/lit/ - Literature

I didn't buy a boatload of fashionable turds

Come back when you've read them.

I just finished pic related. Loved the 'pathos of distance' Nietzsche established at the end, and the final passage is a beautiful thing that ties the whole purpose of the novel well.

It ended just as it was getting old.

>>4619810
Wow anon, that sure cut deep! Don't worry though, your autism stipend should be in by wednesday.

>>4619810
this is worded in a way that made me laugh

no one gives a shit about your stupid materialism you pathetic piece of shit

I've got some stuff on the way:

All Quiet on the Western Front
Don Quixote
Kappa
Catch-22
The Kindly Ones
Notes from Underground
Thousand Cranes

>>4619810
I didn't fashion a turdload of buyable boats.

I don't get it, is this a thread that shows what books we've bought this week or books we've read this week?

>>4619863
Recent purchases
>>4619849
What translation of Don Quixote? I read Starkie and I'm thinking about getting the Grossman one.

>>4619863
OP's intention doesn't matter.

This should be a thread about what we've read, not bought. What have you finished reading this week, anon?

El Hueco is a book in spanish about the details of Colombian illegal immigration to the united states through anecdotes from traffickers, immigrants and everyone in between.

I bought Demian because someone started a thread on it and I wanted to check out Hesse.

Cocaine Death Squads was the only book I could find on Colombia- U.S relations in an indepedent bookstore. I was kinda dissapointed because of the inimical role Colombia has had on drug policy in the U.S and narco-culture in Colombia.

>>4619896
Same guy who posted the last pic of books. I recently finished Huckleberry Finn, Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth which whose ideas hit me on multiple levels, and Carlos Fuentes' Vlad which was short and sweet and excellent, it merges plot with concepts about power, leverage and the costs they have on a family who is vulnerable to those forces which are way above their heads.

>>4619875

I ordered the Grossman translation.

So damn good.

>>4619987
why

I'm reading V. and The Big Sleep this week.

Still working on Consider the Lobster, but that's a pretty slow read in my opinion.

on the way from amazon:
an illustrated version of the Silmarillion HC
The Illustrated Gormenghast Trilogy HC
The Last Unicorn Library Binding (I think it was illustrated as well)
14 Forgotten Realms novels from ebay
Got a Friday LB last week plus a The Past Through Tomorrow paperback (both from Heinlein)

>>4619896
I read Taipei. Having had a period of my life where I just ate random psychedelics and benzos and floated through existence I think he did a good job illustrating that life. But it was nothing great and I really wish Tao would stop spamming 4chan every god damn day.

>>4620035
le tao lin go2bedpls epik maymay :^)

Finished Old Man's War and Ulysses for the first time this week, and started reading the Wheel of Time

>>4620024
oh wait, this is a what did you read this week thread? The Stars like Dust and Prelude to Foundation.

>>4620051
Yes I'm sure someone legitimately wants to know about taipei or his other novels one time every day. Also reddit calm down pls.

>>4620056
It can be whatever man. I obviously didn't read mason and dixon and 4 other books this week but we can talk about what we've read recently too. What is 'The Stars Like Dust'?

An Honest Thief (for the lit book club), Stoner, The Fall and I literally just finished Brave New World. bnw was terrifying; It made me think about the prospects of vapid consumerism and mindless hedonism. If there is no intrinsic goodness to happiness then what should we look for?

>>4620077
a book by Isaac Asimov (like Prelude to Foundation). It's one of his weaker ones though. Starts out okay but the end is so terribly cheesy from today's point of view

In the end it is revealed that the document they were searching for which can overcome any tyrant and is therefor the most dangerous knowledge in the universe is:

The American Declaration of Independence

This may have been a novel feature to put into literature at the time but it was, frankly, underwhelming when I read it (and I guessed it halfway through.

Prelude to Foundation on the other hand was quite good, it's obviously a good starting point to get into the Foundation stuff, but I read all the robot novels before so you get some more references of the past whereas it doesn't seem to reference any or hardly any themes of the Galactic Empire novels (which "The Stars, like Dust" is a part of). Maybe I should read the other two Galactic Empire novels next before reading the rest of the Foundation stuff.

