I’ve realized that most times I read literature, it was to read books that I was “supposed to read” or book that “well-read” people read. It’s prevented me from having fun while reading, even though I liked some of the classics.The whole reason I started reading books is because I enjoy reading. How do you find literature you actually enjoy reading?
Harry Potter might be your speed
>>25291185Is Dune actually fun? I know very little about it but it always had a boring aura in my mind. Dungeon Crawler Carl deserves a place in the fun zone by the way.
>>25291185Easy. I judge books by their covers.
>>25291185the cringiest fucking image i have ever seen in my life
>>25291199its sandersonslop
>>25291199dune is awfully written, a lot of time the writing from the 'fun' side is a barrier to enjoyment, the quality is too low
>>25291185Dosto, Jimbo J and Shakes are very fun to read. And that's not even getting into the real fun authors like Rabelais and Tommy.>The viceregal houseparty which included many wellknown ladies was chaperoned by Their Excellencies to the most favourable positions on the grandstand while the picturesque foreign delegation known as the Friends of the Emerald Isle was accommodated on a tribune directly opposite. The delegation, present in full force, consisted of Commendatore Bacibaci Beninobenone (the semiparalysed doyen of the party who had to be assisted to his seat by the aid of a powerful steam crane), Monsieur Pierrepaul Petitépatant, the Grandjoker Vladinmire Pokethankertscheff, the Archjoker Leopold Rudolph von Schwanzenbad-Hodenthaler, Countess Marha Virága Kisászony Putrápesthi, Hiram Y. Bomboost, Count Athanatos Karamelopulos, Ali Baba Backsheesh Rahat Lokum Effendi, Señor Hidalgo Caballero Don Pecadillo y Palabras y Paternoster de la Malora de la Malaria, Hokopoko Harakiri, Hi Hung Chang, Olaf Kobberkeddelsen, Mynheer Trik van Trumps, Pan Poleaxe Paddyrisky, Goosepond Prhklstr Kratchinabritchisitch, Borus Hupinkoff, Herr Hurhausdirektorpresident Hans Chuechli-Steuerli, Nationalgymnasiummuseumsanatoriumandsuspensoriumsordinaryprivatdocentgeneralhistoryspecialprofessordoctor Kriegfried Ueberallgemein. All the delegates without exception expressed themselves in the strongest possible heterogeneous terms concerning the nameless barbarity which they had been called upon to witness. An animated altercation (in which all took part) ensued among the F. O. T. E. I. as to whether the eighth or the ninth of March was the correct date of the birth of Ireland’s patron saint. In the course of the argument cannonballs, scimitars, boomerangs, blunderbusses, stinkpots, meatchoppers, umbrellas, catapults, knuckledusters, sandbags, lumps of pig iron were resorted to and blows were freely exchanged. The baby policeman, Constable MacFadden, summoned by special courier from Booterstown, quickly restored order and with lightning promptitude proposed the seventeenth of the month as a solution equally honourable for both contending parties.
>>25291212
>>25291185Reject the false dichotomy and consume an uncategorizable miscellany of books that you should have been biologically predisposed to wanting to read from the start which have all of the correct ideas. :)
>>25291185Is having fun really that important? Unless it feels like an actual torture, what’s so bad about read those must-read books?
>>25291235Name a single must-read book that's not fun (other than Exodus, Leviticus etc.)
>>25291185>ai slop>false dichotomy>projection via inadequaciesWorst thread of all time
>>25291207No it isn't you liar. At the very least it succeeded as rage bait.
reading big boy books causes you suffering? what else? eating fruits and veggies? lifting a 20 pound dumbbell?
>>25291235it makes kiddies feel insecure they dont know how to naturally enjoy good stuff, like a toddler confused why his parents enjoys steak and wine more than sugary cereal
I like reading didatic books about history, economics and etc more than literature, is there anything wrong with me?
>>25291284depends, what are your favorite fiction/literature books
>>25291289I don't really read fiction at all. Some books I have read recently>a book about WW1>a book about Álvar Núñez and his endeavors in North and South America>a book about the history of trade, from pre-history to modernity>the prince, of Machiavel>now reading a book about SOX law
>>25291251Fruits and veggies are tasty and absolutely essential. The rest is just vanity masquerading as virtue.
>>25291298i said 20 pounds, not 200. what else is vanity? going for a walk? drinking 2 litres of water a day to stay hydrated?
>>25291300I'm european so I don't know exactly how heavy a pound is. Anyway, I don't think it has specific benefits over other physical activities except giving you bigger biceps. I just find the fixations of the self improvement crowd a bit comical. It's always lifting and reading books. Usually they can barely explain what for.
