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/lit/ - Literature

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1481410 No.1481410 [Reply] [Original]

What do hipsters read?

>> No.1481412

they dont.
/thread

>> No.1481414

Whoever most recently died, and claim they've been reading them "for ages."

>> No.1481415

IKEA catalogs.

>> No.1481423

Every hipster I know owns at least a few philosophy books, usually something by Nietzsche at least, and some classic novels, probably something Russian or late 19th century French. And also some modern stuff, like Twilight or Harry Potter, which they claim they enjoy ironically, though in actuality, it's the only stuff they ever read.

>> No.1481431

Sparknotes and wikipedia.

>> No.1481482

Devendra Banhart isn't a hipster, man.

>> No.1481485

They atempt to read existential philosophy they cannot underrstand.

>> No.1481489

>>1481482
Fuck, anyone wearing an original SWANS "Filth" shirt isn't an hipster.

>> No.1481490

Anything you can convince them is critical of societ and above everyone's grasp. I tested the theory on a friend by mentioning a horrid book I had to read for a class once, Jurgen Habermas' The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, and sure enough it was on his bookshelf within a few weeks. Successful troll was successful

>> No.1481491

>>1481489
Yes they are you fucking Hipster.

>> No.1481492

>>1481490
How did you mention the book? If you recommended it, you're just being an arsehole.

>> No.1481494

>>1481489

He's a friend of the band. Also, >>1481485
I've never understood this cliche, so often employed by (pseudo-)intellectuals: Existentialism isn't harder to comprehend than the vast majority of philosophical systems and, in my experience, idiots are more inclined to misappropriate 'nihilism' to justify their onanistic wankshaftery.

>> No.1481500

>>1481492

quite the opposite of a recommendation, mentioned it as so mind-numbingly boring and poorly focused that even the professor admitted he's not sure why he continues to keep it on the syllabus year after year. i guess it could inspire a perverse interest - this tastes like shit. let me taste it - but thats largely my point, hipsters are just contrary people with no foundation outside of being contrary

>> No.1481545

It almost seems that the harder someone tries to be as visually shocking as possible, the more actually boring as shit they are to talk to.
Not a hard rule, just most of the time.

>> No.1481560

>>1481494
He also features on their new album.

>> No.1481565

They tend to read the likes of Viktor Frankl, Oliver Sacks, Thoreau and Nietzsche.

Hipsters fucking love Nietzsche.

>> No.1481569

>>1481565

Pretty much everyone loves Nietzsche

Fuck, the dude below me who's a Christian from somalia loves Nietzsche

>> No.1481570

>>1481565

Imagine if Nietzsche was reanimated. You could hear his heart explode in rage from Shoreditch to Williamsberg.

>> No.1481572

Anything Russian

>> No.1481574

Anyone who is not in possession of a Phd and willingly and openly states in public that they like, or indeed even have read, Nietzsche needs a vicious clog-beating. They're posturing.

>> No.1481576

Thomas Pynchon. Though they don't really read it as much as they carry it around to make them look cool.

>> No.1481580

>>1481574

I'm not so sure about that. I've read three of Nietzsche's works (sans PhD), and did so long before this modern reincarnation of hipsterdom came about.

>> No.1481583

Yes, but it's not the reading of Nietzsche that condemns the fool. It's the unsolicited proclamation of the achievement of having read Nietzsche.

(No slight on your good self: "unsolicited" being the keyword.)

>> No.1481586

>>1481574
Cool story, bro. I like Nietzsche and I don't have any of that.

>> No.1481589

>>1481583

Alright, I'm willing to accept your hypothesis now that you've added 'unsolicited' to it. Fortunately I don't come across many of these hipsters.

>> No.1481591

>implying reading nietzsche isn't fun

>> No.1481594

>>1481591

>Implying that, despite the tripfags and fantasyfags, /lit/ isn't constituted by individuals more intelligent than the average hipster.

>> No.1481598

Corpus Christi. A prime example here. Hark at the man who says: "Cool story bro" with one breath, and "I like Nietzsche" with the next.

Believe me when I say that were Nietzsche alive and witness to this, he would spit at you.

Away with you, Hipster.

>> No.1481606

>>1481598

Hipsters are so pitiful that I'd genuinely rather spend time with this guy, and he exclaims in Cambridge colleges, for fuck's sake! Also, for the record, Nietzsche would have hated you too.

>> No.1481611

>>1481606
Nietzsche hated everybody. Even his sister.

>> No.1481613

>>1481598
Hey, believe whatever you want, man. Just know that he would have hated your guts too.

>> No.1481618

Indeed, he would have hated me. And I would consider anything else an insult. Nietzsche was a bad man, and wallowed in a horrible philosophy of self-regard. No coincidence the hipsters gravitate.

