--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Readers of a certain class are apt to…" description: "\"“Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot of that story in which \"you can't tell what is going to happen next.\" But in some of the most..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg" --- # Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot… ![“Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot of that story in which "you can't tell what is going to happen next." But in some of the most tedious novels ever written you can't tell what is going to happen next--and you don't care a fig what is going to happen next.” quote by Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg) > ““Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot of that story in which "you can't tell what is going to happen next." But in some of the most tedious novels ever written you can't tell what is going to happen next--and you don't care a fig what is going to happen next.”” [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Predictability can be boring, even when a story is intentionally vague, leading to reader disengagement. **In simple terms:** Predictable plots can be tedious. Key Takeaway Seek engaging, purposeful narratives. Themes literature predictability engagement Mood reflective critical Type analytical critical reflective When to use this quote - reading a novel - writing fiction - book club discussion Key Concepts narrative structure reader expectation Questions to Reflect On - What makes a story's uncertainty compelling? - How can authors balance mystery with meaning? A Different Perspective Even intentional ambiguity may fail if it lacks stakes or relevance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“A good plot is like a well-crafted puzzle. Each piece is vital to the bigger picture, connecting to each other to tell the larger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-hardy/a-good-plot-is-like-a-well-crafted-puzzle-each-piece-is-vital-to-the/) [Janice Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-hardy/) > [“A good plot is like a dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roald-dahl/a-good-plot-is-like-a-dream/) [Roald Dahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roald-dahl/) > [As a matter of writing philosophy, if there is one, I try not to ever plot a story. I try to write it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-a-matter-of-writing-philosophy-if-there-is-one-i-try-not-to-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Working on the plot/story idea for my next novel ... It always takes time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/working-on-the-plot-story-idea-for-my-next-novel-it-always-takes-time/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [Baseball is part of America's plot, part of America's mysterious, underlying design-the plot in which we all conspire and collude, the plot of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-allen-bartlett/baseball-is-part-of-america-s-plot-part-of-america-s-mysterious/) [Albert Allen Bartlett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-allen-bartlett/) > [“I say--I've thought of a good plot for a detective story." "Really?" "Top--hole. You know, the sort that people bring out and say 'I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/i-say-i-ve-thought-of-a-good-plot-for-a-detective-story-really-top/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“A good plot should have a strong middle and a spectacular end. But under no circumstances should it have a beginning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-dean/a-good-plot-should-have-a-strong-middle-and-a-spectacular-end-but/) A.M. Dean > [It's hard to write a good plot, it's very hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/it-s-hard-to-write-a-good-plot-it-s-very-hard/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [I tend not to know what the plot is or the story is or even the theme. Those things come later, for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/i-tend-not-to-know-what-the-plot-is-or-the-story-is-or-even-the-theme/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [The romance is the primary plot in a story that has two plots. 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How do I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/each-of-us-needs-an-adequate-biography-how-do-i-put-together-into-a/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [This book has too much plot and not enough story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-goldwyn/this-book-has-too-much-plot-and-not-enough-story/) [Samuel Goldwyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-goldwyn/) > [“plot is not the story, but an Ariadne's thread you follow through a labyrinth of scenes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-morley/plot-is-not-the-story-but-an-ariadne-s-thread-you-follow-through-a/) David Morley > [“With different changes but the same plot, sometimes our story has already unfolded. It's just trapped in the pages of ink and paper. God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-samuel-timm/with-different-changes-but-the-same-plot-sometimes-our-story-has/) [Eric Samuel Timm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-samuel-timm/) > [All fiction is about people, unless it's about rabbits pretending to be people. It's all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/all-fiction-is-about-people-unless-it-s-about-rabbits-pretending-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More by Arnold Bennett > [The chances are that you have already come to believe that happiness is unattainable. But men have attained it. And they have attained it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-chances-are-that-you-have-already-come-to-believe-that-happiness/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Good taste is better than bad taste, but bad taste is better than no taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/good-taste-is-better-than-bad-taste-but-bad-taste-is-better-than-no/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [To write is to make oneself the echo of what cannot cease speaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/to-write-is-to-make-oneself-the-echo-of-what-cannot-cease-speaking/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [The parents exist to teach the child, but also they must learn what the child has to teach them; and the child has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-parents-exist-to-teach-the-child-but-also-they-must-learn-what/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-gain-in-self-confidence-of-having-accomplished-a-tiresome-labour/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [A man of sixty has spent twenty years in bed and over three years in eating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/a-man-of-sixty-has-spent-twenty-years-in-bed-and-over-three-years-in/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [“What then? Are we only to buy the books that we read? 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If you are a creative and creating artist, you cannot ignore it, though it can ignore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/the-public-is-a-great-actuality-like-war-if-you-are-a-creative-and/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [“Good clothes, when put to the test, survive a change in fortune, as a Roman arch survives the luxury of departed empire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/good-clothes-when-put-to-the-test-survive-a-change-in-fortune-as-a/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [Ninety percent of the friction of daily life is caused by tone of voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/ninety-percent-of-the-friction-of-daily-life-is-caused-by-tone-of/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) > [During a long and varied career as a bachelor, I have noticed that marriage is the death of politeness between a man and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/during-a-long-and-varied-career-as-a-bachelor-i-have-noticed-that/) [Arnold Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) [Explore all 133 Arnold Bennett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot of that story in which \"you can't tell what is going to happen next.\" But in some of the most tedious novels ever written you can't tell what is going to happen next--and you don't care a fig what is going to happen next.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arnold Bennett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-call-good-the-plot-of-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-call-good-the-plot-of-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff8/arnold-bennett-3325_books_readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-ca_2402052.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Readers of a certain class are apt to call good the plot of that story in which \"you can't tell what is…” — Arnold Bennett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Arnold Bennett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-bennett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Readers of a certain class are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-call-good-the-plot-of-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-bennett/readers-of-a-certain-class-are-apt-to-call-good-the-plot-of-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```