/lit/ - Literature

I read about 300 pages, finished The King In Yellow (was: OK). Went on a huge computer playing bender in the evenings so "lost" some time, but the new South Park game is amusingly crass.

I've read about five hundred pages. I think a lot of readers feel guilty for not "reading as much as they should". That's fucking silly, that's like feeling guilty for not drinking as much espresso as you should. If you feel that reading isn't as appealing as it "should" be, then try reading different books; your taste fluctuates day by day, so try to accommodate it.

I'm embarrassed by my reading speed. It takes me fucking weeks to finish even a simple and short book. Actually I don't think it's speed as much as it is focus. I can't focus for more than a few sentences before my mind spirals into an introspection of some sort.

So far it's taken me almost 4 hours to read 46% of The Road, according to the Kobo reading stats, and it's a simple-ass novel. I need a way to forget my surroundings more completely. Can only really read at night, far away from my cell phone or any other glowing screen.

>>4644013
>The King In Yellow
are the short stories connected? or are they stand alone

>>4644033
First of all, the collection of stories is two different ones. The first one is the "horror" stuff, the second one is 5 or 6 stories about Americans living in Paris, bohemianing it up.

The horror stories have very little connection - you could say they're in the same universe, where some people have heard about the book/play "The King In Yellow", that's about it.

Furthermore, I think the first story alludes to some statues, and the story behind the statues is then explained in the second story.

>>4644010
>doze Mexican vigilantes who formed a ragtag squad of armed citizens wearing badass looks and cowboy rigs with a militant shade to them to combat the cartels that their government is too corrupt and ineffectual to.

>>4644031
Read Rape of the Lock, you can do that in one sitting easily. Then try The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction.

>>4644036
Hopefully they'll eventually align themselves with the Zapatistas

>>4644038
Hmm. Thanx for the suggestions. I'm really looking for a way to speed my shit up. I so want to be one of those people who can read a book a day. How might the second mentioned book help?

I've been reading Ware's Orthodox Church and it's mostly god until it goes into detailed accounts of today's Orthodoxy with constant name-calling. I didn't ask for this.
And I read Gospel of Matthew finally.

>>4644045
stop

Books are not conquests, they;re pleasures (unfortunately these are sometimes promoted as synonymous to males). The only skill you can have in reading, is the ability to enjoy more complex books, or, if you're a snob, the ability to enjoy simpler books. Stop trying to make book into women to be conquered and known and loved to you can put notches on your bedpost.

The second mentioned book is about building yourself up and learning to enjoy books at a steady pace, rather than trying to run marathons when you run out of breath at a jog.

>>4644049
More recommendations of the have a short attention span

"We": an absolutely profound yet easy tor read novel.

"The Devil's Dictionary": nothing longer than a definition.

Ovid's Metamorphoses, the Lombardo Translation. A series of mythological stories in poem, very well presented here, especially for those who aren't veteran readers.

>>4644059
Oh, shit, Kafka Metamorphosis. Short as fuck, easy to read, and, well, I'm sure you already know that it's something people are still writing lengthy works about.

>>4644062
>>4644049
I've read The Metamorphosis. It seems like you're making assumptions about what I've read, and I can't say I entirely like that. You're right though, I shouldn't treat books like they're something to be conquered. That's what women are for. Incidentally my bedpost is whittled down to a toothpick.

At any rate, the reason I want to be able to read faster is because I'd like to have a wider breadth of knowledge regarding literature, not because I want to Say I've read a bunch. I truly want to know more about literature, and since time is a finite resource, well, I need a way to maximize it. The last book I read before The Road was Mason & Dixon, and I loved it. But it took me so long to read that it made me envy people who can focus on what they're reading more exclusively.

I'm about to finish a compilation book of Kafka, this week I already read 2 short story collections (Contemplation and A Country Doctor), The Judgement (absolute greatest short story I've ever read, had to read it 3 times and have the urge to read it again), and In The Penal Colony. I skipped reading The Metamorphosis (or The Transformation as it is translated there) because I had already reread it a little while ago, now about to start A Hunger Artist (collection). I'm growing very fond of this Kafka guy, I feel changed somehow, even my writing is getting better.

Haven't read a single page. Haven't read for a month and a half. From time to time there are periods during which I can't read.

>>4644077
>It seems like you're making assumptions about what I've read, and I can't say I entirely like that.
Which is unfortunate. That means you feel like my recommendations are insulting, like, "Of course I'm not a virgin!" srsly dude, who cares? so you've read it. not having read it doesn't make you an idiot, and having read it doesn't make you smart. I recommended it because it's a short masterpiece.

