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/lit/ - Literature

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5146546 No.5146546 [Reply] [Original]

>reading on the bus
>some woman comes up to me and asks what I'm reading
>"g-goddamn book", I stutter
>she doesn't get the reference and just stares at me
>"u-um... Brothers Karamazov"
>she asks what it's about
>by this time I'm pale and sweating like a pig
>I mumble something about Russians
>she kinda laughs and asks me if I'm okay
>say in a slightly-too-loud voice that I have to go to the bathroom (I didn't really, but I just wanted to get away)
>I get up and walk towards the back of the bus
>I remember that buses don't have bathrooms
>I glance back and she's looking at me
>don't know what to do
>stand at the back of the bus and stare at the floor until she gets off
Hold me, /lit/

>> No.5146551

>>5146546
what the fuck did i just read?
write a book about your experiences and call it confessions of a NEET or something
ill buy it

>> No.5146553

Did you run home eagerly wanting to post this greentext that nobody gives two shits about?

>> No.5146574

Nope. Eat shit faggot, you deserved this.

>> No.5146577

>>5146546
Wait just a goddamn minute, OP. Is this some sort of ironic meta-greentext story where you're living the life of a character in a Dostoevsky novel?

>> No.5146585

pls be trolling

>> No.5146620

>>5146546
Shit writing, but you could make a fortune with all those spaghettis from your pockets.

>> No.5146644

>>5146546
This is why you always use a kindle.

>> No.5146663

>>5146577
Seems like it.

It totally reminds me of some of the ridiculous scenes in "The Idiot."

Like when what's-his-face walks to the front door and passes out because Nastasia Philipovna burns the cash.

The melodrama in Dosto novels almost reaches animé proportions. I literally imagine characters weeping waterfalls and sighing little mushroom shapes in Dosto novels.

>> No.5146673

>>5146663

have you finished the book yet?

When myshkin smashes the vase, acts like a maniac and has a fit.

>> No.5146690

>>5146546
I admit it, I laughed hard at the bathroom in the bus thing.

>> No.5146750

>>5146546
Even I've never fucked up this bad m8
Speak up bitchboy

>> No.5146756

>>5146546
>>stand at the back of the bus and stare at the floor until she gets off
you should've pissed right there and then. to prove you weren't joking around

>> No.5146800

thanks for the laugh anon

>> No.5147041

>>5146546
Share more, that's the hardest I've laughed in a while

>> No.5147054

>>5146673
Different anon, but Why did I read that? what's wrong with me? I'm halfway through the book but still hovered over that spoiler. It doesn't look like too bad a one at least.

>> No.5147059

>>5146546
"I'm going to America"

>> No.5147064

oh man that frog

>> No.5147067

>>5147054
I think most people have a similar reaction when they see spoilers. You see it, feel compelled to look and instantly regret it.

>> No.5148859

>reading on the train
>Brothers Karamazov on my phone
>woman sits next to me
>glace over at her
>she has a thin, lithe build
>blonde hair, but greying at the sides
>maybe mid 30's, probably well read
>glances over at my phone
>she notices the title on top of the page
>audibly scoffs in my direction
>feel humiliated

I couldn't concentrate on the text for the rest of the train journey, but I wasn't going to put my phone away either. She would have won if I did that

>> No.5150567

>>5147054
Well it doesn't really spoil much. It is obvious that he will break it the first time she mentions the vase.

Nastasia gets murdered by Rogožin

>> No.5150580

>>5146546
>>"g-goddamn book", I stutter
>>she doesn't get the reference and just stares at me

I don't get this reference either.
Is this the part where I am told to leave the board?

>> No.5150590

>>5150580
its from catcher in the rye. ackley asks holden "what are you reading?" and he replies "goddamn book." i would say leave the board since catcher in the rye was basic high school reading which probably makes you an underageb&.

>> No.5150597

>>5150590
No, I've read it it's shit.

>> No.5150602

>>5150597
>its shit
catcher in the rye was a solid book. not saying it was anything magnificent or spectacular, but it certainly wasn't shit.

>> No.5150618

>reading on a bench outside student activities center
>no one looks at me
>no one speaks to me
>i am alone

>> No.5150640

>public library
>students "studying"
>mostly girls
>not even reading just looking around in silence
>feel some of them mirrin me
>distracted from reading
>leave

>> No.5150655

>>5150640
all the fucking time I try to read in public

>> No.5150706

>>5150640
>mirin
haha how deluded are you

>> No.5150722

> have to speedread Pale fire for a bet
> Read it in library for four hours, nobody even looks at me
> Fuck it, time to go to a coffee shop
> Same thing
> Leave after an hour
> Go to an indie bookshop where the owner speaks to everyone about delicacies of Japanese Boxwrapping and his newborn
> Lay on their couch for a few hours, reading
> Get fed up, leave, he asks what I'm doing today
> I proclaim that I am going to read Pale Fire
> "Okay, I don't care"

;(((((

>> No.5150723

>>5150640
do you have a qt ass?

