This book, along with Nicholas Nickleby, almost killed my interest in reading...

Eh, not really applicable, since TBK and Nicholas Nickleby -- being old books in public domain -- would be cheaper than many modern books.

Taleb's point there is more about price (and how price drives the tastes of the elites), rather than just elitist taste. Taleb argues that, in many cases, the only reason why wealthy people spend loads of money on certain things is because they have high price tags -- the Michelin restaurant may be backed by a critic's rating, but the funereal mansion probably isn't.

With literature, cost isn't really a factor -- certainly not to a degree that it might guarantee quality of the text itself. Of the text, there's never a guarantee: even among readers with wide and forgiving taste, they can differ from friends, critics, etc. for a variety of reasons.

Just as well is the fact that many people -- as much as they don't like certain classic books -- also think that speculative fiction and contemporary fiction are bad, too, if not actually worse than classic books on average. So, it's clear that going with classic books might have been their best stab in the dark to finding a good book to read -- that is, they didn't get swindled like the rich people in Taleb's' article.

Some have a mind that really responds to written language, even hungers for it (as it were). Most don't. No big deal, user. But this is a board for people who like to read and write. And think, occasionally.

Share your other interests with us

The time to read the books can be considered a cost

10 bucks says he's under 23

It also took me months to read Brothers Karamazov. I was reading at such a slow pace due to school, but I still liked the book. But as soon as Dmitri committed his crime, I was hooked. I read the rest of the book within a week.

But not time lost. Which is what most every day consists of. Nothing is got for nothing, user, and reading does give you something. What that something is takes even more time and art to figure out, and articulate. True readers are interested in all time (and therefore in what's perennial) not just their own. And the breath of all that's come before, the best, can only be found FRESH AS THE DAY IT WAS MADE in literature.

Are you that idiot that posted "OMG How can I finish Nicholas Nickleby so I'm not a PLEB? threads every fucking day a few months ago?

Either stop trolling or stop reading. Or both. Perhaps you should try

This book is really dependent on the translation.

If you don't like them, read something else. Although it's sad really, Dostoyevsky and other Russians are my favourite authors. Try something shorter. I suggest the short story "The Overcoat" by Nikolai Gogol. It's awesome and funny.

learn to speed read, kid. I used to be a scrawny nerd like you, slugging through my little mandatory novels. Now I'm a fucking badass who sits in his chair (philosopher sweater: on) and reads a page with total understanding in 6 seconds.

This. This is the essence of lit
If you dont like 19th century realism stop reading it

Karamazov sprawls on forever. It's a decent yarn, but too much melodrama. Then Veeky Forums christian fedoralords wank all over it

I checked the archive and I'm pretty sure he's been posting this for at least 2 years with the same pepes