/lit/ - Literature

>American Psycho - 6
>Wild-Sheep Chase - 7
>Norwegian Wood - 8
---
>House of Mirth
Hating the shit out of it. It's absolutely dreadful.
>Dubliners
Only a little into it so far, but I'm liking it. Definitely rewards careful, patient reading.
---
>Galapagos
I'm expecting standard Vonnegut fair.
>Stoner
Life-changing feels.
>Their Eyes Were Watching God
No expectations, really.

>>4234135
>Three Tales - 6
>The Flowers of Evil - 8
>In Praise of Older Women - 5
-----------------
>Bleeding Edge by Tommy P
I'm halfway through, it began great but has gotten a bit dull thus far.
>The Magnificent Meaulnes
Meh. Not quite the moving, elegiac testament to adolescent romance as advertised.
----------------------
>The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
>Gargantua & Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
>

>>4235832
Fuck it, The Flowers of Evil was a 9.

Also planning on reading Morrissey's autobiography.

I missed these threads.

>last three
Freud - An Outline of Psychoanalysis: 7/10. In this work, Freud hashes over his final theoretical "discoveries" that he and his buddies have made, and while his prose is decent, it isn't very gripping.

Martin Buber - I and Thou: 6/10. Buber's language is so vague that it is quite difficult to grasp what he wants to say. However, the concepts themselves, when understandable, are rather interesting. A must read if you like theological existentialism.

Houellebecq - Whatever: 7/10. This is a fabulous and depressing novel and is quite easy to read. However, it lacks depth.

>Currently reading:
Houellebecq - The Elementary Particles

>Next three:
???
???
???

>JF Powers - Wheat That Springeth Green [1988]
This wasn't as good as Morte D'Urban but it was still enjoyable. Powers is one of the miracle saves the NYRB managed to throw back into the mainstream discussion, I think he deserves it. It might be the studied midwestern backdrops he puts together... But it's really more of his ability to cut the extraneous out of his stories.

>Evelyn Waugh - A Handful of Dust [1934]
I thought it was garbage. It came pretty highly suggested from a friend of mine back in the day. (Brownbear), but it seems like a few cute ideas thrown together to make a novel. Regarding its ironic wit and deadpan humor: it hasn't aged particularly well.

>Arthur Schnitzler - Dream Story [1926]
Short and sweet one sitting novella that starts to get at that awkward sexual psychopathy that I enjoy in other authors, but ends too quickly. Good imagery.

Right now:

>John Updike - The Centaur [1963]
It's ambitious... But Updike is so horribly inconsistent and writes some jaw-droppingly bad prose when he's off point.

Coming up:

>Jean Stafford - The Catherine Wheel
>Paul Bowles - Collected Stories 1939 - 1976

I'm not sure about what'll come up after those two. I have some stuff on the shelf but nothing is drawing me at the moment. I could be going out to the library for something.

>The Iron Heel - 7
>The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist - 6
>The Writings of F.T Marinetti - 10
---
>Antic Hay by Aldous Huxely
Absolute crap

---
>I, Cladius - I expect it to be meh
>The Trial- I've never read Kafka, hopefully its as good as everybody makes it out to be.
>Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard
im sure its going to be an epic read.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
7/10 Owes an obvious debt to The Turn of the Screw but still brings some new things to the "Is it supernatural or psychological" novel. Nothing odd happens for the first 100 or so pages but stage setting and character intros, so 1 point deducted.)

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea.
6/10. Not quite up to Spring Snow level. Exquisite descriptions and I never read anything like it before but it's very short. Twisted and original but slight.

Veronica by Mary Gaitskill
9/10
Tough girl stuff. This bitch is good. Waters aint no slouch either but Gaitskill should probably be better known than Franzen or Junot Diaz. Nice mix of sad, sexy and warm. And fucking hell she can write.

I'm reading The Temple of the Golden Pavillion at the moment. Just read about 20 pages. Okay so far. I've been assured that after Sea of Fertility this is his best. We shall see.

I bought The Goldfinch but I also bought Life and Fate. Still vacillating which I should read next.

LAST THREE

>The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse
5/10. An interesting concept, but poorly executed. The plot was painfully obvious. There was no suspense to the story whatsoever. I learned a bit of history from it, though, so it was worth a read.

