/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20404618]

What book are you currently reading? Do you like it or not?

[Anonymous No.20404629]

>>20404618
The second volume of In Search of Lost Time, and Basic Problems of Phenomenology by Heidegger.
Yes, I like it, but I kind of wish I hadn't already read everything Thomas Mann wrote, because I would rather be reading that for the first time again.

[Anonymous No.20404653]

>>20404618
halfway through Atomised by Houellebecq. I’m underwhelmed.

[Anonymous No.20404656]

50 Shades of Nazi lamp shades by Herbert Kircher.

It's a collection of photographs and history of recovered objects from Nazi era curiosity meuseum

[Anonymous No.20404658]

>>20404629
>The second volume of In Search of Lost Time
lol what a coincidence I was going to order that book before making this thread but for some reason changed my mind

>Thomas Mann
What is your favorite work of his?

[Anonymous No.20404705]

Bought the entire Aubery-maturin collection so I'm on Post captain at the moment. It's so comfy lads

[Anonymous No.20404706]

>>20404618
Plato's Gorgias
I've liked it a lot so far, the best part are the little "eureka" moments when i get exactly what Socrates' point is and how everything he said so far clicks together

[Anonymous No.20404932]

>>20404618
Phasma. Not sure what I think of it yet. I read through the Star Wars Darth Bane trilogy this week and I'm really hoping that's not the peak of Star Wars literature. Maybe it's just whiplash because I read a lot of Shakespeare lately.

[Anonymous No.20404953]

>>20404618
reading summerian myth and the rig veda.
the veda is fucking booooooooooring but sumerian myth is cool

[Anonymous No.20404983]

>>20404618
I'm reading Discrete Mathematics, by László Lovász. It's been surprisingly fun.

[Anonymous No.20405001]

Oliver Twist. He's currently getting bullied by the other apprentice boy, so far it's just been gratuitous orphan abuse. When does it get good?

[Anonymous No.20405067]

>>20404618
Death to frog farter posters

[Anonymous No.20405083]

This weekend I finished Volume Two of The Complete Tales of Henry James
best three stories were: A Light Man, Travelling Companions and A Passionate Pilgrim
And I started, on a whim, The Chairman's New Clothes: Mao & The Cultural Revolution by Simon Leys. One of the few political history books that survived my purge of such books a few years ago, because I've always liked Leys' writing. Anyway so far it's been enjoyable, personally there's something very enjoyable about reading about Chinese political feuding.

[Anonymous No.20405088]

>>20405067
Tell us what you're reading, dumbass.

[Anonymous No.20405112]

Weirdly nostalgic for the old internet. Some classic pynch fun, but the Jews kvetching about Jews kvetching about Jews is starting to grate.

[Anonymous No.20405146]

CotC. I’m lovin’ it.

[Anonymous No.20405432]

>>20404618
I read "The collector" because someone said it was a good Unreliable narrator book.
It wasn't.
Spoilers ahead.

The narrator is very clear, as it is written (mostly) from the MC perspective, it is written that way to expose how mentally derranged of an individual he is, justifying his actions as "love".
The book is interesting, at least the first 30 or 40 pages, until our MC gets what he wants: To capture this girl he's obessed with and lock her up in his basement.
Up until the point he was planning it, obsessing over her and even carrying her to the basement, the book was great as it built suspense and it even made me feel dirty putting myself in this character's place.

But then, the second act, and the bulk of the book comes.
And oh boy, is it boring.
I'm not even gonna explain it, but it's a very boring read with not much happening but back-and-forth from the MC and his captive. We already know the MC is derranged, and he doesn't do much at all now that she's captive, not much but indulge in his own fantasies.

So the captive becomes our focus, we're interested in knowing about this girl...But the way it is written, well, we don't get that much information about her, until she dies and we can read her diary and find out what she was thinking all this time.
Of course, a few things happen between her being captured and her inevitable death, the problem is that most of the bulk reads like a huge filler.

