/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1100243]

/lit/ is awful right now. Jesus Christ. How about a relevant thread?

Tell me about the book you're reading. Is it good? What's so good about it?

[Anonymous No.1100253]

1000 Niggers Under the Sea and yes it rules

[Anonymous No.1100252]

i am currently reading Of Human Bondage

I am really enjoying it and although I haven't finished I may go to say it may be my favourite book I've ever read. Few books make me feel this way when reading them: when I was 4 it was Where the Wild Things Are, when I was 7 it was George's Marvellous Medicine, when I was 13 it was the Hobbit, when I was 16 it was Life of Pi and now this book makes me feel the same way

[oreo !!peQoYBwPn7U No.1100260]

in cold blood
it blows

[TyBrax !WvWWh.l.CE No.1100259]

>copying my thread ideas
hello chocolate jesus

[Darnielle !GneuXPFtrY No.1100269]

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - A Documentary Record

I'm enjoying it so far. I finished about half of it last night. It's a sort of auto biography, but not really. It contains reader criticism and comments of his works when they were first published in Russia and the West.

[Darnielle !GneuXPFtrY No.1100275]

>>1100260

Oh it does not.

[None !UyhAEqbnp. No.1100278]

I know bro, I know

Mao: The Unknown Story, it's fucking awesome. Pure gold for history buffs.

Mao was an inefficent aministrator in his early years
The author contends he was a pragmatist who cared nothing for communism
He points out that Mao was actually leaning towards the nationalist party in the early years as opposed to the communists
ect...

[Anonymous No.1100288]

i'm reading The Road. It's good.

[Anonymous No.1100293]

>>1100278
I got that book for a dollar at a library book sale
Its been sitting on my desk havent read a single page because its so intimidating
motivate me

[Anonymous No.1100301]

>>1100278

Mao: The Unknown Story is incredibly biased and has been largely discredited as a legitimate historical text.

[Anonymous No.1100312]

I'm reading Pinkerton's Secret.

It's alright. I've read better, but this isn't a "bad" book.

[Anonymous No.1100320]

I just finished Moby-Dick(fucking awesome), and I went to the library to check out some garbage to rest my brain.

I got The Thousandfold Thought(because I really need to finish The Prince of Nothing) and Awakening, which is the first of the Mobile Suit Gundam novels.

Haven't started one yet.

[None !UyhAEqbnp. No.1100330]

>>1100293
If you read the spoilers I just did

>>1100301
I'll care when you give me a credible citation

[Anonymous No.1100362]

"The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World"

latest neuro research on brain hemispherity; draws inferences from that to culture

shit is cash

[None !UyhAEqbnp. No.1100367]

>>1100330
hmm, prehaps not. The Google supports your story that reviews have been mixed

[Anonymous No.1100368]

>>1100330

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao:_The_Unknown_Story#Criticism

When you have critical reviews by this many people with 'professor' in front of their name, you've got a problem.

>He noted that "many of their discoveries come from sources that cannot be checked, others are openly speculative or are based on circumstantial evidence, and some are untrue." Nathan suggested that Chang and Halliday's own anger with the Chinese leader caused them to portray "a possible but not a plausible Mao" or a "caricature Mao" and to eschew a more complex explanation of modern Chinese history in favor of "a simple personalisation of blame."[22]

>Goodman argued that the style of writing was "extremely polemic" and that the book could even be thought of as a "form of fiction" where "a strong narrative" is "a substitute for evidence and argument." Goodman was highly critical of Chang and Halliday's methodology and use of sources as well as several of their specific conclusions, claiming that their focus on vilifying Mao led them to write "demonography" rather than objective history and biography.[24]

>Professor Thomas Bernstein of Columbia University referred to the book as "... a major disaster for the contemporary China field..." because the "scholarship is put at the service of thoroughly destroying Mao's reputation. The result is an equally stupendous number of quotations out of context, distortion of facts and omission of much of what makes Mao a complex, contradictory, and multi-sided leader."[3]

There's more.

[Anonymous No.1100383]

Gut Symmetries. It's........ I don't know. I'm not very far, but I dig it a lot. It's really babbley at parts but in a good way. I guess it's kind of poetry, but not. ITT I MAKE SENSE.

[None !UyhAEqbnp. No.1100420]

>>1100368
Well, you have to admit that history is a divided field at best. Not everyone is going to agree to everything. It really depends on how many people in institutional positions support it as well.

Bah, maybe I wasted my three bucks after all.
*shrugs*

[Anonymous No.1100429]

>>1100420

I feel bad now ... ._.

If it's any consolation, first professor guy did concede that it had some worth.

[None !UyhAEqbnp. No.1100460]

>>1100429
Nah, it's fine. The facts need to be stated. Besides, I had some suspitions about the lack of citations.Besides, it was a thrift-store deal I just picked up a day ago. s'all good

Not that I'm going to stop reading at this point :P

[Anonymous No.1100569]

American Psycho.

