/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.12110553]

ITT: Your personal 10/10s.

Post books that are perfect in your eyes. Whether it's a popular classic or an underrated gem, it doesn't matter. Just post books that you consider perfect (and feel free to give some reasoning why too if you want to convince others to read it too).

For me, Jane Eyre is perfect. It's beautifully written, drenched in a subtle gothic and dreamy atmosphere, full of beauty such as innocent female childhood friendship, the mystery of Mr Rochester, Jane's philosophy of keeping restrained and disciplined, the confrontation of her abusive aunt on her death bed, etc etc. It is really beautifully written to the extent where I've re-read passages and paragraphs just because of how enjoyable they have been to read.

[Anonymous No.12110572]

>>12110553
I feel I also need to talk about Wuthering Heights after talking about Jane Eyre. Also beautifully written, and being from Yorkshire myself, Emily Bronte's observation for her landscapes is spot-on. Her observation of her characters is so thoroughly understood too, from the passive-aggressive power-play of Cathy to the inter-generational misanthropy Heathcliffe has towards the descendants of those who treated him wrong. Wuthering Heights is terrifying, intense and thoroughly unpleasant - the book honestly made my toes curl at multiple times as it made me feel that uncomfortable while reading it. Knowing that Emily wrote her only novel when she was 19 as a response to her sisters - Emily's attitude was that writing a novel would be easy - just blows me away.

[Anonymous No.12110588]

>>12110553
The Odyssey. It’s just so pure.

Moderns I like La Regenta.

[Anonymous No.12110589]

Maybe it's a bit of a meme but I finished Catch 22 earlier this year and loved every moment of it. It's one of the few books to make me laugh as frequently as it did and I never expected certain set-ups to pay-off in the ways that they did (Orr's plan for example). It's also devastating, portraying horrors of war and mental illness unflinchingly to the extent that it had a genuine emotional impact on me that I'm unlikely to forget (Snowden's "I'm Cold" or the plane crashing into the side of the mountain). Beautiful book.

[Anonymous No.12110593]

Franny and Zooey is perfect. Its themes of coming to terms with alienation and societal dissociation-- and the ultimate resolution, which lies in accepting that coming to terms is impossible with those things is impossible-- are brilliantly expressed through note-perfect dialogue. (Salinger was a master of voice.)

The only way to get through this world, for people of a certain mind, is to accept that the world will never change for you, it will never be what you want, all you can do is change your perspective to embrace empathy for your fellow man.

It's the only answer (turning to God only drives you into further desperation)-- it's the only real alternative to suicide.

This book, if you're one of the people it was written for, will be one of the most meaningful things you ever read.

[Anonymous No.12110611]

>>12110593
>
The only way to get through this world, for people of a certain mind, is to accept that the world will never change for you, it will never be what you want, all you can do is change your perspective to embrace empathy for your fellow man.

That sounds like a book that should be considered highly relevant in times of division. Sounds like the sort of book I should read.

[Anonymous No.12110617]

>>12110588
Thanks for such an insightful post.

[Anonymous No.12110651]

sorry to be cliché with my choice but this book really struck an emotional chord with me and it both hurt a lot and also felt very reassuring and life affirming almost like i'm doing the best I can do and it means nought but that's ok because all we can do is try

[Anonymous No.12110703]

this is prob. the Cormac McCarthy book that hit me the hardest. blood meridian is beautiful but this one was more accessible for me. it's beautiful, ugly, grotesque and throughout there's a real sense of dread and helplessness. an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister leads to a baby being born but when they lose that baby, the sister goes in an attempt to find it.

honestly if anyone is taking notes for book to film adaptations, Outer Dark would be a good pick. reading it will ruin your fucking week. 10/10

[Anonymous No.12110721]

Watership Down
Les Miserables
Crime & Punishment
Titus Andronicus
King Lear
Doctor Zhivago
Don Quixote

[Anonymous No.12110733]

[Anonymous No.12110758]

[Anonymous No.12110974]

>>12110589
i bought this a couple weeks ago and now i think i'll start reading it today, thanks anon

[Anonymous No.12111034]

[Anonymous No.12111054]

the bible

[Anonymous No.12111059]

>>12110974
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, anon. Just be a little patient with it as it does throw a lot of names at you from the get-go but it's spending its time setting up things that will be immensely satisfying (or devastating) later in the book.

[Anonymous No.12111096]

[Anonymous No.12111110]

I am going through "wheel of time" right now.
The "redwall" series is also good.

[Anonymous No.12111353]

>>12111110
How is the wheel of time series? A lot of books to dedicate your time to. I don't know anyone else who's read them

[Anonymous No.12111614]

>>12110553

[Anonymous No.12111680]

TBK
it's long, but comprared to his other novels, it doesnt feel too long or, in other words, something that could and would be better shorter

[Anonymous No.12112028]

The old man and the sea

Perfectly represents the aesthetic beauty and moral reward of the perfect and faithful excecution of your craft. Also provides an interesting way of personifying a relationship between yourself and the challenges you face in life in the narrators coversation im with the fish. Both one of a feirce adversarial nature and one of brotherhood and love.

[Anonymous No.12112341]

The Sound and the Fury

[Anonymous No.12112547]

>>12111680
i know what this abbreviaton means, but fuck your abbreviation you elitist faggot. neck yourself smartcuck

[Anonymous No.12112714]

>>12110553

[Anonymous No.12112767]

[Anonymous No.12112931]

“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,
“And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head –
Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son,
“I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I’m perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.”

“You are old,” said the youth, “as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door –
Pray, what is the reason of that?”

“In my youth,” said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
“I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment – one shilling the box –
Allow me to sell you a couple?”

“You are old,” said the youth, “and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak –
Pray, how did you manage to do it?”

“In my youth,” said his father, “I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.”

“You are old,” said the youth, “one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose –
What made you so awfully clever?”

“I have answered three questions, and that is enough,”
Said his father; “don’t give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I’ll kick you downstairs!”

[Anonymous No.12113051]

>>12112714
Nice art

[Anonymous No.12113966]

Bump

[Anonymous No.12114003]

>>12110758
reading it right now, this book is bad

[Anonymous No.12114077]

>>12110589
Same here anon. I always figured that it would just be a decent book because it was so popular, but I loved it. The humor was spot on, and the sad parts were crushing. Glad I'm not the only one to feel this way.

>>12110974
Hope you like it man. It takes a while to pick up, but it's worth it.

[Anonymous No.12114135]

[Anonymous No.12114234]

Siddhartha

[Anonymous No.12114520]

>>12110589
Same here. This book had a profound impact on me when I was younger and influenced my sense of humor (for better or worse). Definitely the first "great" book I've ever read.

[Anonymous No.12114547]

>>12110651
i understand how john williams got to you. his voice is so damn enjoyable and understanding. butchers crossing does it for me, he just makes any character easy to get along with.

[Anonymous No.12114567]

I've only read three 10/10 books.

Dubliners
Moby Dick
Vegetarian

Don't @ me.

[Anonymous No.12114578]

For me, it's the little things in War and Peace. The length of it at the very least promises one or two excellent moments, like the battles or the burning of Moscow. But there's so much tenderness and care given to every character and scene that I can still perfectly recall minor things even after reading it years ago. From the Winter hunt, to Pierre's induction into the mason lodge, to the name day parties, to the Tsar weeping at Austerlitz. It's just so genuine.

[Anonymous No.12114665]

>>12114567
>@
you mean >>