>Did you know that this board has the most trolls per capita of any of the boards on 4chan?

[Anonymous No.4497047]

WHAT ARE YOU READING?

>Last
Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
>7/10 It starts out slow, but it picks up fast and is totally worth it.

>Current
My Education By William S. Burroughs
>8/10 so far because of his prose, it's like a less graphic Naked Lunch.

>Next
Girl, Interrupted
>why not?

[Anonymous No.4497093]

>last
The border trilogy by Cormac McCarthy 10/10
>Beautiful, absolutely beautiful

>Currently
Ulysses by James Joyce, so far 7/10
>The prose is really rich and I finally understand why everyone measures literature against this.

>Next
The Holy Bible, NKJV
>I want to step up my game

[Anonymous No.4497110]

>>4497047
>Last
I don't remember, it's been a while.

>Currently
A Game Of Thrones.
>It has its moments, I'm enjoying it. Although I probably won't read the next book.

>Next
Free Software, Free Society written by Richard Stallman OR Stoner by John Williams.
>Either read /g/ or /lit/.

[Anonymous No.4497121]

>last
Catcher in the Rye
>6,5/10, well written and I understand Holden but due to my lack of his angst i cant really connect with him

>current
Brave New World
>8/10 so far, dig the story but Huxley's style doesnt sit with me that much

>next
Jane Eyre, probably

[Anonymous No.4497122]

>Last
Great Expectations, Dickens 8/10
Really awesome; kept me very entertained and curious about what was going to be revealed next.

>Current
The Red and the Black, Stendhal
I like the story a lot, although I'm sure I'm missing a lot of satire that Stendhal threw in

>Next
Brothers K, Dostoevsky
I think I'm ready

[Anonymous No.4497129]

>last
Oblomov
>9/10 very good, although I think I didn't get the full effect due to the translation being shaky

>current
The Gunslinger - The Dark Tower Series
>6.5/10 okay nothing special, want to read the whole series in a week because I was recommended it by a friend, particularly for the ending

>next
The Drawing of the Three - The Dark Tower Series
>because when I start a series I always finish it

[Anonymous No.4497139]

>last
The Illustrated Man, Bradbury
>2/10. Extremely dull and cliche.

>current
Malone Dies: Beckett Trilogy
>7/10 so far, Molloy kinda dragged on, but MD is pretty good.

>next
The Other Brain, Fields
>for one of my neuro seminars

[Anonymous No.4497141]

test

[Anonymous No.4497143]

>>4497141
test

[Anonymous No.4497154]

>Last
Children of Hurin
>Recently got back into Tolkien for the first time since I was about 16, was quite surprised by the adult tone, my girlfriend was quite upset by the ending ext. while I was reading it to her, overall a 8/10
>Current
The Hobbit
>9/10, one of my personal favourites from my childhood. Only reading it because my girlfriend hasn't read any Tolkien other than previously mentioned, we have quite a good setup. I sit there and read while she snuggles up against me and listens.
>Next
Probably the Lord of the Rings
>We'll probably go on a Tolkien fest

[Anonymous No.4497164]

>Last
As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner

>Current
Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger

>Next
Probably Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie

[Anonymous No.4497172]

>Last
The Heroes by Abercrombie. It was alright.

>Current
Red Country by Abercrombie. Looking forward to finishing the series, if only to be done with it.
Oh, and I read Books of Blood on my phone while on the bus.

>Next
The Count of Monte Cristo.

[Anonymous No.4497182]

> Last
Rita Heyworth add shawshank redemtion - an easy read with good flow and interesting story. King gets too much shit from /lit/, he's a good story teller who writes entertaining stories without a lot of substance and knows it.

> Now
The foreword to The Trial(anyone reading the foreword before the book is usually a moron, I learned the hard way), picked up a new translation (Swedish) from the library. Good as always, unsure how it actually stood up against the translations by Breon Mitchell and Karl Vennberg. Not a german speaker as you may have guessed.

> Next
The Dharma Bums- Read On the Road and enjoyed it so I thought I might like it. Anyone care to tell me what I'm up for?

[Anonymous No.4497186]

>>4497121
I agree on the whole BNW part, but I feel like the society it portrays would not be as believable without the obnoxious tone. Or maybe you were alluding to something else with that comment.

[Anonymous No.4497196]

>>4497047
>last
The Silver Chair
>3/5, going to take a break from the Narnia series now though

>current
Fellowship of the Ring
>3/5, been inconsistent so far, some of Tolkien's descriptions of things or parts get tedious, but then i really enjoy others. Currently up to Lothlórien, and the best part so far has been Moria. Worst part was when they got out of the shire until they got to bree, i really did not like the old forest. tom and barrow-down parts.

The hobbits really don't have any kind of character, and still really don't, which is probably one of the reasons those parts were so tedious.

>next
probably the two towers, or i might read something else then come back to it

[Anonymous No.4497197]

Last: 1984

present: the hobbit

next: stoner

im trying to get back into reading

[Anonymous No.4497198]

>>4497047
>Last
Byzantium: The Apogee by John Julius Norwich
9/10, super interesting

>Currently
Gold Coast by Elmore Leonard
Can't rate it yet, not very far into it

>Next
I'll probably start The Book of the New Sun, it's really about time I got round to it

[Anonymous No.4497228]

The Essence of Truth - Martin Heidegger

>Heidegger really teaches the art of going slow here by painstakingly examining every element of Plato's cave allegory. Again, this exists as a critique of Western Metaphysics.
> It's classic Heidegger, but parts of it are pretty good for a beginner, whilst other parts are incredibly dense. 8/10

>Freud and the Scene of Trauma - John Fletcher

>My Psychoanalysis tutor's new book is truly astounding. Expands on Laplanche's critique of Freud's abandoned seduction theory, Fletcher oscillates between copernican and ptolemaic readings, (mirroring Freudian study) to give an incredible explanation of Life/Death drive.
> If you're at all interested in Freud and Psychoanalysis, and want a good book to facilitate criticism, read this book. 9/10

Pierre Bourdieu - Distinction
Not a fan of his writing style, and I always get wary when looking at class relations and 'objectivity.' Produces a good argument and a good bridge between the subjective/objective divide. Not something I'm overly interested in though. 6.5/10

Duino Elegies - Rainer Maria Rilke
10/10 - Beautiful poetry, written on the cusp of the modern catastrophe.

