/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2601686]

Straight up, what's your favourite three books of all time, and why. pic related, what i think of those choices..

[Anonymous No.2601735]

The Trial - It's fuckin hilarious and Kafka is great at surreal world-building

The Baron in the Trees - It's just a fuckin beautiful and fascinating story and I love it.

A Scanner Darkly - Because near-future sci-fi is awesome and this one has surprisingly good character development.

Pic related, what I think when people inevitably disagree

[Anonymous No.2601743]

War and Peace - It's the pinnacle of Realism. Nothing written before or after in the realist school has come come to match it.

[Anonymous No.2601752]

>>2601686
Catch-22
Grapes of Wrath
Moby-Dick

[Anonymous No.2601759]

>>2601743

[Anonymous No.2601761]

>>2601735

> world-building

Kafka didn't do world-building - he imagined stuff. Can you say that? IMAGINED.

[Anonymous No.2601762]

>>2601761
Oh boy, them linguistic vices.

Kinda like people go about saying "in the 'cloud'" instead of just saying "online".

[Anonymous No.2601769]

No Country For Old Men
All Quiet On The Western Front
The Long Walk

All are grim and show a struggle between man and a greater force.

[Anonymous No.2601773]

Ender's Game
Disgrace
The Scarlet Letter

[Anonymous No.2601776]

>>2601762

Yes!

[Anonymous No.2601778]

>>2601769

>all quite on the western front

fuck yea, respect knuckles bro

[Anonymous No.2601782]

>>2601752
I'm 150 pages into Catch 22 and do not want. It's repeating the first 50 pages over and over. Is it worth going forward? It blew the load early with the themes and i'm stuck reading descriptions of scenario's.

[Anonymous No.2601793]

>>2601752

grapes, man I hated this book when I had to read it in highschool, then I reread it in college... fucking mind blowing. I started sobbing like a child during the old man titty sucking.

[Anonymous No.2601809]

>>2601782
the story jumps in the timeline from different points of view. there are set ups to jokes where the punchline is told many chapters later.

[Anonymous No.2601819]

Trial - wicked
search of lost time - dat rich man
metropole - wicked

[Anonymous No.2601828]

>Enjoyed the most
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Slouching Towards Kalamazoo - Peter De Vries
Kinflicks - Lisa Alther

>Had the biggest impact
The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig

[Anonymous No.2601849]

Crime and Punishment
>gorgeously dark and brooding; full of memorable characters; structurally impeccable
Under the Volcano
>rich atmosphere; symbolism to the tits; beautiful prose; tragic, all-too-human protagonist
Infinite Jest
>I really dig DFW's authorial voice; it is in turns painfully bleak and gloriously uplifting; it captures the current cultural climate perfectly; its world is super inventive and cool

[Anonymous No.2601904]

One Hundred Years of Solitude
>This book had it all. Just about any paragraph in this thing could constitute another novel.
White Noise
>I found it both fascinating and hysterical.
Invisible Cities
>Nothing but love for this one. Shows a rare talent for presenting complex ideas in a small amount of space.

[Anonymous No.2602019]

In order:
Ulysses
the sound and th fury
Finnegans wake

[Anonymous No.2602031]

anna karenina
the dharma bums
the grapes of wrath

[Anonymous No.2602042]

Ulysses
Richest book I've ever read in terms of style, and Leopold Bloom is an incredibly likeable and thoroughly complete character.
Leaves of Grass
Song of Myself
To the Lighthouse
To be honest, even though I truly enjoyed it, this choice is far below the other two. I'm searching for something I will love as much as I do Whitman and Joyce.

[Anonymous No.2602046]

Wittgenstein - Philosophical Investigations
>work of genius, let me solve so many things that were bugging me in philosophy, break away from system building and philosophize in therapeutic, creative ways.
Whitman - Leaves of Grass
>Whitman is THE man. dunno what else to say
Augustine - Confessions
>gorgeously written and powerfully, palpably honest like no other work is

[Anonymous No.2602048]

>>2602042
guy below you here. I almost put down To the Lighthouse instead of Confessions. Excellent taste. I've only ever read bits and pieces of Joyce, however. How would you recommend getting into him?

[Anonymous No.2602053]

>>2602048
If you're feeling ballsy, just start right off with Ulysses. That's what I did, and it's what made me fall in love with him.
If you want to test the waters a little bit, read Dubliners. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is essential for understanding the character Stephen in Ulysses and for the growth of Joyce as an artist, but in my judgement, it's not on the same level as his other work.
Avoid his poetry like the plague.

