I can’t understand this sentence, someone can help me, please?!

He's saying that if you are looking for examples of slang, which he does for a living, you will sadly not find many examples in books that are referred to as "great classics". It's a very overwrought way of saying, though.

I'm a native English speaker and I had to read this through a few times - it's VERY wordy. I think they are saying "My job is to compile words and definitions from slang dictionaries. Classical literature doesn't use much slang, so I have to read works from people like this other fellow."

Read it without "alas": One is (inevitably) not drawn to the classics, but to someone like this fellow... Then add the mood of "alas", as in, you can't do anything about it, it is inevitable.

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Translated: >Of course if your job is to gather words together to make dictionaries of slang (that is in fact my job), you will unfortunately not be interested in reading classic literary masterpieces, which usually don't have much slang in them, but you will instead be interested in reading people like this guy who has this amazing ability… *alas* here means "unfortunately". It is pronounced uh-LASS /əˈlæs/ and is an old-fashioned interjection that means you're unhappy. "Alas! my cake has burned." "Alas! my final hour has come."

The speaker is saying that he is someone who compiled dictionaries, and that people are not drawn to classics (as in classic literature) that do not use a lot of slang, but are drawn to some individual who has a great ability, presumably a great ability to use slang. My best theory is that the capitalized section should have some additional commas (if being used as speech). It would be better written as “…ONE IS DRAWN INEVITABLY NOT, ALAS, TO THE GREAT CLASSICS…” In my opinion the author is injecting “alas” into the middle of the sentence to add feeling.

have you ever reworded a comment by erasing/changing parts of it, but you forget to read it over before you hit "post?" that's what I think happened here. as another user said, it makes a bit more sense if you exclude "alas." he's saying he's drawn to books that feature more slang (as opposed to "the classics" which do not) because he compiles a glossary of slang terms.

Thank you, everyone! It’s a CAE Listening Practice test. I’ve found a page where are some old tests from the past and this is one of them. Now, I am absolutely convinced I have to learn more than I’ve ever thought 🤦‍♀️

This is a wildly compounded sentence with nearly constant asides. You'd almost certainly have to read this out loud with lots of pauses and emphasis to make it make sense. If you simplified it to its most basic structure, it would be something like: >If you compile dictionaries of slang for a living, one is drawn not to the great classics, but to someone like this fellow. Using "one" for an indistinct third person is old fashioned. You would probably use "you" instead, like I just did in this sentence. From there, all the rest of the words are for emotional impact and emphasis, though without nearly enough supporting punctuation to make sense of it. If you tried to write it like you would speak it, it might look something like this: >There's no doubt about it: if you compile, as I do, dictionaries of slang for a living, \[you would be\] drawn, inevitably, ***not*** (alas) to the great classics -- \[which\] are, on the whole, rather light on slang -- but to someone like this fellow, who has this amazing ability... And here's my attempt to write it in a straightforward manner that conveys the information but without much of the style or emotion: >I compile dictionaries of slang for a living. I have found that I am not drawn to the great classics, unfortunately. Instead, I am drawn to someone like this fellow.

There’s no doubt about it if you compile, as I do, dictionaries of slang for a living, YOU DON'T AUTOMATICALLY LOOK AT CLASSICALLY GREAT WRITERS/ YOU DON'T AUTOMATICALLY LOOK AT GREAT WRITERS WHO ARE CONSIDERED CLASSICS, who are on the whole rather light on slang, but to someone like this fellow who has this amazing ability… CLassics here means writers traditionally considered "great," the ones studied at universities and considered worthy now, even if they weren't at the time of publication. "Classics" for those writers is a little bit dated, but that's he means - widely acknowledged "great writers." Those writers did use some slang, but they used it a lot less, and what slang they did has been analysed and referenced so much that they're often quite familiar. It seems like he's comparing those writers to pulp fiction or pamphlet writers, people who wrote short stories in cheap magazines, etc, local newspaper columnists, etc. A few "classic" writers did start out that way, but most stayed in the realm of never-reprinted pulp. Pamphlets were \*massive\* in the Victorian era, and most of them were aimed at the working class, and sometimes even written by them.

``` IF someone compiles dictionaries of slang THEN one is drawn      NOT to the great classics          (unfortunately)          which don't use much slang      BUT to someone like this fellow          who has an ability .... ```

I believe this should be written: "...one is drawn -- inevitably -- not, alas, to the great classics..." To me, this seems like a case of poor wording made worse by poor punctuation.

It's an overly verbose way of speaking. A more understandable word order might be ALAS, ONE IS NOT INEVITABLY DRAWN TO THE GREAT CLASSICS

Idk about that middle part it seems to be missing some punctuation, and I don’t like the phrasing of “not alas.” “…living, alas one is inevitably drawn, not to the great classics, who are….” Or I’d put “alas” after the word, “but” : “…living, one is drawn inevitably, not to the great classics, who are…slang, but alas to….”

Please don’t feel bad about yourself. The fact that you could even articulate this question means that you are already more advanced in the English language than my average fellow American. No one talks like this in real life.