Is reading at the bookstore the most pretentious thing one

No, but caring about people reading at the bookstore might be.

>>9651834
Are you a fucking retard? Most people read before they buy.
Why are there so many autismos on /lit/? This thread, people complaining about others reading on public transit, people shitting on bookstores. What the fuck is wrong with you?

>>9651834
Do you even know what pretension is?

No. It could not possibly be the most pretentious thing because it is not even pretentious.

>>9651881

>"observe me being an intellectual"
>not pretentious

Retard spotted.

>>9651880
lol, what else is there to do on public transit? that's prime reading time, even when I'm in one of those times where I find reading so boring

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>reading is intellectual

WHEN WILL THIS MEME END

>>9652101
I thought this before I discovered headphones.

>>9652114
Headphones are for faggots

I used to work next to this bookstore with a cafe next to it. I've read entire books there, as if it was a library. I didn't even have to bother with putting the book back to its right place or anything. My only pretension was to read books.

>being in public
It's like you want everyone to look at you and think how human you are, how much better you are just for breathing and existing there, boasting yourself for how you can walk around and sit on benches and chairs, just so you know it's fucking disgusting, you pretentious idiots. Why not be a person at home like everyone else?

>>9651834

Reading in the bookstore is the best way to read things that you can't find a ebook for and not pay for it. I've read 10 full books in my local bookstore.

>>9652103
reading doesn't make you an intellectual, but non-intellectuals definitely don't read

>>9651834
Read about half a Philip K. Dick book at a comfy bookstore while stoned

Felt good

>>9652103
what is reading, then? what's intellectual?

>>9651834
Where is this? This looks identical to the SMU Barnes and Noble in Dallas, and the students dress like this (unfashionable southern conservatives). I'm really curious.

My friend once sat at the base of a bookshelf out in the open in a Barnes and Noble and read a fucking manga. I can't get him to even read one chapter in a book I lent him.

>>9651834
Yes. Also, going to the library, going to school, and the act of studying are also pretentious.

When did this place get filled with retards?

>>9652235
There's always people reading on the floors of the manga section at Barnes and Noble

>>9651834
Anything besides subsisting on insects and wallowing in your own excretions is pretentious.

>>9651834
Reading in general is the most pretentious thing you can do. I hope there aren't any nerds here who read, lol

>>9651834

Anon you are an agent of evil.
Don't you get that the more you promote the idea that reading in public is pretentious the more you and other people will think that reading is for nerds, and push you further down in your mother's basement?
Read outside. Stay in the sun. Dress well, exercise, look cool. Live, anon!

>>9652286
i am fat so i don't want to be outside because i don't want anyone to see that i look like shit
also i'm poor so i can't afford good clothes so i can't dress well

>>9652299
You could stop spending so much money on stuffing your fat face and use it to buy new clothes, but apparently you're too stupid to think of that, too.

>>9651834

If I go to buy a book then I've already made up my mind on what I'm getting via reviews or excerpts I've read online. I'm in there for about maybe two-three minutes total and out with my new purchases.

There was a Barnes and Noble in my neighborhood strip mall that closed a few years after opening from lack of business. It was always filled with parasites reading,but I guess noone was buying.

>>9652352

100% this. Bookstores can't stay open if you aren't buying the books they have you fucking leeches. That is what the library is for.

>>9652391
The chapters in my city recently renovated and actually took out all the chairs and little reading areas.

>>9651834
It's not pretentious, it's not for me though.I know exactly what I want, I'm in and out like a ninja.

>>9652083
>thinks reading makes you an intellectual
Retard spotted

>>9652322
Hmm, I would rather be fat than some airhead who cares about fashion.

>>9652101
listening to some sort of audio whilst texting your gf

>>9652590
>I-I'm an adult and I don't need to care about what others think of me!

>>9651834
I never understood reading at the bookstore. I'm never there for enough time to do any significant amount of reading; it's usually just walking around and seeing what's new, getting what I want, and leaving. Reading at the bookstore isn't very pretentious, but I'd feel guilty for doing it, and I imagine the store owners don't like it. I'd probably die of spaghetti dropping if an employee told me 'this isn't a library'.

