/lit/ - Literature

>>1222128

Furthermore there is no such thing as objectivity. When you perceive the world you perceive the world as yourself, and when someone else perceives the world this someone else perceives the world as themselves. Likewise when a hypothetical God perceives the world, or a bird for that matter, they perceive the world as themselves. Talking about an objective world is talking about a world that is perceived by no one, and thus doesn't exist. Which is absurd.

Nietzsche warned the rise of nihilism where people would be caught up in the absurdism of this, though he perhaps didn't use those exact words, and was thus a kind of prototype existentialist: He wanted the individual to ignore these outer matters which they had no control of and create their own lives with their own values and ideas. Which is pretty much what most existentialists think. You know. Sartre and his chick. Camus. Those guys. But! Nietzsche went further than that. His idea of freedom was the ubermensch who, aware of the subjectivity of the world, would shape the world as he or she willed; and once they had done so, the ubermensch would overturn this as well, like Palahniuk puts it “kill your Buddha”, and shape their life once again, eternally fighting against the established.

All right, people. I'd write way more but I'm about to, like, hit the floor or something. Some other time, maybe?

I'm sorry :(

>>1216354

> THE ESCAPIST

Fuck reality. You want to escape into another universe, and stay there. These are the type of books that you sit at work or school or wherever you're forced to go when you can't read, looking forward to get home so you can return to your world again. RECOMMENDED: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (Gritty and long fantasy serie about lots of kings who end up going to war. The prose is about as straight-forward as it gets, but the character development and the way the plot unfolds is very intricate and exciting without being that hard to keep up with everything that's going.); The Nemesis by Jo Nesbø (Norwegian writer doing modern pastiches of noir novels with this drunk detective catching serial killers, and doing dialogue exchanges like: “I have no reason to share this information with you,” countered by the pointing of a revolver and: “I have six goddamn reasons right here.”); Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

>>1216354

Oops. House of Leaves pic here.

Note-to-self: Don't do these sort of things when you're drunk.

>>1216324

> THE HIPSTER

You like your stuff to be quirky. Different. And since you've already lied and told everyone you've read all the classics, what is left to you are the black sheeps of contemporary, serious literature. Personally, if I had to classify myself, I would probably have one feet in this one, and the other in the sensitive postmodernist. Most of these books are hate/love. RECOMMENDED: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (It's about this guy who finds the notebook of an old, blind, dead man who was writing about a movie that doesn't seem to exist; the movie being about a couple who discover their house is larger on the inside than the outside. The whole thing is a footnote hell with footnotes going several pages, and several narrators fighting for your attention. It's more accessible than it sounds, and very fun. It does some really cool stuff which, at least in my opinion, lead to an experience that couldn't have been done differently. Pic on this post is a page from House of Leaves. It's all like that. At one place there are also musical notes.); Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (It's about an 11 year old kid that loses his father during 9/11 and sets out to find out what a key that used to belong to his father was for. The boy, of course, writes like a 30 year old, but nevermind that; this book is so many layers of false sentimentality and gimmicks, that it actually adds up to a pretty substantial whole.); Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (It's about this guy that feels alienated in society and all its consumerism so he joins this club where people beat each other up. Pretty snappy, rhythmic prose, but it gets on the nerves of a lot of people really fast. If you've seen the film, don't bother, but read Choke by the same writer instead.

My writing was fucking horrendous in those earlier ones. I'm sorry I'm not writing very well today. Kind of dizzy. Going to try harder with the next ones :(

>>1216302

> THE SENSITIVE POSTMODERNIST

Tired of those modernists wanting to fix the world by doing stupid experimental stuff? Think nothing makes sense anyway? But you're a sensitive, perhaps emotional person? RECOMMENDED: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami (800 page long epic about a guy looking for his lost cat in his neighbourhood. Not kidding. A personal favourite of mine.); Invisible by Paul Auster (It's... Nevermind actually. Just read it.); American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Urban fantasy about this guy who gets out of jail just to find out his wife has been killed in an accident. He becomes some sort of bodyguard for a guy calling himself Mr. Wedsnday who's actually the Norse god Odin. Hilarity ensues.). DIFFICULTY: 5/10

