/lit/ - Literature

>>17461424
>/lit/ - television and movies

>>17461424
Here's a question for you OP - have you read Dostoyevsky's Demons?

>>17461424
You getting adequate nutrition and sleep?

>>17461466
I have not.

>>17461476
I sleep at 10, wake up at 6:30 most days. I eat my fair share of junk food but not too much, I work out a couple days a week, etc. Healthy weight, job relationship. I have hobbies, I have creative outlets.

>>17461466
not OP and unrelated but how would you rank it among Notes C&P TBK and The Idiot? I've read those but not Demons

>>17461490
Then you have emotional hangups that are hindering you
Get it off your chest

>>17461509
I have a therapist, and I feel like I have no problems opening up to people close to me. I don't know what's holding me back. But more importantly, I asked for book recs

>>17461424
feeling good , burns

>>17461477
I don't know about you, but personally I was very deep into the ennui hole and I found Stavrogin's character from the aforementioned novel to be very relatable. Of course, excluding the whole being a beautiful, strong, rich, aristocratic genius part, but Dostoyevsky gave him those qualities for a reason, specifically to demonstrate a point. The issue is that Dostoyevsky never really came up with a solution to Stavrogin's problems - he ends up committing suicide in the end, after all. Even the solution that Dostoyevsky hints at is, hilariously enough, "the Bible", so not very applicable to us. I feel like ennui stems from the feeling that nothing you do matters, the emphasis being not on the "you", but on the "nothing" part. There is no real reason to throw your weight behind any cause, group or person today, since everything is so debased, vapid and inane. There is nothing and no one worth fighting for. That's the issue, I think. My personal solution to this issue, though at this stage only theoretical rather than practical, has been to resort to spirituality, more specifically ideas related to Zen and Daoism. Stoicism and virtue ethics make for good complements. I received this solution from a very specific rightoid thinker, but I'd rather not shill politics here and moreover it's not like politics today are any less cynical and vapid than the rest of our society. All I can recommend is that you live your life with the idea that, despite it all, you will affirm your virtue and qualities and live with a sense of dignity that does not recognise death as the end of everything and all effort. I can't offer you any more than this, but I hope it is of use to you and I hope you get to read this before one of the jannies goes on a power trip.
>>17461492
I have only read Demons, so I am afraid I can't help you anon. BTW don't read the text above if you want to read Demons, since there are spoilers in it.

>>17461424
Same brother, I've read a lot of books though, I don't think any are really gonna do the trick.

>>17461569
Thank you for the thought-out reply anon, I appreciate it truly. I'll check out demons as soon as I can find it at my bookstore. I've been interested in daoism for a long time now but have never really "taken the leap" into it, might try that sometime soon. It's not like there's much else going on nowadays, so it'd probably be a good time for it.

>>17461589
Demons is interesting, but it's a book about nihilism rather than ennui, only Stavrogin really embodies the concept of ennui IMO. He's certainly a very interesting character from an existential and philosophical perspective, so you should read it if you want, but the nonfiction stuff I mentioned might be more practically useful. For Daoism, you can start with Tao te Ching. Nichomachean Ethics is also a seminal text for virtue ethics if that interests you. For Zen, just visit a local Zen center if you live in a big city and get some instruction on practice, the rest doesn't really matter. I only know about Stoicism from secondary sources, so I can't help you much there. The basic recommendation for that is the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Finally, you can even check out Epicurus, but you should read him with the mindset of pursuing a moderate and balanced life, rather than from a hedonist perspective as he is very often read. I would recommend against reading Epicurus until you are comfortable with the other things I mentioned, though.

>>17461424
Not memeing. This is a really good read. The Bible is boring, yes! But this book will actually make you want to read it.

>>17461424
Nicomachean Ethics did it for me

>>17461526your iq is too high
read cioran