[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 15 KB, 251x210, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3984283 No.3984283 [Reply] [Original]

Lovecraft is an awful writer. The influence he has had is the only positive aspect of his work.

>> No.3984286

I can't get into gRRM, just cant

>> No.3984582

I was molested by my uncle, now I'm pretty sure I'm gay.

>> No.3984590

I cried at the end of Looking for Alaska

>> No.3984592

GRRM is the greatest author to ever exist though I hate to admit it.

>> No.3984598

The Great Gatsby sucks and Fitzgerald was a hack who wrote for money.

>> No.3984601

Lolita gave me a lot of boners.

>> No.3984602

I enjoyed The Great Gatsby.

>> No.3984604

>>3984590
Dude, I cried at pretty much all John Green books. I know it's just an edgy Nicholas Sparks knockoff but he knows how to manipulate the feels

>> No.3984607

I cried when Raskolnikov, on his way to confess, stopped and kissed the ground.

>> No.3984608

>>3984283

Howard Bloom and DFW are just alienating people from literature.
Blood Meridian is McCarthy's only decent book.
I like Murakami.
I've read Fight Club more than once.
Damn near cried at the end of LotR.
I miss Flannery O'Connor.
Marlow > Shakespeare

>> No.3984609

I only read on the computer.

>> No.3984619

Lovecraft is an awful writer, but his imagination was incredible
The book that got me reading was Perks of Being a Wall Flower
>The Stranger
>Naked Lunch
>This Side of Paradise
all the books Charlie read got me into reading and I haven't stopped since
Lolita was not nearly perverted enough, the story was utter shit, and the way it's written is the only good part. It flows in the brain like a cool calm flowing river and it feels nice.
F. Scott is my favorite author, he was the best out of the Lost Generation
James Joyce is not creative, he was mental. Nothing he wrote was entertaining and anyone who thinks that he is 'deep' and 'meaningful' or 'great' are just losers who didn't understand a damn thing that happened in the book, and are afraid to go against the grain. Ulysses and Dubliners were utter shit. The worst book in human history may be Finnegans Wake
Hur dur I make up words and meaningless bullshit and people say it's the greatest thing ever written by a genius. Fuck no, he sucks.
Atheists, no matter how ignorant or retarded they can be, are always, will always, be more logical than anyone who ever believes in any God ever.

>> No.3984625
File: 51 KB, 156x145, 1345827618949.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3984625

I buy books I already own because the covers are prettier
I won't read two books by the same author in a row
I couldn't get past pp150 of GR and it took me four tries to get past Telamachus in Ulysses
I almost never read nonfiction or philosophy outside of my coursework
I've been typing garbage into the captcha for weeks
Sometimes I think I might be a little bit gay

>> No.3984634

Lovecraft didn't do anything that Hope Hodgson hadn't done before

>> No.3984662
File: 66 KB, 386x500, dem brushstrokes.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3984662

>>3984625
>I buy books I already own because the covers are prettier
amen to that

>> No.3984665

>>3984662
What a shit book and shit movie

>> No.3984668

>>3984665
>my opinion is more valid because its unpopular

>> No.3984670

Nothing makes me angrier than collections of poems by a single author that don't have every single poem published by that author. I just bought a collection of Lord Byron's poetry and was stunned when, while reading the introduction, the editor admitted to abridging and omitting significant portions of "Don Juan," including multiple full cantos. Never again.

>> No.3984673

I think Hemmmingway was a good writer.
I think The Great Gatsby is one of the most beautiful written book of the last century and I don't get the hate it receives.

>> No.3984675

>>3984665
end thyself

>> No.3984692

>>3984673
Those are opinions many of /lit/ hold too
lurk more

>> No.3984694

The Catcher In The Rye was awful.

If someone says it is their favourite book, I tend to disregard their opinion.

>> No.3984696

Don DeLillo is a turgid hack.
Joyce is trash.
Minority authors (Maya Angelou, Amy Tan, Toni Morrison, etc.) are praised simply because of the color of their skin.
Fantasy is trash.

>> No.3984705

>>3984668
>unpopular
maybe on this shit board full of hive minded twats
in the real word, everyone knows that book and that movie was shit tier

>> No.3984711

>>3984602
>>3984673
>unpopular

>> No.3984714

I was on the verge of giving up on life every day for the past 5 years due to my father's abuse and my mother's death.

I've studied Chinese for four years because I was too depressed to figure out what I really wanted to do.

Now I realise I want to be a writer of some form and I'm worried that I've wasted my opportunity because every decent author seems to have been writing since they were seven, and I basically got my life back after last New Year's.

