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/lit/ - Literature

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3538973 No.3538973 [Reply] [Original]

beginner piece of shit here, i have this sitting right next to me. if i read it, will it be anything more than tripe about upper class snobs with no level of relation between me and the characters?

>> No.3538979

>>3538973
>beginner

You should read something fun that you'd enjoy.

>> No.3538984

I had to read it with a real upper class bitch telling me her thoughts on it and how she loved Daisy every other second so I hated it, but give it a go. You'll never know until you've tried.

>> No.3538988

>>3538979
This

>> No.3538987

>amerilliterates

>> No.3538992

>>3538979
well i'm not completely beginner, i mainly decided to read solely for characters and stories i can relate to, it's just my interest really. i'm not really interested in stuff about mary sue characters who are totally inhuman and boring.

>> No.3538999

>>3538992
and from what ive heard thats exactly what it's about, rick ass boring people. i'm just assuming its fifty shades sans the hardcore anal beads

>> No.3539004

>decided to read solely for characters and stories i can relate to

You realize you're the scum of the earth, right? I mean that. Are you at all self-aware, or are you some sort of slime mold, or something?

>> No.3539011

>>3539004
To be fair, if you can't relate or connect to any characters, events, or experiences in a work then you're basically getting nothing out of it.

>> No.3539016

>>3539004
I dont understand, why? I've never been a very frequent reader and happen to be going through a pretty bleak period where I'm craving that sort of stuff to make me feel a little better. I tend to reserve unrealistic fantasy sort of stories for the movies.

>> No.3539038

why do people like the great gatsby? The plotting before the end reveal/climax is nothing special, and said climax wasn't particularly interesting either.

So folks who love it, why do you love it?

>> No.3539045
File: 829 KB, 1746x2444, 01358215900.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3539045

>>3539038
>reading for plot

>> No.3539052

>>3539045

so wait what do i read for then

>> No.3539059

>>3539052
You read to live.

>> No.3539061

>>3539052
Don't listen to this pretentious /lit/ bullshit.

>> No.3539065

>>3539052
You just opened the box, newbie.

>> No.3539076

Yes, you should be able to relate to it.

Gatsby wasn't originally upper-class. One part I found particularly relateable was when his dad shows Nick where Gatsby as a kid had scheduled out each hour of his day - 7:00PM to 8:00PM was fitness training, 8:00PM - 9:00PM was practicing better diction and oration techniques. He really wanted to improve himself.

In the end, it fails because of his idealized vision of a girl (who is barely even a girl to him, she's just some ideal he wants to achieve [wealthy, acceptance]). I believe that's pretty relateable for a lot of guys on 4chan. Just looking at /r9k/ - it's not really the girl they want. It's the knowledge that with that girl, they'll be normal. They won't be looked down upon. They want the experience and the acceptance. It's a lot like Gatsby's desires, in some way.

>> No.3539079

>>3539038
because american dream symbolism
>foul dust
>valley of ashes
>green light


is the film out yet? i dont think it is art deco enough

>> No.3539083

it's what you say op. no need to read it

>> No.3539109

>>3539016
>>3539011
Literature isn't about relating to characters, it's about understanding them. There are a million characters in literature who are utter trash, or viciously evil, or painfully good. You are not at all like the vast majority of these characters, and that's good. These characters give you a window to understand another worldview. If you can't connect with literature, that's your fault, not the book's.

>> No.3539148

>>3539109
still has to capture some deep significance, defined by life itself, to be great. otherwise, it's just some play of words. reading is after all a part of living.

>> No.3539191

>>3539148

what does that mean? seems like the reader should find the significance

>> No.3539308

understanding the characters doesn't make those characters good. same with a story etc. relateability is the reader's self rationalization about her recognition of substance in the story. 'if this story is meaningful, it's relateable for me.'

i'd do away with this and just say a great work has to be about great themes.

