/lit/ - Literature

In my personal experience, my female [friends and family members'] tastes are as varied as my male friends' tastes in lit, through I've seen many shared favorites.

>through I've seen many shared favorites
Any examples?
I know I've personally seen Les Miserables and Kurt Vonnegut be common shared favorites

I don't think they differ especially.

Femanons have contributed to the creation of several recommendation charts.

>>3855335
Not that anon, but I've seen Kokoro and The Master and Margarita as shared favorites.

>>3854336
>Is there a substantive difference from male
OH NO< NOT ANOTHER LACAN THREAD>

I"M OUT>

>>3855358
>NOT ANOTHER LACAN THREAD
I don't know what that means

Female coworker was reading Cloud Atlas a few months ago, but that's typical. If there's a movie she wants to see and it's based on a book, she'll read the book beforehand. She did the same for Life of Pi.

>>3854336

>>3855385
>Cloud Atlas
>good

Here you go, these are ones that appeal more to me.

>>3855387

lol hipster women are so stupid

>>3855417
no dont do it you have so much to live for

I was at the park today & saw a girl reading Gravity's Rainbow.

>>3855417
>clarice lispector
i will fuck you affectionately.

>>3855421

>being influenced by books

r u
>18
>impressionable
>easily seduced
>sexually innocent
>a bit too qt for a dude

>>3855421
It's not about depressing lit.

That was wrongly assumed when it was created. It was based off of several prominent anon's favorite books. I think the change from Skylark to Kornel Esti is supposed to reinforce that.

>>3855423
can you hook me up with the passion according to gh ebook plx

>>3855431
https://anonfiles.com/file/003aafd36aab4f57d44fbca5a8dd2b90

>Admitting to your gender on the Internet
I've mostly read generic fantasy and sci-fi, though lately I've been trying to get through the classics. I've also got a huge boner for history and mythology.

>>3855446

u got qt toes?

Less English classics. That's probably more taste than gender since Austen seems like a girl thing.

>>3855446
Haha don't worry about being a grill on 4chan, some people might bother you but just ignore them.

I'm Mike by the way.

I always assumed exit-level meant exiting /lit, not life.
Sort of like "There's nothing more you can gain from here, you're on your own."

>>3855455
>>3855447
I'm a lesbian.

>>3855458
Yes, that is what it's supposed to mean. Though a lot of the anons whose taste was taken for it are still here.

>>3855443
much thanks, brother.

>>3855459
Do you like Austen?

>>3855455
>I'm mike by the way

10/10

>>3855428
>prominent anon

Oxymoron?

>>3855459
Lets hang out

also have you read Melissa Scott. Best lesbian cyberpunk. also James Tiptree, have you read James Tiptree, James Tiptree is fucking great.

>>3855466
I've never read Austen. Like I said, I've mostly read fantasy/sci-fi, and lately my vidya and anime have been getting in the way of actual reading time.

>>3855455
No you're a fag

>>3855476
I suppose, but it happens. Capsguy is anon, but you can tell who he is by his tastes. The same is true of plenty of other anons here with unique tastes.

It irks me when Austen is put forward as the top female author.

>>3855489
Austen irks me. It is less awful than when someone suggests the Brontes as female models.

>>3855489
Same. Millay, Yourcenar, Lispector, Kavan, Jansson, Zurn, Nin, Akhmatova, Enchi, Yosano, Tsvetaeva, Mansfield, Hellman, Barnes, etc. I'd rather any of them have that level of renown instead.

>>3855489
The idea of 'top ___ author' stems from masculine competitive attitudes, and the correct feminist attitude would be to reject it.

>implying femanons
>implying female mind can read

post tits if girl pls

>>3855514
This makes me feel better about the absence of female authors on my shelves. I like any -ism which makes me more comfortable

>>3855514
>male competitive attitudes
uh? No. Girls compete. Girls make ranking lists. It's inherent in the social behavior we evolved with.
You only need to look at highschool cliques to see an example.

>>3855517
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBXa2XJ-S_g

>>3855483
Capsguy still around?

