/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10659374]

>always skip the preface
Am I a pleb?

[Anonymous No.10659402]

Yes.

[Anonymous No.10659427]

>>10659374
You sound patrician to me.

[Anonymous No.10659429]

>>10659374
You're alright, OP.

[Anonymous No.10659550]

Whenever I read prefaces/introductions, I gain nothing. It's just better to get into the actual text.

[Anonymous No.10659559]

>>10659374
you sound like an alright guy to me

[Anonymous No.10659639]

When it's for historical context its good to read but when it's about what school the author taught in or something useless like that it more often than not just spoils parts of the story and is generally useless.

[Anonymous No.10659688]

>>10659402
What if the book has five prefaces?

[Anonymous No.10659917]

>>10659374
nah we all do it

they usually spoil the text anyway, they're really more for people returning to the book for a second read

[Anonymous No.10659930]

>>10659374
>the introduction is over 100 pages

[Anonymous No.10659936]

>>10659688
Wait... I heard of books with preface and introduction...
Are there books with so many prefaces?

[Anonymous No.10659941]

>>10659930
The longest I've read was a 30-page introduction to Alexander Pope's translation of the Iliad. That was a fucking chore.

[Anonymous No.10659948]

>>10659930
if the introduction is 100 pages there's probably some important stuff in there that will help you fully absorb the book. I always read the introduction and do some pre-reading and make an index card with small notes and things to keep in mind, and use the index card as a bookmark.

[Anonymous No.10659954]

>preface
>forward
>author's note
>acknowledgements
>introduction
>prologue

[Anonymous No.10659961]

>>10659954
>when you post forward not foreword

just kill me now senpaitachi. im never getting my patrician status back am i? ugh. ughhhhh.

[Anonymous No.10660014]

>>10659961
> thinking he had patrician status in the first place
> has pepe jpg on his computer

nah dude u good lmao

[Anonymous No.10660026]

>>10660014
lmao

[Anonymous No.10660224]

>>10659954
>preface to the 1st edition by some guy
>preface to the 2nd edition by some other guy
>preface to the 3rd edition by the author (i'm ok with this)
>preface to the 1st edition of the translation by some guy that didn't know the author but read a lot about him
>preface to the 2nd edition of the translation by some random guy
>

[Anonymous No.10660279]

Who /reads the preface afterwards/ here?

[Anonymous No.10660317]

>>10660279
it's the only way.

[Anonymous No.10660769]

>preface is by some guy who hates the book and urges you to read the author’s other works instead

[Anonymous No.10660777]

>>10660224
t. marx's capital

[Anonymous No.10660863]

>>10660317
Yes. They usually spoil half the best shit in the preface.

[Anonymous No.10660880]

>not reading what you theoretically paid for
>especially in nonfiction
>especially in a translation you specifically sook out
Most prefaces are shit, but the one that originally came with the book is usually golden. I'm more inclined to skip an introduction.

[Anonymous No.10660897]

>>10660880
>sook

[Anonymous No.10660921]

>>10660897
>Havens't've sooken grammarie propre

[Anonymous No.10660928]

>>10659374
there's no need to waste time on the preface

[Anonymous No.10661191]

>>10659374
the preface of "The Long Ships" was pretty fucking cool. Got me hyped af to actually read the thing cover to cover in a couple days

[Anonymous No.10661205]

>preface is by some celebrity who talks about her own life more than the book
>preface is by some pop author who gives a sparknotes tier analysis of the book

[Anonymous No.10661558]

>>10659374
I only read them if they're written by the author.
>with special introduction by literal who
"no"