/lit/ - Literature

The Vivisector by White is good too. It's a bit long and repetitive but I think that's inevitable in a biography type narrative though. Have you read anything else by him?

I keep shilling this on /lit/ because it's fucking great and nobodies heard of it.

>>14380762
YOOOOOO Voss is seriously the best Australian novel, and one of the greatest novels I have ever read. Unironically. FuCKINg go READ it

>>14380952
It's been on my shelf for a while, but this has convinced me to read it.

>>14380762
Just finished it. It's dense, packed with ideas and more often than not beautiful, all wrapped up in the trappings of an adventure story across the Australian interior. Only thing I would say is that White's prose, while very good, is not exactly fluid. It's more knotty and murky and it is easy to get bogged down in what he's trying to convey. Some pretty wild metaphors and interesting social commentary as well

Anything from Vargas Llosa, Rushdie and Broch.

>>14382904
>Anything from Vargas Llosa
You don't live in Spain, do you?

>>14380762

>>14382986
I thought underrated on /lit/, she is very popular where I live as well.

>>14380762

>>14383065
No you

>>14383124
It's fucking hard to find a copy of this, unless you're willing to spend like $40AUD.

>>14380762
Robert Musil, The Man without Qualities

>>14383239
If 40 bucks is too much what the fuck have you even been reading

>>14383285
I've been reading all sorts, but I've never spent $40 on a novel. What the fuck have you been reading? Generally I can get anything for $15-$25. Thirty bucks, max.

>>14383305
Ive got a basket open right now and its $200 for 5 books, you can get by reading penguin/oxford classics for cheap but as soon as youre buying stuff thats only being printed by obscure publishers you get raped, its just how it is

>>14383327
You can usually find a good or very good condition of just about anything on ebay for a few dollars. There are some really shitty and misleading sellers though.

>>14383383
I dont know a few dollars, but sometimes its a steal compared to abebooks

The Erl King by Michel Tournier

I am appalled that no one is mentioning this novel in any thread

>>14380944
What am I reading?

>>14383383
Try buying A History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for under thirty bucks, or the complete works of Aristotle.

>>14383421
You know damn well that we're not discussing multiple volume length books.

>>14383441
pussy

>>14383441
Then fine, buy each book on its own and have to pay double the price.

Besides,

>>14383441
well

>>14382898
Ha, I read this and thought it was great. Sneaking peaks of the Arab women through the cracks in the ship, constantly worried about one of your crew mates murdering you with the poison you think he bought, jealous scientists hoarding their findings, being THIS close to a major point of interest after traveling hundreds of miles only to be told by the monks at the gate to fuck right off...

A really interesting read.

>>14383065
‘Kerouac admired the work and thought it would appeal to "east coast homosexual literary critics".‘

>>14382993

Based Mann poster strikes again. Never change, anon.

>>14383409
An mix of modern geopolitics, career advice, and self help written by a cold war contras-era mercenary. Probably one of the most unique books I’ve ever read, it radiates personality and despite being written as a kind of outsider-art manual without any literary or academic conventions, is consistently insightful and provides a first hand look into how wars are fought (specifically, the wars happening behind the scenes in countries you’ve never heard of).
That this book is unheard of, and only ran for three editions before going out of print, is criminal.

>>14384989
>That this book is unheard of, and only ran for three editions before going out of print, is criminal.
Will give it a read, sounds pretty cool. Could I get a link?

You should advertise it anon.

>>14385029
Library Genesis has a copy. Ill keep posting it on /lit/ till people read it

>>14382993
Too fucking long, at the height of my Mann fanboyism I wouldn't have touched it, not after Buddenbrooks, Magic Mountain and Krull. Overkill.

>>14384577
"I swear, 90% of writers in America are homosexuals." -Jack Kerouac

The Virginian by Owen Wister, the great American western novel is you ask me.

this shit is so fucking weird

>>14380762
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust is the most underrated book. Yes, I am considering one of the most famous works of all time underrated. It is underrated in the sense that although widely known, it is not unquestionably regarded as the supreme achievement of the human mind. Until there is a monument of Marcel Proust in every city, until his works are memorized by children growing up around the world, until the largest human structure is a record-breaking statue like the Statue of Liberty but shaped as Proust with an ampitheater on the top where complete readings of his works are periodically held and it towers over the world's biggest skyscraper, he will be considered "underrated". You sons of bitches should be ashamed of yourselves for not pushing this forward. Read his fucking work already if you haven't, and read it again if you have.

Any of you other lads literally feel like a superfluous man too?

>>14383032
she?

>>14382993
>>14385197
It's great if you are interested in the underlying subject -- i.e., the idea of situating the stories of Genesis in the Amarna Period. I'm not religious, but I am fascinated by what Mann achieved here.

Bump

>>14382898
Based Danes. Also something about the mid 18th century’s world that’s max comfy

>>14380762

>>14380762
Book of the new sun

>>14380762
oi! ze austwalians wwitews! much impwession! such powew! must wead!

>>14385197
It's a tetralogy. Read one book a week and you can finish it in a month. Surely you can read one 350 page novel per week? Surely you can read 50 pages a day? Surely. The story is not even wholly about Joseph, I argue that Jacob's story in the novel is just as strong as Joseph's and that's an entire saga unto itself.

>>14386642
>the Statue of Liberty but shaped as Proust with an ampitheater on the top where complete readings of his works are periodically held and it towers over the world's biggest skyscraper

>>14384989
How have you taken this advice and applied it to your life anon?

