Books

We need your help! We are a group of university students who are researching how you can make classic books more interesting and relatable, for young people (age 15-22), by rewriting them into a more easy-to-read language using AI.

We hope you will look into the quote below, and share your thoughts on our questions.

The quote is from the book Sense and Sensibility, where the first is the original text and the other is rewritten.

1. How did you find the readability and relatability of the rewritten quote?

2. What did you think about having a rewritten text as a replacement for the original text?

***We are aware that rewriting an author's work with AI can be seen as plagiarism, and there’s a whole debate about taking creative ownership of the written work. These factors have been taken into consideration, and our work is for research purposes only.***

Original:

Marianne Dashwood was born to an extraordinary fate. She was born to discover the falsehood of her own opinions, and to counteract, by her conduct, her most favourite maxims. She was born to overcome an affection formed so late in life as at seventeen, and with no sentiment superior to strong esteem and lively friendship, voluntarily to give her hand to another! -- and that other, a man who had suffered no less than herself under the event of a former attachment, -- whom, two years before, she had considered too old to be married, -- and who still sought the constitutional safeguard of a flannel waistcoat!

Rewritten:

Marianne Dashwood was born with a pretty interesting destiny. She was destined to realize that her own opinions were false and to prove herself wrong by her actions. She was born to overcome a love that had only blossomed when she was seventeen, a love that was nothing more than strong admiration and friendship. And she willingly chose to marry someone else! And that someone happened to be a man who had also suffered from a previous failed love, someone whom she had considered too old to marry just two years ago. And to top it off, he still wore flannel waistcoats for health reasons!

It was a childhood lovers book. The female lead was named daisy and had a twin sister rose. Daisy had a childhood boy bestfriend but lost contact when they moved away due to the death of her and rose's dads death. Rose become close with new stepdad, daisy did not. They moved back to the old town and daisy starts to look for her bestfriend. Also the reason daisy wasn't able to find her bestfriend because the name she remembered was actually his middle name and he now uses his first name. Also they become a couple. And their was some tension between rose and daisy. Also the bestfriend and daisy became friends again but she didn't knew his identity. And daisy and started drifting apart when rose started dating Daisy's crush.....

Grace and Peace to you and yours.

I see books in a very positive light, I've been captured by them since an early age. My ever arching goal is to read more and read substantive non-fiction. I see real value in being informed by the current and historical contexts of world events and struggles.

But....I just can't seem to do it, I can create the quiet environment and comfortable setting 'to' read, but I get fidgety and mind wander, which is counter to what I really 'do' want to be doing.

I'm challenged but not giving up, I have cancelled a number of time stealer apps and online sites as a start. My local thrift store has an excellent selection of books at reasonable prices so the opportunity is there.

How do you best dedicate the focus to read?

It is unbearably boring if I am to be honest. I understand that this is perhaps intentional (Offred's life is very mundane and uneventful, and her entire possibility of a personality is suppressed by the state). Nevertheless, I do not think that just because a certain artistic choice is intentional, it is then immune to scrutiny. I am sure there are a dozen ways to convey the boredom of a life in this environment, without having to sacrifice entirely the investment of the reader. Generally I like the idea, and I think that I would be interested if it was written better. But the prose is bordering on being a nuclear desert wasteland with how dry it is. As in, there is nothing in sight which pleases the eye or has the sound of poetry or is captivating/emotionally engaging in the slightest. And I like those authors that have accusations about the dryness of the prose levied against them (Dostoyevsky, for example). But I truly see nothing in this book. It is completely barren. The language is terribly dull and the endless barrage of mediocre similes are quite tedious. Nothing in the way of a substantive commentary on the environment. The ideas are there, they have good potential. But it is their communication that is key. I am not reading ideas, I am reading prose. And the prose is bad. Very bad. Juvenile even. I find myself fighting to continue reading. Were I not required to study it, I absolutely would have put it down and you would not here me venting my frustration at what little value I see in the book.

As I understand it, however, it is quite popular with a great many people. So I am interested, because I like other perspectives and mine is just one of those: what do people see in the book?

