/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20401255]

I’m like 120 pages into this book and I really can’t stand it. I have no fucking clue what’s going on, it feels like I’m reading a novel-length shitpost. There’s like a million different characters all on a million different tangents speaking and doing completely nonsensical bullshit. Does the book pick up at some point or is this sort of *it*? Not sure how much more patience I have for this.

[Anonymous No.20401277]

>>20401255
drop it and read steppenwolf, then come back and read catch-22 and other shitpost-y books

[Anonymous No.20401286]

It's okay anon, good literature isn't for everyone, maybe low quality erotica or Harry Potter is more your scene.

For real though, try the audiobook. It takes a couple reads to understand wtf is going on if you arent a meticulous and slow reader. There's a really well read version of youtube.

[Anonymous No.20401294]

>>20401255
Thats sort of it; the ending is fantastic though. Catch 22 is one of those books that if you finish it, youll always remember it. It has pretty great re readability because its easy to forget which characters are which. Honestly though, if you hate it that much just drop it and find something else that you want to read. Time is finite after all

[Anonymous No.20401329]

>>20401294
I mean, I think my frustration stems from feeling like I’m being taken for a ride. This is a huge book in the American canon so I have to imagine it comes together at some point or some later part makes those earlier scenes retroactively click into place. It just feels so far like Heller is trying to see how much ridiculous bullshit and nonsensical, looping conversations he can cram into any given page.

[Anonymous No.20401639]

>>20401255
I know the feel, I dropped it like 3 times before deciding to read through it. Try reading each chapter as its own "episode" where characters come back for repeat appearances. The whole story is nonsensical anyway, that's kind of the point.

[Anonymous No.20401668]

>>20401255
It will come together. I think 120 pages isn't quite enough. The scenes in the book repeat from different perspectives, with minor variations, and you'll be able to piece it together w/o any effort I think. The ending, which I mean, the point it starts to turn "dark", is very memorable and very good. Also though, if you're not literally KEKing at every other page, I'm a little disappointed; definitely one of the funniest reads I've had.

[Anonymous No.20401700]

>>20401255
I hate this book. I’ve tried it twice years apart and dropped it both times. It’s just not for me. The humor is great in individual scenes, but gets old after a while

[Anonymous No.20401913]

>>20401700
Cmon anon, where are the snowdens of yesteryear?

[Anonymous No.20402354]

>>20401255
I discovered this in 6th grade and became obsessed with it. Read it over five times. Not sure how I would feel about it now, but I'm convinced it was a terrible influence on me because it made me wait way longer to begin taking anything seriously. Makes for funny literature but apathy/absurdism isn't something a kid should be exposed to so soon. Still very good for what it is, although I bet the 'apples with flies in his eyes' stuff would be fucking annoying whereas I didn't mind it as a young'n.

By the way, this book gets way, way, way better as it unfolds. It's got an extremely interesting structure and, if the prose isn't too annoying, a story that comes together shockingly well towards the end

[Anonymous No.20402386]

>>20401329
You are being taken for a ride, but it's worth it. The second half of the book is pure kino.

For a book that tries to do this, but is *not* worth slogging through to reach the payoff, see "For Whom the Bell Tolls." Now that book is a waste of time that seems almost good on rare occasions before sinking back into tedium and eventually running out of steam to become a boring pile of shit. Catch-22 is worth it. You get used to the style and the story + character arcs are phenomenally constructed

[Anonymous No.20402394]

>>20401329
Do you enjoy reading?

[Anonymous No.20402412]

>>20401255
Retard

[Anonymous No.20402446]

>>20401668
>Also though, if you're not literally KEKing at every other page, I'm a little disappointed

It’s definitely gotten a few chuckles out of me, but something about the book’s sense of humor is a little bit grating, like it tries so hard to be clever and cute that it loses the humor for me. The funniest book I’ve ever read is probably A Confederacy of Dunces.

[Anonymous No.20402561]

>>20401255
You have to read the other 21 catches first

[Anonymous No.20402571]

It's fucking great. The individual vignettes are amusing and fun, but as the book goes on, you get more context and other points of view. Things that seem lolsorandumb turn out to be devastating.

