"Prententious" literature- do you read it?

[cannot_aim]

I read a ton of sci fi/fantasy myself and while I don't read a lot of so called pretentious literature I think you should.

Read whatever interests you and when you can keep up an intelligent conversation and the people who told you it was stupid can't you rub it in their faces.

 

[Eumersian]

If you mean "Animal Farm" and the kinds of books that we would read in English classes anyway, but I read beforehand, then yes, I do.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

[sub]
Unless it's twilight. Then you can die in a fire.
[/sub]

I liked Twilight. You heard me.

Il hand you this subscription for one soul and one bit of good taste. Twilight may be a lot of things because of opinion but it is not pretentious. It is a childrens book. It is hardly pretentious in any sense of the word.

 

[hurfdurp]

I like to read classics, is that your idea of pretentious? I read a few books on philosophy, but that was specifically for the course, don't think I would seek those out too much on my own.

Nothing like being discouraged from learning, by your own parents no less.

 

[Manicotti]

First off, how in the Nine Hells is HP Lovecraft "pretentious" by any stretch of the imagination? I love his work and the way it's sculpted modern fiction and culture, but loftiness is not the first quality that comes to mind when describing it. What does your dad read, anyway, Sports Illustrated? He's an ignorant buffoon that feels obligated to antagonize any book he probably can't understand to begin with, so hell with his opinions on your education.

To answer your question, the majority of books I have are "pretentious" in that regard - the only books I feel worth actually shelling out money for are the ones that have had meaningful (to me) effect upon the world as an intellectual engine. So my main books are The Art of War, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange, and The Giver. I have a couple contemporary fantasy and graphic novels as well, but not nearly as many.

 

[MasTerHacK]

Who's your dad, George W. Bush? Or one of the dudes from Idiocracy?

Keep reading---we need more proof that stupid parents do not ALWAYS have stupid children.

HELL YEAH!!!! Nor that smart parents have smart children...

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

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

OT: I try really, really hard to read the books I pick up from Borders every now and then, but I just can't focus. It's terribly under-stimulating. I can't even get 13 pages into Ciaphas Cain without getting bored. I don't understand it at all.

 

[PurpleSky]

Your father is a wise man.

First off, how in the Nine Hells is HP Lovecraft "pretentious" by any stretch of the imagination? I love his work and the way it's sculpted modern fiction and culture, but loftiness is not the first quality that comes to mind when describing it. What does your dad read, anyway, Sports Illustrated? He's an ignorant buffoon that feels obligated to antagonize any book he probably can't understand to begin with, so hell with his opinions on your education.

You sound stuck up.

 

[CrazyMedic]

considering I have the complete works of Shakespeare, most of the Sherlock Holmes novelettes, the complete works of Charles Dickens and a few more brainy books so yes, yes I do.

 

[Something Amyss]

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.

I love Lovecraft, so by that marker, I'm pretentious. However, I take issue with it being for "well educated people." I mean, Jeezzz...Like writing for literate people is a bad thing.

 

[Hoplon]

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.

Epic. Truly you win the internets.

OT: Nah, is a very random put down, we have a case of the Vicinis here, the only reply to that is "I do not think that means what you think it means"

while there are plenty of pretentious authors out there, the Classics or Pulp like Lovecraft aren't it. Read anything and everything, accept them for what they are, and it will add a lot of enjoyment to life.

 

[GonzoGamer]

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.

Wait. Your father was discouraging you to read a philosophy book?
This is why respect needs to be earned from everyone, even your parents.

Can I ask: what does your father read? Archie comics and/or only books "written" by fox news pundits.
Also: can he actually define pretentious? I don't think he knows what it means.

I'm just assuming he's a right winger because in the past 15 years (actually, since Bush Sr lost to Clinton) the right wing has taken special offense to intelligence and knowledge. Just look at the fox news programming: saturday morning cartoons are more edifying.

I'm not sure why but I think it's because they try to appeal to (especially because their policies inherently hurt) the lower and middle class people who don't go to college and don't want them to feel jealous. The right wing actually thinks too many people go to college and are pretty miffed that something that was once reserved for well-to-do white people is available for the masses. That's why it's always right wing politicians who cut financial aid.

I'm not a big fan of the left wing either as those politicians tend to be useless. But at least they're somewhat benign in their uselessness.

Of course I'm making lots of assumptions here. Is your dad a right winger or does he just act like one?

 

[Corvuus]

There are books for everyone.

Trash literature, guilty pleasure lit, just random killing time lit, romance novels, sci-fi, fantasy, detective, etc. etc.

Read what you enjoy. People should just takes things as they are. You don't read Crime and Punishment or H.P. Lovecraft as a romance novel. You read it for what it delivers.

H.P. Lovecraft is not so far erudite to be 'pretentious'. His work is actually completely the opposite to me. Specifically in regards to themes regarding horror, the unknown and the 'unexplainable' things that exist. To attempt to know 'everything' is foolish, etc. How is it pretentious in a horror book which says some things are better left unknown? Heck, just have your dad read the wiki entry.

C

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

No book is pretentious as it can't aspire to a particular class, he could have called you a pretentious so and so for reading them though.


He'd still be wrong, for three reasons
1) are you reading them just to look like a reader of good literature? or do you read them just for the enjoyment and mental reward of the text itself

2) I think we should be way beyond the point where literacy is a thing reserved for the rich or geeky.

3)The only people I know who are pretentious with books are doctors, quacks and a particular grade of middle class folk who keep shelves of books that they never read nor ever will, the poor things are just there for show.

 

[Red Right Hand]

You can read pretentious literature, that's totally ok. It's when you start acting all artsy fartsy(sorry for the crude phrase, it was all I could think of without saying pretentious) that it actually becomes a problem.

EDIT: Ninja'd by Unrulyhandbag.

Also your dad is a fool(no offense) for claiming that people can't read books for "educated people". In fact, I don't even agree that it exists, certainly something, say, maths based or very technical, but those don't even really count as literature.

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.

Anyone else think that L Ron Hubbard in that photo looks like Auric Goldfinger?

 

[Nickolai77]

I can enjoy "high brow" art but i don't go out of my way to buy it. I enjoyed some of the poems, plays and novels i read whilst studying English Literature, but i don't typically buy the kind of things i studied in English Lit. Typically i read non-fiction history books and sci fi/fantasy novels. Some of the fiction i read does have a few "high brow" points to them. In some cases this comes as a surprise. For instance i was very surprised to come across some philosophy in Black Lagoon, and appreciated the anime more for it. If i come across such things in my books, i take it as a bonus. A novel by itself can be a good read without being "smart", but it is a lot better a novel if it comes with some intelligent philosophical points to it. It's a bit like ordering a cake and finding it has extra icing and an extra cherry on top.

 

[photog212]

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.

Also, Lovecraft is awesome. That is all.

War and Peace isn't difficult to read, just to understand.

The problem with War and Peace is that a lot of the characters have very similar names (this coming from a Russian), so it's easy to confuse the characters, especially since Tolstoy likes to completely ignore some characters for several hundred pages, and then revisit them just when you've completely forgotten that they exist.

I would still say that the book is worth reading just for that way that Tolstoy describes the battle scenes. They are some of the most vivid and moving portrayals of combat that I've ever read, and it was worth it to read through all of the aristocratic bullshit in the book just to get to the battles.

That is the best review of War and Peace anyone can give.