>Joyland - Stephen King
6/10. It was entertaining, but far from King's best. It felt less cynical than some of his other stuff, and actually at times a bit saccharine. I enjoyed it.

>Creative Mythology - Joseph Campbell
8/10. Not as fascinating as the previous three volumes of the Masks of God, but still informative and inspiring. I felt that he let just a little too much of his own opinion into this one; he gets pretty critical of the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism and Christianity in particular), more so than the other religions and belief systems he discusses. His lack of bias in the previous volumes and in the Hero with a Thousand Faces really appealed to me.

CURRENTLY READING

>The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror - edited by Stephen Jones
Got in a Halloween mood and had a B&N coupon, so I grabbed this on impulse. I'm only a few stories in, and so far I'm not overly impressed. There were a couple of mediocre tales, and one that was just plain bad. However "Some Kind of Light Shines from Your Face" by Gemma Files was just wonderful. It had the bold descriptions and strong characterization that the others were lacking. I'll have to check out the books she's written.

NEXT THREE

>How the Irish Saved Civilization - Thomas Cahill
>Archaeology of the Land of the Bible - Amihai Mazar
>The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson

LAST THREE:
>Coyote After the Flood and Papago Mythical Folklore (they're basically one book, anyway so I'll list them as such) by A.C. Navarro
Funny, they're both first editions from small Arizona publishers, so they have hella typos, but the stories are really interesting. I'm reading them as research for a book. 6/10
>The Voice of the Desert by Joseph Wood Krutch
Cool book on desert naturalism. I got lulz from the archaic metaphors and sexual mores in his writing, but he has great insights and makes beautiful analogies between the natural and the human world. 7/10
>The Land of Little Rain by Mary Austin
A classic of environmental literature of the Southwestern US. A pleasure to read, but her prose gets droll at times. Also, for a writer that works with reality, she relies heavily on anecdote, which is fine given the availability of information at the time, but in the modern era it just seems a bit under-researched.
CURRENTLY READING
>Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs by Wallace Stegner
A collection of his essays across many years all the way until 1992 (a year before his death). It is really cool to see the development of a writer. Kind of a greatest hits. It works for me because his essays were his best work (as opposed to his fiction, although Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer so what the fuck do I know?) in my humble opinion and are very edifying. A great jumping off point for reading more about the American West. 8/10 so far.
>Pancho Villa: Retrato Autobiográfico: 1894-1914 (Manuel Bauche Alcalde)
Fascinating book. So cool to break through the myth and read about the man from a direct source (although the biographer did alter his language to make him sound more academic, but there are no more primary sources than this, so I have to just deal with it). He plays such a large role in the mythology of my native region. What a character. 8/10
>La Ciudad y Los Perros por Mario Vargas Llosa
Incredible book. Super well-written dialogue. Beautiful metaphors. Impressive for a work written as young as he was when he composed it. 9/10
NEXT THREE
Don't really know. I might read some Maxine Hong Kingston for fun since I've been in a reader's block slump reading too many difficult books, maybe finish up the Dune series with Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune. Might do "Cuentos: Tales from the Hispanic Southwest" by Jose Griego y Maestas and Rudolfo Anaya, "Rivers of Empire" by Donald Worster, "Cadillac Desert" by Mark Reisner, and "Desert America" by Ruben Martinez. We'll see.

Last 3 (School Related):
>Future of an Illusion- Sigmund Freud
More like Sigmund Freud (6/10)
>12 Years a Slave- Northup
No difference than other slave narratives (6/10)
>We- Yevgeny Zamyatin
Better than 1984 IMO, (7.5/10)

Last 3 (not school related):
>Welcome to the Monkey House- Vonnegut
Pretty good, some good and some bad. Standard Vonnegut stuff, and some sweet and memorable stories throughout. (8/10)
>Fall of Hyperion
Starts off dull as fuck, but once it picks up its a wild ride. Gets a bit too full of itself plot wise, but pretty fun overall. (8.5/10)
>Naked Lunch
(2/10), I just didnt get it I guess. Felt like random /b/ tier shit, no plot or defined characters, just caricatures and silly "wow so shocking" scenes of drug use and violent sex

Next 3:
>The Black Swan
Read the first few chapters, so far its pretty cool. Hopefully it keeps up the momentum its at now and does not get too bogged down defining various points
>Siddhartha
Super psyched for this one
>Sickness Unto Death
Got like halfway through, never finished it. Plan on doing so soon.

