/lit/ - Literature

>>19518841
>i feel embarrassed to read it in public, it seems so entry-level
So you read because you think it makes you smarter? Because you think if someone sees you reading they will think you're smart? Because you think it will get you women?

Are you really reading that book to read it, or are you reading it to be seen reading it in public?

>>19518841
>getting filtered by the fear of someone else’s perception
Cringe

>>19518858
i feel embarrassed reading it at all, it seems like a book for teenagers. is it worth reading?

>>19518841
Why do you have to read it in public? Why do you have to read with a physical copy? Why do you have to care about what random people you’ve never met with think of you?

>>19518876
I read it when I was a teenager and loved it. Would read it in Publix and the fish monger would say “what a smart teenager”.

>>19518909
>why do you have to read it in public?
i don't, i just find it easier to focus when reading outside, at the library, or at a cafe
> Why do you have to read with a physical copy?
i hate e-books, i can't stand e-books
>Why do you have to care about what random people you’ve never met with think of you?
i don't, it's just embarrassing, and i don't want them to know what i'm reading, and everybody knows american psycho, makes me feel like a normie or a pleb, makes me feel stupid. even reading the book on my own i feel stupid for reading it because it's so mainstream

>>19518841
I think its schlock, but its not entry level.

>>19518927
see, yeah, i'm not a teenager, it makes me feel mildly retarded for only just reading it now. maybe i should read something else
>Would read it in Publix and the fish monger would say “what a smart teenager”.
lol

>>19518932
i'm older than bret easton elis was when he wrote this, which makes me feel even worse

>>19518841
>I feel embarrassed to read it in public, it seems so entry-level
OP, realize now that 99.9% of people in public are NPCs who block out everything else that is not within their own mental realm. Why would you care about what those retards think in the first place? Read it, whether it is entry-level or not matters little. It is a decent read.

Why would you be embarrassed to be seen reading anything? You didn’t write the book, you’re reading it and forming an opinion on it. It’s only embarrassing if you read shlock and then proceed to hold it up as something worthy of praise. But reading it, you don’t even know what it is yet.

>>19518930
>oh no those normies will think I'm also a normie. They'll think I'm one of them when, in fact, I am very, very special and above all these normies, despite them probably being just as intelligent as me

I'm kidding. You probably don't think like that. I don't really know what to say other than you shouldn't let your embarrassment override your love for something, otherwise, you'll end up a bitter old man

>>19518947
fair points. ok, ok. next year. i have to meet my goodreads goal first.

>>19518958
i care about literature in the way other people care about fashion, i guess. maybe literature is just fashion to me

>>19518941
It’s a good book, the part about me reading it as a teenager is true but I still hold it as one of my favorites. The Publix story is made up and I’m sorry for that

>>19518941
>>19518974
If all you care about is how you're perceived then maybe this isn't the book to be holding in public because the book is making fun of exactly the type of person you seem to be

>>19518932
What part is schlock? The

>7

pages of goofball violence in the 400pg postmodernist novel?

Nice—useless—opinion, bruh.

>i'm not a teenager
What do you think this book is? Have you read any other Ellis?

>>19518876
>it seems like a book for teenagers
What does this mean? Do you think Catcher in the Rye is also for teenagers? The book is a comedy and that is lost on most people b/c of its reputation and a few pages of outrageous and physically impossible violence.

>>19518968
>you shouldn't let your embarrassment override your love for something
good point. i got this book, along with a couple of others last month, in order to learn from them prose-wise, novel-wise, but i'd forgotten my reason for having done so and was like "why did i get those books? they're so lame. what was i thinking?"

>>19518841
No one gives a fuck what anyone is reading in public. Assuming you’re reading on public transport or whatever, people are too worried about getting home from their jobs to care about what some random stranger is reading. The average person only reads about 4 books a year anyway, so it’s highly unlikely that anyone that sees you reading American Psycho recognises it. Anon you really have to get out of your head and stop being so self conscious. Heck you could be getting beat up or robbed and the vast majority of pedestrians wouldn’t care.

>>19518995
cool re: it being one of your faves, lol re: making up the reading it in public part - i would have never known if you hadn't told me!

>>19518998
interesting

>>19518866
This, what a cringy fag you must be OP.

hey, OP, I'm starting to get into reading too, mainly for pleasure, but also to understand different perspectives more

So far I've read:
>3 books in the Moomin series
>Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
>Boy Parts by Eliza Clark

I know I should be reading some classics, and I plan to, but I'm just figuring out what I like. I feel kinda overwhelmed by the amount I want to read, but I'm also excited.

I'm currently reading:
>persepolis
>American psycho
>norweign wood
>the woman in the purple skirt

I plan to read:
>the bell jar
>the rest of the moomin series
>The Conspiracy Against the Human Race by Thomas Ligotti
>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
>Heaven by Mieko Kawakami
>some Sayaka Murata books
>some Kazuo Ishiguro books
>Girl, Interrupted
>my year of rest and relxation
>Neuromancer

I'll probably get judged for my barely-developed tastes, but I know that I shouldn't let that get in my way from doing something I enjoy, and neither should you, OP

i personally found it underwhelming and preferred the film in terms of tone. the book was way funnier though and is basically a series of events where bateman consistently spills his spaghetti