> THE MODERNIST POSTMODERNIST

Tired of those modernists wanting to fix the world, (nothing makes sense anyways,) but still like jigsaw puzzles and stuff being unreasonably complicated? Then this is you. RECOMMENDED: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (Eh. Um. Ehehehe. Well. This book was apparently nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, but only 3 of like 11 board members or something finished it citing it unreadable. One second the guy is going on about nuclear physics, the next they're discussing obscure comic books and having highly detailed, socially unacceptable sex.); Underworld by Don DeLillo (It's about. Like. People. In a city. And it's huge.); Inifity Jest by David Foster Wallace (Google it. Bring a notebook.) DIFFICULTY: 8/10

>>1216301

> THE MODERNIST

Had enough of the optimism we have of the future? Perhaps think that science is just another religion or not really good enough as it is? Are you also kind of very open-minded, do you enjoy jigsaw puzzles, and does the idea of spending weeks upon weeks exploring the same book, trying to grasp it, fascinate you? Well, then this might interested you. RECOMMENDED: Ulysses by James Joyce (James Joyce first and, surprisingly enough, lesser attempt, hitherto en Hipster, at breaking through the very fabric of language in at attempt at seizing truth. In English: Crazy Irish guy writes an epic molded after The Odyssey about a day in lots of random people's days. Uses pretty much every writing style ever used before, switching between them, plus more. One chapter is 90 pages about someone masturbating; also, like the sixty last is some chick contemplating marriage for 60 pages with no punctuation.); In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (Pretentious, sensitive French guy writes 3 million words, that's like 6 really thick volumes, about his own life, and nothing else. Deals with themes such as memory and homosexuality. Is fucking unforgetable if you actually finish it, but few do.); The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (Most people enjoy this. Not only modernists. The Sage would probably like it as well, par example. It's about a guy that wakes up as big bug one day. It's absurd, funny and not tough to get through at all. Comment on modern society or some such). DIFFICULTY: 10/10

>>1216272
Not with books. It really depends what you're looking for.

Personally I devour everything, but for the purpose of introducing you to literature I am, based on friends of mine, going to give you a few types of readers I know, and then you can see which you identify with the most and read something suggested beneat those. Also. These are shallow stereotypes and are in no way meant to offend anyone!!

> THE SAGE

If you're the sort of guy that thinks reading history and doing things that are classically deemed usefull I imagine you could grit your teeth, as it can be tiring for a beginner, and start plowing through some classics. You can't go wrong, really, if you're one of those knowledge people that get a kick out of that. RECOMMENDED: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (An arrogant, poor student murders someone he thinks is evil. Psychological and philosophical tension ensues.); 1984 by George Orwell (*The* dystopian novel. A ruined sci-fi society warning us about how we do not want the world to be. Also check out Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.); Don Quijote by Miguel de Cervantes Savedra (Considered the first novel ever written. Pretty much this delusioned guy who reads to many books and then rides around believing himself to be a knight. Full of stories within stories. They will for example stop at an inn, find something in a book shelve, and then the following three chapters is someone reading it aloud.). DIFFICULTY: 7/10

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzo_Hekotormos

Going to publish a Wikipedia page, but I need the sources. Anyone care to put that article Harold Bloom wrote in the times up online or something?

>>1211493

1.the way her neck smells
2.the sensation of wholeness when my rivers flows through her soil
3.the moans i receive; my fist, press'd, down her back
4.the smell of her sex
5.the atmosphere in the kitchen during breakfast oh how i loved you;

And that was how I ended up telling my love, who's name was Nicole: "I cannot do this, as I have lost love," and she began to say better to have loved and lost to never have lost, and I thought of my sister, and I wished she was here to share this women's folly avec me.

SHATTERED GLASS---

Epileptic seizures of fantastic love.

God is, mayhaps dead.

But so is Truth.

And so is Modern Civilization.

ETERNAL IS MY LOVERLORNESS AND SOLITUDE; my diffidence is near.

I sigh. I sigh. and Yet again. I sigh.

>>1211490

> NETHERTHELESS IS MY EYES A BLOSSOM

touching her eyelashes like tomorrow is of no end
Her eyes like blossoming beads of sweat
we made love on a meadow's hend
nevermore to forget.

Her name was Wild,
and my name was Tempered:
unkempt she wasn't;
her taste's mild.

oh sweet sir of the aut'umn;
slender man of fuck:
if only you did not;
let her fall in front of that truck.

weep.

for summer is passt'd.

