What is this garbage where every classic book has dozen page 'introduction/preface' by some god-knows literally who rambling about their opinion about the fucking book? I didn't buy Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to read your rambling incoherent BS. The work will speak for itself! Who the fuck ARE these people that write these pre-ambles anyway?
Yeah, fuck that shit.
Imagine having to watch some zoomer youtube video about Super Mario 64 before you can play Super Mario 64! The practice I'm talking about is basically the same fucking thing!
what if youre a zoomer and you play mario 64 and you think it sucks?
>not based on real events
or you just get the copy of the book from that time period
No, it's even worse. Because perhaphs this youtube video talking about Super Mario 64 is what motivates you into buying it. On the other hand, you have ALREADY bought the book. To maintain the videogame allegory, imagine that video is an opening cutscene that plays everytime you open SM64. The purpose of that introduction isn't convincing you to read the book, as you already bought it with that purpose in mind
Nigga just don't read the introduction. Nigga just turn the page.
What if you're reading the sample on your kindle or something and 20% is dedicated to the damn introduction? Now you get to enjoy a whole two pages of the actual book to see if you want to buy it or not.
>imagine that video is an opening cutscene that plays everytime you open SM64.
YOU CAN JUST FLIP THE PAGE
What about getting so tired of commentary about Super Mario 64 that you don't even want to play Super Mario 64... whichdefeats the entire purpose of the teacher talkin bout super mario 64
))experts)), ((professors)), and ~~*(
((publishers*~~)
You’re shockingly bad at using a keyboard
What if the introduction was written by a famous author?
Still don't give a fuck. Not gonna read it.
Why? The value of an author you appreciate can only be found in original works and never in short essays about other people or other topics?
There is no living author who I appreciate.
If you buy cheapo crap editions this isn’t an issue because they cut all unnecessary pages to save cost
hah! good tip, I'll keep that in mind.
i think for older books its important to submerge yourself in the cultural context of that era or it might get really confusing and boring
If you dont like it dont read the introduction. It can be helpful to understanding some complex non fiction works. Or even fiction I guess. I always look up what other people thought about a novel after I finished it.
>read introduction
>ten pages of complaining about racism and sexism before just spoiling the ending
oh yeah, you're right! These wanky "introductions" often spoil the story for fucks sake.
Don't get so upset, anon. The publisher just gave you some kindling as extra swag for buying their print! All it takes is a pair of scissors and a fireplace/pit. Perfect for camping!
I am sure this sounded way cooler in your head.
Elaborate.
It seemed to me that you were trying to make a point in a cool way, and I asserted that you failed by mocking you.
That elaborate enough for ya, m8?
What point do you mean? I'm just trying to be positive so maybe OP won't be so annoyed. Was this supposed to be your epic win zinger for the day or something?
I am OP. I made the thread. I think it is silly that so many classic books have pages, upon pages, upon pages, upon pages.... of commentary in the intro/preface.And it grinds my gears. It's kind of rude and stuff isn't it? You know "I'm gonna waste the readers time with pages.. and ... and ... pages.. and pages of my MY interpretation of the text.!
>write book
>some literal who gets to put their boring garbage in the front of the book before people even get to your real book
>ifs so bad and boring people just put down the book before they even get to the actual beginning of your novel
many such cases
it is true. I just didn't want to read Gatsby because the intro was just this rambling...rambling..rambling...
I figured, well, if this guy likes the book, I don't want to like it!
I think the dude's name is Tony Tanner? He did a good job of making sure I am never reading this shit.
My brother if you don't like rambling I don't think you would've liked gg
Is this because of copyright law somehow? They need to add something to the work.
It is, but not that way exactly.
You work on an older classic, translate it if needed, do some linguistic work on it (corrections, maybe change the way some older words are written if necessary)
Then what you copyright and have the rights on are the introduction, the footnotes, all of that. Potentially the translation as well, but the bulk of your intellectual property is the intro. And if your editorial is known for good editions, then that’s an important part of it.
So what’s giving “value” to your edition is all the critical work being done.
You’ll have editors who’ll publish, for cheaper, a translation or an edition done over 100 years ago since the rights for it will be cheaper.
In my language the introduction is generally done by the translator, when aplicable, and it’s usually someone that’s devoted months, if not years, to that specific author so they’re always pretty interesting. Like one of them writing 10 pages on the potential identity of a semi-anonymous medieval author. Historical context, how it was read back then and the influence it had, that sort of stuff.
Critical editions are meant for studying, not for general enjoying. If you get one, just ignore the intro, if you like the work and want to learn something about it you can read the intro at the end.
ah so a very in-depth explanation of the thing. LULZ never fails to deliver!!
We've had this exact thread so many times it's not all that dissimilar to all those prefaces
They should put it at the end at least.
Putting it at the beginning does feel like they are trying to manufacture some preconceived notions in the reader.
Plus it just makes it annoying to find where the real book actually starts.
You sound like an illiterate fag. Stick to YA novels.
>reading a book written 200 years ago
>someone who's spent a good amount of their life studying the work/author/period tries to give me some context about the writer's personal or social world before i jump into it
>they don't know i have an inherent understanding of literature and will figure out any period specific issues the text is commenting on from the text itself
i fucking hate learning extra shit that might enhance my understanding of a work
I think the issue is that it is before the text, not after it.
Basically the only thing I want to read before the text is perhaps one page that briefly details the author.
Maybe put your big block of shit that literally quotes the text after the text itself?
Let's switch this up. Post introduction authors who are worth reading
Anything R.J. Hollingdale did for one
Post modernism searching for the ultimate truth which there is, if there is a God why is there a God?
I completely agree, OP. I feel bad if I skip the preface, but then I read it and realize that I just wasted my time. This happens every single time. Fuck this shit.
Sometimes they're okay, but I hate when they bring up scholarly debates/obviously hot topic bullshit. "Recently there have been feminist readings that have challenged..." stfu
Worst one I've ever read is the preface to the Bantam Aeneid. Absolute incoherent nonsense. Ideally they should basically only give you the details of the author's life, some notes on the history of the period in which he wrote, and the transmission of the work. 2 pages would suffice for most books.
You can learn to appreciate these, when you know the critics and what they stand.
Spanish literature (specially medieval and Quijote) critics really go ham at each other, basically calling others they don't agree with morons and refuting them, only for the others to answer back. It's very funny. Most of that shows up in literary magazines and articles though, not as frequent in introductions.