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I learned a hard lesson about Introductions and Prefaces.

Years ago I was going to read "The Nature of the Gods" by Cicero. I was really looking forward to it. I bought a copy printed by Penguin, so I knew it would be a good translation. There was a long introduction at the beginning, and I wanted to read the book "properly", and not jump around or skip stuff. The introduction was around seventy (yes, 70) pages long and was a bit out of my depth. I slogged through the seventy pages, page after painful page. Not knowing what the point was or where this introduction was supposed to take me. I found myself counting how many more pages I had to read before I could get to the actual work of Cicero.

When I finally got done reading the Introduction, I put the book down and didn't continue. I was burned out. This happened around 25 years ago, and I still never returned to the book. I should probably read it one of these days, but I've got bigger fish to fry right now.

Science fiction is the basis for our future technology. Many things that we use today were first described in books years early and inspired inventors to actually create it. So when you are reading good Sci-fi you are getting a glimpse of what’s possible imo

I agree with almost everything you said. I don't think Victoire's section should have been moved, though, since without some changing it wouldn't make sense. >!I'm referring to how that section showed her escape.!<

One issue I have with the book is that it kept telling us everything that was going on instead of showing us. I loved the beginning, but it really lagged in the middle. The text kept saying, "They were best friends" but didn't give enough in-scene examples for me to believe this. It left me feeling unconnected to the side characters even though the book was 545 pages. >!My lack of connection was so bad that when Ramy died I nearly yawned and said "Moving on."!< I wish that instead of pages of summary, we got pages of small scenes with the characters. Instead of telling me they were studying/eating at a cafe, tell us the conversations they had.

Even though the ending was emotional, I feel like I was more sympathetic to the characters because of the situation going on and not because I felt for the characters themselves.

I also agree with the person that said the scene with Letty was odd. I was thinking, >!"Someone go with her. She's going to snitch."!<

It could have been one of the best books I ever read, but it ended up being okay. I gave it 3/5 stars, and my friend gave it 2/5.

Only time I’ve ever openly sobbed after reading a book. My wife was concerned. So I made her read it too.

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General population or me? If you’re talking about me, specifically, I’m an outlier. When I’m looking for a book I don’t look for a title or a cover that interest me (because those really have no bearing on whether a book will be good or not), I click into the link of every single book in the category I’m looking at, read the back blurb, any additional descriptive content, and then, if it sounds interesting, read reviews until I’ve found out all the plot and spoilers. If I still like what I see, I read the book.

I might read the blurb, descriptive content, and reviews of five hundred books before I find one I want to read (if I’m looking online, and I usually am). I do this every day because I read one to two books per day and it’s rare for me to have a backlog of books waiting to be read.

So…number of books with plot, spoilers, and endings I could remember well enough to describe, talk about in a general conversation, or perhaps recommend to someone based on their likes (with the caveat that I haven’t read it, of course)? Hundreds, at least. Thousands probably, given slight prompting, though I’m sure I would have lost at least some of the details, given I didn’t find the book interesting enough to read at the time.

I hard disagree. I really loved this book. People are way too worried about being "cringe" lately, and it's making their creative work soulless and derivative as shit. Taking risks is a good thing in art.

There have been books that are or read like poetry as long as literature has been around, saying that it's a bad thing for a book to read like poetry is a really bizarre take. This was a book about the nature and structure of language and self discovery so telling the story in this meditative way, like a dreamy deconstructed journal entry to himself, felt super authentic to me.

If you’re just reading essentially the same book(s) with minor variations, you’re being mildly mentally active but if there is no challenge and nothing that makes you reframe experiences or think in general, it might be good to branch out.

Lots of fantasy and scifi have social commentary, 1984 being the one which sticks out the most to me. And by reading about people in similar circumstances to what you might read about in the news, you can learn to emphasize with them.

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This has been on my reading list and well. I really need to pick it up!

I really liked this book a lot but the fatal flaw to me was how the revolutionary group was so secretive and careful and then just lets her go out for a walk in the end. I don't want to be too specific because it is a big spoiler but it was out of character for how they operated.

I’m not sure I think there is that much of a difference. Everything fictional is made by a person living in the real world, so there is always going to be a connection. You can’t just view it in a vacuum

How many fantasy books (and sci-fi but I read less of those) have not touched upon subjects like corrupt religious institutions, how to be a good leader, the nature of humanity, loss, love, the consequences of war and more. Sure if you look at everything on the surface it might seem like fancy swords and pretend people. But any well written book will usually have lessons or views relating to the real world. A bad one might not, but neither will all non-fiction books (Take celebrity biographies made only to make money for example)

Like any book you just have to engage with it and think. I don’t understand why something would have to be an exact replica of our world for it to matter. The important part is you and your reading of the text, what you take away from it.

Allegory being less direct is also the entire point of allegory (avoiding censorship, being allowed to express thoughts you wouldn’t otherwise etc.). Fiction allows a distance to our own world that I think is very beneficial at times. A way to force people to engage with ideas they otherwise would have scoffed at. It’s more digestible and easily approached than stating things outright

Non-fiction is important, yes. Many people could stand to read more and it’s important to have knowledge about our real world in order to live in it. But it doesn’t mean fiction doesn’t have a purpose

Edit: sry it got long

Also obviously you shouldn’t apply things one to one, but engaging with ideas in abstract ways is not unnecessary or not beneficial. And you can do it with anything, I’ve seen amazing societal analysis’s based on the sims with in depth discussion on what parts of our irl society that the game reflects (and not)

I loved all three (and still do when I reread)

I always thought that Dan was the OG literary bad boy. He probably turned a hundred years of women off church boys - the James Dean of the carriage house days if you will, lol.

I really liked the attitude towards disability - such an emphasis on do what you can, get help with what you can't - which was unusual for that time (and now, tbh).

Also, I appreciate your open-mindedness, but Jo is the queen, and Amy is a brat who only thrived because Laurie was Oprah rich

Haha, yes! I rarely ever remember the exact words but if a scene sticks with me I recall approximately where it is on the page alongside some of the "imagery". (In quotes because it's not actual visuals that I recall so much as feelings that a certain thing/person/place was there).

I used to rely on this instead of bookmarks to find my place in a book.

I never read academic commentary and I don’t like that it is places in the front of the book.

I didn't say the book was ruined, only that my experience of reading the book for the first time was unnecessarily detracted from.

If a book can be ruined by spoilers then it’s poorly written book.

I like ocean’s poems, but I found this book to be over the top cheese-fest. I really tried to like it but it seems like he was trying too hard

Absolutely heart wrenching, but such an incredible book.

God I still remember the heartbreak I experienced after reading that book back in 2016. I loved reading about his clinical experiences and reading that right after neuroscience class was incredibly exciting but the magnitude of heartbreak and Dr Klanithi's courage were strangely heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.

You’re still exposed to new ideas. A lot of fantasy and sci fi authors explore concepts such as bigotry or inequality, and having the separation of looking at these ideas through an alien or fantasy race gives people a new lens to examine their own beliefs.

Authors also examine things like: what would an ‘ideal’ society look like and what would the trade offs be? What happens in a post-scarcity world? How would society grapple with over or under population?

Almost every book has something to teach you, even if it’s just how other people think.

It still exposes you to new ideas and points of view. Even if the world isn’t real, the problems the characters face can still be applied to real world issues.

LOL. You shouldn't try Umberto Eco's novels. The guy was a polyglot, and his characters also are. So his novels switch a lot between Italian, spanish, latin, greek, english, French, etc. I don't really mind this. Reading is not a race, I just translate as I go along