/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.14596668]

I'm someone who's only read garbage YA all my life. I want to better myself but I don't know where to start besides pic related. What more should I read besides these?
I feel terrible being so far behind, but I know there's an enormous amount I haven't read. I just need some lists. Set me up pls.

[Anonymous No.14596699]

start with crime and punishment. the first 1/4 or so might be boring because its just build up but after this it will get exciting very quickly and you will be hooked 100% guaranteed.

[Anonymous No.14596709]

>>14596668
Start with the Greeks (1/2)

[Anonymous No.14596720]

>>14596709
(2/2)

Edith Hamilton's mythology is not required. As long as you have a basic understanding of who the Greek gods are and some of the famous mythology you can go straight into the Iliad no problem.

[Anonymous No.14596754]

Fuck all this nonsense. Read something like To The Lighthouse or Dubliners.

[Anonymous No.14596793]

>>14596668
bumping for more nice things
Also wasn't there a mega link around here that had stuff or was that only for scifi fantasy?

[Anonymous No.14596822]

>>14596720
What if I've read a summary of certian classical works?
Is the value in the plot or elsewhere?

[Anonymous No.14596837]

>>14596822
The value is almost never in the plot.

[Anonymous No.14596843]

>>14596822
If you're just getting into serious literature I sincerely believe you'll get more out of modern works. I wouldn't expect anyone whose first serious read is a verse translation of the Iliad to fall in love with literature. Also reading for plot is a crime on this board.

[Anonymous No.14596856]

>>14596843
Then what do people read for?

[Anonymous No.14596868]

>>14596856
The aesthetic experience (tm).

[Anonymous No.14596878]

>>14596843
Then what do people read for if not plot?

[Anonymous No.14596899]

>>14596878
I find it quite difficult to put into words. Instead of a book being interesting because of the story it tells, imagine it being interesting because of how it tells it. Not so much what is told but how it is told.

[Anonymous No.14596907]

>>14596868
And people claim to be able to factually evaluate something so romantic?

[Anonymous No.14596911]

>>14596907
Yeah no one ever argues about what good prose is

[Anonymous No.14596913]

>>14596668
Here's a controversial opinion for you: Start with Infinite Jest.
It's the most approachable of the /lit/ hierarchy. The reason it's such a meme is people really enjoy reading it, it can sort of teach you why it's rewarding to read good books. It was my first, way back in freshman year of college, and I've been stuck on literary fiction and nonfiction since. Really opened the world of books to me.

[Anonymous No.14596917]

>>14596911
Oh. Honestly my main goal with reading something other than YA is so that I can write well desu

[Anonymous No.14596934]

>>14596913
I'll slap it on the list.

[Anonymous No.14596936]

>>14596913
Nonsense. He should start with Finnegans Wake

[Anonymous No.14596938]

>>14596699
Thanks anon. My one concern is being able to finish a book that isn't baby, so hopefully you're right.

[Anonymous No.14596967]

Grab yourself a copy of Shakespeare's plays and a collection of Chekhov's short stories, son.

[Anonymous No.14596976]

>>14596668
Why is 1984 on there? That’s just more YA trash

[Anonymous No.14596997]

>>14596938
just stick through the slow beginning. its even less than 1/4 i think. it starts to get exciting after the letter from raskolnikovs mother. once you reach it, push through it and the rest of the book will be a blast. you will be hooked and you will want to read more books after C&P. it was like this for me.

[Anonymous No.14596998]

>>14596913
I'd agree with this. Read him when I was 16 (now 18), and it was absolutely formative in the way I began to read literature. It is a meme because it makes people believe they're smarter than they actually are (BEE said "a generation trying to read [DFW] feels smart about themselves which is part of the whole bullshit package"), and sometimes it's looked down upon by academia/writers for Wallace's prose style, which is sometimes feels more "commercial" than literary. Wallace was never about being a high-brow literary genius though, he was opening up the world of postmodernism into a more mainstream audience, so while the book takes on an air of pretentious intellectualism, it's always understandable. DFW was always about how we can really use language to communicate with people, and Infinite Jest does that; it finds that balance between challenging and readable. So I think it definitely acts as a bridge from the low-brow into real literature.

[Anonymous No.14597020]

Also, I'm 21. How late to the game am I?

