/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.12615515]

>200 page philosophy book
>20 of those pages is the introduction by some third rate academic providing his interpretation of said work as if ANYBODY CARED

[Anonymous No.12615538]

>1/3 of the book contains comments and opinions by hack journalists trying to explain what the deceased author "really" meant

[Anonymous No.12615566]

amazing thread. thank you for this.

[Anonymous No.12615603]

>>12615515
>to enhance readability we have modernized some of the archaic language

[Anonymous No.12615659]

>>12615603
An act of pure evil.

[Anonymous No.12615743]

>>12615515
Introductions and forewords should never be invluded. Surely the extra paper and ink increases the cost of the book some.

[Anonymous No.12615773]

I always skip these unless they're written by someone whose opinion is of actual interest, like Nabokov in my copy of Anna Karenina. Even then, I only read it after the main text.

[Anonymous No.12615787]

Introductions and forewords are for people who go through life gaurding their feelings, unable to adapt to the truth stitched into reality

[Anonymous No.12616073]

>>12615773
>I only read it after the main text.
That's also what I do if I ever read it at all.

[Anonymous No.12616353]

They are for people that dont actually read the book, just buys it

[Anonymous No.12616378]

>book written by a third grade academic is used as a coursebook for intro to philosophy
Why they do this?

[Anonymous No.12616403]

>1000 page postmodern masterpiece
>20 pages is foreward of third rate imitator talking about how difficult it is
alternatively
>highschool required reading tier social commentary
>forward is by most reclusive and influential author of last century

[Anonymous No.12616423]

>author writes something controversial
>editor/translator adds notes how "thankfully no one thinks like that anymore"

[Anonymous No.12616867]

>>12616423
This triggered me

[Anonymous No.12616876]

>>12616403
What did Pynchon say about 1984

[Anonymous No.12616997]

>A classic work contains the use of the word Jew
>3 pages of the introduction written by a Jew attempting to dispel antisemitic tropes

[Anonymous No.12617035]

>ancient greek/roman work
>About this translation
>it's filled with anachronism and sentimental English idioms because it's just too hard to understand for a modern audience
>(translator is a girl btw)

[Anonymous No.12617100]

>>12615515
>200 page philosophy book
>its a heavily opinionated secondary source mostly condemning the philosopher's beliefs

[Anonymous No.12617119]

>>12615515
>Foreword spoils major events in the book
Moby Dick ruined

[Anonymous No.12617124]

>>12617119
>footnote
>this is foreshadowing Jesus' crucifixion and subsequent resurrection and ascension
WHAT THE FUCK

[Anonymous No.12617129]

>>12615515
>reading introductions
cringe
>done by anybody but the author
megacringe

[Anonymous No.12617138]

>>12617129
Imagine being this guy and having this be your contribution to the thread
>megacringe

[Anonymous No.12617185]

>>12617138
Imagine responding.

Maxima Cringe

[Anonymous No.12617200]

>>12617185
Imagine using reddit spacing
>celestial cringe

[Anonymous No.12617206]

>>12617200
I hate this fucking place lmao

[Anonymous No.12617263]

>>12617124
hahaha

[Anonymous No.12617297]

My copy of the tempest had a collection of essays at the end. One of them was a feminist interpretation which took the liberty to rewrite Prospero's final soliloquy to have Miranda interrupt him to announce her overthrow him by allying with Caliban, the hulking monster who tries to rape her constantly.

[Anonymous No.12617328]

>>12617119
Sometimes introductions spoil OTHER works as well and this is what pisses me off the most. So it’s playing a game with fate to read the introduction even after reading the main text like I usually do

[Anonymous No.12618258]

Bump

[Anonymous No.12618283]

>>12617297
Know what edition it was? Sounds entertaining lmao

[Anonymous No.12618371]

>>12615538
>>12615515
This is from evolas 《men among the ruins》and the book is 300 pages

[Anonymous No.12618381]

>>12615787
>the truth
>implying truth

[Anonymous No.12618386]

>>12616876
how difficult it is

[Anonymous No.12618864]

I thought you guys were READERS. Me? I read every letter in the book, from the back cover to the copyright page (I study it meticulously) to all front and back matter!

