Yeah but the water looked like water.

I have the opposite take. I'd skim a textbook because I only need the most relevant information but wouldn't skim fiction because it's enjoyable and I want the full experience. If an author describes a tree for several pages I'd just stop reading it entirely.

"You have to be very careful with comedy because 20 years after it makes you wildly successful some people might find it problematic."

I don't get what the issue is. This has always been the case with cultural change. There was comedy from the 70s that wouldn't fly in the 90s.

It's possible but also lots of people start a new thread about books they like and Project Hail Mary is hugely popular with the Reddit demo.