>> No.3984717

Proust is boring as all fuck.

>> No.3984719

I listen to lots of audiobooks.

>> No.3984716

>>3984590
...me too

>> No.3984720

>>3984694
i will literally fight the next person i encounter who thinks this way

it's a fucking classic for a reason, just because it doesn't cater to your lofty high culture image of yourself when you read it doesn't mean it isn't stylistically as good as most other 20th century works.

>> No.3984723

>>3984673
>I don't get the hate it receives.
Where does it get hate?

>> No.3984724

>>3984717
Reading proust is boring as shit
Recognizing what you read after you suffered through it is magical

>> No.3984727

>>3984723
Go to any philosophy thread and watch the psuedo-intellects and wanna be Plato's try to damn F Scott

>> No.3984732

>>3984714
Well your odds of being a great writer arezero if you never attempt to be one.

>> No.3984735

I can't read outside of my room where it's completely quiet.
When I fall in love I tend to get obsessive about it.
I'm very insecure about everything I do, that's the reason for my hidden superiority complex.

>> No.3984741

>>3984732

Yep, all too true. I'm really trying to get somewhere, but it's basically like waking up from a coma.

>> No.3984737

/lit/ is a terrible board that had approximately 3 good spells.
Even the tripfags are worse, we've replaced pretension with the truly clueless

>> No.3984739

>>3984727
>watch the psuedo-intellects and wanna be Plato's try to damn F Scott
really? :(

>> No.3984740

Edgar Allen Poe is an alright poet, only angsty cockwits can really enjoy his work.

>> No.3984742

/lit/ is probably the best place on the internet to discuss literature, all things considered

>> No.3984744

I don't like Infinite Jest and I don't have the will to finish it
I like Stephen King, but the dark tower is just boring

>> No.3984750

I'm fairly new to literature but I act all high and mighty about it

>> No.3984755

>>3984740
granted he watched everyone he ever loved die from TB .....not edgy when you live it

>> No.3984756

>>3984741
Try and start small. Get a notebook and write in it everyday. Doesn't matter what it's about or how long. It could be a paragraph about the weather or a 3 page short story. Just something to help get the gears moving.

>> No.3984758

I think Chuck Palahniuk is a painfully mediocre author at best. His style somewhat worked in Fight Club, but since it's apparently the only one he is capable of, it becomes very stale very fast.

I place him marginally above Stephenie Meyer, at least she has other themes than "CONSUMERISM = BAD, REINVENTING YOURSELF = GOOD". After a while it's like listening to my grandfather talk about communism.

>> No.3984761

/lit/'s anti atheism has reached edgy atheism levels.
I am astounded at the inability of /lit/ to grasp the excellence of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Hemingway's machismo pisses me right off and prevents me from fully enjoying his work.

>> No.3984762

>>3984756

Thanks for the tip, I will! I guess I should pick out a nice notebook, then.

>> No.3984767

>>3984761
> /lit/'s anti atheism has reached edgy atheism levels.


Did I miss the memo? At most, I've seen a lot of anti-"new atheism" and the sweaty cheesetits associated with it, which I don't see a problem with.

>> No.3984776

>>3984761
>Hemingway's machismo
>just smarter men hanging around dumb bitches

>> No.3984781

Ayn Rand is a selfish cunt. Atlas Shrugged is fap material to neoconservatives and nothing more. Her only bearable work is Fountainhead. Her philosophy is shit

>> No.3984786

>>3984781
>unpopular opinions
Ayn Rand is good for making you think about self-interest, masculinity, and how you might be deprived of both.

>> No.3984788

>>3984724
It's been a few months since the last volume I read.

Still remember the pain.

>>3984767
No, there are a lot of of legitamate theists (all over 4chan) who make fun of atheists.

>> No.3984791

>>3984781
>socialist retarded reporting in

It's hilarious how everyone likes Ayn Rand knows she hated Conservatives and everyone who hates her automatically associates her with them.
Really showing your ignorance here
Her philosphy= why can't I help myself without someone telling me to give my stuff to someone who is too lazy to earn their own?

>> No.3984801

>>3984776
Actually I have a far bigger problem with his love of hunting than his attitude around/towards women.

>> No.3984808

>>3984791
no, her philosophy = helping others is more selfish than not helping others

>> No.3984817

I couldn't deal with Don Quixote. All that happened was that the old guy would miss identify something and do some crazy shit, then his fat sidekick would fall over.

My girlfriend is getting fat and I love it.

