D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

[Paul Farquhar]

I said as much in a thread on this very forum, and was basically told "no, that's just because you're an aging millennial, modern kids are way cynical and you're out of touch."

They are cynical about what’s in the news, that’s for sure. I don’t think it always carries over to taste in fiction though.

 

[Reynard]

I mean, it depends. Is it literally reading? No, but it is still consuming literature, which has most of the same enriching effects. It probably does contribute to the ongoing erosion of our attention spans - our tolerance for inactivity dwindles the more we keep ourselves constantly active. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I consume a lot of audiobooks due to a significant commute, and I read physical books less than I would like due to professional and educational demands on my time and my mental bandwidth. I really like audiobooks, but one thing I missing about the act of reading is the ability to reread a passage to really interrogate it.

I'm an engineer now but my first degree is in English literature, so...

 

[Charlaquin]

I said as much in a thread on this very forum, and was basically told "no, that's just because you're an aging millennial, modern kids are way cynical and you're out of touch."

I’m also an aging millennial, so maybe I’m also out of touch for not seeing the cynicism of modern kids. I mean, it’s certainly true that people are very cynical these days. But I think it’s also true that sincerity in media is making a comeback. Of course, most media is made by adults, so the rise in sincerity is probably coming from millennial and older gen Z creators.

 

[TiQuinn]

I mean, it depends. Is it literally reading? No, but it is still consuming literature, which has most of the same enriching effects. It probably does contribute to the ongoing erosion of our attention spans - our tolerance for inactivity dwindles the more we keep ourselves constantly active. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Maybe attention span for reading itself, but I think it's requires its own attention span that is different from watching something like a quick cut YouTube video with its multitude of edits and people speaking at what feels like 2x speed.

 

[Charlaquin]

Maybe attention span for reading itself, but I think it's requires its own attention span that is different from watching something like a quick cut YouTube video with its multitude of edits and people speaking at what feels like 2x speed.

Oh, absolutely!

 

[TiQuinn]

I consume a lot of audiobooks due to a significant commute, and I read physical books less than I would like due to professional and educational demands on my time and my mental bandwidth. I really like audiobooks, but one thing I missing about the act of reading is the ability to reread a passage to really interrogate it.

I'm an engineer now but my first degree is in English literature, so...

Our summer vacation is usually going to the beach, and my sole goal is to crank through as many books as I possibly can while sitting there in the sand. It's the most relaxed I am all year long.

 

[Umbran]

I wonder if this has anything to do with audiobooks.

A good question - the piece I linked above didn't seem to clearly say if they differentiated between written or audio formats or not, so I couldn't say for sure.

But these days, when I find news about the topic, they usually don't - listening to an audio book is still "reading" it, and consumption numbers are combined. My local library sure doesn't care which format I take my literature in.

 

[Distracted DM]

I find it interesting how non-chalantly Howard's racism is dismissed by some...

And what's an example of what would meet your standards for saying one enjoyed reading the works while acknowledging their problems?

 

[Imaro]

And what's an example of what would meet your standards for saying one enjoyed reading the works while acknowledging their problems?

Why? If I tell you will it change how you acknowledge the racism in his stories?

EDIT: Hint: I can tell by how you typed the question out you aren't interested in engaging in a real dialogue about it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Most of the original stories are dull and cliche. Although it did invent the cliche.

About two are good though.

I would push back on this. Obviously it is a matter of taste, but Howard is one of those writers that I find holds up on repeat readings years later. I also think he is much easier for a modern reader to absorb than many of the other writers from that era (simply on the prose front). Yes, these are cliches now, and I am not terribly interested in whether he invented them or was imitating someone else. But if one did invent a cliche, I don't think one can really critique the work for being so (just to mention Frankenstein again this would be like complaining that Frankenstein has the 'tired trop of the mad scientist'. I also would say there isn't anything necessarily wrong with cliches and tropes. Genres are often built on them, and you can have a novel full of cliches that is thrilling at every turn because the writer has a good command of their craft. Sometimes going after tropes and trying to do a fresh take becomes dull too (I found His Dark Materials very boring because it just seemed to be a diatribe against Narnia: and I am not even a big Narnia fan as I found those books a little on the dull side as well). I did like Pullman's descriptions but that was about all I really appreciated reading him. I think both these approaches (being new and original, embracing cliches), can be equally entertaining. It really comes down to how good the writing itself is, how interested the writer can make me in their characters, and how much I gel with the writer's personality on the page

But when it comes to Howard I really like his writing style. It always keeps me engaged. And anytime I read one of his stories, I come away feeling very inspired to create something myself (whereas when I read Sanderson, this isn't my response: and that isn't a criticism of Sanderson, it is just my reaction). I have a number of Conan Volumes and I have to say, they are some of the stories I pull off the shelf more than any other because they are reliably good. If they don't do anything for people fair. But I do think the Conan stories have a lot of value for fantasy fans