Can someone explain to me the apeal of reading fiction? I love

>>9052543

If you have to ask you will never know.

>>9052543
Just read. Given your previous interests, you might like fiction books based on the various interpretations one could have of them, and how they might apply to the larger world.

But really, just read. If you like something, like it, and its quite hard to force yourself to enjoy something you clearly don't. Just keep searching for something, and you'll likely encounter at least a few thing you enjoy. When you find something you like, you can take what you enjoyed about those books and look for other similar ones. Expanding interests is a process of time for the most part.

>>9052543
>philosophy
>new insight it gives me into the world
Love philosophy, but this made me kek pretty hard.

>>9052568
why?

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>>9052543
It makes sense for a person who wishes to write fiction to read fiction.

Fiction allows controversial or heavy ideas to be expressed in narrative from, and perhaps add a spin of entertainment. Orwell, Rand, Dostoevsky, and so on did this.

Fiction must draw ideas from the author's current time, culture, experiences, and ideas. If you read old fiction, you can imagine what the times were like organically; as in a painting vs a photograph. (fiction vs non-fiction)

Read fiction you enjoy, and can learn something from. If you find fiction boring and/or pointless, drop that particular book.

>>9052576
Because philosophy doesn't provide any valuable insight whatsoever. At best it helps you structure your worldview, at worst it's pointless mental calisthenics.

Of course non-fiction won't move you, it's not supposed to, it's supposed to be informative.

>people who like literature mainly enjoy it because of the prose.
/lit/'s idea of prose and enjoyment of literature is very reductionist. Go out, talk with a serious reader, and they will never mention "prose".
>Is apreciation for this something that can be learned and developed?
Yes
>If so, how do i start.
By reading and thinking. If a highly-regarded book like Dubliners bores you, you're most likely not reading it properly. Read differently, read on different levels etc... Basically, read carefully and think about what you've read. This sounds like very generic advice but that makes it universal. You can go into great detail, see countless specifics of each work, writer or style etc... And nobody can explain how to enjoy every one of them specifically. You'll have to realize how to do that by yourself.

>and kept wondering why the hell i was reading this.
Only you know why.

>I'm not really interested in plot or character btw,
Are you interested in serious appreciation of fiction? If yes, you are interested in these important elements of fiction as well.
>if i wanted to experience that i'd watch a movie or whatever
So, you believe that movies are more suitable for "plot" and "characters" than literature? How did you come to this conclusion?

>>9052615
ok then, can you please give me some examples of insights you have acquired from reading fiction?
And how is this any different from just structuring your worldview?

>>9052648
No that anon, but he never made any claims regarding fiction. He only claimed philosophy provided no insight.

>>9052648
I never said anything about insights from fiction. Personally, I read it for sheer enjoyment.

>>9052639
>Read differently, read on different levels etc... Basically, read carefully and think about what you've read.

I've read the stories and tried to find some deeper underlying themes in them, but they just seemed like stories of ordinary people with mundane problems. None of them where particularly insightfull.

>So, you believe that movies are more suitable for "plot" and "characters" than literature? How did you come to this conclusion?

mainly because reading takes greater effort than watching a movie, so if i wanted to experience those things, a movie would be more effective and easier, as /lit/ has told me plot is unimportant in literature. But thanks for telling me this isn't the case. Maybe i've taken the opinions posted on here too serious. Though i must admit the plots in the stories of Dubliners weren't really that engaging.

>>9052712

if "effective" and "easy" are how you judge the value of a literary work, stay away from fiction.

>>9052724
effective and easy (as in conveyed in a clear way, not as in being simplistic) is how i would value plot, not the value of a literary work in general

>>9052543
>why do people like art?????
get out bildungsphilister

>>9052749

still just stay away from fiction, you're not going to enjoy it.

>>9052712
Do you have autism? Are you not able to emphasize with human struggles at all?

And no, movies are not as deep as fiction.

>>9052761
I am perfectly able to apreciate art (mainly classical music, i study piano at a conservatory, but also love painting and it's history and tecniques) but somehow language doesn't evoke emotions in me. For me it's primeraly a way to convey information and nothing more.

>>9052772
don't know, but i'm not really the most social person around. I'm perfectly able to emphasize with human struggles, but only if they are real and not made up.

>>9052778
name some movies that you enjoy

One post mentions that language doesn't evoke emotions for them. In response to that, I would say: approaching with a passive mindset like that will require finding the right books-- ones that will resonate with you. If you wish to broaden your horizens, however, you may wish to improve your ability to empathize with those who are unlike yourself. Another post mentions the fictional nature of events to be another barrier. In response to that, I would recommend placing greater focus on the author: what his storytelling may suggest about him, and what he may be trying to convey to you. The events of a narrative are never fictional only-- they have more important qualities.

read something you like, have you read borges?

>>9052832
Whiplash, Doubt, Synecdoche New York, the Master, Drive, Amadeus, Wes Anderson movies

there are lots more, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment

>>9052886
haven't tried reading Borges. Would you say he would be a good read for someone unexperienced in fiction? Where do i start with him?

>>9052896
>there are lots more
Oh, i'm sure the list goes on indeed

>>9052879
thanks for the advice. I'm still searching for books that resonate with me. Currently looking into russian lit.