[Anonymous No.20402616]

What some of you need to understand is that there's a reason why great literature and popular literature are rarely the same. Multiple people in this thread talking about how many times they've tried and failed to finish reading Catch-22? Forcing yourself to read books you don't understand and don't enjoy is pointless. Most people aren't going to enjoy a Tarkovsky film more than the latest Marvel blockbuster. Just make peace with the fact that you're a Marvel person and go pick up something from the young adult section next time. You'll enjoy reading a lot more if you stop letting your ego force you into reading books you're not equipped to enjoy.

[Anonymous No.20402693]

>>20402616
Saving this for future shitposting, thanks

[Anonymous No.20402708]

>>20401255
>it feels like I’m reading a novel-length shitpost
What's the problem, faggot?

[Anonymous No.20402739]

>>20402616
Lmao this 19 year old watched Stalker and now he thinks his shit don’t stink. This is the literature board, faggot. Take your entry level art house elsewhere

[Anonymous No.20402848]

>>20402571
>The Wrong Wound...
>I'm Cold...
Fucking stayed with me over a decade now, gets under your skin

[Anonymous No.20403177]

It's kind of dorky, like the inner monologue of a (talented) redditor. I tried it twice and didn't like it either time.

[Anonymous No.20403192]

>/lit/ can no longer read a straightforward novel, it’s too hard
Sad to see. Anyway, Heller is mostly shit aside from the one. I slogged through Something Happened and it was dreadful

[Anonymous No.20403197]

>>20402616
Can someone please explain to me why pseuds appeal to Tarkovsky every single time they make an analogy to film?

[Anonymous No.20404043]

>>20403197
He’s at the sweet spot of most normies will have never heard of him and would be put off by his length, pacing, and foreign language while also being incredibly surface level art house cinema, so it lets psueds feel cultured without much effort

[Anonymous No.20404088]

>>20402739
>>20403197
>Can someone please explain to me why pseuds appeal to Tarkovsky every single time they make an analogy to film?
Because he's a safe example of a filmmaker who's widely renowned as one of the greatest ever but is unknown to the general public enough that you'd have to go out of your way to watch one of his films. People who have seen his films are either watching them because they enjoy them or watching them because they think you get some kind of cred for forcing yourself to sit through films you dislike. >>20402739 is an example of the latter.

[Anonymous No.20404091]

>>20401255
You've unironically been filtered.

[Anonymous No.20404121]

>>20401255
This is my favourite book, and yes it is a novel length shitpost until the end.

The 70s adaptation is decent, Hulu adaptation is shit, but if you want to kind of get the *point* of the book just watch one and then try the book again after.

[Anonymous No.20404123]

>>20402739
>>20404043
>using art house as a derogatory term
Oh shit, is a marvel fan feeling targeted?

[Anonymous No.20404134]

>>20404123
Criterion basic bitch niggers are much more pathetic than capeshit lovers.

[Anonymous No.20404154]

>>20401329
That's the point, it's about absurdity.

[Anonymous No.20404158]

>>20404134
Seethe moar

[Anonymous No.20404190]

>>20401255
It was written by jew and seems to have a mainstream popularity in the same vain as To kill a mockingbird. I never see those books discussed as classics expect by r edditors.

[Anonymous No.20404203]

>>20404043
Anyone have better film recs for people who enjoy Tarkovsky?

[Anonymous No.20404214]

>>20401255
>I’m like 120 pages into this book and I really....
>>20401255
>I have no fucking clue what’s going on, i

I've been saying for years that you infants can't read and you laughed at me.

WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?!?
HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHA
EVERY DAY I SEE WHINING SOILED PATHETIC BABIES WITH NO MIND COMPLAIN AND BITCH.

ITS ALL SO EXASPERATING

[Anonymous No.20404222]

>>20404203
Villeneuve
Nolan
Eggers

[Anonymous No.20404237]

>>20404222
>Nolan
lol
lmao
Yeah, the audience who enjoyed Solaris is ripe for capeshit.