[Anonymous No.14597025]

>>14596668
Go to a bookstore, or check several charts on /lit/ and read whatever caches your attention. That book/s will lead you to more books.

[Anonymous No.14597028]

>>14597020
What game? Stop fucking around and pick up a book.

[Anonymous No.14597046]

>>14596699
Fpbp
Crime and Punishment is what got me into reading real literature

[Anonymous No.14597072]

>>14597028
Are you so literal-minded that you don't get what that means? The literal version of what I said is, is 21 such a late age to be getting into literature.

[Anonymous No.14597076]

>>14596668
Pic related is garbage YA

[Anonymous No.14597081]

>>14597076
Which ones?

[Anonymous No.14597083]

>>14597072
well yes its a bit late. but what of it? its not TOO late. better start now than never right? i would say 16 is a good age to start reading real literature. i started late too in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.14597090]

>>14597072
Your brain isn't even fully developed yet. You won't even genuinely comprehend what you're reading until you are in your 30s anyways. Read the Iliad. A guy fights a river. It's cool.

[Anonymous No.14597099]

>>14597081
All of them. That is modern high school "lit." I say modern because the bar has been significantly lowered in public schools so illiterate blacks can pass.

[Anonymous No.14597116]

>>14596720
>preferred translation is pope
Lol what

[Anonymous No.14597321]

bump for reccommends for baby

[Anonymous No.14597328]

>>14597321
Just start with the greeks.

[Anonymous No.14597332]

>>14596997
The first half was very slow. I only really enjoyed the book from where he met Porfiry & got questioned for the first time and onwards. It definitely was worth reading though.

[Anonymous No.14597346]

>>14597321
Start with Borges.

[Anonymous No.14597361]

>>14597099
Back to /pol/ you go

[Anonymous No.14597385]

>>14597020
I started last year and I am 23. The goal of course is to enjoy reading. I browse /lit/ from time to time for suggestions, not to prove i am cool, because nobody cares

[Anonymous No.14597394]

>>14597346
Which works?

[Anonymous No.14597399]

>>14597090
Speak for yourself

[Anonymous No.14597494]

Start with Ficciones, Jorge Luis Borges.

[Anonymous No.14597532]

>>14597321
Vonnegut is great for readers stepping into literature. Funny, short, and endearing.

[Anonymous No.14597598]

>>14597361
That is literally what happened, though.

[Anonymous No.14597621]

>>14597399
The Romans believed men your age were literally insane. (And they were correct)

[Anonymous No.14597720]

bamp

[Anonymous No.14597725]

>>14597720
Go and read you dumb faggot

[Anonymous No.14597794]

>>14597099
>YA garbage
most of them are not about a young adult growing up. Lolita, American Psycho, Siddharta, Fear and Loathing, Great Gatsby. All about middle-aged men and their weird life.
>high-school lit
some of them are read in high-schools, but that doesn't devalue them. books in school should be entertaining, accessible, and bring young people closer to literature. I've read almost all of them. Most are a good place to start getting into literary fiction.

[Anonymous No.14597813]

>>14597794
>bring young people closer to literature
They don't do that at all, though.

[Anonymous No.14597854]

>>14597598
Whites are illiterate too. I can’t speak for everyone else but back at my highschool it was actually the black kids who read more than the whites

[Anonymous No.14597871]

>>14596917
To paraphrase a fine phonecian gentleman's (and best philosopher of our time) advice for novice readers: Only read books at least twenty years old and dealing with topics from at least 50 years ago. If you can't enjoy a book throw it away and read something else. Don't stop reading completely, just stop reading books you can't progress with.

[Anonymous No.14597885]

>>14597854
>back at my highschool
I dont care about anecdotal evidence. Surveys with extraordinarily large sample sizes play blacks exponentially lower than all others. This is why schools without blacks (catholic schools) have a far more challenging curriculum than the nonsense offered in public schools.

This is not /pol/shit, it's literally common sense.

[Anonymous No.14598011]

>>14597885
>catholic schools
>challenging curriculum
Kek

[Anonymous No.14598062]

>>14598011
Private school graduation rate is 13% higher. (Suspiciously also the roughly equal to the amercan negro population) Curriculum and hands on training is definitely better.