/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1530597]

Hello /lit/,

I've decided to begin a personal mass reform, no longer will I be using worthless timesinks in order to consume idle life. This to me means that I'll be assimilating the humanities, arts, and whatever else there may be as best I can to learn and to better myself. I've come here to seek some particular recommendations in the humanities. I'm fond of the stoics and I've read Epictetus' discourses as well as Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" but I still seek more along the lines of the stoic philosophy. I'm interested in religion as well, I'm seeking texts on more exotic, obscure, or archaic religions/belief systems. And perhaps some interesting literature on equally obscure history if it can be provided?

As far as creative literature, assuming you wouldn't mind producing some recommendations; I enjoy Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde, they're my two favorites the latter being the superior on my list. Other than those two I liked Camus' "The Stranger" and I'm fond of Bukowski's poetry though I've never read his novels. H.G. Wells also managed to evoke an interest in sci-fi with his "The Invisible Man" and I found the dialogue in "The Time Machine" very tasteful.

Perhaps this thread could have the capacity to discuss contemporary arts as well, perhaps share our writing, general gentlemanly discussion?

[Anonymous No.1530610]

As far as obscure religous stuff goes I'd read "Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius. I'm also reading "Theodicy" by Leibniz right now and am finding alot of to be edifying.

For creative lit, I'd reccommend "Breakfast of Champions" or "Cat's Cradle" by vonnegut or "Catch 22" By Joseph Heller.
I don't know if any of that matches your tastes but I figured I'd throw my two cents in.

[Anonymous No.1530622]

>>1530610
I forgot to mention that I've read Catch-22. I started with Slaughterhouse, but I honestly couldn't get into it how similar are the two works you've listed? And thanks for the other recommendations, I'll be sure to get ahold of them as soon as I can.

[Anonymous No.1530631]

>>1530622
The two works are written with approximately the same worldview. However, Leibniz seems to be more oriented towards logical axioms and argument. Boethius is reminiscing about and contemplating his life and the keys to fulfillment.

[Anonymous No.1530639]

OH MY GOD LOOK HOW INTELLECTUAL AND EDUCATED WE ALL ARE

*FAPFAPFAPFAP*

[Anonymous No.1530642]

>>1530631
Sounds like I'll enjoy Boethius, I've been feeling rather unaccomplished in life as of late hence the turn I'm attempting to make. But I was asking about the works of Vonnegut you'd listed.

[Anonymous No.1530645]

>>1530639
What is this nonsense?

[Neuro !qdUPARcrn. No.1530663]

For fiction, I would strongly recommend The King in Yellow, by Robert Chambers. You can find it for free online. If you like H.G. Wells and Oscar Wilde, you should like that quite a bit. It's mostly horror stories, but also has a lot of romance. Just be prepared for some very definite genre writing.

For non-fiction, read anything by Cicero. Because you need to.

[Anonymous No.1530666]

Attempting to become an 'intellect' is a worthless timesink.

You are not smart or gifted enough to be one of the people that is remembered or leave a changing mark on society. Thus you will die a worthless 'enlightened' ignorant death.

[None !WvWWh.l.CE No.1530670]

>>1530666
trips. it must be true.

SRSLY WTF GUYS ALL THESE FUCKING MORONS AND ODDBALLS COME IN HERE AND THEY HAVE ALL HADS FRIENDS AND GFS FCKFCKFCKFCKFCKFCKFCKFCKFCK

[CiDeR No.1530672]

>>1530666

lol

Says the guy preaching about worthlessness....

[Anonymous No.1530674]

>>1530666
You think I've not come to terms with my lack of significance in the whole of things?

[CiDeR No.1530680]

OP I think you should read a little of Hunter S Thompson's work just for good measure.

For something easy read The Rum Diary. For something a bit tedious but far more important read The Kingdom of Fear. I wish you all the best in creating a better life for yourself and thus for those around you.