[Anonymous No.4497231]

>>4497228
wow, I really fucked up my greentexting

sorry, I'm in a seminar, and half paying attention.

[Anonymous No.4497241]

I just went to /x/ to read some of their stories.
It really reminds me why I prefer this board. So much of their stuff is completely idiotic.

[Anonymous No.4497244]

reading ficciones and i find the prose related

no, im not reading the original, but every story is translated by a different person, and the prose is always unpleasant

[Anonymous No.4497247]

>>4497244
>i find the prose related
lol i meant 'retarded'

now i look silly

[Deep&Edgy !!BfzNblz4cXS No.4497266]

>>4497228
>>4497231
>Shamo

aw shit nigga

[Anonymous No.4497275]

LAST.
As I Lay Dying
Metropole
Gormenghast

Current:
Memories, Dreams and Reflections-Jung
Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrel

Next:
Catcher in the Rye
Man and his Symbols
Light in August
Sanctuary
Journey to the End of the Night
I Am A Cat
Filth

[Anonymous No.4497278]

>Last
Book of the New Sun tetralogy by Gene Wolfe
>7/10, it was my first read of it so I don't think I completely comprehended the entire story/world the way Wolfe might want it. Still I thought the prose was enjoyable, the allusion interesting and the plot strong, but aside from Severian, Jonas, Agia, and a handful of others many of the characters felt flat. Worth another read or two.

>Current
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
>9/10 so far. Standard fare Hemingway, which is a good thing. Shaping up to be at least my second favorite Hemingway novel. It would have to do some amazing shit in the last 100 pages to beat Sun also Rises.

>Next
Not entirely sure. Peace (Gene Wolfe) and/or Siddhartha are likely. Might just plow through the latter since it's so short.

>>4497164
What do you think of Storm of Steel? It was my second to last book and the reason I picked up Farewell to Arms but I don't see it mentioned much except in passing. Junger's other work tends to overshadow it I think.

[Anonymous No.4497287]

>>4497266
I'm tc newrybro as well.

[Anonymous No.4497304]

>Last
NOS4A2, by Joe Hill.
>Loved it. 4/5 for me, but I can see how others might not care for it

>Current
Gun Machine, but Warren Ellis.
>3/5 so far. Wish the main character had more personality than "burnt out cop". Hopefully it gets better.

>Next
Who knows. Wool? No Longer Human? Further: Beyond the Threshold? Or I may just re-read REH's Conan stories.

[Anonymous No.4497315]

>>4497278
i'm enjoying it, but its literary quality seems secondary to its ability to communicate the horror of war

i see that junger's output was huge, but i don't really know what else is available or worth reading in english

[Anonymous No.4497324]

>Last:
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
>8/10, it's fairly well written for fantasy and liked the plot and characters. Read it in 2 days out of not being able to put it down.

>Now:
Before they are Hanged, same guy
>9/10 so far, more seems to be happening

>Next:
Last argument of Kings by same


I don't usually read fantasy but I saw this one reccomended many times around here and I wasn't disappointed. I even enjoyed the first book a lot after having everyone say it's the worst and that nothing happens in it. It has to be ADD because a lot happens. Thanks for the rec anyway /lit/.

[Anonymous No.4497373]

>>4497315
I felt the same way, but I still consider it one of the better first hand accounts of war ever written. What I appreciated was the lack of moralizing and focus on creating a realistic and (to the extent that it was possible) relatable portrait of the war, while many other writers of the same period were using it merely as a tool for pacifist diatribes.

I'll also say that it's the only book of Junger's I've read aside from some of his essays, and there does seem to be a lack of quality translations which is a shame.

[Anonymous No.4497382]

>last
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. One of the best things I've ever read.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Wasn't super into it, but definitely planning on reading more of her horror.

>current
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Wanted something easy & fun to read, really liking this book so far. Love how fast-paced it is.

>next
Probably more Sun books by Wolfe, and I've got The Third Policeman downloaded.

[Anonymous No.4497507]

>Last
Stoner by John Williams
>8/10 Read 100 pages at a time, made me reflect on whether I'm really thinking before making huge life choices (Stoner didn't), made me feel bad for my English professor father's own marital problems

>Current
Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
>7/10 I don't really like plays or the French but I can see why this was so popular (and still is)

>Next
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
>I started this but had to return it to the library. Am interested in where it's going.

[Anonymous No.4497531]

>Last
After many a Summer Dies the Swan

>Current
Crime and Punishment, the Trial of Henry Kissinger, Confession by Tolstoy

>Next
The Crying lot of 49

[Anonymous No.4497550]

>>4497531
How was the Swan, I might read that soon. I'm reading Time Must have a Stop right now. Personally I don't like Huxley's style at all, but there's a lot of material behind it which makes it worth it

[Anonymous No.4497579]

>Multiple people just read Book of the New Sun
The only board I've ever been proud of

>last
The Stranger by Albert Camus. Really liked it and probably will pick it up again soon since I got a lot out of it and am working on some absurd drama right now
The Pillowman by Martin McDonaugh. Absolutely brilliant drama, he's a hit or miss kind of person but this play offered up a lot on authoritarianism.

>Current
The House of the Dead by Dostoyevsky. Love the prose. Noticed my dad watching Orange is the New Black and wondered if Jenji Kohan had read it.

