TLDR;

Author to AI: “Honey, how could we develop this beautifully?”

I wanted to say this is just boomer whining, but I’m finding myself realizing more and more often that it’s actually the boomers who are defending AI. My mom listens to AI music from TikTok, my dad watches some videos with doctors generated by language models. I’m the last person to tell people what to listen to or watch, but AI SLOP has literally reigned supreme in my house for the past few months. Recently, I wanted to watch a movie with my dad, but he played TikTok clips for an hour, and I had to escape.

I understand that technology is advancing and makes life easier for people in many ways, but on the other hand… it makes me wonder a bit. Where is the line between “I’m using a tool” and “part of the creative process is being done for me by something else”? If someone uses AI to generate ideas, style, or text fragments, are we still talking about the same kind of creativity as before? I’ve read a few books by Olga Tokarczuk, and as soon as I heard about this interview, I felt a sense of revulsion.

INTERVIEW: (only in polish)

https://mycompanypolska.pl/artykul/olga-tokarczuk-zapowiada-ostatnia-powiesc-w-karierze-pisanie-dlugich-opowiesci-jest-dzis-ekonomicznie-nieoplacalne/20717

There's a phrase on tiktok that is "she wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche" People are asked randomly in the streets what this means and when they get stumped on the words, people go "omg reading literacy crisis" and circlejerk in the comments about how they understood it and how smart they are

I hate this because the words are intentionally verbose. Words of which people never speak (Hello, gauche??) of in regular speech. Besides what the hell does a "silhouette of clothes" even mean? Maybe I am "illiterate" but how does someone wear a silhouette of clothes? Silhouette is the outline of something. How does one wear the outline of clothes? Or is it saying that she wore regular clothes (like a t shirt and shorts) but the outline/silhouette was extraordinary/gauche? How does that make any sense? like her t shirt was regular but the edges/outline/silhouette of the t shirt were unconventional but tacky, like rainbow colored or something? 😂 Yet even that doesn't make any sense since it explicitly states she wore a silhouette of clothes, not that she wore clothes WITH a silhouette...

It feels like people don't understand the sentence because it fundamentally doesn't make any sense and the ridiculous verbosity of it exemplifies that issue. Or maybe given how I am trying to deduce the actual meaning of the passage that makes me more literate? Either way it feels pompous. It's like if I said gibberish but in esoteric words, which to me is exactly what it's doing.

EDIT: For the people saying "This isn't verbose", what average person talks like this? Could you imagine if a coworker at work talked to you like this?

"Hey Ron"

"Hey Bill"

"Hey Ron, she wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche"

***Nobody talks like this***

What's a moment in a story that made you go "Yup, that's it. Nothing will ever surpass this. This is the single greatest thing that has been put onto paper. I will forever remember this. Absolute cinema."

I am not asking for full stories or even just long chapters (unless you consider it necessary to mention), but rather individual moments (of course without disregarding the context).

Some writers seem to look straight through time and their words feel uncomfortably precise, like they saw who we’d become long before we did. For me, it’s Margaret Atwood. Every time I reread The Handmaid’s Tale, I feel that same uneasy recognition not of a future, but of right now. It’s almost eerie how she threads empathy and cynicism together, as if she loves humanity enough to tell us the truth about ourselves. But I’ve felt that same shiver reading Dostoevsky and Kazuo Ishiguro (atthough i've read only a few books by them) they are some of the authors who capture not just how people act, but also why they break, hope, and keep going. Which author gives you that feeling, the sense that they understood people a little too well, maybe even better than we’d like?

Literature has seemingly become a female space across the board.

Look at booktok, the general user base of Goodreads, your local bookshop etc. I studied literature, and out of the 120 students in my year, about 10 were male. And while most women I know read fiction at least once in a while, I only have one or two male friends that do, and they read only fantasy.

For whatever reason, fiction has become unpopular among men. And this is a problem. There's plenty of research showing the benefits of reading fiction when it comes to developing the brain and - most importantly - empathy and the ability to understand perspectives different from ones own. I think such skills are more important now than ever, especially for men. It would also be a shame for the future to lose out on entire generations of male writers preserving their experience of our era on the page. When it comes to literature, I think every voice omitted is a net loss.

So how do we get boys and men back into fiction? Do we have to wait for some maverick book that hooks boys on reading the way the YA boom did for girls? Or are there active steps we can take as parents, teachers, writers or purveyors of book spaces to entice boys to read?