>>4234135
>The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz - 4
>V., T-Pine - 8
>Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov - 8
----
>Consider the Lobster, St. DFW
Really fun stuff. This is probably his most enjoyable work.
----
>Libra, Don DeLillo
I'm not super-hyped or anything, but I'm looking forward to this. White Noise was great.
>Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon
I have no idea what to expect. I expect it'll be difficult. I really don't know.

>>4236507
>Oscar Wao
>4/10
You evidently missed the genius of that novel

I'm drunk let's see. Collected shorts of Fitzgerald = 5 because average. The Greatest StoryEver Told = 7 because Jesus. Currently reading Breakfast of Champions = vonnegut/10. Berryman's Dream Songs = 8/10 and The Master and Margarita is all right but not srs enough for me. No clue what I'm reading next - maybe Baudelaire.

>Pale Horse, Pale Rider
9+/10, 2manyfeels4me
>Rama II
3/10, the alien shit in the first book was cool but he filled this book with shitty characterization
>No Longer Human
7-8/10, it was a cool thing but somehow didn't feel complete?

>Tales of the Ingenious Alfanhui
It's fun though slightly bizarre. Just got introduced to a walking/talking/dancing/gambling/drinking/animal-abusing puppet and he is kind of creepy.

>the Ubu plays
Apparently the play closed after the first show because it was super-revolutionary so I expect some raunchy crazy antics.
>Kangaroo Notebook
I know nothing about this book except that it is surreal and by the same author as Woman in the Dunes.
>Severin's Descent into Darkness
It is a surreal ghost story I guess?

Recently read:

"Heart of Darkness" ~ Joseph Conrad.
9/10. Would be a 10 except Céline does it better.

"The Power and the Glory" ~ Graham Greene.
8/10. Good story and vividly delivered, although much of the religious symbolism flew by me unrecognized.

"The Human Factor" ~ Graham Greene
7/10. Would rate higher except the ending collapsed into a meandering series of flashbacks. I think I get the point he was going for, but it was still a somewhat jarring and disappointing technique.

Next up:

"Our Man in Havana" ~ Graham Greene.
I'm continuing the Graham tour.

Planning what I read farther than one book ahead is an extreme exercise in optimism. Still, at a guess ....

"The Gods Themselves" ~ Asimov.
I think it'll be time for a breather from Graham.

"Mason & Dixon" ~ Pynchon.
Started it, but ran out of time to commit to any door stops, and a commitment to tour Vonnegut earlier this summer.

>>4236469

Question, if you're still around ...

Have you read anything by Oscar Zeta Acosta?

>Last
American Pastoral - 8.5/10
Roth is at the top of his game here. Excellent book.

IT - 4/10
King is not a writer with tight control over his ideas, and it's all too evident here.

Libra - 7.5/10
Really brings Oswald to life. Didn't like the way Delillo handled the actual assassination though.

>Current
Suttree
It's his best alongside Blood Meridian. Stellar prose.

>Next
Hardboiled Wonderland
The Corrections
Satantango

>Norwegian wood - 8
>The Screwtape Letters - 6/7 (the ideas are interesting, but the Catholic angle didn't sit with me)
>Meditations (by Marcus Aurelius) - writing 4, ideas 8 (maybe a bit unfair to grade the writing, since it was never meant to be read by anyone...)

Reading right now:
>George Orwell - Essays
I like it, but the ones on literary criticism are a bit hard to read as I'm usually not familiar with the books he's referring to.
>Dostoyevskij - The Idiot
I'm 1/3 in, it started out very nice but now seems to be somewhat slow going. It still did not get to the point where I don't enjoy it though.

In queue:
>1Q84
-- If it is anywhere near Norwegian Wood I'll be happy.
>Anna Karenina
And I want to re-read The Brothers Karamazov. I speak a slavic language natively, but I haven't found the translation so I've read the English one (Pevear & Volokhnosky). Now I found translation to my language so I want to see how much was lost or how much I didn't get.

