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/lit/ - Literature

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1768868 No.1768868 [Reply] [Original]

what are you currently reading

what is yfw reading?

>mfw reading Going Postal (Terry Pratchett)

>> No.1768870

wow orangutans kind of look like people with down syndrome

>> No.1768872
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1768872

The Town and the City - Jack Kerouac

>> No.1768873
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1768873

>Ulysses

>> No.1768880

ABOUT TO START THE BLUE HOTEL BY CRANE.

>> No.1768886

I'm too busy with 4chan to read books.

>> No.1768884

>>1768872
kindof want. i've got vanity of duluoz on my shelf waiting.

>> No.1768894

>>1768884

Vanity of D is... not the best. Kerouac was pretty much dying when he wrote it. It's all about high school football and shit.

Town and the City is incredible because it's the only Kerouac novel that's actually polished into ordinary grammar. I have read all his books, and I'm currently debating whether or not his break into spontaneous prose was a good idea (even if that's what made him famous).

tl;dr town and the city is fascinatingly different from other kerouac works.

You should read On the Road first though.

>> No.1768908

>>1768894
I've done, in chronological order (rating order)

On The Road (third)

Dharma Bums (Second Favorite)

Wake Up (fourth)

And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (fifth)

Big Sur (my favorite)

i've also got his early short stories on my shelf waiting

>> No.1768914
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1768914

The satanic verses

>200 pages in and still mf.

I'm gonna read the whole damn book trying to figure out if I like it or not.

>> No.1768915
File: 8 KB, 200x150, 200px-Dave_Eggers_by_David_Shankbone.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1768915

a heartbreaking work of staggering genius

dave eggers

>> No.1768916
File: 42 KB, 388x384, 1305256240201.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1768916

book of chekhov stories
mfw

>> No.1768921

>>1768908

Yeah, Big Sur is fucking awesome, and of course so is Dharma Bums.

Vanity of D is really something you could skip unless you're really trying to do his whole works. It lacks description and anything else that makes Kerouac novels great. Read it when, you know, you feel like reading something stupid which still has a subject matter you're interested in (it DOES tell you a bit about his life).

You should check out Doctor Sax.

And if you mean Atop and Underwood by his short stories, then dig in, those are pretty cool. Very undeveloped, amateur writing, but it's a nice look at the progression of his writing and life.

>> No.1768925

>>1768915
Soyouhavedecidedtowasteyourtime.jpg

>> No.1768930

>>1768925

That was not a bad book, bro.

Don't be mean.

There were some great passages in there.

>> No.1768931

what maisie knew - henry james

>> No.1768935

>>1768925
I started reading it when I was 16, but then I lost my copy of it. 3 years later (now) I have finally gotten a new one and I am determined to finish what I started.

And I really like it so far, so whateva. It's a good read during the semester when I also have to read books for class and shit.

>> No.1768936

>>1768921
yep Atop an Underworld is the one. I'm looking to get through his complete works in the next few years. Fuck dude those descriptions of his visions in Big Sur god damnit made me tear up so hard. Just trying to understand his mental state— old and dying basically sitting looking at the waves.

>> No.1768937

>>1768930
I can't even believe this post.

>> No.1768945

>>1768931
HOW'S THAT GOING FOR YOU?

>> No.1768946

>>1768937
reading a book with some good, funny parts in it is definitely a bigger waste of time than making content-free posts on 4chan

>> No.1768957

>>1768936

Yeah... don't expect that shit in Vanity of D. You'll get depressed. His mind was done when he wrote that. And not in an effective way, either. It's just flat, uncreative, and sad.

You'll love Doctor Sax. Subterraneans is okay too. Plus all his Blues poems stuff.

And Visions of Neal will fuck you if you know your Kerouac. Anyone who doesn't know Kerouac will hate that book, but you'll love it if you know what's going on. A third of it is just transcripts of Jack talking with Neal. Pretty dumb if you don't like that shit, but it's gold if you care about either one of those guys...

>> No.1768967

>>1768957
>A third of it is just transcripts of Jack talking with Neal

very relevant. i have so much trouble trying to decide how to read kerouac though— fiction, autobiography, whatever

>> No.1768969

In Dubious Battle (Steinbeck)
I also took a glance at the first volume of Sky Doll, and while the first chapter was as faptastic as advertised the rest of it was too "lol we're french so we're gonna parody religion" for me. Maybe I'll give it a try on the internet or something but I'm not wasting my valuable library-time.

>> No.1768970

>>1768967

It's all autobiography.

Crazy thing about The Town and the City is that most of the male siblings are separate sides of Jack (one is a jock, another is a nerd, another joins the merchant marines--all Jack's singular real life).

>> No.1768975

>>1768970

>It's all autobiography.

i know but— i want to believe its fiction for some reason. hah Town and the City sounds ridiculous

>> No.1768978
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1768978

Lolita

>> No.1768981

I couldn't finish the Town and the City. It's weird because I loved On the Road, I couldn't get into the Town and the City at all.