>> No.1481621

>>1481611
>Even his sister.

The bitch was a nazi, why shouldn't he hate her?

>> No.1481632

>>1481621

She merits a little hatred. Her misappropriation of his corpus set Nietzschean scholarship back quite a bit.

>> No.1481634

>>1481611
He loved his mother and Wagner was his bro. And he loved his father; the only money Nietzsche came in to was spent on getting his dad a proper tombstone.

>> No.1481637

House of Leaves and anything less than 100 pages long by Sartre or Kafka.

>> No.1481639

>>1481634
>Wagner was his bro
Up until the point when they stopped talking due to Wagner's sudden Christianity and Fascism, at leas.

>> No.1481640

LOLS at familial bodily misappropriation.

Perhaps Nietzsche could have chipped in for the tombs for the six million Jews as well.

>> No.1481641

>>1481634
Wagner was a cock. He was full of himself and his compositions suck. But I guess that's why they go so well together.

>> No.1481642

>>1481639
And Nietzsche not being able to write an Opera. And Wagner's wife/Liszt's daughter unrequited love stuff.

>> No.1481643

>>1481637

I doubt it, somehow. If they operated within those parameters they'd eventually read 'Existentialism & (/is a) Humanism', and thus attain a very basic understanding of the philosophy. I have never met a hipster who comprehended Existentialism on even a fundamental level.

>> No.1481645

>People call me a hipster
>I don't really do anything that should be considered hipster
>I have an honest love of books and since I am still young have been working my way through a series of classics
>Seen as hipster because of growing taste in literature

Is the above true?

>> No.1481649

>>1481640
He had nothing to do with that though. He argued for the inclusion of Jews within Europe at a time when anti-semitism was writhe.

>> No.1481650

Devendra Banhart would hate all of this. He only ever wanted to make delightful music with his friends.

>> No.1481654

>>1481645

Most students of good universities have read a number of classics before their first year. Most students of good universities aren't hipsters.

You can do one without the other, you're probably doing both.

>> No.1481657

>>1481654
>you read books
>therefore you are a hipster

>> No.1481658

>>1481654
I'm finishing my last year of middle school this year. Hipster or no?

>> No.1481663

>>1481658

I don't give a fuck.

>> No.1481664
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1481664

>>1481643
Well, it depends on one's level of reading comprehension, even for the most basic introductions.
The point is not that they're actually reading it, but presenting themselves as such.

I only spoke from my experience.

Also,
>live in Portland, OR
>be on hipster friend's porch
>find a copy of something or the other by Freud
>open book
>notes upon notes scribbled on the side attacking each one of his statements from a militant quasi-feminist perspective
>mfw

>> No.1481746
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1481746

Why hasn't this been mentioned yet? Every teenage hipster loves 'Catcher in the Rye' and 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'.

>> No.1481748

Actual "hipsters" don't really read much on their own. They're mostly about lol fashion and lol parties and lol coke and lol deep music.

Next.

>> No.1481764

>>1481412
Funny because its true.

>> No.1481773
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1481773

Hipsters don't exist.

There are just two kinds of people:

A) People who do things purely for their own benefit and education. These people will innocently read anything considered "hipster" just for their education, and they either: a) won't tell anyone about it, or b) not care what you think about their reading material.

B) People who do things with an ulterior motive to impress other people. What they read is all a part of establishing an identity, and this means making it clear to others what they're reading and what they think about it.

And of course there are a million degrees between A) and B).

>> No.1481796

Categories like hipster are invalid and stupid.

The only categories that matter are whether one is intelligent or unintelligent, and if one is intelligent whether one is good enough to go to Oxford, or just above average.
Dress however you please.
Ugly and lonely people like to deride better looking people for being "hipsters" or something, but seriously you don't even know what "hipster" means.
It can be applied to anything.
I'm going to Oxford for my PhD next academic year

>> No.1481802

>>1481796

>Categories are invalid and stupid.

>The only categories that matter are whether one is intelligent or unintelligent

You can't quantify intelligence like some linear feature of our brains.

>> No.1481808

They aren't categorised, they're creating a group mentality. It's perfectly justified and human.

As with anything I else I'm sure hipsters read things even you've never heard of.

>> No.1481811

>>1481802
Sure.
But you can't be "sort of intelligent".

>> No.1481813

>>1481773
That is so flawed.

Basically you're explaining the difference between hermits and normal people.

With a positive slant on hermits.

People read literature for personal enjoyment and to be able to discuss it with people. And much of that enjoyment comes from discussion. Holy fuck. Lrn2literature.

>> No.1481814

>>1481811

Why not?

>> No.1481817

>>1481811
>sort of intelligent

translation #1: not a retard

translation #2: I think I'm a genius and I like to pretend that I'm modest, because I care what people think of me.

