/lit/ - Literature

Like a book club?

Mite be cool.

You're welcome to try OP, previous attempts have all failed.

>>2906970
Not the OP, but perhaps it would be best to start off small, like something from the Gutenberg project that can easily be attained by everyone with an e-reader, and cheap for those on paper.

The listen-along threads on /mu/ usually come with a download link as well, so it would be good to carry that on.

>>2906963
Yeah, like a book club!

>>2906970
>previous attempts have all failed
That's too bad. I think it could motivate people to read. I've seen some threads where people complained about being unmotivated...

>>2906975
I think so too. I doubt many people would take part if we chose books that aren't easily accessible. Links would be nice too.

Anyway, I was wondering how many of you would participate? And if we wanted to make a sticky, would that be possible?

I suggest we start the first week with À la recherche du temps perdu

but srsly with all the sharethreads going around a read-along mite b cool indeed

>>2906994
Everyone on /lit/ should read Proust. I suggest 30 pages everyday.

>>2906994
Lol. Serious? I imagine that would take a while.

I'm interested, but the danger is that you would choose something I find simply uninteresting. Not to mention time, I can read a lot now I'm on holiday but when I start uni I'll a lot less time.

How about something fairly light and safe for a first run?

>>2906994
BUT IN THE SHARETHREADS IT IS PRETTY MUCH ONE PERSON DOING THE SHARING...

STOP BEING LAZY FUCKS, /LIT/

Let's read "A Brief History of Time" or "A Hundred Years of Solitude" since I'm currently reading those.

LET'S READ SOMETHING WRITTEN PRIOR TO 1950 BY A MAN THAT I HAVEN'T READ YET.

>>2907021
Link me to it, I'l contribute some.

>>2907031
IT IS ON PAGE 0 BRO

I may have a solution:

Short stories.

Rather than saddling everyones day with reading what could be an uninteresting and droll time sink, why not limit the books to say, 200 pages?

In a weeks span, even the newest of readers should be able to finish and hop in on the discussion.

>>2907000
That's why I think we should vote on the book we're going to read next. And also decide together how much time we need for it.

Should we have the same amount of time for every book or decide on it every time we choose book? What do you think?

>>2907019
I agree. We don't want to scare people off.

We already have this, but no one participates.

Not everyone reads the same books at the same pace, it's not as easy as listening to an album or watching a movie.

>>2907032
I'm adding a few right now, join in if you want.

>>2907033
That's a good idea.

>>2907038
That's why we'd have to give people enough time to read without feeling they're pressed for time. And what do you mean you already have this?

What if we had it where like we all read to a certain point and then somebody reads what we've read aloud, and people who haven't read can read along or listen along? I look forward to hearing /lit/'s raspy monotone over Lolita. It would actually be pretty neat if people read non-English works aloud too but u no

>>2906926
I'm about to start 1915 by Roger McDonald if anyone wants to join... i've got some other shit to read for uni but it looks like a great Aussie WW1 tale. Particularly for those who can get into the whole patriotic ANZAC legend

I vote we read Monkey.

>>2907021
I shared like 5 titles there, that's just not true capsguy.

>>2907033
Hell yes, I'm in. We can do one a week and have an official thread and everything. For books it just doesn't seem to work. But this could.

>>2907076
I DIDN'T MEAN LITERALLY ONE, SINCE I MYSELF POSTED SOME AND WAS NOT REFERRING TO MYSELF IN THAT POST.

AT LEAST /MU/TARDS REALLY GET IN ON THEIR SHARING.

I think it would only work if we had a mod putting up stickies every week. Maybe not every week, maybe every fortnight? Maybe someone could get in contact with a mod from /q/. If it isn't a sticky it isn't going to work.

>>2907076
Great!

>>2907082
I know, I know. But HOW do we get a sticky? Can somebody here contact the mods?

>>2907087
>>>/q/

There are a fucktonne of <100 page books, bitches can easily clear before the weeks over. The goodreads group was going on till 2666 was chosen and the dude flipped off.

So, I've made a thread on /q/ about it:
>>>/q/103063

>>2907146
PM me with a link to the thread with the majority recommendations each Saturday/Sunday so that I can sticky it on Sunday/Monday.

