[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 560 KB, 784x3888, 1498039681690.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14702589 No.14702589 [Reply] [Original]

I mostly read authors on level 3, has any anglos tried reading Pynchon or Joyce? are they really good as /lit/ people praise?

>> No.14702618

Joyce pushed the english language into untapped veins of brilliance that had not been reached before and have not been reached since
He is my single favorite author by a country mile and my reverence for him and his works borders on religious

Can't really vouch for pynchon but the crying of lot 49 was pretty good

>> No.14702705

>>14702589
Read Gass, The Tunnel is my favourite book of all time.

>> No.14702748

>>14702589
what the fuck is Beckett doing that low? Im an idiot and his ideas were pretty understandable for me

>> No.14702808

>>14702589
Burroughs late era was just him with his buddy Brion Gysin smoking weed and cutting sentences from magazine. They put them together and voila, a New Book. Then they publish and make the sweet, sweet dollar bill, because all the pseuds assumed that because they couldn't understand, the new Book must have been worthwhile.

>> No.14702837

>>14702618
>Joyce pushed the english language into untapped veins of brilliance that had not been reached before and have not been reached since
are you speaking of ulysses or finnegan's wake?
or both?

>> No.14702874

I mostly read 2s and 3s on that shart, although I go down to 4 sometimes.

>> No.14702936

>>14702837
Both are master works as far as I understand but I'm much more familiar with finnegans wake. I have to admit I've only read the first two chapters and final few pages of ulysses over my life and although I loved them (the ending is the only piece of literature that has ever made me cry, and it does it reliably) I don't feel qualified at all to make any claims about the book. FW I've read for years and I just gave up after 20 minutes of trying to put into words why it's so significant

I highly recommend giving it a shot yourself (try to find an edition with his corrections incorporated in the text) but if you're feeling lost after a while or it's just not your thing and you're curious anyway, a skeleton key to finnegans wake by conrad and robinson presents a really good analysis

>> No.14702940

>>14702589
I only read Homer

>> No.14702958

>>14702936
interesting
i'll definitely add them to the list
hate using secondary sources if i can avoid it so i'll slog through either way

>> No.14702963

>>14702589
Whoever made this list should be embarrassed. Kinda shows they only speak English, are purely anglocentric in their views, and only have a very entry level understanding of what "depth" means.
Literally seems like something out of a Vox article on the top 100 "hard books to read" or something like this.
Absolutely embarrassing.

>> No.14702970

>>14702958
Hope you enjoy it if you get around to it, remember to either subvocalize or read it out loud to catch more of the wordplay and trust your gut if you think you noticed a pun or reference, even just a little bit. As long the references are to things that existed before 1939, more often that not you noticed something completely intentional
you can check finwake to see if it's widely recognized

>> No.14702977

>cortazar in the same level with borges

my fucking sides

>> No.14702992

>>14702589
I feel like Orwell should be the first level 1 person. He's basic, but he has to be better than King.

>> No.14703016

>>14702589
>>14702618

I have only read Dubliners so far but really enjoyed it. I know it's not the most complex Joyce but The Dead is some of my fav english literature.

>> No.14703051

>>14702589
>Level -1
>All the French authors
Based

>> No.14703104

I feel like I'm on /g/ with people competing about who uses the most obscure distro. I don't know who writes the books I read. I read the books which hold my attention. That is fiction with interesting development and story, or perhaps books exploring on philosophical ideas I am interested in. Whoever takes up a book from the bottom of the list simply because it's down there and they want to feel intellectual and refined for reading it should absolutely end their life and stop plaguing the board with bullshit like this.

>> No.14703109

>>14703104
I pick up hard books for the same reason I pick up hard puzzles, not so that I can feel refined or unique

>> No.14703118

>>14703109
Define "hard" book

>> No.14703132

>>14703118
Unconventional prose, dense wordplay, abstract concepts, intricate plots, specialized vocabulary, complex/subtle themes or allusions, whatnot. As long as there's good reason for the book to be hard I often have a lot of fun trying to test myself and figure them out

>> No.14703140

>>14702963
I agree, I was thinking the same but at the same time my reading is too poor to add anything to that list. Any authors that you'd like to bring up? I think people like Trakl or Cavafy should be there somewhere 'deep'
. I also think Perec and Tzara should be placed on the same level

>> No.14703146

>>14703118
To Kill a Mockingbird

>> No.14703150

>>14702589

>Dickens at the same level as Dostoeyevsky
>Tolkien at the same level as Tom Clancy

shit chart. Absolute garbage tier

>> No.14703176

>>14702589
donotgetangywithdumbcharts!donotgetangyagainwithdumbcharts!itisjustadumbchartmadebysomedumbidiot,itisnothreattoyou.itisjustwronganditisnotyourjobtocorrectit,thereisnopointingettingangry, calmdown...

>> No.14703272

>>14702940
Based

>> No.14703329

>>14702589
Woolf at level 4? Above Pynchon and Borges? Rlly?

>> No.14703336

>>14702589
>Tolkein

imagine making a /lit/ chart and still having trouble with ie and ei

>> No.14703741

>>14702589
Polish here, Sienkiewicz is simple shit, he should be higher on this list

>> No.14703782

>>14703329

Fucking Conrad is level 1. LMAO.