/lit/ - Literature

>>21420716
>Is it possible to make sustained change for the better? Sometimes I feel like it is, but sometimes I feel like it isn't.
Yes, it absolutely is. Four years ago I tried to self-yeet, was jobless, dropped out of Uni, and at rock-bottom. Four years later I've got a degree, I have a job, and I'm about to start a banging new career. How did this happen? Through making changes to my life. Focusing on my health and my well-being and moving forward. I started lifting weights, started going out more, eating well. It's small changes that lead to big changes and they are easy changes to make. You can dwell all you like and feel sorry for yourself but it isn't going to help you get anywhere, you'll find yourself stuck in a toxic cycle of self-loathing and pity and end up becoming toxic yourself. Stand up, dust yourself off, realise that the most important thing in your life at this current point is you and go from there.

>They say that the difference between angels and man is that man is capable of changing, but I'm not so sure that we all are.

Who cares what "they say"? Sure, not everybody is capable of change, those who aren't are weak and should be disregarded and left to rot. They are cowards who cannot stand for themselves and who cannot see the forest from the trees. As >>21420755
says, look to old stories for inspiration. Look to people that have lived, not characters from fictional stories. There are people who have been through more than us who have overcome greater and achieved greater. Aspire to be like them, the men of old and get your life together for yourself. Only then can the other things that matter; family, duty, honour, love come next.

>Do you write?
Usually, but I've been slammed with work the past month. Hopefully get some words in this weekend.

>Have you submitted your writing to a publication before? Was it accepted?
A few times, not yet.

>Did you submit to / help with The April Reader, The Lit Quarterly, &amp or any other /lit/ related projects?
I submitted a couple flash fictions to the second /lit/ FF Anthology.

>Would you participate a /lit/ magazine that's not total garbage?
Sure, I suppose.

>What would you like to see in a /lit/ magazine?
Yeah, I think that would be neat.

I'm half way through Metro 2033 (bought it years ago because I played the game but never read it). I think it's a lot better than people give it credit for. It's not some incredible work of art, but it has some redeeming qualities.

For one, the English translation is really good. So much so that at times it feels like it was meant to be written in English. The plot is just alright and has some holes in it (they've been underground for years but they're still scavenging usable gas from the surface?). It also suffers from "Slide show syndrome" of going from X to Y and talking to Z on and on like a series of scenes, but it's forgivable. Some of the characters you meet because of this are pretty interesting and it offers a vignette into the world of the Metro. The atmosphere is also really well done in my opinion, combined with the unique setting.

If you're expecting another Roadside Picnic, you will be disappointed. However, Metro 2033 has enough going for it that it can be a fun and interesting sci-fi read if you're willing to keep your expectations realistic.

I also really loved Roadside Picnic.

It's not as ambiguous by the end, but Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" does a good job of creating an atmosphere of uncertainty around the setting and events that led up to it.

Based on what I've heard, McCarthy's "The Road" might also fit some of those points. I read a couple chapters in high school before bailing on it because I had high school boy reptile brain. From what I recall it is deeply personal, much like Roadside Picnic, and not much light is shed on how the world actually ended.