Literary Tastes

[Totz the Plaid]

I just did a quick search for the phrase I'm using to title this thread, and since nothing came up, I'll assume that it hasn't been its own discussion yet.

Basically, I want to know what you think the different characters prefer to read. As is standard for such threads, I'll start. I’m going to go in chronological order of appearance and stick only to characters who have had sprites and dialogue in Act 1.

Hisao: A little bit of everything as far as fiction's concerned. He couldn't have been too choosy in the hospital's library, so he's probably got pretty wide tastes. I'd probably peg him as a bit of a Vonnegut fan as well. No good reason why, it just feels like it works for me.

Mutou: This one's obvious: scientific journals, old research notes, biographies, etc. He probably has stuff like Pop-Sci for "light" reading. Bet he'd also dig on Asimov and Michael Chrichton as they both applied the latest in scientific research (at the time) to their plots.

Misha: I'd guess she prefers teen magazines and comic books/manga.

Shizune: Aside from her textbooks, I'd say that Shicchan probably goes for stuff that'll keep her updated on important current events. Then, for fun she probably has stuff that's a lot less mature since she seems to have a more innocent side, too (as suggested by her playfulness at her competitions and her love for "eggplant cat" in her Act 1 ending).

Nurse: Medical journals, porn (because of his creepy smile), and really trashy flavor-of-the-month bestsellers. I bet he’s got a lot of Dean Koontz and John Grisham stuff. The choice in novels came from my own personal experience with a wide variety of medical workers including nurses and doctors. The easy readability makes that sort of thing perfect to be able to pick up and put down whenever there’s call for them, and is completely disposable, as well.

Kenji: He seems like the type to read and absorb every single fringe pamphlet and/or ‘Zine that someone gives him a copy of, thus feeding into his paranoid and warped worldview. He probably used to have a porn stash as well until he noticed that he gets tired after using that as well… making him even more paranoid of the “feminine conspiracy”.

Lilly: From her private education background, I'd guess she'd read braille translations of the classics. Everything from Dumas to Dickens, Bronte to Hemmingway, Twain to Dostoyevsky, etc.

Yuuko: She's a tough nut to crack. She's the librarian, but from her absolute terror at Lilly's suggestion that she show Hisao around the Library suggests that she might not read much at all, actually. Either that or she's just got HUGE issues with anxiety (or both).

Hanako: Well, she's explicitly shown to be reading "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, so it would seem that she's a fan of adventure books... or philosophical social commentary... or genre fiction. It's pretty hard to pin down if you only think about that particular book, actually. I read it back in middle school and I remember being bored by the overt social commentary of the first few chapters, but once Pi set off on his journey, I was completely hooked. I'd actually say, sort of like Hisao, that she likes a little bit of anything. I'd suspect that she tends toward highly escapist stuff like adventure/fantasy/sci-fi/romance novels since she's got that whole shrinking violet thing going on. It'd give her a much-needed release.

Emi: Fitness magazines. Probably other magazines as well, mostly pop culture stuff, but she'd definitely focus on fitness-related stuff.

Rin: I'm going to guess that she reads mostly philosophy books and comics. "Calvin and Hobbes" would probably be her favorite thing under this theory since it's a perfect balance of both.

Akira: Business journals for work at least, but beyond that, I haven't a clue. Haven't seen enough of her to distinguish her tastes beyond a purely superficial guess based on her clothing and informal speech patterns.

Nomiya: Porn and arts journals. Mostly porn. I'm just latching onto the current fanon surrounding the dude and running with it.

(Just a side note: I nearly made a thread about which philosophers the girls would relate to the most, but thought better of it since it would surely just devolve into a flame war over either a) the political and moral implications of various philosophies, or b) Nietzsche in general. So... I did a quick search and threw this together instead. Not that you needed to know that, I just felt like mentioning it.)

[Mirage_GSM]

Well, Hisao seems to be reading "The Crying Of Lot 49".
I can't identify the beer book, though.

[PasterOfMuppets]

Hisao did say that pirates were out of his genre, so I also assume he doesn't like fantasy/adventure genre books. Maybe a scifi guy? and everything else fiction.

Shizune would probably like books from authors such as George Orwell, Alduos Huxley, Ray Bradbury, tom clancy, etc. those political thriller stuffs.
she also has probably read "The Art of War" and memorized it. Any money she also loves Dr. Suess

Hanako. I don't think she's picky with her genres. Anything that keeps her inside a bubble from the real world. Maybe one for romance?

Lily would probably be well indulged in older stuff ( Shakespeare, Dickens, Poe, etc.)

I fail to believe that Rin has the ability to stay interested in any book for long enough to actually read it...

[Sgt_Frog]

Hisao did say that pirates were out of his genre, so I also assume he doesn't like fantasy/adventure genre books. Maybe a scifi guy? and everything else fiction.

Shizune would probably like books from authors such as George Orwell, Alduos Huxley, Ray Bradbury, tom clancy, etc. those political thriller stuffs.
she also has probably read "The Art of War" and memorized it. Any money she also loves Dr. Suess

Hanako. I don't think she's picky with her genres. Anything that keeps her inside a bubble from the real world. Maybe one for romance?