[Anonymous No.2602054]

In no order, really

>Catch-22
It's a book of so, so many feels, all beautiful.

>The Sound and the Fury
June Second, 1910. Enough said.

>Heart of Darkness
Stylistically, the best prose I've ever read.

[Anonymous No.2602062]

>>2602053
>Avoid his poetry like the plague.

Nigga the fuck? "I Hear an Army" is an incredible poem.

[Anonymous No.2602064]

>On the Road
It is a wonderfully naive and romantic view of America, but I like Kerouac's pacing and energy
>The Old Man and The Sea
It was a nice, brief story that was very uplifting. And the thought of an old man killing half a dozen sharks isn't unsatisfying either.
>The First Law Trilogy
Although three books instead of one, there aren't many great stand-alone fantasy novels. And no one can really beat Abercombie

[Anonymous No.2602150]

bump

[Anonymous No.2602174]

>>2602042
Leopold is only likeable until his wife says what an asshole creep he is.

[Anonymous No.2602259]

>American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Hilarious black humor, excellent cultural metaphors, impeccable 80's fashion tips
>Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Beautiful use of language
>A Farewell To Arms by Earnest Hemingway
The ending. ain't gone lie; it made me cry, dawg.

[Anonymous No.2603710]

J.R.
Nausea
The Recognitions

[Anonymous No.2603765]

>>2603710
>gaddis wuv :3 !

[Anonymous No.2604076]

>>2601769
jesus fucking christ, finally someone mentions the long walk. I bought that book when I was like 10 because it said it was written by Stephen King (it was abridged version of his original Bachman Books version). That book is fucking AMAZING

[Anonymous No.2604081]

>>2602174
>bros before hoes
He has his flaws, but he could be worse.

[Anonymous No.2604109]

Catch-22
Red Mars
Three Men in a Boat

Bitches be mirin my class.

[Anonymous No.2604128]

Gibbon's Decline and Fall

Spengler's Decline of the West

Toynbee's A Study of History

>that feel being a continental, much less a Hegelian, in modern academia
>that feel when my PhD thesis is going to be thrown in the fucking trash

[Anonymous No.2604185]

>>2604128
Don't really understand unless you're a continental studying in the UK, but even then-?

[Anonymous No.2604191]

Stranger in a Strange Land
Anathem
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

If the third book in the Kingkiller Chronicles is as good as the first two, then that series will take the top spot, but i feel pessimistic about the delay its had so far.

[Anonymous No.2604213]

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha

Rendezvous with Rama

Mother Night or Slaughterhouse-Five

[Anonymous No.2604226]

>>2601849
>>2601904
>>2602046
You bunch of lovely refined gentlemen.

Not saying the others displayed bad taste, but you in particular caught my attention, for different reasons.

[Anonymous No.2604382]

>only one Infinite Jest mention
>no Gravity's Rainbow mentions

This is not the /lit/ I know and love.

[Sunhawk !M9PhF5nIzs No.2604386]

>>2604382

Why would you love /lit/? Are you psychotic?

[Anonymous No.2604394]

The Brothers Karamazov.
>utterly profound story written in breathtaking prose.
The Sound and the Fury
>rumination on the decay of morality and the struggle to understand life/death in the face of an unknowable world.
Blood Meridian
>probably the best work by the greatest living American author.
Infinite Jest
>a passionate, delicately layered novel about addiction, institutional terror, cultural apathy, and coping with the realities that exist behind closed doors.

Had to name four. But there are so many more than four.

[Anonymous No.2605273]

fight club - palahniuk
>witty, sharp, poingnant
of mice and men
>strong moral points
ulysses
>good conversation starter

[Anonymous No.2605294]

The Picture of Dorian Gray
A Scanner Darkly
If On A Winter's Night a Traveller

[Anonymous No.2605298]

>>2605294
Actually scratch that, replace A Scanner Darkly with Cat's Cradle.

[Anonymous No.2605302]

>>2605273
babby's first literature

[Anonymous No.2605320]

>>2605302
babby's first sage

[Anonymous No.2605327]

Ender's Game
The Screwtape Letters
The Witch's Boy

[Anonymous No.2605353]

Ender's Game
Battlefield Earth
Of Mice and Men

[Anonymous No.2605366]

Paul Bowles -- The Spider's House
W. Somerset Maugham -- Of Human Bondage
Franz Kafka -- Complete Short Stories

[Anonymous No.2605371]

>>2601773
>>2605327
>>2605353
Ender's Game, really?
Ugh.

