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/lit/ - Literature

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3420676 No.3420676 [Reply] [Original]

Honest to god, I'm not some ADD riddled /b/tard who doesn't read books.

But what are Nabokov's best books other than Lolita and Pale Fire? I just gave up reading Bend Sinister after the first (short) chapter because it's just the most purple, overwrought prose I've ever read. It was shit. I normally give books a good chance but the only book that made me give up so quickly was The Atrocity Exhibition.

I also gave up on The Real Life of Sebastian Knight at about half way because it was just so dull. I don't read for plot, but nothing was happening at all.

Despair and Pnin weren't anything special at all. Although his short stories can be pretty good, especially that lollable one which is basically one giant >tfw no gf fantasy.

>> No.3420694

Nabokov is generally shit. Read Lolita and move on.

>> No.3420715

what's wrong with The Atrocity Exhibition? at the very least you ought to kept going till Why I Want To Fuck Ronald Reagan, the most accurate elucidation of the American political discourse ever written.

>> No.3420724

>I've given up on all of these books
>It definitely isn't me who is the problem!

>> No.3420725

its his first or second book written in english so its understandeable that some of the prose is phrased in a comparably awkward manner than pale fire for example, but you're still a stupid bitch for not finishing. the displeasure from the minutiea of certain syntactical problems is greatly outweighed by the sheer volume of delightfully original allusive techniques, without even considering its socio political commentary.

>> No.3420738

>tfw tried to read Los Detectivos Salvajes in Spanish but you grossly overestimated your prowess in the language and gave up after 10 pages.

>> No.3420743

>>3420676
Bend Sinister is fantastic if you get past the prose. I agree OP; the prose is rather hammy and overdone but I forgive Nabokov, since it was one of his early (second, I think?) English novels. It's an experiment in linguistics first, a critique on totalitarianism second. But, in that latter capacity, I think it succeeds wonderfully, and prefer Nabokov's commentary than to that of Orwell's; something more of an extension to Brave New World.

>> No.3420747

Ugh god that image how the fuck did Dostoevsky and Camus make it into God Tier, much less the other retarded authors I'm not going to bother to pick out of the other tiers and put in their correct places (or nowhere at all).

>> No.3420763

>>3420747
Chabon doesn't even deserve mention, Hesse should be lower, Wallace should be in pleb tier, and Pynchon should be one rank lower.

>> No.3420769

>>3420763

yeah lol Wallace would be one of the "nowhere" authors, I mean ranking just dignifies his shit as something tangible and worth ranking lol.

>> No.3420776

>>3420676
King, Queen, Knave is one of my favourite books of all time, let alone my favourite Nabokov. It's very humorous.

>> No.3420786

Reading Pale Fire right now, holy shit if you have ADD get the fuck out of it. I can't even listen to music while reading it because I need 100% of my focus

>> No.3420796

>>3420786
If you need 100% of your focus, why are you reading it and posting on /lit/ at the same time?

>> No.3420801

>>3420796
It is the novel that I'm currently engaged in, I'm not reading it right this moment

jackass

>> No.3420805

>>3420786
Don't give up, man. It's such a satisfying read,

>> No.3420810

>>3420805
Really? I'm like 30 pages into the analysis (I'm reading the whole analysis first and then the poem) and I don't see any connections. Is there a plot to be had in the analysis or is it just Kinbote's ramblings?

>> No.3420815

I've seen Atlus Shrugged get shat upon often but I've never read it. What's so bad about it?

>> No.3420824

>>3420810

Keep reading, it snowballs in to something better.

>> No.3420834

>>3420815
It's boring and needlessly long and the prose is generally bad, with dialogue being especially poor. I won't bother starting shit about Rand's ideas, Atlas is a poor enough work of literature to be avoided regardless

>> No.3420842

Have none of your read Ada, or Ardor? I'd say it's right up there with Pale Fire and Lolita.

>> No.3420853

What are Dick, Murakami, Williams, and Hamsun doing in the same group as Celine and Kafka?

>> No.3420876

>Palahniuk
>Pleb tier

In a century this man will be regarded as a genius. You, however, will be regarded as a pleb of the worst kind. You obviously can't think for yourself. Enjoy being a moron.

>hierarchy of artists
>2013
>above 18 years of age
>why so retarded?

Wake the fuck up, it's art, not sports or science.

>> No.3420878

>>3420853

Indeed, get that Céline and Kafka out of there, fucking pleb authors.

>> No.3420883

>>3420876
Moron.

>> No.3420887

>>3420878
off urself m8

>>3420876
Yeah you're right! Maybe when Chuck tells us to think for ourselves we'll think for ourselves! And we only hate Chuck because the establishment told us to, not because of any lacking prose or poorly explored ideas! Yeah!

>> No.3420901

>>3420876
Agreed, it's all a matter of opinion. Who's to say Nabokov is a better prose stylist than Stephenie Meyer? Not me, because I'm above hierarchies.

>> No.3420902

>>3420876
>Palahniuk
>Remembered after he dies

HA! GOOD JOKE, ANON!

>> No.3420903

>>3420887

Chuck wrote better novels than you ever will.

>>3420883

Excellent argument, sir. I can feel your brain reeling from the effort.

>> No.3420914
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3420914

>Blood Meridian anything but highest tier

>> No.3420915

>>3420876
>>3420901
/lit/ seems to have a massive hang-up with styling, as in anyone who does not hold up to the exceptional standards of /lit/'s acceptable prose, the writer is automatically dismissed as "pleb" "hack" "shit-tier" etc.

>> No.3420922

>>3420903
>Chuck wrote better novels than you ever will
The classic Kevin Smith defense.
>It's HAAAAAAAAARD to do x
>therefore if you haven't done x, you're not allowed to criticize other people's x's.

>> No.3420942

>>3420676
>people from out of /lit/ posting a "joke" tier list.

Oh, wait... it's like i recognize this. It's like /mu/ was before it became shit.

>> No.3420948

>Satan Tier
I don't even know the work of Ayn Rand, but I laughed

>> No.3420968

>>3420915

Because style is of massive import. Why would you praise a director who couldn't express things through cinematography, or a musician who couldn't express things through composition? There are some authors who are poor stylists and good for other reasons, but they are few and far between compared to poor stylists who simply fucking suck at the whole shebang.

>> No.3420975

>>3420968
I wasn't suggesting a writer whose style does not convey meaning, rather the opposite. Palahniuk's style may not be to one's taste, but I wouldn't say his meaning is not conveyed through it.