>> No.3984825

>>3984801
It's natural
We can kill them, therefore it's not wrong
Just because humans can enjoy it as sport doesn't make its wrong
hate it all you want but it's not wrong to kill animals for sport
boo hoo
go cry
ima go kill me another deer

>> No.3984836

>>3984801
also, stop oppressing men
your misandry disgusts me

>> No.3984837

There is nothing wrong with swords & sorcery fantasy
The reason the genre seems so shit is because too many authors try to emulate tolkiens high fantasy and fail very hard.
But /lit/ seems to think shitty high fantasy series = the whole genre
Which is stupid because we already know books intentionally written in series format are shit anyway

>> No.3984842

>>3984808
once again,
ignorant people commenting on things they don't know about

>> No.3984853

Dostoevsky is a great writer but his full-length novels are turgid swamps that are painful to read through.

Similarly, Thomas Ligotti is a great ideas man, but his Lovecraftian purple prose makes the vast majority of his stories a bore, not a scarefest.

DFW's novels are by far his best body of work. His short stories are too flashy, and his non-fiction wildly inconsistent and excessive without magazine editing.

Flaubert is vastly over-rated. Before him, Balzac's prose had much more life, and after him Maupassant wrote with much keener insight. I think it's a damn he overshadows those two.

>> No.3984857

>>3984608
dude, who doesn't miss Flannery O'Connor?

>> No.3984868

>>3984853

4/4 I agree with all that. WHO ARE YOU

>> No.3984882

>>3984853
why are you so obsessed with prose?

>> No.3984902

>>3984882
>muh prose
this whole board

>> No.3984917

>>3984598
> Any writer ever
> Not writing for money

The only true artists can be found on fanfiction.net

>> No.3984925

>>3984882

because taste

>> No.3984938
File: 232 KB, 720x1000, image.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3984938

I have fantasies of fucking Virginia Woolf.

>> No.3984962
File: 113 KB, 241x255, 1318752343996.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3984962

>>3984925

>> No.3984975

Joyce sounds like classically educated in Dublin thirteen year olds trying to make jokes. When I hear people gushing over his prose, I get the same reaction as hearing someone fantasising about doing Lolita.

>> No.3984977
File: 70 KB, 530x663, 1371658011797.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3984977

>>3984938
I fap to photos of of naked female paintings, frescoes and statues.

>> No.3984981

>>3984977
I thought I was the only one..

>> No.3984982

Joyce is only ok. The man is alright, not the bees knees or anything, but he's ok. I'm sick of people shouting about how he's simply the cat's meow...

>> No.3984989

A Canticle For Leibowitz radically altered the way I view people, including the secret shivers I get around the mentally ill.

>> No.3984992

>>3984977
this painting causes a visceral reaction of beauty for me

>> No.3984993

>>3984283
I don't get the appeal of game of thrones and mad men.

>> No.3985007

Also, I think Stephen King is a better author than people give him credit for. Not fantastic, but he has some good things.

>> No.3985026

>>3984993
dude me either. i tried to watch an episode and i have no idea why people would watch a depressing ad agency show week in week out. i haven't been this confused by a television show's following since desperate housewives.

>> No.3985031

I fucking hate Kant. Why am I the only one?

>> No.3985048

>>3985031
Nietzsche is right there with you.

>> No.3985051

My essay on metaphor in Wuthering Heights was based on watching part of the BBC adaptation and listening to Kate Bush. I've never read the book.

>> No.3985053

>>3984608
I think All the Pretty Horses was better than Blood Meridian. I felt like getting through BM was practically a chore.

>>3984737
>>3984742
Both of these things are true.

My opinions:
I think Faulkner is the greatest American author, and Absalom, Absalom! to be the greatest piece of art to come out of the southern US.
Confederacy of Dunces made me very, very sad. I started laughing and by the end I just felt awful.
Cat's Cradle is better than Slaughterhouse V.
I think Hamlet actually is the best Shakespeare play.
Hemingway's short stories were better than his novels.

>> No.3985057

Ralph Waldo Emerson is a horrible writer and his essays are needlessly convoluted.

>> No.3985061

>>3985031
Kant is a fucking cunt m8

>> No.3985063

I can't fucking stand it when I read "muh ____" on this board.

>>3985053
>I think Faulkner is the greatest American author, and Absalom, Absalom! to be the greatest piece of art to come out of the southern US.
>Cat's Cradle is better than Slaughterhouse V.
>Hemingway's short stories were better than his novels.

bra-fucking-vo

>> No.3985077

>>3984742
I agree.

>> No.3985078

David Foster Wallace is damn near unreadable. I knew Infinite Jest was going to be a chore when in the first chapter I hit the sentence, "I realized that to a native Latin speaker, an exit sign says, 'He leaves.'"