When I first started reading literature Ulysses was probably the third or fourth book I picked up (I was so noob I googled "best books" and just went top to bottom). Anyway I was reading it in class one day and this girl starts going on about Virgina Woolf, do you know Virginia Woolf anon, why don't you read Virginia Woolf she's like James Joyce but better, she's so good anon, Virginia Woolf.

At the time I was like \O-o/. Anyway a year or so later I did read a few Virginia Woolf books. Can't say her stuff really appeals to me since I'm not depressed, white, or a woman, but since then when I've talked with chicks they always mention Virginia Woolf. So, Virginia Woolf.

>>3855526
full vid plox

>>3855529
Yes, though he's not posting in caps that often.

If you follow anybody from /lit/ on Goodreads, it's pretty easy to spot their posts on here.

>>3855526
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBXa2XJ-S_g
Go to bed Craig Ferguson!

"Our next letter comes from Joey in Spokane, as you can see from the picture Joey is a tit"

>>3855530
Virginia Woolf is great. Shes legitimately a fucking great author whether or not you're "depressed, white, or a woman" you motherfucker.

>>3855530
>she's like James Joyce but better

I never listen to the advice of anyone who thinks comparisons like this are tenable.

>>3855455
>I'm Mike by the way.
Dude. I'm sorry, but that's fucking pathetic. Pls be a troll.

>>3855547
I just assume they mean
>I've read it, unlike Joyce, it's a better thing to call me on

>>3855538
Lol. Sorry, that was a bit of a joke.

I think she was a great author too. I just didn't really enjoy reading her at all because the things she considers meaningful aren't so meaningful to me. It's not really sexism or anything. I feel the same way about Nabokov, everything Joyce outside of Dubliners, half of Hemingway's books, etc etc. It's like listening to my father when he talks about his research in organizational management. I can see and admire his knowledge of his field, and that's cool, but the admiration isn't enough to make me listen to him for more than an hour.

>tfw Emily Dickinson's accessibility makes her tragically underrated.

>>3855558
what a qt

>>3855557
Okay, I can understand not finding what Hemingway and Joyce found meaningful to be meaningful. They purposefully sought out niches.
What's the trouble with Nabokov?

>>3855558
I think she's nearly universally acknowledged as a great poet. Plus she has NEET cred from not leaving her house for decades.

>>3855570
I like some of her work but there's a thousand monkeys with typewriters kind of feel to her overall body of work, for me. I'd prefer Millay for straight lyricism.

>>3855570
I know, but poetry is marginalized, while those looking for examples of great female writers pass her over for novel writers like Austen, which is sad because Dickinson outclasses Austen by a mile.

Dickinson isn't unknown. Far from it, She just gets underrated.
A little like Norman Rockwell gets underrated.

>>3855580
Austen didn't have the guts to go deep.

>>3855569
Hmm Nabokov I've only read Pale Fire and Lolita so it's not like I have that much to work off. Based only on those two books:

I thought he had one of the best, if not the best, narrative voices I've ever read. But none of the actual stories made me feel anything. Like in Lolita I didn't really give a shit about Humbert at all. When Dolly's mom dies, when Dolly's 'crawling' over his lap, when she moves on, and so on; in none of those moments did I feel particularly sad or awkward or happy. Pale fire was even worse for me to the point where I cared so little I can't even recall the story anymore; mind you I'm aware a lot of the value in that book is in the allusions, and compared to your average /lit/izen I kind of hate allusion as a tool (because although intellectually stimulating, I 1) don't find recognition a particularly strong emotion, and 2) it sort of dates a piece as reading habits change) .

I'm not trying to say that those books are devoid of these things. Given how strongly most readers love Nabokov I assume they felt something in them. But me I don't.

>>3855561
Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson as Time Traveling Lesbian Lovers.

just wanted you to have that image.

>>3855604
I'm a Nabokov fan and I have some of these problems too.

He's a fantastic writer- not all of his plots are gold. He's far more emotive over a short run, so combined with his skill at language, a short story collection is probably where you're going to feel something.

