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Defending Classic Novels
Jan. 5th, 2024 03:50 pm“book lovers” don’t love anything about books and it’s weird (or, defending classic novels)
https://zynart.tumblr.com/post/686874519007330304/book-lovers-dont-love-anything-about-books-and
This is a (very) long Tumblr post with a clickbait title taken from a clickbait tweet, but it's beautifully written and skillfully argued. I read this essay over the course of several days, and every paragraph filled me with joy and power.
Obviously I love literary fiction, and not just in my area of specialty. Still, I understand why a lot of people actively hate "the classics," not to mention the dripless onanistic litbros who take the gatekeeping of who gets to count as "a serious writer" to an almost biblical level. What I appreciate about this essay is that it relegates those sorts of culture war concerns to a corner and discusses literary novels on their own merit.
Also, while I'm not super into the concept of "a literary canon that everyone needs to read," I agree with the author that's it's good to read writing that wasn't specifically created for a teenage audience. Idk man. I just think it's good for people to be exposed to art that isn't easily digestible, and by "good" I mean "fun and interesting and inspirational from a creative standpoint."
https://zynart.tumblr.com/post/686874519007330304/book-lovers-dont-love-anything-about-books-and
This is a (very) long Tumblr post with a clickbait title taken from a clickbait tweet, but it's beautifully written and skillfully argued. I read this essay over the course of several days, and every paragraph filled me with joy and power.
Obviously I love literary fiction, and not just in my area of specialty. Still, I understand why a lot of people actively hate "the classics," not to mention the dripless onanistic litbros who take the gatekeeping of who gets to count as "a serious writer" to an almost biblical level. What I appreciate about this essay is that it relegates those sorts of culture war concerns to a corner and discusses literary novels on their own merit.
Also, while I'm not super into the concept of "a literary canon that everyone needs to read," I agree with the author that's it's good to read writing that wasn't specifically created for a teenage audience. Idk man. I just think it's good for people to be exposed to art that isn't easily digestible, and by "good" I mean "fun and interesting and inspirational from a creative standpoint."