>>9651834
Fuck you OP, I just wish we had a Barnes & Noble where I live so I could have somewhere other than my house or the bar to go to, to just browse, buy new books maybe get a bite to eat and yes, read.

I find that absurdly comfy, how is that "pretentious"?

>>9652854
>Caring what other people think of you

Isn't this generally considered a if not the hallmark of insecurity?

>>9652904
>not caring what other people think of you at all
There is a balance, anon.

>>9652917
Well, I never have been one to find happiness via other people. Maybe its just me, I dunno.

One time I stayed beyond opening time without realizing. I felt quite retarded.

>>9652925
There's finding happiness via other people and there's being aware that you are fat and smelly and have a shit personality and have tendencies that honestly make others uncomfortable, but who cares, because nobody else matters, right?

>>9652937
I'm sorry anon, I'm not concerned with personal appearance all that much, I mean, I'm not saying I don't bathe on a regular basis or anything, because I do.

Still don't really care what other people think about though. That's their problem to deal with.

>>9652339
you're doing it wrong. go to a used bookstore and get lost in the stacks

>>9652876
>I'd probably die of spaghetti dropping if an employee told me 'this isn't a library'.
if they did that i'd drop the book right where i was and walk out without buying anything

>>9651834
I think eating at a restaurant is probably the only thing more pretentious.

>those obligatory middle-aged women sitting around acting 'snobby'
>those older teenagers who just buy toys
>that 'reading club' that reads garbage
>that one guy who looks pretty respectable, but is mostly just there for coffee
>those children running around without and there parents are nowhere to be found
>that dad who sounds pretty pissed at his children, because he just wants to find something, and they're screwing around
>that old guy who goes to the civil war section, but never seems to look at anything
>the people sitting on the floor in the anime section
>the people with their lap-tops hidden in the deep recesses of the store
>those autists in the anime section who look like friendless losers
>the teenage girls who pretend to be anime autists, but are just attention whores
>the migrating shelf of classics

Barnes and Noble, a magical place.

>>9653147
I've gone to Barnes and Noble so many times, yet I've only seen people buy absolute garbage. It's kind of incredible.

>>9653147
>>those children running around without and there parents are nowhere to be found
I fucked this sentence up.
I meant
>those children running around wildly, and their parents are nowhere to be found

>>9653147
>the migrating shelf of classics
This
grinds my fucking gears

>>9653147
>tfw go to two different B&Ns to buy actual books and my guilty pleasure manga

>>9653147
>the people with their lap-tops hidden in the deep recesses of the store
sounds comfy

>>9652286
I like you

>>9651834
No, the seats are there just for that. It's good to have a little read of the first few pages just to see if the book is for you or not. What's so pretentious about that? It's being certain you want to commit to purchasing that book. Nobody's doing it to impress you, anon, you don't really matter that much to them.

>>9652114

Stop wearing headphones in public

>>9652235
reading picture books isn't reading

>>9652322
a fat man has a fat brain and what does a fat brain think of other HOHGNNJYGNNGHFF NONGO MUST EAT CHOM CHOM

> go to the book shop
> get lost in all the books i want
> pick up a pile
> become convinced that i can't afford them all
> end up adding more books to the pile anyway
> must decide which to buy and which to put back
> read a few from each
> leave with the books i want

It's such a comfortable atmosphere to do this in.

>>9652590
> he'd rather wear adult diapers, drink nothing but mountain dew, get shit underneath his fingernails, play nothing but halo 5 and vine compilations on youtube, piss in bottles, cum in jars and wallow about wondering why no girl will look at him than rather take care of his physical health and appearance

>>9651854
fpbp

>>9653116
This. No harm in reading the first few paragraphs of chapters of a book you're considering buying. Surely just letting the customer read means you're more likely to have more loyal customers. I'd feel guilty if after reading for a while in the store that I didn't eventually pick something up.

>>9653121
This. The best way is to place your order and ask them to put it into a zip-loc bag with a plastic fork so you can eat your dinner as you go play on the swings at the nearby playground, this is thai food lmao you think i'm gonna eat it INSIDE when the sun is shining naw nigga i'm gonna have fun eats

>>9653147
> migrating shelf of classics

Every WH Smiths ever, plus the classics section is rarely more than one or two shelves in a single shelving unit.

>>9652945
In other words; you pretend you don't, but actually do.

