/lit/ - Literature

Gravity's Rainbow
The Homeless Mind

There's shit on my Kindle, but I'm ignoring that until Gravity's.

>implying my backlog is small enough to post here

Think I'll fuck around on /lit/, uploading photos of my books instead of actually reading them.

How should I know where you should start? Those books aren't really connected and I know nothing about your taste.

To the Lighthouse is my favourite book.
Life of Pi isn't so amazing but it's a decent quick read.

Watership Down is a favourite from when I was a child - Adams is an excellent storyteller.

Ecclesiastes and the Book of Job are very philosophical and pretty depressing.

why does life pi get included like it's a classic?

>>2867557
i mean not just in this picture but in general discussion

>>2867557
How does DFW and Stewart Lee get included like they classics?

>>2867565

>implying IJ won't be canonized

Oh, that denial.

> Poems of John Keats vol. 2 ( it's a 1915 edition, suck it OP)

> Rudyard Kipling - Selected Poems
>Victor Serge - Memoirs of a Revolutionary
>Introductory Sociology
>Richard Sakwa - Russian Politics and Society
>DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little
>Robert Graves - I, Claudius
>William Golding - Lord of the Flies
>Herman Melville - Israel Potter
>Bram Stoker - Dracula
> Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray

>>2867555
Well you've done a good enough job! I'll start with To the Lighthouse.

>>2867570
Lord of the Flies was disappointing for me. Good for a short read but nothing magnificent.

I recently read Dracula and I thought it was fantastically scary, though some find the immediacy of the horror at the beginning of the novel preferable to the rest. (Stoker tones it down a little after the first few journal entries).

The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favourite books in terms of beautiful prose and hedonistic philosophy.

Throw those all out and get a real book.

Wodehouse. And go throw that bible away.

>>2867543
>tfw your only to read book is basically a picture book and you still can't be assed reading it.

>>2867585

>>2867585

>DFW
>Woolf
>Keats
>The Holy Bible
>Melville

>go get a real book

>>2867614

>disregarding the literary and historical importance of the Bible

Kill yourself.

>>2867580
Lord of the Flies is overrated, but it gets cited all the time because it's a good parable. Dorian Gray is my favorite British novel by a lot :3

>>2867614
But it will enhance my appreciation of Christian-influenced writers such as Shakespeare, right?

>>2867617
>disregarding the literary and historical importance of the Bible
but am an atheist fuck the bible, fuck god, I don't use a capital g because fuck fake things.

>>2867620

Yes, and essentially every other writer and work written since. Ignore that idiot.

>>2867623

I'm an atheist too, and I hope you're trolling.

>>2867617
If the bible had not existed, mankind would have found other sources of inspiration, AND maybe the world would have been a better place, because that book has inspired more philistinism and ignorance and hatred than any other.

I, Claudius
The Lost City of Z
The Master and Margarita
History of The English Speaking Peoples (Abridged)
Sophocles Plays
Histories
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
Origin of the Crabs
Charles Fort's Book of the Damned
Conquest (it's about the conquest of Mexico)
The Tempest
A Midsummer Night's Dream

>>2867626
>ignorance and hatred

Is the Bible supplying yours?

>>2867626
>because that book has inspired more philistinism and ignorance and hatred than any other.
It also caused community and caring for others, you know, before atheism and capitalist came along and decided fuck social solidarity.

>>2867620
Sort of useful for Shakespeare, and Dante and Milton and their ilk. I couldn't bring myself to read one of those for money though.

>>2867626

>if the bible had not existed

But it does. And as such, it's important to study. I realize the Bible has been the source of much hatred and evil, but it's also been the inspiration to many to do good and help others. You can't discount either side because of what you personally believe. And forgoing great, ancient works of literature because of your innate bias is as 'ignorant and hateful' as can be.

I'm an atheist, but not a troglodyte.

>>2867633

Confirmed for troll.

>>2867633
Many writers, even today still reference the bible. It's one of the few things most writers have read in common.

>>2867635
Thanks, bro. Thought atheists like you were extinct.

>>2867570
love Robert Graves, are you reading that for school or for fun? anyways, it's good.

>>2867623
You best be kidding. I'm an "atheist" but the Bible is an important part of literature. Also:

>fuck fake things

So you don't read fiction?

>>2867623
I see what you did there >:) but yeah, the bible offends me. It's quoted by ever neo-fascist dbag and gay basher in this hemisphere, so do fuck god. Although I should really be angry at the idiots who take the book so seriously.

>>2867543
>implying that's a "huge backlog"

I have 69 books waiting for me, bitch.

>>2867669
>They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.They're just trolls.

>>2867675

I hope so.

>>2867669
>but yeah, the bible offends me
U MAD

You have to allow yourself to be offended, bro, it's not some magic property things have.