Here are my purchases this week - already read the Atsushi before, but I wanted to have an on-hand copy for the Wujing stories. This new translation of Miyazawa is much better than the ones you can find online.

>>4620146
And for interest, here's part one of my library check-outs.

Storytelling in Japanese Art is a great intro to the topic, though half the book is dedicated to retelling the folklore of the art prints themselves (would've be nicer to have more critical background). Why Beckett is mostly pictures, but they are qt pictures. It's about as informative as his Wiki article, or something of that length.

Got Arthurian Literature II for Natsume Soseki's Arthurian story in it, which I'm eventually going to scan for /lit/.

>>4620157
Part two. More mushroom books. Mayday is Faulkner's foray into Arthurian literature - I haven't read it yet, but the volume itself it put together really well. Offal was a very good read.

I really recommend the Edogawa Ranpo Reader for anyone who has read his Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination. The essays in the later half of the book concern a lot of the ideas he was toying with when he wrote some of his earlier ones, like lenses and mirrors.

>>4620146
>>4620157
get an e-reader you materialist

>>4620175
I have an ereader. I want physical copies to keep notes and markings in.

How is it materialistic to use the library for books that don't have ebook copies? Especially for things like foraging guides and art books?

>>4620182
it isn't ignore the idiots

>>4620182
>How is it materialistic to use the library for books that don't have ebook copies?
I'm sorry, i wasn't talking about the library books. in fact i strongly support making use of public libraries. I don't know what came over me; ironically, i think it may be jealousy, i miss possessing physical books.

>>4619773
Added 32.4 mb to my kindle. Yeh boi.

one on the left contains an ABRIDGED version of patriotism, which is fucking bullshit

>>4620224
Patriotism is so damn good, it's perfect. I haven't enjoyed anything else by Mishima so far though.

>>4620157
well played on the redon. he's one of my favorite artists. i don't know if there's a translation but he has a journal and several short stories worth looking into if you find him interesting.

>>4620239
He's one of my favorites too, but I hadn't looked that much into his life yet. Didn't know he wrote at all.

I found The Brush and the Pen: Odilon Redon and Literature by Dario Gamboni looking around for his writing stuff just now. I'll look into it!

>>4620052
>Old Man's War and Ulysses
That contrast.

>>4619773

>>4620146
I have no idea where to even begin with eastern literature once I feel I've caught up adequately with the western material I have already.

>>4620373
I usually recommend Rashomon and Other Stories by Akutagawa or Patriotism by Mishima. Whichever sounds more interesting to you, but both are intense introductions that can inspire further interest imo. That's just for Japanese literature.

What kind of works are you most interested in within Western literature?

>>4620392
The only eastern literature book I own is The Water Margin and I fell asleep reading that fuckhuge foreword /exposition part before the actual stories start

>>4620438
Oh, and Hells Angels by HS Thompson en Rusland voor gevorderden by Jelle Brandt Corstius

>>4619849

All Quiet on the Western Front, Catch 22 and Notes from Underground are all great. I haven't read the others.

>>4620174

What's with the Japanese books? I am also interested in Japanese literature.

>>4620438

That's a nice looking edition of Brave New World there.

>>4619773

i've been interested in House On the Borderland lately, tell me how it goes? Anyway I picked up lately.

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Book of Five Rings
Complete works of Shakespeare
Tender is the Night
Understanding Shinto
Yeager: An Autobiography

I just finished House on the Borderland, that was excellent. Ancient gods, pig demons, the insignificance of man in the face of the cosmos. I especially liked that as a horror story it was gripping on pretty much every page and it's similarities to two of my favorite Lovecraft stories.

What should I read next? Dubliners, TCOL49, or Girl with Curious Hair.
>>4620392
I have a softspot for history and the supernatural
>>4620277
>5 fiction books
>Not even the good version of that image with sunglasses and flashing "EUPHORIC" text

Y.jpg

>>4620497
I study Japanese literature, so I get lots of Japanese books. Unfortunately, not so many actually in Japanese.