I'm kami` on #4chan@irc.rizon.net

>>2907087

Who is that in pic?

>>2907347
Louise Brooks, from the 1929 silent film 'Diary of a Lost Girl'. Learn to reverse image search next time.

Alright, I made a survey to submit books ideas.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFNCUE1NS3ZGNzh1TjZmcTZ4Z1Q5cHc6MQ

Go hog wild, and if you want to recommend more than one book, I implore you to just fill it out again.

>>2907331
>mods actually browsing /lit/
I refuse to believe this is not a propaganda stunt

>>2907372
To be fair, I think he heard about in /q/, and came over here,

>>2907331

Also, to the mod. If you would, could you add the survey link to the sticky to let people see it.

question: can we suggest non-fiction texts too?

>>2907386
By all means. Also, if you would, include the author.

Also, don't pick too obscure books. If you can find it at your local library's website, it's probably okay.

>>2907372
I do browse /lit/ from time to time.

Alright, who's the wise guy who suggested reading Ulysses in one week¿

Okay, for anyone concerned about vote-fixing by myself, here's the link to the results.

If you haven't voted yet, it's still open.

>>2907435
Forgot the link, of course:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai78Ioed1cc2dFNCUE1NS3ZGNzh1TjZmcTZ4Z1Q5cHc

bumping, would expect more replies on a thread like this

This is anon showing his support. There's a decent selection of books on the document so far, I've read most of them, but skimming again and discussing would be fun.

I find it unfortunate the choice wasn't made on the Short Story idea, but I'll join in.

bump, also recommend stickying the survey/document.

If a mod stickied it, I'd transfer permissions of the document over to them, or something.

I'm in!
So, what are we reading and when and why?

Mite be cool. My vote is for Mason & Dixon

I agree with the short story idea, but maybe have that also include novellas. I'm sure if the short story group works out then you could consider doing novels as well (as an optional sort of thing).

I'd recommend something like The Stranger, which has been apparently.

It's short, which is addition to the benefits of the short story idea, prevents too much time and energy being put into a bad idea.

>>2907764
Seconding this. There's no way anyonecould dislike that.

>>2907779
Don't second it, submit it in the doc!

>>2907782
Done

>>2907782
Also, what are you going to do about samefagging?

>>2907789
This isn't a poll. I was thinking of making a poll afterward on a better site, but this is just for ideas.

>>2907792
Even then, proxy spammers can ruin a poll.
/tv/ tried having a film club and people spammed it to hell using hundreds of proxies.

>>2906926
I am sorry, dude this is going to fail. I have been involved in nearly all the attempts for a /lit/ book club and in the end they never workout. Their demise are always due to people not reading as a group.. /lit/ is not filled with middle aged women so their isn't really the kind of togetherness you find in most book clubs.
>>2907021
I actually shared 5 books but I doubt anyone downloaded them.

Holy shit, did this dude just invented the Book Club?

It's gonna be a sticky, look in /q/

Not to be a Negative Nancy or anything, but we've tried it about 10 times already.

I posted my bookfolder on a sharethread, the most downloaded item was The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. Maybe we could start with that, since it got the most attention...

>>2907910
Put it in the doc.

I'm working out a way to poll with limited proxy access.

>>2907845
Eleventh time's the charm!

If we don't have any more submissions, I'm closing the suggestions soon.

I've set up a poll on a supposedly proxy-proof website, but if not, remember, I'm just sending the poll results to the mods. Officially, it's their call.

Alright folks, submissions closed.

The survey of choices is here. It should be proxy proof, but I can't guarantee anything.

http://www.instant.ly/s/IqcmKxfmAAA

>>2907995
Also, adopting this shitty tripcode to use only in threads related to this.

Just tested out a proxy, it didn't work for shit.

>>2908005
voted.

>>2907995

The Hobbit and There and Back Again are the same book.

>>2908012
Shit. I'll combine their results.

i don't know what most of these books are. i think it would be better if the people who submitted the book wrote a blurb about it before we voted

>>2908030
>i don't know what most of these books are

>>2908030
Google them.

