idk who needs to hear this but when your english teacher asks you to explain why an author chose to use a specific metaphor or literary device, it’s not because you won’t be able to function in real-world society without the essential knowledge of gatsby’s green light or whatever, it’s because that process develops your abilities to parse a text for meaning and fill in gaps in information by yourself, and if you’re wondering what happens when you DON’T develop an adult level of reading comprehension, look no further than the dizzying array of examples right here on tumblr dot com

this post went from 600 to 2400 notes in the time it took me to write 3 emails. i’m already terrified for what’s going to happen in there

Also, sometimes it has hidden meaning relating to how art was funded.  For example, Dickens never met an adjective he didn’t like because he was paid by the word.  Dumas included long and pointless dialogue because he was paid by the line.  Even stuff that was purposely included for dumbass reasons can teach us about the world the author lived in.

emma woodhouse is the funniest austen girl. she has one-sided drama with the most reserved girl who has done nothing but literally just mind her business. she gets angry about not being invited to a social event even though she would have said no just because she would have liked to be asked. she's said she's aiming to read more for years but has never actually read more. she refers to her best friend as being naive and not very smart and kind of manipulates her while simultaneously both complicating her life greatly from the moment they meet to being her ride or die. she is literally The Problem. she denies that she is The Problem. she makes me want to pull my hair out. I love her more than anything.

whenever this comes up i like to remind people that harry going back to the abusive dursleys every year was treated by the narrative as something necessary and good because they're his family after all, and percy jackson gave his mom medusa's head so that she could turn her abusive husband to stone and sell his remains as a sculpture to pay for her degree and that was framed as a good decision without remorse. and that's the difference between hp and pjo as stories i think

Rick Riordan received the Stonewall Book Award while rowling's friends are nazis, if that helps

im not 17 anymore and i should find something new to talk about but remember when ophelia said “i hope all will be well” (4.5)

pain is stored in the shakespearean woman

this isn’t an original thought by any means but when shakespeare wanted to examine the depths and nuance of human suffering it was almost always most effective in his women. you got the articulate outbursts (oh god that i were a man i would eat his heart in the marketplace) (grief fills the room up of my absent child. have i not reason, then, to be fond of grief?) (the time was, father, that you broke your word) etc etc but tbh what gets me is how often they’re the ones to sorta metatextually admit that something’s unspeakable, which is a wild thing to do in a shakespeare play. romeo monologues in the sepulcher for a long time but juliet says “i’ll be brief”/lady macbeth can’t talk about it at all she sleeptalks and kills herself offstage/isabella’s told she’s getting married and never speaks again/ hamlet talks and talks and talks bc he’s convinced he can work it all out that way as if there’s something to understand about pain besides that it hurts, but she doesn’t try to explain her songs to anybody. unhappy that i am i cannot heave my heart into my mouth etc

obsessed with mass market paperbacks. their pleasing rectangular proportions. how they fit badly in a hoodie pocket so you can drag them around everywhere with you like a temporary little buddy. the way they fit in your hand because they're MADE for human hands and not as bookshelf decoration. the way the pages feel when you riffle them gently with your thumb. How pristine and crisp they look when you get them and how creased and folded they look when you're done, even if you try to be nice to them. how that wear is okay, how that's correct actually, because they're made with the philosophy that books aren't meant to be PRETTY, they're meant to be read. that little ripple new ones get on the left side from where you hold them when you're reading, the way the ripple only goes as far as you've read, because u change stories by reading as they are changing you. how you can find thousands of these creased and folded and loved little dudes in every thrift store and used book shop and neighborhood library and you can instantly see the ones that someone carried around in a backpack for weeks or read to pieces or gave up on halfway through because they wear being read like fresh snow wears footprints. I love these poorly made, subpar little rectangles so much. truly the people's books.