/lit/ - Literature

>>19418736

>>18591191
I'm neither American nor European but I'm gonna chime in with an impartial opinion: America is much, much superior at literature to Europe as a whole (even if you want to compare to a whole continent). During their brief existence compared to this of Europe they have produced a bulk of classic literature, poetry, modern literature, fiction, political theory, philosophy, theology and more experimental forms of modern literature that, maybe due to the desperate struggle of a country constantly obsessed with its own growth and development, is much more "hungry for meaning" and success than this of the Europeans, by a considerable margin but still not enough to be so huge that most would see it that way.

Moby Dick, The Grapes of Wrath,The Great Gatsby, Hemingway, Pynchon, Faulkner, Joseph Heller, even Kurt Vonnegut,, all dealing in the ramifications of huge historical and political events in every day life, which is hardly not going to be present in European literature, it is almost just as much, but Europeans have more of a confessional, existential approach to the writing of fiction than Americans, who have this much more pragmatically philosophical exploration of the current woes betiding their turbulent country and what they are producing onto people's lives.

Compare to the European In Search of Lost Time, The Stranger, Kafka, Candide, The Name of the Rose, Herman Hesse, with the occasional Victor Hugo, of course, Europeans have a much greater tendency towards philosophical meditation and observation of the human condition, while Americans deliver much stronger stories, with much stronger political and historical themes.

Anons, I'm really struggling with writing my antagonists' arc right now. I feel like there are so many things happening with the protagonists already, that when I start talking about the antagonists it's just too much information. I am autistically obsessed with my antagonists' arc reflecting that of the protagonists', however on paper it feels forced, artificially similar. But if I do not draw such narrative parallels, the antagonists' backstory will end up being off-topic, I'm afraid. Do you have any tips for this off the top of your head? How would you write a natural and interesting antagonist backstory?

I'm so excited to submit my last assignment in May and have a solid 3+ months to write my first draft.

>>17765373
Thanks, friend.

>>17415898
my mom brought my a fruit smoothie I love and now I'm ordering two books while browsing /lit/ briefly before I go and finish the Iliad's introduction.

>>17372219
Omg epic style

Homeless people are unironically low IQ in America. Public housing exists. If you have no income or assets, you qualify. You'll need to live in the projects but it's better than being on the streets. In some ways, it's more honorable than being a rentcuck.

i finally read the behemoth. it has a lot of words, and basically everything went over my head aside from the simplest of themes. I really liked the whaling entries, thought they were interesting. I didn't understand Pip and Starbuck's relationship with Ahab, along with some other stuff. However, I'm glad I read it and I find that the books I thought would be really hard seem easier to understand and more digestible after reading moby dick.