Salomé
meh
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2008
- Messages
- 10,527
- MBTI Type
- INTP
- Enneagram
- 5w4
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/sp
I'm the opposite. I didn't care much for English/Lit at school (although I excelled at it), but now I wish I'd studied it at an advanced level. I seldom enjoy literature merely as entertainment - I'm fascinated much more by what is between the lines than the lines themselves. I'm not particularly interested in plot or characters or even style - though style matters most in holding my attention - for me good literature is parabolic and gestures at the universal and eternal.I can appreciate things that I can understand from a first person pov but I don't have the patience or inkling to work through word for word to gain understanding. English was my least favourite subject at school, I really love reading and enjoyed creative writing as a youngster but only because I enjoy interpreting something in my head with my own understanding and getting captivated in another reality, that usually has nothing to do with the "deeper meaning" that literature is supposed to have. Understanding the deeper meaning can add to the story (eg Animal Farm) or kill a book (eg Romeo and Juliet) for me, so I prefer not to try to interpret what the writer means but to just experience it.
Poetry I don't get. I try but I can't. For me dissecting it takes away the beauty and enjoyment.
Absolutely. Although there is also a lot of dross too which manages to get an airing. The Emperor still has no clothes.Language is powerful. I don't find anything trivial about literature, and poetry is not merely someone else's distant fantasy. Words can convey ideas, and a well written poem could (and probably has) inspire(d) change or expanded knowledge. Additionally, poetry connects people, as it allows us to relate to the thoughts and experiences of someone else through certain common aspects of our humanity.
I used to hate attempting to analyze/interpret poetry until a fantastic teacher taught me to do it properly and it changed my entire view. She showed me how poetry is not just open to "everybody's" flimsy interpretation of what it means, but there is a specific way to uncover more concrete meanings by creating a boundary using only what can be proven and pulled from the text itself.
Now I'm fascinated and amazed by the genius and creativity of poets. They have hidden amazing messages for us to find within words, like a hunt for treasure. There's a reason good poetry is published--it's not just a collection of nice sounding words. There is a lot of depth there, but you have to know how to find it. Even if you don't enjoy that analyzing/interpreting process, once you fully see how it works, I don't think you can help but appreciate it.
(See - this is part of the beauty of literature, children's literature, at that - the ability to compact an entire landscape of thought into a borrowed phrase - even if that phrase becomes a cliche.)
Density is a such a turn-on.
All of this is true for me, too.I'm also very much drawn to symbolism, metaphor, and other figures of speech. I enjoy subtleties and nuances. Things which are too literal and/or direct can lose the full meaning and seem too "black & white". I especially appreciate when something is very simple, yet says a lot, as that is a difficult feat.
Things which have no additional layer of meaning get stale for me quickly. I may enjoy it as a novelty, but if there's no resonating of truth, then it's not likely to impress me. It doesn't have to be extremely profound though; I'm not a snob
There's also a great feeling when you understand the author's sentiments. It feels as if someone else came close to voicing how you feel or you actually understand a feeling you haven't felt, and so you're a little less alienated from the world.