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/lit/ - Literature

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1467626 No.1467626 [Reply] [Original]

Just overheard this argument in a big store. The man was grey-haired and probably in his fifties, the woman worked at the till and was in her mid thirties...

>man: do you guys have the Illiad?
>woman: the Illiad? Hmmmm, who's the author?
>man: ...Homer
>woman: Homer what?
>man: just Homer
>woman: what genre would it be?
>man: it's a classic

he was obviously quite irritated and I was knocking my head against the book shelf nearby. Anyway, any stories of people who are quite ignorant or stories about bookstores?

>> No.1467632

>genre
>classic
well, that old fart is also not quite bright

>> No.1467631

...dear God.

>> No.1467643

>>1467632
That's probably where it would be filed in the catalogue that cunt was searching.

>> No.1467650

Same thing happened to me when I asked if they had anything by Stendhal...not as bad as Homer though.

>> No.1467653
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1467653

>>1467626
Just awful. She really had no idea?

>> No.1467651

People who work in bookstores are not obligated to know about every book in the same way those at Mcdonalds are not obligated to know how to cook.

Maybe she was the teen lit specialist. Lets face it, if he had said 'that book about troy w/brad pitt' maybe she would have understood. World does not revolve around your classics, faggot.

>> No.1467663

i work in a bookstore, i'm familiar with the fiction section and history sections but I'm sure someone on /a/ would be complaining about me because

>fucking retard didn't know what chibi vampire was! uguh!

it does get annoying when no one knows how to look for books on the computers provided so i have to do it for them

>> No.1467664

>>1467651
So this is like Fordism applied to litterature.
Employees with no vocation, trained quick and dirty.
Might as well Amazon.

>> No.1467665

>>1467632
he said "a classic." that's not implying genre so much as exasperation. like if i say "hey do you have The Backstreet Boys?" and you go "um...what type of book is it?" and i say "it's a fucking Boy Band."

>> No.1467670

>>1467651

If you're unfamiliar with The Iliad and Homer you have no business being in possession of a high school diploma, let alone holding a position (albeit a low level one) in the culture industry.

>> No.1467672

>>1467664

Indeed you might as well. It would be cheaper too.

I doubt many literature graduates would be fighting for a position as a book store drone, its little more than stacking and ringing up books. Its a place to buy literature, not to contribute to the field.

>> No.1467679

>>1467670

Because the Illiad and Homer are the be all and end all of the culture industry? I admit its an important work, but no one can be expected to know all important works, and i don't see how not knowing this one is detrimental to anything other than the old guy's time.

>> No.1467682

>trying to have conversation with a fellow student
>so engrossed with his new cell phone he doesn't answer me
>tell him you know Thoreau said we become enslaved to our possessions
>He doesn't respond
>you know who Thoreau is don't you
>he doesn't know

>> No.1467685

>first week at college I run CC
>We are walking a course at an invitational
>Mention someone named virgil
>me:What his name is Virgil
>them:Yeah
>me:Like the author
>them:who?
>Me:the guy who wrote the Aneid
>What's that
>Never mind

>> No.1467706

>>1467682
why should anybody know that shithead?
and why would a normal person know about Virgil?

it's just not something normal people come across.

>> No.1467711

Protip, there was no old guy, it was OP trying to pseud on the whole book store by loudly asking for Classic literature. The store clerk trolled OP hard by pretending not to know the book. She will laugh hard at OP during her next book group.

>> No.1467720

>>1467682

ahahah im just imagining someone trying to ignore some skinny pasty nerd and the nerd keeps leaning over and saying stupid retarded bullshit and then coming home and making this fucking post

>> No.1467721

>>1467706
We covered Thoreau in American Lit in high school. He has influenced Ghandi and MLK with civil disobedience, and he tries to end the debate between anti- and transcendentalist.

I can see why some people wouldn't know who Virgil is but I think it's like not knowing who Poe, Newton, Galileo,...

>> No.1467726

>>1467721

nearly everyone doesnt cover thoreau. virgil is ten times more well known than thoreau. poe newton + galileo are twice as famous as virgil

>> No.1467739

>>1467670
>mfw I come on /lit/ first time in ages caus of /new/ being gutted and read this
>mfw I have no face to describe how stupid this post was

>> No.1467740

>>1467632
It's part of classics. Problem?

>> No.1467744

>>1467670
If you're unfamiliar with the laws of Thermodynamics (which is really Shakespeare level comparably), you have no business having a High School diploma.

