u/Hyddhor

I'm typesetting for the first time (from english to slovak), and after i've finished typesetting the first chapter, i went to check how it reads as a whole. But when i looked at it, it seemed to me that the font size was tad too small, making it difficult to read.

I can increase the font size by 1pt and it would still fit inside the bubbles, but then the text would be too cramped and it would be even more difficult to read. So the last solution that i've come up with is redrawing the bubbles, but that just means a ton of more work, and i would like to avoid it if possible.

So, is the font size uncomfortably small, and if yes, how would you suggest i fix it? (preferably without much effort)

ps: since it's my first time typesetting, it took me 5 days to finish typesetting it

disclaimer: not a review / slander, genuine ask for help

I have recently started reading A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. I'm not big on classics, but I was excited to read it, because one of my favorite books used it as an major inspiration + it's also the best selling book oat, so i expected i would enjoy it a lot.

But when i got around to reading it, i quickly found out i can't understand shit (currently on chapter 3). And i don't mean as in "i don't understand how something happened" or the politics, mystery, characters, etc. I literally can't understand / compartmentalize 70% of the sentences that i'm reading.

It's not even a vocabulary issue - whenever i find a word i don't know, i pull up the dictionary and look it up. The problem is the style and sentences. The sentences are just so windy, abstract, metaphorical, ornate, long and extremely weirdly structured that my brain just can't compute them. I have never had an issue with long sentences, metaphors, allegories and figurative speech, but this book has me going like this.

Every single paragraph I start off with complete understanding of the allegory, but then Dickens takes it in a weird unrelated direction, then he interrupts the thought, then another curveball, another interruption, then he references the first sentence in a way that's seemingly incompatible with the starting allegory - at this point, i've already lost the thread and i didn't even get past the first half of the paragraph.

I have never felt so dumb and illiterate while reading something. What makes it even funnier, i've heard that Dickens is supposed to be writing with the "working barely-literate social class" as his target audience. Really makes me feel like an idiot when you put it in this perspective.

Like, sure, i'm not a native english speaker, and i'm not the biggest reader, but i'm also not a complete illiterate. I've read some humongous books (eg. The Wandering Inn), some classics (Journey to the West, And Then There Were None, The Prince and the Pauper) and some complex books (Lord of the Mysteries). There were also things i've read where i was sure that i didn't get the full meaning / missed a lot of stuff, and i would have to revisit them later (eg. Umineko). There were also a lot of times when i didn't understand some sentences / paragraphs, so i had to stop and think about them for 5 minutes till finally got them.

But never once have i been like "i understand the words, i understand the phrase, but i literally can't understand what you are talking about", even after giving it a lot of time to settle in my brain (i've been reading it for 3 days, yet there is still stuff i don't understand).

Is it just a me problem? Is there any way to overcome this? I really want to read A Tale of Two Cities and love it, but at this rate, i'm afraid i'm gonna have to DNF it. That would be a real shame, since i was looking forward to reading it.

ps: i'm using the Project Gutenberg EPUB