"Prententious" literature- do you read it?

[Thaius]

Anyone who considers that sort of literature to be "pretentious" is simply too stupid to understand it, and wants to somehow give it a negative meaning so they feel better about themselves. Not to say everyone should read an enjoy it, but calling it "pretentious" is just stupid.

 

[deadxero]

So you're father thinks that because a book is old... it's pretentious? You're lucky that the apple, apparently, fell a good distance from the tree. Don't let you parents, or anyone, hold you back.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

I don't make a point to do it, but I guess I do occasionally read books that others would consider pretentious. Seems pretty silly to call literature pretentious just because it's not as simple to understand as 'Spot Goes To School' or something.

I don't consider others who read similar books to be pretentious either, although I do have respect for people can read War and Peace. Every time I see someone with that book, I feel like dropping to my knees and begging them to tell me how they can bear it.

I'll have you know that "Spot Goes to School" was a brilliant social commentary, laced with nuances of satire and symbolism. A must-read.

And when it comes to War and Peace, I'd say, unless you can read Russian, which would be great, that it all depends on the translation. Sadly you can never truly replicate the author's exact words, but some do very well at getting close to the meaning.

All in all though, it's a very good book. Not as good as "Spot Goes to School" but, hey, we can't all write works of genius.

 

[MurderousToaster]

Yesterday my father found me reading my HP Lovecraft compendium, and declared it "far too prententious" and for "well educated people" and reminded me that i am neither prententious or educated. Then, he caught me reading Nietzsche's Beyond good and evil, and just laughed. Do you read this sort of thing? Do you consider people who do 'highbrow', or educated? personally i think my father is a fool, but i'd like some opinions on this particular style of literature. Yeah, i'm in a funny mood, hence the wordiness.

Hp Lovecraft? Pretentious? Umm, scientology anyone? that's his fucking religion and it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Either way, it sounds like your dad's a bit of a jock, which makes me instantly hate him, and personally I don't read smart books, I stick to fantasy, mostly the stuff by David Eddings.

Spoiler: HP Lovecraft

Spoiler: L. Ron Hubbard

One of them invented Scientology, the other died before it was invented.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Hp Lovecraft? Pretentious? Umm, scientology anyone? that's his fucking religion and it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.

I think you're thinking of L. Ron Hubbard instead.

Did anybody ever think that H.P. Lovecraft looks like the Welsh guy in Zulu?

 

[Pills_Here]

Yesterday my father found me reading my HP Lovecraft compendium, and declared it "far too prententious" and for "well educated people" and reminded me that i am neither prententious or educated. Then, he caught me reading Nietzsche's Beyond good and evil, and just laughed. Do you read this sort of thing? Do you consider people who do 'highbrow', or educated? personally i think my father is a fool, but i'd like some opinions on this particular style of literature. Yeah, i'm in a funny mood, hence the wordiness.

Hp Lovecraft? Pretentious? Umm, scientology anyone? that's his fucking religion and it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Either way, it sounds like your dad's a bit of a jock, which makes me instantly hate him, and personally I don't read smart books, I stick to fantasy, mostly the stuff by David Eddings.

I'm pretty sure Lovecraft wasn't a scientologist, seeing as he died about 15 years before L. Ron Hubbard wrote Dianetics, let alone actually tried to make it a religion.

On topic though, read whatever you damn well feel like. I've found most people who call literature pretentious don't read much of it. That being said, I've been known to read classics for the sole purpose of claiming the higher ground amongst those not as well read and THAT certainly makes me pretentious, I make not arguments about that.

 

[Keava]

Considering i did enjoy James Joyce's Ulysses apparently i am pretentious, also i read and enjoyed Kafka, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Sallinger, Camus and many others. I should be a queen of being pretentious. Bow before me inferior mortals.

Then again, i also like 'normal' fiction, it all depends what im in mood for, but i guess my parent's were normal in that regard and even supplied me new 'pretentious' books every now and then when i was young.

