/lit/ - Literature

>What you last read
Mao II by Don DeLillo (1991)
I read half of it, put it down for a month or so, and was able to come back to it immediately. A pretty good balance between DeLillo's jilted images and his meandering ruminations on being observed.

>What you are currently reading
Carpenter's Gothic, William Gaddis (1985)
Read a third of it each time in two separate sittings, going to finish it off in one last sitting later today. Horrible, dirty people with greedy little minds. The reader is trapped in their house watching them come and go. Very highbrow reference points for imagery (The battle of Crécy, the bible, Shakespeare). "Experimental" play at real dialogue. A quote:
>-now, look at him now. See his lips moving when he stops to get his balance? My name is death, the last best friend am I out there with his damned broom justifying an existence that won't turn him loose, how cold your hands are, death. Come warm them at my heart God, how I learned to hate him.

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri (2003)
Pulitzer winner I picked up for fifty cents. A blind stab at both contemporary writing and female writers. Nothing to write home about so far, might be worth noting for you capsguy that the author and one of the main charactesr in the novel have a deep, personal love for the writing of Gogol.

>What you plan on reading next
Dance Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami (1994)
Tinychat book club pick, most of the other participants have enjoyed it so far so I'm looking forward to it. I've some good and some bad by Murakami so I'm looking forward to it.

An assortment of short stories by Henry James and W. Somerset Maugham

Vineland, Thomas Pynchon (1990)

>LAST READ
I shot through The Stranger today in one sitting, on a whim.

>CURRENTLY READING
Well, I've got a lot that I've read a little of. I'll probably continue finishing The Man in the High Castle.

>READING NEXT.
Sort of started The Master and the Margarita the other day, will probably either keep reading on it or read it next.

>>1307448
I recommend you read The Cherry Orchard by Chekov, capsguy :D

sure I'll play

Last Read: American Pyscho
Currently Reading/ Just starting: Les Miserables
Next to Read: not really sure just yet, whatever catches my attention next

>>1307505
I KNOW SOMEONE'S GOING TO WHINE TO ME ABOUT ME RECOMMENDING YOU SOMETHING BY AN AUTHOR YOU'VE ALREADY READ, BUT GENERALLY PEOPLE HERE SEEM TO THINK THAT THE ONLY WORK BY CAMU WORTH MENTIONING IS THE STRANGER.

CHECK OUT THE PLAGUE. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

THE CHERRY ORCHARD HAS FOR SOME TIME BEEN ON MY 'TO-READ' LIST. I PROMISE I WILL GET AROUND TO IT SOMETIME, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A PLAY.

>>1307514
YOU FUCKED IT UP! PLEASE, DELETE YOUR POST AND FIX IT UP :(

>>1307515
Alright! I do own The Plague and The Fall by Camus, so I suppose I'll read the former one next time.

>WHAT YOU LAST READ
Life, the Universe, and Everything
Weak ending. I would of liked to see more of the crazy truthful guy.

>WHAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING
The Count of Monte Cristo
When does this book get exciting? Also, aristocrats talk like fools.

>WHAT YOU PLAN ON READING NEXT
some Bradbury and
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
I can't wait to read this. I love twisted stories, I can never find enough of them.

>>1307526
YOU FUCKED IT UP, PLEASE DELETE YOUR POST AND FIX IT :(

let's try this again

Last Read: American Psycho
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, great social commentary, came for the violence, stayed for the satire

Currently Reading: Les Miserables
I've been planning on reading this for a while now, but I saw the musical recently and that inspired me to finally pick it up

Next to Read: Whatever catches my attention next

if I had to recommend a book I would highly recommend Count of Monte Cristo to anyone who hasn't read it yet

sorry, my knowledge of books is mostly mainstream, but I'm trying to get into the classics

I'm this guy:
>>1307526

>>1307505
Read A Scanner Darkly by Dick.
It will do to you what a bullet does to an Arabs head.