>> No.5150738

>>5150706
Honestly I don't know, but I am older then most students in that library and I have a a few cool visible scars that make me look kind of interesting to your average 22 year old economy student girl.

>> No.5150746

> bring two books to work
> catch 22 and Malcolm x autobiography
> reading superior malcolm x book
> black person comes near me.
>slyly switch to Catch 22


I hate fiction

>> No.5150757
File: 206 KB, 960x720, 58OsGZL.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5150757

>>5146546
>in AP government
>be bored because government is obvious to me
>head down in arms on desk trying to sleep
>girl sitting in front turns and I look up at her
>she is smart but does too much drugs and has too much sex to learn anything
>"what is this book about anon?"
>mfw i left gravity's rainbow on my desk
>"uh, it's a historical ficiton, about, like WWII and stuff"
>bananas are flashing through my head
>"oh, uh ok anon that sounds cool" and she turns back around
>fuck me, sigh

>> No.5150767

>>5150590
>i would say leave the board since catcher in the rye was basic high school reading which probably makes you an underageb&.

Not him, but I read Catcher in high school and don't remember that line at all, because that was ten years ago. I don't know why you'd think he's an underage b&. It seems like the kind of thing one would know from 14 to maybe 18. It's not that memorable, and if you're reading a bunch of books since then, it'd get buried.

>> No.5150773
File: 8 KB, 256x177, nigwhut.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5150773

>>5150746
>Be black person
>Go into work
>See scrawny white beta kid in break room
>He has two books, as usual
>I see that he's reading Malcom X's autobiography
>When I get close he hides it and starts reading Catch-22
>Crackas be cray, am I right?
>Shieet

>> No.5150779

>>5150767
it was like the funniest line in the book mang.

>> No.5150780

>>5150722

What sort of bet involves speed-reading Pale Fire? And how is it considered speed-reading if it's taking so long?

>> No.5150784

>>5150723
Sure, I felt them mirrin me as I was leaving.

>> No.5150799
File: 1.79 MB, 334x357, 1405302117981.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5150799

>>5150773
I needed this post
Thank you

>> No.5150805

>Reading
>Tell my friend i love my book
>friend is dissapoint
>Tells me i should stop reading
>They treat me like im some strange bug cause i read
>Nobody understand us reading types

>> No.5150807

>>5150799
Ain't no thing.

>> No.5150820

>>5150805
>Nobody understands us reading types
None of my friends read like I do, and they all get me. Granted everyone I consider my friend I have bonded with for the past six years or so. They just don't ask me about books, which is alright because I don't take much enjoyment out of discussing books in everyday settings.

>> No.5150821

>>5150773

shit dude this reminds me of an awkward situation i was in

was driving home from class once, it was sprinkling but then it started pouring rain. i was driving in a residential area, and I saw this poor negro dude walking home from class, getting soaked, with his hitchhikers thumb up

i had been blasting at max volume the Vampire Weekend debut album, and when i stopped to pick him up, i quickly switched the cds out and when he got in he was like "I love vampire weekend, dont switch on my account" with a look of "just because im black..."

and i was like fuck, did I switch because he was black? why did i want to switch cds?

whatever i switched anyways and claimed that I had already been planning on switching, he took it in stride and complimented the new music i put on (some funky electro stuff)

felt like i let white people down momentarily that day

>> No.5150829

>>5150821
I once gave a black dude a ride and he said he was a pastor at some church. He then asked me for $900, which he said he would mail back to me once a check from some school came in.

>> No.5150836

>Reading
>Tell my friend i love my book
>friend is dissapoint
>Tells me i should stop reading
>They treat me like im some strange bug cause i read
>Nobody understand us reading types

>> No.5150936

>on airplane reading fight club
>some douche with a kindle staring at me
>do cocky little air kiss at him

>> No.5150992

>>5150780
"I bet you can't read a notoriously difficult novel in a single day" as made by my friend who read Ulysses when he was 17 for an English essay

>> No.5151000

i don't want to start a thread for this and since this seems like shitposting i'll ask here

i don't think i'm engaging with books properly, people keep talking about the meaning and stuff like that but i never got it when i was reading the book
should i be thinking really hard when i read? what should i think about?
should i just keep reading?
i get that i'm a pleb but i'm trying to get better, how do i do that?

>> No.5151004

>>5150936
did you fuck in the tiny bathroom?

>> No.5151021

>>5151004
no, turns out he was a figment of my imagination

>> No.5151033

>>5150590
>since catcher in the rye was basic high school reading which probably makes you an underageb&.
Yes because we all know that the entire world follows Americlap's teaching syllabus.
I never read it and I'm 24 come at me.

