Can someone explain to me the apeal of reading fiction? I love reading philosophy and history because of the new insight it gives me into the world, but i have never been moved by prose, neither in fiction nor in non-fiction.
As i understand it people who like literature mainly enjoy it because of the prose. Is apreciation for this something that can be learned and developed? If so, how do i start. I already have read Dubliners and found it boring, and kept wondering why the hell i was reading this.
I'm not really interested in plot or character btw, if i wanted to experience that i'd watch a movie or whatever
Oliver Price
If you have to ask you will never know.
Sebastian Carter
Just read. Given your previous interests, you might like fiction books based on the various interpretations one could have of them, and how they might apply to the larger world.
But really, just read. If you like something, like it, and its quite hard to force yourself to enjoy something you clearly don't. Just keep searching for something, and you'll likely encounter at least a few thing you enjoy. When you find something you like, you can take what you enjoyed about those books and look for other similar ones. Expanding interests is a process of time for the most part.
Isaac Taylor
>philosophy >new insight it gives me into the world Love philosophy, but this made me kek pretty hard.
Ryan Stewart
why?
Nicholas Flores
It makes sense for a person who wishes to write fiction to read fiction.
Fiction allows controversial or heavy ideas to be expressed in narrative from, and perhaps add a spin of entertainment. Orwell, Rand, Dostoevsky, and so on did this.
Fiction must draw ideas from the author's current time, culture, experiences, and ideas. If you read old fiction, you can imagine what the times were like organically; as in a painting vs a photograph. (fiction vs non-fiction)
Read fiction you enjoy, and can learn something from. If you find fiction boring and/or pointless, drop that particular book.
Evan Miller
Because philosophy doesn't provide any valuable insight whatsoever. At best it helps you structure your worldview, at worst it's pointless mental calisthenics.
Anthony Sanchez
Of course non-fiction won't move you, it's not supposed to, it's supposed to be informative.
>people who like literature mainly enjoy it because of the prose. Veeky Forums's idea of prose and enjoyment of literature is very reductionist. Go out, talk with a serious reader, and they will never mention "prose". >Is apreciation for this something that can be learned and developed? Yes >If so, how do i start. By reading and thinking. If a highly-regarded book like Dubliners bores you, you're most likely not reading it properly. Read differently, read on different levels etc... Basically, read carefully and think about what you've read. This sounds like very generic advice but that makes it universal. You can go into great detail, see countless specifics of each work, writer or style etc... And nobody can explain how to enjoy every one of them specifically. You'll have to realize how to do that by yourself.
>and kept wondering why the hell i was reading this. Only you know why.
>I'm not really interested in plot or character btw, Are you interested in serious appreciation of fiction? If yes, you are interested in these important elements of fiction as well. >if i wanted to experience that i'd watch a movie or whatever So, you believe that movies are more suitable for "plot" and "characters" than literature? How did you come to this conclusion?
Evan Scott
ok then, can you please give me some examples of insights you have acquired from reading fiction? And how is this any different from just structuring your worldview?
Blake Harris
No that user, but he never made any claims regarding fiction. He only claimed philosophy provided no insight.
Brody Gutierrez
I never said anything about insights from fiction. Personally, I read it for sheer enjoyment.
Juan Young
>Read differently, read on different levels etc... Basically, read carefully and think about what you've read.
I've read the stories and tried to find some deeper underlying themes in them, but they just seemed like stories of ordinary people with mundane problems. None of them where particularly insightfull.
>So, you believe that movies are more suitable for "plot" and "characters" than literature? How did you come to this conclusion?
mainly because reading takes greater effort than watching a movie, so if i wanted to experience those things, a movie would be more effective and easier, as Veeky Forums has told me plot is unimportant in literature. But thanks for telling me this isn't the case. Maybe i've taken the opinions posted on here too serious. Though i must admit the plots in the stories of Dubliners weren't really that engaging.
Josiah Nguyen
if "effective" and "easy" are how you judge the value of a literary work, stay away from fiction.
Jack Cooper
effective and easy (as in conveyed in a clear way, not as in being simplistic) is how i would value plot, not the value of a literary work in general
Henry Lee
>why do people like art????? get out bildungsphilister
Aaron Jackson
still just stay away from fiction, you're not going to enjoy it.
Tyler Ward
Do you have autism? Are you not able to emphasize with human struggles at all?
And no, movies are not as deep as fiction.
Nathan Morris
I am perfectly able to apreciate art (mainly classical music, i study piano at a conservatory, but also love painting and it's history and tecniques) but somehow language doesn't evoke emotions in me. For me it's primeraly a way to convey information and nothing more.
Lincoln Smith
don't know, but i'm not really the most social person around. I'm perfectly able to emphasize with human struggles, but only if they are real and not made up.
Jordan Reyes
name some movies that you enjoy
Easton Bell
One post mentions that language doesn't evoke emotions for them. In response to that, I would say: approaching with a passive mindset like that will require finding the right books-- ones that will resonate with you. If you wish to broaden your horizens, however, you may wish to improve your ability to empathize with those who are unlike yourself. Another post mentions the fictional nature of events to be another barrier. In response to that, I would recommend placing greater focus on the author: what his storytelling may suggest about him, and what he may be trying to convey to you. The events of a narrative are never fictional only-- they have more important qualities.
Parker Fisher
read something you like, have you read borges?
Christian Anderson
Whiplash, Doubt, Synecdoche New York, the Master, Drive, Amadeus, Wes Anderson movies
there are lots more, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment
Jack Gomez
haven't tried reading Borges. Would you say he would be a good read for someone unexperienced in fiction? Where do i start with him?