Capsguy it is impossible to read your posts without imagining some guy walking around in social situations yelling really loudly for no apparent reason. It is hilarious

Also, uhhh
>WHAT YOU LAST READ
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
>WHAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING
A lot of Lovecraft from an anthology I recently purchased
>WHAT YOU PLAN ON READING NEXT.
Probably Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, then The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

>>1307526
I have nothing to recommend anyone because I've only just started reading heavily recently but have fun with Perfume; it's excellent.

Capsguy will probably yell at me though so read some Lovecraft or something: http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/

I recommend The Colour Out of Space, The Horror at Red Hook and The Dunwich Horror, or The Cats of Ulthar and The Music of Erich Zann for shorter stories. A lot Lovecraft's work is hit and miss but there are some excellent stories.

>WHAT YOU LAST READ
Life, the Universe, and Everything
Weak ending. I would of liked to see more of the crazy truthful guy.

>WHAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING
The Count of Monte Cristo
When does this book get exciting? Also, aristocrats talk like fools.

>WHAT YOU PLAN ON READING NEXT
some Bradbury and
Perfume by Patrick Suskind
I can't wait to read this. I love twisted stories, I can never find enough of them.

>>1307505
Read A Scanner Darkly by Dick.
It will do to you what a bullet does to an Arabs head

Happy caps guy?

Last read: Wilde's Salome, fully expected it to suck and it was beautiful

Currently reading: Too Loud a Solitude, which I'm not loving but I think it's too soon to judge

Plan on reading: American Lion, but probably won't because I keep putting it off

>>1307540
I did start A Scanner Darkly for that book club thing /lit/ sort of had for a while, and it seemed pretty crazy/good. I've read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Dick so far. I'm assuming A Scanner Darkly is going to be more like the later, right?

>>1307540
YEAH BRO, BUT LOOK, ANOTHER FUCK UP
>>1307541
YOU FUCKED UP

>last read
The Bell Jar
I found it really emotionally harrowing, and could connect quite deeply with Sylvia Plath whilst reading it. It took me to a level of reader-author empathy I'd never felt before.
>now reading
The Quiet American (Graham Greene)
Like his writing style, it's very transparent. Only 50 pages through, though, so I can't comment yet.
>next read
Swann's Way (Proust)
I started reading about 50 pages when I put it down because I had more pressing things to attend to, and I was wary of getting caught in his writing like an endless dream. Planning to pick it up after Greene, though.

>>1307541
me again, I don't want to get yelled at but I suck at recommendations

>>1307531
the killer inside me

>>1307490
X'ed Out

>>1307505
doctor zhivago

>>1307540
the demolished man


>>1307546
I have failed you and for this I apologize

>>1307550
I just bought Doctor Zhivago the other day! I might actually begin on it after Master and the Margarita, to keep the Russian vein going.

>>1307531
here

>>1307550
thanks, will look into that, sounds interesting

>WHAT YOU LAST READ
The Stranger. Read it on the bus to/from the university, I'd give it a (weak) 4 out of 5.

>WHAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING
Roadside Picnic on my way to/from the university.

>WHAT YOU PLAN ON READING NEXT.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, On the road or one of the two books a russian guy wants me to read:

"Blue Salo" by Sorokin or "Buddha's Little Finger"/"Clay Machine Gun"/"Chapayev and Void" by Victor Pelevin.

I don't suppose any of you have read one of those two?

>RECOMMEND
Don't really have much to recommend. I liked Animal Farm and I'd recommend that you don't read The Dice Man, it was just poorly executed.

>last read
Golden Bowl, Hamlet & The Stranger.
>currently reading
not sure, maybe Amerika & The Castle.
>next
maybe the iliad/odyssey. or twilight.

My only recommendation is to stop reading, all of you.