And so, she dies and we read her diary, because why the fuck not, and we know what she was thinking, and we can -finally- sympathize with her and know what she was going through.
I believe the author wrote it this way, just so we can truly take on the MC's perspective, since he woudln't know what she was thinking.
And again, it is not badly written, it is just too long.

It is quite an excellent story, but it overstays it's welcome.
More than 50 pages could be cut form this 160 page book, there was no need for most of the scenes, it just keeps dragging on and on as if the author was forced to reach a certain wordlimit.

Honestly, i like this book, but i wouldn't reccomend it.


Ah and also, the narrator was not unreliable, the narrator was the main character whom was insane, so whoever said this was an "unreliable narrator" story can go fuck themselves because they obviously completely missed the point of the book.

[Anonymous No.20405439]

>>20404618
I'm going to the National Gallery in a few days so I wanted to learn the basics

[Anonymous No.20405459]

To the lighthouse
Boring as fuck

[Anonymous No.20405471]

>>20405432
If you want a book with a strong unreliable narrator read The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick.

[Anonymous No.20405508]

>>20404618
>Lady chatterly's lover
for fiction its pretty good
>HIstory of the donner party a tragedy of the sierras
for nonfiction, also good it was written in the 19th century so the style is pretty comfy

[Anonymous No.20405526]

>>20404705
How much was it?

[Anonymous No.20405533]

>>20405001
Just read it. It's suffering-porn till like 60% of the way in, then it's just good going.

The artful looks cute in that cover.

[Anonymous No.20405551]

>>20404618
Growth of the Soil. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

[Anonymous No.20405596]

I'm reading Jane Eyre. It's good. 300 pages in and my curiosity grows for Grace Poole's odd ways.

[Anonymous No.20405617]

Finally finished reading Catch-22 today. I re-read Crime & Punishment about two months ago and since then nothings been able to hold my interest at all, but I've been slowly been making my way through it over the past month or so and in the past couple days I really started to love it, read the last 200 pages over the course of yesterday and this morning, and now I feel like I'm fully back in my reading stride so I'm pretty happy with that. I think I'll read Mrs. Dalloway next.

[Anonymous No.20405619]

>>20404618
The Road. It's okay.

[Anonymous No.20405626]

>>20405146
I've seen this mentioned a few times and I think I'm out of the loop. Is it supposed to be really bad?

[Anonymous No.20405654]

Das Boot.
I love the crude language of the seamen, the way everything is described in great detail, how the author paints the sea so vividly, it's a great book so far.

[Anonymous No.20405659]

>>20405626
it’s crazy. think of Goosebumps but for adults

[Anonymous No.20405674]

[Anonymous No.20405745]

>>20405146
Based

[Anonymous No.20405809]

>>20405551
Based, make sure to check out his other work like Pan, Mysteries, Hunger...

[Anonymous No.20405823]

>>20405471
Thanks anon, i'll check it out.

[Anonymous No.20405834]

>>20405626
it’s terrible anon, don’t fall for it. the author of those books sits on /lit/ all day and shills them. he’s a lolcow retard and a failed grifter. he was the one who initially replied to you.
>goosebumps for adults
>honestly, the twist was unironically amazing
>it was so bad it was actually good
>it’s good for what it is, which is a comfy pulp horror
this is the kind of shit he says over and over in every thread

[dago !deClb9SBC. No.20405836]

Dr. Ernst Schertel

[Anonymous No.20405909]

>>20405508
>Donner Party

I've been hiking through there. Crazy to imagine getting stranded there all winter.

[Anonymous No.20405925]

>>20405626
Saw this on /x/

[Anonymous No.20405956]

Finished Old Man and the Sea about 10 minutes ago. Took me a couple hours. It was nice; I really related with Santiago's unrelenting stubbornness to achieve a singular goal despite how much it kills you inside or out. Was very immersed; almost like I could feel each cut and burn of the fishing line. I felt like I could share in the character's thorough exhaustion and muddled, almost frantic inner dialogue that took hold the longer he held on to the Marlin.