I don't think it could have taken any longer to pick up the pace

[TyBrax !WvWWh.l.CE No.1100574]

>>1100569
a book that prides itself on being bad art

[Anonymous No.1101334]

two books open right now

the hunger games - not really impressed. might pick it up and finish it but unless it gets better real soon i cant see myself enjoying it.

the jungle book, vol. 1 - fucking awesome. alot more skinning and blood than i remember in the disney movie

[Anonymous No.1101364]

Both the funniest and scariest shit I've read in a long time.

[Anonymous No.1101388]

The Thief's Journal by Genet (it is great, but a bit depressing. Genet is attempting to transpose values and while I appreciate the attempt to be honest his very raw depictions of human failures gives me a visceral feeling of disgust for my fellow man)
''The Loneliness of the long-distance runner'' Its a short-story by sillitoe. It is quite nice, almost like The Catcher in the Rye but the character is Holden's antithesis and the cathartic message of sticking to ones values and being a strong individual are nice to read at times, after having exposed myself to rigorous postmodernism for so long.

[Anonymous No.1101446]

I`m reading `The Contrary Farmer`
It`s good so far. A nice conversational tone.
If you`re interested in simple living or farming in general check it out.

[Anonymous No.1101471]

Bonk by Mary Roach. She does TED talks every year and it's about the history of sex research and interesting cases. One involves a guy fingering monkeys to orgasm. It's neat and gross.

[Anonymous No.1101481]

>>1101471
She summarized some research some dumb Europeans did on disposing of bodies in outer space. Her summary was good, the idea was such shit though.

http://boingboing.net/2010/09/02/death-in-space.html

[Anonymous No.1101493]

I've been reading Neuromancer. It's great sci-fi. I like sci-fi that explores trends to their craziest zenith. And i'm a sucker for pulpy detective shit. And I'm a sucker for poetic, "vague" writing like Gibson's. He tends to imply things rather than pronounce them. The only problem is it's TOO hard to comprehend sometimes, and I had to get a synopsis from the interbutt up until the chapter I'm on to feel like I'm on the same page, so to speak.

Also I've been reading The 48 Laws of Power and The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene. A while ago I was interested in pickup artist shit, but I lost my taste for it when I realized most of your PUA types act like assholes. I'm not naturally an asshole, and I'm not happy learning to be one. Although in short term relationships (meet girl, decide on casual sex, never see her again) it works just fine.

Anyway, 48 Laws of Power gives you perspective on human politics. I'm not a political person, so it's good for me to know all these tricks, many of which I've tested in real life with immediate, obvious results. Art of Seduction taught me how to socialize better, and to reign in my insecurities and self-centerness.

Now imagine me trying to study zen Buddhism in the midst of all this. Sometimes I have to get high on pot so I can slow down enough to sort this shit out. I may have to try cocaine.

[Anonymous No.1101498]

I started reading "The Age of Innocence" by Wharton today. It's alright so far. But I was really fucking tired and out of it when I read, so I might just re-read it from the beginning again tomorrow.

[Anonymous No.1101536]

It's been a while since I've read anything that was to my liking. But, I'm enjoying reading On Stranger Tides and I, Claudius so far (about halfway through both). On Stranger Tides brings me back to when I adored sci-fi/fantasy. Can't go wrong with pirates and wizardry.

My to-read list:
The Gunslinger
At the Mountains of Madness
American Psycho
The Maltese Falco

[Darnielle !GneuXPFtrY No.1101585]

>>1101536

I feel bad for you having to read all of that :(

[Anonymous No.1101624]

I'm re-reading "A Deepness in the Sky." By Vernor Vinge.

I heard he's got a sequel to "Fire Upon the Deep" coming out in Spring. So I reread Fire. It's one of my favorites. Now I've moved on to Deepness, the prequel.

Is it good? Yes, it's fantastic.

There are two intersecting story lines. One is about humans who head to a planet when they discover intelligent alien life there. There are two factions of humans which war over the opportunity to meet with the aliens. The winning faction sets up this oppressive dictatorship. The hero (who's bad ass in the first novel, but takes it to a whole new level in this one) has to find a way to resist and rebel against this incredibly oppressive 1984ish on steroids big brother.

The other story line is from the alien's perspective. Vinge is good enough that you can really fall in love with these characters, even though they're these hideous giant spider creatures.

Read Fire first.

[Anonymous No.1101634]

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Didn't anyone like The Brothers Karamazov?

[Anonymous No.1101642]

i'm about halfway through the 120 days of sodom

i guess i expected to be shocked or disgusted or something, but it's mostly just boring and tedious. i've gotten a few good laughs out of it though

>my face

[Anonymous No.1101646]

I've almost done with "The Problems of Philosophy", and I'm loving it. Its a wonderful introduction into serious philosophy, and it's clearing up a lot of my misconceptions of certain philosophical principles(I was FAR off in my understanding of A Priori knowledge prior to reading about it in chapter 8). The only issue I have is that there are times when I see where Russell is going with something long before he brings it up, though that's more a statement about me than the work itself.

