/lit/ - Literature

1 think about what are you reading dont Just roll your eyes.
2 dont be dumb

Read Dune.

STEM autists love Dune.

>>6832137
>opie says he struggles with literature analysis
>Anon recs dune which is layered with analogies
Good job

>>6832086
Start with the Greeks

>>6832086
As a fellow stem major you basically need to learn to read, op. You are looking for answers, explanation, elucidation in literature that you would look for in a chemistry textbook. Literature and science require two entirely different reading methods.

>>6832149
Can we retire this meme already.

>>6832086
As bad as 1984 is, Orwell's literary analysis is not that bad. Read a few of them.

>>6832233
I'm backing up starting with the greeks as legitimate. pre-socratics. it's the fucking foundation of thought. reading from the pre-socratics to the 19th century germans improves everything you ever read and do afterwards, it's incredibly important.

>>6832249
>implying that thought hasn't morphed into other works and ages and we actually not meming have to read some boring dialogues where there are better and more modern version with appropriate language.

read pierre menard author of the quixote

>>6832257
What would you recommend? I mean, it is the entire point of the thread.

Read Lolita by James Joyce first

Or The Old Man and the Sea by David Foster Wallace

Read what you want. Go to a bookstore and choose something. reading is about empowering yourself and catering to yourself as an individual. It doesn't quite matter if you're so into Fitzgerald or Faulkner or Joyce, ignore what people think of your choices. Itd about what you derive from a novel, not the mere act of reading ink on a page.

>>6832899

Which is to say... SOMETIMES HOLDEN HAT IS JUST A HAT. Don't get caught up in what's "right", fuck that, that shit is for English Majors to measure dicks. The great thing about reading is coming to your own conclusions.

Like what others are saying. Learning to read properly is a challenge in itself. I suggest How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren.

>>6832899

Thanks, I'll be keeping that in mind.

>>6832086
Yale's open online courses are a great place to start. Pick a class that seems fun, like books that you want to read, and follow along with the lectures.

Just remember, if it ever stops being fun or feeling worthwhile, feel free to try something totally new. There is so much in literature just waiting for you to discover, and if you ever get concerned that too much is going over your head you won't get to read it.

http://oyc.yale.edu/english

>>6832086
You don't need someone to tell you how to analyse literature, use your head and come up with your own interpretation. If you feel like you are missing something, then stop and reread the section, if you are still lost due to an allusion or context, then look it up. Don't go to spark notes or similar sites until you arrive at your own conclusion, it will ruin the experience otherwise.

>>6832233
It's not a fucking meme you dip

Nabokov's Lectures

have fun

The 2nd book the lit starter list is clockwork orange????????????????

Thats like the crappest hardest to read book ever made, is this some trick to keep noobs out of lit by scaring them away?

>>6833675
>crappest book ever made

I think I know why you had trouble reading it :^)

>>6833686

the oogest blodddd said up the downy while smacking her chuchu jimmy as he swozzled his goggog

if you enjoy reading 100 pages of that go for it but damn its just painful.

>>6833695
I'm not saying it's particularly enjoyable, but all of the books on that list are entry-level af and could be read by someone in middleschool without problem

>>6833707

of all the amazing books you can read though, why put such a painful one second. There are millions of more enjoyable books to read at first to get into reading.

People only read a clockwork orange to try and look cool at parties, otherwise its just pure suffering.

Just put Lolita in 2nd, way more interesting and easy to read, still controversial and edgy to impress people at a party, and actually a good book.

>>6833722
I don't think the list is really a succession, it's just a collection of books that might be worth reading or a good start into literature

>>6832233
nevah

>>6832086
You can watch Yale lectures on Youtube so if you like the looks of any of the books they have you could read one and then watch the lecture to get an idea of what high level reading looks like.

Also you can listen to what Harold Bloom has to say. He's smart and has probably read more than all of /lit/ combined.

And one more thing Brave New World is shit and Aldous Huxley was a weird little creep. The idea behind the book is interesting but if Huxley were born twenty years ago he would post on /lit/ and sincerely wear a fedora. Not even new-sincerely, he'd just want to look classy.

>>6832233
How is it a meme? I started with the greeks for around 16 books before I moved on and I thought it was very enjoyable and definitely worth my time.

>>6832086
The second book on this list (>>6833674) helped me understand more about reading between the lines. Also coming from a science background, I was previously too focused on what I assumed was the concrete use of language, instead of seeing that words can be used in ways not described in the dictionary. Reading has genuinely changed my life for the better and improved my overall comprehension.

>>6832086
I thought the top right on the thumbnail was the SICP. I've been on /g/ too long.

>>6833777
>Heraclitus
>Socrates
Which of their works should I read first? Oh, wait, there are fucking none, you dimwits.

>>6832233
Only when it stops being true

>>6833674

Great list, exactly what I was looking for.

>>6833828

I downloaded it and it looks like a great text, thanks.

>>6832086
read this, OP. it's a light read that'll help you transition into the big boy literature like John green and dale pitbull

>>6835096

Sometimes I wonder why people shit post when it's so transparent. Try harder, m8.

>>6832233
K I L L
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Y O U R S E L F
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Hey I'm not op but I have been trying to read myself. I am reading Don Quixote and am taking notes on it as I go along. I realized that the only books I remember a decent amount of were the ones I was required to read in high school as a class and enjoyed on my own. I also think that writing notes helps me to remember more as well.

I was just wondering if you think this is is good practice in general or should I just only do this with books I seriously want to analyze/books I need to read for some assignment.