/lit/ - Literature

"My collection so far."

>go to reddit

why would I do that

>>4852223

all the books that this redditor has read in 2013.

Almost complete collection of Barnes & Noble "Leatherbound" Classics
http://imgur.com/a/96Ycn

>>4852231
>http://imgur.com/a/96Ycn
to be fair, compared to all the harry potter, stephen king and eragon that's not so bad

>>4852209
>alcohol book ends

this is actually a pretty good idea

>>4852270
>jack daniels
this is not a good idea

>>4852239
>http://imgur.com/a/96Ycn

*tips fedora*

>>4852231
like a couple are good. but holy shit he barely reads

>>4852209
>all those shit tier math for dummies textbooks
Are you anon somehow disabled? Maybe try yourself in art or sth.

>>4852231
>Harold Pinter - Plays 1
Better taste than anyone on /lit/

>>4852322
better go to reddit to ask the guy.

>>4852317
>almost a book a week
>long-ass books at that
>"he barely reads!"

>>4852343
>not reading a book a day

>>4852223

>>4852223
do you live on a ship m8

>>4852231
>Penguin Classics edition of Morrissey
kill me

>>4852552
b-b-but where is the shelfs?

>>4852570
It's on the floor. He used a sideways lamp.

>>4852231
not a single spin cracked or show of wear on corners

calling BS

>>4852597
Sorry if you don't take care of your books.

>>4852570

>>4852601
That looks like an excellent way to fuck up the bottom books spine

http://imgur.com/a/LFrWL
>>4852601
tacky as shit

>>4852600
nigga that shit looks like it was jut bought off amazon or B&N. Even basic handling is going to wear down the corners but all of them look perfectly pointed.

Unless he did all that read at home and never brought them anywhere that shits impossible.

>GRRM absolutely everywhere

>>4852611
>Unless he did all that read at home and never brought them anywhere
Well, that's how i read 75% of my books …
It's very possible.

"Quality over quantity when it comes to my bookshelf"

Reddit gives plebe a whole new meaning

In a couple of weeks I'll be putting up shelves like this.

>>4852625
dude what
why is dfw next to harry potter and stephen king

>>4852629
{spoiler] no discernible talent [/spoiler]

>>4852626
that chair looks cozy as fuck

>>4852615
tfw Melville died almost forgotten and poor and this old retard will have millions, luckily shotguns are cheap

>>4852626
Living in a place like that would make me nervous. Like I'm always sitting in a therapist's office.

>>4852637
It's an Eames Lounge Chair.

>>4852646
>Checks price
God damn it. So that's how much comfort cost.

>>4852650
There are of course cheap chinese knock offs.

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=eames+lounge+chair+with+ottoman+replica&catId=&initiative_id=SB_20140504100211

http://imgur.com/a/BMkNS
the best so far.

>>4852659
>http://imgur.com/a/BMkNS
my sides

>>4852659
>>4852664
>first image has a chain-mail gas mask

Nope, don't need to go further. We are done. Winner.

>>4852659
>See picture
>mfw
>Click user name to see more pictures
>Drawings of cartoon horses
>Why am I not surprised

>>4852659
How can such a manchild possibly make enough money to afford all this?

>>4852552
that actually looks cool but it seems really inconvenient

>>4852676
http://imgur.com/a/PWIbh
the man himself

>>4852659
>all of those decorator books with huge goldleaf text and fragile bindings

it's even more a shame that publishers print "name-drop" books with shine to them just so people can show off the books they idealize but never read

>>4852625
I liked cat's cradle.

>>4852685
You sacrifice the bottom book then it just becomes a regular bookshelf. The fact that you ruin one of the books ruins it for me. I think a regular bookshelf looks better anyways.

>>4852696
And that's not bad, but when Vonnegut is the only author in your collection of any literary merit, you have a problem.

>>4852613
>keeping books under the TV
Why

>>4852690
>Stupid Doctor Who scarf
Why do they always like Doctor Who?

>>4852700
>You sacrifice the bottom book then it just becomes a regular bookshelf.
Are you dense? there's simply metal plates that the bottom book's pages rest on top of and the bottom cover hides, and the bottom cover is help up with magic tape.

>>4852708
It's British and the last two doctors looked like hipsters

Some might even confuse it with high-brow sci-fi

>>4852712
>sci-fi
>high-brow
pick one

>>4852709
Yeah, I bet the spine looks great after.
I'd never put tape on my books either.

