/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.11345763]

I was once reading a book in a park and a dude passed by with a girl and said, "Reading some Shakespeare?" and he and the girl laughed and kept walking. I said nothing as I tried to understand the apparent putdown. I wasn't reading Shakespeare.

WTF was this...? Like drive-by anti-intellectualism? I think I was reading a hardcover copy of Inherent Vice with the jacket off, so it looked pretty nondescript. Did he think I was making a spectacle of myself by reading on a park bench...if so, that's fucking ridiculous.

Maybe others might have had a witty rejoinder at the ready, but I was too baffled, and besides, I don't consider it a good idea to talk back to rude strangers unless absolutely necessary.

Why has this memory stuck with me after all these years? I don't know! It was such a beautiful day, I was on the bench reading, and all was well, and suddenly I'm the object of someone's incoherent joke...

I guess reading in public was too obvious a demonstration of readerly habits for this insecure fellow and his friend?

[Anonymous No.11345790]

>You don't read Shakespeare. You witness Shakespeare
and then whip your cape around you and walk away

[Anonymous No.11345801]

>>11345763
Really embarrassing post

[Anonymous No.11345817]

>>11345763
Based random passer-by. Public reading is cringe.

[Anonymous No.11345823]

>>11345763
This shit looks hilarious in my head. Some 7"1 Chad with a tanned blonde bimbo walk by and the dude comes up with the first joke in his head, obviously it makes no sense and there's no punch-line, the joke is quite literally "you read books!" and you just stare, dumb-founded unable to understand a 3 IQ chad meme

[Anonymous No.11345826]

>>11345763
Maybe you should strive to just ignore fuckwits and enjoy the things that you enjoy?

[Anonymous No.11345831]

>>11345823
Lmfao I also imagined the same, nice story OP. You need more self-esteem, believe in your beliefs. Stand up for yourself. If you really believed in yourself you wouldn't second-guess yourself like this and still remember it years later.

[Anonymous No.11345843]

I'm reading Schoppenhauer's On Women. Try the redpill.

[Anonymous No.11345848]

Based, you don't read Shakespeare. You watch him.

[Anonymous No.11345938]

this happened to me while I was studying on a college campus. I often replay their murders in my own head.

[Anonymous No.11345970]

>>11345763

>Reading in public

is there anything more pretentious?

[Anonymous No.11346012]

Pro-tip: People who read in public often look pretentious to people who don't read at all. That's like wearing a sign that says "I think you're stupid."

Just do your public reading when on the bus or the train, not on a fucking bench in the park.

[Anonymous No.11346064]

>>11345763
fucking kek

[Anonymous No.11346072]

>>11345763
HAHAHA NNNNEEEEERD

[Anonymous No.11346078]

>>11346012
I would never want to be your friend because you're an insecure little bitch who thinks too much about what other plebs think of what you do in life

[Anonymous No.11346080]

>>11346012
>read book in the bus
>chad and his gf get in and place themselves right across me
>chad: Reading some Shakespeare?
>don't know what to say
>leave next station out of embarrassment and to avoid my awkward silence
>have to wait half an hour for the next bus to get me to my destination
>while waiting it starts to rain and my book is getting wet

[Anonymous No.11346085]

>>11346080
...Did you just rewrite OP's story in a slightly different variation? Suck a cock it wasn't even funny

[Anonymous No.11346088]

>>11346012
Why the fuck would you stop reading in a park, because some random one in a million douche feels insecure about himself and tries to make fun of you. If it’s a nice day, enjoy the heck out of reading outside, that dude shouldn’t have an impact on you

[Anonymous No.11346094]

>>11346078
Just sharing some facts of life, kiddo.

[Anonymous No.11346102]

>>11346085
>read book while sucking chad's cock
>his gf walks in and starts laughing at me
>stacy: "Reading some Shakespeare?"
>don't know what to say, just make finger guns at her
>chad smacks me in the face
>start crying

[Anonymous No.11346111]

>>11346012
Fuck you nerd I'll read where I please

[Anonymous No.11346126]

>>11345763
He put his dick in your mouth and you said nothing?

[Anonymous No.11346183]

>>11346126
How is he supposed to speak with a dick in his mouth?

[Anonymous No.11346186]

>>11345763
you say “fuck you this is Pynchon; illiterate nigger” and then continue reading while he processes being compared to an ape

[Anonymous No.11346195]

I'm not going to lie, every time I see someone reading in public I have a sudden urge to take their book and fucking tear it. What you're essentially saying is: "I'm better than you. Scratch that, I'm SMARTER than you." There's no way you're enjoying that book when your book is shaking on the train, it's packed, and it's loud as fuck. You're going out of your way, struggling to get your book out of your backpack, only to effectively read 1 page. Read in privacy. It's that simple.

[Anonymous No.11346203]

>>11346195
Imagine being this insecure

[Anonymous No.11346207]

>>11345763
He's right. You're reading boring books while that guy is living a truly fulfilling life going out and fucking women and having memorable experiences. Who is the smart one here? You, who lives for nothing? Or him, who lives life to the fullest and actually makes use of the body he was given?

[Anonymous No.11346212]

>>11346207
You're presupposing a lot about Chad

[Anonymous No.11346229]

>>11345763
>making the same pathetic post twice in one day
So this is the power of literature...

[Anonymous No.11346287]

>>11345763
I'm sorry that you have internalized this type of memory in such a harmful way, but you have to take it with a grain of salt.

Maybe he was some dudebro that thinks doing things other than "Gym Tan Laundry" or whatever is for Pussies, maybe he was thinking that you were posturing yourself for vanity's sake, who knows- but it doesn't matter. Fuck that guy, you know your intent for being there and there's nothing wrong with that. All you can do now is to mentally tell that guy to fuck off and be more confident about your own choices; You are your own person and entitled to do whatever you want, who cares what other people think. Don't let it deter you from reading outside if you like to do so to enjoy the weather or whatever reason, even if you are posturing to impress someone. Who cares.

[Anonymous No.11346299]

>>11346195
Books are cumbersome in trains, but e-books are pretty nice. My commute is like 10-15 minutes, but I like to read there, it adds up to half an hour every day, so around 10 hours every month, which is in itself a whole book.

[Anonymous No.11346317]

>>11346207
Even Mishima would call you a bumbling fool.

[Anonymous No.11346320]

>>11345790

[Anonymous No.11346321]

>>11346195
Why do you even think that? You’re a vapid cunt

[Anonymous No.11346334]

>reading in public
Is there anything more pretentious, more attention seeking?

[Anonymous No.11346348]

>>11345763
this reads like an excerpt from notes from underground