Lily would probably be well indulged in older stuff ( Shakespeare, Dickens, Poe, etc.)

I fail to believe that Rin has the ability to stay interested in any book for long enough to actually read it...

Like a previous poster said, "Calvin And Hobbes" would probably be right up her alley. Have you seen some of Bill Watterson's drawings? They're almost Rin-level swirls of color and "what"? Especially the Spaceman Spiff strips.

[Grand Haberdasher]

I generally agree with what's been mentioned, with some additions.

Shizune's probably read through The Prince a few times.

Rin's definitely a Chuck Palahniuk fan. Weirdest books I've ever read.

Akira has bright red eyes and rocks a suit, so it amuses me greatly to imagine her either reading Hellsing, or being a Hellsing vampire.

Nurse's porn stash includes plenty of loli and amputee stuff in it. (I'm very sorry)

[Mirage_GSM]

Shizune's probably read through The Prince a few times.

She doesn't strike me as the type who wouls read satirical books. She's too earnest for that...

[Csihar]

For some reason I can see Shizune enjoying the Haruhi light novels. Emi and/or Misha would be more into LNs and manga in general, though. Also, Hanako's favorite books are and will always be Harry Potter.

[Napalm]

Wouldn't be surprised if Kenji read Tom Clancy.

[Grand Haberdasher]

She doesn't strike me as the type who wouls read satirical books. She's too earnest for that...

Just because he was being sarcastic doesn't mean he didn't have some good ideas.

For some reason I can see Shizune enjoying the Haruhi light novels.

Gosh, can't imagine why she'd enjoy a story about a demanding high school girl as God.

[Warwick]

Deimos and I once had a discussion on whether or not Shizune was a fan of Ayn Rand...

[Mirage_GSM]

She doesn't strike me as the type who wouls read satirical books. She's too earnest for that...

Just because he was being sarcastic doesn't mean he didn't have some good ideas.

No, but if he knew how his book is interpreted today, he'd probably be turning in his grave and wish he'd never written it.

[Totz the Plaid]

Deimos and I once had a discussion on whether or not Shizune was a fan of Ayn Rand...

Let's not resurrect that here, please, as any discussion of her books runs the terrible risk of becoming a flame war or otherwise derailing the thread due to the extreme controversy regarding objectivism. I'm not going to get into my own views here as I wish to avoid getting political at the moment. Let's just drop the subject completely before it gets going.

Edit: I originally made an error and typed "determinism" where "objectivism" is now. These are mutually exclusive philosophies, and I've not gotten them confused before, so I'm not sure how I did here. However, Warwick pointed out the mistake, and I've now corrected it as to avoid further confusion and discussion.

For some reason I can see Shizune enjoying the Haruhi light novels.

Gosh, can't imagine why she'd enjoy a story about a demanding high school girl as God.

Yeah, I think that's a pretty safe bet...

Shizune's probably read through The Prince a few times.

She doesn't strike me as the type who wouls read satirical books. She's too earnest for that...

I dunno, were she American I could see her enjoying the works of Thomas Paine and Ben Franklin, but again, let's not get political here. Those guys just had some strongly held and clearly considered views on how the government should work. Whether you agree with them or not, I still think Shizune would appreciate looking at their perspective and the same goes for Machiavelli.

Come to think of it, I think she'd probably enjoy stuff like "The Brothers Karamozov" and "The Romance of Three Kingdoms" as well, assuming she had good translations. Since she's a fan of considered plans and messing with people's minds, just for the competition, not for real manipulation.

Hisao did say that pirates were out of his genre, so I also assume he doesn't like fantasy/adventure genre books. Maybe a scifi guy? and everything else fiction.

Pirates are out of my usual genre as well, but I do tend to enjoy fantasy/adventure stuff. I just don't read much that takes place on the seas.

Shizune would probably like books from authors such as George Orwell, Alduos Huxley, Ray Bradbury, tom clancy, etc. those political thriller stuffs.
she also has probably read "The Art of War" and memorized it. Any money she also loves Dr. Suess

I can see everything except Tom Clancy with her.

[Warwick]

Let's not resurrect that here, please, as any discussion of her books runs the terrible risk of becoming a flame war or otherwise derailing the thread due to the extreme controversy regarding determinism. I'm not going to get into my own views here as I wish to avoid getting political at the moment. Let's just drop the subject completely before it gets going.

I... guess? Nothing I've read of Randian objectivism had anything to do with determinism. She just seemed like a real go-getter and would stop at nothing to get what she wants.

[Deimos]

Well, considering that the game takes place in Japan I am sure the characters must be familiar with certain literary classics that originated in this country. I do not claim any expertise in that particular field and would certainly embarrass myself with my limited knowledge, although I find the thought amusing that Kenji would perhaps read selected works from Yukio Mishima.

[Shades of gray]

... why do i picture Rin reading Lord of the Flies in my mind?

now... I'm going back under my rock to continue playing Fate/stay night