/lit/ - Literature

The books we're considering at the moment are

Stoner by John William
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Dune by Frank Herbert.

Stoner has the most votes at the moment, but if more people join they can nominate other works and the votes might switch around.

>Ian

Stoner by John Williams

>>1956974
>Stoner by John Williams
I don't really know what to say about this one, other than repeating other reviewer's praises that it seems to be a near perfect novel. It describes a young man from a farming family's entrance into college, his discovery of his love of literature, his failures in marriage, the politics of a university, his affair, etc, etc, until ultimately, his meaningless life comes to an end in a common and unremarkable way. I know I'm not describing it adequately, but I don't know how. I do know that this novel evoked a ton of emotion in me, and every time the "What did you expect?" came during the ending pages, it hit me harder than any self-reflection I've gone through before. Ultimately, a very depressing novel, but absolutely worth reading.

CURRENTLY READING:
>Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Nai'an
Still only halfway through the first volume of this, since I've been reading stuff in-between it. I do love it so far though - not nearly as much character confusion as I was anticipating (what with 108 outlaws), because everyone so far has had very clear, if usually forceful, personalities. I'm not sure how it'll come together yet, or when everyone will meet, but I can already see an epic forming and I like it.

NEXT THREE:
>Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
>Selected Stories by Robert Walser
>The Train Was on Time by Heinrich Boll