/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17953688]

is this a normal situation?

[Anonymous No.17953713]

>>17953688
oh definitely, man. Don't even worry about it. I slogged through Aquinas and Germans. Took me years. Maybe it was because I was always reading fiction that compelled me more directly, at the time.

[Anonymous No.17953721]

>>17953688
For people reading philosophy? Almost always, as people that focus on reading philosophy never enjoy the actual process of reading, just their vague concept of attaining knowledge. Drop the philosophy shtick and get some good novels, plays, and poems under your belt.

[Anonymous No.17953734]

>>17953721
>people that focus on reading philosophy never enjoy the actual process of reading
I refuse to do this, I will find the poetry in a philosophical text prior to even trying to understand what it is saying on a deeper level, I will not live as an ant nor will I die a spectacle.

[Anonymous No.17953741]

>>17953721
Oh fuck off. I enjoy reading it, but I've got like 10,000,000 pages ahead of me.

[Anonymous No.17953981]

I've been in the process of reading the Greeks for like 2 years. The Iliad took me around 3 months to finish. It was such a frustrating read that it took me over a year to start the Odyssey. I'm on song 7 or 8 (after Odysseys leaves Calypso) and it's been over a month.

I'm reading a century old Finnish translation which is in Homeric metre. Pretty hard.

[Anonymous No.17954012]

>>17953713
I find crunchy conceptual and meta- nonfiction and philosophy the most compelling to read. Each time I try fiction it doesn't feel right.
But my reading speed is stymied by just how good I am at procrastinating - how good I am at doing absolutely jack shit.

[Anonymous No.17954017]

>>17953981
>I'm reading a century old Finnish translation which is in Homeric metre. Pretty hard.
My swedish translation is also a little over a century old and in dactylic hexameter. It's the epic form; anything else would be cheating.

[Anonymous No.17954068]

>>17954017

I'd answer in Swedish but I think I'd end up embarrassing myself - even though I've been studying it for like 7 years. But yeah, reading in anything but dactylic hexametre would be cheating. A bit like reading a translation of Joyce's Ulysses. It loses its spirit. Have you read the Iliad as well?

[Anonymous No.17954147]

>>17954068
I read the Iliad first, yes. The Odyssey is definitely the smoother narrative. During the weeks I spent reading them (a few chapters/books at a time, then I'd read something else), I found myself trying to force rhythm out of every other thing I read. If you're curious about the swedish version, which has reigned supreme here since it was first published (only one other translation has been made since, admittedly a good one, as opposed to the dozen or more made in the 1800s), you can find them on the Swedish Academy's website.

https://www.svenskaakademien.se/svenska-akademien/publikationer/svenska-klassiker/lagerlofs-homeros-iliaden-och-odysseen

[Anonymous No.17954183]

>>17953688
Just read for 25 minute and take a 5 minute break, and do this>>17953713
for 10 hours and you’ll have completed a book.

[Anonymous No.17954228]

I'm never going to read Kant fuck that

[Anonymous No.17954233]

>>17954228
Why not, anon?

[Anonymous No.17954251]

>>17953688
Yeh, contrary to what most Wikipedia philosophers in here would have you believe, actual philosophy takes years of effort.

[Anonymous No.17954280]

any philosopher will tell you that you should attempt to read philosophy as slowly, not as quickly, as possible.

[Anonymous No.17954313]

>>17953688
Must be a short readling list if it's cleared in a couple of weeks.

[Anonymous No.17954395]

>>17954147

Tack! Maybe I'll have a look. I've also noticed that rhythmic influence you referred to.

[Anonymous No.17954505]

>>17954233
I don't know if I'm capable. I want to read schop very much, and I know he says to read kant beforehand, but he didn't know about youtube back then. Do you think I should? I probably should.

[Anonymous No.17954516]

>>17953688
Unless it's your fulltime occupation it will take years to get basic philosophical fluency

[Anonymous No.17954524]

>>17954147
Based lagerlöf poster

[Anonymous No.17954538]

>>17954313
you can always read a work explaining the philosophy of Kant.

[Anonymous No.17954545]

>>17954505
You definitely should, anon. It might take time to digest Kant but do it. I look at youtube as more of a supplement to the books I'm reading.

[Anonymous No.17954559]

>>17953688
Philosophy has a reputation for some of the most difficult, densest, and crappiest prose. I wouldn't feel too bad about it.

[Anonymous No.17955252]

>>17953688
I don't think it's normal because you most likely suffer from ADHD but it's definitely common because many of us suffer from it as well.
A good shortcut is to study the history of philosophy and then just read the best works of the most influential philosophers. Even then it should take over a decade.

[Anonymous No.17955267]

>>17953741
If you were fuckin real, then you would realize that there is no end to the pages you have to read. You don't read Kant, or any other philosopher, and "understand" him. You live with Kant, or you despise him. Too many pages is a nonissue.

[Anonymous No.17955649]

>start reading something
>turns out to understand it better you need to read x
>start reading x, turns out you need to read y
>repeat forever

[Anonymous No.17955651]

>>17953688
maybe if ur missing the area of ur bran that lets you read and comprehend what your reading at the same time sure

[Anonymous No.17955664]

>>17953721
This anon is right. I spent three years reading dry philosophy books until I realized I didn't enjoy what I was doing and my knowledge of them was diminutive compared to actual scholars. I haven't entirely stopped reading philosophy but I focus on reading literature and poetry now. Not caring about pseud cred and reading what is interesting to oneself is great, fellas.

[Anonymous No.17955702]

>>17955267
>real

[Anonymous No.17955703]

>>17953688
>upper right: my girlfriend
>lower left: me

[Anonymous No.17955765]

>>17953981
I don't get it. The Iliad is such a fun story. The only time it trips me up is when I get lost in one of his similes and I have to go back to remember that we're talking about a guy getting stabbed and not a tree getting chopped down or whatever other weird comparisons Homer uses.

[Anonymous No.17955795]

>>17954505
I found Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals pretty easy to understand. Never touched the harder stuff though.

[Anonymous No.17955833]

>>17955765

I imagine it has to do with the translation. The one I'm using has very old language, so it's difficult to understand. Ergo, not such satisfaction to read it.

[Anonymous No.17955848]

>>17955765
>I have to go back to remember that we're talking about a guy getting stabbed and not a tree getting chopped down or whatever other weird comparisons Homer uses.
It should be pretty obvious after only a single section of combat that Homer frequently uses the imagery of peacetime to describe war. There should be no need to flip back and forth, obviously it is a metaphor if the story goes from the armies clashing to waves hitting the shore. It’s actually the most profound and sublime part of the Iliad, the idea that even in the most glorious of wars peace is always at the forefront of all thought.

[Anonymous No.17955896]

>>17955848
Oh yeah, I got used to it quick, and some of them really are beautiful. I just mean those are the only parts of the story that were occasionally jarring to me. I think the trick is picturing his descriptions in the context of the scene and not shifting your mental image over to what he is literally describing.

[Anonymous No.17955913]

Here, I fixed it.
I have a never-shrinking backlog in all areas of media, life goals, things I want to learn, etc.

I despise people who say they're bored more than anything else.

[Anonymous No.17956019]

>>17953721
Philosophy teaches you how to think you disgusting sensualist aesthete. Go gorge on Sour Patch Kids while you enjoy the latest Caped Hero Man installment.