/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.6786117]

"Personally, I am a hedonistic reader; I have never read a book merely because it was ancient. I read books for the aesthetic emotions they offer me, and I ignore the commentaries and criticism."

Do you identify with this? Why/why not?

[Anonymous No.6786119]

I don't read books, actually.

[Anonymous No.6786126]

>>6786117
While I lean towards the aesthete camp, there's plenty of truth and self-understanding to be revealed by art. Plus, I love reading literary criticism/theory.

[Anonymous No.6786127]

>>6786117
No. I don't care for either position. I read books for their trashiness.

[Anonymous No.6786132]

nope, i read books so i can throw out obscure quotes from obscure authors so i can seem smarter than i actually am, specifically to bang women

[Anonymous No.6786145]

yesss, absolutely, and it's pretty comforting to hear someone else say this.

[Anonymous No.6786211]

>>6786126
>Plus, I love reading literary criticism/theory.

Borges did as well. Some of his finest writings were in the form of literary criticism and he counts a number of lit critics among his influences. In the context of this quote, he seems to say that he doesn't allow criticism to dictate his attitude toward a book.

[Anonymous No.6786216]

>>6786211
this tbh.

[Anonymous No.6786234]

>>6786117
Yes. Completely. And I was very happy when I first discovered this quote. As a rule one should think for oneself and have confidence in those thoughts, but I'd be lying if I said Borges didn't relieve me of the slight guilt I felt about my attitude (Borges' attitude) towards literature.

[Anonymous No.6786253]

I agree completely. When I was very young I used to read books for superficial, childish reasons, but after a few years I pretty much subscribe to this view in combination with my writing skill, taking into account what resources I could coordinate into my own writing, just to make myself better.
There's also a therapeutic aspect, but I really only notice that if I haven't read in a few days. It's sort of like having withdrawals from reading.

[Anonymous No.6786272]

>>6786126
>there's plenty of truth and self-understanding to be revealed by art

Which only come through "aesthetic emotions" imo.

In contrast, authors who try to use literature to deliver manifestos and treatises in a narrative form offer no truth, but only ideology.

[Anonymous No.6786278]

>>6786272
Yes, exactly, which is why it's annoying with plebs on here criticize Nabokov saying he has nothing to say, that he's all style. No, it's precisely because he "has nothing to say" that he's able to say anything at all. It's the writers who have something to say who most need to be questioned.

[no caps guy !!6P/WhzicJTl No.6786576]

>not reading in order to glimpse the truth
>shiggy diggles

[Anonymous No.6786702]

>>6786117
no. I read book for its transvestites.

[Anonymous No.6786711]

>>6786278
>>6786272
>plebs over-thinking the obvious
A book with a direction is superior

[Anonymous No.6786731]

>>6786117
It's an accurate description of how I read.

Still, I don't feel the need to "identify" with it because I don't need to identify with anything.

I am what I am, I do what I do.

[Anonymous No.6787177]

>>6786117

[Anonymous No.6787235]

>>6786117
More or less, I've found myself reading a book and not even knowing who the author is until I finish it.
However, some books give me that "I dun gedit" feeling and I look for reviews written by smart people, hoping that somebody has put in words what is merely a feeble grasp of an idea to me.

[Anonymous No.6787240]

Well coming to this board its generally hard to ignore the commentaries if its a book we talk about a lot.

[Anonymous No.6787244]

I mainly read for fun.

But "fun" encompasses a lot of things. It can be sheer pleasure from reading a good story. It can also be experiencing a bizarre combination of emotions I'm not used to. And it can also be to read something and formulate a line of thinking or reasoning that I've never thought of doing before.

[Anonymous No.6787245]

>>6787177
He's entirely right about the autograph part, though. Perhaps he's only talking about pleb-lit.

[Anonymous No.6787258]

>>6787244
>experiencing a bizarre combination of emotions I'm not used to

Describe one such occurrence.

[Anonymous No.6787261]

>>6786117
/lit/ is too insecure to hold values and opinions of their own.

So they just vomit the words of someone else, especially that old disgusting fat cunt Bloom.

[Anonymous No.6787264]

>>6786117
>tfw Borges advocates escapism and im okay with that

You can see a lot of that in his writing, honestly

[Anonymous No.6787270]

I read to make myself feel smarter in my own head. I've used mental gymnastics to come to the conclusion that it is the most hedonistic pleasure there is.

[Anonymous No.6787273]

if you only ever read for pure pleasure you might as well just go watch television instead.

[Anonymous No.6787276]

>>6787273
>>>/killyourself/

[Anonymous No.6787333]

>actually reading borges
>thinking its good
>argentines
>white

well meme'd

[Anonymous No.6787340]

>>6787333
>the "borges is a meme" meme

[Anonymous No.6787372]

>>6787340
>meme "the" meme

[Anonymous No.6787378]

>>6787372
>"self-referential meme relating to meme in the abstract sense" meme
We are the Milhouse makers, we are the memers of memes.

[Anonymous No.6787399]

>>6787340
>>6787372
>>6787378
post-meme ideology

[Anonymous No.6787413]

>>6787399
Are memes a memetic ideology?

[Anonymous No.6787424]

>>6787413
What you are really referring to is the empirical manifestation of the worship of the meme in itself.

and ya thats real

[Anonymous No.6787439]

To a terrible degree. I am a hedonist of books, never thought as such before but it is true. I read whenever I can and whatever catches my fancy. I can't remember the last time I read literary criticism. I'm at the point where 3 books a day is average. Please oh God someone help meeeeee

[Anonymous No.6787440]

If you liked this quote, you might like Borges' lectures on English literature (published in English as "Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature").

There is very little "critical theory" in the lectures, most of it is about the beauty or the fun, trying to get the students to love the literature at hand - "you should read this completely, it's amazing" - making many of them read out parts aloud.

[Anonymous No.6787450]

>>6787424
i think the real question here is whether the symbolic structure of post-meme referentiality signifies a primordial yearning to return to pre-meme ontology, or is merely a symptom/emergent factor from the complexity of the meta-memetic meme in and of itself

[Anonymous No.6787646]

He also never read books in their entirety.

[Anonymous No.6787658]

>>6787258
Your mom's vagine.

[Anonymous No.6787669]

>>6786119
>/lit/

[Anonymous No.6787690]

Borges is king. I feel bad for anyone that treats literature like serious business.

Literature should only be read hedonistically, but you should alter yourself to enjoy patrician shit first. feel me. cultured hedonism.