What do you do with a book when the writing is good but the premise is dreadfully old fashioned?

Submitted by frangipaniplumeria t3_y0ca90 in books

I mean, yeah, I understand period-typical prejudices exist. I can stomach them, most of the time. But then I started reading this monster of a book with almost 100 short stories. I'm halfway through, and seriously considering giving up.

The writing is really, really beautiful. Which isn't surprising - the author's a nobel laureate, for God's sake - but the plots are getting more and more racist, misogynistic and frankly gross (or maybe it was always like this. The prejudices are rather subtle. It's possible I didn't notice it one year ago).

The last story I read turned out to be a romance tale between a 9 year old girl and a boy of 16.

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fuestles t1_irr1ckp wrote

if you don't like something, no matter how beautifully written, just stop reading it. you aren't "giving up," you are simply not dedicating any more of your free time to something you don't enjoy.

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ForeverAdventures t1_irr06ss wrote

If the story elements are making it so you cannot enjoy the book then i would stop reading it. There is too much to read out there to read something you have a negative feeling towards.

I understand the desire to get out of your comfort zone and confront ideologies that run in opposition to your own or to today's norms. Especially since those ideologies have not truly died and it is possible to encounter them in daily life but if you dread opening the book don't.

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ldybg31 t1_irr2g11 wrote

I had a booked that I loved back about 15 yrs ago. I decided to pick it up and read it again recently and found that there were a number of scenes that I didn’t remember being so cringy. I continued after the 1st two gross passages and then ended up quitting the book and ultimately donated it. It was on my shelf for years and I really like it so many yrs ago…. Times change. Too much negativity nowadays. Move onto something that makes you feel good.

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AnarkittenSurprise t1_irr3zxr wrote

Anymore, if I'm not really feeling a book (or show/movie for that matter) after giving it a sincere effort while I was in a good headspace to read it, I close it.

There's too much amazing content for us to move on and discover to waste time on something that isn't resonating.

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cr0wj4ne t1_irrbgzw wrote

I don't feel like I need to finish books just because I started them or like I am obligated to finish a book because the writing is good if I find the book itself upsetting/uncomfortable/etc. You're not going to gain anything positive from exposure to misogyny, racism, etc., and no one's keeping score of how many ~classics~ you read or whatever. I'd put this book down and find something that both has good writing and isn't gross af.

I feel like overall, there is sometimes an attitude on this sub that life is like school and we have to finish books if we start them b/c we'll get in trouble if we don't, but really, it is always fine to put down a book for literally any reason.

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Puzzled-Barnacle-200 t1_irrxdh1 wrote

Why are you reading it? If you're reading it purely for fun, and it's not providing that, then stop. If you are reading to study beautiful prise then it may still have value.

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Nodbot t1_irryojb wrote

Which author?

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frangipaniplumeria OP t1_irs265h wrote

Rabindranath Tagore, which I don't know why is spelled like this. It's pronounced more like Robindronath Thakur. (If any Bengali is reading this, please don't kill me. And the mentioned story is অতিথি from গল্পগুচ্ছ।)

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TFTilted t1_irswl93 wrote

Not everything has to be about racism, sexism, and social justice. It's okay to forget about that stuff for a second and just be a human being. You are not obligated to participate in the outrage Olympics.

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frangipaniplumeria OP t1_iruv0mk wrote

I'm sorry if my post reads like I'm feeling obliged to be outraged by the prejudices.

As a brown female living in a religious (sometimes to the point of terrorism), racist and misogynistic society, it's impossible for me not to be triggered when a character's beauty is explained by the "whiteness" of their skin, as much as I'm, unfortunately, used to these. I don't feel like I'm always have to be aware of racism, sexism or social injustice, no, I'm by default always aware of these.

But if I have to boycott all the prejudiced Bengali books, there'd be hardly anything left for me from the past centuries. I don't want that. So I actively try to shallow the bitterness down if a book is particularly enlightening.

In case of this book... well, it usually has a place on every Bengali's reading list, and for good reasons. In fact, I've never heard anyone complain about it before. I'd really like to finish it, too. But then something comes up and creeps me out.

I posted the question here to know if anyone had similar experience . When you really want to read a book, but the casual prejudices bother you.

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McBrujo t1_irv2lwy wrote

I think the other way around is worse. I don't know what are you reading, but we can put some easy examples, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein to say something, In it's time it was a scifi book that people could genuinely be afraid of, but nowadays is just not believable. But what makes it interesting in my opinion is that it is a portrait of the historical context, that let us see what was normal back then. Imagine reading about a real state seller who is about to give up on a important sale just because people is superstitious, and how different it feels now that everyone knows who that Count Dracula guy is...

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barbzilla1 t1_irrbcks wrote

It depends, if the writing is legitimately good I may still enjoy the book. However, if the writing is just decent, I probably will give the book a pass

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TotallyNotABot369 t1_irrzde6 wrote

That last story is ick. I would drop it like a hot potato and never look back!

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albertossic t1_irv3a0m wrote

Wait so which is it? Is the prejudice so strong and disgusting you can hardly bring yourself to read it or is it so subtle that you didn't even notice it the first time you read the stories??

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