Was touching hearing the villagers praise him for his achievement regardless of his misfortune with the sharks during his return trip. The prose and length fit the story nicely; I can't think of anything I would have done differently except for maybe having an epilogue where him and the boy get a chance to go out and fish together again and exchange some more heartfelt dialogue.

9/10

[Anonymous No.20405967]

L'Etranger by Albert Camus, am in half and I already cried like 4 times. It's so good.

[Anonymous No.20405969]

>>20405967
>t.woman

[Anonymous No.20405973]

>>20405969
Not a woman, just a retard.

[Heliknoton No.20405981]

Physics of Liquid Crystals by Gennes

It’s a classic for physics bros

[Anonymous No.20405986]

Shui hu zhuan (water margins/outlaws of the marsh)
I love it, perfect balance between following the thread of the story and sparkling dreams.
The pléiade translation is really catchy + notes are quite detailled and interesting to understand chinese culture

8/10

[Anonymous No.20406008]

>>20404618
Coralline. It’s nice so far.

[Anonymous No.20406009]

Nostromo
Meditations And Devotions - St. John Henry Newman
Origins Of War

they are all pretty good.

[Anonymous No.20406026]

I picked this out for inspiration since I knew it had a few similar themes to the novel I'm writing. Never seen any of the film adaptations and I didn't know much about the plot so I went in with a fresh perspective. It's very good so far.

[Anonymous No.20406053]

Moby Dick. Nowhere near as difficult as I'd been lead to believe, my experience thus far has been splendid. Hitherto

[Anonymous No.20406063]

>>20404618
I just finished Chapter 13 of Wuthering Heights, seriously debating if it's even worth moving forward.

[Anonymous No.20406071]

>>20406053
How widely-read were you before attempting it? I've been meaning to read this one as well but have only taken literature seriously for a few months after 10 long years of barely reading novels at all. Is the archaic whaling jargon as thick as it's been purported to be?

[Anonymous No.20406076]

Roald Amundsen's written account of his journey to the south pole. I haven't actually started it yet, I only just downloaded the epub and I'm eating a sammich first

[Anonymous No.20406087]

A book about philosophy's effect on educational theory. I like it overall despite my eyes bleeding as I read a man from the 1940's try and explain subatomic theory.

[Anonymous No.20406090]

Kolyma Tales. I like it so far, about 20% in. It's depressing, but that's not surprising. Not sure how it stacks up against Gulag Archipelago though

[Anonymous No.20406186]

The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris. Suppose to be a throwback to medieval romances but more so feels like someone writing what they think medieval romances were like. Anyone else read it?

[Anonymous No.20406248]

The Accursed Share Volume 1. I think it's pretty interesting. It's lacking in a quantitative basis, but some of the insight is undeniable. I feel like it's a little meandering, but substantial.

[Anonymous No.20406278]

>>20404983
What's it about as a whole?

[Anonymous No.20406359]

I just finished A Confederacy of Dunces.
Funniest book I’ve read in a long time

[Anonymous No.20406366]

>>20404618
Ulysses. I am enjoying it intensely

[Anonymous No.20406373]

>>20404618
The Castle of Otranto. Not particularly enjoying it, bit like playing a haunted castle quest in an RPG computer game. Has its charm.

[Anonymous No.20406378]

>>20405432
>Honestly, i like this book, but i wouldn't reccomend it.
same, partly because the author seems to find something pathological about collectors, collecting collections, a pov I share.

[Anonymous No.20406379]

>>20405596
enjoy. i'd recommend reading gone with the wind or wuthering heights next

[Anonymous No.20406386]

>>20406071
not the anon you're replying to but the answer is no, read it as soon as possible

[Anonymous No.20406394]

>>20404618
Pale King. It's early days but it feels too rough and scattered, despite some great sections.

[Anonymous No.20406410]

Reading Stoner and it is so good. About halfway through.

[Anonymous No.20406612]

>>20404705
Good luck m8. I read them all when I was 15.

