/lit/ - Literature

Insecure slave mentality autistic drivel.
Be a man and read whatever the fuck you want.

>>6389981
Holy christ, OP. Kill yourself. Also why/how would you read a Spanish language title without being conversational in Spanish?

Great tips, I would also add that you shouldn't read those "fancy" hardcover books like the Barns & Noble harcovers because it just screams, "Look at me, I'm so fancy."

>>6390002
they're also a pain to carry around. and earphones/headphones are essential for the person that doesn't want to be interrupted while reading

>>6389981
Good tips. Saved.

>>6389981

Thanks, OP. I'll try it out tomorrow and see how it goes.

>>6389981
>2. Don't read any texts that might be considered "foundational", reading Homer or Shakespeare in public just screams "I started taking reading seriously this month".

You can actually get away with this by having post-it stickers in the book and by using a pencil to make notes and underline passages (it doesn't matter which ones, usually) because people just assume that you're really studying it for school.

>>6389981
I have this huge collection of Chekhov short stories. Does that work for this activity?

>>6389981
Thanks OP, you just made my life much easier
MODS PLEASE STICKY THIS

>>6390026
Which edition? P&V translations are the Hollister T-Shirts of public reading

Don't read in public.
It's awkward. People try to talk to you about it.
A girl in my class asked me what I was reading and I'm there trying to explain to her who freud is and I'm thinking, I wish I just left the book at home and we could talk about something else, because she just wanted to talk, but doesn't know who freud is, so now it's mad akward.

Or you get the other faggots who see you reading McCarthy and are all like oh he's so good man and I'm thinking, no actually he ain't all that.

I've stopped reading in public and suddenly all my class mates talk to me more. Just read at home in private, when it's quiet.

My favourite place to read is this abandoned hotel near where I live. I go there when it's sunny and sit on the roof. No one bothers you there.

>>6390038
>P&V translations are the Hollister T-Shirts of public reading

fuggggg :^)

would you suggest a better translator? I want to look smart to the public, especially to any 15/10 azn qts that may be watching.

>>6390039
>Girl not knowing who Freud is
She's worthless. Reading in public helped you weed her out as a potential mate.

>>6390039
>People try to talk to you about it
Really? People just ignore me when I am reading in public. That's all right though, who likes to be interrupted while reading


I actually do, I am lonely as fuck

>>6390039
Agreed completely. One time, I was reading IJ, and some guy asked me what it was about. I was about ~100 pages in, so I had literally no way of cohesively and concisely explaining the novel without sounding like an autist or a pedantic literary snob. it's especially annoying when you can't tell how the other person wants to discuss the book; when some guy asks "What's this about xD," you're not quite sure whether to assume he wants to know about plot, themes, characters, aesthetics, or a combination of these things

>>6389981
8/10 satire good job

>>6389981
>Resist the urge to read books in languages you don't speak

lel

>>6390047
This one's great, though never-ever read short story collections on public transit, having to stop reading midway through a short story makes you look like a dilettante

>>6390079
on a sincere level, thanks for the rec. I don't know russian, so I obviously have no idea who does the best job of translating his stuff.

>tfw too anxious to read in public

Any tips on protecting my book from my sweat?
Last time, I ruined my copy of Lolita with my sweaty hands and now it's all smudged.

>>6390094
Keep your spaghetti in ziplock bags, that way if you spill them you won't get sauce stains on the pages

>>6390094
Wear something that obscures your face like giant sunglasses and a bandana

>>6390094
>Lolita
As much as I like the novel, you need to be careful in your choice of reading, anon.

See >>6389981's 2 and 3. Lolita is the worst of both worlds; not only is it entry level (much more so than, say, Ada or Ardor or Pale Fire), but also, Nabokov has this strong image of intellectualism, and reading him will make you look like an autistic pedant. You can't expect to get mad qt pussy while reading Lolita, dude.

>6. Perhaps the most important tip: Try to look like you don't care if people notice that you're reading or not. One easy way to do this is to obscure the title of the book with your hand.

This is a quality tip but sometimes I want people to see the title just for a moment so they appreciate not only the fact that I read but also know of my good taste. I've found this to be especially important on campuses where there might be two or even three other people reading in public.