>>9652083
You only read to make yourself feel like an intellectual? Nice projecting.

>>9652083
kek pleb

>>9651834
No, but that blondie is fire.

Reading in bookstores is for fags. You don't belong in any store if you're in there not knowing what you want to buy. Stop taking up space, cunts. Get in, get your shit, and get the fuck out.

>>9652114

enjoy your damaged hearing, loser

t. former headphone wearer

>>9652103

stop using intellectual as an adjective

>>9654408
I wear headphones even when I go shopping. Do not give a fuck.

>>9655010
>>9655066
Not him but earbuds are bad for your hearing long-term. Use over-the-head.

>>9651834
No, reading at the movie theater is.

>>9651834
If you haven't bought the book, then I guess it would be stealing

>>9654456
Reddit

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only if you're in a stock photo

>>9655072
source? seems like bs assuming you keep the volume at a reasonable level.

>>9652611
>not having a literal mute Hispanic donkey as your GF

You can't text one of those, especially when you take another donkey as a sacrifice for the gods.

>>9652083
idiot

>>9652083
That thought has literally never crossed my mind while reading in public. I'm thinking about the thing I'm reading.

Nice meme tho.

>>9651834
Since Barnes and Noble closed down, my city doesn't have anymore bookstores, thanks Amazon.

>>9652083
testing a product before you purchase it is not pretentious

This aint a fucking library buy your book and get out

i used to work with guy who would whack off at the bookstore bathroom during his break. I always thought that was the most pretentious thing id ever heard

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>>9651834
when you see people eating at a restaurant do you think "wow look at all of these pleneians showing off"

You guys don't hide your intellect?
I honestly only read when no one is around.

>>9660644
There wasn't a library near me when I was a kid I used to go bookstores and read entire books while I was there.
Surprised they let me do it desu

>>9660727
Same, and I keep my books hidden away in a cupboard. My mom is the only person in the world who knows that I read.

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>>9660727
>>9660750
please clarify if this is jokes or not

>>9660921
Tbf I hide what I read because I don't want people making fun of me

>>9651834
Is reading in a thrift store better, or worse?

>reading on public transport

Who can do this? It's too fucking loud and disruptive. How can you concentrate and think?

Why does /lit/ look down on manga? just wondering why it's deliberately bashed around here, it barely has any relation to literature anyway.
I picked Japanese as my fourth language because I enjoy manga, now that I can read properly I've been reading some classic Jap books like No Longer Human(人間失格)

>>9661153
Just go play video games or watch anime. It's the same level of intellectual stimulation designed for children.

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>Just go play video games or watch anime. It's the same level of intellectual stimulation designed for children.

>>9661153
Literature isn't about story, it's about prose.
Comics are about story and art, not prose. That and people who read comics usually seem dead-set against reading things without pictures.

>>9661153
99.9% of manga is complete garbage. It's fine to read the few ones that are good, but a complete waste of time after that.

Why does this thread exist?
fuck this website

This seems very american.
You don't have to pay for the books?
Here, reading in a book store is frowned upon. After a few minutes, a clerk comes to bother you, pretending to sort the books precisely near you.

But maybe there are already americanized bookstores here and I'm not aware. I mostly pirate books. (not because I believe in it or prefer digital, but because I'm broke)

>>9652173
what about the fuckin library

>>9651880
Thank you , anon I was here the other day for that public transit one .

>>9651834
Such people have pretensions to what, being poor?

>>9653147
I go to Books-A-Million myself, since they seem to have an eternal bogo-half-off sale on manga, and I'm a fucking pleb faggot, but this is pretty spot on for that store as well as B&N. The only difference is my BAM is approximately in the black side of town, so there's really only people reading magazines in the cafe, instead of anyone browsing the shelves. And I'm usually the only person in the manga section.

I get irrationally bothered that Clive Cussler and Stephen King are in the same section as DFW and Pinecone. If there's a scifi/fantasy section, why not make a separate section for other genreshit?

>>9661157
manga > anime
You usually don't have to worry about QUALITY in manga, and it takes about as much time to read a full volume as it does to watch a full episode

>>9661178
Has ironic shitposting gone too far? The fedoras are the manchildren who play vidya and watch anime. /lit/ is something else

>>9652083
This post is probably ironical but I suspect there are people who really think like this. That's fucking pathetic.

