5 ms·

If you think a book review takes too long to get to the point, do I have some bad news for you about books....

tablespoon 5y ago
> If you think a book review takes too long to get to the point, do I have some bad news for you about books.... It's 2021, could you summarize it in a tweet for me? /s
- jessaustin 5y ago
  @threadreaderapp unroll ...is the modern way to read "books".
  - mathw 5y ago
    Or people could just... read the thread. I don't get why thread reader still exists.
- lucumo 5y ago
  I've seen tweets that contain more relevant details than some Atlantic articles.
  - makeitdouble 5y ago
    I came to the conclusion that there is a generation shift that we don't often acknowledge. For a long time public written word needed to be both entertainment and informative. Just like us watching documentaries: we kind of expect them to be beautifully shot and mind blowing at the same time. Nowadays we have more written content than ever, but also more entertainment than ever, in all forms and shapes. Some people will still appreciate beautifully written prose on any subject. Most will expect respect for their time and conciseness by default, and entertainment and delight only if that's what they came for in the first place. A lot of publication still strictly cater to the former public.
    - lucumo 5y ago
      I'm not sure it's entirely entertainment vs. information. Books are my primary form of entertainment too, and I do like a good story. I can see how the artform of the written word could be part of it, as I'm generally unappreciative of larger pieces where the words are the primary art. Though honestly, if this kind of stuff is appreciated for the art of writing, instead of the content, well. It's pretty cookie-cutter, IMO.
    - tablespoon 5y ago
      > Most will expect respect for their time and conciseness by default In my experience, that expectation is quite often faulty: they complain about something being too long for, but what's really going on is they don't know what being informed is (and are satiated by superficial understanding), or they don't know how to effectively communicate something (absolute most concise representation is often pretty poor).
lucumo 5y ago
I read a lot of books, and let me tell you: there's quite a few that should've had an editor telling the author exactly that. On the other hand there are books that just have a lot to tell. That's fine. Take the words you need, but no more. Internet longreads tend to just have been made longer to be long. Their favourite strategy seems to be to just not talk about the subject, but about their journey of discovery and the journey of all the people they've encountered along the way, and about how they look, and how special they are. And then, finally, after they've explained the entire history since the fucking Big Bang, they'll talk about the subject for a few sentences. It always turns out to be unsatisfyingly banal and not worth the journey. Low information density is annoying.

> If you think a book review takes too long to get to the point, do I have some bad news for you about books.... It's 2021, could you summarize it in a tweet for me? /s

jessaustin 5y ago
@threadreaderapp unroll ...is the modern way to read "books".
- mathw 5y ago
  Or people could just... read the thread. I don't get why thread reader still exists.
lucumo 5y ago
I've seen tweets that contain more relevant details than some Atlantic articles.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  I came to the conclusion that there is a generation shift that we don't often acknowledge. For a long time public written word needed to be both entertainment and informative. Just like us watching documentaries: we kind of expect them to be beautifully shot and mind blowing at the same time. Nowadays we have more written content than ever, but also more entertainment than ever, in all forms and shapes. Some people will still appreciate beautifully written prose on any subject. Most will expect respect for their time and conciseness by default, and entertainment and delight only if that's what they came for in the first place. A lot of publication still strictly cater to the former public.
  - lucumo 5y ago
    I'm not sure it's entirely entertainment vs. information. Books are my primary form of entertainment too, and I do like a good story. I can see how the artform of the written word could be part of it, as I'm generally unappreciative of larger pieces where the words are the primary art. Though honestly, if this kind of stuff is appreciated for the art of writing, instead of the content, well. It's pretty cookie-cutter, IMO.
  - tablespoon 5y ago
    > Most will expect respect for their time and conciseness by default In my experience, that expectation is quite often faulty: they complain about something being too long for, but what's really going on is they don't know what being informed is (and are satiated by superficial understanding), or they don't know how to effectively communicate something (absolute most concise representation is often pretty poor).

lucumo 5y ago

I read a lot of books, and let me tell you: there's quite a few that should've had an editor telling the author exactly that. On the other hand there are books that just have a lot to tell. That's fine. Take the words you need, but no more. Internet longreads tend to just have been made longer to be long. Their favourite strategy seems to be to just not talk about the subject, but about their journey of discovery and the journey of all the people they've encountered along the way, and about how they look, and how special they are. And then, finally, after they've explained the entire history since the fucking Big Bang, they'll talk about the subject for a few sentences. It always turns out to be unsatisfyingly banal and not worth the journey. Low information density is annoying.