>>25291291do you still enjoy fiction in movie or video game form?
>>25291328Kind of I guess, if you count GTA as fiction. I like Total War, Minecraft from time to time
I've read quite a bit, but the only book I've ever thoroughly enjoyed that is well-renowned is Hunger by Knut Hamsun. Everything else couldn't escape the subtle feeling of mental taxation.
>>25291300Also, how are you smart enough to read classic books when you equate lifting to drinking water?
>>25291338>analogies = equivalencesnice "equivalence" lmao
>>25291185If you think books for adults are boring and books for teens are the only "fun"" ones, well...
>>25291185I think you confuse quality with enjoyment, which are different and independent from each other. Just because a text (or any art or most things for that matter) is well crafted it doesn't mean you have to enjoy it or force yourself to do so. You are supposed to enjoy things in spite of their quality, no due to their quality.Take Moby Dick or Billy Budd. They are beautifully written stories, but not everyone may find them enjoyable because the stories are disturbed by technical essays.In addition, some things that may interfer with your enjoyment for something may be your mindset, your experiences or your expectations.
>>25291342Can you elaborate? Because so far you're not making sense
>>25291355Never mind, I get it now. I got the semantics wrong but I'm still right.
>>25291212Chaucer and Shakespeare are somehow boring “classics” and yet raucous crowdpleasers in their own context. Ben Hur is a stodgy classic now, it was the worldwide best seller apart from the Bible in its day. Dumas and Dickens wrote for mass appeal. Poe is a horror sloppa writer. Kipling and Stevenson wrote the airport novels of their day. The greek poets remain because of mass appeal. People have strange ideas about what “classics” mean, both the people for and against.
>>25291298no, lifting weights and reading books are good for you on the same physiological level as eating well.
>>25291355there's nothing to elaborate retard. i never equated anything, you just cant read properly and never will. cope.
>>25291400My cat hasn't read Dostoevsky and he's fine
>>25291413I already admitted I made a mistake. It's just semantics though. You keep doubling down on the same stupid comparisons. One can subjectively think that doing makeup is fulfilling and important, but that doesn't make drinking water and eating veggies a good analogy.
>>25291432>it's just semanticswrong again
>>25291422your fluffy cute kitty is not a human being.
>>25291437My uncle hasn't read Dostoevsky and he's fine
>>25291435Okay, what about my small error undermines my broader argument?
>>25291225>>25291240>false dichotomyThe lack of nuance is used comedic effect, rage bait and to communicate a common sentiment in an effective way. You'd get it if you had an intuition.
>>25291450>complete lack of reading comprehension and ad hoc definitions are um actually just le small errorsemantics
>>25291458*used for
>>25291491Okay, I'll try to steelman your first argument then. You think it's childish when someone doesn't want to put a bare minimum amount of "effort" (which you don't even consider to be effort) into something that has great merit.Now I don't give a shit about what you think is childish. You willfully ignore that most adults don't enjoy reading classic literature. You make comparisons to eating veggies and drinking water to understate the effort and overstate the importance.
>>25291538>accurate summary = steelmanningsemantics
>>25291549>summary contains more words than the original argument????
>>25291555>steelmanning is when length go upsemantics
>>25291560What about my "summary" is not a steelman?
>How do you find literature you actually enjoy reading?You could ask ChatGPT for "books about x" and it will give you books with a certain theme, if you're in the mood for something in particular. I don't know, maybe a book about a guy that does everything to impress strangers, or a guy that does everything solely for his own enjoyment, that could be a cool novel. "Fun" is just consequence of being engaged with a book, it doesn't necessarily have to be about teenagers at a magic school or whatever. Classics are classics for a reason, but if you find them boring currently, then just drop them and come back later, often you're just not ready for them, you haven't collected the necessary life experience that makes it relevant to you.
>>25291563everything
>>25291587Please post an example of what a steelman of your own argument would be
>>25291458Comedy should have some basis in reality. The meme is just shit and trite
>>25291594It does have some basis in reality. Even if you can't personally relate, a lot of people do.
The second is just gaslighting yourself into acting happy while not feeling it because you have an obligation to be happy under capitalism
>>25291658This is what unhappy people want to believe about happy people
Sadly, I am happy.
>>25291185>The whole reason I started reading books is because I enjoy reading.what books did you enjoy reading, and why did you like them?
>>25291671I have never met a happy person, everyone is stressed, angry and sad but struggles to look happy. If you know them long enough, they will open up
>>25291684You're just terminally online go outside.
