/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.4277945]

Hi, /lit/. I am fairly new to this board and I have a question for everybody interested in answering. For those of you who substantially read into things, where, and more importantly, why did you start? And I don't mean things like "I read (insert book here) because it was cool", I mean where along the line, if there is even a definite piece of that line, did you figure out that you were into literature for more than just surface level entertainment?

You could call me a neophyte, I suppose. I cannot honestly tell you a single book that has merit passed simple entertainment that I have read of my own volition until now. I picked up pic related, as well as some books on existentialist philosophy and things by Nietzsche and Sartre, for the purpose of beginning to prepare myself for the English IV AP test in May. I genuinely enjoy things that provoke thought and I hope that anyone interested hops in and gives their opinions. Give me a huge reading list and all of your personal reasons for reading said things on your lists, everyone.

tl;dr I want to know why and when you started reading things for more than just surface level entertainment.

[Anonymous No.4277949]

I started to read because on the first day of High School there was meet'n'greet where we had to tell our hobbies and so and I just went "literature", thinking that it would be an easy cop out, seeing that I didn't really have any hobbies. But anyway, I was the only one that said it, so obviously I had to become well read and yeah it was cool.

[Anonymous No.4277972]

I think it started when my family started going to our inherited summer home every summer all summer. It was really old, in a town with only really old people, and there wasn't so much as a phone in the house.
For the first three years I was bored out of my skull, but after that, I discovered my dad's Lit books from university. He was a Maths/Economics Major but was a bit of a leftie and had taken courses on gothic lit and existentialism and had some books on Psychoanalysis from his MBA days. I spent the next five summers reading and rereading those books and now all I want is a summer home and nothing to do but read.

captcha: biouslay business

[Anonymous No.4277977]

>>4277949
>>4277972
Either of you remember anything in particular that you liked? Maybe something that stuck out to you as just incredibly good for any reason?

[Anonymous No.4277983]

>>4277945
I was 16 and took AP European history because I wanted to see what it was like, and normal school courses bored the shit out of me.

Our teacher was the most passionate man I have ever met. He couldnt stopped talking about how interesting these people were, or how important they were. He also knew god damn everything and anything. By the way anons, did you know that Louis the 16th of France supposedly had a huge and sensitive dick, and made it nearly impossible for him and Marie Antoinette to have sex? Or that Peter the Great used to constantly get drunk and run through the night dressed up as a sailor with other sailors? So he inspired me. The first thing we were taught was the Renaissance, which I greatly enjoyed.

I also took acid and got my first girlfriend.

[Anonymous No.4277986]

>>4277983
Mind saying where you lived, anon? Or at least your teacher's name? The way you speak about him reminds me of a particular teacher I know, Mr. Wightman.

[Anonymous No.4277999]

>>4277986
Santa Clarita, northern LA county.

Mr. Miller, Saugus High School.

If I ever do anything of worth, I hope to fuck he isnt dead so I can tell him just how much he meant to me as a kid

[Anonymous No.4278001]

>>4277999
Isn't that where six flags is? Been there for a few days, god this was an awful suburb, like a parody of a burton movie.

[Anonymous No.4278022]

>>4278001
>like a parody of a burton movie.

Nigga youre joking right, there is no way you just said that without knowing that santa clarita is the inspiration for the town in Edward Scissor Hands

[Anonymous No.4278028]

during a close reading of The Spire by WIlliam Golding in high school. I had a glimpse of what literature could do, its importance, and its beauty. Never left me.

[Anonymous No.4278034]

>>4277977
> Either of you remember anything in particular that you liked? Maybe something that stuck out to you as just incredibly good for any reason?
Vonnegut, Waltari, Marquez, Easier Pynchon works, Miller's plays.

[Anonymous No.4278037]

>>4278022
my friends who lived there told me. but still it's creepy as fuck

[Anonymous No.4278046]

>>4278037
Yeah, the town is pretty damn close to being the standard for suburbia, its very strange.

Added on top of this is Calarts which sits on the top of a hill looking at santa clarita (The mansion in the movie), and the fact that the town is notorious for being used to film movies, so there are abandoned sets for films everywhere, along with the symbolism of being a town known for being the setting of fake towns.

And the cherry on top, gentlemen?

Our nickname is "Awesome Town"

Fuck you Santa Clarita, just burn like you should have 4 years ago

[Anonymous No.4278049]

>>4278037
By the way, who are your friends?

[Anonymous No.4278072]

>>4278049
haha, i went to ucsb for a while, and one of my flatmates was from santa clarita, visited him once, it's like a zombie town with covered in dollar bills

[Anonymous No.4278187]

I always liked reading, but I generally read plebby things. It wasn't until I studied literature at A-level that the concepts of language, form and structure, interpretation etc. started actually making sense
I got really absorbed by it, and here I am

[Anonymous No.4278960]

>>4277945
I began when I wanted knowledge that books could offer instead of teachers. Then I always enjoyed reading.

[Anonymous No.4278964]

I wanted to improve my writing, so now I just try to learn something from every piece of media I consume instead of viewing it solely to be entertained, be it technical or moral.