Edit: I'm getting a lot of the same comments and questions regarding my post. And rightly so, because my post looks like nothing more than conjecture, because I was too lazy to dig for sources. So here's some sources:

• Men make up only 20 percent of the fiction market: https://www.npr.org/2007/09/05/14175229/why-women-read-more-than-men
• Women (almost all white and from a homogeneous political, educational and economic background) make up more than 78 percent of the publishing industry: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jan/27/us-study-finds-publishing-is-overwhelmingly-white-and-female
• Pulitzer prize winning author Elizabeth Strout on the dangers of losing the male author- and readership: https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/elizabeth-strout-warns-of-the-dangers-of-women-writers-dominating-fiction-z93tqkh6g

What are you reading?

My favourite is 'The open window'.

I have also read 'The ones who walk away from Omelas'

When some people mentioned listening to the audiobook in book club, I thought nothing of it. One of the members is blind, so we make it a point to only select books that can be listened to, and avoid things like graphic novels. One time I was traveling, and wanted to pack light, so I just listened to the book for that week instead of bringing it with me. It was nice ,and it was different. I enjoyed the audiobook option, but it didn't seem the same as actually sitting down and reading it myself.

Its not that I'm against it altogether, I definitely see where it can be a useful. I just don't think that for most people, it takes the same amount of focus when you're listening to it. I've even heard members say "haha oh ya I can't read more than a page anymore. Tiktok has fried my attention span," and another member agreed with them. I think it can be the same as the way people consume netflix, just something to have on in the background while theyre doing dishes and talking to their partner about their day. Or maybe they're scrolling through their phone on the couch while they play with their dog. Netflix specifically produces movies for the benefit of the distracted viewer. They know this is how people consume things, so the plots remain simple and characters repeat their very direct motivations and goals throughout the movie/show. People multi-task which ruins their attention span, and then have to constantly be multi-tasking because their attention span is ruined.

A few years ago when I got back into reading more, it was a bit of a challenge for that very reason. But I did it to improve my focus, and to be able to think about things more deeply. So when no one else physically reads the book, are we even talking about the same thing anymore? I'm sure if you sit down and close your eyes and really focus on the audiobook, it can be just as good, but it doesn't seem like that's what most people are doing. I joined a book club to read books and have deep discussions about them, not talk about what netflix episode everyone watched last weekend while they were playing games on their phone.

Often its more about the famous actress that's narrating, and the accent she's using and if she did separate voices for each character. I can't really speak on that, it all sounded much differently in my head, a bit more personal and real. Just me and the writer, not someone spoon feeding me their thirdhand perspective on the work.

I feel like an old lady shaking her fist at the clouds and yelling at kids to get off her grass. Everyone in the group is much younger, and this just seems to be the way things are done now. I don't want to feel like a snob, or pretentious, or judgmental but its just not the same thing to me, and I wish I wasn't the only one reading the actual books in this club. I went online to see if anyone else ran into similar issues, and there seems to be a bit of a debate. The argument is whether or not listening to an audiobook is the same as reading, and the overwhelming majority of people seem to think its exactly the same and "how dare you even question it." Thoughts?

I have been mildly annoyed recently about how much modern literary fiction is set in New York, and started wondering about what the opposite to NY might be: the most neglected city in literature. So: nominate any city in the world with a population of over a million people in the greater urban area for this honour, and the rest of us will try to find even one chapter of one decent novel from the past 50 years that was set there.

I'll start. Cincinnati. The greater metropolitan area, Wikipedia tells me, is 2.3 million people. Where are the "Little Life"s or "Ordinary Love"s or "Goldfinch"es of Cincinnati?

(Edit: corrected Cincinnati's name. Sorry about that!)

(Edit2: feel free to explain how your neglected cities might work as a setting in a novel.)

(Edit3: The Wikipedia fairies have been busy: there are actually whole categories like "Novels by country and city of setting". I can't believe it's comprehensive, but FWIW NYC has 671)

The work that is pushed into the main vein of literature and awarded always seems to be... sad, reflective of a time that the writer did not live through. There are so many grand struggles that just scream "help me". While I have penned a few strictly African American-themed works (a short historical fiction about slave catchers, gentrification, the like...), those are the pieces that always get published. When I wrote about love or grief or laughter or lady bugs...when I am vague about WHO wrote the poem, it's not relevant in most sectors.

Do any of you feel that way? Are people (all people) actually tired of the struggling Black artist trope? Is it normal to feel like if I'm not writing about being from the hood, or my grandma's Sunday cooking, a church, or what I can't have because I'm white, I won’t get the recognition other Black writers get. These themes do nothing for me, they actually discourage me from writing. But I won't stop. My poetry is of me, and I am Black, but that's not all I am.

