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/lit/ - Literature

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4380553 No.4380553 [Reply] [Original]

Is this accurate /lit/?

What would you change?

>> No.4380556

Fahrenheit 451 really isn't very good.

>> No.4380583

>only fiction

>> No.4380588

I'm opposed to the idea of a starter kit
Everyone should read whatever the fuck they like so we have a plurality of tastes instead of everyone being a /lit/drone.

That said, there are a few books that might be considered essential but half the books on this chart wouldn't make it

>> No.4380592

>>4380556

I liked the note Bradbury added to the end of the edition I read more than I liked the novel. he talked about all the babbies that wrote him over the years to try and influence his portrayal of minorities. plus I think he hit the nail on the head with his idea that trying to appease every stupid politically correct interest group is a sure fire way to reduce a medium to shit, see: video gamea

>> No.4380618

>>4380592
I actually thought that note was garbage and that his own interpretation of his writing was less interesting than many of its other implications, like its similarities with Brave New World.

>> No.4380633

>>4380553

A "starter kit" should include several essentials from each era. That list lacks anything from the Enlightenment or earlier.

>> No.4380642

>no Bukowski
>no Camus

>> No.4380657

it's a good place to start. obviously it isn't comprehensive but it's sufficient.

>> No.4380667

>>4380588
>postmodernist detected

>> No.4380671

>>4380667

As opposed to?

>> No.4380695

Half of it is a high school reading list

>> No.4380698

This is just an 'edgy' American 18 year old's bookshelf. Needs more world/pre 20th century lit.

>> No.4380706

>>4380695
Well it's a starter kit genius.

>> No.4380712
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4380712

>>4380706
>/lit/
>starting
>2013 ending soon
>Genius

>> No.4380726

>>4380695
It is, but not everybody reads the same books in high school. From this list I read 1984, Of Mice and Men, Catch-22, and possibly Lord of the Flies, although that last one might have been a freaky fever dream.

>> No.4380738

>>4380695
>he thinks people read in High School nowadays

>> No.4380766

>>4380738
>>4380726
I read To kill a mockingbird; 1984; The Catcher in the Rye; Great Gatsby; Of Mice and Men; Lord of the Flies; and Huckleberry Finn.
Reading Brave New World was extra credit for my half semester philosophy class so I didn't read it.

>> No.4380814

i haven't had any of these on my mandatory high school list, but i read all of them by myself nonetheless (besides invisible man)

the only ones worth reading: clockwork orange, dorian grey, lolita, siddhartha

>> No.4381006

>>4380642
Take a guess at who made that chart.

Now take a guess why there is no Bukowski.

>> No.4381033

Drop farrenheit, add some Solzenitsyn.

>> No.4381046
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4381046

I've only read 6 (Brave New World, 1984, Slaughterhouse five, American Psycho, Gatsby) and I read Of Mice and Men in school

want to read most of the rest eventually tho, gotta have a base i suppose

>> No.4381088

No Don Quixot? Blasphemy!

>> No.4381118

Replace Golding with Camus

>> No.4381153

Siddhartha needs to be burned worldwide for all the dumbass college first years who draw one big parallel between it and their own lives

and fuck how it calls itself a poem

>> No.4381171

Seiously this is like an edgy HS teacher's syllabus.

In fact I feel like an edgy high schooler just for posting in this thread.

>> No.4381177

>>4380698
this

>> No.4381179

>>4380553

That's a lot of English books.

>> No.4381182
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4381182

>>4380553
When I made the picture, I made it based off what I always saw people and myself telling new readers to read. I had made it so it would make it easy for myself to reply to the very often request for "I want to start reading, where do I start?" that was going on at the start of the year. It's not officially /lit/'s put together list, it's exclusively just me and what I saw. It would be impossible for /lit/ to put a list like this together and this thread and the threads like this in the past are proof. Every thread goes like this "Why not W and X, I didn't like Y. Why is Y there..." and someone else will say "Y should be there! V and Z is missing though! X? Why would you add X?! X was shit." "WHERES U!" and so on and so forth.

This wasn't a "Just started reading? Here read some 18th century high class social commentary and Schopenhauer as your gateway books!" list. It was made to cater to the group of people who are interested in reading, needed something more modernly attention grabbing then a Shakespearean drama right then, likely didn't read the high school assigned things or weren't assigned it, and had a lot of things of meaning and context that slapped you in the face but then had plenty of underlying meaning and themes.

For the people who say "I didn't like it, why is it there!!" Tough shit, I don't like The Catcher in the Rye, I don't like Invisible Man, didn't really like 1984, and really don't like American Psycho. Though they are all there and I put them on the list.