>Next
Not sure. I'm currently busy cutting Love's Labour's Lost for a production and rereading most of my directing books, so I guess A Director Prepares by Anne Boggart since it's got esoteric essays on directing that I got a lot of use out of in my previous directing work.

[Anonymous No.4497680]

>Last
Don Quijote
>7/10 the best part is the second one

>Current
Moby-Dick
>8/10 very well written would give 9 but it's too homosexual for me
Los Detectives Salvajes
>7/10 prose ain't like Moby-Dick but very intriguing read but all the characters seem to explain things the same way

>Next
Portrait of the artist
>I bought it but haven't read it yet

[Anonymous No.4497718]

>Last
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
not as good as the first book and super depressing ending, but not bad. I'm interested to read the 3rd book that comes out in the fall to see where it goes

>Current
>Blood Meridian
I like it, but hate McCarthy's no quotation marks style. It take a second to adjust to it, but the book itself is wonderful

>Next
It's either going to be Ready Player One or Gun, with Occasional Music

[Anonymous No.4497726]

>>4497121
Sophomore Honors English/10

[Anonymous No.4497733]

>Last
The Odyssey

>Current
Ulysses

>Next
Suttree or Symposium or something

[Anonymous No.4497744]

>Last
A Dance with Dragons

>Current
Anabasis by Xenophon

>Next
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wai

[Anonymous No.4497746]

>>4497744
*Wao

[Anonymous No.4497751]

>>4497733
>not going straight to finnegans wake

[Anonymous No.4497769]

>last
The Moviegoer

>current
Waiting for Godot (a little ashamed it's going to take me two sittings to read a play)

The dyer's hand and other essays by WH Auden

>next
Not sure yet. To the Lighthouse? I have collection of Frost's poems I need to finish too :/

[Anonymous No.4497776]

>>4497751
I'll read finnegans wake in 40 years maybe

[Anonymous No.4497797]

>>4497110
>got
>it has it's moments
I think a clash of kings is a huge improvement over the first book because of theon an Davos chapters.

On topic:

Last: animal farm
Great book, liked the communism parallels and the humans are pigs bit, but the ending felt a bit lackluster. 9/10

Now: ender's game
Typical Sci-fi, but that's not a bad thing. About 50 pages in, like it so far. Ender's an interesting character, more violent than I originally thought. 7.5/10 so far

Next: either a dance with dragons or the count of monte Cristo.

[Anonymous No.4497825]

>Last book read
T.S. Eliot - Selected Poems
I thought this was bullshit obscurantism for the longest time, but his stuff about emptiness and impotence is faaaantastic, not to mention those unforgettable choices of imagery
his more Imagistic stuff is rad too, there's something deeply touching about the Preludes

>Currently reading
Wuthering Heights
it's a great book but I'm only reading it atm because I have to for my course
Heathcliff is almost comically evil

>Next
The Crying of Lot 49
Can't wait

[Anonymous No.4497839]

>Last
Ocean at the end of the Lane because Neil Gaiman is back and I couldn't be happier

>Current/Next
Switching in between Stoner because book reading and loving protaganists are my thing and Lovecraft (library of america edition ) collection

>Special data entry so I need a constant stream of Audio books to survive edition
Currently on the Circle, which is a little bitn heavy handed and on the nose.

Next up is The Rook

[Anonymous No.4497843]

>>4497769
Made my way through a state emergency level snowstorm to see the McKellan/Stewart performance. Perfect play, wonderful show.

[Anonymous No.4497845]

>Last
ASOIAF
>Current
The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich
>Next
Civilization: The West and the Rest/The Road
If you have some short books(0-400~ pages) to recommend It'll be nice.

[Anonymous No.4497846]

>Last
Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter-house Five
>8/10, great style and easy read, the points he wants to get across are a little too buried. the book is great but it feels somewhat of a showoff

>Current
Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest
>9/10, so far its been great. The tale flows very easily and its very engaging with great themes. Im less than 200 pages into it though. Seems to promise a lot.

Also,
Victor Hugo's Les Miserables
>10/10 I'm halfway through but I know this is the best book I've read so far. I don't care how the story could end. I love his descriptions of the world. Makes me feel human. Few things have been capable of bringing out this many great feelings within me.

>Next
I don't know. I was thinking about some easy reading like Dune or maybe even Stephen King, but I might as well try to read One-Hundred Years of Solitude for the third time. Maybe Moby Dick or maybe something else by Vonnegut.

[Anonymous No.4497851]

>>4497680
How do you deal with all those meandering plot tangents?
Los Detectivos and Moby both have amazing payoffs, and are well worth the attention. Bolano knows how to end a book, I'll say that much and more
>am I to assume you're reading him natively?

[Anonymous No.4497854]

>>4497839
>liking Ocean at the End of the Lane
really? I thought it was too short and the ending was shit. It wasn't terrible, but Gaiman really needs to stop the formulaic shit. I know he has a core audience that expects it, but how can he enjoy writing the same story over and over?

I thought it was 4/10

[Anonymous No.4497860]

>>4497846
I liked SH 5 because of the slow payoff of re-readinf the intro and rethinking portions of the book as Vonnegut struggling to confront and address the experience of a wartime veteran and surving dresden.

[Anonymous No.4497863]

>>4497854
I liked the narrative structure, and Gaiman's marrying his more adult output from his short stories to his work in Ya children's books.
Abbreviated comment because break ends

[Anonymous No.4497877]

>>4497860
Yeah I really liked how the structured things. One of the main points he tried to get across, I think, was how difficult is to approach a subject such as war in these times when people are morbidly attracted to violence. It had to digest it for a while after I finished it reading but it will probably enjoy it more the second time I read it. Still, I like my books a little bit more engaging and straight to the point.