>>9052901
nice meme
can't think of any at the moment. those were the ones i watched most recently and that was months ago.

>>9052915
>nice meme
Thanks. Also watch more films

>>9052899
i would say it is a good read for someone experienced in philosophy

What's the appeal of doing anything? Ultimately everything we do beyond our most eating, sleeping and fucking could be cut out of our lives.

>>9052896
im the one who asked what movies you liked not >>9052901 this retard. i definitely get your taste as fiction in my experience is something you build into to enjoy. you have to start with movies before you realize movies are inferior, naturally. for entry level stuff since you like the master and synechdoche NY you might enjoy
kerouac, the french existentialists, cortazar, calvino or probably herman hesse. you should probably dive into mysticism too since this shows you how fiction and non-fiction are styles of thinking and portrayal rather than saying 'tangible' and 'non tangible'.

>>9053007
will look into them, thanks

>>9052543
Consider that fiction is about ideas. It's not about plot and character even if those are elements of it, it's about ideas. The plot and characters are there to keep you interested, but they also are there to further the ideas of the author. Next time you're bored while reading, take some time to consider the purpose of the characters, plot, and prose in relation to the ideas the work is trying to present.

Hopefully at some point you find a book whose ideas couldn't have been presented in a more compelling way in any other form, non-fiction or otherwise.

>>9052546
Fpbp autist op btfo

>>9052783
>I'm perfectly able to emphasize with human struggles, but only if they are real and not made up.
Like you got to be told that they are real so you can allow yourself to emphasize or you don't find fictional stories realistic enough for emphasizing with them?

>>9052543
read shadow of the torturer and maybe you'll understand duder

here's some advice: don't ever post on this board again pls unless you
1. stop writing like a retard
2. learn2read
also what conservatory do you attend?

>>9052783
In Cold Blood.

A lot of it comes down to the feelings it evokes, but it sounds like you're cut off from those feelings...while you read, have you noticed any physical tension in your body?

>>9052896
>Whiplash, Doubt, Synecdoche New York, the Master, Drive, Amadeus, Wes Anderson movies
this list is almost as if someone who came from /tv/ and tried to appear as pseudo-patrician as possible.

this thread is retarded. if you don't like fiction, don't read it. holy shit, i just solved your problem. you're welcome

>>9052543
No. If you think there is some fundamental difference between "history," "philosophy," and "fiction," you're probably hopeless. Your smug legitimizing of the story in front of you because you've been assured its either factual (which is horseshit, as any reading on how history books are framed and written would tell you) or "real" philosophy (as if good fiction doesn't explore philosophy) is just a way of coping with your anxiety about knowledge and lack of feeling for prose. You have decided that non-fiction is real information, and fiction (and I assume poetry) isn't. And since language doesn't evoke emotion for you, it's hopeless.

>>9052543
>As i understand it people who like literature mainly enjoy it because of the prose.
>as /lit/ has told me plot is unimportant in literature.
These are memes you dipshit. It's a joke. Prose and plot are just two nonpolar characteristics of literature among others. The premise is solid: that there are shallow readers who only read "for a good story" and have no sense of aesthetics, and from there the joke twists that into a false axiom that an imagined pseud would believe. It's wry, ironic, built on a half truth, and easy to spout ad nauseam. A meme.

>>9052896
nothing wrong with this list at all

>>9052543
It's better than /tv/

>>9052707
What ever happened to reading being fun?

>>9052772
They're both a means to an end, but movies have a hard time getting into the heads of characters.

Hello, is there anyone in this thread with a clue, or are you all mediocre nobodies attending no name universities destined to achieve nothing in your lives?

>>9054595
Probably this guy, but he's as angry as me.

>>9052615
Philosophy offers different ways of seeing the world. That's pretty valuable.

>>9052712
I considered myself a serious reader when I read Dubliners and it was and remains totally mysterious to me. I just read it for The Dead.

Any Faulkner novel is, ironically, a great argument that plot is important.

>>9055068
trying too hard

History and Philosophy are just a shadow of fiction, fiction is the only way to put the authentic experience of life into an identity, to form meaning out of chaos

>>9054595
>If you think there is some fundamental difference between "history," "philosophy," and "fiction," you're probably hopeless. Your smug legitimizing of the story in front of you because you've been assured its either factual (which is horseshit, as any reading on how history books are framed and written would tell you) or "real" philosophy (as if good fiction doesn't explore philosophy)
This guy hitted in the nail

>>9052543
Could be lot's of reasons. Maybe escapism; appreciation of a well-crafted narrative, characters, worlds, atmosphere or alternatively; the experience of those as opposed to liking how they're structured and made. There are plenty of reasons, do you like watching TV shows and movies? The reasons cross over. I read fiction as a child, for me it's mostly escapism but there is also an element of nostalgia to that as well, recapturing the adventure and imagination of my young mind. Some people also like them as a medium to express an agenda, to apply to the real world. Many authors of fiction actually championed this idea and believed it to be the goal of fiction. It has the potential to make a dry subject more accessible and interesting, but also more accessible in the sense of avoiding a stark opinion or fact. Rather something more subtle that a person might not accept or read in another form, instead of skepticism of something not adhering to their pre-conceived opinions or ideas. They go into a piece of fiction that is significantly less overt and challenging to their views.