[Anonymous No.1530681]

Chaucer - Canterbury Tales
Sophocles - The Theban Plays
Homer - Iliad & Odyssey
Virgil - The Aeneid
Plato - The Last Days of Socrates
Shakespere: Antony & Cleopatra/ Hamlet/ Lear/ Tempest
Shakespeare - Sonnets
Milton - Sonnets
Milton - Paradise Lost
Various - Jacobean Drama
Dickens - David Copperfield
Hardy - Tess of the D'urbevilles
Shaw - Pygmalion
Yeats -Complete poems (Everyman)
Browning - The Major Works (Oxford)
Norton Anthology English Literature
Kant - Critique Pure Reason
Darwin - Origin of Species
Pope -The major works
Pope - The art of Sinking in Poetry
E.M Forster - Howard's end
FR Leavis - The Great Tradition
Penguin Book Of Renaissance Poetry
Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry
Penguin Book of French Poetry
Numerous collections of 20th Century Poetry

[Anonymous No.1530689]

>>1530680
Also read quite a bit of Thompson but I found it a bit sophomoric so I chose to omit it. I do find that he's an excellent author though, but I didn't feel the need to spark a debate in order to obtain what I need.

[Anonymous No.1530725]

> I've decided to begin a personal mass reform, no longer will I be using worthless timesinks in order to consume idle life.

Oh, to be 17 again.

[Anonymous No.1531195]

>>1530725
But I'm 18.

[Anonymous No.1531229]

>>1531195
Well played. Anyway, don't do it without guidance. If you read >>1530681 without context or interpretations it's pretty much useless knowledge. Just get an ancient philosophy textbook or The History of Western Philosophy. You can't just fucking sit down and read Kant's Critique. Goddamn. Wanna stop wasting time? Just spend it doing what you enjoy, NOT what you are addicted to (4chan). If I met who had read the Critique, I would be disgusted if they flaunted their knowledge, but if they actually had an interest in the subject (nowadays, most "modern" philosophy is just a history lesson) I might be impressed.
Just find something you love that isn't fapping or TV and do it. Jesus.

[Anonymous No.1531249]

>>1531229
Plato will not make you smart, Aristotle will not make you smart, Kant will not make you smart, Rennaisance poetry will not make you smart. If you really want to better yourself, learn logic and critical reasoning. You can start with Introduction to Logic by Copi. It's a useful skill for whatever you do. Can't really party-drop it, even though I know that's what you're looking for.
You're not "bettering yourself" by reading Epicetus. Waste of time unless you like history. You think it's easy to "take what you want" from ancient philosophy? Nope, it's near impossible unless you really devote time to studying them, and anyway most of it is wrong or has been shown to be complete bullshit.
Books are not some "great good" that you can miraculously become better by reading. Sorry.

[Anonymous No.1531250]

>I'm interested in religion
Google jesus, faggot.

[Anonymous No.1532239]

>>1531249
Yes, but books contain stories, knowledge, culture that are all currently untouchable by me. And I found that reading the Discourses of Epictetus were interesting and easily applicable to life, that's why I enjoyed them I could take something from them and apply it at least a little in my own life. What reasoning is it that brought you to the conclusion that I'd party drop such things? I seldom speak with peers and when I do it's only out of necessity, this of course means that I've no social life and would only on a few occasions be able to do such a thing.

[Anonymous No.1532601]

>>1532239
By "party drop" I meant feel superior to others for having read. You'd get a lot more by reading more recent philosophers (Descartes' Discourse, you would like, or Nietzsche. At least read the first chap of the Discourse, it's mostly autobiography.). There are many people who have done it better than the ancients.
Anyway, I guess reading anything at this point would give you a better idea of what your taste in literature is. But when reading older texts, always research the social location, background, and response to people's work (ESPECIALLY the ancients; I don't want you to end up a Platonist.).
For English lit:
The Norton Anthology of English Literature (contains basically all of >>1530681 and has context, history, etc).
For Philosophy:
Russell's A History of Western Philosophy

Read the full texts by interest accordingly.

[Anonymous No.1532611]

>>1532601
russell's history of western philosophy is awful as fuck, there's literally no reason to read it unless you need evidence of how shitty a philosopher russell was

[Anonymous No.1532626]

>>1532611
All right, what do you suggest then? He admits that it is biased, skewed, and flawed, and that's the nature of 'selective' histories.

[Anonymous No.1532641]

>>1532626
read the work of respectable philosophers

[Anonymous No.1532800]

>>1532601
No that's not at all what I intend to do, I just want to absorb knowledge and worldviews, if anything I intend to humble myself throughout this process. I read a small bit of Descartes' and found it pretty interesting but I failed to get through it due to academic restrictions. I tried Nietzsche, but my god it's so dense I couldn't understand what was going on which may be due to a poor translation (Peter Gay?) or my own inadequacy. But your insight it much appreciated, I'll certainly look to more modern things though I'll probably linger in the work of the ancients for a while longer.