/lit/ - Literature

/lit/ is doing a huge disservice to newcomers by recommending 'starter kits' filled with cult classics from the 20th century rather than recommending classics like Homer, Virgil, Ovid, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Sterne, Goethe, Tolstoy, etc.

Because what this does is gives them a completely non-linear and fragmented perspective of what literature actually is; its history, its purposes over time, how style changes and why, understanding the concept of influence and how it functions in the creation of new works, etc.

I'm tired of trying to argue incredibly simple universal points to people who, through insecurity from lack of knowledge, are choosing to be contrarian and downright dismissive of anything that challenges how they have come to approach literature.

The enjoyment of A Confederacy of Dunces, Dubliners, The Metamorphosis, Lolita, The Stranger, etc., will be greatly enhanced by knowledge of the classics, just as the authors of those books were.

Respect the process and be patient.