Most people on here wouldn't enjoy classics if they lacked the title of classics. Enjoying "classics" is 9 out of 10 times an exercise in egotism as the act of reading them makes you feel superior. This, along with their age, makes them unassailable as they're given special privilege away from any standard of writing we would typically hold for any other book, such that any criticism for them is sacrilege.
The actual people who enjoy reading here are the ones who read fantasy or web novels. They're just there to enjoy a good story or the act of reading for its own sake rather than fellate themselves for reading "classics."
Agreed. I thought they were pretentious and being forced to read one or two in school didn’t help how ai felt about them. But now that I’ve gotten older I’m finding they actually have a lot to say and most books I’ve read pale in comparison to golden age lit.
Marketing is a helluva drug
True, but Moby Dick is unparalleled kino. It could be forgotten and would become a classic again.
Agreed, Moby-Dick just blew my mind the first time I read it. I return to it every so often, like an old friend.
>Enjoying "classics" is 9 out of 10 times an exercise in egotism as the act of reading them makes you feel superior.
I won't insult you, just letting you know this isn't true and you should be a little more cautious in your judgments. You really revealed yourself with this one. You're young and you don't have a strong reading ability. It definitely isn't that you read many of these classics and have an insightful critique. Think carefully about the fact that what I just said is true, and that I knew that.
To be fair I didn't start enjoying classics until pretty late in life, at which point I lost the ability to read anything else, of course classics are classics for a reason. That's not to say none are overrated but 9 out of 10 times it isn't.
Not even going to comment on you elevating web novels lol. Board is overrun with children
i get gpt and dalle to make them into my animes
>And the coping awards goes to... OP! for his abyssmal taste and seething inferiority complex.
it's okay, we all think you're a very smart boy for reading big boy books, no need to try so hard.
>You're young and you don't have a strong reading ability
Completely wrong. And if you're going to insult me, just be upfront about it instead of saying you won't and being a condescending prick.
>Not even going to comment on you elevating web novels
Also, the irony of claiming someone lacks strong reading ability and then writing something like this. Nowhere did I "elevate" web novels, I simply said that their readers are more likely to enjoy reading for reading's sake, rather than to posture online. If anything, the contrast should have indicated that I was putting it down in comparison but claiming the enjoyment was more genuine.
I respect the guy I'm replying to above infinitely more for being upfront about his intentions. Please take your holier than thou homosexualry and assumptions somewhere else.
I just started moby dick and it is literally one of the best pieces of entertainment ever, if you can’t enjoy that book I feel bad for you
>just started
>and it is literally one of the best pieces of entertainment ever
...you are definitely, one of the people who like it based on reputation.
All books are not for everyone. Some people like a book, others dislike it. And contrariwise. Why bother caring about what other people are or aren't reading?
>pic unrelated
Not liking any classics at all is a sign of low reading skill, low attention span, or low IQ. Books that have survived through hundreds or thousands of years have done so for a reason. There is ego-reading on lit for sure, but to dismiss treasures of human thought and elevate webnovel pigslop is a shameful and childish reaction to something you do not understand
>elevate webnovel pigslop
Never did so.
>Books that have survived through hundreds or thousands of years have done so for a reason
Nonsense platitude and an appeal to tradition. A book could survive trillions of years and that indicates nothing about quality as works can be preserved for any number of reasons.
>Not liking any classics at all
Never implied as much either. Reread my post and understand what I'm saying before speaking down to me about lacking reading ability.
It's precisely this attitude I take issue with. You detect a slight against classics and position it as self evidently good because it is a classic. If that isn't motivated reasoning clouding your perception then I don't know what is. Not once did I say all classics were bad, just that the people who read them, at least on here, do say for ego reading and because of that, criticisms they would levy at any other book would become heresy if done to a classic.
For example, I enjoy the character writing in quite a bit, but I think that the random musings of Ishmael on topics such as the different types of whales or mast heads are drawn out and detract from the actual story itself to focus more on the author's ruminations or to foreshadow an event in such a way that could have just been effectively done in less pages.