>> No.1467748

>>1467721
>Newton, Galileo (people who actually contributed to making human beings better off)
>Some random faggot that wrote about how unfair shit is

Yep, basically the same

>> No.1467754
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1467754

>>1467685
I don't remember the episode with the Aeneid. In fact I don't remember any book writing in Thunderbirds at all.

>> No.1467788

>>1467685
Virgil and Homer are on slightly different levels of renown if we're all perfectly honest...

>> No.1467936

OP here, a similar example (but is /mu/ related)

>watching news, goes on about anniversary of John Lennon's death
>housemate asks me who John Lennon is
>ask him if he's serious
>he has no clue who John Lennon is

Once I fully explained it he still took some time to work out who the Beatles are. I just think Homer (maybe not his specific works) and John Lennon are such common knowledge if you're an adult that I cannot understand how you may never have heard of them. It doesn't make them stupid but either quite ignorant or very sheltered.

>> No.1468044

None of my teachers until gymnasium(Danish equivalent for Senior Highschool or so.) had ever heard of the The Divine Comedy. It was impossible for a fifteen year old boy to get any feedback on literature, since the teachers job was to nurture us..

>> No.1468059

Was at Borders the other day and bought a huge stack stuff like The Idiot and some philosophy books. Some awesome British dude was at the checkout and was pretty much like "Damn, these are all some awesome books. Glad you aren't into that manga stuff."

Old British dude just fucking TOLD all you weeaboo fags on this board.

>> No.1468078

okay guys this literally just happened.
>sat in uni at a pc typing away at my essay
>guy walks towards me with a graphic tee on
>notice i've seen the graphics before
>its a pic of bret easton ellis, the guiy who wrote american psycho
>he sits opposite me, cant see him coz of computer screen, just part of his head.
>his friend is there, from the convo i got that he was a lit student
>yo man nice tee, didnt know you like him?
>what?
>your tee shirt man, you read American Psycho?
>you mean the movie?
>nonono the book, you're wearing a pic of the author...
>what? this guy?
>yeah he wrote American Psycho?
>there's a book of that?
>...

the friend just started with his work

>> No.1468383

>>1468078
Where do you go to Uni?

>> No.1468412

>>1468078
>guy has fun at brownbear's expense
>brownbear falsely thinks he's superior
>guy gets brownbear to go away (win)
>brownbear posts events to "friends" on-line (lose)

>> No.1468436

Why is it I never seem to see this stuff...?

Oh yeah! Cause I don't look for it, don't notice it, apparently didn't care if I ever have, and so don't remember it.

Stupid people will be stupid, and there's a lot of them. Plus, to make matters even trickier, stupid people can open up intelligent books, scan them with their eyes, follow basic plot and prose elements, and still be reading a stupid book.

>> No.1468437

ITT: Make fun of people who actually care about literature.

>> No.1468450

>>1467664
Everyone who works in a book store should know every book ever.

>> No.1468466

>>1468450
I go to this one used book store, where the person who runs it knows every book in her store, about the author, and can talk about every book. I don't see why one can't know their stock well. If they want to see it, they should know the product.

>> No.1468467

Sort of happened to me, I asked for The Divine Comedy and the woman didn't know what it was

>> No.1468472

>>1467739
>/new/ poster
Get out, we don't want that shit spilling onto this board

>> No.1469652
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1469652

I went in a library and requested this and the librarian had plainly never heard of it and was even sniggering at the surname Dick.

>> No.1469819

perhaps she was in charge of the erotica and porn alley or something.

...scary tale, broseph.

>> No.1469835

Related to OP, I get this all the time

Customer: Do you have Homer's Odyssey?
Me: Oh, yeah, it's back here in poetry. Wait, did you mean the Greek mythology one or the blind cat one?
Customer: There's a Greek mythology one?

I mean, where do they think the name came from? I don't get it.

>> No.1469849

>>1469835
Wait, what's the blind cat one?

>> No.1469858
File: 1.46 MB, 1556x2400, Homers_Odyssey_trade_ppbk.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1469858

>>1469849

>> No.1469860
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1469860

>>1469849

>> No.1469869

>>1469849

I hear it's touching and one not to miss.

>> No.1469878

>>1469835

is it a good read?

>> No.1469886

>>1469878

I've never read it. It's very popular, but so is everything Glenn Beck writes, so...

>> No.1469935

I thought Homer's Odyssey was generally stored under the name of the translator due to the fact that no one truly knows who Homer is.