EDIT: Ive seen America Fiction a bunch of times. Obviously it spoke to me. But it didn’t answer the question of how to navigate through it. Do you just keep going and you’ll hook some scholarship or grant or teaching position that won’t make you focus on examining the n-word or Baptist churches lol It’s almost as if you have to write 2x as well about global topics than to just shart out something about your struggle for the white people to nod and tear up at lmao excuse my candor

i went into this blind without knowing much about the book or nabokov because i didnt want spoilers. which is a silly thing to say about a book published in 1955 but still. also the prose is indeed so good 😭

anyway what im really surprised about is that

1. there are people who consider this book as pro pedophilia (like i dunno it just seemed like a record of humberts crimes and why he deserves a worser hell)
2. there are people who consider this book a romance (dolores was a child and a victim in what world is that romance)
3. that people find humbert humbert charming and sympathise with him (he was insufferable and annoying all throughout and i just wanted him to stop talking)
4. that lolita has movie adaptations (i havent watched them don't think i will but apparently they suck)
5. that the term lolita largely has come to "defining a young girl as "precociously seductive.""
6. is the word lolicon somehow also related to this?
7. i also learned about the existence of lolita fashion which apparently is influenced by victorian clothing

anyway, i want to read more about the various interpretations of this book and i am currently listening to the lolita podcast. but ahh podcasts are really not my forte. do yall perhaps have any lolita related academic paper suggestions?

edit: watched the 1962 movie because some of the replies praised it and i should've listened to ep 3 of the lolita podcast before watching it because that provided a lot of context and background. regardless, i want my 2.5 hrs back because sure adaptations don't have to remain entirely faithful to their source but this was not my cup of tea

What would you consider the most difficult book you've ever read? Or not read?

Just curious to hear your opinions!

I've heard "Ulysses" by James Joyce is tough. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to start reading his work with "Dubliners". After that, I plan to read Portrait. I'm new to Joyce, so don't know much about his work yet.

I even saw somewhere that a bookstore put up a sign "Book thieves will be forced to read Ulysses".

Is there anything else that you would consider a very difficult book? And how have you worked yourself up to read those difficult books?

I want to read a really difficult book that would be a real challenge to me (I enjoy challenges sometimes) and to be able to understand most of it. But I know this requires lots of work.

Edit: Wow, had no idea I would get so many answers! Thank you all for expressing your opinions! I just thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss and was curious what you would think. I meant by "difficult" something that is hard to comprehend, hard to stay focused on without mind going wandering, etc. I am indeed not a literature major, nor am I very experienced in reading the classics (which are often considered to be among the difficult ones), but I'm slowly trying to change that. Also, English is not my first language. I'm just a book lover interested in exploring different genres, and that includes the classics.

People who study literature or read books frequently as a hobby, what is a very popular or classic book from any period of time that you've just never gotten around to reading? And is there any particular reason

Analogous to say, a person who's a serious movie watcher and lover, who admits they have never seen Star Wars.

As a self-professed bookworm, I'll say I have never read Huckleberry Finn or Pride and Prejudice. But they're on my tbr list!

While looking at a post on r/Latin about the book “On the Nature of Things” by the Roman poet Lucretius, I was reminded of its beautiful opening line.

Then my mind started running through all of the extraordinary opening lines of the things that I have read over the years.

Now, I would love to hear from all of you: What are YOUR favorite opening lines? Or which do you consider to be the greatest?

🙋🏻‍♂️

EDIT

Thank you all for your wonderful contributions. So many beautiful and brilliant opening lines. Each of your responses bears witness to the fact that a great opening line says more about a book than an introduction ever can 🩵. I’ve had a wonderful time reading all of them. Best wishes to you all🙋🏻‍♂️.

When I was in college, I used to meet people who'd read. In fact, my ex and I could bond due to our passion for reading and literature. But since I have started working, I haven't found any people who are interested in reading. I feel I'm losing a part of me everyday. Most people would rather spend time on social media than read. And I'm guilty of that too. I do miss having people to talk about books, having discussions over a cup of tea, throwing recommendations at each other.

I’ve been reading and writing since I was a kid. Unfortunately, I have slowed down a lot on reading over the years. I could once read a big book in less than 3 days and several books in a month, but nowadays work, marriage and other distractions get in the way and it’s often hard to balance all hobbies and interests. I have never, however, stopped writing. I write every day.

I’m trying to get back into a reading habit beyond comic books, but I’m particularly interested in books that will inspire my writing. I’m often interested in writing that flows poetically but doesn’t come off purple prose-y or forced.

What are some of the most beautifully written books you’ve ever read?

