So if various custom titles, quotes, and my signature haven't given it away, I started heavily reading at the start of this year. I'm pretty well versed in a wide variety of art forms, but I always saw old books as stuffy boring things. I think there are a few reasons for this. For starters, I was most exposed to books in school when I knew fuck all about art and didn't care about it. Art was synonymous with paintings, which are nice to look at, but not very substantial. Plus dealing with books was work, and I didn't like school work except when it challenged me. I'll touch more on this later. At the same time, while I like my art to be thought-provoking, I need my art to be entertaining. I had this misconception that old books where people do almost nothing but talk (which in certain modern stories is often called 'the boring parts') were much like stuffy oscar movies. The thing is, movies barely have the time to be both smart and entertaining, so few are. Almost every other medium isn't really like that, so it was a poor comparison.
I was motivated to start reading because a certain sequentially written story made me realize that I wanted something more from entertainment that I just wasn't getting out of other mediums. And I pretty much have gotten that. Books are fucking awesome! People freak out about the way Undertale affected them (and I do too), but half the books I've read are like that. Of course it's obvious that other mediums CAN tell stories with the depth and gravity of a good book, and I could list examples from each one, but old books seem to be so damn consistent about it.
But while I could wax about the differences of the medium and how the meta was very different in the 1800s etc, I really made this thread so that people could share their own experiences with different books. So I'm gonna share some of mine. I'm also gonna spoil the shit out of these old ass books, cause they were spoiled for me, and honestly 'surprise' is a fairly new and overrated element in the storytelling meta. If the list looks familiar it's because I'm reading in the order of Thug Note's book reviews. Cause Thug Notes is fucking awesome. I'd thought about making a book club once, but the reality is that I read so damn fucking slow it'd be pointless. But if anyone else wants to use this thread to do that, feel free.
Crime and Punishment
For a guy with limited reading experience, even considering the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this was a daunting start. At first it seemed like everything bad I expected out of books. We're only like 3 chapters in before this old guy starts rambling about his life for a fucking hour. And even though I've read multiple books in the 800,000+ range, 200,000 words is still a LONG book. But that's the beauty of books and longer storytelling in general. They may start slow, but if they have a purpose they can build into something great. This is why I like longer books in general. Crime and Punishment is spectacular, I read it a year ago and I still ponder it today. It's funny, because it's notion of the superman is supposed to have been influential to Nietzsche and other utilitarian's works. But it's like, one giant middle finger to utilitarianism. Raskolnikov's arguments are sound and he's an intelligent man, but none of his rationalizations change the fact that man is inherently pretty fallible. No one person is nearly great to decide what is right and wrong based purely on results because people fuck up results on a daily basis. That's why we have universal morals, rights and wrongs, even if that itself never leads to perfect systems. Stunning character piece that will absolutely stay with you.
The Great Gatsby
Not too bad. I like the main character to be honest.
And it's not like the themes and overall story are bad. I just don't think it's all told very well. Gatsby had in a sense been hyped forever for me, with people talking and debating about what all the different uses of symbolism mean like it wasn't certain. But... the book clearly tells you what everything means. It's super heavy handed.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Do I even need to say that this book is awesome? It's just a fun fucking read for the most part. Light horror elements through the eyes of children, mixed with still important messages about understanding other people. I'll admit, the second half of my favorite books list is pretty placeholder, and this is on there just because it's pretty good in general. But it's one that I'd recommend to anyone.
1984
Important. Educational. Really boring. It's just intentionally very dreary, I guess, but there's also SO much exposition. You probably all know that this is a book about fascists controlling people's lives and how that's both bad and also possible. I'll just leave that there to compare it to books later.
Pride and Prejudice
I expected this to be a very slow and boring book. But it's actually rocket fast paced. And also pretty bad. Every character attribute is informed. I don't know how a book like this can actually be so consistently be considered the best ever. I mean, I know, women, but there are better proto-feminist books! WAAAAAAAAY better. Still, even for one of the objectively worst books I've read, it still has a good message that affected me even just a little bit.
This is ongoing, so 5 entries is probably a fair start. I'll keep this thread active if no one else does, but I'd like to see the same kind of enthusiasm I see from people in the movie thread.