>> No.1768979

>>1768872

I'm reading the Town and the City. Holy nuts, I am having a hard time not being bored by it!

>> No.1768982

>>1768979
>>1768981

You'd have to have a general interest in Kerouac's life.

I'm finding the book fascinating because I read all his other shit, and am now reading this... it's really eye opening in terms of understanding his life.

Although... he really owes a lot to Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel" for this.

....which is a much more boring book than Town and the City, by the way.

>> No.1768983

>>1768981

I've read a lot of Kerouac and wanted to see where it all came from... try and see if TC was as bad as everyone said it was...

I wouldn't call it terrible but after reading accounts of JK having to trim this book down heavily, I wonder what the hell it was like before editing.

>> No.1768985

>>1768982

The thing is, I do have a huge interest in the man's life but found reading Jack's Book and the Ginsberg Letters to be more enlightening than TC

>> No.1768991
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1768991

I have ten pages left in The Consolation of Philosophy. I'm going to finish it as soon as I post this.

>mfw

>> No.1768995

>>1768983

>I wonder what the hell it was like before editing.

Probably really long and pretentious. He was 18 years old...

>>1768985

Don't know what to tell you then.

TC isn't all drugs and rambling. It's about the family life that shaped his mind and morals.

>> No.1769003
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1769003

Been reading some poetry. Last thing I read was Keats' "Lamia."

>> No.1769008
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1769008

>>1769003

And this is my face when reading Gertrude Stein.

>> No.1769014

Lamia is perhaps my favorite long poem.

>> No.1769015

>>1769014

I've been loving Keats, but still don't find myself very intellectually interested in him. I think that might be a good thing though, in Kantian way.

>> No.1769093
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1769093

>mfw I'm reading my Raymond Chandler Everyman's Library Collection book

>> No.1769094
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1769094

The Raw Shark Texts.

>mfw

>> No.1769101

>>1768868
Gonna need a sauce on that pic OP.

>> No.1769103

>>1768908
>>1768921
http://onthebrod.tumblr.com/

>> No.1769104
File: 24 KB, 384x336, 1287144281571.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1769104

Tropic of Cancer

>> No.1769105

>>1769104
That's an amazing book, make sure to finish it. He justifies his work in the end.

Just finished reading "The Wise Man's Fear"

Now reading a book on English grammar.
>mfw I have no face

Then a book on Buddhism.

>> No.1769106

>Biography of Marquis de Sade
>History of Western philosophy
>Dagon and other tales by HP Lovecraft

>> No.1769108
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1769108

The Fountainhead


For the third time.

>> No.1769112
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1769112

SM 101 by Jay wiseman

>> No.1769114

Samuel Pepys: the Unequalled self

>> No.1769122

Just finished reading The Silence of the Lambs a few minutes ago. Now moving on to enjoy an old favorite, White Fang by Jack London.

>> No.1769143

Da Great Gatsby by F. Schott Fizzeral

>> No.1769147
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1769147

The Davinci Code
its pretty good but I hate Dan Brown for putting so much false shit about Davinci in it, mad confusing

>> No.1769165

100 Years of Solitude and I'll be thumbing through Brief Interviews with Hideous Men after / during that.

>>1769147
This is not. Just... No. I read this about two years ago and while I thought it was entertaining, the guy is no more legitimate an author than those women who write bad romance novels by the truckload. Yeah, he writes books. But it's not art. People who read this kind of stuff and say "Oh, yeah. I read a hell of a lot." piss me off to no end because they might as well be sitting in front of a television for that amount of time - it's about the same.

I'm not mad at you, poster I've quoted. Just pissed in general because this book reminds me of my English teachers in high school. I was organizing the book shelf in one of their rooms and my current and old teacher were there. I picked up the book to put it away and one said how good a book that is and asked me if I'd read it. I said that I did, and that it was pretty entertaining, but I think he's a hack. They looked at me like my opinions were totally fucking insane and got a little snooty about it. I just smiled and let it go but I didn't really respect their taste too much after that.

>> No.1769186
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1769186

>>1769165
Ya, it really isn't that great a book I agree with you, the writing and pace is good but some of the dialogue is cringe worthy.. Theres a scene where the main character reminisces about teaching teenagers at one point in his life and the reactions of his students are so hilariously unrealistic.

>> No.1769239

Re-reading 'Glass Hammer' by Jeter

>> No.1769251

Complete works of Plautus.

Great comedies, they get to me. I have a few laughs in all of them.

>> No.1769253
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1769253

> mfw reading The Fifth Head of Cerberus

>> No.1769255

>>1769253
oh hell yeah that shit is so good. seriously, it's so fucking good. which story are you on yet. did you get to the part where your head explodes

>> No.1769257

>>1769255
Just started the second story. So far it's pretty much my hair standing on end, no exploding heads, but man this shit is so cash.

