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/lit/ - Literature

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4683324 No.4683324[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Can you guys recommend some non-shit romantic literature? I'm not talking like romantic period literature, but literature that emphasizes and tells a story of people in love.

I would assume most of the genre is pure cancer, but is there nothing that shows two people falling in love that doesn't resort to either Twilight-level petty romance (some girl who has no social skills being the envy of the whole school), or the sad fantasies of middle aged women who can't get off (ie, 50 shades)?

I know this is a weird request, but I never hear anything like this discussed on /lit/.

>> No.4683338

I've often wondered why there aren't more romances with male appeal. Can't really help you though.

>> No.4683337

>>4683324
wuthering heights
romeo & juliet

>> No.4683341

>>4683337
R&J is probably the most overrated piece of literature in the western civilisation.

>> No.4683344

>>4683338
Social conditioning

>> No.4683362

The Sorrows of Young Werther
Nevsky Prospekt
Notes from Underground

Get back to me when you've finished these

>> No.4683367

>>4683344
This.

Apparently, masculinity doesn't equate to love. Which is sad, because its something we all crave, whether we're man or woman.

>>4683337
What about other "English" novels? I couldn't stand when my sister used to watch these television remakes of these novels, and that has sort of made me wary of reading the novels.

>> No.4683387

>>4683338
what are garbage Arthurian romances? sword fighting and other dumb shit for your manly neckbeard appeal

>> No.4683393
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4683393

>>4683387
Are you assuming the only masculine perception of love is sword and sorcery based?

>> No.4683394

>>4683387
Way to project a ton of bullshit onto me. Also, women arguably like the Arthurian legends more than men do.

>> No.4683410

>>4683362
The Sorrows of Young Werther is too much for anyone who is even slightly self-aware in their romantic inclinations.

Was perfect for my yearning 15 year old self, but thinking back on it now, it's pretty ridiculous.

>> No.4683455

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (don't watch the movie)

>> No.4683475

>>4683394
sorry bruv part of the package if you want your muh manly appeal
and arguably that is irrelevant. It's perception is male not female, it has "male appeal" with its chivalry, sword fighting and other manly/neckbeard bullshit.

>>4683393
I didn't imply anything, all I did disprove the myth that men can't into romance. But it's a worthy idea to consider imho. why are men so emotionally retarded?

>> No.4683504

>>4683475
>why are men so emotionally retarded?

This is an egregiously generalized statement. What proof, other than your shitty anecdotes do you have that men are emotionally retarded on a whole?

Perhaps its not that men have an immature view of romance; rather, that our society culturally does not respect any other sort romantic output from men besides a typical medieval fantasy novel.

>> No.4683586

>>4683324
Pure romance is generally not very good. There's no real plot so all the conflict has to come from shitty love triangles, the characters acting like retards, etc. "Forced drama"
>>4683338
Japan has a whole industry for it, and it's probably a factor in why their birth rate is so low.

>> No.4683604

>>4683324
William Saroyan has some very simple romances.
like: he thought she was pretty, so he asked her to lunch. She liked his smile, so she said yes. They enjoyed lunch so much, they moved in together. He was glad she would be the mother of his son.
Like that but a bit more fleshed out.
For the life of me, I cannot remember any of them except The Laughing Matter, which doe snot have a happy ending.
Try some of his early short stories.

>> No.4683644

Lolita.

>> No.4684061

Finding alaska. Great book but really short

>> No.4684067

>>4683324
Jane Eyre, not even kidding.

>that distortion of "love"
>that realistic application
>that subtle feminism
Seriously, it's a good book.

>> No.4684083
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4684083

>>4684061

>YA

>> No.4684090

Tess of the Durbervilles or whatever it is

>> No.4684095

>>4684061
Looking for alaska not finding alaska

>> No.4685436

"I Knocked up Satan's Daughter" by Carlton Mellick III.

>> No.4685440

>>4683324
not classically great examples but i really enjoy the romantic elements of the sun also rises and the count of monte cristo

>> No.4685444

Love in the Time of Cholera

Here's a favorable review from Pynchon on the book (it does contain spoilers): http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/18/reviews/pynchon-cholera.html

>> No.4685483

Middlemarch is the best thing I've read that I'd call romance.