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/lit/ - Literature

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14720394 No.14720394 [Reply] [Original]

Anons over 30. what's your favorite book? Did you get even more cynical about life, or did you mellow out?

>> No.14720764

Wow Shake's/Plate was really smart, wasn't he?

>> No.14720785

The Brothers Karamazov. I found God after reading Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky's Pushkin speech, and the Bhagavad Gita, so you could say I'm pretty mellow now.

>> No.14720816

>>14720394
https://discord.gg/hCjX58e

>> No.14720986

My favorite is either Anna Karenina or The Sword of Honor trilogy by Evelyn Waugh. I wouldn’t say I’ve gotten more cynical. I had a mental breakdown late last year that has me reevaluating everything though.

>> No.14720994

Schopenhauer’s World as Will and Representations was the passion of my youth and is the solace of my old age (32)

>> No.14721152

>>14720816
Huh?

>> No.14721617

I don't have one favorite
I've only ever become more cynically mellow and joyously seething

>> No.14721833

>>14720785
Probably TBK is the best novel I've read. What sort of faith did you land on? Like Abrahamist or hindu?
>>14720394
I'm not over 30 but not too far. I used to be a seething lefty. Until i studied and practiced Buddhism, then taoism, then hinduism. Then eventually I had a dream about the angel of death and have settled in a panetheist conception of the god of Abraham.
Fav book Ecclesiastes probably.

Why do you ask anon?

>> No.14721884

I work on the philosophical principal of not giving a fuck.

>> No.14721982

I only read fiction, forgot if I had a favourite

>> No.14722105

>>14720394
No Tomorrow by Vivant Denon. Much more even-keeled these days.

>> No.14722127

>>14720394
Holy Bible.

Favorite fiction books are probably A Canticle for Leibowitz, Dune, Starship Troopers, Three Musketeers, etc. I appreciate guys like Dostoevsky but read fiction for distraction. I haven't done any of that kind of reading in years unfortunately.

Favorite non-fic would probably be Campbell's four volume Masks of God. Very comfy and fascinating.

>> No.14722298

>>14720394
Montaigne, Essays
Leopardi
some English poets, a few old like Marvell, a few lately contemporary like Ashbery
I've always been what some would describe as 'manic' so I keep busy- long walks with the dog, have an artisanal job that keeps me on my feet and moving, etc. A little dark on occasion but not naturally either a cynical or a depressed person. What getting older has brought is a bit more focus and a lot less involvement with the opposite sex.

>> No.14722302

Gonna be 30 this year, my favourite book is still the collection of sporadic writings titled "My Diary Desu"

>> No.14722408 [DELETED] 

>>14722298
>Leopardi
Do you read him in Italian? If not, which translation do you have? What are offer poets like him?
>Montaigne
Did you read all the essays? Which ones were your favourites? Is there a curated X best of" list you would recommend, or should I just read them all. I've read the first twelve or so, but there's too many of them for my feeble brainpower.

>> No.14722423

>>14722298
Did you read him in Italian? If not, which translation do you have? What are other poets like him?
>Montaigne
Did you read all the essays? Which ones were your favourites? Is there a curated "best of" list you would recommend, or should I just read them all? I've read the first twelve or so, but there's too many of them for my feeble brainpower.

>> No.14723111

>>14721833
Abrahamist, but I don't think the Hindu one is false. The Hindu one helped because it showed God had been seen from a different angle.

>> No.14723131

My own journals or Crying of Lot 49

>> No.14723142

>>14723131

I'm 28 btw so maybe I'm not allowed to be here

>> No.14723961

>>14720394
WWR . I read Schopenhauer every night in college and I still do . On my 5th reading right now

>> No.14724038

>>14720394

My favorite book used to be Grendel, total nihilism and cynicism. I turned 40 this year, in the last 10 years my perspective has changed.

Nihilism leads nowhere. It's a self-feeding loop of suck. I actually find honest optimism to be a better framework for life.

However, proper life frameworks are complex. Each person has their own hurdles to figure out. For me, it mostly came from being focused too much on myself, and not really being aware of my emotions. Unraveling that took a while, now things are much better, and I am much happier.

I feel there is no single book that can fix this, but a collection of books, introspection, for me also keeping a journal, and pushing yourself to become a better human by facing your challenges, limitations etc...having a good significant other helps.