>> No.3985087

>>3984917
Lel, why would someone who wants money take up writing as a profession?

>> No.3985091

>>3985078
lol. It really does get good later on. Even after reading I swear he made the beginning far more complex than the end. Or I just got used to it.

>> No.3985096

>>3985078
>I realized that to a native Latin speaker, an exit sign says, 'He leaves.

Hehe that's pretty funny

>> No.3985105

>>3985087
Looking at the success of authors such as Rowling, GRRM, Meyer, King, all the Grisham/Koontz/etc. writers...

>>3985078
Something about the first chapter of IJ does not read at all like the rest of the book. I don't know what it is. Maybe he wrote it long before the rest of it...or long after.

>> No.3985113

>>3984619
>Atheists, no matter how ignorant or retarded they can be, are always, will always, be more logical than anyone who ever believes in any God ever.

I don't see what that has to do with anything being said in the argument thus far. Are you purposely trying to start trouble?

>> No.3985127

>>3984283
I want to write so badly, but have nothing to say.

The only reason I haven't committed suicide is because I don't want to hurt the people that care about me. They deserve better than that.

>> No.3985138

>>3985105
Those authors largely became rich off fads and luck.

There are legions of shitty writers just like them who pander to the uncultured masses and never see the light of day.

>> No.3985141

>>3985063
I honestly can't tell if you are being incredibly sarcastic or agree with what I said. Anyway, thought of a couple more:

Sun Also Rises was Hemingway's best.
No one "gets" Ulysses. or at least I don't get it, and to make myself feel better about that I like to imagine no one does. I haven't spoken to anyone that has proven me otherwise

Apocalypse Now is the best movie adaptation of any book.

I promptly delete everything I write. When I try to go to sleep at night and I feel bad, I think about suicide and it makes me feel a great deal more comfortable

>> No.3985145

>>3985127
>I want to write so badly, but have nothing to say.
There's always something to say, you're just making excuses.

>> No.3985147

American literature has stagnated since the 1960s because of Jewish control over the publishing industry.

inb4 go back to /pol/

>> No.3985159

>>3985138
Their eyes are bigger than their stomach.

>>3985147
Not to be racist or anything but minority literature does get over-inflated praise simply because of the author and not because of anything resembling literary majesty.

>> No.3985161

>>3985141
No I completely agree with what you said. Faulkner is my literary idol, Cat's Cradle is funnier than Slaughterhouse-Five ("See the cat? See the cradle?"), and Hemingway's style is more fit to short stories than novels. Not that his novels are bad though.
I also agree that Hamlet is the best Shakespeare, but that's hardly unpopular.

>> No.3985171
File: 44 KB, 439x543, archin_does_not_parlay_with_mere_mortals.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3985171

>>3984720
> MFW people complain about Holden being unlikable as if that's the most important thing in a good character

>> No.3985176

>>3985141
It's easy to "get" Ulysses. It's literally about a guy who walks around Dublin all day thinking about his wife cheating on him. Somewhere along the line he meets up with this pretentious proto-/lit/ kid who's too smart for his own good and they console each other in their own weird way.

Getting all the little nuances is a little harder. People spend their whole lives trying to do that.

>> No.3985186

>>3985176
That's what I was going to say. The story is really straightforward, it's just a matter of trying to tease out the underlying structure and allusions.

>> No.3985206

People reading crap is better than them not reading at all.

>> No.3985209

>>3985161
Well, hamlet is the popular choice. On 4chan, it's much more common to see people shit on it than anything else.

>>3985176
>>3985186
I guess I just don't understand why its considered to be greatest-of-all-time-tier by so many people. Most of the allusions were lost on me, and while I got the straightforward story, I didn't come out of it with much more than that. When I think of other books that I had to put so much effort into, I usually realize that I am getting a lot more out of it.

>> No.3985213

>>3985186

The best thing to keep in mind is that each chapter is written in a different style that suits the content of that chapter. So the one with the girl on the beach reads like a sentimental novel, the one where they're at the hospital waiting for the baby to be born shifts through various literary phases from beginning to end, the one where Leopold is questioning Stephen is written like a catechism, etc. If you get that you can get like half the book.

This is also why it's wrong to call Ulysses a stream-of-consciousness writing. Only select sections, like Molly's soliloquy, are in that style.

>> No.3985225

>>3985138
why must you bait so obviously...

>> No.3985229

>>3985105
>>3985091
I mean, I've read the whole thing and found very little of it worthwhile. I guess I could say I admire the way he structures the book?

>> No.3985235

Marquis de Sade is my Ayn Rand.