>> No.5151083 [DELETED] 

>>5151021
Fight Club the book is terrible. Tries to kill tyler by killing self. Failed suicide, mental ward forever, convinced he has died and is in heaven...
No thanks, I'll take the incredible 10/10 movie instead.

>> No.5151087 [DELETED] 

>>5151021
Fight Club the book is terrible. Tries to kill Tyler by killing self. Failed suicide, mental ward forever, convinced he has died and is in heaven...
No thanks, I'll take the incredible 10/10 movie instead.

>> No.5151090

>>5151021
Fight Club the book is terrible. Bombs fail to go off. Accomplishes nothing. Tries to kill Tyler by killing self. Failed suicide, mental ward forever, convinced he has died and is in heaven...
No thanks, I'll take the incredible 10/10 movie instead.

>> No.5151097

>>5151083
>>5151087
>>5151090
trying to get dubs?

>> No.5151113

>>5151097
Yeah and if it weren't for those meddling kids I would have gotten away with it!!!

>> No.5151130

I know everybody around here always find these situations retarded or something, but can't it be cute sometimes? I imagine the lady might not have thought that you were a loser, but rather that you were a shy cute boy and while you were looking at the floor she was staring and smiling at you, imagining you two having delicious sex. She riding.

>> No.5151140

>>5146546
You should have gone to the back of the bus, made eye contact with her, and shat yourself.
This was the best course of action.

>> No.5151144

>reading
>someone says something uneducated and vilifies nonreaders
>i say something awkward vindicating my abstinence from social communication and justifying my intelligence
>do something even more awkward so it's 'funny'

Us readers, am I right?

>> No.5151146

>>5151130

This happens. But his beta-shield repelled her and won out in the end.

>> No.5151150

>>5146546
This never happened did it OP. It's ok, you can tell us.

>> No.5151196

>>5147054
We should found a group of retarded guys like, you and I, who can't help but read spoilers and immediately regret it afterwards.

>> No.5151252

>>5151000
can anybody help me on this?

>> No.5151309

>>5151130
I doubt that girls like shy guys all that much. I find it difficult with them.

>> No.5151314

>>5151130
Yeah, I've had this happen. Got a two year relationship out of it.

>> No.5151322

>>5151314
Could you get into details? Sounds interesting.

>> No.5151330

>>5151322
It started on a bus and ended with an abortion.

>> No.5151332

>>5151130
Only if you're attractive.

>> No.5151336

>>5151000
When you read a piece, think about what the author is trying to convey. There's usually plenty of social commentary in most of the classics, even if the author is not clearly advocating a side.

Of course, a clever author won't simply throw the ideas at you directly through dialogue or narration. There will be symbols, metaphors, allegories, etc. that you'll have to identify and interpret.

It should come to you naturally to detect these if you care about the subject matter, which might be your problem: apathy.

>> No.5151360

>>5151000
There are questions that should always be at the back of your mind.

>Are the events taking place analogous to something that happens elsewhere in the book, or in real life? What comparisons are being made?
An example would be how, in War and Peace, when Napoleon is ill before the battle of Borodino he criticizes modern medicine for "interfering with life", and proclaims that people should be permitted to convalesce without interference. During the battle, however, when the French are in disarray, Napoleon continuously issues orders that cannot be fulfilled by the troops. He is muddling the battle by burdening everybody with more and more orders, and is being "the doctor".

>What fundamental concepts or questions are being answered or explored by the book?
An example would be how, in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov's personality and thinking process criticizes the "revolutionary" attitude that young people started to develop in Russia at the time, wherein they believe it is okay to commit sins for "the greater good" which nobody is capable of defining or quantifying. To tie this in with the previous question, he compares Raskolnikov frequently to Napoleon.

Things like that. Honestly anon, I would recommend reading in short bursts--an hour a day, or whatever, and then spend the rest of your free time thinking about it.

>> No.5151377

>>5151000
Maybe you are not enjoying the books you are reading.

>> No.5151396

>>5151000
Personally, I don't think it's important to always find deeper meaning in a book. What you should strive for when reading is comprehension and understanding. At the very least make sure you understand what you're reading to the point where you can discuss it fairly well. You can figure out the "meaning" later.

Deriving deeper meaning is something that requires you to have some experience outside the book that everyone may or may not have.

Often times people have to read and re-read passages many times to find "deeper meaning", and sometimes you may decide that there isn't any significant meaning for you. Don't get caught up in the need to always interpret one thing as something else.

Unless you are actually learning disabled, you have a perfectly good brain that you should trust and use.