What are so good ways to get a quick title flash in? I used to check my phone and lay the book across my lap, but then it looks like I'm not really interested in the book I'm reading.

I just find a discrete corner in the library and read there. No one ever bothers me.

>this thread
Jesus Christus, are you really so insecure?

>>6390142
le post-post-irony faec

>>6390142

We're not insecure. We just realize that socialization and communication are parts of being a human and that act of reading books shouldn't be an exception to that.

>>6389981
well memed my friend

>>6389981
Holy shit what are you 5? Who cares what people think about what you read in public. How insecure could you possibly be?

>>6390153
>We just realize that socialization and communication
You socialize with complete strangers that might just look at you for a second and then move on?

>>6390165

>Who cares what people think about what you wear in public.
>Who cares what people think about how you smell in public.
>Who cares what people think about what you say in public.

>>6390173
>Dressing like a retard, smelling like shit, and saying dumb things are all comparable to reading a simple book and public and shutting out the thoughts that others might be thinking

>>6390094
>>6390117
also its awkward if someone asks what its about

>>6390117
>You can't expect to get mad qt pussy while reading Lolita, dude.

You're wrong. Lolita is good because it gives off that edgy i-don't-give-a-fuck vibe.
Especially if you don't try to hide your boner.

>>6390169
You are still sending a message about yourself and you want that message to say, "I am a well-read individual and am not pretentious about it." It may be hard for you to realize with your Aspergers, but in that one second where another person looks at you, they can pick up on a lot of info about you. If that info is positive, your reputation will be positive and that person may even use your book as a conversation starter, a conversation which can lead to you two into being good intellectual partners.

>>6390180

It does though. Books are very important and the types of books you read and how you read it says a lot about you.

>>6390195
yeah, but so does listening to Linkin Park and shit like that. Point is, edginess doesn't necessarily imply you're a hot bad boy, it just connotes that you're a bit of an outcast.

>>6390208
>You are still sending a message about yourself and you want that message to say, "I am a well-read individual and am not pretentious about it.
No. They are strangers, I will likely never meet them again. I give exactly 0 bothers about how they judge me/

>>6390233

If this is the way you think about your fellow human beings, I feel very sorry for you.

>>6390244
Well thanks for your concern, buddy. Keep being paranoid about what opinions passerbies form of you.

Sometimes I think I find internet fights too entertaining

>>6390216
No, it implies social confidence. It implies you're comfortable with your sexuality and not afraid to show your manhood.

>>6390263
It implies you're a philistine, read some Chivalric romance and audibly moan with pleasure during the courting scenes

>>6390263
I think to some people, reading Lolita imples that you might be a pedophile

>>6390290
get a load of this pleb

>>6390306
>some people

Some people are plebs

>>6390180
with that attitude i bet you do only read simple books

>>6390407
i bet you only read gay erotica

>>6390411
i bet you enjoy cuckolding

>>6390414
i bet you wear a funny hat

>>6390420
i bet you have put a finger up your bumhole unironically

guide to reading outside;
> read outside

>>6390039
>Tfw no abondoned hotel roof nearby

>>6389981
If you're this insecure, just use an ereader and then no one can see what you're reading.

>>6390142
Yes

>>6390469
Why even bother reading in public if nobody can see what your reading?

>>6389981
>7. Make sure the book is right side up otherwise they will see through your charade at first glance.

ten/ten mods pls sticky

>>6390469
This. I read in public almost exclusively on my iPad so it looks like I'm browsing Facebook or playing angry birds

If you're reading a physical book in public, people will think you're a douchebag. People who read so much that it has to bleed into their public lives typically have kindles and just read on that. People who take physical books out into public are tryhards.

OP, I think you might be suffering from an anxiety complex, colloquialy more known as 'giving too many fucks'. Seriously, if you give so much shit about not looking like a poser, you're the biggest poser around. Please seek help. Other people in this thread too.

I read all sorts of shit in public transport - from fucking Terry Pratchet (back when I was 13), to De Sade, and guess what? People don't give even the slightest shit about you reading 99% of the time. One time, I was reading Kafka (whom I didn't really want to read, I think he's alright but not as great as the obnoxious pseudo-intellectual hipster faggots make him) and a girl came over to me and started and told me how she loves Kafka. So I got a date out of that. But it's the single instance in my life ever, in which I can remember my reading a book in public lead to any sort of important social interaction.