[Anonymous No.20406795]

>>20406379
Awesome! Thanks anon, I'll definitely take up the suggestions.

[Anonymous No.20406801]

>>20404618
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. Two chapters in. Despite the casual, almost conversational prose it's elegantly written and paints a picture of the national park beautifully.

I looked up some of his novels for their basic plot and spirit, although none of them really appeal to me enough to begin reading them.

[Anonymous No.20406816]

>>20404618
Rereading Max ernsts shit. Dorotohea tanning too since she sucked his dick.

[Anonymous No.20406990]

>>20406795
Cheers

[Anonymous No.20407367]

>>20405809
I'll be sure to. Thanks, fren.

[Anonymous No.20407500]

>>20405925
>BE0875EE-9629-4426-A251-3(...).jpg
Someone please find me the original pic he posted, I'm fuckin dying laughing

[Anonymous No.20407637]

>>20404618
War & Peace.
Much more than I thought I would. It's a cozy story that just carries you along without much struggle. I'm around pg. 300 and it is very pleasant to know that I still have like 700 more with this book.

[Anonymous No.20407719]

War and Peace

Loving it so far

[Anonymous No.20407762]

>>20404618

Rings of Saturn by Sebald. Love it. Recommended to anyone who:

a) Has been depressed
b) Lived in East England
c) Likes history
d) Appreciates good yarns

The book is a walking tour, and each chapter is like a vignette focusing on a specific location on the way and some odd bit of the specific site's history. Themes include, death, time, synchronicity, wisdom, and despite being somewhat humourless, the content is engrossing.

[Anonymous No.20407771]

>>20405459

I had to set it down. Life's to short to force yourself to finish a "classic" you can't stand.

[Anonymous No.20408018]

I’m reading the idiot and I’m exactly halfway through. when it’s good, it’s good, but there have been multiple street he’s and scenes that just dragged on or weren’t that good. also there are entire sections where you’re not supposed to know what’s going on fully, and it can be a little frustrating. the prince is an interesting character though and watching how he reacts is enough to keep me interested. the themes are interesting but I definitely enjoyed crime and punishment a bit more, it felt more coherent.

[Anonymous No.20408043]

Moby Dick. Came in expecting a revenge story, now I’m learning more about whaling in the 19th century than I’d ever thought I would.

[Anonymous No.20408261]

Just finished Blood Meridian. It is the great American novel. It mogs the absolute fuck out of Moby Dick.

[Anonymous No.20408316]

america, the farewell tour by chris hedges. it's scary how much I agree with him, he hits the nail on the head with so many points.

[Anonymous No.20408321]

>>20405925
Eyes Wide Shut isn't deep wtf lol

[Anonymous No.20408327]

>>20408316
I hate that guy.

[Anonymous No.20408329]

I just finished Hell House and am thinking of reading book 1 of the Dark Tower series to see if it's any good. I liked Salem's Lot and The Shining so maybe it'll be good, idk.

[Anonymous No.20408336]

>>20408327
why

[Anonymous No.20408337]

>>20408329
The Dark Tower by itself is kino. The Stand is extremely good too.

[Anonymous No.20408338]

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne. It's like reading a tedious diary where not a minute is skipped. I'm just waiting for fucking Captain Nemo to show up

[Anonymous No.20408344]

Crime and Punishment, left it outside one day and the rain fucked it before i could finish so i just left it alone for years. currently halfway through and loving it

[Anonymous No.20408370]

>>20408336
i read one of his books years ago (empire of something or other) and thought it was quite puerile. that whole undergrad counterpunch thing is something i've become allergic to. you'd think a man of his age would grow out of it, but it's a job I guess and he is a journalist, we shouldn't expect much from such people.

[Anonymous No.20408379]

>>20408370
you mean pointing out the contradictions and abuses in modern american neoliberal capitalism? he rights in an angry style and justly so, it's nice to read someone who actually gives a fuck about exploitation and doesn't put on a blase face.

[Anonymous No.20408381]

>>20408379
writes^