is required. Usually I will transition to reading novels if I'm immersed in the story and can't wait to see what happens next. When reading manga an arc can take 2-3 years sometimes to be completed, a ridiculously long time for something that may take you 2-3 hours to read.

People usually say a LN is better because it's simply "more". A manga has to stay within a page limit, no cramming text and entertaining visuals. This sometimes comes at the cost of the story, oddily enough it's as restricting of an art form as it is freeing.

Example:
https://mangadex.org/title/30442/bouken-ka-ni-narou-skill-board-de-dungeon-kouryaku
Go read the comments on the latest chapter, people who read the LN HATED it. They couldn't condense the speech or motives effectively making it seem like the MC was some ignorant asshole. This happens less in LN since the authors have more room to express themselves.

If you want I can recommend some fun LN's that are really easy to read (as well as their manga). I do think you're missing some great stories by not reading it but I wouldn't mind too much. It's just something that's preference, we could get the same enjoyment out of art despite me watching a sculpture and you a painting.