>>6389997
Not him but I can read Spanish literature and make conversation. I just cannot understand it when it's spoken

>>6390972

Oh forgot to mention, the Kafka was for a reading diary in school. Just in case if some of you fags might be perplexed, why I was reading him if I don't like him that much.

>>6389981
Cont'd

7. Pick the right book for the right environment. If you go to a liberal arts university or are a minority yourself, make sure you're reading something by an "opressed" author like Zadie Smith.

8. The more 'unique' or obscure the book, the less chance you have of being approached by a cutie of the opposite secks (do not try to get women to approach you by reading schlick-fic though, you will only seem like a beta)

9. The cover of the book is the single most important facet of reading in public, you are a display of high humanity when you do this, do not throw it all away by using an e-reader or browsing your phones, it would better to hang yourself

10. The more you care about books, the more tryhard and pretentious you seem, but the less you care about books, the dumber and more conformist and complacent you become.

11. If you read Vonnegut you are either automatically a fratbro, an airheaded woman, a highschool student, or all 3.

12. Be mindful of your environment. If you live in a blue collar coal mining town put your Bret Easton Ellis shit away, that is irrelevant if you want people to take you seriously, pick up Flannery O Conner's stories instead

13. Make sure you're dressed well and in good shape. No one cares what you're reading if you're a fat slob or in hood clothes, or even donning fuccboi apparel for that matter

14. The more difficult the book, the more pretentious as a general rule

15. If you read female authors and you are above the age of 21, you are pretty much a failure. Think back and determine what made you pick up books with less depth beyond a cursory exploration

16. The most acceptable thing you can read in public is nothing at all. That wouldn't be challenging any stutus quo, so invert that. What stirs people up and gets them to notice you? I personally like 10 Ways to Dismember a Corpse or the new Hustler with the centerfolds splayed, while I rotate the mag clockwise and cock a single brow of bemusement, though some of you would prefer something entry level like Mein Kampf or Lolita.

>>6391011
>11. If you read Vonnegut you are either automatically a fratbro, an airheaded woman, a highschool student, or all 3.
But I'm not a woman.

>>6390290
you can't not get somewhat of a hard-on during some of the scenes, I mean, come on, it's sensual as fuck, even if I'm disgusted at myself for being aroused at it. Though that pretty much all stops after about page 150 or something.

>>6391011

>10. The more you care about books, the more tryhard and pretentious you seem, but the less you care about books, the dumber and more conformist and complacent you become.
>doesn't realize the fucking irony in this

>>6390985
I like you. Sometimes i become too introspective and start to believe i'm a tryhard for reading in public. Sure, when i read in public i feel a bit self-conscious, but then who really cares at the end of the day? I'm just that dude reading a book with a pint. If people think i'm pretentious, why should i care?

>>6391949

Yeah you're right - I mean, I felt self-conscious several times when reading in public too, but that was back when I was still a bit of a beta. I seriously hope OP's trolling. But I have my doubts about that, since I know quite a few people who behave exactly like this, and not just when it comes to books - movies, music, you name it. The worst are the ones that try to pass it off as if they're somehow extremely artsy and unique, and just shove that shit into your face all the time.

>>6389981
I read American Sniper in public

>u wot m8

>>6389981
>reading in public
Why? It's usually distracting.

>>6390977
i have the same problem.
with english

>>6390039
>not liking McCarthy
Why?

>>6389981
Did anybody copy down that post about reading in public where the instructions were to spit on the ground and mutter every time something failed to impress you and to immediately throw the book into a bin after finishing it. That was probably one of the funniest things I've seen on /lit/.

>>6392173
I didn't, but I saw it too and yeah, could be one of the best /lit/ copypastas I've seen

>>6392204
>simply whisper said emotion under your breath
Fuckin lost

>Once you finish a book, make sure you look as displeased as possible . . .throw it in the bin if there's one to hand
Fuckin lost again, hard

>>6390117
>Nabokov has this strong image of intellectualism

No he doesn't

>>6390257
underrated post

>>6390025
i don't really want them to think i'm wasting my time with an english major or something tho

>>6390039
who the hell reads freud in 2015

>>6390038
kek. could someone elaborate on this?