>> No.1469938

this isn't a classic like atlas shrug or paradise lost that aren't all that well known to the general public. this is the iliad and if that didnt ring a bell then homer should have. sure its ancient shit but c'mon even the porn specialist should remember this shit from high school

>> No.1469969

>>1468383
>>1468383
university of manchester

>>1468412
>>1468412
he got me to go away? he was sat in front of me with his friend doing work still
also how was it fun at my expense when it was a conversation i overheard?

you're just sillly

>> No.1469985

>>1469935

that would be retarded

>> No.1469984

>>1469938

people should have heard about paradise lost

>> No.1470012

I met someone in the pub the other day who didn't know who pac man was.
Guys. It happens

>> No.1470020

>>1470012
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNO. THIS IS TERRIBLE AND A CLEAR SIGN THAT WE LIVE IN DOOMED TIMES. WE THE ELITE MUST KEEP LEARNING ALIVE. DAMN THE MASSES, DAMN THEM ALL.

>> No.1470031

>>1467706
he was in COLLEGE. i learned about Virgil sophomore year when we had to recognize his contributions to the background of Oedipus Rex.

>> No.1470037

>>1470020
Fortunately I have read every classic book ever in the original language. All of them. I'm sure anyone here who isn't a refugee has at least read all of the classics. There are only a few thousand, and it's not like Homer's Greek is even that hard or uses an esoteric vocabulary.

>> No.1470153

>>1469869

"touching" books are for fucking pussies

so, if you are a fucking pussy I highly recommend you read this books

>> No.1470231

>>1470153
You've clearly never read One Hundred Days of Sodom.
I couldn't *stop* touching myself.

>> No.1470238

>>1470231
what does that have to do with anything?

oh god my brain hurts what is he saying

>> No.1470241

>>1470231
I hear if you read that, they put you in the Bastille, where you can touch yourself all day long

>> No.1470253

>>1470238
I deliberately misunderstood the meaning of 'touching' and gave an example of a book that wasn't for pussies and...

Why am I even explaining this?

>> No.1470260

>>1470253
oh god my brain still hurts but not because I can't understand you, but because I feel dumb

>> No.1470275

>>1470253
Cuz newfags cannot into subtext.

It's cool, everyone else got it and found it amusing.

>> No.1470283

>>1470260
It's cool, don't worry about it!

>> No.1470290

>>1467664
Go to the Strand. You have to take a lit test to work there. I failed it. (I'm not a fucking English major ok?)

>> No.1470295

> at bookstore
> hey do you have Hamlet
> Hamlet? who's it by?
> Shakespeare
> Shakespeare who?
> William Shakespeare
> hmm never heard of him, let me check the computer

you all probably think I'm lying. but this really did happen.

>> No.1470334

>>1470295

Given earlier posts, I believe you.
It's even more shocking than not knowing pac man (>>1470012) though. I mean, Shakespeare's the most well know English author, right? Even people who don't know who wrote Harry Potter, the God Delusion etc. have heard of Shakespeare, right? Right?

>> No.1470417

> me: omg so what was your fav part of twilight? mine was the part with the vampires and the romance.
> friend: twilight? what's that?
> me: omg kidding? only the best literature ever written.
> friend: leave me alone I'm trying to read homer
> me: omg the Simpson stopped being good 10 years ago

seriously

>> No.1470430

Two things I wanted to do when working in a bookstore:

"Can you show me where the self-help section is?"
"If I did that, it would defeat the purpose."

Also, move the bibles to Fiction.

>> No.1470437

>>1469858
>>1469860
lolwut

>> No.1470438

>>1470417
u trolling?

Why would those people be friends?

>> No.1470451

>>1470037
>Implying there are thousands of books at the Illiad notoriety level.
Nope

>> No.1470448

Harry Potter, the God delusion, Shakespeare...that sequence....

i want to fucking kill you

>> No.1470450

>>1467626
Every Boarders Express.

>> No.1470457
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1470457

I bought an ass-ton of books and posted them on facebook to show everyone how deep I am for tackling several books at once. One of them was Fahrenheit 451.

I received a comment that said, "The only book I recognize is Fahrenheit 911. Such a good book."

>> No.1470466

>>1470448
Those two were meant to be an example of popular shit. The sort of thing that someone who hasn't been within a mile of Shakespeare might read.
Sorry if it made you throw up a little - I had reservations about allowing them to share the same post, believe me.

