3 ms·

The way to read quality books is by reading tons of low-quality books. Nobody develops a reading habit by starting reading Tolstoy or Proust.

Antoniocl 3y ago
War and Peace was the first book I read as an adult (at 19) and I was blown away. Definitely opened my mind as to how great a great book can be, and raised my standards for what I'm willing to spend time on reading considerably. I think this was one of the best things that happened to me for my reading habit, and I'm incredibly glad I stumbled upon it sooner rather than later. The only change I'd make, if possible, would've been to read it at a younger age (12-14) so my perception of what books can be would've been expanded sooner and I could've branched out from my comfort zone at the time.
Horffupolde 3y ago
They do, and a first read at a young age (17-21) can be transformative.
deleted 3y ago
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ChrisRR 3y ago
Not really. I started picking up reading as a habit last year, and as long as you do some research then there's no reason to read crap, but there's also no reason to read epics if those don't appeal to you either. I started with Hitchhiker's guide and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think that's a low-quality book by any means.
- vidarh 3y ago
  It's not low quality, but it is something a lot of people into literary novels would consider low quality. It's certainly an easy read and belongs to a genre that is often looked down on with almost as much disdain as romance novels (while selling a small fraction of romance novels...)
  - ChrisRR 3y ago
    I think we're talking about very different things here then. I don't think I've ever interacted with someone who considers anything less than Tolstoy to be low quality.
    - vidarh 3y ago
      Consider yourself lucky. Any "genre fiction" gets looked down on by a lot of people irrespective of quality.
    - spicymapotofu 3y ago
      If you want to find more of this kind of judgment, you can look online for "pseud" or "midwit" as a signpost; alternatively, "literature" ...
worklaptopacct 3y ago
Depends what do you want to take out of reading. If you are only looking for entertainment, it's logical to pick a romance or an action-packed fantasy book. It's also okay never to graduate from such books, if it's not the way you want to spend your time. What's less okay is to imply that the sole action of reading will linearly increase your knowledge and sophistication. It's cool that you've built a personal library, but if every book in there contains more or less the same story with minor tweaks, then it's not really enlightening.

Antoniocl 3y ago

War and Peace was the first book I read as an adult (at 19) and I was blown away. Definitely opened my mind as to how great a great book can be, and raised my standards for what I'm willing to spend time on reading considerably. I think this was one of the best things that happened to me for my reading habit, and I'm incredibly glad I stumbled upon it sooner rather than later. The only change I'd make, if possible, would've been to read it at a younger age (12-14) so my perception of what books can be would've been expanded sooner and I could've branched out from my comfort zone at the time.

Horffupolde 3y ago

They do, and a first read at a young age (17-21) can be transformative.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

ChrisRR 3y ago

Not really. I started picking up reading as a habit last year, and as long as you do some research then there's no reason to read crap, but there's also no reason to read epics if those don't appeal to you either. I started with Hitchhiker's guide and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think that's a low-quality book by any means.

vidarh 3y ago
It's not low quality, but it is something a lot of people into literary novels would consider low quality. It's certainly an easy read and belongs to a genre that is often looked down on with almost as much disdain as romance novels (while selling a small fraction of romance novels...)
- ChrisRR 3y ago
  I think we're talking about very different things here then. I don't think I've ever interacted with someone who considers anything less than Tolstoy to be low quality.
  - vidarh 3y ago
    Consider yourself lucky. Any "genre fiction" gets looked down on by a lot of people irrespective of quality.
  - spicymapotofu 3y ago
    If you want to find more of this kind of judgment, you can look online for "pseud" or "midwit" as a signpost; alternatively, "literature" ...

worklaptopacct 3y ago

Depends what do you want to take out of reading. If you are only looking for entertainment, it's logical to pick a romance or an action-packed fantasy book. It's also okay never to graduate from such books, if it's not the way you want to spend your time. What's less okay is to imply that the sole action of reading will linearly increase your knowledge and sophistication. It's cool that you've built a personal library, but if every book in there contains more or less the same story with minor tweaks, then it's not really enlightening.