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/lit/ - Literature

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4404441 No.4404441[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

>ask on my twitter for suggestions for possible books to buy
>bombarded by juvenile "ironic" suggestions
>very hungry caterpillar
>Harry patch's biography
>magic key series
>all the circle jerk idiots find each other hilarious and for whatever reason seem to find a lack of intelligence the "correct" social conduct.

>tl;dr come to /lit/ to ask for some serious suggestions

So yeah, I have £45 in my amazon account for books, I currently have;

>1984
>Animal farm
>The Outsider
>Brave New World

Got Great Gatsby for Christmas as well.

I know these are the books of an undereducated unsophisticated pleb but I'm trying to educate myself on good literature.

To be fair one guy suggested War and Peace by Tolstoy, is that worth looking at?

Cheers /lit/

>> No.4404446
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4404446

You should check this out

>> No.4404449

>>4404446
Wow.

>> No.4404454

invisible cities

>> No.4404461

>>4404454
Who's the author?

>> No.4404463

"War and Peace was written for children" - Nabokov

>> No.4404464

You may or may not want to brush up on your knowledge of the Napoleonic age. This would help make you more comfortable, and Napoleon is certainly interesting himself. If you wish to read about him, my favorite biography on him is Napoleon: A Political Life by Steven Englund.

If you feel uncomfortable approaching War and Peace given a lack of comfort with the historical content but still want a doorstopper for a great time, read Anna Karenina.

>> No.4404468

>>4404461
seriously? you can't just type the title of a book into any fucking search engine and find it? amazon or whatever. it's not like you're going to come up with 20 different books.
you need someone on 4chan to tell you?
fuck you

>> No.4404472

>>4404468
Someone's touchy

I was just asking to try and spark a decent conversation.
>it's X author
>oh really, I love his stuff
>yeah blah blah etc.

>> No.4404474

>>4404463
"A little too long. A rollicking historical novel written for the general reader, specifically for the young. Artistically unsatisfying. Cumbersome messages, didactic interludes, artificial coincidences. Uncritical of its historical sources." - Nabokov on War and Peace

"Tolstoy carelessly neglects to include a boat race." - Mark Twain on War and Peace, referring to how all other aspects of life are included in the novel

>> No.4404477

>>4404472
it seems unlikely that you would love italo calvino's stuff and not have heard of invisible cities

>> No.4404479

>>4404464
I know a bit, but mostly about the political and warfare side of the period, not much about the social side

>> No.4404481

>>4404477
Thank you for finally telling me the author, glad you came down to tell us peasants about it.

>> No.4404486

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_literature#Golden_Age

Have fun

>> No.4404484

>>4404481
i'm just glad i could solve this conundrum for you

>> No.4404487

War and Peace has had the unfortunate fate of becoming more notorious for its length then its content. It is, at the most basic level, an account of the Napoleonic Wars and their impact on a group of Russian aristocrats. Men march from West to East and then from East to West. On a deeper level, it examines life of virtually every class in tsarist Russia; there are literally dozens, if not hundreds of characters, each with their own thoughts, motivations, and beliefs. The book examines religion, nihilism, youthful ambition, and aged cynicism. It is a juggernaut of literature, not just because of its length but because of its scope and breadth. War and Peace is not for everyone and it is not for the easily discouraged; I started it in early April and finished it in late October. If, however, you have the patience, it is a brilliant chronical of not only the invasion of 1812, but also of humanity in general and the patterns and driving forces of history itself.

>> No.4404493

>>4404488
woops

meant to make my own thread. will delete when 4chan fucking lets me

>> No.4404501

>>4404488
hemmingway

>> No.4404514

You need to lighten the fuck up.

>> No.4404525

Read War and Peace.

>> No.4404528
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4404528

This book has more depth than any other you could read.

>> No.4404533

I'm gonna suggest based on what I read this year.

>Inherent Vice - Pynchon.
It's really fun, not difficult to follow (excluding the massive cadre of characters he employs) and just a really fun meditation on the end of the "free love" era. Thematically it explores alot of the same ground Fear and Loathing did.

>The New York Trilogy - Auster
Just. Goddamn. It'll melt your brain and piss all over Chandler.

>A farewell to Arms - Hemingway.

Manhood: the novel

>> No.4404625

>>4404533
>>The New York Trilogy - Auster
>Just. Goddamn. It'll melt your brain and piss all over Chandler

We must have read two different versions of The New York Trilogy because the middle story was the only one worth reading.

>> No.4404634

>my twitter
>lack of intelligence the "correct" social conduct

>> No.4404690

La invencion de Morel.

>> No.4404730

>buying books
I don't get you guys

>> No.4404736

>>4404625
Really? The middle story, despite being great, was the lesser tale for me.

>> No.4404776

>>4404474
Having just finished powering through W&P, I actually laughed out loud when I read both of these. Might have to read some Nabokov, because that criticism is on point.

To OP: If you're trying to just into literature, might I recommend some works by Joseph Heller, specifically Catch-22? It seems like you're really into political stuff. If you're feeling comedy/satire, Catch-22 is your man.