Discussion Anyone having the same problem as me? Trouble reading web serials.

I only recently noticed this problems.
I never had any problem reading web serials before. Afterwards I started switching to paper novels for a breath of fresh air.
But later on when I tried to switch back to web serials, I felt extremely off somehow.
Except for exeptional ones, other web serials are extremely childish and the way they talk just annoy me, especially JP, CN, and KR translated novels.
Now that I think about it, published novels has way more reasonable isekai settings, and their characters' dialogues usually flow well unlike the cheery and happy go luckly atmosphere or rapist I-will-rape-and-kill everyone/I will be raped by everyone if the MC is female of East Asian Isekais.
Yeah, that's just my rant, want to know about your experience in these situations.

Why read Release That Witch when you can read A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court and why read any wish-fulfillment OP MC novel when you can read The Count of Monte Cristo?
And if you really want to get your fill of shitty writing, Fifty Shades of Grey and/or Twilight are always available!

 

Yes, fan translated novels can be said to have a lack of depth when it comes to translations. In some cases, the words used are very childish either due to just going with what google translate suggested, or a limited mastery of the english language.

Actual published books have a bit more effort/editing/something else put intothem before being published.

There is also the issue that ln/wn are meant pretty similar to pulp fiction, not literary master pieces.

 

Because most real printed novels have heavy grammar and hard to understand descriptions. That's why it called light novels you can understand it as soon as you read it same with webnovels

 

I don't think of it as a problem. It's where you are in life, what you are looking for at the time, who you are discussing things with that inform you on what you spend your time reading. The good WN have the immediacy and energy of pulp novels and penny dreadful of old. Some people like the sorting process and trying to find the diamond in the rough. Since there are new voices all the time, some are also experimental.

After a few years, you might want to switch up from polished books. In any case, it's good that you have found books you enjoy right now, and enjoy the variety.

 

For me it's the other way around. Ever since I started reading on pc, I couldn't be bothered to read a hard copy. And once I started reading on my phone, I just couldn't read on pc no matter what. To me it's due to the comfort level that went up.

 

I don't know why some people are always trying to devalue WNs simply because they aren't published. It's not like authors writing them doing it for fun or for free. They are also a selling product.
It's not like all the movies/books/anime/manga are great masterpieces, in fact most of them are trash. You're simply tired from WNs for now, try to take a longer break. Or you simply like books more and don't want to read wns anymore cause they are no longer so attractive.

 

I think everyone just failed to realize who is posting this thread and that it is an identical copy with some changes of another thread posted a short while ago.

This thread: https://forum.novelupdates.com/thre...-as-me-trouble-reading-japanese-novels.116637

Don't let the shamelessness fool you guys, Lys would never be for paper novels, they aren't even for sentences!

 

I missed the obvious copy pasta

 

A published novel is more polished, especially if it was from a big name publisher. It'd have to be read by the publisher's agent first to see if it has merit, then the manuscript would be given to their in-house professional editor to fix up. The editor may also suggest changes story itself to appeal more to the intended readership. And since this is such a big deal and milestone for the author, they would have definitely given the story to some trusted friends to review before the final commitment.

 

Being 'polished' is actually the main problem here. They aren't 'polishing' it to make it better, but to adapt it for general auditory so that they can attract more people. In addition they are making them less risky and censure all the questionable content. Nowadays nobody cares about quality if it sells well.

 

"Why read Release That Witch when you can read A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court and why read any wish-fulfillment OP MC novel when you can read The Count of Monte Cristo?"

Because free things are good things .. except for expired leftovers. Nobody likes leftovers.

 

There are digital books and ereaders and even audio books. I don't see how the point of comfort of reading digital vs hard copy is of any relevance to the topic OP has brought up.

 

So since this a copypasta thread should I comment on here or the other thread my answer? LOL


Hmm since it seems not exact copy pasta, I'll answer here.
I have I guess the opposite issue. I expect way too much from published books and get disappointed that many I picked up just suck & I literally can't find what I want to read (Like I wanted to read MC being a chef in rom-com genre but lot of the ones I picked to read just are all about the romance there is nothing about food porn; like I love romance but the romance not so good either so X'D )

Like I have way lower expectations for a webnovel & definitely like the tags/genres that NU have that make it so much easier to fill my cravings. Like if I want to read vmmorpg transmigration oh yes I can find it to find here.. At goodreads I can't find squat and only the same few hyped up books reappear in my recommended LOL

 

Money is validation of your efforts.

 

My issue is that I'm reading books (usually classical literature) way to slow in comparison to the web\light novels.
Maybe that's because web\light novels have content watered down so you breeze through the chapters and may skip a lot of stuff that has no relevance, while classical literature makes me read every word on a page o.o

 

I don’t think you should expect published western books to cover the same categories as in WN/LN. One big issue is cultural differences. WN/LN are built upon years of cultural influence that in itself has grown over time. I’m not saying that western books lack culture, but the culture that created and influence western fiction followed a vastly different path from eastern. In all, WN/LN genres and writing styles can probably considered unique to their region/nich of readers.

 

I could say that the main reason for me to read and appreciate novels is how the story is divided into smaller parts than a book is, for example. I found it easier to read into diverse contexts, just as class breaks, because is easy and you don't get so confused (as also be reading chapter by chapter as it is translated also brings some hapiness every day.

Comments are also important: I like to interact with other readers and to read TL-sama notes and opinions, an experience that can happen with our classic books, but not the same way.

Other reason is that the classics you have cited are ocidental. I'm already ocidental and also read this, just as it is reflected into my everyday culture, films and etc. Novels are different: even if they are fantasy and located into different galaxys, they reflect orientality, into the idioms used to metaphor situations (the food they describe ) and how they interpretate the world. Because of how they are, I like to know this different perspectives.

Lastly, there are some good novels that aren't necessarily the classic ones but that are also good and funny without being silly, why don't you look for some since there is some time that you don't read novels? Just an innofensive suggestion

 

Even though this is a copypasta, I'll answer.
You can't quite compare webnovels with a regular published novel. In a webnovel you only have the author doing everything, so if they grammar sucks, you are stuck with it. If they can't succinctly describe things, you will deal with a lot of words explaining simple things. The events in the story might be in a weird order, because the author didn't plan ahead, etc...
A published novel went through a lot more revisions, got edited several times, grammar and spelling was checked... so you end up with a polished version of the story, instead of a half baked turd (not that you would bake one.) I would put light novels in this level as well, not quite sure about the specific differences, so I won't comment on that.

So you are basically comparing a Mcdonald's burger with a 3 star restaurant burger. And you can kinda legally read WN for free. You can read published novels for free, but usually not in a legal way, so there is that. If you are broke, WN will give you free entertainment.

 

I definitely don't expect to see transmigration or vmmorpg in western books, since there are pretty new and as you said derive from ln/wn. And note I never stated I expected them to cover the same topics; I expect though if I read a summary saying the MC is a baker she should bake in the story, but read few western books already to never find an instance of baking only romance, like rather disappointing since it is one of the parts I want to read about.

However I just find it baffling when it's so hard to find a publish western book with a theme I want LOL.
I do hope they update their categories/tags since that seems to be the most offputting thing for me at the moment, as I don't seem to like certain surprise element of reading a book. Like I wouldn't mind reading YA books, but they don't tag if there's nsfw in it & I usually have to prepare myself for nsfw and not read it in public.