[Anonymous No.4497881]

>>4497877
he structured*

I had to digest it*

[Anonymous No.4497883]

>previously
the lost books of the odyssey by zachary mason. it was neat, although a bit derivative of borges without being quite as good, but still readable and packed with cool ideas. would recommend
>currently
the peregrine by j a baker. honestly i'm a bit torn on this and i'm finding it very slow going. the prose is fucking beautiful and i love the idea of it and the descriptions and the way he sees the world. but i can really only take in one entry at a time because nothing fucking happens and it all blurs into one and my mind starts wandering. i want it to be my favourite book in the world on the strength of the writing and passion but it's not

dawn by phil elverum (under his music name mount eerie), the journal he kept whilst living in norway in a remote cabin by himself for a winter. comes with an album of songs he wrote whilst there and some photos and stuff. extremely readable and fascinating, although maybe you have to be a fan of his to really care. it's interesting to compare to the peregrine, another winter journal by another extremely poetic person, but phil is all real and shit whereas j a baker is almost inhuman like he's trying to become a peregrine falcon himself

joseph sheridan le fanu - in a glass darkly. victorian horror stories, i've read the first one and it was fun times. creepy fucking ghost monkey urging people to suicide, a+

>next
idk

[Anonymous No.4497888]

>>4497047
what is Naguib Mahfouz like? Does he read just like a bland writer or is his prose stylised?

[Anonymous No.4497896]

>>4497182
>what you're up for
Something much more adult and developed. Something much more religious and installed with passion. It's pretty good.

[Anonymous No.4497939]

>Last
Heimspekingar Vesturlanda (Western Philosophers) - Gunnar Dal
>4/5
A somewhat outdated (1979) but fun to read look at the lives and work of selected medieval to modern philosophers.

>Current
The Philosophy Book - various
>4/5
A fairly comprehensive intro/overlook of the field but has a few chinks in its set up that later editions should sort out and sometimes it doesn't sum up a philosopher as much as it just chooses one of his theories to put forward.

>Next
Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
Put it on the backburner a few years back after reading all the previous books in the Hitchhiker saga, but not being in the mood for something that I've been told is depressing.

[Anonymous No.4497942]

Gifted myself the entire works of Seamus Heaney after studying Beowulf with my Y6 class. Never been a fan of poetry, but felt I needed to brush up on it as I'm soon to become English coordinator at my school. So far it's been a wondrous and revelatory experience. Will be diving into some Gerard Manley Hopkins next.

[Anonymous No.4497966]

>>4497139
Molloy is vastly superior, but The Unnameable is like reading pure ecstasy.

[Anonymous No.4498001]

>>4497047
>My Education By William S. Burroughs

>tfw when own that in hardback with a sexy cartoon Cyborg Burroughs cover

>last

Mircea Eliade, "History of Religious Ideas Vol. 2"

>current

Mircea Eliade, "History of Religious Ideas Vol. 3"

>next

either Eliade "Yoga: Immortality & Freedom" or Zimmer "Philosophies of India"

[Anonymous No.4498015]

>Last
The Lord Of The Rings
I waited a long time to read the damn thing but it was very enjoyable. I liked it a lot.

>Current
Transparent Things
So far pretty enjoyable. Will probably finish it tonight or tomorrow, I guess.

>Next
Slaughterhouse Five
Will read it with a girl I know, so-and-so many chapters each day. Think it'll be nice.

[Anonymous No.4498080]

>Last
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov:
Such a wonderful imagination this book shows and in some parts even led me to believe that it inspired many stories/movies in the last 2 decades.

>Current
The Dark Fields (Limitless) by Alan Glynn:
This book i feel is just a overall great read.

>Next
It is either Animal farm or one of the Man Booker shortlists.

[Anonymous No.4498356]

>current
Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf

>next
The Defense by Vladimir Nabokov

[Anonymous No.4498367]

>Last
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
>pretty damn good if you can get into that sort of thing. One of those unforgettable novels- the atmosphere and characters and Woolf's prose just kind of lingers on your mind.

>Current
Demons by Dostoyevsky
>Good so far, I just finished part 1. The build-up (the middle chapters) was very confusing and slow and boring for the most part but still with some great humor. Those hilarious and frantic and emotionally intense Dostoyevskian climaxes made it all worth it though.

>Next
dunno. maybe /lit/ can suggest one for me?

[Anonymous No.4498497]

>>4498367
If you liked Mrs. Dalloway, I'd recommend Jacob's Room. It's still experimental Woolf but the style is totally different. It's like the opposite of stream-of-consciousness.

[Anonymous No.4498801]

>>4497047
>Last
Dune Messiah
>5/10 (being generous) The book was pretty confusing, honestly

>Current
Children of Dune
>6-7 so far. I'm only around 150 pages in.

[Anonymous No.4498848]

>last
Dubliners, Joyce
8.5/10 Really liked it. Loved the general writing and The Dead was #damn. Wasn't really feeling a few stories tho
>current
The Bell Jar
8/10 Tons of pretty little pearls of prose, but also makes me feel like shit cause i worry i can be too much like buddy/feel guilty about my dick
>next
either a Hemingway short story collection or Portrait. P hyped for either

[Anonymous No.4498877]

>>4497121
>lack of angst
>meaning of-age

>of age
hasn't read that yet

either you're lying or you live in a 3rd world country where high schools don't make you do anything

[Anonymous No.4498878]

>>4498367

You can't say that you've experienced Woolf's writing without having read 'The Waves'. It is by far her greatest work.

If you haven't read it I'd suggest that you do.

[Anonymous No.4498928]

Last Storm of Steel 7/10. Great description of combat from "A Soldier's Soldier." Pretty grim stuff. Hem and Dos Passos made ww1 sound like a frat party that got out of hand in comparison. Some surprisingly lyrical descriptions of landscapes and towns in France. A very well written combat diary.

