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/lit/ - Literature

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11099390 No.11099390 [Reply] [Original]

Do you normally start with an author's most famous work, regardless of length, or apply some other arbitrary method of deciding what book to start with? Say, word count, for example:
https://lithub.com/the-shortest-novels-written-by-20-authors-you-shouldve-read-by-now/

>> No.11099419

I generally read chronologically, unless an author's early work is undistinguished.

>> No.11099799

>>11099390
>measuring length by pages
Why do people still do this? Do you measure distance by paces? Volume by handfuls? There is no standard page.

>> No.11099840

I'll usually go for a small sample of the author's work, like a short story or a novella, and then dig in from there into their other stuff if I find it good reading.

>> No.11099878

>>11099799
Normal people tend to not have an apt frame of reference when given a wordcount, but they can mentally visualize how thick a book may be when presented with a page count. In short, it makes for more palatable figures.

>> No.11100038

>>11099390
I'm a writer, and if I'm looking to write a book that is about say, 65 to 75 thousand words, I read novels that are about that size because they give you a rough idea how you need to organize information at that level.

>> No.11100078

>>11099390
I usually start with the most known text, unless it requires reading something else beforehand.

>>11099799
Well, what would suggest? Word count? Nobody would use it.

>> No.11100156

>>11099390
What is that pic from?

>> No.11101361

>>11100156
It's an internet mystery.

>> No.11101575
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11101575

>>11099799
>Do you measure distance by paces?
This is the only reasonable solution to many applications. Pic related,

>> No.11102374

I start with the book that I got and I get whichever I feel like because I don't have assburgers

>> No.11103711

>>11100156
My diary.

>> No.11104086

>>11099390
No, I start with a shorter one, but I don't autistically search for the one with the lowest page count.

>> No.11104121

>>11099390
Yeah I don't exactly have a refined system but I try to enter the stream from somewhere peripheral and then end up at the main work. Actually I usually tend to work backwards, but not intentionally.

Normally though:

Short story collection > #2 in the Wikipedia "notable works" > main work > finish off the rest

>> No.11104129

>>11099799
Because word count or characters are rarely available.

>> No.11104407

>>11101575
Paces are actually more consistent units than pages. All humans have roughly similar stride length, even midgets and children. Measuring length by pages is more like saying "it weighs as much as 10 dogs" and not specifying if it's Chihuahuas or a Mastiffs.

>>11104129
They're always available. In some rare cases you may have to scan and OCR the book yourself, which you should be doing anyway if there's really no ebook version.

>> No.11104575

>>11099799
It's because people think they have a reference for the size of books by page count, as they're familiar with the usual number of pages in various types of books. Except that it differs so much that they actually don't have a reference. An illusory reference.

>> No.11106104

>>11099419
What if they write their masterpiece and then all their work after is shit? Do you still try slogging through?

>> No.11107602

>>11100156
its been around for eons, no sauce that ive ever heard of