[wrigby]

There are two completely distinct differences that jump out to me initially that I think may help justify your feelings:

1: Reading a long book demands focus on a longer timespan than scrolling TikTok, and with focusing on a single thing for a long time, we get a sense of accomplishment. I don’t know how to justify this as valuable, but for some reason I feel that it is.

2: The Song of Ice and Fire (and GoT) were consumed by a huge proportion of people, and you now have this in common with them. This act of consuming entertainment also grants you a way to connect with other humans - you have so much to talk about. Contrast that with an algorithmic feed, which is unique just for you - no one else sees your exact feed. Of course, there are tons of people that see some of the same snippets of content, if their interests overlap with yours, but it’s not nearly as universal as having read the same series of books (and there’s much less to talk about when you’ve seen the same 17-second short form video than when you’ve both invested dozens of hours in reading the same series of books).

I don’t think these thoughts fully justify your belief, but hopefully they provide some support to it.

[raincole]

I think the point 2 will rub many people the wrong way (me included) though. That would make reading Fourth Wing or Twilight a more connecting experience than most classics. (Nothing inherently wrong with that, but... you know...)

[matthewaveryusa]

The classics were classic because they were the most available and the most popular stories of their time, and they meant more in an era where creating and disseminating media was difficult. I love to romanticize a world where we go back to the classics to connect with our past and present better, even if just for the sake of efficiency. For better or for worse media is more ephemeral which means getting to a common vocabulary is one step removed. It's really a fun time to be alive.

[skydhash]

If you've read the classics, then you will likely find a circle you can connect too. I've gone through "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" and it's a signal to know who are truly in epic military fantasy.

[failingforward]

> That would make reading Fourth Wing or Twilight a more connecting experience than most classics.

I prefer classics myself, but this is exactly why booktok works (and why Fourth Wing blew up the way it did).

[bradstewart]

Reading the classics, in some sense, connects you to everyone who ever read them across all of human history. That's not nothing.

[rixed]

Depends if you are trying to connect to your contemporaries or to mankind in general. Aren't "classics" just timeless pop?

[hombre_fatal]

You're missing what I think is the major one: fulfillment.