>> No.4381204

>>4380766
getaloadofthisguy.gif

>> No.4381207

>>4381153
i know, right! like war & peace

>> No.4381211

>American Psycho as /lit/
>American Psycho as anything other than edgy murder porn for teenagers.

>> No.4381216

>>4381182
thanks for posting

>> No.4381217

durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

>> No.4381225

>>4381211

A rich white man saying nigger and faggot is too much for you, we get it

>> No.4381230

>all this use of the word edgy

I thought /lit/ of all places would be able to use words that aren't just buzzwords

>> No.4381240

>>4381118
People like you are why the world is a terrible place

>> No.4381260

>>4381230
>crying about words and calling them buzzwords
edgy

>> No.4381264

>>4381260
>>>/b/

>> No.4381278

>>4381264
>>>/lgbt/

>> No.4381282

>>4381278
You have to be over the age of 18 to browse this board, come back in a few years

>> No.4381285

>>4381282
>ageism
edgy

>> No.4381294

You should read what interests you but as far as this "kit" goes I'd personally remove Lord of the Flies and American Psycho.

I don't think Ellis deserves to suck down the same air as other human beings, let alone be read. So I'm a bit biased.

>> No.4381295

>>4381285
>going against the established rules

Even more edgy

>> No.4381297

>>4381211
R u srs? American Psycho and Fight Club are obviously the transition books for people to go from watching movies to reading.

>> No.4381303

>>4381297
Confirmed, I used American Psycho to transition. It was the first book I read outside of education.

>> No.4381329

>>4381295
>established rules
>ageism
edgy

>> No.4382696

I still like fight club but american psycho sucks man

>> No.4382739

>>4380553
I would have thought Infinite Jest would be on there since everyone talks about it

>> No.4382749

Honestly? Yes, it is accurate. These are all popular and accessible books that are frequently discussed and referenced on this board and in real life. It could be difficult to understand or contribute to many literary discussions without an understanding or familiarity with these texts.

>> No.4382809

>>4382739
then you're an idiot

>> No.4382831

>no Stoner

>> No.4382836

>>4382809
troubled anon?

>> No.4382842

>>4382836
no, he's right. just because a bunch of tools think it's a good book doesn't mean it is.

Infinite Jest wasn't impressive when he was alive, and it's not impressive now.

He's a slightly smarter Tom Robbins. Or is it Tim? Who cares. If you don't read past the college level, you don't belong here.

>> No.4382913
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4382913

>>4381204
Thanks m8, in fact some of those books I had to read before high school

>> No.4383014

>>4381182
seems reasonable

>> No.4383044

Any love for The Stranger by Albert Camus?

>> No.4384304

>>4380553
Is this really a starter kit? I've only been on /lit/ for a couple days and while I definitely liked reading I didn't do terribly much of it since leaving high school, but I read 2/3rds of this list when I was in highschool or earlier.
BNW, Mockingbird, C-22, Cuckoo, 1984, Catcher, 451, Great Gatsby, Mice and Men, Lord of the flies, and Siddhartha were required reading in middle and high school for me, and I read Slaughterhouse 5, Clockwork Orange, and Lolita on my own time back then.

>> No.4384328

>>4384304
In America most schools don't read books. They just have grammar lessons.

>> No.4384331

>>4381297
>Implying you can't read movies and watch books

Fuck off you stupid faggot :)

>> No.4384339

>>4384328
I went to a public school, in America.
Admittedly, I took the fancy-pants honors classes, but I wouldn't have been able to forgo stuff like To Kill a Mockingbird or The Catcher in the Rye no matter what I did.

>> No.4384375

>>4384328
you have that backwards; we barely even touch grammar after middle school, and it's actually a big problem.

>> No.4384389

>>4384339
Went through the American School System as well, but off the list we read Huck Finn, Lord of the flies, Mice and Men, and 451. Never had To Kill a Mockingbird or The Catcher in the Rye. Everyone is different. A lot of people also might have been assigned things in High School, though B.S.'ed on the tests and essays by using wiki and sparknotes.

Side note: I was in a chain book store in August and I was stunned to see how many parents were there with their 13-16 year old or on the phone with their 13-16 standing at the Sparknotes/Cliffnotes selection asking "What one were you assigned? They have Romeo and Juliet, Brave New World, and The Catcher in the Rye. Which one do you want me to pick up?" Some times people take the easy way out and regret it later when you end up wanting to read. Kind of sad to see the mother helping the kid slack off though.