[Anonymous No.20404285]

>>20402446
yeah it could easily be half or 2/3rds the length and still retain it's humour and pacing desu

[Anonymous No.20404328]

>>20404203
For me, it's "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle"

[Anonymous No.20404402]

>>20401255
I felt the same as you. The jokes are kinda funny but not in an authentic way; they seem rather forced, as though the author desperately wants them to be funny. And the narration seems incoherent and disjointed. I dropped it about half a dozen chapters in. I might give it another chance, considering the glowing reviews here.

[Anonymous No.20404417]

>>20401255
>There’s like a million different characters all on a million different tangents speaking and doing completely nonsensical bullshit.
As far as Catch-22 goes, it's really tame on this. It is chaotic and nonsensical, but it is supposed to be for comedic affect. Heaven help you if you ever manage to get around to reading Pynchon.

[Anonymous No.20404472]

>>20404123
I didn’t use art house in a derogatory way, but I wouldn’t expect the le ebin cinephile to posses reading comprehension above a third grade level.

[Anonymous No.20404530]

>>20404088
>he's a safe example

TRANSLATION: I made a Letterboxd account four months ago and have zero opinions on cinema not entirely hand held and contextualized by user lists and the criterion collection

Please leave me thread and shit up /tv/ instead, thanks

[Anonymous No.20405493]

>>20401255
>can't read catch-22 because I can't understand it
>in order to understand it you have to read catch-22

[Anonymous No.20405625]

>>20405493
It's a real, uh, somethin'

[Anonymous No.20405629]

>>20404222
Nolan's just PTA at home

[Anonymous No.20405639]

>>20404530
>Letterboxd
I don't know what that is. I watched my first Tarkovsky film when I was 16, which was about two decades ago. I'm sorry that the accuracy of my posts is making you so angry but let's be honest here. You're a literal brainlet who made a thread to complain about how Catch-22 is too complicated for you to understand.

All I said was that you don't need to involve your ego when it comes to reading. Even if you managed to struggle through and read the entire book, you still wouldn't be capable of understanding what makes it great. I could sit a ten year old down and force them to read Faust line by line but they wouldn't gain anything from it and certainly wouldn't understand the significance of what they were reading.

There's no shame in reading at a level appropriate to your intellect. We all know that some people are just born smarter than others. You don't get extra points for forcing yourself to read things that you can't understand and that only serve to make you miserable. If Harry Potter is what you enjoy reading then there's nothing wrong with that. It's not your fault you were born this way. Learn to recognize your limitations and stay within them and you'll have a much happier life.

[Anonymous No.20405768]

>>20401329
Its a comedy dibshit

[Anonymous No.20405772]

>>20402616
>Forcing yourself to read books you don't understand and don't enjoy is pointless.
So, you're saying i should drop math books because i don't enjoy them and they are complicated huh

No need to say more anon, thanks, that's all i need to know to evaluate the *elevated* level in which your people sit.

[Anonymous No.20405801]

>>20405772
>So, you're saying
Stop being fucking retarded anon please

[Anonymous No.20405810]

>>20405639

[Anonymous No.20405826]

>>20405772
>>20405772
>So, you're saying i should drop math books because i don't enjoy them and they are complicated huh
No, I'm saying that
>Forcing yourself to read books you don't understand and don't enjoy is pointless.
If you read that quote one more time you might notice an important part you chose to leave out: "books you don't understand". Taking what I actually said into consideration then yes, if you neither enjoy nor understand math books then you should absolutely drop them.

Regardless, very few people study math for fun. If you're reading "math books" then you're doing it because you expect to gain skills that will lead to employment. Nobody is going to give you a job just because you forced yourself to read Catch-22 so it's even more pointless for you to bother.

>>20405810
>be on board for people who like to read
>intimidated by a few paragraphs
Are you sure you're supposed to be here?

[Anonymous No.20405976]

>>20405493
Is there a word for this?