>>25291691I spend most of my dad outside. Even on my days off
>>25291185Just read a book and if you don't enjoy it by 20-25% of the way in, then just stop reading. You'll enjoy it more when you stop forcing yourself. Also if you get bored easily then read faster so reading is more of a challenge that keeps you engaged.
>>25291696Yet here you are lol.
>>25291720So? Every single person I know uses their phone all the time. It sounds like you're the one who needs to get out more
>>25291738Projection.
>>25291185pick a book you are interested in
>>25291738>I browse 4chan when I go outside.That's just sad.
>>25291590>i'm too fucking retarded to think on my own, please spoonfeed me
>>25291759>im smart and i belong here
Why not do both? I read the classics but also read some meaningless fun shit after a while, like Robert E Howard's stories.
>>25291789>Greentexting things I never said.Why are you so insecure?
>i'm so super smart and so super interesting you guys
>>25291671>>25291691>>25291720You have never lived with a woman who wasn't your mother, and it shows.
>>25291826Well you're obviously an incel no need to attribute that flaw to the audience.
>>25291826>You have never lived with a womanAnd you will never be one
>>25291830You will never touch a woman and you will never have sex.
>>25291834Good, my dick is too big for that anyway.
>>25291835More projection. This is a literature board btw.
>>25291199It's world building is effective enough to be fun and the way the plot kind of shits itself is entertaining, but it takes itself serious so that might not align with someone who enjoys DCC.
>>25291185>anti intellectual>AI posteryeah
>>25291185>Good vibes onlyThe other one.
I thought my discussion early on was stupid and petty but what I'm reading now is next level
>>25291901>I thought my discussion early on was stupid and petty but what I'm reading now is next levelThis should be a banner.
>>25291803
>>25291901
>>25291185Saar do be choosing the chapter saar
>>25291458You are indian.
>>25291209Dune is on the level of BOTNS, LOTR, and te other classics of Sci-fi and fiction
>>25291185If you don't let your childhood die peacefully it will rot and fester instead
>>25291185You need to read old-school pulp fiction. Literary classics are good and all, but the average reader wouldn't and honestly shouldn't make a habit of reading them unless they're the academic type.
>>25292102Just make it comic books
>>25291950What's the loaded question?
>>25291185I'm in the middle because I read well-written fun books
>>25291185>chainsaw manThe right side is a poison pill
>>25292102The average person should stick to tv. The average person will nitpick the classics for various reasons (the left will have scruples about "representation" and "problematic elements" while the right will have religious or anti-intellectual scruples)
>>25291185idk why but this picture really annoys me.
>>25292227True. If you're obsessed about modern politics, then you won't understand the classics.
>>25291922Do they still update the banners? I remember there being contests back in the day
>>25291185I take vacations on each side. Its the only way.
>>25291185As others have said: start with the pulps.
>>25291199It's fun in a hyper nerd way. I devoured it because I liked the worldbuilding and the philosophical stuff.
>>25291185Classics are more enjoyable than slop. You just have to work yourself up to it. Just start 90/10 slop/classics, then slowly invert the ratio. You know it's better because afterwards the slop is shit to read but the classics are still great.
You should NEVER force yourself into reading something you don't enjoy. Just read whatever is most entertaining to you in that moment. It can be absolute romantasy tripe, it can be AO3 fanfiction, it doesn't really matter as long as you enjoy it.You will over time refine your taste and get used to all the tropey stuff and you will want more from your stories, which is how you get closer and closer to the classics all on your own until one day you look forwards to reading the iliad like how 2000s schoolgirls looked forwards to reading the new harry potter book, all on your own.I'm an IT-fag that is the opposite of pretentious (In fact I have to hide that I'm reading from peers to not lose face) so I never had this illusion of having to performatively read or pretend to be well-read. I just liked reading slop my entire life and over the decades my tastes just naturally gravitate towards quality (classics), this will happen to you as well. People that force themselves to read things they aren't ready for or don't enjoy end up just hating reading.Kind of like how everyone working in IT fucking hates computers and technology, because we're forced to work with this shit daily, don't kill your reading spirit by forcing yourself to do shit. Just enjoy reading and the "safe space" in your head it creates. It's one of the only nice hobbies still left for us to enjoy.
>>25292962You IT/dev fags are some of the most ego tripping faggots out there what are you talking about.
