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/lit/ - Literature

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10204180 No.10204180 [Reply] [Original]

>best

The Trial

>worst

The Castle

>overrated

The Judgment

>underrated

Amerika

>> No.10204257

his short stories were his best

>> No.10204758

Agree that the Castle is his worst. It has some really great moments but overall could have been condensed immensely.

>> No.10204771

>>10204257
This. Specially his shorter, more aphoristic ones are great.
The Silence of the Sirens and The Truth about Sancho Panza are my favourites by him.

>> No.10204920
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10204920

>best
Pan/Growth of the Soil

>worst
Wanderer trilogy

>overrated
Hunger

>underrated
Victoria

>> No.10204985
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10204985

>best

Distant Star

>worst

Everything published posthumously (except for 2666 and The Insufferable Gaucho; The Woes of the True Policeman is decent but just a draft of other works).

>overrated

The Savage Detectives

>underrated

The Skating Rink

>> No.10205025

>>10204920
>>overrated
>Hunger
meet me at st. olavs plass and fite me irl faggot

>> No.10205049

Go easy on The Castle, he literally didn't finish it and it's still better than 90% of books ever written

>> No.10205068

>>10205049

He didn't finish The Trial.
He didn't finish Amerika.

They are both on the list.

What's your point, fella?

>> No.10205083

>>10205049
>better than 90% of books ever written
You're setting a pretty low bar there desu

>> No.10205112

>>10204180
Well I already read The Trial. I guess I have no reason to read anymore of his books.

>> No.10205144

>>10204920

>victoria
>underrated

It's on every high school curriculum in Norway, and Hunger is way better.

Dosto:
>best
C&P
>worst
Maybe poor folk
>overrated
Karamazov(still a great novel)
>underrated
The double

>> No.10205146
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10205146

>>10204920
Is there someplace I can find the Wayfarer trilogy in English? I really liked Growth of the Soil and want to read his later stuff, bad or not.

>> No.10205178

>best

The Gay Science

>Worst

Will to Power

>Overrated

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

>Underrated

Twilight of the Idols

>> No.10205182

>>10205144
>underrated
>The double
My fine feathered negro

>> No.10205215

Someone do Tolstoi pls

>> No.10205247

>>10204920

>Wanderer trilogy

I was going to fite you for this (and not putting Mysteries in the best category), but realized you're not entirely wrong. I still think some of his really depressed work is his worst, the most striking example being The Last Chapter. That is not to say that it is bad, far from it. It's pretty damn good. It's just not what he does best.

>>10205146

There's a distinction to be made here. Hamsun wrote both a wanderer trilogy, which is semi-autobiographical and fairly melancholic. It consists of Under the Autumn Star, A Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings, and The Last Joy. Those are from his middle period, i.e. after the youth works of the 1890's (his best, I think) and before his mature period beginning with Growth of the Soil (1917).

The Wayfarer trilogy (also known as the August trilogy) on the other hand is fictional and from his late period (1927-1933), and consists of Wayfarers, August and The Road Leads On. Despite being from the mature period where Hamsun was more and more disillusioned and cynical about modernity, the trilogy channels the very best of him, and is quite comical and warmhearted in spite of the world-weariness you can discern under the surface.

I think they're all translated into english with the tiltles I've posted here.

>> No.10205275

>Best
Old Man and the Sea

>Worst
Farewell to Arms

>Overrated
For Whom the Bell Tolls

>Underrated
The Sun Also Rises

>> No.10205278

>Best
Libra
>Worst
Cosmopolis
>Underrated
The Names

>> No.10205283
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10205283

>>10205278
forgot pic

>> No.10205288
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10205288

>>10204180
The Castle is the best you ass

>> No.10205313
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10205313

>overrated
augustus
>underrated
butchers crossing
>best
stoner

just finished reading the big 3, all i would recommend

>> No.10205362

>>10205278
Lol no

>best
White Noise
>worst
Americana
>underrated
Cosmopolis

>> No.10205391

>>10205247
I never understood what people see in Mysteries. Don't get me wrong, it was a great read (like everything that Hamsun wrote) but it kinda pales in comparison to the rest of his oeuvre.
>Pan has better prose.
>Hunger has better character exploration.
>Growth of the Soil touches on costumbrism better.
>Victoria has a better love story.