>Why the West Rules: For Now - 7.5
Argues for geographic determinism in a way that doesnt boil down to Diamonds muh feels
>A Confederacy of Dunces - 10
GOAT book
>Candide - 9.5
Excellent but too short
--------
>Blood Meridian
Liking it so far, excellent prose
>The Opium Wars
Attention to historiographical details really helps to elevate this book over other more narrative based histories
-------
>Groundwork to the Metaphysics of Morals
Expecting Kant's engaging and thrilling prose

>Languages of Art – Nelson – 8/10
>Narziss and Goldmund – Hesse – 9/10
>The Journey to the East – Hesse – 7/10
—
>Art and Illusion – Gombrich
about a 1/3 in, good so far, i'm new to the subject area and find the discursive writing style makes it very accessible.
>The Master and Magarita – Bulgakov
too early to report, one chapter in, intriguing so far
—
>?
>?
>?

>proust and the squid - 8.5/10 very insightful with interesting theories and scientific basis
>the castle - 4/10 mehhhhhhh
>foam of the daze - 9/10 I love surrealism and this was surrealism at its finest

--

currently reading some proust mini biog, just started so no real thoughts as of yet

--

>some LSD consciousness book
>some other boris vian book
>maybe crime and punishment

>The last 3 books
Jon Kabat-Zinn's Wherever You Go, There You Are. It was pretty nice. I wanted something calm to read and it worked.

Jean Meslier's Testament. Really fascinating but incredibly repetitive.

Noam Chomsky's Failed States. Interesting and good. I like Noam.

>Any books you're currently reading and how you like them so far
The Qur'an. It's interesting.

Richard Feynman's Don't You Have Time To Think? It's pretty cool. A collection of letters and such. Also interesting.

>The next 3 books you plan to read and what you expect going in
No idea.

>>4236952
>Kant's engaging and thrilling prose
You're hopeful, aren't you?

>>4236930
>King is not a writer with tight control over his ideas, and it's all too evident here.

Can you elaborate on how? I want to know exactly what you think he does wrong in that regard. Not because I want to defend him, but so maybe I can learn not to do that myself.

>>4237022
I'd be interested in reading that elaboration as well.

Bump

Just read through this thread and bumping to keep alive.

>>4234135
William James Pragmatism 8/10 (He's a bloody entertaining speaker)
Descartes discourse & meditations 6/10 the proof is indeed revolutionary for its time but his style is not that good.
Plato - Five Dialogues

Next
Hobbes - Leviathan
Machiavelli - the portable Machiavelli (has the prince)
Js Mill & Bentham - utilitarianism & other essays

As can be seen im doing philo half-chronologically.

Of Mice and Men - 8
Great Gatsby - 3
Catcher in the Rye - 2

Not reading anything right now and I don't plan to, I'm really turned off of reading by the last two

>>4237398
>Great Gatsby - 3
>Catcher in the Rye - 2
>Not reading anything right now and I don't plan to, I'm really turned off of reading by the last two

Hmm... Well what are your interests? Those last two are typically considered "classics" because they're well written and they carry with them a massive historical significance--but I can imagine how they might be unappealing to someone w/o any interest in their subjects.

>>4237022
The whole conception of IT, this monster thing, starts out with Pennywise. It's a clown, it's concentrated, it's scary. Then we slowly discover that this creature takes on the form of anything that's particularly scary to a certain character (e.g Werewolf for Richie) and I think that was a poor choice on King's part. It's lazy and it's not scary, especially since it plays on childhood fears. Mummies and werewolves lose their charm at a certain point, Stephen.

His cardinal sin, though, is the ending. From an evil killer of children we go to an alien that has been at odds with a giant space turtle since the beginning of time. But it's actually not a alien, it's a giant spider. This is what I'm talking about, he seems to put the first thing that comes into his mind on the page. He also does that Lovecraftian thing where he basically says "this thing is so unimaginably scary that I'm not even gonna describe it", which I found really annoying.

There's also that child sex orgy, which is just weird (and out of place).

IT started off relatively grounded and it spiralled into all this cosmological stuff. It didn't fit and I'm surprised someone didn't tell him so. Hope this helped.

I've been rereading a lot lately.

Sound and the fury - I always feel sort of exhausted after reading Faulkner, but I wanted to reread this one because it's very powerful. Some parts really hurt and others are very funny.

Infinite Jest - I got a lot more out of the other characters this time around. Besides Hal and Gately and Mario. I thought Orin and Gately's final scenes were really great and it got to me more this time.

Blood Meridian - A lot of the book passed me in sort of a haze. I think it's difficult to keep up with him all the time. The atmosphere of the things not quite mentioned is very effective though.