That Understanding Shinto book looks very nice! Thanks for calling attention to it.

>>4620507
I think you'll definitely love Akutagawa then, if you like the supernatural.

House on the Borderland lost the gripping factor in that last third for me, the floating through the cosmos part.

>>4620527

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Shinto-Origins-Practices-Festivals/dp/184483199X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393731888&sr=1-1&keywords=Understanding+Shinto

This is the one I have. Got that and Book of Five Rings off of my brother since he knows I like Japanese literature and culture. You seem to share my love of supernatural and history stuff, anyway what are you reading at the moment for Japanese Literature class? I am on the last book of I Am A Cat at the moment which is primarily for my own enjoyment. I am not enrolled at any university for Japanese culture classes. It does seem fun though.

I say read Dubliners next.

>>4620553
Just ordered it through my library! I've never actually taken any Japanese lit classes either, the lit department where I'm doing my MA doesn't have much for choice. I meant study as in it's where I do most of my lit research, papers, syllabi and stuff. Hoping I can get into a good Comparative lit program.

But I'm reading that Edogawa Ranpo Reader and Revenge by Yoko Ogawa at the moment.

>>4620527
>I study Japanese literature
I've been on a bit of a Japanese lit kick recently (in translation). I just finished Kokoro, which wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but which I was slightly disappointed by only because I'd heard it praised so much. Did you (or anyone else who's read it) have this reaction, or am I just weird?

>>4620579

I never use libraries since there's only a student one in my town. My local bookshop doesn't have that much of a great range when it comes to Japanese novels, got a decent classic section and a good /lit/ tier section but if I want something Japanese outside of Murakami, Mishima or Soseiki then I just have to use Amazon. I was pleasantly surprised with Kinokuniya's range of Japanese books when I visited, actually not that too surprised considering they are a Japanese bookshop. I wish one would open in the UK.

Only went in for Ulysses but I kinda knew it's impossible to buy just one book.

>>4620610
Yeah I know the feeling. I went in looking for Pynchon and Joyce though so I can't really complain. It's a little used bookshop and was pleasantly surprised as they didn't have these when I stopped in a few weeks back. I saw Ulysses the last time I went but I wanted to read Portrait of the Artist or Dubliners first; I saw today someone had snapped up Ulysses and Dubliners was there.

>>4620174
That's a greedy amount of books to take out from the library at once.

>>4620640
Yea that's what I'm thinking. Library due dates usually aren't long so why the fuck would you take out so many. I hope that nigger doesn't come out saying he's a reading savant.

>>4620640
They're interlibrary loans, and so they're all from different libraries. Only the mushroom foraging ones are from my actual university library.

If anyone from the actual university library that any of those books come from wants to check out that book, it's recalled immediately and I turn it in. I've only ever had that happen once though. None of these are books that are commonly checked out.

>>4620646
I'm a graduate student, so I get them all semester. A lot are research related.

>>4620610
>a frolic of his of his own

>>4620627
I'd recommend reading Portrait first too, since the main character appears in Ulysses.

>>4620670
Did I mess up in some way? I've been wanting to try Gaddis so I grabbed it. It was the only novel of his they had.

>>4620707
And now I just noticed the repeated "of his." Yeah poor cover design, I think it was supposed to be faded out.

>>4620707
no, I don't think you did anything wrong, just the spine of the book says "A Frolic of his of his own".
I googled it and came up with
>A rare advance reading copy with a mis-print on the binding stating "A Frolic of his of his own" and includes various types"

maybe it becomes particularly valuable?

Okay so I guess Dubliners it is? I guess it would make sense to read Joyce before Pynchon and DFW.

Also looking into Akutagawa, thanks.

Books of Blood vol 2 - Clive Barker
100 Years of Solitude
Steppenwolf
A Picture of Dorian Grey

>>4621262
>Doors of Perception and Necronomicon

Good books for sure! If you enjoy those I recommend Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna and, after today (yesterday?), House on the Borderland. Also The Spirit Molecule.