Did I miss the point? Help me see the light.

>> No.10205395
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10205395

>Best
Winter of our Discontent
>Worst
The Pearl
>Overrated
Grapes of Wrath
>Underrated
Travels with Charlie

>> No.10205404
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10205404

>best
Pale Fire

>worst
Bend Sinister

>Overrated
Pnin

>Underrated
Invitation to a Beheading

>> No.10205407

>>10205288
i agree. the castle is very cozy and true to life.

>> No.10205440

>>10205391

While I'll agree with the point about Pan (honestly the best lyrical prose I've ever read), I disagree with Hunger having better character exploration. Nagel is such a massive enigma - seemingly both completely transparent and totally opaque at the same time. I think the fact that he embeds more into society than the protagonist of Hunger does really allows him to shine. They share the same madness of modernity, but I think Nagel is the more unforgettable character.

That said, I do find it hard to pick and choose between his early novels, I think they're pretty much all among the GOAT.

>> No.10205443

>>10205362
white noise is the pleb pick

>> No.10205455

>>10205404
Read Mary? That's his worst. Way underrated's The Gift, overrated's Ada, which reads as unintended self-parody. Dead-on with his best, and a respectable list nonetheless.

>> No.10205469

>>10205455
I haven't read Mary or King, Queen, Knave. And I should have put Ada for Overrated. Still don't really think Pnin deserves the status it seems to have.

>> No.10205470

>>10205440
Yeah, I agree in part. I think that in Hunger you explore the character in his own head: through his own actions and soliloques, whereas in Mysteries you are watching him through the eyes of others: What other people think of him, and how are they going to percieve his actions and motives is always more important than the actual action or soliloque.
I prefer Hunger in the end but I can see how it can be a matter of taste.

If you liked Pan's prose, I'd recommend you To the Lighthouse. Dunno if you've already read it, but it has a very interesting prose style in the first half, whereas the second is full of lyrical passages about the passing of seasons and the nature that surround the house.

>> No.10205502

>>10205288

Agreed.

>> No.10205503

>>10205215
I'll do Tolstoy shorts-
>best
Cossacks
>overrated
Kreuzer
>underrated
Family Happiness
>worst
Aloyosha the Pot (least memorable)

>> No.10205518

>>10205469
Pnin's a *sweet* novel (for a mean novel) and does conclude pathetically, but youre right. Perhaps a little maudlin.

>> No.10205548

>>10205247
My bad i thought you were a fellow anglo who misremembered the title of Wayfarers

>> No.10206867
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10206867

>best
The Fall or The First Man
>worst
The Rebel
>overrated
The Stranger
>underrated
Exile and the Kingdom

>> No.10207031

>>10205313
no way

>overrated
stoner

>underrated
butchers crossing

>best
augustus

>> No.10207053
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10207053

>best
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
>worst
Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years
>overrated
Faust
>underrated
Elective Affinities

>> No.10207905

>>10205275
>Best

Old Man and the Sea

>Worst

The Sun also Rises

>Overrated

Farewell to Arms

>Underrated

Island in the Stream

>> No.10208012

Someone do Plato

>> No.10208025

>tfw highly educated but honestly can't do this because haven't read enough books by any single author

>> No.10208053

>>10204985
His posthumous poetry collection The Unknown University is great btw

>> No.10208063

>best

The Aphorismis, his Diaries, The Hunger Artist, The Trial

>the sadly unfinished

Amerika

>overrated

nothing

>underrated

Diaries and Aphorisms

>> No.10208069
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10208069

>best

Infinite Jest, non-fiction

>worst

Brom of the System, Pale King

>overrated

Hideous Men

>underrated

Infinite Jest

>> No.10208075
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10208075

>>10208012
Too difficult because his works have so many different audiences. Grad students might be interested in something like the Phaedo while casual readers might prefer individual parts of the Repbulic or the Apology etc.