For any other story, this would be an acceptable criticism. For a "classic," this is heresy, a sign of lacking intelligence or low IQ, which is precisely why I suspect the motives of those who enjoy said works at least on this specific board.
>Nonsense platitude and an appeal to tradition. A book could survive trillions of years and that indicates nothing about quality as works can be preserved for any number of reasons.
It isn't nonsense though. Over time the chaff is winnowed, as those not worth preserving are more likely to be forgotten. Odd miscellaneous works are sometimes preserved for no great worth, but overall the best are more likely to be remembered, copied, and spoken of. Something being old doesnt mean it must be good, but it does merit more consideration for the fact that it survived at all
Low-IQ cope, lol. Go back to reading your 100 page sub-novel. You're a fricking joke, and you shame us all. You're the reason as to why literature's dead.
Pure dogmatic unintelligent rage. About what I expect from the average classics "enjoyer" on this board
No one has ever answered my question on this board for what a classic is. Is old and known mean it’s a classic? A minor Hardy? A minor Bellow? Mencken? Is The Princess de Cleves a classic? Are there 1000’s of classics basically?
Back in the day it used to refer to Greco-Roman works. Later, with the advent of modernity, people were calling every book they thought was on the level of the Greco-Roman masterpieces a "classic" as well. For me that's more like a misguided marketing term when applied to these younger works.
But when threads like these are made, I’m always unsure what everyone considers a classic, especially when they deride them. Are minor writers who have a niche following classics? Minor works of major writers? If OP is talking about “the extended western cannon” which is 1000’s of books, he’s moronic. Sure you don’t have to like all of them but they survived for some reason and if you only like a few of them you aren’t a serious reader
>all arguments are failing to understand the point
>even during their failed arguments they're appealing to longevity and tradition when determining their own assessment, proving that they're applying motivated reasoning in their supposed enjoyment and allowing it to alter their perception
*yawn* Case in point. I really hit the nail on the head it seems. Now you're below people who enjoy even light novels.
I only read classics and I never read books which are boring or difficult to enjoy
What are your favorite classics
Frick you. You know nothing of tradition. Go back to your mindless entertainment.
Most people on here would never encounter the "classics" if it wasn't for a collective acknowledgement of many generations and multitudes of readers collating good books into a category that is loosely defined as "the best, most prolific, most influential or most infamous". Does it surprise you that people that are interested in literature look at books in this category and tend to like them? I agree that there is a lot of arrogance amongst classics enjoyers but this argument could be made for literally any activity.
The issue isn't with the fact that people are more interested in reading them; it's that people use their prestige as a shield and dogmatically defend them against all criticism, even when they themselves would levy the same ones if the book were not renowned. I don't think it's applicable to every activity because most others have metrics for measuring quality that aren't subjective.
Don Quixote I would say is different because there's a lesser cultural tie to it in the Americas which would naturally lead it to be more "acceptable" to criticize. As for the other point, it's difficult to say that there's overlap between the people who read those books and those who read classics, but I'll concede it was hyperbolic to say that they don't like reading period.
>it's difficult to say that there's overlap between the people who read those books and those who read classics
i read classics and i've read all those books. i've often seen the tartar steppe compared to kafka which indicates that there are people reading both. the peregrine is a very dense text. it's unlikely that someone who read the whole thing would shy away from the classics.
i don't think this is true. there's lots of love here for books that don't get talked about anywhere else (the tartar steppe, the peregrine, and pimp by iceberg slim, to name a few). people also aren't afraid to rip on classics either. i've seen many instances of people trashing don quixote.
Is there an issue with people getting into films watching the classics? If people are into a medium they want to explore the medium and the best it has to offer
unfortunately, being a pretentious homosexual is integral to literature discussion. the top 100 IQfy book list is embarrassing.
What would a non embarrassing list look like?
> the top 100 IQfy book list is embarrassing.
The only embarrassing shit is the edgy meme books by Ted and Hitler
I have never manage to make anyone tell me why Moby Dick is so great.
all this annoying discourse over the very simple fact
>just because you like something doesn't mean everyone will like it
>just because you don't like it doesn't mean everyone also dislikes it
you're just coping like a moron lol