[Anonymous No.20405980]

>>20401255
>it feels like I’m reading a novel-length shitpost.

Everyone has a share!

[Anonymous No.20406005]

>>20405976
Schadenfreude, I think

[Anonymous No.20406044]

>>20401255
listen to the audiobook, it really brings the book to life in a way you don't get from just reading it. It's on youtube.

[Anonymous No.20406051]

A couple of days ago one of your fellow zoomers got filtered hard by Gravity's Rainbow, too bad the thread got 404d.
Keep 'em coming, kids.
Nothing makes me happier than your misery.

[Anonymous No.20406080]

>>20405976
It's called a catch-22

[Anonymous No.20406133]

>>20406051
>younger readers are trying to get into the increasingly niche literary canon of a dying medium
>teehee! Let’s act like a gatekeeping narcissist!

Get over yourself nigga

[Anonymous No.20406167]

Truly this is not a book for me.
To spend 16 hours reading nonsensical comedy would feel like a huge waste of my time.

[Anonymous No.20406168]

>>20406167
That's the joke

[Anonymous No.20406187]

>>20403197
Can someone please explain to me why any time someone makes a reference to Tarkovsky the "film-knowers" come in to trash them as being entry level only to flaunt their knowledge of even more obscure directors. What are you fucking 13 years old? I was like that with music when I was like 13 but grew out of it because I realised nobody was impressed. Literally nobody cares. This is why you're a fucking virgin loser. Knowing more obscure things does not indicate that you have superior taste, you're just a hipster loser. Consider killing yourself you fucking failture.

[Anonymous No.20406198]

>>20401255

>it feels like I’m reading a novel-length shitpos

Because you are. It's a pretty funny shitpost, though.

[Anonymous No.20406203]

>>20402848
So many bits of this book have stuck with me for twenty years now.

Where are the Snowdens of yesteryear? Aarfy just casually murdering a hooker and the MPs tell him to keep the noise down. The dead man in Yossarian's tent and those fucking kids with no respect for him. Milo strafing his own unit. But also the hopeful ending. That crazy motherfucker Orr.

Maybe it's just because I read it as an impressionable teenager, but man. It really stayed with me.

[Anonymous No.20406211]

>>20406187
The answer to this is so implicitly obvious that it is apparent you are likely one of the Tarkovskyites who gets dabbed on every time he's trying to tritely wave around his babby's first cinephile darling. Anyone not-so-subtly name dropping Tarkovsky as if its some sort of badge of sophistication deserves to be humbled and put in their place.

[Anonymous No.20406249]

>>20404203
Terrence Malick
Béla Tarr
Andrzej Żuławski
Krzysztof Kieślowski
Wojciech Jerzy Has

[Anonymous No.20406301]

>>20406211
Funny how guys like this never have the balls to suggest an alternative director.

[Anonymous No.20406324]

>>20402561
basado y catchopillado

[Anonymous No.20406332]

>>20401255
it's bad, read Pynchon instead

[Anonymous No.20406337]

>>20402616
true, only in this analogy Catch-22 is the Marvel blockbuster and you the Marvel person.

[Anonymous No.20406762]

>>20401668
Haven't kek'd once.
>>20402446
Only ever smiled at A Confederacy of Dunces.
>everything is le absurd, ots ironic so funny teehee le war is actually bad!
It's funny the people in this thread that think you have to be refined and intellectual to comprehend Catch-22, and those that think it's one long shitpost. This book soils the shitpost, who's purpose is simply entertainment, rather than trying desperately to win over the masses with your cause.

[Anonymous No.20407497]

>>20406762
post literature you kek'd at, sneed

[Anonymous No.20408150]

>>20401255
>it feels like I’m reading a novel-length shitpost
Yes, and?

[Anonymous No.20408165]

I've read the first ~60% of this like 10 times lmao. It's hilarious but it's so repetitive and because I've read the first half so many times I can't help but lose my place, and this happens worse and worse every time I try to reread this book and make it to the end. It's infuriating lol. Hilarious book tho!!! Actually I am going to revisit it right now.