>>6390029
>MODS PLEASE STICKY THIS
and >>6391011

>>6390054
I'll be there for you anon

>>6389981
Tips from an Adult.
1. Read whatever you ant wherever you want, no one cares what you read.

2. Choosing a book to read in public is flawed from the start, you are then performing not reading, a different process altogether.

3. In seeking to attract mates, performance is acceptable however its no different from dancing near prospective partners at a nightclub and you should not self elevate your actions any higher than this.

4. When you are reading in public, hide the cover. That way others like you, the only people who care, will be intrigued at your mystery.

5. Remember this wisdom. You are what you are, pretending you are which you are not only starts relationships with others socially and for mating several paces back from where they would start if you just said Hi and didn't try to play the part of the struggling intellectual who needs love.

>>6390096
this is /lit/, we don't carry spaghetti around, we vomit on girls like pic related, but who are prettier and less slutty

>>6389981
Insecurity intensifies.

>>6392173
>>6392205
Squint your eyes up. Every time you read something you don't like, mutter or possibly spit on the floor. If there's a good passage (which there won't be) nod and look into the distance. If something amusing happens (which it won't) DO NOT LAUGH. Laughing is specifically plebeian. Merely make a note of it in the margins or in a notebook you carry with you (you do, don't you? everyone does for this purpose)

If by any chance you should be moved to an emotion, don't allow it to influence your face AT ALL. Simply whisper said emotion under your breath.

Once you finish a book, make sure you look as displeased as possible, especially if it's a classic. You might want to throw it in the bin if there's one to hand. or give it to one of the higher plebs and say; "here, this looks like your kind of book" and derisively sneer.

addendum: make sure your wpm is no less than 500, your ppm no less than 3, and once you finish a chapter record these stats as well as time taken, number of people that looked at you reading absurdly fast, and number of times you muttered and spat during that section. This will help you keep track and ultimately ascend higher up the patrician ranks.

>>6389981

Man what kind of poser seriously writes a post like this? Is this is a joke?

>>6392798
it was already posted in its original format via lake superior jpg

>>6392608

>we
>we

g-g-guys this is m-my h-home now

thank y-y-you for making m-me feel a p-p-part of s-s-something

How have we entered "reading in public is weird" territory? How is it weird?

>>6390064
>pedantic literary snob
Just reveal your power level, it's always a good thing.

>>6390117
>You can't expect to get mad qt pussy while reading Lolita, dude.
but I once saw a qt in my class reading it
>>6391183
tbh the only part that really disgusted me was the part where HH sucked out the pus from Dolore's bug bite.

>>6390972
>But it's the single instance in my life ever, in which I can remember my reading a book in public lead to any sort of important social interaction.
But one of the most important ones.

>>6391058
But we wish we were.

>>6390977
I read in English and I cant speak it

>>6392803
of course you're part of something. I love you anon

Funny you should comment this on my uber hip bb reference, I recall someone else saying that his stories, the love and the hate they received, brought the board together in a weird way.

>>6392274

His culture-oriented works are still relevant imho, see "Civilization and Its Discontents".

>>6390025
>studying for school
toppest pleb

>>6393009
pleb feels so 2010 ,srsly disparaging slang has gotta get updated

>>6392204
Thanks for that.

>>6392846
Brownbear please leave

>>6393110
>Brownbear
You have been here too long.

>>6393131
That was true since day one

>>6393131

>go to a cafe to read
>eventually make friends with the people there
>when I go there to read they make conversation or get offended when I don't make conversation
>start going to a different cafe where I know nobody
Hell

>>6390039
If you don't want to talk about Freud, be very vague about him "oh he was the founder of psychoanalysis, I was just reading a passage which said ....... What do you think?" If you spend too long on someone they don't know, they'll think that's what you want to talk about
Example
>reading the last policeman
>"what would you do if you knew the world would end in a year?"

>>6390064
>"I'm not sure. So far... "
Keep it under a sentence

I thought this thread would be satiric, but sadly most people in here are serious.

>>6389981
>everyone around you is going to think you're a douche-bag poser

You mean like what this post reveals about you OP?