[Anonymous No.2605608]

1984, Welcome to the Monkey House, The Stranger

[Anonymous No.2605674]

tender is the night
don quixote
1984

Really haven't delved that deep into the vast pool of literature out there. Nevertheless, of what I've read these 3 probably brought me the most pleasure.

[Anonymous No.2605683]

Glamorama
The Recognitions
The Sound and the Fury

[Anonymous No.2605717]

Walden Two - BF Skinner
The Hagakure - Yamamoto Tsunetomo
Redwall - Brian Jacques

[Anonymous No.2605724]

Ada or Ardor
Petersburg
Motorman

Staggering, hallucinatory masterpieces

[Anonymous No.2605729]

Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury
VALIS by Dick
Infinite Jest by Defdub

[Anonymous No.2607371]

fuck this shit man sage

[Anonymous No.2607396]

Gravity's Rainbow

The Stranger

House of Leaves (inb4 pleb)

[Anonymous No.2607415]

Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse

GO TEAM EDWARD XD

[Anonymous No.2607414]

stupid list

phantom tollbooth-obvious
wonderland-loved epic drama of father killing family, son escaping, the nefarious world of family medicine, the full circle at the end of saving his daughter
foxfire-kickass girls, the kidnapped guy who found religion

[Anonymous No.2607425]

The Great Gatsby
Glamorama
The Catcher in the Rye

[Anonymous No.2607429]

Fahrenheit 451
1984
I, Robot

that feel when too depressed to read anything outside of high school

[Anonymous No.2607435]

>>2604076
The Long Walk was terrible. And it was all made up.

[Anonymous No.2607472]

>>2607435

>And it was all made up.

It's called fucking fiction you faggot.

[Anonymous No.2607482]

>>2607472
he claimed it really happened and he started a foundation or something about it. His family still maintains it's all real

I don't accept bullshit like that. It was a gimmick all along. That's how it got famous.

[Anonymous No.2607490]

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

[Anonymous No.2607493]

>>2604394

>The Brothers Karamazov

Oh hell yes, just finished that two days ago. Absolutely fantastic.

[Anonymous No.2608093]

You all have pretty good taste :3

[Anonymous No.2608111]

The Naked Lunch
>makes me WAT

[Anonymous No.2608137]

why you make me choose only three?

Lolita by Nabokov -- an obvious choice. dat word porn, look into America, classic story, black comedy.

Titus Groan by Peake -- Gorgeously written. Wonderful cast of characters. The remarkable setting being the focus and most important element of the book. Prose from a painter.

In Youth is Pleasure by Welch -- Aesthetic descriptions from a sensitive child who is still figuring things out. It oddly inspired Burroughs.

[Anonymous No.2608192]

>>2608137
>Lolita by Nabokov -- an obvious choice. dat word porn

how pornographic does this book get? Does he fuck the 12 year old?

[Anonymous No.2608222]

>>2608192

"How sweet it was to bring that coffee to her, and then deny it until she had done her morning duty. And I was such a thoughtful friend, such a passionate father, such a good pediatrician, attending to all the wants of my little auburn brunette's body!"

[Anonymous No.2608227]

>>2608192
It's not actually pornographic. I mean he plays with the English language; his prose is, in my mind, the pinnacle of aesthetic. it's like eating juicy peaches if you find words pleasing. I don't think Lolita is erotically arousing at all. you feel more the tragedy and humour.

[Anonymous No.2608232]

Foe (JM Coetzee) - It hit me very hard emotionally even though the main characters were all quite unlikable. I actually can't decide between this book and anything else by Coetzee, but I don't think it's fair to include more than one book by the same author in my top 3.

Dune (Frank Herbert) - One of the only fantasy/sci-fi books that I would ever actually call literature, and definitely my favorite. The only book I've ever read front to back without stopping.

Arcadia (Tom Stoppard) - Excellent and very emotional play, I was able to relate to all of the characters. Stoppard is also a genius and I can't really pick just one of his works, but if I had to, that's it.

[Anonymous No.2608236]

The Sheltering Sky
The Virgin and the Gypsy
Franny & Zooey

[Anonymous No.2608248]

>>2608222
mite read it

Does "morning duty" mean sucking his wang? I have no context