Use a bookshelf.

http://imgur.com/a/cE0A1#VVaNdOz

*kisses rosary*

Oh God! You're making me feel SO ECSTATIC!

>>4852717
I wasn't defending the decision, I was just saying that you don't have to sacrifice a book to do it.

Bookshelfs look far more patrician

Without this place you would fall there too!

>>4852725
what is r/literature

http://i.imgur.com/IpVyDac.jpg

What the fuck is up with these obviously manufactured, flashy colorful hardback versions of classics? They're meant to aesthetically appear from opposite sets, but also to match? What the fuck is that all about?

>>4852722
Not him, but you still have to sacrifice in the sense that you've condemned that book to be a bookshelf.

What if I want to leaf through it quickly to find a certain passage or something? I have to take down my entire bookshelf and rebuild it. Sounds way more convenient than just pulling it from a shelf.

I stand by the belief that all these "modern" bookshelves look retarded. There's nothing modern about books. It's a dying format and the the unique thing about books is how classic they are. So present them classically. Shit like pic related looks fucking awful.

http://imgur.com/a/6zQdM

>>4852730
attempt to mirror the class leather-bound look while maintaining a sense of individuality and attention?

http://imgur.com/tYVUqXM
A to-read list.

>>4852730
Am I wrong if I think they look quite nice?
I'd never use them in my own bookshelf, I prefer subdued colours and busy/flashy spines like that steal far too much attention away from the other books on the shelf.

But I think if I had an entire shelf full of books like that it'd look quite nice.

>>4852737
Obviously, but how broken is our culture that books are meant to be an aesthetic appeal to the owners intelligence?

>>4852745
Don't judge a book by it's cover, but do judge a man by the covers of his books.

>>4852745
Books have always been used as a way to show off, intelligence aside. You've never walked into any historical library and been amazed at the beauty. There's a book store near Harvard that just blew me away. A fucking book store!

My only gripe with the B&N collections is they look rather tacky.

>>4852733
I agree

>>4852744
Sure, they do have some aesthetic appeal, but the point of books isn't to "look nice", now is it? I wouldn't even want to read one of those, because if the spine gets a crease or damage of any sort, then it's worthless for what makes it special, right? And what's the point ultimately in having a book that isn't meant to be read?

So go ahead, like how they look, but that's besides the point. They suck because they've become a hyperrealistic, corporate-controlled self expression and mockery of the form. There is nothing more human, and thus disgusting, than displaying books for aesthetics.

>>4852552
>structures

lol i get it

>>4852659
>http://imgur.com/a/BMkNS
>that one Vonnegut book surrounded by shitty fantasy

If books had feelings, that one would probably kill itself

>>4852715
:^)

>>4852748
I judge a man by whether he's read his books, and the authors and ideas in those books.

>>4852751
I get this, but the expression has become warped. It's become mass produced and flattened. It's like drinking diet Sprite soda; you're addicted to the soda but any semblence of content that matters is gone. It's the epitome of hollow self-expression, of a conveyor-belt fast-track road to appearances.

>>4852736
>http://imgur.com/a/6zQdM

Seems like a fun idea but stacking books on top of each other is a pain if you want to read anything buried.

>>4852715
>hating genre fiction
>2014

>>4852753
Oh, no I agree. I can be picky about the covers of my books, I want my shelf to look nice BUT there is no point to a book that cannot be read.

I'd never buy one of those $200 collector's hardbacks for example, what's the fucking point? I just want a nice book at a nice price, and hopefully with a nice cover that will look good on the shelf when I'm done.

>>4852762
I would honestly rather talk to a hipster who steals those B&N hardbacks and decorates his place to show off how nice his books are and how little he reads them, than someone who genuinely buys those because the simple idea that they are "good books" and he wants "good books" in his "collection"

>>4852762
I can sorta agree there. Certainly there is a bit of nuance that is lost when collections are made up of products produced to look classy over say a collection of first editions and leather bounds.

And don't knock diet sprite. that's my stepping stone off caffeine and sugar whenever I start to binge drink soda.

>>4852772
I knew a guy from a wealthy family who had shit like Odyssey and Beowulf filling his bookshelf. I couldn't help but start talking about them and specific parts of the books.

His complete inability to discuss any of the books he owned as funny as hell.

>>4852771
Honestly I wouldn't mind either if the covers tried to show some form of unity. It's the fact that each cover varies so much in some weird attempt to impress an idea of eclecticism. They're OBVIOUSLY the same collection, so why do they try to hide it? Is there some embarrassment in admitting you bought a bunch of classics from B&N because you grew up in a household devoid of intellect and wanted to play catchup?

