/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.15766832]

I’ll admit that I’m not an avid reader. The last book I willingly read was Bud, not Buddy in elementary school. My current girlfriend has told me that she likes Dostoevsky. That she understand his characters, and they’re like her. She says that Raskolnikov is half insane at least and so is she.

Is she just calling herself crazy or is there something deeper to it. Do I have to read C&P to understand? I know this question doesn’t really belong on this board, but I thought the people here would be able to best explain what she meant to me because she’s freakishly intelligent and it’s hard for me to understand her when she tries to explain things about herself.

[Anonymous No.15766873]

>>15766832
Does she jump out of her seat in a panic and then sit back down pretending nothing happened, does she break out in cold sweat deliriums and talk about socks in her sleep, has she murdered an old pawn broker and her sister, has she ruined a relatives marriage, does she lie on a ruined sofa for days on end without moving, has she written an essay about Napoleon and has she found redemption in a Siberian labour camp? If yes then you'll know where she's coming from.

[Anonymous No.15766897]

>>15766832
>My current girlfriend has told me that she likes Dostoevsky
So, she listened to a five minute youtube vid about Dostoevsky, and identified with one of his characters, or so she thinks.
She also knows the last book you read was Bud, not Buddy, so she's just playing the "look at me, I'm academic" card for attention.
Maybe find a character in Bud, not Buddy with whom she is able to identify.

[Anonymous No.15766902]

>women
>understanding Dostoevsky

[Anonymous No.15766916]

>>15766832
Raskolnikov is not insane he is trapped in moral relativism and master/slave dynamics. He sees himself as a figure above morals and thinks he can kill freely because of his intelligence, but then he can't live with the burden of a secret and gets paranoid and ill because at hear he was always mama's boy.

[Anonymous No.15766931]

>>15766916
>at hear
at heart* if you want truer madness read Demons

[Anonymous No.15766966]

I became an avid reader like three months ago and I can't stop. I stopped watching tv and I don't spend much time on 4chan anymore.

Here's how I did it.

-Remember the average person reads like zero books a year. If you read 5 pages a day, you are 5 pages above the average person

-Don't force yourself to read. Commit to read 5 pages a day. I swear after three days you'll feel like reading more and after a month or so you should be reading 50-100 pages a day for pleasure

-Read various books at the same time. When I grab a difficult book or one that makes me sleepy I grab another and switch. This should refresh your head. Keep them thematically different. I read economics and fiction.

-It isn't a race. Reading slowly won't make you sleepy that fast. Try to acknowledge what books are for you to read fast and which aren't.

-Buy the physical copies. When you get the books from your own money you'll feel the need to read them to avoid the feel of wasting your money.

-Start with books highly discussed here so you feel motivated to discuss.

[Anonymous No.15767001]

>>15766897
>she listened to a five minute youtube vid
Probably, one where Raskolnikov is compared to Taxi Driver or Joker.

[Anonymous No.15767066]

>>15766897
She might’ve watched a video, but I know she read the book because she was sending me excerpts. She even highlighted little sections she wanted me to read specifically. I’ve told her I don’t read books. She is a bit of an attention seeker.

>>15766916
No offense to your explanation, but he’s just a little bitch with a complex that puts him above others, but can’t handle the pressures of doing things that aren’t socially acceptable? That’s what my understanding of it is at least.

>>15766966
It’s not like I don’t like reading. I read translated Chinese novels here and there, but I don’t really count those as actual books. More like comics in text form. I enjoy fiction mainly, but its hard for me to find something I like because of my preferences.

>>15767001
I actually compared Ras to joker, jokingly of course, and she got really mad lol. Used the “we live in a society...” quote and she didnt get it.

[Anonymous No.15767085]

>>15767066
you are dumb as fuck bro, how did you get a gf?

[Anonymous No.15767121]

>>15767085
Take a guess, pal.

[Anonymous No.15767139]

>>15767085
I think its because I actively try to show interest in what she’s interested in. She’s kinda autistic so she doesnt have that much experience with people in general. I think I just got lucky but I won’t cut myself too short

[Anonymous No.15768249]

>>15766832
I'm going to break it down for you, nice and simple.

>All women are crazy
This is a universal truth and indisputable so I guess what you are really asking is whether she is absolutely off of her rock?

