/lit/ - Literature

>>22100422
The Double by Dostoyevsky, it's hilarious

>>22100422
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson.
Just started listening to it today, supposedly some cool crossover shit happens with other worlds in the Cosmere.

>>22100422
The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq. I like it so far, thematically similar to The Tartar Steppe which I also enjoyed. The prose can be needlessly dense at times so reading it is a bit of a slog.

Eggplant by Ogden Nesmer
It isn’t the kind of book I generally go for, but I can’t deny it is well written and interesting. It’s taking a turn away from the introspections on art and fame, which is definitely a positive.

>>22100422

>Book
Aquinas’ abbreviated Summa edited by Peter Kreeft

>Thoughts
It’s a compendium of common sense. Aquinas is like Evola, as funny as that comparison is, in being able to find the common thread among many different people. I’ve already read the old Academic curriculum of Plato+Aristotle+Plotinus, so Aquinas is nicely summarizing all their main points and showing they agree on far more than they disagree.

About halfway through that Matthew Walker book about sleep, it's pretty interesting, but I kind of wish I was reading a novel instead

>>22100422
The rum diary. I read fear and loathing in las vegas and loved it. As for this book it's a pretty enjoyable read. Interesting and fun characters and situations.

>>22100422
I’ve posted about it a few times recently but Cellini’s Autobiography is one of my favorite books and I’m rereading it atm. It is entertaining and informative. Some highlights:
>he frequently takes on multiple attackers
>everyone comments on his bravery and art to the point of unbelievablality
>he defends Rome singlehandedly with a cannon
>he fires a cannon at clouds to break up a rainstorm to save a parade
>he sleeps with 14 year old girls
>escapes from prison
>gets in heated feuds with popes, cardinals, kings, and peers
>has hallucinations of god or jesus
>describes everyone as either the most virtuous person or biggest scoundrel ever, no in between
>has cheesy quips
>has no self awareness
Plus many other adventures and anecdotes. He is so full of himself and bravado to the point he’s endearing. It is a book that will take many by surprise. It is my favorite autobiography alongside Casanova’s

>>22100422
100 years of solitude, maybe because I heard so much of it I had high expectations, but I guess the magical realism and family adventures are kind of fun but nothing really hits me with "wow this is amazing" its just a good read I guess, nothing spectacular.

Seeing that frees by Ron Burbea

It's the best attempt at parsing out Buddhist philosophy into plain, clear language I've ever read.

>>22100422
Perdido Street Station. Huge chunks of non-plot exposition but the writing is good. I'm enjoying it. 10% through it

>>22100422
I’m reading blood meridian kek. I’m about 100 pages in and I’ve been enjoying it. Last few books I read were The Iliad, Heart of Darkness and Moby Dick so it’s a nice change of pace

>>22100422
I'm addicted to old-school debauchery.

>>22100422
Fearful Symmetry by Northrop Frye. I never really understood Blake as a poet. I thought he was cool and that his art was bonkers, but when I read the Songs of Innocence/Experience, I thought his poems seemed simplistic. Now I'm finally beginning to understand Blake and appreciate his poetry after I found out that everything I thought about him was wrong.

>>22100600
You forgot all the boy-rape and murder.

>>22100422
V. Wasn't prepared for the Fausto Maijstral chapter, got some literary whiplash.
My Brilliant Friend. Feels like I'm relieving my childhood with this book, coming from a developing neighbourhood and being the sidekick to someone considered the smartyass of the place.

Gravity's Rainbow, I thought it would be about conspiracies and postmodernist drivel but it's about love and I approve

Mere Christianity.

It’s a second read through. Lewis might be one of the most intelligent men of all time.

>>22100422
Getting into fiction for the first time in my life really because in a weird way I was never really ready to appreciate or enjoy it. I'm reading 2666 by Bolaño and collected short stories by Kafka and they're both great really; perfect forays into finally enjoying literature for me. I can't speak sophisticated about literature yet but I'm really invested in the story of 2666 and the subplots seem like they're starting to converge and I'm really excited to see how it plays out. I like the mystery elements, the grit and the lewdness, and I enjoy realting to some of the metaphors and absurdism while also trying deconstruct the artistic message behind some of the passages that go over me head.

I've found Kafka incredibly relatable as a man and his writing is among the only writing that's made me laugh out loud, plus I really like his prose.

I've also picked up a collection of poems by William Blake and the pure soul his work exudes along with his ability to convey such beautiful imagery using such few words makes for quite the reading experience. Overall I'm happy I've found stuff I genuinely enjoy reading.