>> No.3539361 [DELETED] 

>>3539308

love that haughtiness, though your confidence falls short of convincing anyone of anything further than your personal lack of "relatability", or in this case, your lack of recognition of substance in one of the most substantial works of literature..? plebed out too soon
i recognize the substance in that one drunken polak's work, i can fully visualize and conceptualize his outlook and his perceived whateverthefuckness, though relatability will fundamentally be absent since its a function is that of a perfunctory bias rather than "recogntion of substance". thus, its not that you cannot relate due to you not being able to recognize it (i dont think youre as stupid as you think you are lelel) its simply that the substance recognized isn't compatible with your criteria of "relatable substance" ie. whatever the fuck tickles your oriental twat

>> No.3539365

>>3539308
love that haughtiness, though your confidence falls short of convincing anyone of anything further than your personal lack of "relatability", or in this case, your lack of recognition of substance in one of the most substantial works of literature..? plebed out too soon
i recognize the substance in that one drunken polak's work, i can fully visualize and conceptualize his outlook and his perceived whateverthefuckness, though relatability will fundamentally be absent since its function is that of a perfunctory bias rather than "recogntion of substance". thus, its not that you cannot relate due to you not being able to recognize it (i dont think youre as stupid as you think you are lelel) its simply that the substance recognized isn't compatible with your criteria of "relatable substance" ie. whatever the fuck tickles your oriental twat

>> No.3539371

>>3539365
it's not that complicated. i just don't think this particular american dream hurr theme should be given that much attention. it's like romanticizing a 16 year old chinese girl's shattered dream of marrying a rich ceo.

>> No.3539387

>>3538992
>i'm not really interested in stuff about mary sue characters who are totally inhuman and boring.
wow you have no idea what mary sue means, and you have no idea what the Great Gatsby is about.

You don't deserve it.

>> No.3539397

>>3539371

never said it was complicated, hence my unwillingness to accept your standard for "relatability".

>american dream theme

...

>> No.3539404

>>3539397
my post was about that anon's standard of what literature is about. not really about gatsby itself.

on gatsby i'd just say i reject a culture that finds it more significant than desperate housewives

>> No.3539410

its a boring book, quit 2 chapters in

you'll notice americans are the only ones who defend it

>> No.3539415

>>3539404
You think desperate housewives is culturally more important than gatsby?

>> No.3539422

>>3539415
no. they are about the same. fastfood version of gatsby

>> No.3539426

>>3539422
I'm fairly certain what you're saying is idiotic but never having read the book or seen the show I'll let you get on with it.

>> No.3539428

>>3539404

yeah i got that and im saying your anti-american sentiment is making you miss out on some good stuff (some quality 'relatability' which transcends socioeconomic status), that book really isnt about some "hurr durr american dream capitalist insularity"

>> No.3539432

>>3539428
maybe. do you want to explain what's there

>> No.3539434
File: 43 KB, 1075x560, gatsby.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3539434

>>3539426

>> No.3539444

>>3539434
No where does it equate those works and the desperate housewives you twat.

Not only that, but Daisy's story is only part of the Great Gatsby.

Hell, even adding to both of those previous points I would argue that the Great Gatsby is not a work of art due to its themes or plot, but due to F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterful prose.

>> No.3539448

>>3539434
that appears to be a universities advertising tactic used to lure unsuspecting girls into reading books.

>> No.3539452

>>3539444
fastfood version. more delicious and less boring

>> No.3539511

>>3538973
If you're looking for characters, OP, then Gatsby is perfect.
If you can't associate it is because you haven't read deep enough

>> No.3539539

>>3539452
lol you're an idiot
the most you could say is there's an overlap of themes.
guess that makes any piece of fiction containing a dutiful wife or any other trope in desperate housewives a fastfood drama.

>> No.3539538
File: 147 KB, 400x571, 1361021181358.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3539538

Ausfag reporting in.

Reading Gatsby right now, I'm up to the part where Myrtle has just been hit by a car and Gatsby is talking on the steps in his pink suit.
I dont think its super compelling but I'm a fan of the 'American classics'. (catcher in the Rye, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and For Whom the Bell Tolls are what I've read).
Can anyone recommend anything else along this genre, I'm about to spend the long weekend away

>> No.3539548

>>3539539
arenn't you adorable. i like housewives better, because it's easier to hate. gatsby can't even do that well. it's just not interesting enough for any emotional response

>> No.3539556

>>3539548
u think all the cowboys in the world could defeat all the pirates in the world, assuming there's no terrain advantage?
since we can't talk about your concrete opinions, i guess we should find a new topic for discussion

>> No.3539563

>>3539548
now you're just making me mad, you don't even have the integrity to admit that you just enjoy soaking yourself in shitty tv and try to cover it up with your faux ass affectations get out of here

>> No.3539570

it's been a long time since i've read this. maybe when the movie comes out i'll watch it.

if you manage to tell me why it's good i'll consider revising my view

>> No.3539575

I will never understand why Gatsby gets so much praise when Chopin's The Awakening does everything it does, but less phallocentric and far more interestingly.