>> No.1481821

>>1481412
This.

They pretend to have read everything.

Or find excuses for not having read certain things, e.g. the footnoes in Infinite Jest are pretentious so I haven't bothered reading it.

>> No.1481823

Can we get a definition of hipster?

Empty pejorative for someone you don't like. Most people criticize those they think are hipster by claiming that they're only concerned about appearances, and always try to one-up people by having done something first.

But the same people who criticize hipsters are claiming that hipsters aren't authentic, and claim themselves as having done something before hipsters.

ITT we talk about who invented wearing a backpack with one strap.

>> No.1481824

>>1481813

Do "normal people" use literature as a means for establishing an identity?

When I read, that has nothing to do with it.

>> No.1481830

>>1481823
>ITT we talk about who invented wearing a backpack with one strap.

that's hipster? My bother and everyone he knew were doing that back in 1990, when he was in 5th grade, I think at that time he thought that it made him less nerd and more adult.

>> No.1481832

In my experience, if they read at all they read Vonnegut, David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers, and J.D. Salinger

>> No.1481833

>>1481823

There is no such thing as a hipster.

People will always derive their own meaning from other people's behavior.

>> No.1481836

>>1481824
Yes of course. Anybody who has a hobby identifies with it on some level.

Literature is definitely a part of my identity. I've got degrees in it, and write. Do I talk about it all the time? Yes, often. Do I feel proud of my interests? Yes, of course. Why do something unless you want to talk about it and be proud of it.

Does that mean I lord myself over everyone? No.

You guys say "hipster" when you mean conceited. Use more accurate terms.

>> No.1481838

>>1481823
to me hipster are snobs who care too much how they look, what is street-trendy and what people think of them, although they don't admit the latter part.

>> No.1481840

>>1481836

>Why do something unless you want to talk about it and be proud of it.

Hmm, not sure.

Perhaps because the enjoyment you get from doing it is enough.

>> No.1481847

>>1481838
So rich upper-middle class soccer moms who care about keeping up appearances are hipsters?

So kids in the inner city who care about getting the freshest Jordans are hipsters?

So douchebag bros who groom themselves for hours each day are hipsters?

Everyone cares about the trends of their particular social group, how they fit in with that social group, and what the people in that group think of them,

This definition is vague and useless.

>>1481830
I was being ironic. A situation in which a person critiques another for claiming authenticity or originality, while simultaneously claiming their own authenticity is as shortsighted as claiming to have invented wearing a backpack with one strap.

Like this: "No, John isn't legit. He only says he's always been into Nietzsche because he wants to look better than everyone else. I actually have always been into Nietzsche though, unlike John, who only cares what people think of him. I really was into him before it got cool."

Don't you see how that's the pot calling the kettle black?

Anybody who critiques someone else for valuing social groups, but at the same time expresses superiority over that person's perceived social group is a hypocrite.

>> No.1481850

They carry around doorstops like Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow to look intellectual. Don't actually read them though so it might not count.

>> No.1481853

>>1481840
Yes, but telling me that you do it for personal enjoyment still gives you enjoyment. You feel a little superior because you perceive that you don't care what people think about you, right? If the enjoyment were enough you wouldn't be broadcasting that, I don't think.

>> No.1481857

>>1481847
See, that's the thing. There are "hipsters" in every culture. A hipster is someone who does things they consider "hip." Wearing the freshest Jordans? Hip in some places, thus, those who wear them could technically be "hipsters."

Our interpretation of the meaning of "hipster" is someone who wears vintage/neon/AmericanHollisterandFitch clothing, and listens to copious amounts of acoustic music. Oh, and they are almost always in a coffee shop.

>> No.1481863

They all jack off to Chuck Klosterman's literary garbage. Trust me on this.

>> No.1481869

>>1481857
Okay I'll buy that. If it's being used as a class of person and not a cohesive social group, I'll buy it.

>> No.1481872

>>1481823
I've always heard hipster in reference to people who attempt to be modern fashion "icons" (for instance guys in skinny jeans and tight button-down shirts, girls who try to dress vintage & wear interesting accessories) or whatever, and sometimes branching into those who listen to alternative music & think they are more indie than they are. Until I came to this board, I'd never heard of it in reference to taste in books

>> No.1481886

>>1481869
Mm, but I really think it could be considered both. I've found that the "hipsters" (the ones we normally define as "hipster") are part of the higher class. They are not a class in their own right, just as they are not truly a specific cultural group, even though that may be the closest to what they really are.

>> No.1481887

>>1481853

Not really.

I wasn't talking about my own enjoyment, I was pointing out how you go beyond that enjoyment by then talking about it to others.

In reality I don't talk to anyone at all, really, about the enjoyment I get from reading.

