Why do we bother reading works of fiction although they are classics...

Why do we bother reading works of fiction although they are classics? I really don't have time to read blatant and predictable stories like The Stranger or Homer's Odyssey. What good will reading Moby Dick do for me? All of these stories will have an ending and a little 'moral of the story' driven plot. I gain nothing from reading anything that aren't published essays by respected authors. I don't waste time reading silly fiction stories set in distant utopias à la Infinite Jest, and i sure hope you don't Veeky Forums.

You're right. It's better to read non fiction, even if it's restricted to one field of study. At least you'll be good at something. I've been reading fiction for years and have no knowledge or skills to show for it besides thinking I'm better than everyone else because I own a lot of books. There's nothing worse than being born with an artistic temperament but without artistic talent. I refuse to delude myself that I possess any such talent. I am resigned to the hell of mediocrity.

Truly the people who amass fictional stories, collect them, invest time in them, and believe they are actually learning/gaining anything are nothing but tortured souls. Imagine ACTUALLY reading Ulysses. I can't fucking fathom that. Prayers for you on this december evening user and prayers to anyone who sat through countless retarded fictional gibberish just for cope-points.

Also might i add that reading stories over real works is the equivalent of getting life advice from reality tv shows and strictly watching cartoons. Act your age Veeky Forums.

Gay thread. I wouldn't be proud of writing all these posts if I were you, OP.

The purblind 'outlook' of an unfree mind. Don't vaunt your ADD, dude.

Fiction reading only becomes interesting or what could be called "useful" although God only knows what the hell that means when you study it; study the author; the context in which it was written; how the text performs the intentions and thoughts of the author; how the text can be read through different points of view; how we know what the author "meant."

I studied English literature, and this is what you do when you study English literature. It's a lot of work and time for very little pay off, or power to affect the world. I'd only recommend it if you genuinely love literature for what it is. Nobody really reads anymore, and those who do are influenced by easier forms of media before they get down to reading anything substantial, if they ever decide to read anything substantial, or something that challenges what those forms of media implanted in the first place. It's a dying practice in a world that's becoming more and more visually dependent.

The only good things about studying literature (and I stress studying and not just reading) is you become a better reader and writer. You learn to pick up on things others would miss and you learn to write well, which amounts to constructing and organizing your sentences correctly and not just cumming all over the page with shit you picked up from your favorite author.

I can't think of a single good reason to study literature besides to be knowledgeable about literature in a world that is increasingly ignorant of literature, to become intellectually isolated as well as physically and emotionally isolated.

I actually just like reading for fun what the fuck

I read fiction as a way to appreciate life through art as a way to have a strong surrogate for a lack of meaningful relationships or activities.

>endless autistic details of statistics, wars, dates and people are always superior to rich allegories for the lives and sentiments of the people, culture, and society at that place and time

I'm not saying one is better than the other. I'm saying that there's no rational belief that non fiction trumps fiction ten times out of ten.

>hurr why would appreciate art instead of studying something tedious

This is the biggest meme of all time. Reading fiction is a leisure activity, people do it for fun. People that believe reading is some kind of high intellectual pursuit should climb down off their high horses and stop deluding themselves.
Reading doesn't make you smart. Smart people learn from every source they can and use whatever tool comes handy.

Holy shit, what an embarrassment of a person just take a painting class you faggot.

>Reading doesn't make you smart.

True in some way, but filling your time by reading a book is way more productive than spending time on social media, for instance, or some other activity people do these days.
Also, reading is a good way to develop your view of the world and learn from other's experiences. It's like having a dialogue with the smartest people to ever live, by reading them.

Sums up Veeky Forums. I mean reading for fun is one thing, but then half of you will make fun of others for reading fun things and not these ultra boring books like Ulysses or Infinite Meme.

>...but then half of you will make fun of others for reading fun things and not these ultra boring books like Ulysses or Infinite Meme.

B-but... I like infinite jest.

You

How bored are you?
A. Kind of bored
B. Bored out of my skull
c. Kill me now, I've been reading nonfiction.

There's a lot of exciting non fiction, even in some fields that would be considered boring by normie standards i.e. economics

Yes, but Heyerdahl only wrote so many.
Your point is valid, but in my mind any creation of man is fiction in the sense that it is filtered through an individual's perception.
It's just as valid to say fiction is truth told through the medium of a lie. Better question: why do you need to identify with one being superior to the other?

Well you don't like literature, so...don't read it?

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Watch out everyone, we have an intellectual here