>> No.10208101

>>10205313
you're missing his first.

>> No.10208104

>>10207053
i'd say EA is his worst desu

>> No.10208111
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10208111

>Best

Trilogy (if that doesn't count then Molloy)

>Worst

Krapp's Last Tape

>Overrated

Waiting For Godot

>Underrated

Murphy

>> No.10208272

>>10208111
>>10205404
>>10205395
Pretty spot on, my darkies.

>> No.10208283

>>10208104
Different anon. Right, it's a tale. Probably shouldn't figure at all. I'd go Dichtung und Wahrheit greatest, Lehrjahr underrated. The first anon did a pretty good job, however, given that this is almost entirely a subjective venture.

>> No.10208409
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10208409

>Best
Blood Meridian

>Overrated
The Road

Underrated
All the Pretty Horses

Worst
No Country for Old Men

>> No.10208426
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10208426

>Best
Benito Cereno

>Worst
Pierre

>Underrated
The Confidence Man

>Overrated
Typee

>> No.10208436

>>10208111
Did you forget Endgame because you're a mongoloid or because you haven't read it yet?

>> No.10208654

>>10204985
Agree about Skating Rink, but the original short story is better than Distant Star, and some of his posthumous stuff, while not his best arent bad. I have not read Third Reich though. would you call that one bad?

>> No.10208681

>>10205362
I liked Cosmopolis, but it wasnt as great as the rest. Even Americana was better.

>> No.10208690

>>10208069
That's a rare DFW, mind if I use it?

>> No.10208718

>>10208069
I agree that Broom is bad, but it was probably not as bad as Everything and More. And kind of unfair to call a unfinished posthumous book his worst.

I do not think Infinite Jest is underrated. In my opinion Oblivion is underrated.

>> No.10208721

Literally how can you not like The Castle. It was such a joy to read.

>> No.10208743

>>10208690
Save it, it's all yours my friend!

>> No.10208755

>>10208721
Come on now. I really liked it, but there were extremely tedious parts, such as K.'s conversation with the Barnabas' Sister about their family's history
And it ends mid-sentence

>> No.10208761

Can someone do Dostoyevsky? Just finished reading crime and punishment and the ending honestly made me start believing in god

>> No.10208768

>>10208755
Wasn't tedious to me. His portrayal of the characters and his dialogue was entertaining to me, as it is in all of his stuff. The Castle is one of my favourite Kafka things.

>> No.10208771

>>10208654
I'm not him, but I really enjoyed The Third Reich. And I don't know if you care about this, but the plot is minimal

>> No.10209038

>>10208771
dpnt mind. So it's more philosophical/character driven? I just like the fact that it has to do with board games and Bolaño's love for them.

>> No.10209100
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10209100

>best

Dubliners, A portrait of the artist as a young man, Ulysses, Finnegans wake

>worst

Dubliners, A portrait of the artist as a young man, Ulysses, Finnegans wake

>overrated

Dubliners, A portrait of the artist as a young man, Ulysses, Finnegans wake

>underrated

Dubliners, A portrait of the artist as a young man, Ulysses, Finnegans wake

>> No.10209110
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10209110

>>10209100

>> No.10209114

>>10209100
accurate

>> No.10209125

>>10209100
I disagree

>> No.10209135

>>10209100
I actually think Dubliners is his best. But I have no idea why Dubliners is so highly rated. in comparison, Dubliners his most underrated work is so overlooked.

>> No.10209181

>>10208654

I forgot The Third Reich was a posthumous work.

I was talking about books like The Secret of Evil and the most recents El espíritu de la ciencia-ficción and Sepulcros de vaqueros.

>> No.10209243
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10209243

>10207053
>Faust
>overrated
Can one be more pseud ?

>> No.10209250

>>10209243
>>10207053

>> No.10209259

Best the odyssey

Worst the iliad

>> No.10209323

>>10204257
Correct. I can't stand Kafka for more than 20-30 pages.