>> No.3985238

/lit/ is such a superficial board.
all the criticisms i've seen almost are exclusively "nice prose/style" or "i didn't/like it"
i wonder what some of you would do without a canon to circlejerk to.

>> No.3985243

>>3984283

Demons by Dostoyevsky is dull as fuck and all-around shit in general

>> No.3985250

>>3985238
>i wonder what some of you would do without a canon to circlejerk to.
>thread is dedicated to airing dislike to popular works - many of them canon
Okay...

>> No.3985262

>>3985238
>criticizes /lit/ hivemind
>in a thread about opinions that go against that hivemind
>doesn't offer any opinions

>> No.3985268

>>3984665
Shit movie, but superb book

>> No.3985296

>>3985238
I can't stand the emphasis on prose on this board.

>> No.3985308

The ending to Brave New World. What a letdown.

>> No.3985310

They're thematically similar, but Catcher is much better than F&Z, despite people attempting to be edgy by saying otherwise.

F&Z also marked the beginning of Salinger tragically disappearing up his own behind.

>> No.3985314

>>3985296

And what, you can't stand the discussion of music on /mu/ either?

>> No.3985318

>>3985296
>I am 15 years old

>> No.3985359
File: 32 KB, 542x542, 1308723334961.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3985359

>>3985314
>>3985318

>> No.3985375

>>3985296
it's actually pretty embarrassing that a board which prides itself on its 'intellectual depth' likes the most superficial surface level trait of literature.

>> No.3985385

When I'm reading a Collected Works of X, I'll enter each individual book collected as I complete it on my Goodreads just to make myself feel better/more accomplished. ;-;

>> No.3985409

Coriolanus is the greatest of Shakespeare's plays.

>> No.3985427

>>3985409
Not even close.

>> No.3985430

>>3985427
He liked the movie.

>> No.3985434

Prose is what makes reading fiction worthwhile. If you have something important to write and aren't going to make it enjoyable to read then write an essay.

>> No.3985435

I'm really upset that my friends like Ulysses because I'm far too scared to read it because I might not understand it and I'll end up making a fool of myself.

>> No.3985465

>>3985434
2/10

>> No.3985468

>>3985465
Good retort. Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

>> No.3985492

Joyce, Nabokov, Proust, and all other modern writers are all puny insects compared to the immortal poets and sages of ancient Greece, Rome, and India.

>> No.3985500

>>3985465
But it's true

>> No.3985501

I have read almost a thousand books, or maybe more, and I still don't know a thing about literature.

I'm much better at discussing things I have heard about, or elaborating on other's comments, than I am at discussing things I have actually read/listened too/ seen.

Things I do bore me most of the time, and I suck about most things I do.

I've been practising music for fifteen years and I'm barely decent at it.

I have barely any real hobby besides reading and that has made me apathetic about life and people.

I've spent more time on the computer than reading this month.

I tend to assume that people who talk mostly about English and American authors are uncultured Anglo-Saxons who kow nothing of literature foreign to them.

I pride myself on appreciating literature besides novels while I still read mostly novels.

I thought Shakespeare was underwhelming the first time I read him (but in translation so that's probably why).

I think I have forgotten between a third and a half of thebooks I've read. Some of my favorite books are books from which I haven't any memory, I simply remember liking them.

My opinion about books tend to be heavily predetermined by what I've heard about them, and reading them seldom changes that.

>>3984817
I loved Cervantes' spirit and humor but I had trouble getting why the book is considered so important (well I was twelve last time I read it, may I should try again).

About your girlfriend it's cool. You don't need to ask her to be a model.
>>3985007
I agree. I actually kinda like him.

>>3985105
>Looking at the success of authors such as Rowling, GRRM, Meyer, King, all the Grisham/Koont

Those are like five very successful author among thousands. They are hardly the rule.

>>3985127
Are you me ? Writing is gut-wrenching and produces nothing of value (at least for me). I suspect my ambitions of writing come from all my teachers telling me I'm good at it. I also share your feelings on the suicide part.

>>3984853
Your post made me realize I have trouble making a difference between authors I've read. I have read Balzac and Maupassant, but I couldn't tell what makes one different from the other, apart a few general comments about Balzac's debt to Dante and painting.

>> No.3985505

>>3985501
I also think the first people to develop language, and the first to come with the technique of writing down things are more worthy of admiration than Tolstoy or Shakespeare.

>> No.3985509
File: 43 KB, 669x627, feelfeel.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3985509

>>3984283
I've written more than 50 short stories, 3 novels, created more than 100 characters and nobody wants to read any of it.
>In my country people read 3 books per year [max.]

>> No.3985514

>>3985509

Are you me? I've only written 2 novels, but another non-fiction book. And scads of poetry.