[Courage Wolf !penisASZp2 No.1101661]

Im reading The Three Stigmata of Palmer Edlritch

Tastes like Gnosticism

[Anonymous No.1101670]

I'm reading Journey to the End of the Night by Celine right now. I'd already read Death on the Installment Plan, so I knew to expect something really funny in a nasty, caustic way. The book also offers some small and rare moments of really sincere, sentimental thought, which I think the other book lacked. I wish I could read in French, because even Mannheim's translation in English is fantastic stylistically, there's hardly ever a dull sentence in this book. It jumps between wildly delusional, bizarre parts of the story to grim realism. Maybe it's Celine's controversial life, and he was a crazy asshole and I don't agree with his politics at all, but I don't understand why this guy is not more famous. I missed my bus stop yesterday because I was so engrossed in Bardamu's experiences in America. In fact, fuck this board! /lit/izens, I'm gonna go read some more.

[Anonymous No.1101691]

'Handling the Undead'. I'm halfway through. It's...okay. It's proving to be one of those books that I can see why people would get enthusiastic about while remaining profoundly unmoved myself.

Starting on Clive Barker's 'Arabat'. I tried reading it ages ago and lost interest. I dug it out of a box fairly recently and decided to give it another go.

Also on the 'another go' pile is 'True Blood'. The first novel. I tried reading it a while back and was unbearably frustrated because both the author and the author avatar are So. Fucking. STUPID. Jesus! Logic, common sense, survival instinct, ever heard of them mother fucker? I'm trying again to make some friends happy and truthfully, I do like me a bit of shameless pornographic pulp on occasion, so maybe this will improve if I stick with it.

Just finished 'Horns' by Joe Hill. The premise is great and it's a good fast read. Maybe not quite deep and as profound as the writer himself thinks it is, but there are worse ways to spend an evening.

Hmm. Looking at all the above, it's obvious that I'm in an extended period of slumming it. Oh well...I'm enjoying myself regardless.

[Anonymous No.1101701]

>>1100569

My friend, it is indeed a very slow book to start. I found it pretty boring all the way through, as it happened; there's the mystery of it: how can a book with so much graphic sex, torture and murder be so damn dull?

[Anonymous No.1101798]

recently finished Mr. Peanut. wasn't sold on it in the beginning, but i by the end i could see what he was doing and appreciated it. also, ross creates a really good sense of dread.

currently finally reading Devil in the White City. took me a while

[Anonymous No.1101807]

I'm reading Frank Herbert's Dune, on book 2 right now. As enjoyable as the book is I do have some things about it that I didn't enjoy, such as the 3rd person omniscient POV and the lack of of personality the some of the characters have.

[Anonymous No.1101812]

I'm rereading Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows in preparation for the movie. I haven't read a HP novel since this one came out a few years ago and I'm now realizing that the writing itself is not the best.

[Anonymous No.1101818]

>>1101807

>lack of personality

Everyone in Dune has personality, but they're operating under a completely different and rather well-built set of cultural assumptions. I'd tell you to read the appendices, which help to explain them, but unfortunately they're full of spoilers.

[Anonymous No.1101836]

I just finished Haruki Murakami's "Wild Sheep Chase." I thought "Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the world" was better, but I Wild Sheep Chase was great for its simply stated weirdness.

I'm currently reading "The Warded Man," a nice little fantasy novel I found on Amazon for cheap. It's got surprising depth for such a clichéd premise- humanity is beset upon by demons every night, and only the Wards keep them out. People die constantly, humanity is dying, etc, etc. It follows the stories of three separate children who grow up in this world and manage to survive long enough to experience some of the other horrors of humanity - including cowardice, rape + incest, plain old rape, abandonment, etc. Some of the dialog is frankly pretty weak, but the story is interesting enough to make me keep going. I want to see how they make it through the world without killing themselves.

[Anonymous No.1101849]

>>1101812

Honestly I've loved Harry Potter forever and still do, but Deathly Hollows kind of felt like a train wreck most of the time. The scenes with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the tent are probably the only time I skipped multiple pages in any of the books, I just wanted it to end.

[Anonymous No.1101882]

I just finished reading the first 11 books of the Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher. I really enjoyed it. Good, entertaining literary junk food.
The other book I have open right now is Satan Burger, by Carlton Mellick III. Kinda meh on it so far.

[Anonymous No.1102088]

Re-reading Neuromancer for bullshit dystopian analysis in class. First time I read this book it didn't strike me as dystopian, and it certainly doesn't strike me as dystopian now.

Whatever though, still a great book.