Novels: Pnin shows off his wit. There's many of his novels which appeal to me because Nabokov is in love with Nabokov as much as I am.

Lolita: Nabokov wrote a much shorter story on the idea, The Enchanter, and it shows off his writing skills with a better plot.

Women read more than men. But the stuff the read is mostly romance novels.

>>3855636

Thanks. I've always wanted to read more of him, but didn't really want to jump in at random again because of the poor start.

I'll check out Pnin and see if I can get a short story collection as well. (I've been reading a lot of shorts lately, so it's genuinely nice to know he's made a few).

>>3855625
thanks for the fap material

>>3855641
I can count on one hand the amount of romance novels I've read over the years.

>>3855548
You're an idiot

>>3855656
post tits with that hand

>>3855656
What... What are you doing with the other hand?

I read only the most militant of feminist literature for the prime purpose of extracting social and legal benefits i deserve on the grounds i was born with a vagina and a cute bod/face.

>>3855662
Guess.

>>3855659
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBa820uTglU

Effeminate male hipsters and women read the same things, i.e. whatever the fuck is in the tepid milieu of their undergraduate literature degree, and whatever places like /lit/ tell them is good.

Find a chick who has a passion for a field or genre that other chicks don't, and you have a reasonable chance of her not being a boring dilettante whore. If you want to date the chicks who read Nabokov and Kafka and other accessible milquetoast shit, you'd better be smarter and better read than them, because they only have two possible states: reverently worshiping your superior hipster cred and gleefully accepting their own inferiority to your knowledge, or treating you like the lowest piece of shit in the universe if they feel theirs exceeds yours.

>>3855667
hot

I'm a woman and I enjoy reading books by E.L. 'Henry' James.

>>3855473
A female neckbeard. I didn't know you could get those.

>>3855514
>females don't compete
10/10 would laugh again

>>3855663
Haven't I seen you on /k/? And on a sidenote what feminist literature should I read, considering I never have anything of that ilk. (Well, bar the usual crazies on tumblr).

>>3855685
It's because we, or at least I, don't like admitting to being female on the Internet. Usually I just pretend to be one of the guys.

Everybody does Shakespeare
Male and Female alike,

>>3855685
>Insults tumblr.
>For literally no reason.
>Expects me to recommend him things.
4chan is basically the male version of tumblr, bro. And no, you haven't.

>>3855663
>doesn't read ecology for this purpose

I bet your bike doesn't even fold, dreamstealer.

>>3855690
I was referring to the few hard line feminists that inhabit tumblr, as I would for example stormfront members on /pol/. Sorry for the mistaken identity.

>>3855687
Fair enough, I suppose you get less 'attention' that way. Although on the internet that is probably for the best anyway.

>>3855690
>bar the usual crazies on tumblr
>bar the usual crazies on tumblr
>bar the usual crazies on tumblr

They put their reason is in the exact same fucking sentence. There's a contingent of radfems/feel police on Tumblr. That's who he's referring to. Anyone who uses Tumblr and isn't deluded should know this. You don't exactly live up to your trip.

>>3855676
>Nabokov and Kafka and other accessible milquetoast shit

Finally, someone with taste.

bert camels and books published by taschen as far as i can tell

>>3855990
that slander gave me some adolescent fury. point taken.

I don't think it differs very much.
In my opinion it is upbringing and education which plays the biggest role in our preferences.

The assumption that women read something utterly different and worse might have roots in fact that far more women than men read.Most read shitty romance novels/ erotica but they do read. They might be on the similar intellectual level as men who spend their days watching sports on tv but the fact that they read something and influence books sales creates mentioned assumption.

>>3856039
id never slander you, camels was referring to that strung out looking chick who sold stuff door to door and called me a 'sweet bun' whatever that is

>>3856045
sounds tasty. i'll stick to my hamsun then.

>>3855417
A woman who shares my taste! (I'm the guy who made those charts.)

>>3856208
Damn she'll fuck you now bro.