The Golden Bowl.
I always sort of dread picking up a James, and for the first few pages it's like grinding teeth, then that roundabout style clicks and it's comfy as fuck. He makes you think about every sentence

bumpe

Be here now by Ram Dass, it's beautiful

>>22100422
>American Heathens: Religion, Race, and Reconstruction in California
It's pretty boring so far. It's just discussing electoral views towards minorities in California. I wish it had more to say about histories from the Chinese immigrants themselves. That's why I wanted to read the book: I wanted a history of Chinese immigration to California. This was the closest my uni library had to that topic.

It's interesting though because it destroys intersectional talking points, as it shows there was no universal "struggle against the white oppressor". Black politicians and social figures from California would often speak out against giving the Chinese in California citizenship because they weren't Christian.

>>22100422
Pynchon's Bleeding Edge. 3 chapters in so far and I like it enough. Only other Pynchon I've read is his story "Entropy", so hopefully I can get through one of his novels (tried some of the others).

>>22100793
That’s under the “many more adventures” heading. Kek

I'm reading Magic Mountain, Every Twelve Seconds, Hatcher's Algebraic Topology.

I have some others on hold: The Climate Book, Jorge Borges Collection, IJ, Mort, etc. I hope to join in on the Dante reading club once my exam is over tomorrow.

As for how it's going, I'm enjoying Magic Mountain. The passage about time were gold nuggets but I'm waiting for some bigger punches from a Nobel Prize winning book.
Just began Every Twelve Seconds, and it seems like a grounding example to have when (and if) I choose to read Foucault's work.
(As for the math, AT reads like a charm. Very different to a standard dry text but so far I've only read a little more than our curriculum covered )

>>22100422
The last book of the History of the Peloponnesian War, as I'd like to read the Hellenica by Xenophon (which picks up where Thucydides left off) but don't remember the details

>>22102298
>and what you think about it so far.
I'm retarded
Anyway, I'm really enjoying the re-read, spartans learning naval combat to stand a chance is still amusing, as well as Athens lasting for so long (the plague, retarded generals, yearly spartan raids for decades, the sicilian expedition, etc)

>>22100422
Currently reading
>A Canticle for Leibowitz
Near the end of act 2, feel I am missing alot for not knowing latin or hebrew, and feel it revolves around the catholic church a little too much.
>books finished
neuromancer (hard read with the lingo and constant jumping around)
battletech warrior riposte (biting lower lip the book)
>future books planned
west of eden
the draka series
deathworld series
the water margin

>>22100422
>The Temple of Dawn
It's good but it feels like Honda's characterization changed too quickly. Not seeing Honda's relationship with Rie evolve and instead just jumping from dutiful husband/wife to resentful people (sometimes) occupying the same house is something that stands out--there's enough there for the reader to bring his understanding to the table but the characters feel a lot more shallow and their relationships contrived almost to the point of cliche. There are time jumps that can be used to wave this criticism away but it seems like the characterizations all around have become more simplistic and shallow compared to the first two books. I've heard The Decay of the Angel comes off as rushed but it seems like the problems started around the time Mishima speeds through WWII by sperging about reincarnation (albeit that's fitting for Honda's character and works thematically); the way things start racing after the time jump to 1952 (Part 2 of Temple) is jarring and it seems like Mishima is recycling too many elements from his earlier works but with less to say about them.

It's still good but it lacks what made the other two books great--they can both stand on their own as independent novels whereas this one (and probably Decay as well) will have to be judged as part of a group. It seems like you have to read the last half of The Sea of Fertility with more of a mind toward Mishima's social commentary on the period and those that populated it; it will be great to be able to reflect on that more after finishing the series and reading more deeply into his biography.

>>22100422
im reading the complete poetry of Rubén Darío. i think I'm getting filtered. im a bit of a completionist with books, i like to know all the references and think deep of each part of it, so it slows me a lot. i have been reading essays on his poetry but i think he's just really good in form but im not feeling more than that. it's like the impressionist paintings. it's beautiful but i feel like it is only beautiful

>Du Côté de Chez Swann
It's hard, but also genius.
>Little Women
Fun book for children.

Almost done with Ficciones. I love it so far though some of the stories are stronger than others.

>>22102825
what are your favorites

Bump, this is a good thread

50 pages into Underworld. I liked White Noise and Mao II but wasn't satisfied by either's ending, and Mao II felt like it needed to be longer.
High expectations for Underworld now.