>>2867624
That's a GROSS exaggeration, unless your survey of literature is very limited. And I can read Shakespeare and Joyce and Goethe and Dante and appreciate them all without sloughing through the bible, and so can anyone else; just because I haven't read the bible doesn't mean I'm unfamiliar with all the allusions to it or themes inspired by it, so stop being obtuse. Reading that shit tome will not do anything but waste time that OP could be reading something better.

>>2867672
>I buy tons of shit without reading it, lol

Congrats, you must be proud.

>>2867625
Not trolling, and not ashamed to stand up for my opinion.

>>2867682

How do you know it's a shit tome if you haven't read it?

What makes you think it's a waste of time, aside from what Dawkins and Hitchens have told you?

>>2867635 here

>>2867687
Funnily enough, Dawkins is actually the person who made me consider reading the Bible. He has an enormous amount of respect for the KJ Bible as a piece of English literature and history. He really isn't as arrogant as theists make him out to be.

>>2867630
I hate it precisely because I'm not ignorant. All the people who worship it are.

>>2867695

From what I've seen of him, the man is incredibly arrogant. I used to be something of a disciple of his

>>2867695
You mean as arrogant as his publisher's marketing dept tell him to be.

>>2867696
Whatever you say, buddy. Tell it to Newton.

>>2867631
Necessity causes community and caring for others, and atheism =/= anti-social. China is largely an atheistic country, but I bet they still care for others and have community.

>>2867705
>China is largely an atheistic country, but I bet they still care for others and have community.

>>2867705

>I bet they still care for others and have community.

Ignore the troll, friends. Ignore him.

>>2867710
That guy gave a bad example, but England is atheistic/apatheistic and is probably a better example of a society working without religion.

>>2867648

Just for fun, I bought all of the books on that list last week.

Perhaps I'll read that one first then, thanks a bunch

>>2867719

Not to mention Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc.

>>2867719
>England is atheistic

i'm not looking at the thread, just answer me how the fuck did you turn this into a religion thread?

>>2867725
Do you even live in England?

>>2867728

Stupid namefag troll said to throw away the Bible

>>2867728
Because ignorant people like to pop off at the mouth about the Bible.

>>2867725

It is.

Anyone who disagrees with this is obviously not English or British.

Growing up in England, my school had maybe 3 Christians in it.

>>2867729
Right in the middle.

>>2867635
I never disputed that the bible should be studied; I just made an offhand comment because I don't think that the OP should waste his time reading it rather than any other book in his backlog. Since people are giving me shit for it, however, I'll explain to everyone who thinks otherwise because I am not trying to shout down other views. This is my opinion, and yes, my bias to a degree. I've grown up in a family where this book was shoved down my throat, and being gay in a Christian school did not exactly warm me up to it any more.

People will still study this book even if I don't like it or OP doesn't read it, and that is as it should be. But forgive me if even the mention of it makes me sick.

>>2867738
That's absolute bullshit.

>>2867742
>But forgive me if even the mention of it makes me sick.

>>2867737
Was it a school of 4 people?

I'd guess that you didn't know that many people in your school that well. Religion isn't something worn on a t-shirt or written across the forehead. At least not generally.

>>2867640
You're right. But do you need to read it in order to get those references?

>>2867719

wut? England has been Christian for a long time. One of their King's established his own church for God's sake (heh). It's the home of the KJB.

England is good in modern times regarding separating the secular from the religious (IE: govt. from sunday services), but it's highly disingenuous to say that England is not a religious nation.

As for the rest of this thread:

>trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls trolling...

>>2867744
Midlands is pretty populated. We're not talking Australia here.

>>2867666
that guy was another poster trying to mock me :) I love fake things and read a lot of fiction. I don't dispute that the bible is important either! I'm just saying that I despise it and that OP is better off reading something else.

>>2867754
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/5603096/Two-thirds-of-teenagers-dont-believe-in-God.html

That's a majority. Bear in mind that believing in God doesn't even necessarily make you a Christian.

England is atheistic, you obvious americlap

>>2867757

>unnecessary apostrophe.

fffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuu

my bad

>>2867757
Henry VIII established the Church of England in the late 1530s, if I remember correctly. That was almost five-hundred years ago. Most people in England do not hold christian beliefs. Please do not comment on a countries religious affiliation without living there or having some kind of statistic or study.

>>2867763
>2012
>thinking statistics cannot be doctored

>>2867681
what's not some magic property? but yeah that is some sage advice. it sounds good until you actually get offended by something; then you just don't like it.

>>2867773
What I was trying to suggest is that you not let hate and taking offense run your life.