Currently reading
The Abyss by Marguerite Yourcenar
6/10 (so far. Only 170 pages in.)
Has it's moments but I find it a bit disappointing after Memoirs of Hadrian. Her dialogue is very stilted.

Next
Either

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
Or
Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer

[Anonymous No.4498999]

>Last
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
>7/10 It's fun, funny and kind of moving, as much as you'd expect from an adaption from a blog

>Current
S by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst
>Pretty good so far, haven't too far into it just yet though, slightly coy and kind of soppy at times but interesting

>Next
Something Non-Fiction, maybe Power and Prospects by Chomsky
>need me sum learnin

[Anonymous No.4499004]

Last - House of Leaves
>6.5/10, a bit slow at times and some of the footnotes interrupt the flow of the text in the worst possible. At other times, they really support the text and all dat crazy by all the characters made it an enjoyable read
Now - Moby Dick
>Just started, loving it. Why haven't I read this yet?
Next - Gravity's Rainbow
>inb4 pleb, I've only started reading my complex/classic books recently (before it was just Dan Brown and Tom Clancy (RIP in piece))

[Anonymous No.4499221]

>>4497047
>Last
The Odyssey
9/10 Pretty badass and hilarious at times. Helped me develop fortitude.

>Current
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
7/10 2edgy4me at times but still wildly entertaining. I appreciate food and the cooking industry so this book is my thing. Bourdain is a boss too and I can totally picture him shouting at a waiter that he'll cut a hole in his throat and bump dicks in the middle with his cook if he ever does some shit without asking him first.

>Next
Either As I Lay Dying by Faulkner or a Zen book--either Hakuin's bio or Watts' The Way of Zen. I've been into Zen philosophy for some time now, and I want to study it more and understand the characters a bit better.

[Anonymous No.4499241]

>Last
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
>9/10

>Current
Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin Vol.I
>7/10 a ponderous read, I like the way it plays with reality/illusion, the translator did a fantastic job with the poetry.

>Next
Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin Vol.II

[Anonymous No.4499314]

>>4497047
>Last
Faust, Part one. Loved it, 10/10

>Current
Njal's Saga. I just started it/10

>Next
Conference of the Birds

[Anonymous No.4499348]

>>4499221
Does Bourdain actually say that he said that to a waiter?

These famous chefs are fucked up.
>Robert Irvine
>Gordon Ramsay
>Apparently Anthony Bourdain also

[Anonymous No.4499361]

ITT brag about the books you're reading punctuated by occasional "lel you're reading shit."

[Anonymous No.4499379]

>Last
The Face of Another by Kobo Abe
8/10, took all my favorite Gothic horror tropes and viewed them through a Modernist lense

>Current
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
6/10 so far, don't see the hype

>Next
Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
No idea what to expect

[Anonymous No.4499402]

>Last
Stoner by John Williams
>really enjoyed certain passages, particularly the affair with Driscoll and ones concerning his love of books and reading and learning. the ending was also beautifully told.

>Current
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
>I did not expect Gogol to be such a witty, hilarious writer. His descriptions of 19th century Russia are marvelous.
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
>Reading this for a course on modern japanese literature. Very spartan writing style so far. I'm enjoying it but not too far into it.

>Next
School's started back up again so kind of limited time-wise for novels. I was thinking either Under the Volcano or Invisible Cities.

[Anonymous No.4499433]

>Last
A Dance with Dragons
5/10, these last 2 books really slowed down in terms of pacing

>Current
GEB
6/10, i don't find it profound or anything of that sort. i expected more given what i've read about it. maybe i just don't get it

>Next
Either the canterbury tales or the emperor of maladies

[Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ No.4499481]

I've taken to reading two books at a time, a weekday and weekend book. Weekdays I bring with me a small, usually paperback or novella, lightweight affair to read during lunches and breaks and whatever in between time I have. Weekends I save for the heavies. I can delve into them for hours without interruption.

>Last
-Memoranda During the War, by Walt Whitman
9/10. Not one for poetry, I felt this was the best place to read from the man. I recommend it.
-Garibaldi | Invention of a Hero, by Lucy Riall
10/10. I wanted a regular biography and I got this in-depth study. I loved it. And though it seemed dry, it was just the right tone or subject for me. There are many lessons to be learned, some subtle, whether she implies them or not.

>Currently
-Rendezvous with Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
7/10. Long time on my list of books to read (ever since reading Childhood's End. 10/10) I've finally gotten to it. Enjoying it though probably not as much if I had read it while younger... A thought occurred to me this afternoon. Genre fiction is best suited on film (video/movies whatever) and Rama would probably grab me better in this medium. Probably not an original thought, but the first I've heard of it.
-My Past & Thoughts, by Alexander Herzen
10/10 I'm savoring this book by reading sections at a time. Currently plowing through "Prison and Exile". Especially for the Russian lit fan this is a hidden gem for you. The man knew so many interesting figures and his insights into his world bring it all so alive. I have to keep reminding myself that these people actually existed.

>Next
Likely.
-The Dispossessed, By Ursula K. Le Guin
-Byzantium | The Apogee, by John Julius Norwich
>>4497198
Hey! o_<

[Anonymous No.4499523]

>Last
History of Poland, by Oskar Halecki
Need to read Norman Davies' God's Playground for a course, but I fucking hate it, so I was prefacing each bit with a much smaller text. Really fun book, traditional "tragic-nationalist" Polish history.

>Current
The History of England, by David Hume
I really like grand histories, especially virtuous ones, and British history in particular has always been a soft spot for me. I'm planning to read the entire lot of major British grand historians, and a couple lesser known ones. Sort of a grand tour kind of thing. Highly recommend it.

Also The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, by John le Carre. I really like le Carre, reminds me of innocently enjoying Bond movies as a kid.

>Next
The Destruction of the European Jews, by Raul Hilberg
Just interested in Holocaust revisionism, and from what awareness I have of Hilberg, he's a genius and his scholarship is incredible.