One day I was reading Pride and Prejudice in public and one girl approached to me.
Why is that? Maybe the title sounds intresting

In another hand, one day a saw a guy reading Dostoievski and he looks so pretentious and tryhard guy. I hated him

>>6391011

>
10. The more you care about books, the more tryhard and pretentious you seem, but the less you care about books, the dumber and more conformist and complacent you become.

That's because people just care to make you standard and feel insecure when someone feels passionate about something

>>6394066

You are just trying to rationalize simple stuff. You hate the dostoyevsky guy because of competition, if it were genuinely contempt what you felt you would have laughed at him and dismissed it, you wouldn't even remember it by now

>>6389981
>Critique of Pure Reason
>challenging
holy shit

>>6394105
famous for it's challenge =/= challenging

>>6394108
I don't think those are exclusive terms, actually.
Would you say that food that is famous for being spicy would be incorrectly categorized as spicy?

>>6389981
Real tips to read a book in public:

1.Get a book

2.Go in public

3.Read

>>6394153
Confirmed for not getting it. Stay plebian.

It's as if every autist on 4chan posted ITT!!!

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>6394159
I think he understands the overanalysis that is the theme of this thread, and that's why he's offered decidedly simplified advice.

>>6390039
God fucking autistic people just say that it doesn't have importance and talk her about something she could be interesting. Oh fuck it's not that difficult stoping being a virgin-austitic faggot man...

>>6394212
Sorry for the bad grammar btw, i was very angry with all those fucking autistic comments

Just read french writers.

>>6390064
A girl on a plane approached me once while I was reading The Corrections, which is a big, sprawling, convoluted book, and I just flat out told her "You sure you want to have this conversation? It's gonna get pretentious." She said it was okay, and we had a good time for the rest of the flight. She was reading a pretty good book herself, even.

Protip to all my EFL bros out there:

>live outside the Anglosphere
>read any book (except ASoIaF) in English
>people assume you're a well-educated cosmopolitan

Easy style points.

>>6390002
is this a seinfeld quote

I've always just read whatever in public and never been bothered.

Though lately been reading off my phone. So I guess that way people just assume I'm texting or playing games. Either way strangers leave me alone.

>>6394212
You are autistic because you clearly deluded yourself enough to think that all goes to trash when girl comes up to talk with you


Why read in public? If it's to pass free time while waiting something, then I think it's alright. But why read in public besides to visually announce to everybody that you are reading one, as if, "look here, I am reading a book on a bench in crowded street, your straggling rabble noise is nothing to my concentration!"?

>>6389981
>>6391011
best thread on /lit/ right now

>>6394532
You didnt understand nothing of what i writed. But nevermind, it is a troll thread.

>>6394281
>It's gonna get pretentious.
Oh God I'm fucking lmaoing

>>6392204
I laughed my ass off at this. Does that mean I'm a pleb?

>>6392173
>>6392205
Please may somebody post this? I'm already laughing.

>>6392204
>>6395172
Apologies - here it is.

>>6392811
>once saw a qt reading it
you are supposed to impress her

>>6389981
>If a talkative Spanish person catches you reading Fortunata y Jacinta the game is up.
Fuckin' died.

I was on a train making small talk with a nice qt girl sitting by me. I asked her if she reads, she does. I said I Just ordered a book off the Internet. she knows who DFW is and my pretentious English teacher doesn't.

that made my day.

>>6392077
But you're a pleb if you do this without open carrying.

>>6395210
>she knows who DFW is and my pretentious English teacher doesn't.

That's not a surprise. No one but hipsters and c/lit/s know who DFW is.

>>6395222
she is neither

I just assume people my age reading real obviously for free downloadable books in 2015 are retarded/pretentious

>>6395186
She was paying attention to the book because she wasn't reading in public to be pretentious, I didn't want to be rude, and I already had a gf [1].

[1] Not to say that I would only talk to her to get into her pants (though she was cute) and not make a literary friend, just that mostly I'm terrible at making new friends.

>>6395435
I don't have an ereader and I don't really plan on getting one.
I like to flip through books at times and I just prefer physical.
I only really use digital for ancient texts unavailable in a physical format.