>> No.1769263
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1769263

>The God Delusion

>> No.1769269

>>1769257
yeah the first story is more creepy than anything (but still really good). also, iirc, it definitely takes on slightly different meaning after you finish the other stories. i think the third story is my favorite, it's really dope.

>> No.1769292
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1769292

>watership down

>> No.1769300
File: 17 KB, 338x450, osama-bin-laden-smiling.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1769300

>Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers

>> No.1769308
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1769308

> mfw Blood Meridian

>> No.1769327
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1769327

'Queer' by Burroughs

>> No.1769351
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1769351

Cousin Bette by Balzac

>> No.1769353

>Your Brain On Music

>> No.1769365
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1769365

History of the Voynich Manuscript.
mfw, except I don't look anything at all like the hippie in this picture

>> No.1769369
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1769369

>Brave New World

>> No.1769370 [DELETED] 

>>1769365

any interested revelations?

>> No.1769372

>>1769365

any interesting revelations?

>> No.1769382

Ulysses, but I'm reading it for a class so I'm not sure if that counts.

>> No.1769394
File: 529 KB, 735x1000, Voynich_18r_sm.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1769394

>>1769372
Not yet, but I'm downloading the high quality version of it one page at a time from here: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscollex/SetsSearchExecXC.asp?srchtype=ITEM
Also, Voynich and Newbold were probably fools who happened upon something unique, and now the academia surrounding it is so thick it probably needs to disappear for a hundred years before anyone can get a fresh start on understanding it.
Also, I think the attached pic is a type of Triffid.
Plan is that once I get it all DL'ed I'm going to play with it in photoshop, overlaying leaves and playing with transparency. And thankfully I work somewhere that has original Roger Bacon manuscripts.
Can you imagine discovering a crazy old manuscript in the basement of an old monastery? mmmm....

>> No.1769422

>>1768914

lemme know how that goes. I couldn't get past that crazy flying carpet shit in the beginning.

>> No.1769424
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1769424

>Crime and Punishment

>> No.1769425

>>1769300
I Lol'd

>> No.1769432
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1769432

The plays of Oscar Wilde, His early works were ok, now I am going to start reading Lady Windermere's fan and hope that it will be more entertaining than what I've read so far.

>> No.1769461
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1769461

>War and Peace

>> No.1769465
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1769465

>Posthumous memoirs of Bras Cubas
>The Third Bank of the River (Primeiras Estórias)
Delightful.

>> No.1769473
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1769473

a depressing set of german-language short stories. kleist, hoffman, schnitzler, mann, kafka...

all are kind of morbid and depressing.

>mfw

>> No.1769500
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1769500

A visitation of the plague

>> No.1769503
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1769503

Read Tristram Shandy (Sterne)
Read Gentlemen Of The Road (Chabon)
Currently reading Baudolino (Eco)

So my face has looked like this for a while.

>> No.1769541
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1769541

Out of desperation for some fantasy, I read Northern Lights. Not bad really, up until the atheist propaganda overload.

>>mfw I got to Subtle Knife.

SO FUCKING BORING

>> No.1769548
File: 340 KB, 576x768, 060430110529-1146362217240.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1769548

I just started reading the original Dracula.

>> No.1769551

>discworld
>posting picture of orang-utans
>filename "Monkey Bros"
>MONKEY

>> No.1769552

>>1769503

I fucking love Baudolino

>> No.1769567

monkeys are awesome, man

look at him going like WHOAAA lol

and that brazilian dude groping the bitch

great pic

>> No.1769585
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1769585

>>1769473

This sounds right up my alley. Tell me anon, is this set collected in a single volume? Does it have a title?

>> No.1769592

>>1769548
Is Dracula any good? And by good I mean entertaining.
I'll be on a nine hour flight next week, and I might take it on the plane with me.

>> No.1769604
File: 46 KB, 561x570, Girl with her New Hat - by Knut Hoftun Knudsen ..jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1769604

Cosmicomics

>> No.1769612

Dennis Lehane - Sacred.

Aint that bad, truth be told.

>> No.1769613
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1769613

>mfw Orangutans are members of the great ape family.

>> No.1769614

>>1768868
The bloody chamber and other stories

Also finishing brave new world revisited, I began but obviously got distracted by life.. Which is now, I'm glad, over again

>> No.1769616

>>1769612

aint that bad, but also aint as good as books one, two and four in the Kenzie/Genarro series.

>> No.1769619

The Dispossessed by: Ursula LeGuin

>> No.1769621

>>1769616

I originally read them all a few years ago - I thin out of the 4 that had been published [at the time] Gone, Baby, Gone, was my favourite. Actually only re-reading them, because I found out that there's a 5th, and more importantly a sixth, in that series [I'm quite interested in seeing how Moonlight Mile is, after such a gap from the last one].

>> No.1769744

>>1769592

Well the first 30 pages are pretty good so far. It's the first time I haven't been bored to death by a "person riding through the countryside on his way to where the plot starts" chapter.