/lit/ - Literature

Why's he a shitty philosopher?

I've been meaning to read Being and Nothingness and Existentialism Is a Humanism soon, so I'm curious.

>>3172258
Rewarding as fuck though

Degrees I'm pursuing: mathematics and computer science

Passions: Mathematics, computer science, philosophy, literature, and history

Candide's the only fiction I've read.

However, his Philosophical Dictionary's fucking awesome.

>I never see this book posted here, how do you guys feel about it?

Have you ever been here?

[It's a solid novel, by the way.]

Jane Austen
George Eliot
Elizabeth Gaskell
Lorrie Moore
Flannery O'Connor
Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Jane Smiley
Christina Stead
Emma Straub
Lara Vapnyar
Virginia Woolf

>>3167464
In the event that this isn't a joke and you're simply someone unfamiliar with that colloquialism, queen is a slang term used to refer to a homosexual guy.

>>3167444

>>3165905
Another classic thing that bothers me is excessive verbiage in dialogue.

"X," he said.
"Y," she replied.
Then he responded by saying "Z."
"Holy shit," she exclaimed.
"Are you okay?" he asked?

I'd be interested in attending your professor's lectures on The Luzhin Defense and how he ties it into the scope of the course. Considering the broad scope of your class, that book isn't the most obvious works to assign.

I'm sure I'd get plenty of shit for considering mathematics or computer science a "hard science."

De Profundis
"The Happy Prince"
The Importance of Being Earnest
Lady Windermere's Fan
The Picture of Dorian Gray

Hell no.

I shamelessly use a backpack if I need it.

The Oxford History of the French Revolution by William Doyle is pretty dry, but it's really thorough. It'll only be interesting to you if you're really interested in the material.

Napoleon: A Political Life by Peter Englund, on the other hand, is a scholarly work that is immensely well-written. Thoroughly recommended.

And for being a cool person, here's a wallpaper.

>>3160643
This sums it up nicely.

I don't know if this is standard, but this was my experience (I believe): Private schools charge. Public schools don't.

>>3160527
I just felt like mentioning an alternate book by Russell that may be relevant to OP.

Jonathan Franzen
Lorrie Moore
Elif Shafak
Jane Smiley (as long as she's not writing about science)
Natasha Trethewey

If you want an introduction to what philosophy's "about," read The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.

If you want an enjoyable guide through Western philosophy, read Sophie's World.

If you want a broader and more rigorous coverage of the history of philosophy, read A Short History of Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon & Kathleen M. Higgins.

Bertrand Russel's History of Western Philosophy is a decent read, but it's flawed enough (due largely to things he fails to mention) not to be a good starting point.

If you're really new to philosophy, I'd also recommend downloading the (free) set of lectures General Philosophy from iTunesU. It's provided by Oxford University, and the lecturer's name is Peter Millican.

And, if you don't already know, the following is a good encyclopedic resource to know about in case you get the sudden urge to look into something briefly (before diving in further, perhaps): http://plato.stanford.edu/..

Hm, I think that's all I have to say for now.

>>3160504
So are Anne Rice's works considered classics now?

[I'm not being sarcastic. I'm genuinely wondering. I know Barnes & Noble published a leatherbound edition of some of her works, but shortly after they did that with Stephen King and Pratchett (or maybe it was Gaiman) too, so idk.]

>>3160363
Milton would be proud.

>having to do shit for money

Just appreciate the fact that actually working for the money you're receiving would be a lot less pleasant.

Or fuck it. Screw the scholarship, and actually get a real job.

>>3160185
Okay, cool. I was just wondering about Oblivion because it's the only book I've heard a lot of DFW-fans describe as being better than IJ. BIWHM was definitely an improvement from The Girl with Curious Hair, don't ya think?

>>3160260
Cheers, mate. I'm no stranger to stormy moods. Sometimes it's nice to see other people who feel similarly (Camus, Dazai), and sometimes it's nice to see people get through it somehow (Hesse, Maugham).

So I hope you find something satisfying and get through it. Best of luck to you, OP!