/lit/ - Literature

The day i started lying to ruth

Gravitys rainbow, v, vineland, the recognitions, tender b the night, gatsby, absalom absalom, the sound and the fury, as i lay dying, farewell to arms, for whom the bells be tolling, across the river and into the sea, bros karamazov, lost in the funhouse (night sea journey), candide, woman in the dunes, pnin, mrs dalloway, grapes of wrath, of mice and men, things fall apart, countless poetry books and many short story collections (the lees of happiness by fitzgerald brings me to tears every time i read it, maybe the most potent sadness i ever got from a short story). There are more im not thinking of.

What about you op?

Jane Eyre and The Betrothed. And Harry Potter when I was 10.

>>17760533
Funny story about night sea journey, i actually cried at a part toward the end of the story, then realized the protagonist was a sperm and laughed my ass off. I need to read more barth.

>>17760430
Only thing that comes to mind is The Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang.

>>17760533
i actually posted the ruth one. i read of mice and men, thanks for your suggestions

>>17760533
Nice recs anon if you had to pick just one book from this list which would it be?

>>17760547
I didn't like this as much as I thought I would, I thought Arrival was better

Never but pretty close with "The Dead"

>>17760562
Im not completely sure. If you want governmental oppression type sadness try vineland by pynchon, if you want something difficult and kind of biblical in scope try absalom, if both try gravitys rainbow, or tender is the night is a good lost love/downfall of a decent guy who tries to make the best of a bad sitch book. Idk really.
I cant pick just one for you but for me i'd go with gravitys rainbow. It has everything i could want in a book - realism, surrealism, political intrigue, slapstick comedy, joy, despair, depravity, great plot, maybe the best ending i've ever read (and maybe not a wholly negative one), compelling and complex characters (i can't say the best characters i've ever read though), it uses 1st, 2nd and 3rd person narration, completely overwhelming, great prose... yeah its absolutely fantastic. If you do your own writing its a good read to just get lost in and marvel at.

>>17760669
Absolutely. I cry every time i read the hollow men and 4 quartets. Old possums book of practical cats is tons of fun too if you get too depressed

>>17760651
>compelling and complex characters

Cringe post, but the chapter in Jules Vernes' "Journey to the Center of the Earth" where Axel is lost in the tunnel and suffering from an extremeness of thirst so severe it made my tongue swell just reading it made me tear up.

>>17760691
Absolutely. Blicero, enzian, pointsman, katje, pudding, the girl who got pregnant in the porn scene. There are over 100, so many arent well defined, but the main cast is really solid.

>>17760430
Spring Snow by Mishima. I really resonated with Kiyoaki and his dreamy personality and after the ending I shed a couple tears. The book really made me realize to get my life together.

>>17760430
Reading about Piggy's abuse struck a chord in me

Sirens of Titan, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Flowers for Algernon, TBK, Moby Dick, Count of Monte Cristo, The Things They Carried, All Quiet on the Western Front.

>>17760734
Nice, i got that and runaway horses on deck. Have you read the tetralogy? Sailor who fell from grace, then snow country by kawabata made me cry.

>>17760734
Spring Snow is great, and it's good to hear it had an impact on you. Kiyoaki is such a well defined character and it's not a particularly constructive personality to have.

>>17760759
The entire tetralogy is great and the Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea is a great introduction to his thought.

You may struggle with runaway horses as it drags on a bit but it's worth pushing through and is by far the hardest of the four books in my view.

>>17760727
Most of them felt like author's mouthpieces desu. Blicero and Pokler have a few good moments but his first 3 books --- the ones i have read --- feel incompetent in character writing. There was a sequence when Benny starts to cry seeing jailbait which was very stilted because Pynchon clearly wanted you to feel for him but it doesn't come off. That's the story for all 3 imo. Oedipa works well though, she is neither compelling nor complex but she complements her story very well, ironically she is his most famous too but that might have to do with lot 49 being his most famous book and it's easy.

What in V. made you cry? The only hitting moment I remember is Foppl's clear eyed herero girl who is violated in keeping with the "community rules".

>>17760796
Nice to know. Thanks! Im gonna fully commit to the tetralogy and get the last 2 as i begin spring snow.

>>17760533
t. a baby

>>17760813
I cried in v in fausto maijstral's chapter and mondaugens story. The writing is fucking beautiful.
Crying of lot 49 wasnt that good imo. I feel oedipa, slothrop and benny are all not really great characters, but they're all serviceable.
I thought gr's main characters were generally really good despite the fact that they are mouthpieces.

>>17760838
Confessions of fausto maijstral was the worst in V. imo. Took me 3 months to get past it as I kept having false starts because it bored me halfway through each time. Mondaugen's story is very well written I agree but never felt anything emotional in the Kurt sections, so I am assuming you are referring to Foppl's recollections within it.