Es will mir nicht gelingen, etw. zu tun.
Es will mir scheinen, dass ...
Es will mir nicht einleuchten, warum ...
I wonder if the meaning of "wollen" in these instances should still be interpreted as "want" or it deviates somewhat from pure and simple "want"?
What does "wollen" add to the meanings of these sentences, exactly?
This is maybe a German speciality of being able to impersonate a problem / statement / inanimate object in an expression.
Das Auto will nicht anspringen
Die Lösung für dieses Problem will gut überlegt sein
Nicht enden wollender Beifall
Es will mir nicht einleuchten, dass ...
Das Buch will ein Ratgeber für alle Lebenslagen sein.
This extends the meaning of wollen which would normally denote a person's desire towards something onto inanimate objects - obviously, there is no desire involved here, but rather only a "doesn't work", or a "must be".
Looking specifically at the difference between
Es leuchtet mir einfach nicht ein, dass ...
and
Es will mir einfach nicht einleuchten, dass ...
the second wording clearly denotes a fundamental and persistent problem of non-understanding, whereas the first could mean only a temporary problem (maybe I just haven't had enough coffee yet). Other than that, it kind of shifts the cause and responsibility of non-understanding more towards the problem and away from myself (blame the problem if you don't get it).
Note this approach doesn't only work with wollen but with other verbs as well:
Die Schraube weigert sich einfach aufzugehen.
Das Problem wehrt sich gegen eine ordentliche Lösung.