Or better yet, don't vote.

>>2907421
Mods have the prettiest color.

Why is everyone suggesting /lit/-core, post some shorter more obscure books and then write a little summary, then we can vote from there

>>2908144
Because lit-core is more likely to be read, and have been read so people can more easily contribute to discussions.

>>2908144
We already had about 6 hours of suggesting. Also, if you suggest an obscure, hard to find book, you're going to have one lonely discussion.

first time /lit/ browser here

i checked this board out on a whim, and i can tell you guys that if this idea took off i'd definitely participate

perhaps you (we?) should consider advertising this idea to other boards if it works out

>>2908205
Agreed. (Not open for criticism but) I enjoy hardcopy rather than e-books, but would go for both. I'd prefer if the book club had easy to find books, since I live in a shitty place, just like other people on /lit/.

>>2908206
No. See this >>2907798 ??
The only reason we're lucky here is that we don't have that many regulars. If we were a faster board, we'd get a lot of shitposting/spamming etc
It works better with a small community. If you like it, you're welcome to join us, but keep it to yourself.

>>2907995
Been meaning to read The Trial, read Metamorphasis a year ago. But most of /lit/ has probably already read it.

>>2908151
>>2908205
I just think it would be more interesting if people could agree on a book none of us has read so that we go into this from the same point, rather than having lots of people who read it as part of their literature class when they were 16

>>2908206
We've tried this before, and other boards have tried similar things.

I have an idea for making this work, but I'm no mod, so I can't force anything.

Though, as a first time browser, par

>>2908214
I said somewhere that a good book to suggest is available at most libraries, or for free if not cheap on amazon.

>>2908238
But reading a new book isn't the goal, not yet at least. If I'm still in charge, I'll allow some time to read the book if you hadn't, depending on the length of the book, but if it's too obscure then some people won't be able to get their hands on a copy.

I see this book club as more discussion based than reading based.

>>2907798
/tv/ is pretty horrible in general though. I like to think /lit/ is a bit more mature then that. Although half of this board is visitors from /mu/ these days, and they aren't much better.

>>2908253
It may just be my imagination, but I don't feel like I've seen as many /mu/ers as I had been.

Fuck yeah! This thread dun got pinned.

Here's the survey link for those who haven't done it yet: http://www.instant.ly/s/IqcmKxfmAAA

>>2908268
Ulysses is an option? Are you trying to kill this club before it even begins?

>>2908279
And Infinate Jest also? That's not really something to casually read in a week for a book club.

Well it looks as if this might come together, for who knows how long. I'll partake.

These are all e-reader friendly? I'm getting a Kindle in a few weeks.

>>2908279
It's losing in the poll, thankfully.

>>2908285
I'm opposed to this, and I encourage you to support me, because it looks like it'll win it's category.

>>2908289
Yeah. I think some of them are free for kindle.

This has potential.

Voted for the community

>>2907033
This.

Alright, I have an idea on how to get this started.

We start with. . . The Little Prince.

It's available online, not too long, and doesn't polarize people that I know of.

This would be testing the water before we read something voted in by the poll.

Opinions on this idea?

If you want to, here's another poll for voting on starting with The Little Prince.

http://www.instant.ly/s/JacmRviY4AA

Anyone want to talk about The Little Prince instead of voting on it?

>>2908410
I lurk /lit/ every once in a while and I'm up for anything.

It would be nice that we read good/great books that aren't in lit-core, honestly. But then again, lit-core every once in a while isn't bad, its just if its only that then it would be boring.

>>2908419
As I said, It'd be a starting point. You can read the whole thing in ten minutes and then discuss it for 4 days-1 week and then move on to a community supported book.

>>2908426
fucking hell just stop it. you already made a survey. the result of the first survey is what it'll be. stop posting. the thread is closed for ideas, it should only remain for people to continue participating in the survey, until saturday/sunday as the mod said. the more you think the worse this gets. just enough already.

>>2908437
Okay then.

One last link to the big general survey: http://www.instant.ly/s/IqcmKxfmAAA

Night.

