je ne sais quoi @curseofmxcbeth - Tumblr Blog

myhairfeelsnice

He cried and cried just to sit on the balcony

ubimelibiapes

Magdalen College, Oxford UK

loumargi

Théodore Chassériau (1819 - 1856)Baigneuse endormie détail.1850,

your-neighbours-cat

I could walk down the halls, and empty rooms would yawn mockingly at me from every side. God, but life is loneliness, despite all the opiates, despite the shrill tinsel gaiety of “parties” with no purpose, despite the false grinning faces we all wear. And when at last you find someone to whom you feel you can pour out your soul, you stop in shock at the words you utter—they are so rusty, so ugly, so meaningless and feele from being kept in the small cramped dark inside you so long. Yes, there is joy, fulfillment and companionship—but the loneliness of the soul in its appalling self-consciousness is horrible and overpowering.

The unabridged journals of Sylvia Plath

dixias

detail at badgley mischka fall 2009

floriianthefool

on longing, romance, and every in-between.

References:

1: painting by Filippo Lippi

2: John Koenig 'The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows'

3: painting by Anthony van Dyck, 'Portrait of Mary and William of Orange'

4: uncertain, will be added once found

5: painting by Luis Caballero

6: 'Elegy for My Sadness' by Chen Chen

7: a fragment of ourselves returning v, 2018 by Beatrice Wanjiku

8: Richard Siken

9: uncertain, will be added once found

10: Tumblr post by @mothicalspoken

11: uncertain, will be added once found

12: Joan Tierney

curseofmxcbeth

Is looking down on "trashy" novels like a colleen hoover book classist?

I see this comment a lot on tiktok, and I don't think so myself. There are ways to expand your taste and circle as someone with less education, who is not as well read, who is poor, someone who is using a second language or as someone who is young.

Sally Rooney's novels are similarly accessible in terms of price, availability, and they're written in plain english. They're also a "young adult" romance, but cover some more advanced themes like self discovery and provide more meaningful dialogue on relationships and mental health. You do not need to read the western literary canon/classics to be well read or refine your tastes (there are significant class divides and accessibility issues in relation to some of these texts).

There is poetry available free online that contains more advanced literary devices, meaningful content, and food for thought than the wattpad-esque smutty fiction of booktok.

Reading purely for entertainment is still reading. And there is always a place for books that are just entertainment but some texts in terms of complexity, meaningful content, and the art of the writing some texts are above others.

full-timemuse

I’ve said quite a while ago that I literally abhor CoHo and actually refuse to read her work. However, I would never go as far as proclaiming to “look down upon it” or to call it “trashy.”

What you have seemingly failed to realize is that “taste” and “refinement” are subjective, yet you’re propositioning your argument as if the two are generalities. There is no generally or universally accepted standard of what “refined” or “good taste” actually entails, and the most commonly espoused standard (which is, again, still not universal) is incredibly one-dimensional and archaic in nature.

Why are you so hell-bent on drawing a dichotomy between books? You claim that “some are above others” but again, that’s subjective. Even if there were some objective standard to apply here, why exactly would it matter anyway? What exactly was your point in asserting such? Why do you feel compelled to remind others that your choice in reading material is “above” theirs? These aren’t rhetorical questions either. I’m imploring you to do some self-reflection and then get back to me.

You all use the most trivial and asinine things to try and convince yourselves that you’re superior to others. This pretentious, faux-elitist attitude that you all propagate is fooling no one. It’s a hallmark testimony to your piss poor self-esteem, and comically enough, you all don’t even have enough self-awareness to recognize this.

curseofmxcbeth

r: Why do you feel compelled to remind others that your choice in reading material is “above” theirs?

I read plenty of "trash" literature myself, and you're not a worse or better person for reading "good" or "bad" books. I read plenty of shit books and haven't touched probably 70% of the western literary canon.

what I mean by some books are above others is that the art of the literature, the quality of the writing, and the quality of the content. There is obviously nuance in what IS good writing, and no clear line of what's bad writing or good/bad taste. This tumblr post is 100x worse than a published non-fiction journal paper that has been reviewed, edited, and researched.

If you want to be "well read" there's a lot to read, I personally am not that well read in the scheme of everything. But to argue online that disliking beach reads/romcom novels/etc. is classist is ridiculous./ claiming the lower classes cannot understand more complex or older literature is ridiculous.

letsbelonelytogetherr

— Mary Oliver

leatherandmossprints

‘The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets over the Dead Bodies of Romeo and Juliet’ by Frederic Leighton, c. 1855.

Is looking down on "trashy" novels like a colleen hoover book classist?

I see this comment a lot on tiktok, and I don't think so myself. There are ways to expand your taste and circle as someone with less education, who is not as well read, who is poor, someone who is using a second language or as someone who is young.

Sally Rooney's novels are similarly accessible in terms of price, availability, and they're written in plain english. They're also a "young adult" romance, but cover some more advanced themes like self discovery and provide more meaningful dialogue on relationships and mental health. You do not need to read the western literary canon/classics to be well read or refine your tastes (there are significant class divides and accessibility issues in relation to some of these texts).

There is poetry available free online that contains more advanced literary devices, meaningful content, and food for thought than the wattpad-esque smutty fiction of booktok.

Reading purely for entertainment is still reading. And there is always a place for books that are just entertainment but some texts in terms of complexity, meaningful content, and the art of the writing some texts are above others.