/lit/ - Literature

I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while staying at a psych ward. It resonated with me.

>>2057914
Hunger Games. All three of 'em.
Yeah, yeah, "UNDERAGE B& HURKADURKA" and stuff, but those books genuinely got to me. Being an American, I can empathize with the underlying theme of a problematic government. That, and the books themselves were tremendously written.

>>2057914

what caused you depression ?

Slaughterhouse 5. Don't know why but Billy Pilgrim's disconnect from reality really spoke to the way I felt in high-school.

The Idiot

I'll not harp on about it, but it was lent to me by someone I care about who doesn't really pay me much attention anymore

Definitely The Sound and The Fury, specially Quentin chapter. It resonated a lot with me because, as Quentin was facing depression, skipping classes and planning his suicide, so was I a little depressed, skipping all my college classes and writing a book about suicide.

>>2057951

This, but mostly how I felt pretty much all the time.

how about Lolita. That was beyond powerful and not just powerful beautiful.

>>2057957
My grandfather was the same way. I cherish this beautiful violin he gave me before he died in a car crash. Closed casket. He was an amazing and charitable person. Before he died he was studying the piano and getting plane lessons. A constant learner. Never stopped going.

But then somebody out of nowhere murders him.

>>2057957
:(

I don't have any stories like that, but this book just hit me at the right time in my life, I guess.

>>2057960

Would you recommend that author since i'm on a Dostoyevsky kick at the moment?

I read The Sorrows of Young Werther when I was going through something incredibly similar. Except I didn't an hero.

>>2057971
Myshkin was interesting and weirdly organic, even though I'm not religious I think that he was more than an allegory

Gravity's Rainbow. I was studying Literature at a fairly prestigious American university, and they made us read nothing but shitty, politically correct books. The other kids at the school weren't helping my outlook much, either. I didn't even know what I was doing in college anymore.

The conspiracy, anti-war nonsense was what pulled me in and then Pynchon pulls the bait-and-switch, leaving me with an enormous amount of morality I'd have never developed without reading him. This book not only taught me pretty much everything about what makes the Word so important, but also how to be a conscious, empathetic human being.

Pynchon became a friend and teacher when I needed both the most. Who could ask for more?

>>2057999

That book is from Faulkner, not Dostoyevsky, but I would recommend it to anyone; it's my favorite book, a definite masterpiece.

>>2058029

I know it's not by Dostoyevsky, but it sounds similar to something he'd write. Which is why I asked if I would like it.

>>2058036

Oh, I see. Well, their writing styles aren't very similar to be true. Faulkner uses, specially in the first half, a lot of stream of consciousness, a technique Dostoyevski don't employ in his works. However, I still maintain my recommendation; Sound and the Fury is an amazing book.

Lost Horizon completely validated some thoughts I was having which are considered stupid in western civilizations. I will always be grateful for that.

Also, I had LotR speeches playing in the background when I came upon your thread OP

>>2058048

I will purchase it next time I order on amazon.

Assassin's Apprentice for its ending.

Not a novel, but Nine Sundays in a Row, again for the ending.

I regard Lord of the Rings as the crowning jewel of twentieth century literature. I know many will disagree with me, and I respect that, but no other work accomplishes the easily accessible depth of the human experience as LotR.

I know we may have lost masterpieces to history, but it seems that centuries pass between authors who can manage to touch such universal truths and conflicts as you see in Tolkien's work. Homer, Ovid, Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Joyce, Tolkien...well, maybe given the heavily weighted modern group I am biased, but no one since Tolkien has had the skill for it since his time. I will stand by that statement.

This thread reminds me I need to buy some new LOTRs editions. Since mine is all dog eared and basically unreadable.

Grapes of Wrath. It gave me a better understanding and appreciation for my grandfather, and the struggles he went through as a child. He was very "salt of the earth," and after reading it my respect for him has grown. Wish he was still around.

I've always wanted to read lord of the rings, and will do soon. Could anyone link me a good bundle in amazon? not too expensive.

The Wheel of Time.

hater'sgon'hate.jpg

Characters are unrealistic, sure, but they are constantly forced to choose between the rock and the hard place and they always pick themselves up and keep going. The underlying message is about doing what is right, even if it is not moral.

>>2058119
>The underlying message is about doing what is right, even if it is not moral.

am I derailing the thread by asking what you mean?

>>2058124
The main characters often do things that hurt people around them in the short term, but it's all for something bigger than any one person and that's the way it has to be. Hurting people is amoral in conventional morality, but sometimes collateral damage is unavoidable and they can't stop to cry over it.

>>2058119
You may be reading too much into that cluster-fuck of a series...

>>2058118

I have this set.

I couldn't agree more OP
ever since I was little the LoTR series were my favorite book, and they were also the first "big books" I read. Ever since reading them I've always wanted a replica of the One Ring, and I just bought an 18K gold one on ebay. I own the 50th anniversary edition, pic related