/lit/ - Literature

pls respond

>>2818167
The Name of the Rose. Best book I've ever read, and I've read every book on your list.

>>2818174
<3

>>2818182
Although if you're new to the whole literature thing, I wouldn't recommend it. The prose is ridiculously complicated, i.e. expect sentences that span entire paragraphs. But it's absolutely beautiful.

>>2818192
You could probably say I'm relatively new but I'm always up for a challenge. I usually appreciate that sort of thing.

>>2818197
Cool. Just a heads up: the first 100 pages are ridiculously hard going, but if you can get through them then the rest of the book will be a breeze.

>>2818205
Thanks for the heads up. I'll definitely grab a copy when I get the chance
Anybody else wanna contribute???

>>2818223
Might want to try some more Kafka. The Trial is probably the best book I ever read. Also you shouldn't jump straight into Gravity's Rainbow without a little Pynchon under your belt so I recommend V., Pynchon's first novel. After that maybe try The Crying of Lot 49, Pynchon's second book.

>>2818229
I'd like to read The Trial but isn't it unfinished? And I've heard that about Pynchon and Gravity's Rainbow, but I love a difficult read and I'd kind of like to surmount it. lol I hope I'm not biting off more than I can chew but if I can't get past Part 1 I'll read V. before coming back to it.

>>2818240
Yeah it is unfinished, but it still is a work of genius. There is still an ending too it just isn't polished enough.

I haven't myself tried Gravity's Rainbow yet, but I have read V. and it is very dense and just trying to imagine Gravity's Rainbow's scenes just makes my head hurt.

>>2818254
I'll definitely read The Trial, then. I loved metamorphosis and I know how praised kafka is.
lol it's also likely that gravity's rainbow will kick my ass and put me in my place. which is okay too.

[ ] Paul Auster - The New York Trilogy
[ ] Johnathan Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn
[ ] Justin Cronin - The Passage

some newer stuff you'll like

>Foundation trilogy by Asimov
>Stand on Zanzibar
>Brave New World
>Mother Night by Vonnegut
It seems from your list, these might interest you.

>>2818275
I read Brave New World, don't know why it's not on the list. I didn't like it as much as 1984 though. Thanks!

>>2818278
I really think you should give it another pass, I thought it was leaps and bounds ahead in how much fun it was simply going through the story and in how much it made me think.

>>2818297
Oh no, it isn't that I didn't like it. It was fun, it made me laugh, and it is definitely just as sharp as 1984, I really did enjoy it. I just tend to be a bit partial to a dark and bleak story. Then again, I guess it could be argued that Brave New World is just as much a dark and scary portrayal of the way the world could be.

bumping with a pretty picture

>>2818438
forgot trip lel here's another

one more

[ ] Knut Hamsun - Hunger

Extremely influential work that also happens to be really fucking good.

>>2820592
oh I've been seeing that name floating around, what is it even about?

>>2820600
It's the novel that started the whole stream-of-consciousness thing. It's about an impoverished and homeless writer who almost starves to death. It's pretty funny, too.

You might like David Foster Wallace. I'd recommend Girl With Curious Hair or Oblivion as a starting point.
If you liked Breakfast of Champions, I highly recommend Cat's Cradle.
As others have said, I don't advise diving right into GR without any prior Pynchon experience. That's what I did, and while I loved the book, I definitely would have gotten more out of it if I'd reading V or Crying first.
Have fun, OP!

I can just contribute some German literature, but I am sure there are high class translations of all those books. I will write down the german names, you can just google for the english ones.
>Hermann Hesse - Der Steppenwolf
>Hermann Hesse - Das Glasperlenspiel
>Uwe Timm - Am Beispiel meines Bruders
>Johann Wolfgang Goethe - Faust I&II (this is really a must, I mean this might be the most important piece of german literature, probably of all literature?)
>Georg Büchner - Woyzeck
other important international literature
>Hendrik Ibsen - Peer Gynt
>Fjodor Dostoyevski - Crime and Punishment
>various Satre pieces, only if you like philosophy, then take some Soren Kierkegaard too.

>>2820592
added

>>2820624
I'll look'em up, thanks!

bumped

Check out Ask the dust by John Fante if you liked Bukowski. It's one of his main inspirations and is very bleak.