>>4644077
>At any rate, the reason I want to be able to read faster is because I'd like to have a wider breadth of knowledge regarding literature, not because I want to Say I've read a bunch. I truly want to know more about literature, and since time is a finite resource, well, I need a way to maximize it. The last book I read before The Road was Mason & Dixon, and I loved it. But it took me so long to read that it made me envy people who can focus on what they're reading more exclusively.
If is all you want is knowledge about literature, then I recommend reading summaries. I'm not saying to stop reading books, I'm just saying that if your goal is to finish a book rather than savor it, because you want to get the main points, then just read summaries of all the books you want summaries of, and then read the actual books when savoring them would give you pleasure.

>>4644101
Wanting a wider breadth of knowledge of literature does not mean I want to cliffnote it. Depth vs. breadth is a false dichotomy. Going through a book faster does not mean you must necessarily sacrifice a deeper understanding of it. Bloom cited his quickness with reading as a major advantage over his contemporaries, and, say what you will of him, the man knew his lit.

By knowing more books, patterns can start to emerge and connections to be made. This wideness of perspective, along with the understanding of the books read, is what I want to achieve. And since we're living in the real world, there's only so much I will be allowed to read.

>>4644115
And, I should add, taking longer to finish a book doesn't mean you'll savor it more.

>>4644101

not the anon you're talking to but let's say I'm a majoring in lit and there's a lot of stuff I NEED to read vs stuff I WANT to read vs writing vs time for everything else. I wish I could savor everything but sometimes I get so tired I just want to do something that doesn't have anything to do with lit but then I feel horribly guilty. What should I do then? Should I learn speed reading? Is it, in my particular case, justified to read summaries for some of this stuff? I don't think I'd ever grow to hate literature like a lot of other students I know, but sometimes I feel like I made a terrible decision by studying something I love, although I truly wish to publish my own work one day and this has definitely helped me grow as a writer.

>>4644115
You can't possibly read three hundred pages of complex philosophy in one day and retain all of it.

Bloom recognizes patterns, but he can't into jouissance. I shit on him.

>>4644124
Making yourself read it faster than is comfortable so you can get it "done with", is a grantee you'll enjoy it less.

>>4644133
I never went to college, so, heh, can't really help here, but that's one of the major reasons I think the system is whacked.

You have no choice but to read faster than you'd like or use notes. Take solace in knowing you can always revisit a book properly.

>>4644137
You're confusing a philosophical treatise with literature. There's some overlap between the two but they are very much not the same thing and definitely not what's under discussion here.

And you're also confusing my motivation for finishing a book quicker with a fictitious one pulled out of your on-Bloom-shitting ass. "understand" is what I might, but wouldn't, say, while "get it 'done with'" is what you'd have me say.

Idk about you but to me Bloom seems jouissant as fuq here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLBXe3z9zx8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

>>4644137
>jouissance
You use that word in every post you make. What gives?

>>4644159
She has a Word of the Month calendar

>>4644159
It's everything /lit/ isn't

>>4644149
>You're confusing a philosophical treatise with literature. There's some overlap between the two but they are very much not the same thing and definitely not what's under discussion here.

Literature is just "writing" with fancier connotations. Leftist literature isn't stories.

Bloom isn't because he criticizes the joy others get out of literature he doesn't like.

>>4644176
A pamphlet about a certain brand of cat food is just "writing" with fancier connotations. I don't know what you're saying.

Apparently that Word a Month calendar has failed you. If he criticizes someone else's enjoyment, that doesn't mean he himself gets less enjoyment (jouissance) out of reading. lel

>>4644193
>A pamphlet about a certain brand of cat food is just "writing" with fancier connotations. I don't know what you're saying.
Pamphlets are actually often referred to as literature. "Subversive literature". We use the word because it refers to an interest, so it's more specific. When you are interested in reading as a hobby, it tends to be something more substantial.

If he says his enjoyment is more valid, then he's not building his enjoyment on jouissance. He's building it off believing his enjoyment is more special.

>>4644203
Enjoyment = jouissance. You just said he's not building his enjoyment off enjoyment. And you are making assumptions impossible to validate or even consider the real plausibility of. You're pretending to know what are his interior reasons for enjoying something.

>>4644203
To elaborate: if I have sex with someone, and then you have sex with someone, and I say my session was superb and you tell me that yours was heavenly, and then I go on to tell you that you are wrong and that all your enjoyment is invalid and awful, then just how authentic would you think my sexual enjoyment was?

>>4644213
>Enjoyment = jouissance

Not really. The latter is something far deeper and intense, closer to ecstasy.

>>4644214
I like that you use sex as an example
Are you aiming to be a further whittling of my toothpick bedpost? It can be arranged.

First I'd like to see where he said that about enjoyment being illegitimate or whatever, otherwise we're just discussing about nothing. Not that ours is a discussion especially about something.

>>4644228
"Can more than 35 million book buyers, and their offspring, be wrong? Yes, they have been, and will continue to be for as long as they persevere with Potter."

>>4644230
I don't see anything referent to enjoyment, jouissance. He could have been talking about a book's literary or artistic merit.

>>4644239
He's saying their enjoyment of the book is wrong.