Started reading Faust today. Never read it before and so far it's sort of a cheery happy-sad. I really liked the opening dedication as well. Almost at the second part.

>last 3 read:
East of Eden 9/10
Crime and Punishment 8.5/10
Tender is the Night 6.5/10
(I hate rating classics like this out of 10. Tender is the Night was a good read, just not as great as some other classics.)

>Currently Reading:

Rereading Wuthering Heights.

>Plan on Reading:

The Sound and the Fury
?
?

>Last 3
>T.S. Eliot: The Wasteland and other poems - 8/10
So far have re-read 3-5 times in the space of the past 2 weeks, can't get enough of it.

>Giuseppe Tomasi Lampedusa: The Leopard - 8/10
Outstanding novel, so happy I took up that anons recommendation. Movie was alright I guess.

>Edward W. Said: On Late Style - 6/10
Good essays but at times it comes across as if Said is stating the obvious, and even then he doesn't give concrete details of progression. Just points to pieces and says "look!"

Currently Reading
>Joyce - Ulysses
Loving every second of it. The large student version by penguin is far superior in layout compared to the normal penguin classic edition and Oxford 1922 edition.

Rayuela, 8/10 very good
The sun also rises, 6.5/10 good read
Dubliners, 6/10 decent read

Moby-Dick, real good
Don Quijote, long talks maybe 2nd book will get better
Bleeding Edge, looks entertaining

The old man and the sea, fishing relaxation and manhood
Portrait of the artist etc, joyce's autobiography
Cien años de soledad, magic realism

>Last three
Ubik: 7

Sun and Steel:8.5

Meditations: 8. I'm pretty biased I really like Marcus Aurelius

>Currently Reading

Dante's Inferno
I'm liking it a lot so far

>Next Three
The Count of Monty Cristo
REVENGE

The Oxford History of the Classical World

Storm of Steel - Ernst Junger (8/10)
I Am Pilgrim - Terry Hayes (6/10)
Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon (7/10)

The Plague - Albert Camus (just started it)

Pakistan: A Hard country - Anatol Lieven
A Sport and a Past time - James Salter
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe

Dorian Gray - 6
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - 8
Richard Holmes "The Age of Wonder" - 10

Stoner - Just finished first chapter. I like how it is written so far, but overall feeling is gloomy.
Jacques Barzun "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present" - About to start it

After Stoner i will read "Moby-Dick". As for non-fiction i am focusing on "From Dawn to Decadence".

>>4234135
>As I Walk These Broken Roads (Aurini)- 5/10
It's essentially a /tg/ campaign, but more pretentious.
>The Gun (Chivers) - 8/10
Fascinating, but a bit too much journalism and too little technology.
>Choose Yourself (forget the guy's name)- 1/10
Jew writes down his random thoughts.

>The Shadow World
The info is fascinating and comprehensive, but repetitive and boring. I can pretty much predict the rest of each chapter after reading the first few pages.
>Ghost Wars
Same.
>Soldier of Fortune Guide to How to Become a Mercenary
5/5 breddy good :DDDD

>Red Army Tank Commander: At War in a T-34 on the Eastern Front
>The Sins of High Finance
>Day of the Jackal

Thomas Mann, Magic Mountain
>6

Klaus Mann, Mephisto
>7

Bertolt Brecht, Mother Courage
>8

Currently: Ulysses
Next: Robert Walser

>>4236894
I have not. I know that he was chummy with Hunter S., but I haven't read anything by him yet. Why do you ask?

>>4238743

It was the Latino angle and vibe I was picking up from your listed choices, and it was the first author I thought of. I was just curios.

>>4238382
How are you liking Ulysses?

>>4238743
that beer is fucking godlike. good choice sir

>>4238743
>>4238791
Now I want some beer.

I don't have any beer.

You're going to hell

>>4238807
The second of the next two shots I'm taking is devoted to you.

We're all going to hell.

>>4238816
>Implying I'm not a devout Christian

kek

Crimes Against Humanity
>8
Lolita
>8
Listen To This
>6

War And Peace.
>If Tolstoy could stop turkey slapping his contemporary Historians, and kindly return to his narrative in the last 200 pages, easily would have been a 10/10 for me.
>>Inb4 Pleb: I know that shit's important. I knew when I read the first little essay. I understood its importance by the second. I began to lose patience at the fifteenth.