>>14386642

>>14386642
Gotta agree with this, there should be no compromises. The man died for writing fucking books and synthesizing life with art, and little do people realize that the Combray section at the very start is simultaneously the ultimate pleb filter and the greatest evocation of the elusive spirit of childhood ever put to page

>>14388020
My fucking guy

>>14383400
I only found out about this cause the new Death in June album sampled a snippet from the film adaptation in the opening track. How is it?

>>14380902
Not OP, but I read Tree of Man
Excellent book, a great portrayal of australian life. Some Stoner vibes, although definitely not the same tier. Apparently not even close to his best work, so I'm keen to check out his others too

Another aus classic
gay but really good, and pretty short

>>14380944
You can stop now

>>14386959
Is the smiley face a sticker or actually part of the cover

>>14387988
Yes. His career advice can be summed up as "find a niche and fill it, since if you can be replaced you will eventually be replaced". His exercise advice is solid. The information he gives on learning a language cuts right through the bullshit, and although I haven't directly applied it I speak four languages and can attest to it. He has a whole section on how to write an intelligence report on a country, and practicing doing that with countries I'm acquainted with or want to better understand has been intellectually fruitful.

>>14388178
His advice is more along the lines of "I once saw a US marine get disemboweled by a Filipino sailor in Shanghai and that's why you don't underestimate escrima, but since in any situation where you can have a knife you should have your gun, I recommend all prospective mercenaries to take Karate or kickboxing three days a week. Avoid stylized martial arts and schools with restrictions on kana..." than "clean your room and defeat the dragon bucko" though. Personally I find it better for that reason.

>>14388178
I'll read it this Christmas anon. What niche have you found if you don't mind I ask? Does it emphasize any particular niches and how to get into them? Defense stuff?

>>14388178
Post example of a country intelligence report anon

The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz. The most beautiful surrealist I've ever read, hands down.
From what I understand he remains popular in Poland, enough that there was a big backlash against Israel there when some bullshit thieving Israeli "conservation" group literally ripped out and shipped away a wall he had painted a mural on. During the Nazi occupation one Gestapo officer protected Schulz because he painted murals in the officer's son's nursery, then a second one shot him in the back of the head walking down the sidewalk one day because the two officers had gotten into a feud over their respective "pet Jews."

>>14388355
Forgot pic. The direct translation of the original title is "Cinnamon Shops," but American publishers decided The Street of Crocodiles sounded cooler. The Penguin edition contains all of these stories and a second collection called The Sanitorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass. That's all he ever wrote that survived, but supposedly there was a nearly-finished novel that nobody ever found. Some angry grumblings purport the Israelis found it and stole that too, but I figure they would've published it if they did.

>>14388340
Night combat, specifically with heat vision goggles and close quarters raids. Idk why he had such a boner for that subject, other than it having an expensive enough barrier of entry that third world countries would rather contract that kind of stuff than train it at home.
I'm into paramedicine. Not extremely niche, but getting a license is easy enough and you can do a lot of stuff with it. Especially a lot of mines and industrial sites are legally required to keep a medic on site.

>>14388355
>>14388371
Here is the first page of one of the short stories from the first collection. The narrator's father finds a book filled with paintings of tropical birds, obsesses over it, they come to life and fill the attic, and his father steadily turns into one (or at least thinks he is). It's not even a particularly magic book or anything, that's just the way all books work in his stories - there's no real line between their contents and the world. Metaphors start as wordplay and then take concrete form all the time as well. I really like it.

>>14380762
Tree of Man is better

>>14388381
Do you have a discord anon? This book is great so far - I'd love to hear more about your insights on this and any other similar materials that you've digged up

>>14388430
Glad you're enjoying it. I don't have a discord and as a rule don't give out contact info on 4chan. Whenever I find some high quality and overlooked book or author I try to spam it on here as much as possible.

Berlin Alexanderplatz
The Sleepwalkers
Autumn of the Patriarch

>>14380762
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Void
Lipogram

v. prayful

>>14388766
What's the difference between this and a regular bible?

>>14388863
it's been translated into valley girl speak

Underrated and kino. Haven't seen anyone else talk about this book on /lit/

>>14383421

Sucks to suck, anon. I've bought Edward Gibbon's entire writings for £1 each

Sabato is awesome

>>14386224
is it a good kind of weird

>>14389756
I started reading that and completely forgot about it. Might get it done this week. Thanks for the reminder anon!

>>14385192
Cheers and thanks.

I believe in you.

>>14388430
>>14388530
Try this thread I made a little while back, real good;

>>/lit/thread/S14023092

>>14389717
>Sucks to suck, anon. I've bought Edward Gibbon's entire writings for £1 each
Yea fucking sure.

Betcha didn't get a nice cover/box set either didya?

>>14386654
I think most men can relate.

>>14383285
Pirated books

>>14380762
Sometimes a great notion
Lonesome dove
Shadow country
Lord Jim
Rabbit, run
Jesus’ son
Any Frank o’connor short story

>>14389863
yes

>>14388401
That’s a shame. I thought Tree of Man was well written and some beautiful moments but terribly boring. I’d only want to read another Patrick White if the subject matter would be more interesting than boring, unlikable characters living on a boring farm.

>>14390567
Not that anon, but while I can understand the characters being a bit boring for some people, as someone who grew up in the bush it really resonated with me.
The author's intention was to find a hidden poetry and purpose underlying everyday life, which is a bit teleological and didn't come through for me. The crux of the book is the character and the land's struggle to handle isolation and then modernization, and how there are small, decisive moments that have bigger impacts than world shaking events.

>>14383285
Thicc