>>4499241
What translation are you using for Red Chamber?

Things Fall Apart was fucking amazing btw, can recommend it to anyone. Achebe perfectly captures (for me) the clash of a "pure" original culture with a colonial power and the natives being drawn toward it.

>>4497883
Thanks for the Mason recommendation, gonna get

[Anonymous No.4499551]

>>4499348
Yeah. Here's what he actually writes:

...."I'm feeling fine, putting a little English on the plates when I spin them into the windo, exchanging cracks with Carlos, finding time to chide Doogie Howser for slipping that filet poivre by me without ching first.
'Doogie, you syphilitic, whitebread, mayonnaise-eating, John Tesh-ass wannabe--next time you slip a special order in without checking with me first? Me and Carlos are gonna punch two holes in your neck and bump dicks in the middle!'
Doogie cringes, laughs nervously and scurries out onto the floor, trailing muttered apologies."

You should read the book if you think it's fucked up. Bourdain explains the fucked up world of the food industry and how it attracts the characters it does. This excerpt comes from a chapter called "A Day in the Life" which is so far the best and apparently appeared as an article in the New Yorker. Look it up, it's short. If you like it pick up the book for an entertaining casual read.

[Anonymous No.4499561]

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
>7/10 it has a great moral message but it's kind of a librul manifesto

>Simone by Eduardo Lalo
>It began good but now it's a corny love cliché

>dunno lol

[Anonymous No.4499604]

>>4497129
>because when I start a series I always finish it
Dos Equis

[Anonymous No.4499621]

>>4497129
The Gunslinger is really different from the rest of the series, it was written decades earlier. Expect the prose to be a lot more detailed and polished in the other books. The story really picks up starting in the second one.

[Anonymous No.4499627]

>Last
The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson. 9/10 I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
>Current
The Wind Is Not A River by Brian Payton. 7.5/10 so far. Pretty interesting topic and I like the story for the most part but I find it started off too abruptly and haven't given me much to go on for the protagonist's character so I don't care as much about him as I should for the story to really work.

>next
Probably Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

[Fearless Vampire Killer !!9cX8at186Fr No.4499626]

>last
The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte

>current
Violence by Slavoj Zizek
&
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

>next
People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Parry
&
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

[Anonymous No.4499631]

i'm reading Death On The Installment Plan by Celine cuz i saw people praise it here, fucking what a shitty book, it's funny like every 50 pages but mostly it's just this perverted molester telling sob stories about how he's such an innocent guy always getting the short end of the stick

[Anonymous No.4499634]

>Last i
Max Stirner's Egoism J Clark
>Current
Paris Commune a Revolution in Democracy-Donny Gluckstein
Ego and His Own
>Next
Prose Edda or To the Lighthouse

[Anonymous No.4499657]

>>4497228
you have a tutor of pyschodynamic theory? I am very jealous right now. Your reading load is that of a gentleman.

[Anonymous No.4499675]

>>4497680
holy fuck dude, who the hell gets a 10/10 for you? Cormack? Rilke? does the book have to make you cum without touching your dick?

[Anonymous No.4499699]

>>4497047
>last
/vg/

>current
/lit/

>next
/fit/

[Anonymous No.4499758]

>last
ghost in the shell
chinese cartoons / 10
>current
the brothers karamazov
good / 10
looking for alaska
alright but this better get me laid / 10
>next
l dunno, maybe something by kierkegaard?

[Anonymous No.4500168]

>Last
Neuromance
7/10, good prose and some excellent word play, atmosphere was thick at times and thin at others, characters were rather shallow, plot seemed somehow unfulfilled

>Now
Alternating between Lovecraft shorts and Crime & Punishment, which I'm very much enjoying so far

>Next
Foundation

[Anonymous No.4500240]

>>4497888
It starts out really bland and overstylized, but it slowly starts to work as a pretty interesting read.

[Anonymous No.4500304]

>>4499758
>alright but this better get me laid / 10
how will reading that book get you laid?

[Anonymous No.4500336]

>>4500304
>Not using literary techniques to get laid
>2007+7
I, Shiggy

[GirlJesus !!ggYw9XaQXSW No.4500342]

>current
The Tunnel, by Ernesto Sabato
>7/10, for such a short book it got me pretty hard in the feels, but it lacked the mania, or criminal insight, that it promised

>current
Titus Groan, by Mervyn Peake
>9/10, no discernible flaw thus far

>next
Poor Fellow My Country, by Xavier Herbert

[GirlJesus !!ggYw9XaQXSW No.4500345]

>>4499626
How is 'We'?

[Anonymous No.4500376]

>>4497047
>Last
Brave New World 10/10
>That moment when you realize it's not a dystopia

>Currently
Slaughterhouse V
>Really solid so far, extremely smart and managed to crack me up a couple times.

>Next
Catcher in The Rye or Picture of Dorian Gray

[Anonymous No.4500510]

>>4499481
It's good stuff.

I know very little about history and this series is my first historical non-fiction, I really like it.

[Anonymous No.4500562]

>>4500376

Read Brave New World earlier this month too. I wouldn't mind living in that 'dystopia'. Would go on constant soma holidays and have orgys all the time and not a single fuck would be given

[Anonymous No.4500608]

Just finished Bleak House. Shockingly it is the first Dickens novel I have ever read (I was assigned Great Expectations in school but didn't bother reading it.) On the whole I enjoyed it, but there were times when it felt a bit of a chore, particularly during the chapters narrated by Esther Summerson. Aside from her being a rather tedious, morally simplistic character in general, the beautiful imagery and cadence of Dickens' prose in the 3rd person sections becomes plainer to match Esther's voice, effectively nullifying one of Dickens' greatest assets. Other than that, the plotting is as assured as the hand of God, the cast of characters is rich and varied (dialogue being another of Dickens' strong suits), and the satire and social criticism is adequately biting to stand proudly alongside other great literary condemnations of bureaucracy like Kafka, Gogol and Balzac's work.