>>25292969Yeah but not about literature, literature is actively looked down upon by IT workers as being intellectually inferior to "real science". Clearly as a /lit/ poster that actually reads the classics I don't align with this way of thinking, but that was what I was referring to.The pretentiousness of having to read the classics is more a humanities type of thing, but I personally never felt that pressure.The pretentiousness for IT is coding everything from scratch in an older programming language. And even in IT the advice is to just build whatever the fuck you want to build in whatever way you can and over time you will naturally gravitate to the best tools. The same is true for reading.The only thing forcing yourself to read does is cause procrastination, burnout, reading slumps and a building hatred towards reading in general.But yeah IT faggots are god-complex having niggers, not trying to argue otherwise.
>>25292962>Kind of like how everyone working in IT fucking hates computers and technologyGood to hear. Make sure to spread the message.
>>25292962Good advice. I see these threads every day on /lit/ asking "how do I focus on reading???" and their problem is always that they picked the wrong books, popular books they aren't actually interested in but want to read just to be considered a "serious" reader. Some books you just aren't ready for because you lack the vocabulary and reading comprehension for it to flow and be an enjoyable read, other books you're just not ready for because you haven't had the relevant life experience yet. People should work their way up by reading something easy and fun first, refine their tastes and learn to fall in love with reading before they tackle the great books everyone talks about.
>>25291204This looks kino, shill me anon
>>25293009But I don't want to be behind. Stop encouraging me to be worthless.
The other day I walked into the bookshop and picked out a book that happened to be recommended by one of the staff. I had never heard of the book or the author. Sometimes I will just pick out a book that catches my eye at random or connects in some way to some idea or thought it my mind.
>>25293072I don't know how to have opinions on my own so I don't do this. I wish I had developed that kind of self thing
>>25291204I really like that cover, and I mean that from a purely aesthetic point of view. I will admit that the tits are a bonus.
>>25291207It's completely true tho.
>>25291185You can do both. No one really cares, once you embrace cringe, you are free
>>25293063I haven't read it to be honest. It's written by that amazing atheist guy from youtube. He still makes a good video every once in a while. The book features a teenage catboy and a 9 foot tall robot dominatrix so maybe I'll give it a read. Apparently there's a free sample on amazon kindle.
>>25292098If you're happy and you know it, clap your handsIf you're happy and you know it, clap your handsIf you're happy and you know itThen your face will surely show itIf you're happy and you know it, clap your handsIf you're happy and you know it, stomp your feetIf you're happy and you know it, stomp your feetIf you're happy and you know itThen your face will surely show itIf you're happy and you know it, stomp your feetIf you're happy and you know it, shout hurray (hurray)If you're happy and you know it, shout hurray (hurray)If you're happy and you know itThen face will surely show itIf you're happy and you know it, shout hurray (hurray)If you're happy and you know it, do all three (hurray)If you're happy and you know it, do all three (hurray)If you're happy and you know itThen your face will surely show itIf you're happy and you know it, do all three (hurray)
Heh. I actually like Elizabethan rhetoric. Even their most trivial statement is laugh out loud funny. The titles of these things alone.
The secret 3rd option: Read smut
>>25291209Weird take given Sanderson writes books that are actually enjoyable unlike Herbert.
>>25293076nta but people do it all the time with movies and shit, you're just overthinking it
>>25291185Life on atheism.>>25293178Holy faggot.
>>25293122You don't know what the word aesthetic means so no one cares what you thinkg
>>25295431God doesn't exist. Cope and seethe.
>>25295513>God doesn't exist. According to you and the rest of the tranny faggots that infest this site, yes.
>>25295553Take meds
>>25295571>Take """""meds"""""You go, Alice!
>>25291185Just read CoMC and Sherlock holmes and HG Wells and Jules Verne slop. You will build the muscles to read real things while having a good time.
>>25291185* first apology of justin martyr, trypho* summa theologiae* eusebius history* chrysostom against the jews* lulu on the jews and their lies* the protocols of the elders of zionthe enjoyment comes from the recognition of how it all fits together. some day someone will write the great american incel-misogynist novel, or, at least the great american incel-misogynist meme essay, or, at least, the great american incel-misogynist sermon at their church>>25291199>Is Dune actually fundune is george lucas star wars but with a well bred english aristocrat instead of a kansas farm boy. it is a waste of time. hairy poofter is a visit to the mind of a single mum who destroyed england in order to destroy her family
>>25295663>hairy poofter is a visit to the mind of a single mum who destroyed england in order to destroy her family?????