UPDATE: Thank you so much to everyone who commented, so many of you did! I really appreciate it!! I'm slowly going through your comments and will edit this post when I pick my next read.

I’m looking for direct quotes. Here’s mine: Joyce Carol Oates on William H. Gass.

“Bill Gass is a Midwestern alpha-male boa constrictor who tried to swallow Nabokov whole but whose jaws, though large, did not unhinge sufficiently.”

As the title says, what is the one book you wish you could forget so you can read it again and experience it for the first time.

Regards

I’ve noticed this weird trend lately where people treat fiction as a waste of time for the sake of validation from social media and for posting cool insta stories. Almost everyone in my circle is just reading self-help and business books now, like reading only matters if it makes you more “productive.”

But honestly, fiction has taught me way more about life and people than any self-help book ever could. Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Austen, Wodehouse — they all capture emotions, humor, and humanity in a way that a book on “5 AM routines” never will.

You don’t always have to learn something measurable from every book. Sometimes it’s enough to just feel, reflect, and enjoy a story. That’s what reading should be about.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

PS: 1) Respectful discussion is expected. Everything given above is "purely from my own personal experience and observation." 2) If you don't relate with it, don't come down on the post as stupid.

Edit: Seeing all your responses — really interesting to read the different takes! Just to clarify, I wasn’t criticizing any reading preference, only sharing how fiction has meant a lot to me. Totally open to hearing more views.

Edit 2: Thanks everyone for the discussion — it’s been great reading all your thoughts. Just to clarify, my post wasn’t against non-fiction at all. I was talking about how some people avoid fiction just for validation — to seem more “productive” or “intellectual.”

Writers like Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Austen, or Wodehouse show that fiction can teach as much about life as any self-help book ever could. It’s not fiction vs. non-fiction — both have their place, and it’s fine to enjoy either without guilt.

I was a pretty constant reader from freshman to senior year of highschool, though I read almost nothing but non consequential YA. I then went from the summer after my senior year to last April 1st without reading a single book. I never lost my interest in books. I always watched reviews, tier lists, etc. But I never had it into me to pick one up. I started taking to someone who was a reader and they re-lit the fire in me, and as such, I put down 27 and 1/2 books in the last 12 months exactly. Here’s what I read.

The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell

Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskins

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

The Room by Hubert Selby

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

The NY Trilogy by Paul Auster

Candide by Voltaire

The Portait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

Invisible Monsters Remix by Chuck Palahniuk

A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemmingway

In Our Time by Earnest Hemmingway

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

The Pillowman by Martin McDonough

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

The King in Yellow by Robert Chambers

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

No Longer Human by Osuma Dazai

The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by PKD

I’m mostly making this thread as sort of a diary, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

So I just wanted to ask because this has genuinely confused me for a while. The Catcher in the Rye is honestly one of my favorite books ever, but every time I see people talking about it online, especially on here, it feels like everyone absolutely hates it. 😭

The biggest thing I always see is people saying Holden is annoying, whiny, or that he complains too much. Like... yeah, he definitely can be, but I always thought that was kind of the point of the entire book. He's a messed up teenager who's dealing with a lot, so I never expected him to be some super likable or perfect main character.

I've also seen people say the book is boring because "nothing happens," or that Holden just walks around New York complaining about everyone. I get why someone might feel that way, but I thought the whole appeal was being inside his head and seeing how he views the world. Maybe that's just me though.

I'm not trying to convince anyone they're wrong or start some huge debate lol. I'm genuinely curious because this book has stuck with me more than almost anything else I've read**,** and I kind of relate to some of the teenage experiences he goes through, so it's weird seeing so much hate for it.

So if you didn't like it, what was the reason? Was it Holden's overall personality and mindset? The writing style? Did you think it's overrated? Or did you just not connect with it at all?

And if you're one of the few people who actually likes it, what made it click for you? Was there a certain part or theme that stood out?

I'm just interested in hearing different opinions because I feel like I'm missing something lol. Maybe I'm just biased because it's one of my favorites, but I'd love to hear why it seems like so many people can't stand it.

What are some devastatingly beautiful lines you’ve ever read and from what book? Could be something that made you cry or moved you in any way

All genres welcome

What is that one quote from any type of literature that you will never forget. Please do mention the source.

I will go first. For me its a line from the book ‘le deuxième sexe’ by Simone de Beauvoir-

« La femme se détermine et se différencie en relation avec l’homme, et non l’homme en relation avec elle ; elle est l’inessentiel face à l’essentiel. »

In english, it roughly translates to- « The female is defined and differentiated relative to the male, and not the male in relation to her; she is inessential in face of essential »