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What books do you consider must reads? (beehaw.org)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by Alice@beehaw.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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So basically I was unschooled, and the amount of books I've read in my life is embarrassingly low. It was never emforced like in a school, and with my family's religious hangups, I never tried getting into new things because I never knew what would be deemed "offensive".

But I'm always interested when I hear people talk about both storycraft and also literary criticism, so I want to take an earnest stab at getting into books.

No real criteria, I don't know what I like so I can't tell you what I'm looking for, other than it needs to be in English or have an English translation. Just wanna know what y'all think would make good or important reading.

ETA holy shit thanks for all the suggestions! Definitely gonna make a list

ETA if I reply extremely late it's because it took me this long to get a library card in my new locale.

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[–] Mr_Blott -3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Soooooo many pretentious replies in this thread, they're always the same.

Fuck that boring crap, start with good old light-hearted fiction.

Try -

The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of A Window And Disappeared

The Breach by Travis Lee

The Dublin Trilogy by Caimh McDonnell (all 5 of them, dear god they're hilarious)

The Girl With All The Gifts

Invasion by DC Alden

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Anxious People is amazing too)

Wayward Pines by Blake Crouch (Recursion too)

The Idiots' Club by Tony Moyle

And of course, The Internet Is A Playground by David Thorne

Waaaaaay more entertaining than all the classics mentioned, a very small selection of contemporary authors are vastly superior to the writers of yesteryear

Edit - downvoted by the wanks that think reading George Orwell makes them clever lmao. Once you get over 30 you realise that books are for entertaining, not to leave on your coffee table to try to seem interesting

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 6 points 2 months ago

Enjoying a classic book is not pretentious. Conversely, gatekeeping what people think is a must-read is pretty pretentious.

Reading books which make you think is also not pretentious, and I get the idea that you sure think it is. There's nothing wrong with light reading for fun, but some people enjoy more variety than that.

[–] Quintus@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Books are not meant to entertain. If you "realize" when you are over 30 that books are only for entertainment, then you are simply put, a lazy person.

Classics never outdate. They will forever remain as the must-reads for people who want to expand their knowledge and perception of the world because they come from a time where information was not as easily exchangeable as it was today. The only way to share ideas effectively and permanently was writing books.

You have no right to downlook on classics. Reading a classic book that has proven it's value long ago will forever be more beneficial to a person than an author's silly book that is written with the sole purpose of entertainment.

Reading 1984 WILL make a person clever.

Of course, you can always say some stuff like "damn who hurt you" and leave the discussion if you wish. Don't make ignorant comments if you don't know what you are speaking about.

lmao.

[–] Alice@beehaw.org 1 points 2 months ago

Thanks for the recs! I'll look into these, because I could always go for something light and entertaining, but I don't really think any medium is "for" anything.

Like with movies, most of the time I'm looking for something to laugh at to forget my problems, or at least an exciting adventure to get lost in. But sometimes I find something that just punches me in the gut and makes me think about life, and I see that as a positive experience, even if it's not strictly "fun".

I get the backlash, though. I think too many people have held literature up as the only way to be smart, and moreso, held book smarts up as the bare minimum for being treated as a human. I've heard it from all sides.

I've been on the opposite end of a pretty similar dynamic, too. I enjoy lifting weights, and people treat it like a virtue instead of a hobby. People say shit like "wow, you're better than me" or start giving me excuses for why they can't go to the gym, as if I was judging them for having different hobbies.

People are pompous dicks about fitness, but I do it because I really enjoy it. People are also pompous dicks about the classics, but I have to assume that most folks are like me. They just enjoy it.