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tetractys_gnosys t1_j2ak3uu wrote

Reply to comment by captainhowdy82 in 4chan /lit/'s 2022 top 100 books of all time by pizzapastamix

If you've never enjoyed metaphysics, philosophy, religion, ethics, mythology, or the esoteric, then you're not gonna get much from it. If you are into those themes, it's great.

The rediscovered Book or Enoch is a trip that I highly recommend everyone check out. If The Bible usually brings to mind dry, bland, and rambling 'be good boy or smite and hellfire', Enoch is like the Hunter S Thompson side tale.

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captainhowdy82 t1_j2aypw7 wrote

I enjoy those themes and I still disagree that it’s “great.” Like it’s literally not enjoyable to read for long stretches.

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KimBrrr1975 t1_j2bb8vt wrote

I agree, but I also think a lot of my dislike for it comes from being unable to detach from all the awfulness. I can love The Illiad and The Odyssey but they didn't directly contribute to millennia of war and death and destruction. The Bible did, and continues to do so. I can't read it as a story because it's just way too loaded. I knew it was BS (in terms of being "the truth") by the time I was like 7, so thinking I can let go of all that brainwashing via Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Confirmation that I was forced into just isn't realistic. I want to be able to read it from a clean slate. Just not possible.

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WholeBeautiful4194 t1_j2cadjj wrote

The Odyssey and the Iliad are joys to read. Besides a handful of the old testament, the plot isn't interesting and the prose is specifically proselytizing which is unenjoyable to most ppl

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tetractys_gnosys t1_j2bt62t wrote

Yeah that's understandable. I've noticed that people who grow up with the same kinda deal as you (the shitty aspects of Christianity/religion/Bible), if they want to rebel against their upbringing or culture, will be attracted to memes (in the technical sense) that're antagonistic towards it (mall goth Satanism, Instagram occult), which is fine but the tragic part is that people are conditioned in a way to not be able to enjoy what value it does have.

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laconicflow t1_j2bvzpq wrote

Well first, enjoyable isn't great, enjoyable is enjoyable. Second. A lot of times if you aren't used to a specific style or genre, you won't like it. I am not a religious person, but the bible was the go to book for oh, fifteen generations of people. It is surely, along with Shakespeare, the book that's influenced writers in English the most. And its ethics are pounded so deep into the bones of our society we don't notice how deep they go.

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captainhowdy82 t1_j2c69np wrote

I’m not denying that it’s influential. Of course it is. I’m saying it’s not great. It’s full of bullshit.

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tetractys_gnosys t1_j2bsr99 wrote

I mean hey that's the way of opinions. I am able to enjoy the ideas and themes of the content itself regardless of the quality of the medium to a degree. But not everyone is wired like that. Some people can enjoy reading it for long stretches and some don't have the patience or time. The Bible is regarded as it is because of what it carries, not for the dissonance of writing styles millennia apart. To each their own!

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Bon-_-Ivermectin t1_j2ekq9p wrote

IDK I think literature/art generally can and often does have value outside of just being entertaining, enjoyable, or even accessible. I feel like being involved in the arts is good for you, like, on a soul-level pretty much so when I hear takes like this it just sounds like an adult say they refuse to eat vegetables or something

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captainhowdy82 t1_j2f3o6s wrote

Wait a second… are you saying that because I don’t think The Bible is a good book, that means that I don’t like “the arts” and I’m therefore not a real adult?

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