I read a book in 2016 and now I can’t remember either the title or the author, help if it’s not difficult in the book there were two races, one had super abilities and personalized coins, and the second could turn into animals. The main characters lived in a village and were the children of a leader of one of them. children had the ability to find anyone or anything, you just had to ask the father of the leader of this race if there was an ability, something related to leadership qualities, and one of his children did not have the ability to manifest itself in any way, it manifested itself at the end of the book and one day this village was attacked by a second The race turned into sheep and when they were returned from the pasture, they, together with the sheep, made their way into the interior of the camp, the children managed to miraculously escape, there was also a moment that one man wanted to get married and he was given the condition to complete 3 tasks, one of them was to move a huge stone, in which case he drunk people helped with the tractor

So I bought Robin Kirkpatrick's translation by Penguin Classics. But I recently watched a farily knowledgeable and reliable person review different translations and called this translation "bad". And I did some research and saw the Hollander one being recommended the most, but I can't really find a complete edition of the 3 parts of the Divine comedy translated by Hollander. So I was wondering does the translation (or this translation in particular if you have any knowledge about it) really matter that much to someone like me who is not super picky?

Hey, I'm working on a video essay right now about Stephen Kings "The breathing method" which talks a lot about the general societal shittiness of being a single mother in the 1920s and I'm looking for essays or non fiction books about this topic or the general societal expectations of pregnancy but I don't know where to start, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I’m currently in rehab and I thought of an idea. I was thinking what if there was a website where you can read your favorite books, preferably ones that could use some really cool art work, that don’t have art work in the book. Iike a fan service that say, every super cool descriptive page or a bad ass battle and your scrolling through the pages and then BAM! A super cool drawing of what the artist is describing. I guess what you can do is google image everytime to if there’s fan art about whatever book and page your reading. But it would be nice if it was on the same site. In the hab, there’s not many cool books and I just to make detoxing fun and get into something fantasy or sci-fi western… etc. Sorry for the poor grammar or if this even makes sense because I’m detoxing pretty hard right now. BUT THAT WOULD BE RAD!!.

TLDR: I wish there was a device ( Cellphone or PC) where you can scroll through the pages and then they’re would be some sick fan art of the what the artistist description is so dumbasses like me can get a more clear visual image because when I read, it takes me again and again to visualize.

I had a day idle a few days ago and planned to finish the first book of the hunger games trilogy. I was at the half of second part so there was about 120 more pages to go. I ended up hanging out with friends and watched movie (not songbird and snake), and regretted that I didn't went for my reading goal. My friend just told me quit reading it since it's not enjoyable to you. I subjectively think i enjoyed, the characterisation to Katniss was masterpiece. Or does setting and caring about reading goal by pages says I'm sub-conciously not enjoying it?

I saw someone post in here the other day about how they didn’t enjoy a relatively new, very popular book. I’ve seen a lot of people say this about this novel, very suddenly—after weeks of positive reviews about it. Since then, I’ve been thinking about how readers should navigate reviews when picking a book in this new era of reading.

In the past, people mostly just said or wrote exactly what they felt and you made your decision based off of thoughts around the author’s skill and the themes explored in the book. Now, it’s loads of paid and/or heavily embellished reviews that mislead the reader, which leads to more people reading a book that they would’ve never read otherwise and having a negative experience. I think that makes reviews more unreliable now than they’ve ever been. (It also lessens the quality of the books receiving accolades overtime, but I digress.)

That’s not to say that there aren’t good book reviewers, but that market is very saturated and very few of them do at least a little literary analysis on these titles before highly recommending them as a “life changing” read. (Goodreads is the exact opposite, everyone is a critic and it leaves you even more confused on if a book is even worth looking at, lol.)