>>4621272
Oh yeah that Necronomicon cover gets work out like a fucker. Take care or you'll end up with this.

I went to a library book sale today and on the website, it said books were price $1-$20. I arrived and there were quite a few books for fifty cents and a lot at $10. I saw a book for $40 and then I came across this: a copy of Don Quixote from 1771. $200.

>>4621279

is it readable?

Recent purchases, not sure where to start

I had a #bookz experiment and downloaded and read:

Stoner
Richard Yates
Everyman

I also bought As Serious as your Life - The Story of the New Jazz by Valerie Wilmer. I'm thinking of writing my thesis on the role of women in countercultural movements so it seemed like a good primary source.

Ordered Necronomicon and On The Steel Breeze by Reynolds from Bookdepository on Thursday, apparently they sent them coming my way on Friday. Might take more than a week, though.

>>4621525
I almost fell asleep looking at this photo.

>>4621279
you realize that's only the third volume, right?
it looks rather like a spanish edition I've seen, have you even cracked it yet/

Freedom (Franzen)

Cultural Amnesia (Clive James)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Gravity's Rainbow: A Study in Duplex Fiction (Danuta Zadworna-Fjellestad)

The Philosopher's Alice (Peter Heath)

And also university textbooks on Sociolinguistics, Philosophical Logic, Australian Politics, and Microeconomics


I'm going to be a polymath or something

>>4621525
Why Canterbury?

>>4621262
how is the binding and paper quality of the lovecraft? there's another book in the same series - jack vance's lyonesse - i've been thinking about getting as a gift but haven't ever seen in person and didn't want to piss away $40 on something that looks and is shit.

>>4621591
From what I can tell, it's well made. It has a leathery feel to it. I have only read a few stories so far, so I don't know how it will deal with the wear and tear, but I'd says it's worth a purchase.

>>4620438
>De donkere kamer van Damokles.
Redelijk goed.

>>4621540
I DID fall asleep looking at that photo.

>>4621822
>that fucking sexy copy of The Recognitions

I'm gonna go ahead and begin Dubliners now but in the meantime can anyone tell me if it would be adviseable to read one or two more pynchon books between TCOL49 and Mason & Dixon?

>>4621631
Gratis gekregen een tijdje geleden, volgens mij deelde ze die boeken uit bij de bibliotheek.

I didn't turd a boatfashion of buyable loads

>>4622798
>tfw shitting reading Joyce

>>4622147
Maybe bleeding edge? I don't think you really need to read anything in between.

>>4622810
>Houellebecq Michel
>Michel Houellebecq

What a coincidence! Are they similar authors?

>>4621540
>>4621824

plebs

>>4621561

the prologue got me, it was very pretty

I got the coghill translation also incase I got too bored of the original or got stuck. that wasn't the case since the middle english isn't hard to read once your like 10-20 pages in.

>>4622765
Ik heb precies dezelfde, maar dan in het groen.

>>4622845
Ga je het boekenweekgeschenk en -essay halen?

>>4622854
Waarschijnlijk. Ik kijk er nog wel naar.

>>4622865
Ik ben geen groot fan van Wieringa maar ik vind Brandt Corstius erg geestig.

>>4621524
Yea the text is fine.

>>4621541
I didn't buy it, I don't have $200 to spend on a book right now.

>>4621631
>WF Hermans
>goed
LOL

the store I liked to frequent finally kicked the bucket

looks like Half Price books it is

>>4623049
>*tikt met vinger tegen deukhoed*

>>4621822

>that fucking sexy copy of Jean Santeuil

>>4619773
sure is plebeian-pretending-patrician in here.

>>4623104

>reading poetry
>in translation

fagit pls go

>>4623175
I'm slain, anon.

>>4622823
This is the last time I'm gonna bother bumping this thread, but I really want to know if this anon is right. Would I probably be okay going from TCOL49 to Mason and Dixon or should I read something like Bleeding Edge or Inherent Vice or V. inbetween? M&D sounds like his work I would most be interested in, is why I want to know so badly.