>>2867687
Lol @ assuming I get my opinions from Dawkins and Hitchens. I do love Hitchens though, but you should know that he himself read the bible because he was a philosophy major and thought it would help him appreciate lit. more. So we actually disagree on this.

I have read enough of the bible to know; I didn't really have a choice.

>>2867719
>England
>a working society
WHAT?
Let's ignore the fact it's still very much rooted in religion, it don't work either.

>>2867794
Would you care to expand on that or was it an empty declarative?

>>2867695
he's pretty arrogant XD his lectures are anyway.

>>2867763
>citing the Telegraph as if it's respected or definitive
>calling someone else an americlap
You have no idea what you're talking about.

>>2867799
Well considering you haven't given any evidence to the contrary...

>>2867801

>>2867808
Huh, what?

>>2867703
All people who worship it today then. We're like 300 years on from the Enlightenment now, and we should know better than to take our metaphysics from a book.

>>2867800
>hold olympics
>close down parks, swimming pools, community halls and other sports facilities to pay for it

>have austerity programme
>somehow the government have managed to increase their budget in every department

I could go on...

>>2867710
posting a picture is a lot easier than posting a rebuttal, right?

>>2867714
but I'm not a troll :'( you can't just call people trolling when they have an opinion that's different from yours and don't curl up into a little ball when all of /lit/ jumps on them. Well you can, but it's not cool.

>>2867823
Yes, but we're hardly as bad as china. We function as a democratic country and we're far more progressive than America, who still haven't legalised gay marriage/civil partnerships

An extract.

>>2867824
>>2867824
You're right, the Chinese are nice people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_to_Suppress_Counterrevolutionaries

only about a fourth of it

>>2867719
How is China a bad example? Only a fraction of their society is Christian; there are admittedly a lot of Buddhists, but they still are not in the majority. China's govt. is officially atheist, and it's people follow suit for the most part. It's a good example, assuming other people know anything about China <.<

>>2867847
You know about Mao, right?

>>2867728
lol it wasn't difficult. OP posted a pic of the bible in his backlog, and I told him to "throw it away". Then the shitstorm began.

>>2867847
>he doesn't know about religious intolerance in China

>>2867841
Slaughterhouse is p good. A lot of people say its their favorite novella/book but I thought it was just okay. Very post-modern

Homage to Catalonia is more of a historical account than an interesting read. Worth reading eventually but nothing great.

I really want to read Iliad after reading up on Greek Mythology. I'd probably read that first.

I only buy in batches of four or five and make sure I read them all before buying more.

>>2867789
it's not running my life :) this has all been blownslightly out of proportion. thx for the suggestion though.

>>2867862
Planning on Slaughterhouse Five first because it's so short, and then the Iliad. :) I was given a bunch of ancient greek lit for my birthday a couple of weeks ago, so I'm pretty excited to get started on that.

>>2867865
This is a good rule that I should do. I keep buying when there are tons of books I have that I haven't read. It truly is a curse. ;_;

>>2867833
Don't forget that America has at least a few gay hate killings every year, and our head of state has to pay homage to the bible and feign being a Christian or lose the electorate, and televangelists grow like weeds.

>>2867865
I lack the self control. There's at least seventy books here I haven't read yet.

>>2867837
I don't recall talking about how nice they were, I was just saying they are atheists. Also, don't conflate the people of a country with its government,

>>2867851
What about Mao?

>>2867879
You're a pseudo-intellectual.

>>2867878
The media is also predisposed to claim that any gay being killed is a hate killing, just as with every other minority group.

>>2867859
I'm pretty sure I know a lot more than you about China, but I'm confused about why you guys think religious intolerance matters because it hasn't got anything to do with the point I made.

>>2867884
>implying I haven't read several times that amount

>>2867873
it's so cool that you asked for Greek lit for your bday XD

>>2867886
You said that they were kind to others, kiddo.

>>2867885
Really? I mean I see what you're trying to say, but most of the times gay kids get beat up or killed, it's a hate crime.

>>2867894
>most of the times gay kids get beat up or killed, it's a hate crime.

Gay kids are never assholes that deserve a beating just like any other type of asshole?

this thread is shit

i shit on eggs

>>2867893
Ohhh I remember. I was talking about the people being nice to other people, not the govt. being nice top people. There's a big difference there.

>>2867896
nobody deserves beatings. But I'm just saying that when we hear about crimes against gays in the media, it usually gets traced back to bigots.

>>2867910
if you can't trump their argument, this is the next best tactic.

>>2867920
All these posts and only four instances of doubles?

You are true human shit.

Chik-Fil-A is delicious.

>not using random.org
do you even lift?

>>2867979
I don't lift, I check!

Say what you like about the Chinese and intolerance, Happy Together >>>> My Beautiful Laundrette or any other movie about being gay in the west.