>> No.3985527

>>3984283
I hate /lit/ but it's the closest I get to any kind of literature discussion in the web. IRL, people around me don't read at all (nothing but the commercials), and won't provide any feedback on anything I do (just like /lit/), fuck /lit/.
But I need it.

>> No.3985529

>I'll be a writer one day
Yet I never write anything and barely have the motivation to get out of bed, much less find a job.
>I'll read books X Y and Z this month
I am a painfully slow reader. I want to read more but even reading every day it takes me a few weeks to get through a typical 400 page novel.

>> No.3985532

>>3985492
What are some works from those immortal sages with excellent english translations?

>> No.3985537

I can barely understand what I read because I'm some strange kind of retard. I should kill myself at the end of the year.

>> No.3985574

>>3984917
JRR Tolkien.

>> No.3985575

>>3985532
Suffer not the translator's telescope.

>> No.3985606

I get far too compelled from romantic relationships depicted in books.
I actually read all of IJ
I'm writing something incredibly selfish, will probably distend it to well over 100k words, and it may never see the light of day
I hardly know anything about philosophy
I thought The Road was utter shit and lazy
Blood Meridian was boring and pissed me off
Catch-22 was repetitive and dull
The most emotional I've ever been reading a book was probably tied between The Dark Tower saga's ending and Harry Potter's
I want desperately to get better

>> No.3985621

>>3985537
I feel the same and I have the reputation to be the cultured literate guy among my friends, family and teachers (including literature teacher who have read Plato and Aeschyles in the original Greek). I'm also supposed to be the philosopher of the group while I've read but five books by serious philosophers.

So don't give up buddy. We all feel like legitimate retards more or less regularly. Try discussing what you read with friends, or try something else than reading. I you think you need to understand things easily to be fit, you're mislead, because in this world everyon start getting confused at some point. Shit is just not easy.

>> No.3985627

>>3985606
>I get far too compelled from romantic relationships depicted in books.
>I'm writing something incredibly selfish, will probably distend it to well over 100k words, and it may never see the light of day
>The most emotional I've ever been reading a book was probably tied between The Dark Tower saga's ending and Harry Potter's
>I want desperately to get better

I feel your feels. I can only give you this sentence from Seneca: "It's not that we don't dare because it's difficult, it's difficult because we don't dare."

;_;

>> No.3985633

When I read something multi-faceted or meta or 'deep' or whatever you want to say, I immediately run to sparknotes so it can tell me what I just read means because I'm far too stupid to come to any meaningful conclusions myself.

I desperately want to be able to have a pen with me when I'm reading and scribble compelling arguments and insightful observations in the margins of books but I can't. The words, no matter how much I try, just wash over me without ever breaking the surface. I should just stick to crappy fantasy and sci-fi novels where such a cursory understanding of writing is acceptable.

I want to understand, but I don't know where to start.

>> No.3985636

>>3985375
>always hear about Lolita like its the New Testament or something
>but it's always "muh prose"

Guess I'll put it in the Evangelion bin, "will check out sometime but no time soon"

>> No.3985647

I bet the "hurr durr your proze" brigade hate Renaissance art because it looks nice.

Really a dumb point to make.

>> No.3985819

Robert Frost's writings are fruity, faux philosophical shit

>> No.3985822

>>3984670
Amen!

>> No.3985832

I'm almost incapable of analyzing literature and poetry beyond the really obvious, so I tend to only like sci fi or fantasy novels.

>> No.3985837

People who sort books after color should be scourged.
People who judge a book primarily on any movie or tv adaption should have their brains reset with electricity.

>> No.3985843

Of all the novels I've read, catcher in the rye still hits me the hardest.

>> No.3985857

>>3985375
>a board which prides itself on its 'intellectual depth'

literally nobody thinks this board has intellectual depth, you wannabe critic.

>most superficial surface level trait of literature

way to be redundant btw. and what makes good prose is absolutely connected to what's going on beyond the superficial sound/rhythm of the words themselves. otherwise we'd be content with nonsense just because it sounds nice. that's not to undermine the art of constructing a nice sounding sentence, though, because it's certainly an art, "superficial" as it may be. just like putting colors and shapes together.

>> No.3985865

Writing in books is ultimately stupid. It is better to keep a notebook. But getting mad that other people write in books is also stupid. Unless it's a library book.

I automatically disregard the opinion of people who don't "get" why people like avant garde literature or art. I'm working on becoming more rational about this, however, since it seems to be becoming more common.

85% of becoming a good writer is reading like a motherfucker. Not enough people want to put the work in.