(ITS NOT SOMETHING I WOULD TELL ANYONE. BUT I STILL OCCASIONALLY THINK OF YOU. YOUR BROWN TENDER EYES. AND YOUR LIPS. SIMPLY ADORABLE IS WHAT YOU IS. I CANT HELP BUT THINK THERE WAS SOMETHING BETWEEN US THAT DAY ON THE SUBMARINE. IT MIGHT HAVE JUST HAVE BEEN ME; BUT THE WAY YOU WERE STEALING GLANCES: I THINK NOT. YOUR SMILE. OH. DID I MENTION YOUR SMILE? A MILLION SUNS AND STARS MY HEART BROKE LIKE MY SISTER WISHED. I WAS NOT ABLE TO ANSWER. I JUST LOOKED DOWN. AND SAID NO WORDS. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU. BUT I HAD A PAST. AND I HAD RESPONSIBILITIES.)

she was not only my love, no;
she was also the other side of my coin.
my twin sister, and the things I miss of her:

>>1211464
What? Ika Kaminka did Hekotormos. You know the chick that does Haruki Murakami when Kari and Kjell Risvik don't? She's okay.

In any case, I hereby present you with a bad retranslation of Kitzo Hekotormos's:

Well, think about it this way: Humans are fundamentally alien already, it's just that you've grown up in that culture, become accustomed to it, and thus it is not alien to you.

In other words, I think Orwell and Huxley and all those dystopian guys are being unfair as you'd probably like all those societies when you got used to them. At least to a certain degree. I mean, if they could keep themselves going, and they made us stay alive, and it didn't accidently trigger another type of culture when like the church was trying to erradicate other religions by science during the end of the middle ages and that really, as you can visibly see today got out of hand; well, in that case I don't think I would mind those societies very much. I don't think anyone would. Which is kind of also why the Nobel Peace Prize this year was kind of icky. As this one guy said, in China you don't even have a proper word for "I", allegedly, and it's not difficult to find a dissident among like billion people. I mean, *someone's* always bound to dislike what everyone else is liking.

Or I don't know. Now I'm just rambling.

I like science fiction too :)

Started reading the PDF file of A Game of Thrones the other day in hopes of making fun of the language as I had once started before and thought the prose to be horrendously funny. 4 hours later I was still reading. And I wasn't laughing.

Anyways, nearing the end of it, and I see there are some prequel novellas? In what order are they to be read, and is there anything else I should know of that I should read or something related to chronology?

Thanks in advance :)

>>1205567

So, um, why are you ashamed of us?

Well, the first thing you need to know about Finnegans Wake is that you're not 8D

>>1170781

> Sorry I can't think of any good sci-fi!

Not insinuating that there isn't any or that there is anything wrong with the genre!! Just kind of tired, and my mind is blank, so I can't think of anything @_@

You'll probably find some on torrent sites. Sometimes just googling the title of what you want together with pdf wields results; for example The Catcher in the Rye. A lot of classics are no longer bound by copyright and can be found on a lot of sites that collect such books. About.com has a list of sites they think are good here: http://websearch.about.com/od/dailywebsearchtips/qt/dnt0607.htm

Also. http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/666381/3700+ebooks+Updates+His+eBook+Archive/

Sorry I can't think of any good sci-fi!

Good luck :)!

I think the general idea is that Russel's summary is the best one, and Jostein Gaarders Sophie's World is the most fun one.

If you want to go any deeper than that though, I suggest trying to directly read the works of philosophers. As you have a general overview now, you don't have to start at the "beginning" either. Just pick up someone you think is cool!

Good luck!

>>1162273
Hey, thank you. I liked that song. You know, Haruki Murakami sometimes listens to Gorillaz when he jogs. I think that's neat. Personally.

>>1162274
Thanks!! Will gladly do more of those! Also, there is this idea I have. It's kind of a potential solution for both all those threads about what novels people should read as well as a way to break away from that phenomenon where we have the same books being talked about all the time. A bit ambitious maybe, but I think it has potential. Unless something gets in my way I'll probably post it later today, see if people like it.

Hey, how come nobody ever remembers me? I'm not even sure if my tripcode is right. I think I'm back now though, if anyone even remembers me. I mean. I'm still here, but I stopped tripping when summer was over. I kind of like the attention though, and the feeling that all the time I invest on here actually goes towards building something. Even if it is just reputation on an online board.

I'm pretty sure it's done on purpose.

Sure, it's the >>1061844 aspect as well, but there's more to it, I'd say.


Les Misérables is about the troubles of poverty. In American Psycho the character has everything he needs and can have everything he wants; and this goes for pretty much all of the novel's characters. Yet they are still unhappy.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

I dare say it gives the book another dimension. It's not only goddamnfuckingyuppies:@, but it's also questioning humanity in itself.