At least collections of Penguin classics don't deny themselves. They're decent quality, and fit together, and that's all they are. They have no purpose in trying to impress, they serve their role as books.

>>4852795
>Is there some embarrassment in admitting you bought a bunch of classics from B&N because you grew up in a household devoid of intellect and wanted to play catchup?

Tfw this was me and I'm still playing catch up on movies, TV, vidya, and books because my childhood was sheltered.

>>4852715
>>sci-fi
>>high-brow
>pick one
Well if you insist, here's my pick.

>>4852695
>>4852730

I wonder if there is a market for designing fancy hardcover of classic novels that are actually just hollow boxes that look like real books when you fill up a bookshelf with them.

Sell them for like $10 each, fill up your shelf with fancy classics and look intelligent without the expensive price and heavy weight of real books.

>>4852822

>>4852807
As long as you're self aware and act to improve yourself, then there's no embarrassment in that. In fact, I applaud your sincerity in a world that's so afraid of the truth

>>4852822
Yes, those exist.

>>4852343
they're shit, though.

>>4852552
>game of thrones

>>4852608
oh my

>>4852659
It's pretty lame, but "I love books." is what pushes it over for me.

>>4852760
Did you see Hamlet? It'd definitely kill itself.

>>4852704
He scratches the surface of literature, which is not to say he's bad, but he's nowhere near the more serious authors. But I enjoy him unironically.

>>4852659
>http://imgur.com/a/BMkNS
>Gray's Anatomy

OH HOLY SHIT

>>4852659
This is the best proof ever that stupid faggots + money is a bad combination

>>4852812
I agree

>>4852625
>Pearl Jam
I died.

>>4852717
>Yeah, I bet the spine looks great after.
>I'd never put tape on my books either.

Am I the only one who prefers books that are all beat up? New books make me uncomfortable.

>>4852743
Wait, the top right area is not so bad.

>tfw you post a picture of your bookshelf to r/bookshelf
>gets completely ignored
>no one even wants to talk about the easy books you have

meanwhile the Stephen King collector's club gets all the damn upvotes, ffs. At least when I posted them on /lit/ people engaged enough to call me faggot, etc. Some people even had constructive things to say.

Redditors may seem polite but a lot of them are dicks inside.

>>4852343

> a book a week
> supposed to be impressive

So he read thirty books, at an average of 350 (est) pages each in a year which means he read a whopping 28 pages a day and you are actually impressed by this?

>>4852223
>organizing books by color spectrum.

I...don't hate it. I know I should but god, I really like the way it looks.

>>4854659

fuck them

>>4854659
You don't understand,conversation will not net me le upboats. heaven forbid [christian trigger warning, oh wait Christians are oppressors literally incapable of being oppressed} that any of the books in your collection are not sex positive or disregard critical theory
captcha:edspen sacrament

>>4852597
Knew when to stop too, didn't cut the pages

>>4852659
Hey, I've got that same Charles Dickens collection.

>>4852209
>"For Dummies" math books
I mean it's good that he's trying to learn math but there are much better resources.

>>4852659
The comments are gold too. They actually envy the guy.

>>4852659
>Chain mail gas mask
>Anime sword
>portal gun
>GRRM
>eragon
>smeagol statue
>an actual collection of terry brooks books
>an actual collection of stephen king books
>Da Vinci Code
>random junk fantasy books
>Barnes and Nobles Leatherbound classics
>JURASSIC PARK LEATHERBOUND
>JURASSIC PARK LEATHERBOUND
>JURASSIC PARK LEATHERBOUND
>Graphic novels
>A small collection of decent paperback novels with ZERO CRACKED SPINES
wait wait wait

can't be a neckbeard without
>The Art of War

Jesus fucking shitstain. How can any be this seriously autistic? You're all absolved /lit/, you're all bumped up at least 2 points after seeing this

>>4852510
Laughed

>>4855706
Whats wrong with the art of war?

>>4854872
The idea that you would ever let anyone know you might own a For Dummies book is so absurd to me that I honestly think this photo was staged.