So, what’s your process when deciding on what book to read? How do you navigate reviews? What draws you to or turns you away from a book? Are you successful at avoiding bad reads?

must be one of my favourite books. Reading hundreds of pages of a man having almost identical days, but everyday is very subtly different. the environment is supposed to be naturally boring but it allows the character to really develop. we read about how he reacts to food that is served in the table, what he thinks about other people and their clothes. every once in a while he will go for a walk for a change. so awesome 1

Hey all,

I hope you'll are doing well. Recently, I came across a Marathi poem titled 'पिपात मेले ओल्या उंदीर' (trans. A rat died in a wet barrel) by the poet B. S. Mardhekar. I was awe - struck by the writing, primarily because of the fact that I hadn't read such a poem in Marathi ever before. It's subject matter and poetic structure were post modern, something quite unprecedented in Marathi poetry. This got me thinking: B. S. Mardhekar resembles T. S. Eliot in several aspects. There would be many such similarities between Indian and Foreign writers. Consider this to be a form of comparative literature. This exercise may help us discover (lesser known) writers from all over the world. Let me start with one: Marathi short story writer Vilas Sarang resembles Haruki Murakami in terms of prose and narrative structure. What are some of your comparisons? I'd be looking forward to your responses.

I would also be looking forward to comparisons from other parts of the world.

Hi. My dad has developed dementia, and he used to make me this incredibly delicious flourless chocolate espresso cake, with confectioner's sugar and toasted hazelnuts on top. The recipe was contained in a book that had a purple cover. I remember it being a square-shaped book, with perhaps a mokka pot on the cover. It was published in the early 1990s. I once found it on Amazon, but lost it in a hurricane. I don't remember the name of the book nor the name of the recipe; I've been searching for hours online. I need help. It's my father's birthday today, and I would like to make him this cake in his honor. I appreciate any ideas or leads. Thank you so much.

Could someone help me understand what Jane Austen meant when she said :

"There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself." - Pride & Prejudice, Volume 1, Chapter 6.

The speaker is Charlotte Lucas and she is conversing with Jane Bennet.

Beware of some spoilers but also I’m only halfway into the book so please dont bring up any pivotal plot moments (if there are any).

I loved the netflix series Maid and I decided I would read the book because of it. I thought it was alright, kind of an average and redundant writing style but I admired her story. When I found out the sequel - Class - was coming out I grabbed it as soon as I could and I have been reading it for a couple days now. I cant even explain how big of a disappointment it is. The amount of vulgarity in her language when it adds absolutely nothing to the plot almost enrages me (the soaking brought up for absolutely no reason, the random romantic flings that she refers to as fuck buddies, the amount of fucks and dicks when it isnt warranted). Dont get me wrong, I’m 22 I have absolutely nothing against that sort of language but it genuinely does nothing for the book and adds no value nor emphasis.

Another thing I cant stand is the repetition. If I have to read something along the lines of “my torn dirty nasty muddy carhartt pants” and “I’m not like the other moms cause I have tattoos” I’ll go insane. Like why does she need to add carhartt in front of every clothing she describes ? To further prove shes not like the other moms and girls? In the first book, Maid, I really enjoyed the insight she brought in with the different houses she cleaned and the invisible nature of her work. It made up for the repetitive writing. So far, halfway through Class, there is no insight or reflection or any critical thought.

Lastly, some random thoughts that are not real criticisms but just me being nosy - why does she not talk to her brother? I know her family has a really disconnected relationship but why not reach out to your only sibling if only for some conversation once in a while? And why does she only refer to her daughter as Emilia now? In the first book she made such a point to call her Mia and said her dad to only called her Emilia cause Mia was a nickname given by Stephanie. She tells doctors and teachers that its actually Mia. The only thing I can think of is her daughter now prefers emilia? I just think the book is overall lacking so much substance and its like reading the raw, unfiltered diary of an odd 16 year old rather than a 35 year old mom with a fully developed brain.

Also, I feel like she trusts the most random people to watch Emilia? I can understand the college roommates who would watch her for a few hours when stephanie was in class or working. But trusting your friends to take your 6 year old for a weekend hike without you? And also getting so mad when her abusive dad wouldn’t pick her up for the summer? Like I understand that she wants a break but the dad was always very clear that he did not want nor was he ready for a child.

