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/lit/ - Literature

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2887387 No.2887387[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Why are most books so fucking boring? Why do authors insist on filling up their books- and thereby distracting from the essential story and effectively murdering all hopes of tension and suspense- with gratuitous, dull descriptions of the weather and their character's facial blemishes? What asshole decided this was the right way to tell a story? Why does almost every book start out with a twenty page prologue that reveals nothing about the story that couldn't have been told to us along the way?

Film IS the superior medium for storytelling. Don't even fucking try to argue with me on that point. It's almost always faster, more concise, and more entertaining than words on a page could ever be.

How can literature ever hope to compete for this generation's attention, of which there is very little to spare? It can't. Can you imagine a modern eighteen year old being able to read even a short novel like The Great Gatsby from cover to cover with rapt attention? Fuck no. He'd go to Sparknotes or watch the movie version instead. This is the future.

I can't remember the last time I actually felt a burning desire to read something. These days, I have to force myself to turn the pages and wade through all the bullshit in hopes of finding something worthwhile. Most of the time, I fall asleep before I get there, and the book goes back to the library before I even reach the halfway point. Sad, isn't it?

>> No.2887398

/thread

>> No.2887416

>I can't remember the last time I actually felt a burning desire to read something.

Same here, bro. I can remember, however, multiple occasions upon which I felt a profound desire to burn the shit out of the book I was reading.

>> No.2887418

It's not our fault you've been reading shitty books.

>> No.2887419

poor you

>> No.2887423

crank the ovens up to 451

>> No.2887424

Very sad indeed, OP.

Sad in the you're-fucking-pathetic sense of the word.

>> No.2887430
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2887430

>> No.2887432

You don't need a burning desire to read for the sake of reading. What the fuck are you expecting, some kind of irresistible force to pull you towards the nearest book? Just go do whatever fucking interests you, and read whatever comes up that looks interesting along the way.

Shit.

>> No.2887439

>>2887418
>>2887419
>>2887424

name some genuinely entertaining books, then. I'm talking no filler, no boring ass prologues, no excessive descriptions of the environment, no extended interior monologues. Just straight up entertainment.

>> No.2887446

>>2887439

Define entertainment as it pertains to you. What do you want? Pure action, drama, depravity, what?

>> No.2887452

>>2887439
>Just straight up entertainment.
If that's all you want out of a medium, then yes, films are better.

>> No.2887460
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2887460

>>2887387
notevenclose/10

captcha: phigelin peasantry.

>> No.2887465

Read less realism.

>> No.2887468

>Waah I can't enjoy a medium of art so the problem must be with the medium, not me

I don't know OP maybe you should read some James Ellroy, he doesn't waste a lot of time with fancy prose but personally I think he's a bad writer.

>> No.2887471

If no one reads books..why are there still books...

>> No.2887476

>>2887471

Because the publishing industry is dying and they can't accept it.

>> No.2887482

>>2887439
>Just straight up entertainment.

read some Warhammer 40k books, they're pretty awesome

>> No.2887514

>>2887482

Eisenhorn?

>> No.2887525

Read The Road or No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. He doesn't waste time with descriptions.

>> No.2887533

>entertainment

sure is pleb in here.

>> No.2887534
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2887534

>>2887525
Clearly you haven't read The Road

>> No.2887539

>>2887514
Horus Heresy, Ciaphas Cain too.

>> No.2887569

>>2887525

Seconding this rec. NCFOM is the fastest, most entertaining book I've ever read. It's basically a screenplay, though it is tremendously graceful in its sparsity.

>> No.2887584

What I've never been able to wrap my mind around is how people can praise writing that's just descriptions and dialogue with some similes and metaphors thrown in. Why not experiment?

>> No.2887592
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2887592

>>2887569

I think I've read No Country for Old Men about 4 times now, and the last time was when my wife decided to read it. I found it on the sofa and just picked it up to see where she was up to and about 2 hours later I'd accidentally the whole thing.

I think it's one of the most gripping books I've ever read. It may not be McCarthy's best, but it's almost impossible to stop reading.

>mfw my wife said "oh, anon, I can't get into it"

>> No.2887595

>>2887468
>Waah I can't enjoy a medium of art so the problem must be with the medium, not me
Related: "That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: "I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?" An American says: "I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?"" - Terry Pratchett

So the problem, OP, is quite simple: you are an American.

>> No.2887607

>>2887595
>So the problem, OP, is quite simple: you are an American.

LEL, I love it. I still hate Pratchetty Spaghetti.

>> No.2887630

>>2887607

he got the alzheimer

>> No.2887657

OP when youre reading you cant just say "whens the action gonna start?" in your head over and over. just let the book immerse you. (i know this sounds like new agey bullshit)

>> No.2887658
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2887658

There are so many books I want to read.

>> No.2887683

>>2887595

Oh yes, because that's a proven, irrefutable fact of life. Europeans are one way, and Americans are another. They might as well be different species for their lack of similarity.

Oh, and because Terry Pratchett is a respected author, everything he says must be true.

>> No.2887703

>>2887595
I too take humorous statements and live my life based on their irrefutable truth.

>> No.2887714
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2887714

'18 year olds nowadays don't have the attention span for reading' is bullshit reasoning. As if humanity's any different now than it was 15 years ago.

>> No.2887769

>>2887703
>>2887683
>Not realizing that I was being facetious.