>>4855719
It rhymes with "The Fart of War"

>>4855719
What's good about it? It's a short and mostly uninteresting collection of military advices of dubious nature. Are you going to war? If not, why should you care? It's pretty neckbeard to strategize hypothetically about combat or to draw analogies to social life from a book on war

http://imgur.com/a/OIRBE#8kzG37z

Holy shit, now that collection looks good

>>4855730
>>4855724
Shouldn't it be appreciated for its classical nature? anyway armchair generals gonna general

>>4855719
On it's own, or in a book shelf with other great classic works, nothing.

In the shelf of someone with all of the stuff mentioned above? Edgy McEdgemaster III. It was probably only bought of a superficial interest in the topic of war (as evidenced by the Chain mail gas mask).

>>4854576
>Am I the only one who prefers books that are all beat up?

Nope, most of my paperback books have cracked spines. I even have a copy of Braudel's "A History of Civilizations" that I had to patch together with some packing tape. Fuckin' Penguin.

But everything you own and use should have a bit of wear and tear, dirty shoes, creased book spines, stained tabletops... such things have been 'well loved'. Pristine objects with a patina of dust are a sign of neglect.

>>4855748
Read
>>4855754
It's not a bad book inherently, but like he said, the context is what makes it stupid

>>4852322
Quotation marks are used to quote a person other than the author. In this example, it's used to quote a redditor.

You see, OP asked us to go to reddit and bring something back. Upon doing do, our friendly anon brought back this lovely nugget. :^)

>>4855759
Which sort of penguin? Most paperback penguins I have hold up fairly well

>>4855763
Penguin publishing. Frankly I just threw that out there because people bitch a bunch about Penguin books.

I've been reading and re-reading that book for years, taken it to all kinds of places and shown it all sorts of abuse. A bit of tape after all that isn't unreasonable to be honest.

>>4854677
Yes, for people who have lives outside the internet that is a lot to balance with work and the kids.

>>4852659
A-At least he has War and Peace aaaaaaall the way down there.

...unused...

>>4855773
To be fair, I counted four Will Self books in there. If that article of his is any indication, you could get by reading only every tenth word he writes.

>>4855745
Those books look uncomfortable to hold.

>>4854659
>Redditors may seem polite

Yeah, we know. This is the main criticism with Redditors. They feign politeness and comradery in order to gain a moral or social high ground.

Just think: would Reddit be as popular as it is right now if it didn't have upvotes and karma? Absolutely not. Interestingly enough, all of their conversations are exactly the way they are (stagnant, punny, verbose, and "nice") because they don't want their comment to result in downvotes and thus tossed, simply because of unpopularity.

That's one of the great things about 4chan. We have nothing to gain or lose save what we can take out of a conversation. There may be a lot of dicks here, but that's only because they're honest. And I think that should be valued far more than the popularity contests that stems from every single topic on Reddit.

>>4855801
explain tripfriends then :^)

>>4855801
It's because "MUH INTERNET POINTS" matters so people revocalize to appeal to majority opinion

>>4855805
Tripfags don't have a score by their name that lets everyone know what the general opinion of them is

>Small collection of a first year English lit and philosophy student.

http://imgur.com/a/LFrWL

>>4855823
>Alien Quadrilogy

I'm literally throwing up irl.

>>4855823
>http://imgur.com/a/LFrWL
Yo, he read the FUCK out of A Christmas Carol.

>>4852794
Why? Are you expecting everyone you meet to have an academic understanding of every book he owns? Patricians read Beowulf and Homer for fun the same way plebs read shitty fantasy novels.

This thread worries me. I usually read any book I can for free, and thus don't have much of a book shelf. How will people know how patrician I am ;_;?

>>4855840

They won't know, and you shouldn't care that they don't know.

Only a non-patrician would want to show off that they're a patrician.

>>4852719
What is fuck's name is this? Unless he teached some kind of theology, this is NOT NORMAL!

Also, he's undoubtly one of these guys who reads Lord of the Rings as a catholic themed book.

>>4854659
I-I can upboat your bookshelf for you anon

>>4855957
This is no worse than collecting stamps or coins or baseball cards or whatever.

I wish this guy all the best.

>>4855942
>Unless he teached some kind of theology, this is NOT NORMAL!

>Theists
>Normal

>>4855961

>>4855967

>>4855957
nice. Good looking collection of good books.

Bit out of place in this thread though …

>>4855960

>>4852719
10/10 patrician-tier

>>4855942
>the biggest thing that comes to mind when I evaluate someone is how they would read Lord of the Rings

Plebus maximus

>>4855957
I can't see a thing wrong with trying to collect every peice of a certain release.

It's the same with any kind of collecting