>> No.3985887

Albert Camus wrote existentialism for the dumb
More than half of Nietzsche fanboys haven't read Zarathustra in its entirety
Taoism is the only philosophy I value
Kafka is overrated

>> No.3985982

>>3985633
Same. People just say to "read" but that does no good.

>>3985865
>I automatically disregard the opinion of people who don't "get" why people like avant garde literature or art.
I'm one of those people because I don't get the art itself, and don't know how I ever could.

>> No.3986191

>>3985887
> Albert Camus wrote existentialism for the dumb


Care to elaborate?

>> No.3986258

Orwell's novels are mediocre but his biographical works are much, much better. Words can't describe how much I despise it when people make 1984 out to be some prophetical book.

Sarte>>Camus

Evelyn Wough deserves more love on this board and in the public eye.

Shakespeare is a hack, massive, massive hack.

>> No.3986261

the fantasy bashing threads are shit, just stick to your deep philosophical shit, just because i enjoy Sanderson doesnt mean I dont read Dostoievski as well, in fact fantasy is the gateway for many readers

I honestly think its trolls exclusively demanding that people justify reading

>> No.3986285

I look for acclaimed books that have a lot of sex in it because I'm a perv.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is overrated, and Hunter S. Thompson is very overrated. The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test is better, but still not as good as everyone says it is.
The Bible has some beautiful prose in it.

Damn, that felt great

>> No.3986317

I get anxious whenever I see a political/religion based thread because of the shitstorm that usually follows. On one hand I've learned quite a bit from the good ones. On the other hand the good ones are rare and when a thread turns into a shitstorm its hard to defend or argue for something when someone in the thread already did such a shit job that you might find yourself being forced to answer for some bullshit that you don't even believe because someone thinks that your comments are related.

>> No.3986336

>>3986317
Welcome to the world of politics. I will rather take a right turn on a bridge than engage in your average political discussion, even if I think I have something to contribute. I always end up regretting it when I do.

>> No.3986353

I don't like it when a movie/series/book/song tries so desperately to evoke a very obvious emotion in me, like 'now you must be afraid' or 'now you must feel sad because this person, which was constructed to have a tragic death, is now dead and that is totally sad' etc. Especially nudity and sexual references and shit like that provocates me because I think it's cheap and just there to please the lowest common denominator of all people and I think by embedding these stimulations in a work (mostly needlessly), it shows a lack of ideas and creativity.

>> No.3986358

>>3986258

I agree with you on Sartre and Waugh. Disagree with your opinion on Shakespeare although I am not his bigget fan.

>> No.3987301

>>3986285
I think most people agree that a good deal of the Bible is beautiful to read.

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test made me very strongly dislike hippies. They were all just selfish, unlikable pricks.

>> No.3987402

>>3985048
wtf, Nietzsche didn't hate Kant

early Nietzsche's metaphysics were actually quite like Schope's i.e. a mild elaboration on Kant's metaphysics

It's impossible to 'get' Nietzsche without starting with Kant, then going through Schopenhauer, and then moving onto Wagner

>> No.3987421

i can barely handle a book 200+ pg ; _ ; all i read are novellas and poetry

>> No.3987426

>>3984283
I don't care, I love his works

>> No.3989889

bum;

>> No.3989914

>>3987301
>They were all just selfish, unlikable pricks.
You will find that in any group of people anon.

>> No.3989946

>>3984723
From me every time I discuss it, at least. I remember reading the part where he was likening Gatsby's car to being decorated with an array of things looking like birdcages and hatboxes and thinking, 'Come on, really..' It reads like weak Nabokov - or, to me it does, anyway. Of the authors I've read, I found F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing style the least engaging, the least able to make me picture what's being narrated with any clarity. I felt pretty uninvolved reading Gatsby. I think the reason it's touted as the 'Great American Novel' so much (what *is* it about chasing vague, undefinable concepts that enthralls Americans so much?) is because the symbolism is so obvious and superficial you can't miss it. What's more I thought it was trope-heavy and not in a good way. I groaned aloud when Gastby died and I groaned louder when no one came to his funeral.

But in exchange for this I'll get a cheap copy of something other than Gatsby and read that to see whether I find him thoroughly or only partly bad.

Also my controversial opinion is that Slaughterhouse Five was my least favourite Vonnegut book by a long stretch. As above, I think it's only considered his best because the 'War is Bad' message was in vogue when it was released, and that it's semi-autobiographical about a harrowing experience, which appeals to that same thing in us that Dave Pelzer books indulge.

I even liked Player Piano more.

>> No.3989964

>>3985171
"it's not just like my hollywood movies"

>> No.3989965

I only read genre fiction.