[Anonymous No.12618886]

>>12615515
A lot of cope in this thread. If you think this doesnt apply to you, YOURE WRONG.

[Anonymous No.12619155]

> 40 pages of foreword from some random guy shitting on author's understanding of subject of matter

[Anonymous No.12619202]

>>12617206
kys fag

[Anonymous No.12619458]

>complete take of HP Lovecraft
>forward is 30 pages of some hack trying to push his fanfiction.net stories "inspired by Howard's dark imagination" on the reader

[Anonymous No.12619481]

>>12618864
I read blank pages by staring and thinking about the book for how long it would take to read an actual page

[Anonymous No.12619588]

That's why you buy from cheap ass publishers like Dover or Wordsworth, they can't be assed to pay some hack half of what little revenue they get from cheap public domain works printed on toilet paper.

[Anonymous No.12619610]

>>12618283
I was trying to find it last night, but to no avail. I eventually remembered the edition (the Signet classics) and managed to find it; The Miranda Trap: Sexism and Racism in Shakespeare's Tempest by Lorie Jerrell Leninger.
I really don't understand the author here, she is so asshurt that Prospero says "my foot my tutor?", in that Miranda tries to advise him but he has everything already accounted for being an old and powerful wizard who has schemed for like a decade over this particular day. Is she suggesting that daughters should be on equal standing with their fathers, and Shakespeare should have anticipated this? At the end of the play Prospero frees Caliban and gives him the entire island anyway, and leaves Miranda to herself and her true love so her whole point about standing together against his evil oppression is negated by the text itself. And there can't be a God figure in literature at all, even though this is a fantasy comedy with flying spirits, monsters, and magic?
The author comes off as really bitter.

[Anonymous No.12620194]

>>12618371
Well you wouldn't want the goyim to get the wrong idea.

[Anonymous No.12620216]

>Mein kampf
>at the bottom of each page is an annotation desperately trying to discredit everything Hitler says

[Anonymous No.12620233]

>Read the republic by Plato
>Get bored after two pages
>Read the summarisation at the beginning of the book and move on to Aristotle

[Anonymous No.12620244]

>>12619481
Based metasimulacrum

[Anonymous No.12620268]

>Penguin edition
>Introduced and translated by a committed ideological enemy of the author
HMM

[Anonymous No.12620276]

>>12615515
>Introduction is 5 bare and bones pages
>The editor simply expains what the content of the book is, deliberately refuses to give his interpretation, states that you have to read the infulences of the author or you won't understand shit
Never have I been humiliated this much by a book

[Anonymous No.12620330]

>>12619610
Jesus H. Christ that's bad.

[Anonymous No.12620405]

>>12618371
Don't complain. Here publishers have to provide a commentary and notes when printing controversial books (such as Céline's) so that readers don't get the wrong ideas from the book. Failure to do so is punishable by law depending on the book. In practice that means it's simply too costly to reprint the more niche books.

[Anonymous No.12621285]

>Book by important historical philosopher
>Words have been "translated" to something different a to fit a modern ideology

[Anonymous No.12621399]

>>12616423
>>12616997
These would be funny if they weren't dead on accurate.

[Anonymous No.12621433]

>>12620405
Where is this?

[Anonymous No.12621449]

>>12620268
So would you say his translation does a......disSERVICE?

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Anonymous No.12621511]

>>12620233
go back and read it anon

[Anonymous No.12621525]

>>12619588
No, this is why you don't buy books at all.

[Anonymous No.12621566]

reading some obscure right wing guy from 100 years ago 50 pages of some libshit sperg saying hes a bad man

[Anonymous No.12621701]

>>12616423
>author writes something controversial
>editor is from German Democratic Republic and blesses the authors soul in soviet
Ivan Worse

[Anonymous No.12621753]

>>12615773
>Even then, I only read it after the main text.
That's literally what you're meant to do.

[Anonymous No.12621761]

>>12617035
Women can never appreciate art.