>> No.10209363

>>10209323
That's not "correct," that's just your own little problem to deal with.

>> No.10209408
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10209408

>best
Glass bead game
>worst
Beneath the Wheel
>underrated
Narcissus and Goldmund
>overrated
Siddhartha

>> No.10209470

Cool thread, doing Roth

>best
American Pastoral

>worst
Great American Novel

>overrated
Portnoy

>underrated
Sabbath's Theatre

>> No.10209620
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10209620

>Best
Anna Karenina

>Worst
Ivan Iliyich

>Underrated
Cossacks

>Overrated
War & Peace

>> No.10209653

>>10208111
read Murphy and kinda hated it. should i try trilogy?

>> No.10209665

>>10205503
Why didn't you like the Kreutzer Sonata? I really liked it myself

>> No.10209671

>>10209620
Hajdi Murat is his best

>> No.10209892

Chekhov's longer works:

>best
Three Years
>worst
The story of an unknown man
>overrated
All of his plays
>underrated
The Steppe

>> No.10209920

>>10208409
Most underrated's The Crossing by far. Arguably his best *novel*.

>> No.10209950

>>10209038
yeah, it's a psychological thriller. it has that thing that bolaño does very well in his prose that even when nothing is really happening plotwise, the mood is eerie and unsettling

>> No.10209951

>>10209665
I did like it, all of his shorter fictional works are great. That's why I parenthetically described his 'worst' as least memorable. Master and Man, Father Sergius, and Hadji Murad will be the finest for many anons, no question. He's like Hoffmann in this regard, not one bad story, novella, or tale.

>> No.10210055
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10210055

>best
Molloy

>worst
various shorter dramatic works

>overrated
Godot

>underrated
How It Is

>> No.10210057

>>10210055
seconded

>> No.10210087

>>10205362
>best
Pafko at the Wall

>worst
Players

>underrated
End Zone

>> No.10210097
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10210097

>best
J R

>worst
A Frolic of His Own

>overrated
The Recognitions

>underrated
Agape Agape

all contrarians will have to tell me what book Gibbs was reading in the bathroom in the closing pages of the book in addition to supplying a new ranking

>> No.10210115

>>10210097
The Sleepwalkers by Hermann Broch
>best
The Recognitions
>worst
Agape Agape
>overrated
Agape Agape
>underrated
JR

>> No.10210154

>>10204257
All his stories are fucking short stories

>> No.10210232

>best
VALIS
>worst
The Unteleported Man
>overrated
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
>underrated
Ubik

>> No.10210674

>>10208409
had to read All the Pretty Horses way back in school so I doubt it's really that underrated but I agree with BM as his best and DEFINITELY with The Road as his most overrated.

>> No.10210869

>>10204180
Best is Investigations of a Dog. Shit is fuckin dense.

>> No.10210872

>>10204180
>>10210869
the audacity of that nigger, to wear a tie, writing what he did. He deserved golden laurels and a toga

>> No.10211309

>>10209408
this

>> No.10211329

>>10209653
After writing Murphy he realized he would never be Joyce and completely changed his writing style

>> No.10211338

>>10209620
>worst
>Ivan Ilych
Trash opinion

>> No.10211388

>>10204180
Short stories

>best
The Great Wall of China

>worst
Investigations of a dog

>overrated
In the penal colony

>underrated
A fratricide

Investigations of a dog and A Report to an academy are the worst

>dude anthropomorphic animals lmao

Literally Air bud tier

>> No.10211421

>>10208436
Where would you put Endgame? It fits into none of those categories hence the exclusion. Obviously I've read it you 'mongoloid'.

>> No.10211424

>>10208272
thanks senpai

>>10208409
spot on

>> No.10211428

>>10209653
I would give Molloy a whirl. Very interesting book.

>> No.10211441

>>10209181
did you read those? I'm kinda looking forward to see young Bolaño's work, even if it's not there yet.