>> No.5151422

>>5151336
>>5151360
>>5151377
>>5151396
shit
thank you all very much
the apathy thing and "not enjoying books i'm reading" hits home especially but i'm going to start asking myself those questions anyway no matter the book

>> No.5151672

>>5150618
pls b in middlebury

>> No.5151692

>>5148859
Turn to her and ask if she just scoffed at you. Instant blowjob

>> No.5151759

>>5150779
The funniest line in the book is the one where he gets beat up by a pimp.
Honestly, I live by that book and I would never begin a conversation by saying "Goddam book" The first reason being that I am trying my best not to take the Lord's name in vain, and let me tell you OP I am trying Real hard. Second of all you never know how a stranger is going to take something like that, as far as you are concerned everyone around you in a priest or enlightened or some garbage like that.
If you are going to make a Catcher reference, tell strangers when they ask your name that you are Rudolf Schmidt.

>> No.5152844

>>5151672
i'm on the other side of the country. but i was looking at pictures of mulberry and the surrounding area, and it looks really nice. i wish i had gone somewhere like that instead of staying in the city.

>> No.5152888

Was she qt?

>> No.5153022

>>5151330
Sounds like the tag line for a romance.

>> No.5153028

>reading on the bus
>too absorbed in the book to notice how people react to it
>finish book
>get off

>> No.5153033

>>5151330
details.....I MUST HAVE DETAILS!

>> No.5153037

>>5151090
>Failed suicide, mental ward forever, convinced he has died and is in heaven.
That- that's not what happens. It's pretty obvious that he's just talking metaphorically about heaven and that eventually he's going to leave and bo back to the rubber-soled angels and continue the plan.

>> No.5153176

>>5153037
wait, yeah
>>5151090
he didn't want the bombs to go off, he was like done with it, he succeeded in killing tyler with the help of mind numbing meds and managed to stay alive in a place he considered to be heaven
>>5153037
he said he'd get out one day but he was against tyler and if he ever got out he'd understand tyler goes away with pills, so he has control and is out, the plan probably goes on like a headless chicken anyway, there were other leaders of the various fight clubs

and on the subject i heard the author was doing a sequel IN GRAPHIC NOVEL FORM and the tagline/description from the author is hilarious in an even-you-know-this-will-be-shit way
hopefully he just collects other peoples stories and urban legends again, that's like his thing

>> No.5154871
File: 68 KB, 622x320, Fucking plebsheeps.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5154871

>> No.5154876

>>5154871
I don't get it, isn't Philip K Dick patrician?

>> No.5154896
File: 30 KB, 485x488, >the city of universities everywhere.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5154896

>>5150992

>> No.5154900

>>5150805
>>5150820

Where does this reaction come from? Ever since my class found out that I read, they treat me like some kind of genius. Are you in the ghetto or something?

>> No.5154961

>>5150602
There are no such thing as a solid books. Books must either shit tier or be god tier, and you has to say tier because then it's legitimized

>> No.5154966

>>5150757
What a worthless shrektext

>> No.5155144

>>5150829
I bet you didn't even borrow him the cash.

>> No.5155184

>>5150992
I read the sparknotes for Ulysses when I was 16 and did a book report on it (pretending I read the book), I don't think my teacher had ever even heard of it before

>> No.5157483

>>5154900
Maybe you should stop living in an uneducated shithole.

>> No.5157498

>>5154896
Why would someone need to pretend to like Ulysses? It has plenty of enjoyable fragments, ranging from the improbtu satyr play to the parody that is Cyclops, the comfy prose of Calypso, the silliness of Nausica and so no. Its not that impregnable due to the structure - there are impossibly difficult chapters (Proteus, Oxen), but also very easy ones.

>> No.5157539

>>5146546
>reading on the bus
>some woman comes up to me and asks what the hell I think I'm doing
>"l-looking at the slogan on your shirt," I stutter
>she doesn't believe me and just glares at me
>"n-not... staring at your tits, honestly"
>she asks me to keep my eyes to myself
>by this time I'm pale and sweating like a pig
>I mumble something about freedom of information
>she kinda swears and slaps me in the face
>say in a slightly-too-loud voice that I have to go to the bathroom
>get up and jump out window
>I remember that kerbs don't have bathrooms
>I glance back and the bus is long gone
>don't know what to do
>bounce down the bitumen until kinetic energy is spent
Hold me, /lit/

>> No.5157540

>>5150992

Did your friend read Ulysses in a day? That would be a feat given its length and the emotional toll of some parts.

But Pale Fire isn't so much difficult; it's just weird. It's only really difficult in so far as you have a hard time coming to a decide which way you want to read it, but really, then you might as well say Goosebumps choose-your-own-adventure books are hard.

Pale Fire is also pretty short. I re-read a chunk of it recently.

>> No.5157544

>>5154961
Hello, Oscar.

>> No.5157547

>>5157544
Hi Sebastian