>>9660921
Not joking. I don't want my interest in literature to be part of my identity.

>>9661584
Smaller stores might care here, but not Barnes and Nobles. They only care about cultivating an "intellectual" atmosphere in their store. And most of their sales are board games and adult coloring books anyways.

>>9661985
This is interesting. Are you afraid of being judged as pretentious? DFW said he "consumed libraries". He wasn't afraid to show it, but then again he's DFW. Do you hide everything about yourself?

I met a new roommate and I tried talking to him eith the goal of trying to find out what he's into since I was going to be living with him for a while. He said "nothing, really." I don't know if he's just shy or autistic, but your comment made me think of him. He just sits in his room on his laptop. One of my other roommates I discovered actually browses mongolian cartoon boards as well. Don't be afraid to express your interest in things. It's not necessary, sure, but I mean how would you read anything at all without someone else's recommendation, even if it comes from /lit/s guide or from a school professor or from a friend or wherever you get your book recommendations: it comes from someone expressing their interest. It does more good than harm.

>>9661985
You're not superman, nobody actually cares if you are clark kent.

I used to work in a bookshop.

People who read are fucking assholes. They only read kitchen book and they let them on the floor when they are done.

Old people are the worst

>>9661153
get out of my board, you vermin.

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In 2017 you can find reviews of the books on the internet, there's no need to read pages in bookshop. If the there's nothing about it on the internet, which is a very rare case, you can read the short preview on the book, if it has one. I can't imagine someone reading few pages and deciding properly whether he'll like the book.

I only check the translator and the prize.

In my country there are no places for reading in the bookstores, but there are ones in the few libraries. And the their completely full every time I check - you need to wait an hour in queue. Pretentious to the max, you can see by the look of their faces. It's a small and gossipy town and everyone knows everyone.

I talk about books mostly with my father, who fortunately reads a lot.

Obesity isn't just about outlook. It can't damage your health.

Anyway, I don't know what's more pretentious - reading in public places or putting pictures on Facebook and Instagam of you reading on a beach or with a coffee next to you. And posting the worst quote of a famous classic author which you don't even understand, or some trashy famous author.

>>9661153
>now that I can read properly I've been reading some classic Jap books like No Longer Human

I'm not against manga, but isn't this a contra-argument of your own opinion?

>>9651834
Bookstores big enough for people to sit and read still exist?

>>9651834
Is opening egg cartons in a grocery store the most pretentious thing a shopper can possible do. JUST PUT THEM IN YOUR CART GOD DAMNIT WHO CARES IF THEY"RE BROKEN

>>9652083
who the fuck thinks this much? holy shit if i want to read in a book store, i'll fucking read. if i want to read on the bus, I WILL READ ON THE BUS no one cares about how you come off to other people when you're immersed in another world.

>>9664321
I don't think there's anything wrong with reading a book anywhere. I've been reading all the time, even when I talk since I was 8. I just read while I walk from the shelf to the cashier.

I've worked in a bookstore for 4 years now and most people who read there are reading books they didnt plan to buy initially.

I don't think reading is pretentious as at all, I don't know where this meme started. Where I live, reading is the most normie thing you can do, literally anyone does it even if it's simply super shit boooks like James Patterson.

As for social medias, you have to be pretentious to have an account in the first place. They only exist so you can boost your ego, posting photos of books and quotes is just the next logical step.

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>>9652083

>>9664854
I don't think creating Facebook is always pretentious. It is 90% of the time. I know a guy that created one in 2014 just to enter the school class group so he can see important informations. Also, I communicate with my close friends and family members actively on Facebook, it's such a good exchange for wasting money on mobile, you can even voice call.

Yeah, some will be tempted to start posting some ego-boosting stuff, but there are really interesting things sometimes, and also there's a limit - for example I never post selfies.

This fucking shit of a thread has been up for days, and now I make it my sworn task to take it down by whatever means necessary.

NO LONGER MY QT YT-GIRL SHITPOSTING WILL BE CURBED BY DAMNED ENABLERS OF SMUG REDDITRY THAT'S BEEN POLLUTING MY BOARD SINCE FUCKING IMGURL FIASCO

bring it on, mods

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>>9652101
I wish I lived in a place where public transit was a viable option so I could read on my way to places.