>>25295667> dumblederp the pederast is too busy harry pottering 7 year old boys to ask questions when the magic box says hairy poofter is in the dangerous tournament> hairy poofter and his friends dodge dementors while walking to town to drink butterbeer and eat vomit flavor jelly beans> j/k rowling liked sex being low stakes and didnt give a shit that her child couldnt walk away from having separated parents> its all ok because hairy poofter uses little kid magic to beat the old wizard when a new magic effect appears that hairy poofter has never seen before. pip pip cheerio alls well that ends well. how motherly of rowling to protect hairy poofter with her love so he cant die but he still gets to see the world
>>25291185Sometimes you want to expand your taste level and it's not always directly "fun" but make no mistake you are enjoying the fantasy of being a well read individual and u might learn / expand your literary taste. Pure enjoyment is not a thing. There is always a surplus.
>>25291185>How to read literature for fun?Step 1: find a topic you likeStep 2: find online a bunch of books that belong to that topicStep 3: read a little about the books to see what sounds funStep 4: read the bookStep 5: if the book doesn't hook you, drop it and go back to step 1 or 3.There, you are welcome OP.
>>25291185This image is the harshest condemnation of Dune this board has ever produced. Based retard
>>25295448I went to art school, so you can suck my dick, fuckhead
>>25293123>>25291242t. semi-literates
>>25296026Well I’ve recorded in Denmark.
>>25296050You got to be illiterate to cringe at obvious rage bait.
>>25296060If we were in person, and you said that to me, I’d knock you to the ground and stand over you for hours, not allowing you to stand up.
>>25291185I will never understand this mindset. Am I really the only one who finds genreslop and most manga excruciatingly boring compared to the best classics? What is so fun about being spoonfed the same mindnumbing plots and tropes over and over?
>>25296060>You got4th grade English must've been rough for you, huh.
>>25296081English isn't my first language and I'm retarded and gay. >>25296064No you wouldn't.
>>25296090>you wouldn’t
>>25291185The Stench of HonoluluEscape from Hawaii Both by Jack Handey
>>25296026aesthetics is studied in philosophy departments not painting schools retard, thanks for the evidence
>>25296439okay dumbshit
When I first attempted to read Ulysses at age 19 I realized something about all those classics. To really "get" the book you are expected to have read other contemporary books, the Bible etc. So its a bit like 4chan - you won't really make sense of the place until you know the local vernacular, the memes, the culture in short. Trouble is, there is no real reward for reading such a classic, Ulysses in particular. You don't get any profound insights, though sure the way he writes is impressive I guess. Same with War and Peace, yes its an impressive epic of the Napoleonic Wars but it was written for Russians and though I get a glimpse of how their society functioned at the time ultimately its not very relevant to me beyond being a good, well-written story.Now with books like Dune you have the author ponder grand themes, trying to imagine what paths humanity might take in the future, considers the implications of power and prophecy. It is on the whole a MUCH MORE insightful book than Crime and Punishment, which focuses on the mental distress of a single man. I feel like the classics will eventually be abandoned, they are so irrelevant to our culture now. I bet when Dostoyevsky (best of the bunch in OP's pic) was writing his books the retards at the time were calling him slop, and telling people to read Homer instead, you know, the classics.
>>25291185listen here, you fucking cuckmeister. the purpose of this board is to discuss the hallowed pillars of the western cannon. you do not read to "enjoy it", you read because its the fucking mega-chad WM thomas aquinas tradition, handed down dutifully from generation to generation for the past two millenia. anyone that reads for "pleasure" is a god damn immigrant.
>>25291185I want a "I suffer therefore I'm deep" mug now.
>>25295706yeah, you have to explore to discover new desires and feed your imagination. by definition you can't imagine what you're missing out on until you develop a sense for it. genre slop is about giving people exactly what they already know they want. and some people treat the classics in the same way imo - 'this will give me erudition, ancient wisdom, harmonious beauty' - missing whatever subtler surprises they might have found were they reading more sensitively, in a more exploratory, experimental spirit. some explorations are doomed to end in barren lands, but that's just the risk you run.
>>25296776Ulyssess is like boku no pico, a well-versed anon should be acquainted with it, but only gigantic faggots would actually enjoy it. I just pick up classics from time to time and drop them if I don't enjoy them. The Count of Monte Cristo was based. Anna Karenina was shit and I dropped it halfway through. Moby Dick was amazing. Nabokov sucks dicks even if the themes are interesting.
>>25296833if you can't find anything to enjoy in ulysses i don't understand how you could enjoy your own everyday conscious experience
>>25291204Deep lore
>>25293123>>25291185Both path look like right if you have more than 95 iq
>>25296854NTA but I aim to do cool stuff whenever possible instead of handing off my girl and stewing in the thought all day.
>>25296972What's with 4chan this trend of having a warped concept of an average person? I think it's part delusion, and part figure of speech used as a gaslighting tactic.
>>25292962This is good advice that I will take to heart, thank you anon. And fuck the faggot below that said it's not.
