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/lit/ - Literature

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12952492 No.12952492 [Reply] [Original]

Tips for a pleb who hasn't read a book since high school and wants to dive into /lit/?

My attention span is sapped.

>> No.12952499

>>12952492
You can start slow, even 5 minutes a day is better than 0 minutes. Work your way up from there....exercise your reading muscles and make them stronger.

>> No.12952510

>>12952492
what was the last book you read?
Catcher in the Rye, Notes From the Underground, and some Lovecraft helped me rediscover some good lit and expand from there. Short and compelling reads are the best when trying to get back into it imo.

>> No.12952516

>>12952499
Starting slow seems like a good approach.
>>12952510
How to win friends and influence people at the end of my senior year. I read Catcher in the Rye in 8th grade and really enjoyed it, maybe I'll start with that and read it again.

>> No.12952547

Start with the simple classics. I would focus of Here are a few suggestions:

1984 - George Orwell
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Ubik - Philip K. Dick

I know these are all sci-fi, but they're easy books that have made their way into the lexicon. They're not only tried and true but also light and fun. The philosophical themes in each are a good branch into the heavier stuff.

If you're not afraid of approaching philosophy, I would strongly recommending Plato's dialogues or a novel like The Stranger by Albert Camus, or maybe Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

It all depends on your tastes, who you are, and what you are looking for out of literature (all of which will change the more you read). Maybe the best suggestion would be to start with short stories, which in my opinion, are the funnest and build a good reading momentum. Here is a list of short stories that are absolutely choice:

Harlan Ellison - I have no mouth and I must scream, grail, a boy and his dog.

Philip K. Dick - Second Variety, We can Remember It For You Wholesale, Minority report

Edgar Allen Poe - The Cask of Amontillado, The Premature Burial

H.P. Lovecraft - Dagon, The Color Out of Space

Maybe non-fiction suits your tastes? I would recommend the essays of David Foster Wallace, a guy you'll hear a lot of around here. Check out Consider The Lobster, or A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again

Take all of this advice with a grain of salt because there isn't going to be a perfect starting place for anyone who wants to read more. If you lose interest or aren't enjoying a book, think about putting it down for later and starting on another. The most important thing is just to pick anything up and **read**

>> No.12952557

>>12952499
>5 minutes a day
Fuck that. It does nothing to put you in the mood. Reading is not working out.
OP, this Sunday or whatever close your phone, get in a room with no computers, set an alarm for 2 hours and just stay there reading. If you really need to, go to the library or something. If you can watch a full movie you can do this too. Then just imcrease the frequency of this activity and that's it you're a reader.

>> No.12952651

All the shit you learned in high school is white guilt garbage specifically designed to make you hate learning and reading.

Start with the classics. Homer, Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, then go from there. And then get furious at all of the great books that were kept from you in school.