>>4644245
Where does he refer to, directly or indirectly, enjoyment?

>>4644228
>Fancy Feast
>not based Tasty Treasures

>>4644246
In the article he objects to favorable "judgement" it upsets him that children are "beguiled" and that they prefer this "fantasy", he's upset that parents and children "desire" to read this.

All indications of enjoyment.

>>4644250
>meatforyourpussy.jpg

>>4644256
Link to article?

Accepting your parallel between sex and reading (which I dont) and assuming he did mean to say the enjoyment of others reading pleblit (which he likely didn't), it still doesn't follow that his enjoyment would be any lesser for trying to delegitimize that of others (which, again, unlikely). If anything, and if we're taking wild stabs darkward, as we seem to be, about the workings of his personal mind, he might even enjoy it more and be more passionate about sharing his enjoyment of lit with a wider audience.

>>4644257
yes that was the joke; tasty treasures are meat and cheese
how old are you

Not as much as I usually do. I've been stressed out by relationship drama and can't focus on anything.

>>4644268
http://www.writersreps.com/feature.aspx?FeatureID=173

Joussaince is the French word for orgasm, so you might want to consider the parallel.

It is difficult to believe that he enjoys books so much that he completely forgets himself in their pleasure, then tells others that joy on that magnitude is not acceptable unless it's with what he enjoys.

>>4644271
Cheese for your pussy doesn't sound right...

>>4644295
Jouissance means enjoyment, a shade of which is sexual enjoyment, so the enjoyment of an orgasm, not it itself. But whatever.

I will check out the article, and look into and thank you for the recs, and possibly if the thread is still around continue this conversation later, but it's nearly 7am and I'm insane with tiredness and afraid these dark circles under my eyes might get permanent. Ta

>>4644337
No, it also literally used to mean "orgasm". Foucault makes a pun involving a handjob with it in The History of Sexuality. French connotations are a lot stronger than English connotations (for instance, "bourgeois" meaning middle-class, but it can also mean "mediocre" class; so bourgeois food can be mean "mediocre food" without really having anything to do with economics).

>I will check out the article, and look into and thank you for the recs, and possibly if the thread is still around continue this conversation later, but it's nearly 7am and I'm insane with tiredness and afraid these dark circles under my eyes might get permanent. Ta

Okay. And...Anon? please stop thinking of women as conquests. I know it doesn't hurt anyone but it makes me sad.

>>4644295
there are a lot of french words for orgasm
one of them is just orgasme

>>4644369
Orgasme connotes intense excitement, jouissance connotes ecstasy.

I read half of End Zone by Don DeLillo which is really very good and an obvious inspiration for Infinite Jest but didn't read as much as I would have liked because of work and being glum about it so sleeping a lot.

>>4644357
>please stop thinking of women as conquests

I was mostly saying that stuff coz your name is feminister and I wanted to mess with you. I don't really thinq that way ... so much

>>4644010
i read 450 pages of zuckerman bound, the entirety of rabbit, run, and probably like the last 100 pages or so of V

i've had a lot of shit to do every day but thursday. i managed to get through like 320 pages of zuckerman bound on thursday, though admittedly it has larger type than what i read on other days.

>>4644387
Okay.Then your toothpick is forgiven, Anon.

>>4644010

I'm normally reading a book a week but this week I was in my parents cabin in the mountains so I was to tired, I still read some 150~ pages though (reading Grapes Of Wrath right now)

I never stop reading. Every single time I browse I keep reading word after word. It's the eternal cycle of reading.

Then in the street I never keep hearing. Every single time I walk, I keep hearing, word after word after word.

So the question is not what kept me from reading / hearing, but rather, why am I still reading / hearing.

>>4644400
No one gives a fuck you dumb queer.

>>4644669

reading anime-loving faggots on a pervert network (4chan) doesn't really count as reading by OP's sense of the word's use.

I haven't red more than twenty pages this week. had to deal with some tests and shit monday to thursday, and on friday I rediscovered my enjoyment of South Park. So a combination of rudimentary geometry and foul-mouthed fourth graders impeded my reading. On the upside Matt and Trey seem to have finally regained their enthusiasm for satire. some wonderful arcs this season, and the finale was top-ten tier.

>>4644710

>>>/tv/

>>4644721
>not righting what you think as you think it
Shit's fun. You can almost see my train of thought derail and get off topic.

>>4644731
*writing*

>>4644733

*watching television*
*visiting 4chan*
*still not realizing what a fag you are*

>>4644756
>television
I watch a few shows from my computer, fuck me if I'm gonna drop 600 dollars on a TV.

>>4644795
wow u r so much bettr than the rest of us.

*worships*

>>4644811
>

>>4644795

that's even worse than watching tv
you actually watch tv shows on a computer
of all the other interesting things uploaded everyday on the internet
youre a fag arent you haha

>>4644821
see
>>4644816

>>4644821
faggot