The Aenid.
>Budget Odyssey, but in the same way platonic sex is a budget threesome.
The Republic
>'The corner stone of modern philosphy' is promised, but I expect some serious self wankery.
The Vivisector
>To be struck to the soul with righteous patriotism, reading one of our only Nobel Laureates. Also disappointment.

>>4238761
Well yeah, I have read a lot of Latino and Chicano literature, being Latino and from the Southwest. I'll check back in once I've read some of his work. If you are looking for suggestions about similar literature, I'd be happy to oblige, though.

>>4238791
>>4238807
No way to go and get some. The nearest store which has that quality beer is twenty minutes from my place and I'm just settling in to dinner, so it's not happening tonight. Only have Budweiser, so I'm not in that much better a situation. Prost.

>>4238910
>>4238791
>>4238807
Oh, also, I was at a bar in Omaha, Nebraska called "Krug Park" and they had this beer on tap. I orgasmed on the spot. They're pretty famous for their craft bloody marys, too. I'd highly recommend it if you're ever in that city.

>>4238910

Yah, lay it on me, and thank you!

The catcher in the rye is so fun btw.

>>4239094
Well, so Rudolfo Anaya is critical to read if you want to get a feel for Chicano literature. His novel "Bless Me, Ultima" is considered foundational in the genre. You can also read the short story "Devil Deer" to get an introduction to his style. Chicano lit of the SW blends folklore with traditional narrative, similar to what you see in Latin American magic realism. There are a lot of pastoral scenes, but if you can deal with the pace, it's really worth it for the ruminations on Catholicism, animism, and the relationship between humans and nature. You'll also see a lot about filial relations, which are often some of the most profound relationships (in my opinion). Something like what you'd see with Faulkner's depiction of the Compson family.

PROSE
>Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Pretty famous for his poetry as well, but I like his prose better. Read the story "Cebolleros" for a good introduction. I'd recommend "The House of Forgetting" as a first novel. Very intimate depictions of family relations.
>Steve Bodio
There's a great short story called "Birds, Ice, Fire" that I read of his, and it's the only thing I have so far, but I think he's worth a go.
>Junot Díaz
Getting out of the region now, but he's really worth a go. I'd suggest reading his latest short story collection, "This Is How You Lose Her" first, and then, if you like that, going ahead and reading "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." He's fucking hilarious. But beware, he writes interlingually, so you might need to buff up on colloquial Spanish or just be prepared to look some stuff up if you want to catch everything (and believe me, you do).
>Sergio de la Pava
Again, not regional, but a brilliant author. He wrote this book called "A Naked Singularity" that is just masterful. Initially self-published and then, after it got some press, U Chicago press re-released it. It's that good. I really think that he paved a new way forward for Latino literature by breaking out of the tired "mamá's kitchen trope." I can't find the interview that I loved, but look around.

Some of my favorite Chicano/Latino poets:
>Gary Soto
Read "Oranges" in first grade and it has stuck with me forever. But some of his lesser known poems that are easy favorites are "When We Wake" and "Between Words" (DAT last line).
>Ray Gonzalez
Lots of nature imagery. Might be your style and might not.
>Pat Mora
Two poems that really affected me were "A River of Women" and "Cuentista." They sounds like prayers. Beautiful lyricism.
>Simon J. Ortiz
I liked "Culture and the Universe." You can go from there.

>>4239210
CNTND.
>Ofelia Zepeda
She won a MacArthur, which should say enough, but understand why her background is brilliant. Studied linguistics under Ken Hale at MIT (famous for studying indigenous or otherwise infrequently spoken languages) and now teaches at the University of Arizona. She's written wonderful grammar books for local languages. Local Poet Laureate. Writes about native issues (Tohono O'Odham) as well.
>Javier Sicilia
Kind of an activist, too. Be aware of the partisan nature of his poetry before you read it, but if you go at it with an open mind, you might find some shit you'll love.

>>4236469
>Mario Vargas Llosa
Ughhh

>>4239248
Got an actual argument?

>>4238128
We should be friends/10 tier rankings.
>>4238251
As a warning, reading Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test really turned me off of Kesey. All the hippies come off as self-absorbed dicks, and it's interesting to read but frustrating,
>>4238851
For The Republic, expect a trip. Reading and debating with Plato was one of the most enjoyable memories I have of reading.