I’m reading Doctor Faustus by Mann and Serotonin by Houellebecq. Faustus might be one of the best books I’ve read so far. In traditional German literary fashion the books is brimming with symbolism, angst, and dialectics. I’m sure that most of the themes have went over my head but the passage where Leverkuhn says ‘there is only one real question: how to get out into the open, the free, to return to Grace’ strikes me as the central current of the novel. The tension between theology and demonology, man and woman, art and life, passion and dedication; all of these are manifestations of the true struggle in the novel which is freedom and self-realization. Although the goal of freedom itself is determined by its own structural and recognitional constraints which is best exampled by Leverkuhn’s deal with the devil wherein he must forsake his social, romantic, and spiritual life in order to pursue the innermost truth of his being. Serotonin is really good too but it’s not anything which hasn’t been done before. Actually, that’s to its benefit quite honestly. Houellebecq has one of the lightest touches that I’ve ever seen in a novel. Each scene, theme, and character are nearly indistinguishable from something which I’ve seen before. The novel is more superstructural here in that it the real events of the work function as merely pertinent references to jog your mind for the ensuing examination of what being blackpilled can do to a man.

>>22100422
The hidden dimension, by edward t hall.
I might go full schizo after this book.

>>22102806
I've been thinking of getting back to this book, got distracted right at the treatise on reincarnation. Still, the details of the pilgrimage, the humors and observation with the tour guide and the grotesque surrounding the princess stay with me vividly to this day. Powerful book.

men without women by hemingway. read the first story. its ok.

Jose Saramago - Blindness.
People are like "aaaaahhh I can't see I'm going insane, I wish there was a niggerman to save meeeee". Really good so far, I love the writing.

A seventy year old travel narrative about island hoping in the Caribbean. At least the French and English speaking islands.
There’s one brief not particularly memorable interlude in pre Castro Cuba and their boat skirts past Puerto Rico but doesn’t make a stop.
I read it out of order. (1. Haiti 2. Jamaica 3. Cuba 4. Trinidad 5. Barbados 6. Martinique. I’m currently reading about Dominica)

Probably not all that useful as a travel guide but some interesting bits of history. He was fascinated by Voodoo and apparently the book was a bit of an eye opener for the white reading audience. He makes references to the pirate and privateer history of Haiti and Jamaica but doesn’t go into too much depth (which I found disappointed)
I did enjoy the bits on the Haitian Revolution and some of their dictators in the aftermath. And the bits on the Haitian art scene.
Other highlights were the Maroons of Jamaica and the great Martinique volcano. And a funny scene where he smokes reefer and discusses theology with a trio of white hating Rastafarians.

>>22104523
>I've been thinking of getting back to this book, got distracted right at the treatise on reincarnation.
I did the same thing because I wanted to read up on Hinduism and Buddhism to get more out of it (it didn't really enhance the novel--Japanese social history in the post-war period is more important including the riots/demonstrations against the constitution and American occupation). The narrative shifts drastically with the time jump that comes right after that and as I mentioned in my post it's like the gravity of the entire series sinks and becomes more focused on other things (i.e. more weight on general themes carried throughout all of the books instead of building up something that stands alone and more focus on social commentary over characterization). It's still really good though.

The Book is Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and my thoughts are that it’s really damn good. If I had the resources and the skill, I could adapt it into an animated series.

Bump

>>22105484
Sounds cool. But should I read his more famous book (A Time of Gifts) first?

It's very malebrained.

>>22107339
Anytime is a great time to read A Time of Gifts
I probly wouldn’t have picked up The Traveller’s Tree if I hadn’t read A Time of Gifts first

>>22100855
There’s more to it than that, but it does have that at it’s core.

Hawkeye, CoC

Polikushka by tolstoy

Pretty sad and it makes me of my own life and how I squandered it and didn't turn down a better path until it was too late and my actions had already doomed me

"a country doctor" by sarah orne jewett. PEAK comfy. she's more of a teller than a shower but it doesn't bother me. the characters in this book are super loveable, especially our protagonist. look me a while to find a book i liked by a woman but this and my antonia are gold. would recommend to anone who like willa cather or anyone who was disapointed by little women.

>>22108126
you will never be a woman.

Kafka on the Shore. This book is genuinly turning out to be one of my favorites, I need to read other surrealist books like it, once Im done with it. An itch is being scratched

My Struggle vol 3
just started so no thoughts much except usual reliability, the part where he talks about being scared of dogs and loud pipes, it's odd how he grew up to like metal/rock when I could never get over how unpleasant the noise sudden loud noises are