/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.12088430]

I want to become /fitlit/, I have the fit part down but I am in serious need of the rest. I've read a few of the classics already. By that I mean 1984, The Great Gatbsy, your high school required books etc. I know I need to start with the Greeks, but I want to know why.

[Anonymous No.12088445]

You don't have to start with the Greeks though

[Anonymous No.12088448]

>>12088430
>I know I need to start with the Greeks, but I want to know why.
Because the Greeks were the first motherfuckers who wrote down their thoughts on how to think. They categorized tragedy and comedy, they invented literature. The entire canon is an echo of observations about man and living that were first made by the Greeks.

Start with Aristotle's Poetics. It's quick and easy. Order up the Dover Thrift edition of four Platonic dialogues. Start small.

[Anonymous No.12088455]

>>12088430
Because Greek literature is mostly for the foundation of philosophical thought, and the devolpment of prose, and poetry. It is the start of fiction not merely tied to religion.

I don't agree with starting with the greeks how ever, I see it as mostly being a meme. Read what ever you want, and If you can't understand it, then go back in history until you grasp the concepts and themes that take place in where you interests lay.

[Anonymous No.12088456]

>>12088430
I didn't start reading the Greeks until a couple years ago. A lot of books reference them so it's good to have a working knowledge of Greek history, philosophy, religion, and literature. In the old days schoolboys were taught Greek and Latin, so the classics were familiar to anyone who was properly educated. They formed a sort of shared cultural knowledge. You should also read the Bible (or at least the "important" books) and Shakespeare.

[Anonymous No.12088457]

>>12088445
>

[Anonymous No.12088474]

>>12088448
You don't actually say why one should start with the Greeks
OP start with stuff you love and enjoy. That will make you read more, which will make reading a habit, which will make it easy for you, a year or two down the line, to get through a book as dry and useless as the Greeks. Just like getting /fit/, you don't try to bench 400 on day 1.
So start anywhere you please, but if you want some specific recs
-100 Years of Solitude
-Re-read Huck Finn (you read it in high school but this book is so important)
-Choose any Steinbeck; he has funny stuff and serious stuff
-Murakami but don't start with Norwegian Wood

[Anonymous No.12088495]

>>12088430
Get crackin'. You got this.

[Anonymous No.12088554]

Thanks for the advice anons. God bless and good luck to all on their journeys.