Anyway, if anyone read this very long post I would love to know your thoughts.

Let me open by saying I grew up watching the first two movies based on this book. I know there have been others but I haven't seen them.

Loving the movies I finally got a copy of the book and have just begun the story. Within the Prologue and the first chapter there is already so much more to the story.

Bastian isn't a kid who does sports, he is also someone who got held back in school. He is described as a fat kid with dark brown hair who might be 10 or 12.

Already the novel is more psychological as it goes into Bastian's love of books, his whirling thoughts and imagination. How he has been bullied in school. How he's happier reading a book than anything else.

Then there is Coriander who in the films seems like a gruff old man but the first movie makes it look like he wanted Bastian to take the book as he smiled after seeing Bastian's note, this isn't true. Their entire interaction was him insulting Bastian. Calling him a coward, a weakling and a failure all around.

Coriander makes it clear that he doesn't like children at all.

The book gives Rock Biter a name, Pyornkrachzark and and the others at a shared camp the Nighthob with a bat named Vashvazool and the man with the snail is a Tiny named Guckuk. Thr exposition of the Nothing is brought bya will o the wisp named Blubb, then they all say they experienced the same thing.

We get a little deeper into these characters in the first chapter as we learn where they are from and what their people or homes are like.

I already have a feeling this story is going to be deeply emotional and psychological, I am enjoying it heavily and while the movies will always be nostalgic and I'll watch them a lot, I can see why people say the book is better.

I plan on writing my thoughts here again when I have finished the story.

So i want to ask a question here to all the people here who have read a Visual novel. We all know reading books gives a lot of great benefits to the people who read it like improved reading capability and better memory. But do you all think Visual novels give the same kind of benefits? I am talking about stuff like increased reading capability and improved memory that you get from reading real novels. I believe they certainly do since a Visual novel is basically just a book but with music, voices and Visuals.

Great book,love it a lot.But,in the epilogue the author makes up this story where he meets the madam of the bar in Kyobashi and then the madam of the bar calls Yozo an angle(the last line of the novel). That's where I'm confused because since it's a semi autobiography did Dazai call himself an angel or just Yozo the character an angel?And if he did,why??

Currently reading iron flame and I have been slow reading it so I can savour the book like I sometimes read 3-5 chapters a day but stop at that. I also hate that the speed readers spoil everything. Also think that reading it like it has a specific schedule like tv shows does gets me more excited to actually read it after a hard day's of work.

This book is my new favorite. Okay, so I am a bit of a WW2 buff. I read books about it often, whether it be historical fiction or nonfiction. But this book hit me, it was an emotional roller coaster. I want to talk about it, explain EVERY detail but I need people to read this book so I can talk to them and I can't spoil it. But the use of language in it and the German sprinkled in (Which I'd like to say is grammatically correct and everything) adds to the experience of reading it. I got it for five dollars at the good old Barnes and Noble for super cheap and I've read it like six times.

For a quick overview of it:

We have two main characters in the book and the perspective switches from one to the other. Inge is a young German girl living with a Nazi father who strongly supports "the führer" and is not the perfect Deutsch girl. Her hair and eyes are dark and she is short. Her friend, Annemarie, is the opposite. Tall with blonde hair and blue eyes Inge's mom envies that and therefore shuns Annemarie and doesn't let Inge see her.

The second perspective is of a girl named Eva, who is going to America right after World War Two with Bridget her friend. But she has a vendetta and a goal which she sets off to as soon as she enters the sort of group home she is placed in for refuge.

The two perspectives meet in the middle and will leave you STUNNED, to say the least. Man, I cried reading this book because it brings the war to a reality. Goodness, it's amazing. I re-read it again today, yes in one day. Granted I skipped through the book to get to the chapters I love.

Sorry for the word wall but I NEED to find others who have read this book and adored it as much as I do, and if you don't like it give me your insight. Id like to see other viewpoints on this book!