Next I will read Kapuscinski's Imperium.

[Anonymous No.4500823]

>>4500376
>Slaughterhouse V
>V

You go to hell. You go to hell and you die.

[Anonymous No.4500901]

>>4500823
Realized what I did just now. Fuck me.

[Anonymous No.4501204]

>Last
The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov
>6/10 the conclusion felt a bit far-fetched

>Current
Robots and Empire by Isaac Asimov
>9/10 so far because it's thrilling and entertaining.

>Next
Since amazon fucked up my order of the Galactic Empire novels and I had to order them from one of their contract-dealers instead (which will also take a while) I'm probably going to start with Prelude to Foundation by, you guessed it, Isaac Asimov

[Anonymous No.4501210]

>>4500608
Now read "Our Mutual Friend"
(rabid Dickens fan here)

[Anonymous No.4501227]

>last
Embassytown
Fucking awesome. Gave me a lot to think about and enriched my life while I read it.

>Current
Asian American Comics Anthology
Being as it's an anthology, variously funny, sad, boring, inspiring, oblique... I'm generally enjoying it.

>Next
no fucking clue. Maybe Sandman again? Maybe Les Miserables again? Maybe the new Gaiman book I just heard about?

[Anonymous No.4501478]

>last
the idiot by dostoevsky
8/10, some of it was really beautiful but it really dragged in the midsection, was a chore to get through part two
>current
the road by mccarthy
only 50 pages in, so far it's really good
mccarthy's prose is nice, but the missing punctuation is irritating at times
>next
maybe fathers and sons by turgenev
maybe something by kierkegaard or nietzsche, my teacher recommended a few books

[Anonymous No.4501528]

>>4497047
>>4497047

>Last
The Metamorphosis
One of my favorite books 9/10

>Current
The Myth of Sisyphus
10/10 So far, Especially the appendix

>Next
Finishing of Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Such a Fantastic work ;-

[Anonymous No.4501931]

>just finished
Suttree. Bretty gud. I would say that it isn't his best novel, but it's certainly my favorite so far.

>current
America's Secret War (George Friedman). Takes all the shit we did to the middle east a little bit lightly, but still an interesting read. I just wish he explained where he was getting some of this info, non-fic writers need to be more like Chomsky with his never ending citations.

>next
Lolita, maybe. Or possibly All the Pretty Horses.
Next non-fiction will probably be something on Japanese history or culture, maybe Learning to Bow.

[Anonymous No.4502127]

>>4499675
10/10 books don't exist because perfection isn't real.
>>4497851
Yes I'm reading him in spanish but it's like he purposely makes the plot loose so you get caught inside his book just to know why that happened and who the fuck was that.

[Anonymous No.4502135]

>>4502127
A personal 10/10 doesn't imply perfection, why is this so hard to understand

[Anonymous No.4502248]

>>4500336
>2014
>implying that literary techniques will get you laid
top kek

[Anonymous No.4502572]

>>4502135
Then why the rating system?
I try to be objective when rating things.

[Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ No.4502599]

>>4502572
Well stop it.

A rating is a personal feeling. Ten out of ten is that persons ideal. Perfection. Deal.

[Anonymous No.4503629]

>Last
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
gotta love his prose, I think I was expecting "more" or something else from this book though

>Current
Joko's Anniversary
only 50 pages in, liking it so far

>Next
Either Poor Folk or The Stranger

[Anonymous No.4503650]

>>4502127
>>4502572
>2014
>still doesn't understand how a rating system works

also

>thinking art is objective

top kek

[Anonymous No.4503652]

These threads are always great for recommendations, I really dig the ratings too.

[Anonymous No.4503708]

>>4503650
>art isn't objective

[Anonymous No.4504048]

>>4503629
McCarthy's prose is some of my favorite prose. Fucking beautiful.

>>4503708
I'd argue that art isn't objective, though. What possible criteria could you introduce that would allow you to objectively judge a novel or a piece of music? All art means different things to different people, based on your preferences, culture, history, interpretation etc. That's one of the great things about it, in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.4504072]

>Last
Waiting For Godot -- Beckett
>(my) intro to absurdist plays, better seen in performance! unbearable, but sound repetition. slightly humorous.

>Current
Stoner -- John Williams
>nearly done. Sensible modern prose; lacks style. Nice plot. Fuck edith.

L'histoire de l'oeil -- Battaille
>This is the book I've always wanted to write (minus necrophillia). Bordering overly edgy, but apparently it's based of true event.

Never Let me Go -- Ishiguro
>Ishiguro introduces problems so gently and unimposing that it is perfect for the setting (of children finding their way). Maintains sufficient mystery around subtle sci-fi elements (of "clones" etc). And keeps a pocket of darkness that nears and with every chapter, on the truths of this semi-dystopia UK.

>Next
The Stranger by Camus !

[Anonymous No.4504184]

>>4504072

Saw Godot in New York just before Christmas. Fucking amazing. So who is Godot in your mind?

[Anonymous No.4504200]

>>4504184
I see Godot as Jesus. Because everyone waits for his return, to finally free them from their banalities but nigga never comes!

That's my analysis on it. What's yours?

[Éanna No.4504206]

>Last

Waiting For Godot 10/10.
Therese Desqueyroux. 7/10.

>Current

Green Hills of Africa. Thoroughly enjoying so far. Classic Hem.

>Next

Black Spring - Henry Miller

[Anonymous No.4504215]

>>4504206
I'm assuming you've read Tropic of Cancer, then. Are you going to continue with Tropic of Capricorn? That book drove me into a spell of maniacal disregard. I was probably just being melodramatic though.

[Anonymous No.4504226]

>>4504200

Just finished an essay on it.