>Raskolnikov is crazy
The entire point of his character is to demonstrate that a perfectly rationally minded person can be driven to murder when they try and embrace nihilism. Raskolnikov himself is deeply changed by his actions and suffers for most of the book as a result, he is not a crazy person, in fact he's supposed to be relatable to the reader since he seems like a pretty decent person. So unless your girl feels like she's on the verge of killing someone with a hatchet the chances are she's only relating to Raskolnikov on a completely intentional level and she's missed the point of the character. Dostoevsky disciples often get labelled pseuds on this board because they think the basic philosophical concepts he's presenting in his fiction are massively complicated and they're a mark above the rest of us for understanding them. I imagine your girlfriend is probably a little less intelligent than you take her for and you should try reading the book yourself (it really isn't that difficult).

[Anonymous No.15768325]

>>15768249
Just read the rest of your posts and I'm going to guess you're in the 16-18 age range. The sooner you get the first point through your head, the more successful you will be with women in general. Godspeed brainlet OP.

[Anonymous No.15768973]

>>15768249
>>15768325
>So unless your girl feels like she's on the verge of killing someone with a hatchet

Was really all I was worried about. I think the nihilism part fits well with her, so thanks for your explanation. I think I understand a little better now. Why read it when I can ask big brain mofos here

[Anonymous No.15769137]

>>15766873
good answer.
i knew a girl once who told me i could never understand her unless i read Sartre's Nausea. i bought a copy but never read it.

[Anonymous No.15769233]

>Raskolnikov? He’s not exactly a nihilist. Lol have you been reading sparknotes?
>Mmm.... what you just said, that last msg, is what the police tried to accuse him of. It’s not completely correct. He wrote an article on it and so they started discussing it
>He’s half crazy because sometimes he legit thinks he should turn himself in and preps to. Other times he thinks he’s caught and that the police are simply toying with him. But his reaction to his not being caught is the worst. He gloats. Openly too. And sometimes even to the point where he basically confesses everything and reveals every detail - just to confuse them and again, gloat. But at the same time he doesn’t know why he does it and sometimes he thinks himself an idiot for doing it
>Hm. It’s not that simple. But what he writes isn’t totally him imo. (Luckily you won’t have to guess on this matter. He spells it out.) He doesn’t consider himself quite so special that he has the right. In his case i think he branches it out to justify the murder as a societal good, though he may not be one “extraordinary” enough to be justified in the crimes undertaking
>He arouses all suspicion then p much yells “do it! Take me in” and when they don’t he laughs at them. But if they legit believe him, he’s terrified and grows pale, even faints. His sickness returns. So why does he do it? I think Dostoyevsky is saying, maybe this is what crime does to us. Raskolnikov himself says (in an article he published while still in school. An article about crime because he was studying to be a lawyer) crime probably can’t be undertaken by someone in their straight, sober mind. You have to be “sick”

Her response to me copy pasting this thread. Honestly I thought she was saying she was a killer or something. Kinda have a thing for that. Disappointed

[Anonymous No.15771208]

>>15766902
yeah, dostoyevsky fucking sucks. Id understand saying >women? >Understanding Mishima or Melville or Plato, but not fucking dostoyevsky. Also you are sexist.

[Anonymous No.15771221]

>>15766832
shes a cringe pseud

[Anonymous No.15771233]

>>15766832
>>15767066
>>15768973
Please kill yourself you dumb cunt.

[Anonymous No.15771274]

>tfw no Dunia wife

[Anonymous No.15771296]

>>15769137
>i knew a girl once who told me i could never understand her unless i read Sartre's Nausea
That's one of the most painfully pretentious things I've ever heard, and also hilarious. You should read it, though, anon. It's a comfy book: very imaginative and often hilarious (especially any part having to do with the self-taught man). Reaally one of my favorites. And, just thinking of it now, I did actually identify with a lot of Roquentin's character. Still, I find the idea of telling a person they have to have read it to understand me absurd. I expect the compulsion to do such a thing is the same one which motivates people to define themselves as horoscope signs or Myers-Briggs types or Harry Potter houses or Karamazov brothers. Schizophrenia, or something.

[Anonymous No.15771308]

>>15766897
Is what zoomers think about other zoomers?

[Anonymous No.15771349]

>itt wikipedia warriors offer their 'analysis'
I never imagined such banality was possible.

[Anonymous No.15771359]

>>15769137
kek

[Anonymous No.15771424]

>>15769233
Stay with her and be patient if you ever have to be.