>>9661584
Are you in Europe? I went to a Fnac once, and now that you mention it, there weren't any lounge chairs to sit in, just aisles of books. Barnes and Noble encourages reading in the store. They place comfy chairs everywhere so you can read through the books you might want to buy before you make up your mind.

I also went to a comic book store that said they had more European comics downstairs on a sign, and I got excited because I wanted to buy some Incal stuff or other stuff illustrated by Moebius, but I got told off because apparently the downstairs was closed. I thought about explaining myself but just left instead.

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>>9654450
>he doesn't read them for free on his tablet

>>9655004
Say that to my face next time I'm in the book store, faggot. I bet you won't even dare, because fyi I DO LIFT. I lift so much, this is why I can read Les Miserables in one hand and I can read War & Peace in the other, motherfucker! I could crush you with one glance, faggot, and you'll still be begging to suckle my dick. For ten years I've been waiting for this moment, I work out my mind and body and I'm great at it. I can read multiple books at once in the bookstore if I want to, and I would be able to read the complete works of shakespeare without my arms getting tired. WANNA FUCKING TRY THIS SHIT? Didn't think so, kid. You're not worth it.... faggot. If you wanna get some, i'll fuckin wreck you the fuck out, I bet you only go to bookstores to pick up manga and card game booster packs like a little sissyboy. Go to the cafeteria in school after hours to play D&D or some shit, while I'm flexin, hot af, getting pussy, money and reading 2666 with relative ease. Pussy.

>>9664321
some reviewers are just plain wrong, dude

if i want to make up my own mind on whether i should pick up a book, i'll read the first few pages first. there'll be a selection of books i have in mind but the ones i'll actually buy are the ones i know i'm definitely interested in and not just because i saw a few positive reviews.

>>9664557
Big bookstore chains do.

>>9651834
playing video game store demos in a store is also pretentious

>>9652083
or they could, you know, like the books they are reading

nah that never happens

>>9664843
let's see you say that when someone takes a picture of you reading in public or on the bus and it gets thousands of rethrows. no one is safe in public anymore thanks to cellular phones

>>9654505
>you know I'm right, you're just in denial

that's never a good argument no matter what you are arguing about.

the guy bathes probably because he cares about "not getting diseases" rather than social reasons

>>9652299
that being said even if you don't go outside you should probably not discourage those who do

>>9651834
pointing at someone's college textbook or pleb book and laughing

>>9653147
>the people with their lap-tops hidden in the deep recesses of the store

yep that's me
can't stay away from the internet too long else I get withdrawal

naturally I'm browsing 4chan

>>9652083
>reading=intellectual
Nigger off the starboard bow

>>9653147
Used to work at a Barnes and noble, only thing I'd like to add is that women mostly buy diet books, magazines, and that's literally about it

>>9665976
There are many reviews. You can also get the wrong picture by reading the first few pages.

hey.....are people allowed to just take the books off the shelves and read them there, then put them back?

Holy fuck....no wonder I never buy from book stores. I don't want some book a shut-in dork has handled with his stale jizzed stained hands, pretending to read it because he thinks it makes him look smarter.

Nah.

Sometimes I get left in the bookstore while the person who drove me to the mall goes off to do some other shopping that I'm not interested in, so I find a book I might like to read and sit down in the corner to see if it's any good. When they come back, I either buy the book or I don't and then we go do the shopping I came for, which is usually a pharmacy visit or buying clothes.

I'm epileptic so I usually don't take public transport and go by myself.

>Not reading the entire book in the bookstore.
>Actually paying for the book when you can just sit and read it for free.
What the hell are you doing?

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>tfw speed reader
>go into bookstore
>read entire books in no time
>never buy anything

>>9651834
I just do it when the security is up at my local bookstore.
I'm a cheapass

>>9669066
>go to the libarary
>take a pile of books
>read for 12 hours
>become friend with the cute librarian
>go on a date and we talk about Proust for hours

the /lit/ life is good

>>9669367

That's my dream or either to find a mommy gf who has a big enough library and wouldn't mind me becoming a househusband type figure.

>>9651834
Coding in public might be though