(P.S. I'm marking for spoiler because I say more than the book back. Not sure If I spoiled anything)

I was pretty turned off from reading when I was in high school. I hated having to read at a certain pace as I've always been a slow reader. More than that though, I hated being quizzed on what I read. Sometimes even when I read the book I could forget some detail being asked. Lastly, more than anything, I hated being taught what I was supposed to take away from a book.

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Anyway, in the past couple years I started reading simply for myself and it's been a really amazing experience. I started with Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky and it was a little difficult for me but I got to a certain point and could not put this book down at all.

There was one detail in C&P that bothered me however, and it was >!That a large message was "The truth will set you free" and basically the murderer learned to confess his crimes and go to prison to make things right with God. !< I didn't really like this connection, and I'm also not religious. Regardless, I found this to be a fantastic read and loved the style and messages, even if I didn't agree with them, I still found them well thought-out and could contemplate them.

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Next I read Les Misérables, and found the message to be almost entirely in contradiction with the message in Crime & Punishment (at least from my personal take) and I loved it so much. The book took me on an incredible journey and really did change the way I look at life. That being said, I found the book a bit challenging to read, and while the author is clearly talented, it was a little difficult form me to keep up with so many references, both historical and literary.

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Then I went hard on the Dostoevsky train because I love his style so much. I read Brothers karamazov, The Idiot, and just finished Demons.... Next I want to read Notes from the Underground.

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What I worry about, is I might lose that sense of relief and empowerment when I found Victor Hugo basically writing >!"The prison system is flawed, and in many ways can make you a worse person, straying farther from God" !< while I felt myself in disagreement with Dostoevsky.

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One extra thing, I am an atheist, and this hasn't turned me off by any means to Dostoevsky, if anything I fully enjoy seeing all of the thoughts he's had on the matter. I actually did try to find an atheistic writer I liked and gave The Stranger by Albert Camus a shot, did not really enjoy it. Also tried Twilight of The Idols... didn't love it either, but willing to admit I wasn't in the right headspace to take on something like that and I will likely try it again down the road.

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What do you think? Have you ever dove very deep into one author? Or do you make yourself switch things up just to see different viewpoints?

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I liked the book and perceived it more as a long essay. I found political context is very different for me, except maybe for unions getting less relevant. But I was still able to recognise most of the social and personal realities she was discussing.

I am curious how people from other cultures experienced it the book. Was it relatable for you?

For context: I am Armenian, living in Amsterdam for the last year. Most of my worklife (11ish years) has been in small tech environments as a recruiter.

I just finished Space by James Michener. Not his best offering but I stayed with it to the end. Interesting cast of characters with compelling lifetime adventures but most of them seemed actually pretty flat. My favorite character, however, was Leopold Strabismus. He was a very intelligent, highly educated scammer. His exploits run throughout the book beginning with his newsletter, available by monthly subscription, that detailed the progress of benevolent aliens that were about to land on earth and straighten things out. He made a fair income deluding people. He was knowingly lying to people but never broke any laws. His next move was a fake diploma factory that eventually became a fake university. PHD’s or masters degrees could be had for a few hundred dollars. Ultimately he became a preacher, realizing that that was where the real money was. Money was a goal but he was really addicted to fame and power. He never broke any laws. Published in 1982, it could have been written today. I think that what I liked most about this story was Micheners understanding of the phenomenon that leads people down these crazy rabbit holes. Strabismus, an educated scientist, begins a national campaign against teaching evolution. He insisted that earth was created 6000 years ago. When publicly confronted by scientists he doesn’t waiver. Privately he is more forthcoming. He claims to be providing a service to those who are yearning for simpler times and solid truths that can only be found in the Bible. Another character that I found interesting was Elinor Grant, a senators wife, who contributed huge amounts of money to Strabismus throughout her lifetime. Micheners description of her and the satisfaction she derived from this charlatan helps explain some of the action of some of my family and how easy it can be to give yourself over to an obvious fraud. As Michener points out, none of this is new. The rejection of factual information in favor of fantasy and wishful thinking has been with us forever and will likely remain so. Not the best book that I ever read but was surprisingly relevant.