Godot could be the Christian God. Gogo and Didi imagine they will be saved from their torment when he arrives. He is revered and feared by Vladimir. He is cruel to the Boys brother (mathew 25:31-46) they make frequent religious references, saying they prayed to him on one occasion. It looks like they are in purgatory. The can't leave until he comes to get them. They can't leave each other. Each day repeats almost exactly. The boy always comes. They have no memory how long they have been there.

There is a pretty nice theory that Pozzo is also a god of some description. He introduce himself as "perhaps not particularly human, but who cares". He treats Lucky like Godot treats Gogo and Didi and the Boys brother.

However, Beckett did say "if by Godot I had meant God I would have said God and not Godot".

So perhaps Godot is just that thing in our life that gives us hope and drives us forward but we will perhaps never attain.

[Anonymous No.4504237]

>>4504215

No Sir. This will be my first Miller. Picked it up for 5 quid so thought I'd give it a go. I was on the lookout for Tropic of Cancer but it was nowhere to be found at a price I was comfortable with.

[Anonymous No.4504249]

>>4497047
>Last
Catch 22 - Heller

>Current
The Luminaries - Catton

>Next
Complete World Knowledge - Hodgman

[Anonymous No.4504331]

>>4504048
If it isn't objective why do they give awards to them?
What makes some works superior to others?

[Anonymous No.4504401]

>last

Zipper and his Father by Joseph Roth

>current

Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone

>Next

Julian by Gore Vidal

[Anonymous No.4504456]

>Last
Norwegian Wood
>was good but not great 6/10

The Road
>have seen the movie first and I liked to book more still 6.5/10

>Current
Lao Te King
Utopia
The Merchant of Venice

>Next
1984
something by Hermann Hesse

[Anonymous No.4505690]

>>4500304
This might only be relative to where I live, but pretty much every girl and a lot of the boys at my school read john green at some point or another. Whether they liked it or not, it's still something to talk about.

[Anonymous No.4505788]

>Last
Foundation and Earth by Issac Asimov
>7/10 Foundation's Edge was much better, but if you've gotten to the chronologically last book of the series there is no reason to stop. Dialogue was fun.

>Current
Infinity's Shore by David Brin
>I have been finding the Uplift Storm trilogy pleasurable but inordinately long. When David Brin wrote Startide Rising and Uplift War in this setting he got all the science fiction awards. 6/10

>Next
???
>I probably won't finish the trilogy immediately since the basic summary at the top of the wikipedia article says it's 100% denouement. Might stop reading Sci-Fi for a while.

[Anonymous No.4505799]

>Last
Foundation and Earth by Issac Asimov
>7/10 Foundation's Edge was much better, but if you've gotten to the chronologically last book of the series there is no reason to stop. Dialogue was fun.

>Current
Infinity's Shore by David Brin
>I have been finding the Uplift Storm trilogy pleasurable but inordinately long. When David Brin wrote Startide Rising and Uplift War in this setting he got all the science fiction awards. 6/10

>Next
???
>I probably won't finish the trilogy immediately since the basic summary at the top of the wikipedia article says it's completely different. Should stop reading Sci-Fi for a while.

[Anonymous No.4505817]

>Last
Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
>8/10, it's fucking Faust. Even though the last few acts were very odd.

>Current
The Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales
>He's my Confirmation saint, so I've always wanted to read some of his works. So far it's very inspirational and delightful, I'd give it a 7/10

>Next
Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray
>always been curious about it, plus I need to read it for research for a novel I'm going to write

[Anonymous No.4505869]

>Last
Being and Nothingness

>Current
Phenomenology of Spirit (again)

>Next
No idea, I want to read fiction but don't know what to read...Les Miserables?

[Anonymous No.4505878]

>last
The Actual - Saul Bellow
>i read it last night while having a few drinks on my porch. i realised about 20 pages into it that i'd read it before, but i thought i'd finished it off and see how it's changed since i read it 4 years ago. it hadn't changed much, since i'm a more experienced reader now it flowed much better, but fundamentally i enjoyed it just the same. give it a 3.9/5. reading the goodreads reviews made me choke a gun-barrel since a good 30% of them were people who didn't get the point (not uncommon, but more frequent with this story for whatever reason)

>current
In Remembrance of Things Past - Proust
>i stopped after volume 2 a couple of years ago. in the spirit of revisiting old things, i thought i'd finally get back to reading it.

>future
no idea. i'll probably churn out a few novellas before getting back to something heftier. i read a few novellas from bohumil hrabal and chingiz aitmatov the other day, might continue with one of theirs.

[Anonymous No.4505879]

>Last
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
>5/10 read it because my girlfriend asked me to. Nothing special. Okay for what it is I suppose...

>Current
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
>Not very far in yet. I've gotten over my annoyance at the capitalization and am really starting to enjoy it.

>Next
Independence Day by Richard Ford
>Loved his short stories, time to try one of his novels.

[Anonymous No.4505887]

>>4505878

Are you reading through all of Proust in one go? When I read it last year, I interspersed one or more novels between volumes. I can see how reading it straight through would keep things more in the forefront of memory, but quite a commitment. Enjoy, either way.

[Anonymous No.4505922]

>>4505887
i don't know. it'll depend how good the guermantes way is (i'm going to start reading it in a few minutes when i close my computer). years ago, when i read the first 2 volumes, i did so in a 'single session' and stopped more because i had this growing fear that i was missing out on so many other things, as opposed to needing a break from his voice. i've since allayed those fears (in part because i've read most of what i wanted to read, in part because i'm more comfortable with my mortality), so we'll see how it turns out. i'm comfortable either way.

[Anonymous No.4505942]

>Last
Animal Farm
>7/10 it was okay but every metaphor and symbol was painfully obvious.

>Current
At the Mountains Of Madness
>8/10 so far, really enjoying.