Anyway I guess I'm a mod now. And this is my 5000th post, give or take deleting one. I've never done a real xk post, or even made a good thread since my 1k, but I guess the timing is just right. So I'll do this and see if it improves by the time my 10k rolls around.
LightWolf My best friend on smogon. He doesn't think is a good moderator but he is. Given that Circus Maximus has no super mod, and used to, I still say that he should be one. But he'll always be a super mod to me.
Agape The voicest of reason in #flamel, if he didn't have my back things probably would get much more fucked up around there. Honestly I THOUGHT he was a mod for like a year, the way he acts.
theangryscientist We disagree on a lot of different things, but you're a good person to be disagreeing on things with. Plus you read my writing and that's really cool.
General Spoon We make fun of each other a lot, but you know I've come to like you in not a friends sort of way, but still you're very cool to have around.
imperfectluck I don't know if you'll see this and I didn't tell you that I subbed you out of PSW5 for inactivity so now you know, but you're one of the coolest guys on smogon and I miss our talks about random card games and shit.
jumpluff I know there are probably a lot more people who want your ear and attention, but I'm still really grateful that we got to talk after my grandfather died, and how you opened up smogon to me as a badged user.
McMeghan and the rest of the tourney staff. You guys were great to work with when doing smogon tours. I'm really sad that I didn't have time for the last one, but I had a good job interview this morning that would have weekends off, so here's looking to the next one.
To the tourney players who supported me, like BKC, and the people who I rooted for even though I barely knew, I can't possibly remember all your names, but thank you so much. Good job!
RODAN and Stratos Fate/Stay Night IS badly written (but then so is Crime and Punishment) and it IS porn (but then so is Game of Thrones), but it's also the best piece of literature ever, so a suck a diiiiiiiiiick. But also thanks for your support. You guys are kind of cool, but also shitheads, so as a kind of cool shithead myself we need to stick together.
Acklow and internet Lol how quickly you moved on from Bravely Default mafia Acklow. Still, I think you're a great mafia designer. And I don't know why you're included in this internet but you hang out in #flamel and that's alright with me.
UncleSam Congrats on your own mods, you deserve them. And thanks for your support, it probably made a big difference.
Walrein, Ullar, I can't possibly name all the people who matter in Circus Maximus and #flamel, many of whom left and never returned. But thanks for doing what you do anyway. Anyone reading this, we do fucking FUN things in Circus Maximus. Check us out at #flamel or #fluodome.
If I missed anyone yell at me and I'll edit you in, unless you don't deserve it.
I was motivated to start reading because a certain sequentially written story made me realize that I wanted something more from entertainment that I just wasn't getting out of other mediums. And I pretty much have gotten that. Books are fucking awesome! People freak out about the way Undertale affected them (and I do too), but half the books I've read are like that. Of course it's obvious that other mediums CAN tell stories with the depth and gravity of a good book, and I could list examples from each one, but old books seem to be so damn consistent about it.
But while I could wax about the differences of the medium and how the meta was very different in the 1800s etc, I really made this thread so that people could share their own experiences with different books. So I'm gonna share some of mine. I'm also gonna spoil the shit out of these old ass books, cause they were spoiled for me, and honestly 'surprise' is a fairly new and overrated element in the storytelling meta. If the list looks familiar it's because I'm reading in the order of Thug Note's book reviews. Cause Thug Notes is fucking awesome. I'd thought about making a book club once, but the reality is that I read so damn fucking slow it'd be pointless. But if anyone else wants to use this thread to do that, feel free.
Crime and Punishment
For a guy with limited reading experience, even considering the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this was a daunting start. At first it seemed like everything bad I expected out of books. We're only like 3 chapters in before this old guy starts rambling about his life for a fucking hour. And even though I've read multiple books in the 800,000+ range, 200,000 words is still a LONG book. But that's the beauty of books and longer storytelling in general. They may start slow, but if they have a purpose they can build into something great. This is why I like longer books in general. Crime and Punishment is spectacular, I read it a year ago and I still ponder it today. It's funny, because it's notion of the superman is supposed to have been influential to Nietzsche and other utilitarian's works. But it's like, one giant middle finger to utilitarianism. Raskolnikov's arguments are sound and he's an intelligent man, but none of his rationalizations change the fact that man is inherently pretty fallible. No one person is nearly great to decide what is right and wrong based purely on results because people fuck up results on a daily basis. That's why we have universal morals, rights and wrongs, even if that itself never leads to perfect systems. Stunning character piece that will absolutely stay with you.