>> No.1470475

>>1470451
Also
>>Implying (s)he can read Greek
I call bullshit

>> No.1470480

>>1470457
is... is Farenheit 911 a book?
I thought it was a film by that fat twat, who takes some interesting truths and then distorts and exaggerates them beyond reason.
I think his name is Michael MoorI'mabigfattwat

>> No.1470483

No. Everyone knows about the Harry Potter books. Even though they suck so bad that the movies were a major improvement - ootp totally went where the author should have gone.

Some people just don't read and have willfully blocked out their English class memories, because English class sucks in high school.

Unless you have an incredibly lucky combination of a good teacher and a school willing to let her do what she wants to. Which I did. In AP Eng Lang. Difficulty bar is set pretty high.

Though really, there are so many books that are way better than Harry Potter, don't require a translation, and cover the same topics she attempts to address. HP makes me grimace.

>> No.1470493

>>1470475
Well, every classics book would be: Ancient Greek (several dialects); Latin (also several dialects/variations; Ancient Egyptian; Persian; Sumerian and then probably, Ancient Hebrew, Arabic and Sanskrit.

>> No.1470496

>>1470483
Yeah, but not everyone knows that the author is J. K. Rowling. I.. I kind of wish I didn't.

Hang on.. 'JK'?

Is Harry Potter just an epic troll post?

>> No.1470510

>>1470430
If I ever catch you reshelving books out of order in my Boarders I will toss you out on your fucking ear.

>> No.1470512

>>1470493
Also Spanish (Don Quixote), Italian (The Divine Comedy), French (can't think of the 'most obvious' work or writer, but, e.g. Voltaire), German (Goethe), Gobbledygook (Finnegan's Wake) etc..

>> No.1470528

>>1470512
Shit, that person's getting way more impressive as this thread goes on.
Also Chinese and Japanese (old Japanese, since Tale of Genji). And Norse, Old and Middle English.

>> No.1470539

HBP was epic troll fodder. but if it was an epic troll post itself, it failed miserably. It bored me half to death. The whole 'lets spoil the book by giving away the ending' didn't even work on me, because the author broadcasted the ending within the first twenty pages. Foreshadowing fail. If you want rather awesome foreshadowing from something popular and supposedly mindless, go watch POTC2.

>> No.1470558

This thread is now about people who don't know irrelevant trivia that they actually should know, because.... noreason.

>Taking French class outside regular school
>Guy sitting next to me is a diplomat
>Break time, I try to make conversation
>So, you're a diplomat?
>Yes.
>How do you feel about Julian Assange?
>Who?
>Julian Assange. You know, Cablegate, leaked diplomatic correspondences, huge buzz in the media.
>I don't know, sorry.
>mfw awkward


I suppose it's not as bad as Shakespeare or Homer, but still, ffs, if you're a diplomat, isn't it almost a requirement to follow the news?

>> No.1470568

>>1470558
Plausible deniability:
>I have no recollection of any cables.

>> No.1470583

>>1470528
I'm kind of in awe of him now too. He must also be a pretty good mathematician (Euclid, Godel's incompleteness theorems proofs) and a musician (Beethoven's symphonies).


Not to mention how many different alphabets these languages use... shiiiiiiiiiit

>> No.1470602

I don't have any book stories because I'm not a complete pretentious asshat who isn't understanding of the average person's disinterest/lack of knowledge in literature.

>YOU DON'T KNOW WHO DOSTOEVSKY IS OMG WHAT AN UNCULTURED PLEBEIAN!

>> No.1470606

>>1470602
... why are you on /lit/ if you don't own any books?

>> No.1470611

>>1470606
Ever hear of a library card?

Books aren't trophies to be mounted on a shelf, you stupid fucks.

>> No.1470613

>>1470602
>DOSTOEVSKY
Wtf is that?

>> No.1470616

>>1470606
Why are you on /lit/ if you can't read?

>> No.1470631

>>1470616

Why are you on /lit/?

>> No.1470649

>>1470606
Nor are they conquests, to be read and then disposed of. You can dip into them, reread them, write in them, share them more easily if you own them.
So, yeah, by no means to I own all the books I've read, but - not even a few? Really? I just find that weird, though I do see where you're coming from.

Except with the 'pretentious twat' thing. People are allowed to find things surprising, surely?

>> No.1470660

>>1470649
oh. Also - yeah. I am a fucktard. I thought 'book stories' was a weird way of you saying 'novels'. Fuck me, I made a fool of myself there

>> No.1470661

>>1470613

a polish real estage agent.