So, my last three:
The Bacchae by Euripides, Paul Woodruth translation
>7/10 incredible use of a chorus, great to read, but what the fuck that tarrantino
Aristotle's Politics
>6/10 no where near as enjoyable to read as Plato, but more useful in that more of the arguments and conclusions were relevant
Absalom, Absalom!
>10/10 second reading, was even better than the first.

Currently:
Just started the trial scene in The Brothers Karamazov, for the first time in my life something has lived up to my expectations. The best part of my day every day is reading it.

Next three:
Unknown, probably going to be more Faulkner.

>>4239262
Argument or what? I just don't like the guy at all.
Latin American literature is amazing, I wouldn't bother with that old rightist idiot.

>>4239279
>Argumentum ad hominem
Does this mean you haven't read any of his works? Because if so, then you have no right to comment on his literature. Sure, you might not like his politics, and yes, that is occasionally pertinent to the quality of an author, but there are plenty of examples of authors with rightist politics that put out fantastic work. I seem to remember a long series of threads on that just last week. Further, if he were ultra-rightist, do you really think the Swedes would have given him the Nobel? Of course not.

Now, as I said, if you haven't read anything of his, then shut up and go read more. Then people will care about your opinion.

Pic always related

>>4239274
>the bacchae
will u be my ancient greek theater gf

>>4239309
>Further, if he were ultra-rightist, do you really think the Swedes would have given him the Nobel?
top lel

Also
>Daria

Yes I have read him, and it didn't seem very appealing to me. But whatever, I don't want to convince you of anything, I don't care that much, I didn't want to make some anonymous mad either, but I did, so I guess I'll have to keep going and call you pleb.

>>4239327
>Me, mad.
>LOL

>top lel
>newfag

What did you read? Did you read it in translation? I'll shitpost with you all night long. I didn't respond to you because I thought you were trying to convince me of anything, but I wanted to prevent you from coming in and making a baseless attack on an author that will influence the opinions of people here who have never read that author. Some folks still come here to find suggestions for good literature and not to be blustered at by elitist nobodies. On that note, I'm going to ask you to say something more substantial than "it didn't seem very appealing to me" if you are going to completely write off an author. From what I can garner, you actually haven't read anything by Mario Vargas Llosa and are just regurgitating your pejoratives on the table as if somebody cares about uninformed and blunt opinions.

Also, it is well known that Yukio Mishima was a serious contender for the Nobel, but lost out to Kawabata because of his right-wing fanaticism. Do you have any examples of the opposite trend?

>>4239210
>>4239216

While there's some criticism expressed, keep in mind there's various people wading in. I'm the one who asked for the suggestions, all I have to say, again, is thank you.

>ruminations on Catholicism, animism, and the relationship between humans and nature.

Which is something I'd like to develop a feel for to so as to inject in a story I'm working on. Once again, thank you for the time and effort of your suggestions.

Viva la anonymous, etc.

>>4239360
A la mierda con los nobel, a la mierda contigo.

>>4239364
Anytime.

>>4239322
Of course qt, if you want a straight guy gf.

But I hate to say I am not that learned as far as Greek tragedy goes. I'm an actor, so I've been around it, but I haven't read the majority of the classics. The Bacchae was given to me with a suggestion that it was "fucking crazy," and it lived up to the hype.

What are your favorites?

I will read whatever you tell me to

>>4239655
Awoken by Serra Elinsen

>>4239693
Ok.

>>4234135
>Last three
Pet Sematary- King. 6/10, spooked.

Nausea- Sartre. 8/10, such detail

Ender's Game- Card. 6/10, not as good as when I was a kid.

>current
Cuckoo's Calling- Rowling.

Her prose doesn't work well for detective fiction. She's too slow. Great for getting lost in a magical world, horrible for catching a killer. Otherwise pretty bland. Better than Casual Vacancy at least.

>Next three
Cold Mountian- Frazier. My favorite cold-weater novel.

Up In the Air- Kirn. Overall good. Comfy in a depressing way.

La mort D'Arthur- Mallory. Read The Once and Future King, following up with Mallory's account of the authurian legends.

>A Canticle for Leibowitz - 8/10
Great stuff, kind of disappointed the last third focused so much on a morality play about euthanasia, especially since I disagree so strongly with the author on that one.

>The Handmaid's Tale - 7/10
I'm a sucker for dystopias and Atwood is good at it. The epilogue felt lame and tacked-on even though I get what she was doing with it.