The Great Gatsby
Not too bad. I like the main character to be honest.
And it's not like the themes and overall story are bad. I just don't think it's all told very well. Gatsby had in a sense been hyped forever for me, with people talking and debating about what all the different uses of symbolism mean like it wasn't certain. But... the book clearly tells you what everything means. It's super heavy handed.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Do I even need to say that this book is awesome? It's just a fun fucking read for the most part. Light horror elements through the eyes of children, mixed with still important messages about understanding other people. I'll admit, the second half of my favorite books list is pretty placeholder, and this is on there just because it's pretty good in general. But it's one that I'd recommend to anyone.
1984
Important. Educational. Really boring. It's just intentionally very dreary, I guess, but there's also SO much exposition. You probably all know that this is a book about fascists controlling people's lives and how that's both bad and also possible. I'll just leave that there to compare it to books later.
Pride and Prejudice
I expected this to be a very slow and boring book. But it's actually rocket fast paced. And also pretty bad. Every character attribute is informed. I don't know how a book like this can actually be so consistently be considered the best ever. I mean, I know, women, but there are better proto-feminist books! WAAAAAAAAY better. Still, even for one of the objectively worst books I've read, it still has a good message that affected me even just a little bit.
This is ongoing, so 5 entries is probably a fair start. I'll keep this thread active if no one else does, but I'd like to see the same kind of enthusiasm I see from people in the movie thread.
Anyway I guess I'm a mod now. And this is my 5000th post, give or take deleting one. I've never done a real xk post, or even made a good thread since my 1k, but I guess the timing is just right. So I'll do this and see if it improves by the time my 10k rolls around.
LightWolf My best friend on smogon. He doesn't think is a good moderator but he is. Given that Circus Maximus has no super mod, and used to, I still say that he should be one. But he'll always be a super mod to me.
Agape The voicest of reason in #flamel, if he didn't have my back things probably would get much more fucked up around there. Honestly I THOUGHT he was a mod for like a year, the way he acts.
theangryscientist We disagree on a lot of different things, but you're a good person to be disagreeing on things with. Plus you read my writing and that's really cool.
General Spoon We make fun of each other a lot, but you know I've come to like you in not a friends sort of way, but still you're very cool to have around.
imperfectluck I don't know if you'll see this and I didn't tell you that I subbed you out of PSW5 for inactivity so now you know, but you're one of the coolest guys on smogon and I miss our talks about random card games and shit.
jumpluff I know there are probably a lot more people who want your ear and attention, but I'm still really grateful that we got to talk after my grandfather died, and how you opened up smogon to me as a badged user.
McMeghan and the rest of the tourney staff. You guys were great to work with when doing smogon tours. I'm really sad that I didn't have time for the last one, but I had a good job interview this morning that would have weekends off, so here's looking to the next one.
To the tourney players who supported me, like BKC, and the people who I rooted for even though I barely knew, I can't possibly remember all your names, but thank you so much. Good job!
RODAN and Stratos Fate/Stay Night IS badly written (but then so is Crime and Punishment) and it IS porn (but then so is Game of Thrones), but it's also the best piece of literature ever, so a suck a diiiiiiiiiick. But also thanks for your support. You guys are kind of cool, but also shitheads, so as a kind of cool shithead myself we need to stick together.
Acklow and internet Lol how quickly you moved on from Bravely Default mafia Acklow. Still, I think you're a great mafia designer. And I don't know why you're included in this internet but you hang out in #flamel and that's alright with me.
UncleSam Congrats on your own mods, you deserve them. And thanks for your support, it probably made a big difference.
Walrein, Ullar, I can't possibly name all the people who matter in Circus Maximus and #flamel, many of whom left and never returned. But thanks for doing what you do anyway. Anyone reading this, we do fucking FUN things in Circus Maximus. Check us out at #flamel or #fluodome.
If I missed anyone yell at me and I'll edit you in, unless you don't deserve it.
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