 

[Anti-Robot Man]

Lovecraft is not pretentious by any stretch of the imagination, quoting Nietzsche in every day conversation would be (hence how often villains do it in film) but he's very worth reading.

I'd point out the flip side to this is people looking down on "low fiction", which is just as rediculous.

The attitude of the reader determines what's pretentious or not, not the book. Read anything and everything that takes your interest.

 

[Vredesbyrd67]

There's nothing "highbrow" about Lovecraft. If you were reading Dante's "La Vita Nuova", maybe I'd tease you a bit for being a lit nerd. Reading good literature doesn't make you pretentious. And being educated doesn't make you pretentious.

I mean, I know he's your father, dude, but saying that was one of the most unbelievably ignorant, dickish things a parent could possibly do to their child.

 

[superbatranger]

Wait, would Atlas Shrugged be considered pretentious?

 

[Shadowfaze]

Considering i did enjoy James Joyce's Ulysses apparently i am pretentious, also i read and enjoyed Kafka, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Sallinger, Camus and many others. I should be a queen of being pretentious. Bow before me inferior mortals.

Then again, i also like 'normal' fiction, it all depends what im in mood for, but i guess my parent's were normal in that regard and even supplied me new 'pretentious' books every now and then when i was young.

I read Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in a library last year- it was a fascinating read, especially when Rodion compares himself to Napolean to justify 'killing isn't always wrong."

 

[Harlemura]

I don't, but that's because I'm a bit dumb. Most of the themes and stuff would go over my head. Plus I find it boring.
I don't read that much at all, actually.

Not that I have anything against "pretentious" literature. I get the feeling people who like it would look down their noses at me for not reading it, but that's just an image I've got from television and stuff.
I've never met anyone who's proved me right. Or wrong, in fact...
I don't know anyone who reads them fancy books.

 

[jam.on.the.toasts]

Lovecraft isn't pretentious, just horribly racist but yeah you may have to watch yourself reading Nietzsche you may become pretentious if you're not careful.

 

[Scout Tactical]

What exactly is "pretentious" anyway?

It's just a pejorative term that those thuggish commoners like to label us with, so I wouldn't get too worried about it.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I always thought pretension in a story meant it presented itself as a legendary epic despite not really having anything groundbreaking in terms of presentation or subject matter. Hard to name names without drawing fire, but most of the hardcover Tom Clancy books I've read are like this. Same for Twilight advertising itself as the greatest romance of the century.

 

[Thirsk]

As a few people mentioned, Lovecraft ain't pretentious - he was published mainly in wierd fiction-magazines, which were pretty much some of the most low-brow literature available at the time, as far as I know. The fact that he wrote some rather intelligent horror fiction doesn't make him pretentious, I think.

But, to answer the actual question, then I suppose I do, yeah. I mostly read art essays - I guess that counts as pretentious literature. I really wish I could I could pull myself together at read some proper fiction, though.

 

[Ham_authority95]

If I think the book is "pretentious", than I will just put it down and not read it.

Also, the day that Lovecraft is "pretentious" is the day that Shakespeare is deemed to highbrow to teach in public schools.

 

[varulfic]

Yes, almost exclusively. I don't read a lot of books, so when I do, I tend to go for the classics. The Brothers Karamazov is probably the most pretentious I've read. Next classic on my list is Moby Dick, which I've been looking forward to for some time.

 

[Jack_Uzi]

I wouldn't call Nietzsche pretentious. Though I haven't read Beyond good and evil (I'm busy with: Human, all too human) he was constantly searching his own mind for answers, I think pretentious people tend to act like they 'know it all' without any thought to the contrary.
As for me: I would say Nabokov took the cake when I tried to read Lolita (never came trough it) he constantly tried to prove how smart and funny he was and made the story suffer for it.

 

[Artina89]

Wow. I would hate for your dad to see my book collection (I don't consider it big enough to be a library). I also wouldn't call Lovecraft pretentious at all. The book I am currently reading is "The master and the margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov. I haven't been able to read it much lately though