fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2238 ]

[ SECRET POST #2238 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2238 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 097 secrets from Secret Submission Post #320.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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Word. I don't even get why the "Classics" are so great. I've never read War and Peace, for example, and I'm still very widely read even so and can discuss things intelligently with other people.

The idea of someone being all Judgey McJudgeypants over what books I read would annoy me.

Judgey McJudgeypants is now officially one of my favourite names along with Rapestab McGenocide and Anonymous O'Gofuckyourself.

My brother just came into my room to tell me that I sound like a drowning cat when I'm laughing and trying not to. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! -flounces off-

My favorite mystery book title ever is Lethal Murder.

Egads! Use a SPOILER ALERT, for Christ's sake. >:|

Fail. It should be The MYSTERY of the Lethal Murder.

+1 to the word. I cannot name off the top of my head one piece of classic fiction that has both of the things I want in my for-fun reading: women being awesome-and-in-charge and supernatural/paranormal/other can't-happen-in-reality-and-that's-why-I-read worldbuilding. If it's just like real life, why in heaven's name would I want to invest any time and effort in reading about it!?

sa

Above not meant to imply that there aren't women who are awesome-and-in-charge in RL!

The Woman in White! By Wilkie Collins!

It has Marian Halcombe (one of my favorite characters of all time) and it has a lot of weird stuff going on and a great atmosphere and weird coincidences (although nothing that's really supernatural, ultimately).

I mean, it's not perfect - it was written around 1860, and it's very much of its moment in a lot of ways, and there's some stuff that is unfortunate or uncomfortable, and in a lot of ways the denouement does not live up to the possibilities created by the opening. But still, it's something you might want to try.

I cannot name off the top of my head a person who only likes one very narrowly specified type of book who can claim to be very well read.

But anon didn't say they were very well read?

Not that it would matter. Just because they prefer a narrow genre of books to read for fun does not mean they're not well read.

i.e fictionwise I basically read post apocalyptic standalones/short series that are not too far in the future with a female main character
Nonfictionwise I read whatever strikes my interest. Biology, Ecology, Astrology, Geography, Linguistics, Anatomy, First aid...and I still wouldn't claim myself to be well read just because I've read and bought quite a few books in each area...and still do.

The identification of "well read" is stupid anyway. Let people read what they want without making judgement calls on what they enjoy! You'd think there was a ban on enjoying oneself.

I've read all kinds of books. The only kind I cannot really get into are horror-type. Something a little unsettling about gruesome body parts etc.

But I've read Lord of the Flies, 1984, Of Mice and Men, even some Shakespeare, and I also like science fiction and the list goes on.

Re: SA

(Anonymous) - 2013-02-18 01:28 (UTC) - Expand

I can't name off the top of my head a person who claims to be well-read who isn't ALSO a douchebag

(no subject)

chardmonster - 2013-02-18 21:32 (UTC) - Expand

Carmilla?

Carmilla's pretty much my favourite book ever, but...

Carmilla's the villain, and Laura is pretty much a weak victim.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2013-02-18 10:49 (UTC) - Expand

(reply from suspended user)

The average well-read person has not read War and Peace, so you're not a special snowflake for not having read it.

Nor would that anon be a special snowflake if s/he had read War and Peace.

I have...issues...with the way classic literature is taught in school (er, American public schools to be exact). But that's not really about the books themselves and more related to my strong views about the anti-intellectual education industrial, so I'll save that rant for another day and just simplify it down to the TL;DR version: "the modern teaching of classic literature is butchering interested in reading, reading comprehension, and critical analysis in modern day students".

And to be honest, only about half the people who read classics are genuinely interested in them and/or are actually able to discuss things intellectually. The other half are mostly just spouting buzzwords they remember from high school to try and sound smarter than they are (which is kind of sad, seeing as most of these people were very well rounded in other areas and could have very intellectual dialogue about other topics if they wanted that kind of conversation, but in their heads "classic literature = smart" and they won't budge from that, making their conversation idiotic and more often than not, that mindset makes the person in questions very judgmental, often more than people who have genuine interest in classics).

but in their heads "classic literature = smart"

I imagine it would be kind of a passive peer pressure thing, as this entire thread alone shows that people consider you unintelligent and poorly read for not reading classics.

Even people I know who haven't read any since high school consider people who read classics somehow smarter and better than those who don't, as if reading the odd old book here and there somehow contributes to their knowledge more than a modern day book.

I'm all for history, but the fascination of "older things likes books and knowledge are smarter and better and more of a challenge than modern day things" creeps me out.

It's basically Nostalgia Filter + leftovers of the Renaissance obsession with Old Things. Unfortunately, most of modern society has some element of conditioning to think of "old = good". (Just look at any sort of herbal medicine advertisement, how many of them use ancient roots as some kind of selling point? For that matter, how many foodie and health-nut things are sold with the word or concept of "ancient" in the advertisement?)

To be honest, I tend to assume that anyone who thinks "classic literature = well read, modern literature = idiot" is an idiot, themselves. It's one thing to love classics and/or appreciate their impact on arts and society, it's another thing to assume they make or break how intelligent you are.

"the modern teaching of classic literature is butchering interested in reading, reading comprehension, and critical analysis in modern day students".

Fucking THIS. I recently overheard my niece say that she got a new book but refused to read it until summer break because otherwise it wouldn't count towards her total 'summer pages' assignment. So reading it now would have been a 'waste of time'. Kids are being taught that reading is work, something one does because one must, and that's *it*.

Welcome to reading. Read x chapters of this book in a certain amount of time and then do a report. If you're not lucky enough to have a family that models reading for pleasure - or, gasp, reads *to you* - so that you love it *before* you start school, the deck is stacked against you.

I remember in school, how some people used to think me and my friends were crazy for enjoying reading. If there were other things that we enjoyed that most students didn't, it was just different tastes, but if it was reading, then Something Was Up, because obviously no one reads just for fun. >.<

I will happily lambast the way modern English classes are a.) intended to impart critical analysis skills and b.) doing exactly the opposite of that, but perhaps even worse is the way they slowly kill any interest in reading whatsoever. Sometimes I'm almost convinced that the Powers That Be are doing this on purpose to make kids - and future citizens of society - easier to control by narrowing their perspective intake. @_@

Forget classics. Most English teachers (in NSW, anyway) take deconstruction to such an extent that all meaning is lost. Every word has to mean something! The poor author can't so much as misplace a comma without a teacher's pouncing on it. The point of reading a book is not to pick it apart to within an inch of its life! Some deconstruction is all right, but use it where it'll help, for heaven's sake.

tl;dr I'm still bitter about high school English. Sorry for the rant. Carry on.

That's not deconstruction, that's just analysis.

And, yes, it is true that some people, and especially teachers, can go overboard on analysis. At the same time, though, I think there's a tendency for some people to overreact to that. And analysis is in and of itself both good and valid and something that enriches the reading experience. I mean, making points about works by close reading and thought and critical analysis is cool and totally legitimate, as long as you're not getting into scholastic hairsplitting or whatever.

Re: The obsession over classic literature is kind of ridiculous, honestly

with-rainfall.livejournal.com - 2013-02-19 10:19 (UTC) - Expand

Re: The obsession over classic literature is kind of ridiculous, honestly

nyxelestia - 2013-02-18 22:23 (UTC) - Expand

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