[Anonymous No.12621786]

The only add-on you should put in a book is the chronological summary of the author's life so I understand why they wrote what they wrote and also what their logos and ethos are for writing.

[Anonymous No.12621812]

>book has very sparse footnotes
>mainly used to explain when a character makes an obscure 1860s Russian pop culture reference
>also used to provide a pointless explanation why he translated “жид” to “yid” (spoiler: because they’re the same fucking word)
Probably the most pointless footnote I’ve ever read

[Anonymous No.12621851]

>>12621812
I saw a footnote in an Akutagawa translation that explained 'sushi' but curiously didn't do it for more obscure food items like chazuke

[Anonymous No.12621923]

>>12620194
If Jews think Goyim read introductions, they are the dumbest race on the planet.

[Anonymous No.12621980]

>>12621812
did I miss cool pop culture references?

[Anonymous No.12621995]

>read Houellebeq's Submission
>footnote explains what youporn is

[Anonymous No.12622033]

>>12621980
None of them were very interesting or helpful in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.12622076]

>>12621753
>intro at the front of the book
>meant to read after
big think

[Anonymous No.12622288]

>Tacitus Histories
>3 pages discussing how hard it is to read Tacitus' description of Jews and jewish history in the post holocaust world

[Anonymous No.12623037]

Ha! You people are pussies. Go read some Soviet books. Their prefaces are either from some notable ideologically straight dead men whose opinions are set in stone, and serve as official understanding of the work for everyone, or from academicians who jump through hoops to couple the official ideology with what can be openly said or hinted about the work.

Dostoevsky seemed to be almost a secular writer whose religious creed was a twisted version of his pre-exile socialist ideals.

[Anonymous No.12623045]

>>12622288
Holocaust is a tragedy white people caused. Take responsibility for the atrocities of your hyperviolent, brutish and primitive race.

[Anonymous No.12623066]

>>12623045
>But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
>It is the bait, and Jews are the hook

[Anonymous No.12623075]

>>12623037
It is also funny how often criticism in the Land of the Free resembles that dogmatic writing, and how children are taught to analyze books from “common person's” point of view in the very same manner.

[Anonymous No.12623104]

>>12622288
> telling the readers *not* to try thinking like a different person from a different era, and to remain true to their narrow view

[Anonymous No.12623971]

>Introduction is by author's dicksucker
>followed by preface by author's saggy cosmopolitan jewess wife.

[Anonymous No.12624137]

>>12615515
I just rip those introductions out.

As an author, nothing would piss me off more than some guy 500 years later trying to explain my work for me - let the fucking work speak for itself.

[Anonymous No.12624162]

>>12624137
fucking based

[Anonymous No.12624179]

>>12616997

Seen these for both The picture of Dorian Gray and the House of the Dead. Both Dosto and Wilde have one character who happens to be a Jew who is greedy, base and comical (imagine that!) And that's enough for them to oy vey.

I bet they even whined about the Jewish Achilles in Crime and Punishment

[Anonymous No.12624187]

>First off, I'd like to thank (Goes on 2 page long acknowledgement rant)

[Anonymous No.12624198]

>not skipping intros, forewords by sone litetal whos and authors dickriders

Also those who write foreword by on the cover should be hanged

[Anonymous No.12624206]

>>12618371
It's like they had to add 100 pages of buffer to dampen the amount of sheer redpilling that's about to ensue

[Anonymous No.12624210]

If you don't like to read introductions or explanations, how do you get familiar with the backgrounds of books whose subject is new to you?

[Anonymous No.12624219]

>>12624210
Inferring from context by actually reading the book.

[Anonymous No.12624367]

>>12621980
some of the insults were kind of funny. i can't remember who or when, but someone insults another by calling them a sausage-maker, which had some some meaning back then and made me laugh

[Anonymous No.12625321]

>>12623037
What did he mean by this?

[Anonymous No.12626467]

>>12622288
>>12623104
It's like these faggots don't know about Streisand effect.
Or maybe that's the point.

[Anonymous No.12626977]

>>12621761
Spergtastic post, oozes of kisslessness.