>> No.3539588

>>3539556
How could you possibly assume no terrain advantage? Cowboys and pirates are identities completely produced by spaciality.

>> No.3539590
File: 50 KB, 698x419, k5Ov5.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3539590

>>3539575
So I should check out Chopin's Awakening...
P-please suggest me something /lit/

>> No.3539648

>>3539575
gatsby's a dick blowing his fortunes on exorbortant parties for rich dickwads and their whores when theres people suffering from starvation and financial ruin all around him.
he may not be a dick, exactly, but hes goddamn ignorant and that can be just as bad

>> No.3539652

>>3539648
Do you understand /why/ he was throwing the parties?

>> No.3539660

>>3539652
to find some dumb whore who gets him killed eventually.

>> No.3539679

>>3539660
And you don't think that most men, when they're that obsessed with rekindling a past relationship that they've idealized to a point where it represents everything they want out of life, would focus a lot more on that girl instead of poor people?

I don't think Gatsby was ignorant, per se - he's acting just like most guys in a similar position would. Do you think the >tfwnogf people on /r9k/ are going to abandon their whining for girlfriends and instead work for charity or volunteer?

He did buy his dad a house too. He was fine housing the one homeless guy who didn't even appreciate him. He could have done a lot of other charitable things that Nick just didn't record, because it wouldn't have mattered to him.

>> No.3539732

||>>3539679||
how touching. almost as good as lincoln lol

>> No.3541347

So what you guys like so much about this bad boy? It's like a worse version of the Magus

>> No.3541364

Try reading it first before deciding you can't relate to the characters and hate it.

>> No.3541398

it's about a rich guy who is in love

i'm neither of those

>> No.3541409

There's some symbolism in the panoramic description of the scenery, but yeah it's mostly about how snobs are fucking snobs. Read some Steinbeck that fucker is the shit. or Some Oscar Wilde - he REALLY kicks litterary ass

>> No.3541412

>>3538973
If you must read it, by assignment, just read it. It's 200 pages only.

>> No.3541418

If I had to describe Great Gatsby with one word, it'd be "pretty"

>> No.3541524

>no level of relation between me and the characters?
Why is everyone so obsessed with liking or relating to the characters? Who gives a fuck?

>> No.3541530

>>3541524
Some people appreciate books for different reasons than you. Can you grasp this concept?

>> No.3541532

>>3538973
although there are characters like that the narrator isn't so bad. and gatsby is one hell of a bro.

>> No.3541544

>>3541530
I bet you read for plot.

>> No.3541555

>>3541544
I bet you're a teenager

>> No.3541586

>>3538973
>with no relation between me and the characters

Jesus Christ.

OOH I CAN'T RELATE TO THE CHARACTERS, SHITTY BOOK.

Fucking buttfuck.

>> No.3541595

I wonder why nabakov hated the great gatsby.

>> No.3541721

>he hasn't read it
>he hasn't seen both movies
>he hasn't seen the play

>> No.3543460

>>3539308
>her
Unknowns are masculine, in the English language.

>> No.3543464
File: 162 KB, 600x566, gatsby game.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3543464

Here, play the game instead.

http://greatgatsbygame.com/

>> No.3543471

>>3539038
>Dat sentence structure

That is why. Fitz could write a mean sentence.

>> No.3543474

>>359052
Prose
It's ok, it's not as clear cut as playing games for the gameplay, because reading JUST for the prose is akin to watching cinema just for the cinematography. Both content and how it's conveyed are important.

/lit/'s just bitter that a lot of populist crap may have an entertaining plot or character for the reader to like, but usually has utter dogshit prose which makes one want to gouge out their eyes.

>> No.3543477

>>3538999
God you're stupid.

>> No.3543497

The Great Gatsby is beautifully well-written, but I honestly don't see what the fuss is about. It's not a particularly deep or philosophically interesting novel and it didn't relate to me on any personal level. It's just a pleasant story with pleasant prose in a pleasant little universe.

>> No.3543501

>>3543497
You've just levelled the "it's just rich people doing rich people things", except it kinda seems like you didn't read it.

>> No.3543508

>>3539538
If you're getting into "American classics," you absolutely have to read The Sound and the Fury.

>>3543464
This is pretty amazing.

>> No.3543588

>>3543464
lel