This is not because I feel superior in some way by hiding it, it's just that I don't think they'd be interested.

>> No.1481903

>Why do hipsters read

Because they're majoring in Literature.

>> No.1481930

What do old people have to do with classic lit?

>> No.1482047
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1482047

Book

>> No.1482051

book 2

>> No.1482053

You've probably never heard of it ...

>> No.1482082

Nietzsche, Harry Potter, Kafka on the Shore, James Joyce, Perks of being a Wallflower, Richard Dawkins. That sort of thing.

>> No.1482087

>>1482082

Oh, I forgot to mention Fight Club and the Zombie Survival Guide. Those are important.

>> No.1482113

4channers denigrating 'hipsters' b/c they actually get laid despite or perhaps b/c of their pretentiousness. Protip: I've been slandered as a hipster for years and couldn't give a fuck if you paid me. One of the benefits of blissful apathy is that it makes you invulnerable to any of this pathetic middle school teasing. And I've actually read every book you tards clign to in your hopes of appearing intellectually superior and about a thousand more. Cry more please kiddies please!

>> No.1482116

>>1482113
That post reads like the ramblings of a mad man.

>> No.1482132

>>1482113
>hipsters
>actually get laid
I don't think sex actually has much to do with it. There are hipsters who function in society and get laid, and there are hipsters who get laid about as much as a basement-dwelling neckbeard, it's just that their embarrassments and disgraces are more public. This just comes out of the whole myth that 4chan users are all loners and the myth that everyone who doesn't browse 4chan is automatically a suave social dynamo.

>> No.1482139

>>1482116
Your point being?

>> No.1482142

>>1482116
Never seen those before on 4chan

>> No.1482147

>>1482139
That that post reads like the ramblings of a mad man.

>> No.1482154

>>1482132

That was precisely my point, hipster is a meaningless word that says more about the person employing it as a slur than whomever they're trying to describe.

>> No.1482162

>>1482147
Your point being?

>> No.1482167

>>1482113
QFT. A Majority of people on this board are way more pretentious than the average hipster anyways.

>> No.1482176

>>1482162
There are no points. Only circles.

>> No.1482203

>>1481500
this is pretty dumb

imagine from your friend's perspective:

"Hmm. My friend had a very strong reaction to this book. The content must be very interesting to have gotten such a reaction out of my friend, whose opinions I generally sympathize with. I'll have to give it a look."

skeptical inquiry is god tier, and shutting your friend down just because he is curious makes you a judgmental asshole

>> No.1482225

>>1482167
Yeah this as well. I like this board, but Christ the elitism is almost palpable. I mean, if you talked to a hipster, you'd probably find some common social ground and be treated civilly, but here it's like there's a blacklist of stuff that you can't talk about without being bombarded with "hipster edgy teenager lol." What's worse is that this is stuff that most /lit/ users have probably read and maybe even liked at some point, but conveniently forget this because they've "outgrown" it. It becomes especially silly when it's a cultural touchstone that anybody worth his or her literary salt has almost certainly read. For example, could you imagine a professor of English lit laughing at you for liking The Catcher in the Rye? Fuck no, because it's a significant work of 20c U.S. literature. But because everyone read it in high school, suddenly you're childish for liking it past the age of 16.

>> No.1482227

>>1482176
Hmmm. Can't tell if that's profound or retarded.

Alas...your point being?

>> No.1482249

>>1482225
agreed with you, but i think the general feeling is that if you continue to sympathize with holden into your 20s you're still stuck in adolescence

just replace "phony" with "hipster"

>> No.1482259

>>1482167
Honestly, everyone I've known who I've considered a "hipster" has been unsettlingly mellow and non-elitist. Like, okay with things to the point of it being nauseatingly annoying.

Anything you do: "Oh yeah man, rad!"

>> No.1482284

>>1482249
Funny I see it as if you can no longer symphatize with Holden then you've become a phony. Shitting on sincerity as simply whiny adolescence is the mark of the phony who has conditioned himself to hate everything.

>> No.1482303

>>1481423
>modern
You mean contemporary. Modern describes a specific point in history (the early half of the 20th century). But otherwise, good post.

>> No.1482790

>>1482284
can't you see? the teacher was the real catcher in the rye. holden is one of the little kids running around the field aimlessly

really though, the whole book he just bums from one place to another, confused and angry. the only thing he has done to take care of his body is drink alcohol. i don't think he ate, slept or had water throughout most of the book. if there was no one to give him shelter and listen to him prattle on about his self-centered perspective, he would've died. if not socially, then literally.

the teacher isn't a phony, his concern and love for holden is real and sincere. yet, holden for some reason can't see this.

>> No.1482795

>What do hipsters read?

My posts.