>>3855455
heh, not gonna lie, i lold

>>3854336

read aeneid, book 4

u r welcome

>>3855676
>Nabokov and Kafka and other accessible milquetoast shit

Kundera, OK. Murakami, OK. Franzen or Orwell or Vonnegut or Brautigan, of course. But Kafka is not milquetoast unless you have comprehension difficulties.

I discovered the pleasure of reading a few years ago, and my taste seems to change the more I read, but I tend to lean towards emotional and depressive literature. Some examples of books I've enjoyed:

Hunger by Knut Hamson,
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Unbearable Lightness of Being By Milan Kundera,
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick,
The Wall by Jean-Paul Sartre,
Exile and the Kingdom by Albert Camus,
Brothers Karamazov By Fyodor Dostoyevsky,
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

>>3855676
thats my fetish

>>3856357
>picked one of Dick's worst books to read
>emotional and depressive

>>3856469
I tried to get a Dick recommendation the other day, but /lit/ wasn't having it, repressed homosexual that it is. Where's a good place to start?

>>3856357
are these in order and if yes, did the pleasure of reading start with those red headed twins?

>>3856477
The Man in the High Castle
or Ubik

>>3856477
The older PK Dick got, the more his mental state deteriorated. By the time he wrote A Scanner Darkly he was having transcendental experiences and believed he was the continued consciousness (or "reincarnation) of a 4th century Roman priest to the Cumaean Sybil.

>>3856513
The madness of this man interests me... did that make it past the editor?

>>3856477
Ubik and Valis are his best books.

>>3856522
yes, at a certain point he was so famous in the sci-fi community that he had no trouble selling this sort of stuff.

You can easily trace the progression of his overall world view and mental state through his books. From his somewhat inane but grounded realist fiction (that was commercially unviable) to the obvious interest in drugs and transcendence seen in the incredibly detailed, 6-chapter long account of a LSD trip in his novel "Lies Inc" (based on the short story an unteleported man) to the full blown paranoia of A Scanner Darkly, his religious schizophrenic delusions in The Divine Invasion trilogy and The Eye of Sybil, and finally his almost unreadable confessional/stream of consciousness style VALIS, where the true range of his insanity is explained in painstaking detail.

>>3856555
>>3856510
>>3856523
>>3856513
Ubik and Valis are on the to read list, thank you anons.

>>3856357
>Exile and the Kingdom by Albert Camus,

mynegro

>>3856357
sup babe u ever read any henny jahnn

>>3856054
actually have YOU ever read any henny jahnn or sologub or schwob because i'd actually want to talk to you about it.

I love Austen, she's hilarious. Too bad people think she actually writes love stories and don't understand it's just satire. I'll ignore Persuasion's seriousness since it wasn't truly finished when her brother published it.

>>3855581
That pic is a jocose quote from Mansfield Park, it basically means: "No one cares about Edmund's broken heart or his slutty sisters embarrassing the family anymore. Now let me skip to end."
Look at pic related, it's the first sentence of P&P (as you probably know). She's obviously being ironical, it's the women who keep chasing wealthy men to be their husbands the entire book.

>>3855641
This. A ridiculously amount of women love Nora Roberts, 50 Shades and such (soccer mom core, as some would say).
I also don't know many males who read, but the ones who do only care for books like ASOIAF or Dan Brown stuff.
As for myself, besides Austen, I love realism (didn't enjoy George Eliot though) and some post-modernism but will gladly skip modernism (I think I'm not sensitive/ mature enough for it).

>>3856709
*ridiculous amount

English is not my first language, yada yada.

>>3856709
Every girl i know who reads much has read ASOIAF. Don'y know why. I liked "Nightfliers" though.

>>3856709
going deep and being satirical aren't mutually exclusive, I don't hate Austen I just don't think she holds up as the patron saint of female writers that other less read girls portray her as. Even as wry satire, she's not the right person to represent the whole gender's literary accomplishments.

>>3856709
that quote of hers is utterly and logically fallacious garbage

>>3856733
>I just don't think she holds up as the patron saint of female writers that other less read girls portray her as
I agree on that, fangirls gonna fangirl, it's just that many people (often males) like saying she's "shit" because
joke ->
their heads ->
or they just watched a poor movie adaptation.