>A Farewell to Arms - 6/10
Hemingway's prose doesn't do a lot for me most of the time, although there were some extremely affecting passages (mostly those involving Catherine, and especially at the end).

Currently:
>The Crying of Lot 49 - Pynchon
Haven't actually begun yet since I literally just finished the Hemingway, but this is the book on my desk right now. Should be bretty gud. It's this babby's first pinecone.

Next:
>American Psycho
I expect to hate the fuck out of it, but I'm giving it a fair chance.

>Aztec
A historical fiction novel that's supposed to be pretty cool. It's a doorstopper so I'm reading it over Thanksgiving break. I love mesoamerican shit so this is right in my wheelhouse.

>The Name of the Rose
More historical fiction. Not sure what to expect -- it's supposed to be good though.

Last 3 books read
>House of Leaves
7/10
Had fun with it, but I'm glad it's over. The author really lost his way in the last 1/3rd of the novel and just tried to make it as crazy and shocking as possible. No more footnotes for me ever again.

>Starship Troopers
4/10
Trying desperately to get back into sci fi after reading Solaris and being blown away earlier this year, but this was absolute shit. I'm a huge fan of military history reads, but for the love of god put in a fucking story.

>Child of God
8/10
Loved this one. One of the best descriptions of mental illness I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Short book, but very dense prose.

Reading now
>Snow Crash
I now understand why most novels are not written in the present tense. Had promise the first fifty pages, but tried to become technical to the point I couldn't give a shit anymore.

>1Q84
Stuck in the middle of book 2 presently. Regretting this one fairly hard, but I'm gonna push through it.

To read:
>Leaving Las Vegas
Hope there will be decent writing on suicide that does not try to be preachy or overly sentimental.

>Stoner
Swear to god /lit/, if this isn't as good as you all have hyped this up to be I'll be deeply disappointed.

>Ham on Rye
Expecting this to tear out my heart and be one of the hardest books to read. I might relate to the main character.

>>4234135

>LAST
'The Aeneid', Virgil (9/10)
'God Is Not Great', Christopher Hitchens (9/10)
'Texts for Nothing and Other Shorter Prose', Samuel Beckett (9/10)

>CURRENT
'The Invention of Solitude', Paul Austere (8/10)
'The World According To Clarkson', Jeremy Clarkson (10/10)

>NEXT
'The Idiot', Fyodor Dostoyevsky
'Ask The Dust', John Fante
'The Basic Writings Of Bertrand Russel', Bertrand Russel

The Flowers of Evil - Charles Baudelaire - 9/10
Essays - George Orwell - 9/10
Wise Blood - Flannery O'Connor - 8/10

Out of Africa - Karen Blixen - 8/10 so far

Bleak House - Charles Dickens
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge - Rainer Maria Rilke
Three Novels - Cesar Aira

>The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made - 7
>Doctor Sleep - 8
>The Black House - 7
---------------
>NOS4A2 - The prose is a little bland. But I like the story.
>Hell House - The only thing I really don't like about this one is the excessive use of vulgarity where it is not useful.
---------------
>Der Steppenwolf
>The Plague
>The Boys from Brazil
I am not sure what to expect of these.

>>4234135

>Period by Dennis Cooper -8
It was a great work of smoke and mirrors that both revealed the main reason for the George Miles Cycle in a way that allows for the "Cycle" to be a cycle. It was a very sad and tender work.
>Big Sur by Jack Kerouac -8
I was not a big fan of On the Road, but this was a great read, but also very sad. Kerouac seems to be drowning in his Catholic shame.
>The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neil- 8
I read this for class, but it remains a strong work of modernism.
--
>The Iliad
I just picked it up randomly after it being on my shelf for a while. I like it but I just passed that long list of commanders of ships, which was pretty annoying.
>Native Son by Richard Wright
Great book so far. I am reading it to get ahead in class and it is truly a pleasure to read. Bigger's character is so well fleshed out.
---
>The Odyssey?
I read parts of it in my freshman year of high school, but that is it so all I know is that Odysseus is a great liar.
>Poetry?
I have been meaning to jump into a handful of poetry anthologies lately.
>The Bible?
I read up to Exodus, but never got to the New Testament.

>>4241047
Oh and although it isn't a novel, I finished Bartleby the Scrivener and that was pretty much an almost perfect short story. What does everyone think about Billy Budd?