Logan Gutierrez
>there are lots more Oh, i'm sure the list goes on indeed
Christian Howard
thanks for the advice. I'm still searching for books that resonate with me. Currently looking into russian lit.
Eli Roberts
nice meme can't think of any at the moment. those were the ones i watched most recently and that was months ago.
Carson Jones
>nice meme Thanks. Also watch more films
Joseph Myers
i would say it is a good read for someone experienced in philosophy
Blake Barnes
What's the appeal of doing anything? Ultimately everything we do beyond our most eating, sleeping and fucking could be cut out of our lives.
Josiah Jenkins
im the one who asked what movies you liked not this retard. i definitely get your taste as fiction in my experience is something you build into to enjoy. you have to start with movies before you realize movies are inferior, naturally. for entry level stuff since you like the master and synechdoche NY you might enjoy kerouac, the french existentialists, cortazar, calvino or probably herman hesse. you should probably dive into mysticism too since this shows you how fiction and non-fiction are styles of thinking and portrayal rather than saying 'tangible' and 'non tangible'.
Jason Murphy
will look into them, thanks
Charles Roberts
Consider that fiction is about ideas. It's not about plot and character even if those are elements of it, it's about ideas. The plot and characters are there to keep you interested, but they also are there to further the ideas of the author. Next time you're bored while reading, take some time to consider the purpose of the characters, plot, and prose in relation to the ideas the work is trying to present.
Hopefully at some point you find a book whose ideas couldn't have been presented in a more compelling way in any other form, non-fiction or otherwise.
Ryder Bailey
Fpbp autist op btfo
Benjamin Lee
>I'm perfectly able to emphasize with human struggles, but only if they are real and not made up. Like you got to be told that they are real so you can allow yourself to emphasize or you don't find fictional stories realistic enough for emphasizing with them?
Xavier Hall
read shadow of the torturer and maybe you'll understand duder
Adam Brown
here's some advice: don't ever post on this board again pls unless you 1. stop writing like a retard 2. learn2read also what conservatory do you attend?
Nathan Reyes
In Cold Blood.
Tyler Cook
A lot of it comes down to the feelings it evokes, but it sounds like you're cut off from those feelings...while you read, have you noticed any physical tension in your body?
Camden Turner
>Whiplash, Doubt, Synecdoche New York, the Master, Drive, Amadeus, Wes Anderson movies this list is almost as if someone who came from /tv/ and tried to appear as pseudo-patrician as possible.
this thread is retarded. if you don't like fiction, don't read it. holy shit, i just solved your problem. you're welcome
Parker Bell
No. If you think there is some fundamental difference between "history," "philosophy," and "fiction," you're probably hopeless. Your smug legitimizing of the story in front of you because you've been assured its either factual (which is horseshit, as any reading on how history books are framed and written would tell you) or "real" philosophy (as if good fiction doesn't explore philosophy) is just a way of coping with your anxiety about knowledge and lack of feeling for prose. You have decided that non-fiction is real information, and fiction (and I assume poetry) isn't. And since language doesn't evoke emotion for you, it's hopeless.
Aiden Cooper
>As i understand it people who like literature mainly enjoy it because of the prose. >as Veeky Forums has told me plot is unimportant in literature. These are memes you dipshit. It's a joke. Prose and plot are just two nonpolar characteristics of literature among others. The premise is solid: that there are shallow readers who only read "for a good story" and have no sense of aesthetics, and from there the joke twists that into a false axiom that an imagined pseud would believe. It's wry, ironic, built on a half truth, and easy to spout ad nauseam. A meme.
Jeremiah Brown
nothing wrong with this list at all
Aaron Green
It's better than /tv/
Jordan Ross
What ever happened to reading being fun?
Zachary Johnson
They're both a means to an end, but movies have a hard time getting into the heads of characters.
Joshua Morgan
Hello, is there anyone in this thread with a clue, or are you all mediocre nobodies attending no name universities destined to achieve nothing in your lives?
Probably this guy, but he's as angry as me.
Alexander Anderson
Philosophy offers different ways of seeing the world. That's pretty valuable.
Gavin Collins
I considered myself a serious reader when I read Dubliners and it was and remains totally mysterious to me. I just read it for The Dead.
Any Faulkner novel is, ironically, a great argument that plot is important.
David Wood
trying too hard
Ryan Perry
History and Philosophy are just a shadow of fiction, fiction is the only way to put the authentic experience of life into an identity, to form meaning out of chaos
Grayson Sanchez
>If you think there is some fundamental difference between "history," "philosophy," and "fiction," you're probably hopeless. Your smug legitimizing of the story in front of you because you've been assured its either factual (which is horseshit, as any reading on how history books are framed and written would tell you) or "real" philosophy (as if good fiction doesn't explore philosophy) This guy hitted in the nail
Juan Collins
Could be lot's of reasons. Maybe escapism; appreciation of a well-crafted narrative, characters, worlds, atmosphere or alternatively; the experience of those as opposed to liking how they're structured and made. There are plenty of reasons, do you like watching TV shows and movies? The reasons cross over. I read fiction as a child, for me it's mostly escapism but there is also an element of nostalgia to that as well, recapturing the adventure and imagination of my young mind. Some people also like them as a medium to express an agenda, to apply to the real world. Many authors of fiction actually championed this idea and believed it to be the goal of fiction. It has the potential to make a dry subject more accessible and interesting, but also more accessible in the sense of avoiding a stark opinion or fact. Rather something more subtle that a person might not accept or read in another form, instead of skepticism of something not adhering to their pre-conceived opinions or ideas. They go into a piece of fiction that is significantly less overt and challenging to their views.