Simple Questions: September 22, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/RandomnewUser_22]

This is the first time I've been keeping up with the booker prize and although I haven't read anything from the longlist, I would love to hear from those who have

[u/Impressive-Peace2115 → u/RandomnewUser_22]

I recommend searching the sub for 'Booker Prize', since there have been some posts about it. This one might be a good start, since it's specifically about the progress people have made in reading the longlist.

[u/cheatherhad]

Can someone tell me if Hollywood, Ending by John Green is depressing? Can black it out if you need, yes or no, or scale of 1-10?

[u/7chill_hj]

https://youtube.com/shorts/frEL9_NBaEY?si=wTXdMxHSKRHv6tyf.  I just saw this video and the recommendation looks good but I'm not sure where to start any help please 

[u/[deleted]]

[u/spinazie25 → u/[deleted]]

Depends on the person I think, but I thought it was worth it reading Dorian Grey. The plot and the language are not all there is to a book. And I thought I knew the plot - I knew only the bare bones, the summary. And the most interesting part - I didn't know about and it's value is in walking through it, not in knowing the bottom line.

[u/Impressive-Peace2115 → u/[deleted]]

I read Frankenstein and thought it was definitely worth it - even though I knew pieces of the story, the way that the author told it was very rich and she was clearly touching on a variety of social issues, which made for interesting discussion in the book club I was reading it for.

Maybe it would help to look at some of the background of the author and the time period? Personally, I would be interested in The Picture of Dorian Gray because of Oscar Wilde and his famous trial and imprisonment for homosexuality (I recently read De Profundis and some of his short stories) - I know one of his novels was quoted in the trial, I can't remember if it was Dorian Gray or another.

[u/YakSlothLemon → u/[deleted]]

First off, get the Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray which was discovered in 2013 and published by Harvard University press, it is so much better than the traditional censored version.

And it’s not a big reveal in the story at the end, what the portrait can do. Gray figures it out very quickly. That’s what the book is about- whether what he then chooses to do is because of the portrait, or is the fault in him?

Frankenstein – you probably don’t actually know the plot, you just think you do, unless you’ve seen a really faithful movie adaptation.

Dracula – epistolary novel, it is so much fun to read! Who doesn’t like reading someone else’s diary?

As someone else said, it’s the journey, not the destination. But then I’m someone who’s read The Shining half a dozen times and had the crap scared out of me every single time. 😏😱

[u/Cute-Solution-723 → u/[deleted]]

You can always just not finish the book. I would say it's often really worth it though. These books are classics for a reason. 

[u/MarmadukeTheGreat → u/[deleted]]

Books are more than just the plot. Its about the writing, the prose. The way that reading it makes you feel. If plot is the beginning and end of it why read them at all. Just look it up on wikipedia.