>>3856734
Which one? I hate when people take quotes from books and attribute them directly to the writer without specifying the context.

the love story of austen's works are independent of her social critique. so they work on both levels, as gratifying tales of romance and as social criticism. they aren't one or the other and making fun of girls who like her works as love stories is pretty stupid.

>>3856733
>she's not the right person to represent the whole gender's literary accomplishments.
because any such an attempt is stupid and is doomed to failure. stop trying.

>>3856604
No. No. Been meaning to (not counting bits of Salome which probably don't count?)
the mob doesn't like people moving in on their white slaving racket

>>3856772
Which love stories? Emma's last minute realization? Fanny's friendzone? Catherine's teen infatuation? Darcy coming from "2/10 elbows too pointy" to "plz have me Lizzy so ronery"?
She treats "love" like an accident that is bound to happen and doesn't even give it too much thought.
Still ignoring Persuasion.
Liking Austen for "the love stories" is like reading ASOIAF for the prose.

>>3856765
>Which one?
the one in the pic.

you should really get on that schwob pal the book of monelle is beautiful.

>>3856800
Well, it's supposed to be a joke.
In the next lines the girls' mom is the one mad to fetch them wealthy husbands.

>>3855417
What does exit-level mean? Like, advanced?

Is Motorman really good? Want to read it, but it seems slightly expensive on amazon. Been reading a lot of surrealism lately.

>>3855676
Misogyny.

>>3856813
I love this book. one of the few I read once a year. I read her correspondence when it was published on Gutenberg too. The Jack Vance of her day.

>>3856813
Pride and Prejudice was honest-to-God a funny book, but I'll admit that the only reason I slogged through Mansfield Park was for the incest end.

>>3856825
p-pls respand

>>3856825
I think it's a joke about suicide

>>3856843
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2072968

In this context, once you are reading "exit-level" lit you will no longer have anything to gain from /lit/.

>>3855470
>Melissa Scott

Why are queer authors always so ugly and fat? It makes me think that the homosexuality as response to trauma theory might have more than a grain of truth in it.

That exit level chart is probably the best thing to come out of /lit/. It's so...glorious.

>>3855530

>Can't say her stuff really appeals to me since I'm not depressed, white, or a woman

I understand the first, sort of understand the second, but the last has flummoxed me. Why do you need to be same ethnicity as the author for it to appeal to you?

>>3856877

Oh shit, switch the last two around.

>>3856877
He's a racist. Simple as that.

>>3856208
And I'm the woman who I believe you got a few of the recs for them from! Kornel Esti, Stoner, Motorman, etc. I'm the one who made the contemporary novellas, flash fiction, surreal, travel lit and a few other charts.

>>3856772
>because any such an attempt is stupid and is doomed to failure. stop trying.
I'm not the one who represents her as such.
I'm the one trying to defend the literary contributions of half the population, but it gets hard when you have to fight against the presupposition that female writers equals comedy of manners.

>>3856978
(Different Anon)
Thank you for the surreal chart!

>>3856978
u fuxx with that henny jahnn? i know at least one person here has to have read him

>>3856845
No, but a lot of those books are depressing.

>>3856825
Kind of like advanced. It's what you read when you've done everything you'd expect someone into reading to read.

>>3855362

It means that woman is not the opposite of man, but merely man devoid of the essential element of manhood (i.e. the phallus).

>>3857081
I think you mean that the woman is her own phallus.

>>3857081
I think Lacan's Freudian-wannabe analysis is clearly a Phallus, see?

>>3856831
I do that with Emma, haha.

>>3856838
That's funny, most people hate that about MP and actually wanted Fanny to end with Henry.

>>3856797
>She treats "love" like an accident that is bound to happen and doesn't even give it too much thought.
wait are you one of those guys who believes in fate or something?
laughinggirls.jpg

>>3857225
Are you retarded? Read the goddamn posts.

>>3857254
>reading
>/lit/

Hahaha. Good one.