All these books I don't have time to read

All Nines

I have yet to finish Ghost Story and A Feast for Crows, and I got maybe a couple pages into Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell a while back, and maybe a hundred into The Once and Future King. And I have two collections or authors' works (Lovecraft and Vonnegut) sitting around, mostly unread. And the first book in the Mistborn trilogy. And A Dance with Dragons.

What I have accomplished recently are a half-read, half-speedread of Paradise Lost and then The Odessa File yesterday (by the way, the latter is a terrible, terrible book, and if you should happen to hear of it again, don't pay too much heed to it). And I need to read 1984 and write an essay on it by the 8th. And John Grisham's The Appeal later on in December.

And there's a bunch of other books I want to get for Christmas.

But no, I have to finish my lollege essay and hope that it doesn't take too long to get recommendation letters. And the homework isn't gonna stop coming.

-sigh-

Gelzo

I stopped being interested in reading fiction for fun once required readings for school became a real thing.

I guess Homestuck counts, though. I guess I just lost interest in non-visual fiction?

All Nines

I'm not sure if Homestuck counts. It's not really the same as reading a novel.

glennmagusharvey

There's a whole bunch of books in a few bookshelves downstairs that I have yet to read.  Books about politics, books about scientific and technological innovation, books about music topics such as orchestration and music psychology, three holy books, and a ton of magazines' worth of articles.

Gelzo

^^I think INUH did the math on that and figured out that it has a larger word count than some series of books.

The format is definitely different, but the time investment and plot complexity is comparable.

ClockworkUniverse

^I didn't do the math; Andrew Hussie did, somewhere.

And yeah, at this point, Homestuck is an ebook with lots of pictures and occasional tie-in music videos.

gentlemanorcus

I have way too many WWII books I want to read from the library right now, along with trying to finish up the Black Company. I can sympathize. 

All Nines

"The format is definitely different, but the time investment and plot complexity is comparable."

I meant the format; I know that it's a long, complex series. It just doesn't compare to reading a plain novel, from a sensory intake standpoint.

ClockworkUniverse

^It's really more textwalls than anything else now.

AHR

It's more wordy than a comic book, and comic books can be considered novels if they pass the proper word count.

All Nines

^^ Really? Either way, I wouldn't consider it similar to a novel, even if it has a huge word count. If it has images or music at all, it's not the same.

^ I don't see how comics qualify as "novels", either, except if termed "graphic novels".

Am I getting too pedantic about this or what?

Gelzo

Books that have illustrations on the cover aren't novels?

ClockworkUniverse

^^Oh, I wouldn't consider it a novel either. But it's still primarily reading. I definitely don't consider it a webcomic either.

RedEyedAbyss

^^...

Think about what you just said. (Hint: Is the cover part of the actual text?)

AHR

The difference between a graphic novel and a comic is the material it's printed on. 

All Nines

"Books that have illustrations on the cover aren't novels? "

If you want to counter my pedantry with your own, fine. :P

What I meant is that the imagery of Homestuck is, by virtue of its format, pervasive enough that images can be attached to the characters, and you can watch events unfold. With novels, even if great pains are taken by the author to describe characters/events, it's still up to the imagination to make them happen (unless a character described is a definite allusion to some other person/character. Or unless you've watched a particularly faithful movie adaptation or something).

"Think about what you just said. (Hint: Is the cover part of the actual text?)"

That works too.

ClockworkUniverse

All of this ties into my view that media categorizations are far more limited than media themselves are.

All Nines

^ Care to elaborate?

ClockworkUniverse

Basically, ever since the invention of computers, there's been an increasing quantity of media that we just don't have terms for, or that belongs to more than one medium.

All Nines

Ah. I sorta disagree; works can have elements that are similar to other forms of media, but I think they can still primarily be considered to belong to one.

ClockworkUniverse

What medium is Homestuck, then?

AHR

Computer.

Gelzo

The cover isn't part of the text, but it is a part if the book. Though I don't see how illustrations are part of the text in comic books, either.

I try not to be excessively pedantic, but I think it's justified when people give definitions in absolutes. Illustrations in novels aren't anything especially new or rare, and they at times give a visual interpretation of events. This doesn't disqualify it from being a novel.

To me the difference between a novel and a comic is pretty clear cut, since few if any works that I know of attempt to blend the two. Homestuck's genre is ambiguous, but webcomic is the most accepted term.

RedEyedAbyss

"The cover isn't part of the text, but it is a part if the book."

Then please explain to me why the same book can have different covers.

All Nines

"What medium is Homestuck, then?"

I'd still say webcomic. And if I read enough that my decision changed, it would still be into a term that we already have.

"Illustrations in novels aren't anything especially new or rare, and they at times give a visual interpretation of events. This doesn't disqualify it from being a novel."

Fair enough. But I still say that they're a large enough part of Homestuck (not to mention its apparent other aspects) that it doesn't qualify as a novel.

Malkavian

One of the reasons I actually don't want to start the Game of Thrones series is because they're fucking doorstoppers and I'm betting it's probably a dense read, so it's at the point where I wonder what I lose from just watching the TV show.

I still have four more of the Elric saga to get through, Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard, and I just used my B&N giftcard to buy the Savage Tales of Solomon Kane.

All Nines

I've actually felt the urge to stray from fantasy lately, since the last few fantasy works I've read, while engaging from a plot standpoint, were pretty poorly written (The Dresden Files and ASOIAF, mainstream examples though they may be, spring to mind). I'm going to see if ventures into other genres are better, or at least different, in this regard.

DonZabu

>I'm not sure if Homestuck counts. It's not really the same as reading a novel.

Now Achewood on the other hand...

Gelzo

"Then please explain to me why the same book can have different covers."

Put a book on a table, then put a book on the table with the same title and a different cover. You have two books on the table, not one.

The distinction is not an important one, but it is one that exists. Reading a book with a different cover is a different experience, if only a marginal one.

ClockworkUniverse

Put a book on a table, then put a book on the table with the same title and a different cover. You have two books on the table, not one.

Er...that works with the same book with the same cover. So unless you're arguing that one book is actually two...

Malkavian

What exactly are you looking for in writing, Everest? 

My first impulse for people who are venturing into non-fantasy/sci-fi is to recommend The Count of Monte Cristo but considering how bored you were of the animu version that might not be a good idea.

So I'll go with trying out Sherlock Holmes because Sherlock Holmes is awesome.