>>1307547
sozsozsoz capsguy, I didn't read your instructions through to the end. OK. so:
>>1307537
I recommend Borges for you, ralph, pick up Labyrinths when you get the chance, or his Collected Fictions. Unless you've already read him, then I'm sorry for being a failure. My recommendation is based on the prevalence of dream-like literature in your list, and also because I read him recently and loved him.

also The Stranger was hilarious,

>frogs atmenody

>>1307540
a bit late to respond, but Count of Monte Cristo can be a very dry read that much is true, especially around the middle of the book, but for me at least it picked up and I thoroughly enjoyed it, my advice would be to stick with it

>>1307561
>justification for suggestion
I like you. Although I don't care for Borges.

>>1307560
Any chance at a summary / personal opinion of The Golden Bowl Ty? Would be relevant to my interests.

>just read
The Jungle book
nostalgic but fairly boring.

>reading
dune messiah
half way through, so far so good

>will read
dorian grey

>reccommendations
i dont consider myself well versed enough in any kind of literature to make intelligent reccommendations to you folks.

>>1307558
CAN'T SAY I HAVE, BUT THAT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE I'M INTO CLASSICS :(

>mfw I recommended and no-one recommended me anything
>I don't have a face
>I'm tired and probably made mistakes in this post but I'm clicking submit anyhow

>last read
Michel Foucault's essay 'What is Enlightenment'

>currently reading
Toni Morrisson's 'Love'

>to read
Jean Baudrillard's 'Illusion of the End'

Everyone should have read a little bit of Michel Foucault, and Althusser for that matter; I recommend their sections in David Hawke's Ideology, they are short although a lil bit biased but what can you do. Here is a link to the book for ur convenience: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EMOABBD3

>>1307575
see
>>1307561

>>1307575
THERE WERE A LOT OF GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE NOT OFTEN TALKED ABOUT HERE IN /LIT/

>>1307580
Oh, well yes this is how tired I am.
>>1307561
Thankyou anon, Borges seems really interesting; I might have to look into that.

>>1307566
I will probably do one of those 'what you got' images for it. at first i thought it was going to be the cynical thoughts of this guy thats irresistible to woman which you follow as he uses them. But it's just that all the characters are that extremely repressed (19th century nobility or something). So James' style in it is the extreme focus on their own trail of thought in contrast to the way they talk to each other which is full of bullshit.

It's not a novel where you'd say it's amazing because of a 'deep message' or anything. The only way I can tell it's amazing is that after the slow beginning I couldn't put it down & I couldn't say that it's even just 'good', it's easily better than lots of other books I would say are great. I think it's because the plot at a glance is so basic that it's hard to compare to anything else.

- there i did my best lol, i recommend it to you baby <3

>♫ I've lost control again ♫

>>1307581
This is something that I've been stewing over for a week or two now. Just some meandering here; anyone with something better to do should feel free to disregard.

Even the best recommendation is nowhere near as effective as a good description or promotion of a book (my knee-jerk PC tendencies want to change this to 'work of literature' to make it sound more inclusive to the philosophy readers). What makes the literary suggestion dicey is that while we have a lot of the same authors / books cropping up many of us are still pretty localized: We haven't read them. There's a thrill in finding a new author, a new voice, ESPECIALLY if we relate and love this new work. Alternately there’s a fear we’re going to get a chestnut: some of the greatest writers have flops, works that are flat-out too much of an investment to be of literary worth to people who don’t take a rabid interest, works that degrade in worth when removed from their era. And so on.

On the other hand over-promotion stales the incentive to read the work (I'm thinking of that guy who was in here a while ago doing daily threads on Lautréamont [Maldoror itself not being a bad novel at all, but switching me off from the topic by way of over-hype]), and there’s the idea that some of these suggestions may be too specialized to even stay alive on here long enough for someone it‘d be valuable to to get to reading it.

Semi-related: (>>1307558) noted a desire to read Sorovin and Pelevin, both authors I've never heard of. I intend to look into them and see if any of this writing looks interesting.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not fair to disregard the obvious suggestions, or ignore something that isn't directly pointed at your post. They’re obvious because it makes sense to read one in following the incentive for suggestion.