So are we all agreed - We have one week to read Anna Karenina?

>>2908484
. . . It's not even in the poll.

What about a historical novel like
In the Heart of the Sea?

>>2908529
Sorry, submitting new ideas is closed.

>>2908393
Couldn't we read something a bit more...age appropriate?

>>2908393
Stop doing that.
>>2908651
These were the books c/lit/s suggested
>>2908268

Forget the whole little prince idea.

It was dumb.

Also, no more tripfagging after this, I think I messed up the ID part.

>>2908689
Ah, I found the right code again.

Point is, just vote on what's available, and in a couple days, we might have a poll to refine the results. As for now, I'll release the results.

PLEASE NOTE: The polls are still open, this is just the first 68 votes

The first pool of books contained:
The Trial by Franz Kafka
A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The results as of now are:

1 The Trial by Franz Kafka 17 votes 25%
2 A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg 2 votes 3%
3 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick 25 votes 37%
4 In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust 11 votes 16%
5 The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 13 votes 19%

Screw it, I'm not typing them out, just look at the pic.

>>2908707
3/7

>>2908714
4/7

This was, by far, the biggest blowout so far. Looks like we might have a potential week one selection.

>>2908719
5/7

The person who suggested The Hobbit made it sound like it and "There and Back Again" were different books, hence my mistake.

>>2908720
6/7

Not that I'm a huge Lermontov fan, but it concerns me that The Vagina Ass of Lucifer Niggerbastard and The Cat in the Hat are in front of a real book. (A Hero of Our Time)

>>2908727
forgot pic

>>2908707
>>2908714
>>2908719
>>2908720
>tfw you have read most of the books leading in the polls already.

>>2908732
And finally, 7/7.

Here's a mediafire of the Excel data of the whole thing, for people who want to feel the stats.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?tzujk22y87ae2un

Looking at it, it appears some of you voted again from your phones. I'll remove those votes from the count, but it won't swing anything.

>>2908741
Then you won't have to read them again, and you can just discuss them.

>>2908747
forgot the damned image again

Not just the image, but the mediafire fucked up.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ku5g9945s28k352 should work right.

This was a horrible survey with simply awful options. I vote for a reboot of this idea, with some suggestions of a more structured approach:

- drop this current sticky and survey
- make a new sticky specifically to take suggestions, have it up for a week or so
- after a larger window of opportunity and a healthy set of suggestions, make a new sticky with a new survey, let it also run for a week
- the new survey should not arbitrarily group books on pages like the current one. Instead, list all books and let users select any / all books they want (i.e., by using checkboxes to vote and not those idiotic radio buttons)
- after voting is closed, either go with the top book or let users have second, short round of voting on which of the top five books should be selected
- commence

>>2908774
This. It was too rushed. It should take time. When you rush it, it fails.

>>2908774
>>2908810
While the criticisms are valid, the mod set a closing point of Saturday/Sunday at >>2907331

It should be a rare, neglected and newish book. One that the author would go 'wow, people are reading it.'

>>2908774
>>2908810
>>2908814
And now you can see why this has never worked before. Deadlines fail to be met, we never can seem to come to a consensus on a book, and someone who takes command always screws it up.

/lit/ is best in its unorganized threads, when you try to do something collectively, it doesn't work. This works better on websites like reddit, not anonymous image boards.

>>2908774
It would be nice to have a separate non-fiction reading group going on for those not interested in fiction.

I, for one, have no intention of wasting my time on such frivolous things.

>>2908884
Do you compete in dressage competitions with that high horse?

>>2908884
>I, for one,
Using this unironically is the most pretentious thing you can ever do.

>>2909071
I, for one, don't quite agree.

I must say good day to you, sir.

You really should pick smaller books for this to work.

>>2908774
>>2908774
>>2908774

Not sure if people making the survey noticed the troll suggestions. People aren't going to feel inclined to read more than 300 pages for /lit/ in a week.

Norstrilia is under 300 pages, and a very light and easy read, but with all the other greatness that was in Smith's short stories. You can read quite a few of them online for free now.

I'm going to give you guys a week to organize something more, I will sticky another thread.