>> No.3989970

when people say

>i didn't like it because i couldn't relate to the characters

>> No.3989999

If there's a foreign language in a novel I'm reading I completely skip past it, though it drives me crazy afterwards and causes me to stop caring about the remainder of the pages.

>> No.3990001

>Reading Les Mis
>Skipping through the 100 pages of history every few chapters

>> No.3990021

I would rather read all day living as a glorious NEET than get a career that has nothing to do with writing (part-time work is fine).

>> No.3990028

>>3984634
except not being shit. read some dunsany or machen or james or bierce instead.

>> No.3990050

>>3985057
He never said anything in five words that could instead be said in fourteen.

>> No.3990063

I don't get why so much of modern poetry is boring. The most modern poet I've enjoyed reading is probably Larkin.

Tender is the Night > The Great Gatsby

I've just started the 5th book of ASOIAF and because I haven't read anything as readable recently, I've ploughed through the other 4 in about 1 week. Now I'm feeling guilty because there was other stuff I could have read in that time.

>> No.3990089

>>3985982
>I'm one of those people because I don't get the art itself, and don't know how I ever could.

Read "History of Art" by Gombrich. The guys is (was) a well-respected professor and the book is aimed at people who basically don't know anything about art. It's interesting, rather enjoyable, and there are a buttload of photograph of gorgeous art works from Ancient Egypt to XXth century paintings. Plus, if you actually take the time to look closely at each work, you're in for a good month of reading.

Also:

I always talk like I'm knowledgeable about art or philosophy while I only have read a couple of books about each. I even have a reputation for being knowledeable in those subjects that I didn't bother bringing down.

>> No.3990114

>>3986353

>Especially nudity and sexual references and shit like that provocates me because I think it's cheap and just there to please the lowest common denominator of all people

Amen to that!

>> No.3990144

The only book I've never finished in my life is thus spake zarathustra. Boring as fuck.

>> No.3990145

I don't necessarily try to break down books into elements like themes and symbols and just treat it like an emotional experience. I probably should familiarize myself with the intellectual side though.

>> No.3990196

I think the first chapter of Walden is the best.

>> No.3990212

>>3984283
I am writing a paper about the sociopolitics and philosophy of Awdry and Seuss. I want to cry.

>> No.3990233

>>3985053
>Faulkner is the greatest American author

You are a gentleman and a scholar.

>> No.3990236

To Kill a Mockingbird changed my life at 17 for school. I hated reading before then but that book made me a reader for life.

>> No.3990253

Ayn Rand is one of my favorite authors. This board's (and the internet's as a whole) leftist streak be damned.

>> No.3990258

>>3990233
Reddit pls

>> No.3990264

>>3990253
Replace 'boards/internet's' with 'the thinking portion of humanity' and there you have it.

Strictly speaking, ideologies that seek to better the conditions of human existence for the greatest number are rationally more preferable than ones that promote conflict and division.

Also don't you think it's a little dubious to judge a writer primarily on their political value and gloss over the fact they CANNOT FUCKING WRITE!?

>> No.3990310

>>3990264

I agree with you and and I am left-wing myself, but being left doesn't mean you suggest a more cohesive society necessary.

The appeal of conservatism is preserving institutions in the face of change, it is typically the left who want to bring about change which scares a lot of people. The left has been weak for years, the only areas it has had success such as gay and women's rights are ones which promote cohesion. People are too comfortable to want any more change than that.

>> No.3990379

>>3990310
Gay rights, women's rights, different ethnicity rights, those are things that for the most part got tacked onto conservatives by their opponents. Most conservatives have no opinion one way or the other about stuff like that, and if they do, think the state shouldn't be involved one way or the other.

Conservatives want fiscal responsibility, strong defense, low taxes, protection of property rights, damn few laws and those enforced rigorously, and small governement. Also, Low taxes. Conservatives always favor the rights of individuals over groups.

The problem is that crazy conservative democrats in the sixties wanted to instituionalize racism, sexism, anti-gay and anti womens rights stuff, and then in the eighties a bunch of fundamentalist republicans decided to take part of that agenda up for themselves. Mostly for religious reasons.

Then we got neocons and tea partiers and yokels of every description too young or poorly educated to realize that their "new" agenda is the same old one the democrats were losing with from the twenties till the seventies.

It's hard for an old-time conservative repucblican to take. I blame Nixon: he made us all look like criminals.

>> No.3990547

>>3984817
>>3984817
>My girlfriend is getting fat and I love it.

This.

>> No.3991239

I really want to be a good writer, but I'm horrified that my work will never be good enough for others to enjoy or myself to appreciate!