/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.5275952]

Lit book club poll http://strawpoll.me/2319261
Since it's the first book I figured it should be generic

[Anonymous No.5275964]

Why is The God Delusion not on the list?

[Anonymous No.5275965]

>>5275952
lel nietzsche

lets go Pynchon

[Anonymous No.5275968]

Wait, are we reading the whole book and having a discussion or checking in every chapter?

[Anonymous No.5275979]

>>5275965
I'm surprised he is wining tbh

[Anonymous No.5275985]

>>5275964
Normal kek

[Anonymous No.5275996]

>>5275968
We should do a poll on the topic.

[Anonymous No.5275999]

>>5275996
That's too democratic. Didn't Socrates teach that the wisest should rule?

[Anonymous No.5276029]

>>5275979
Why

[Anonymous No.5276034]

>>5275999
Socrates was a fag

[Anonymous No.5276043]

Don't be a pleb, vote Pynchon 2014

[Anonymous No.5276048]

>>5276034

No he wasn't. He was married and had children. He never had sex with Alcibiades either.

[Anonymous No.5276049]

>>5275952
>nietzsche

hahahahahahahah please

[Anonymous No.5276050]

Which one is the easiest to read in English?

>ib4 the trial/zarathustra

[Anonymous No.5276057]

>>5275952
Come on, Zarathustra.

Let's get this thing started.

[Anonymous No.5276062]

I really think that we should add Middlemarch to the runners.

Who's with me?

[Anonymous No.5276077]

Looks like Ulysses

[Anonymous No.5276078]

Fuck this poll. This is the FIRST book. We shouldn't start with fucking Ulysses. We should start with the Greeks. OP, please redo this poll with Ancient Greek classics.

[Anonymous No.5276080]

>>5276048
>Implying he didn't sodomize Plato and most of his anonymous fanboys.
Of course he was a fag. In Ancient Greece everybody was a fag.

[Anonymous No.5276083]

>>5276078

[Anonymous No.5276088]

>>5276029
Because Nietzsche is too mainstream for /lit/.

[Anonymous No.5276091]

>>5276080
>Of course he was a fag. In Ancient Greece everybody was a fag.

You're essentializing the Greeks. It was mostly the aristocrats anyways.

[Anonymous No.5276100]

>not The Republic

what the flying fuck is wrong with you people

[Anonymous No.5276109]

>>5276100
I like this suggestion. I say we give everyone a month to read the Republic.

[Anonymous No.5276114]

>>5276100
What a horrible suggestion

[Anonymous No.5276118]

>>5276109
A month. It'd be better to meet every Friday 5pm GMT and go over one book at a time.

[Anonymous No.5276130]

>>5276114
The Socratic method is the foundation for literary discussion. I think its only fair to begin with the Republic.

[Anonymous No.5276136]

>>5276130
Too fucking bad, we already have our books.

[Anonymous No.5276151]

>>5276136
K

[Anonymous No.5276156]

Pynchon making a comeback

[Anonymous No.5276173]

Poor DeLillo

[Anonymous No.5276175]

http://strawpoll.me/2319731

(results will be compounded with OP's poll)

[Anonymous No.5276181]

>>5276175
That's so try hard. How do you even discuss Aesop's Fables?

[Anonymous No.5276182]

>tfw it would take me two months to read/reread any of these
;_;

[Anonymous No.5276185]

>>5276175
Lol no

[Anonymous No.5276187]

>>5276181
Is this even a question?

[Anonymous No.5276188]

>>5276182
Where doing a chapter a week (or a couple depending on the book) and making a new thread bi-monthly

[Anonymous No.5276189]

We try every few months at this and it fucking fails because people can't stick and finish a book in a set amount of time. So go ahead and do your cute little polls for the one book you are going to try to read and end up not.

[Anonymous No.5276192]

>>5276188
Oh alright then ballin

people are bound 2 exceed that though

[Anonymous No.5276194]

>>5276189
if u dont beliveve, u will never achieve

[Anonymous No.5276197]

>>5276188
have fun with reading a book over 6 months.

[Anonymous No.5276198]

>>5276189
Well I'm sure loads of people have already read these so at least they'll have an opportunity and a pretext by which to discuss it at length with other people

[Anonymous No.5276199]

haha time for ulysses

[Anonymous No.5276201]

>>5276188
nobody wants to read a chapter a fucking week

[Anonymous No.5276203]

>>5276197
It's probably going to be about 100 pages a week so not really.

[Anonymous No.5276205]

>>5276181
Well, first of all, if you'd be willing to read them, you'd discover that they are tremendously influential and appear through Medieval literature and even the New Testament.

Hate to break it to you, but we couldn't possibly discuss a novel like Mason & Dixon or White Noise in the same way that we could discuss classics.

>>5276185
Some of us want to start the book club with ancient Greek stuff. "Start with the Greeks" only became an inside joke because it's oft-repeated advice. It's oft-repeated advice because it's good advice.
Look, OP's list contained NO philosophy or classics. If we're going to do this book club, we ought to at least have the option.

So, the Greeks poll stands. Whatever wins between the pools is the what we'll read.

[O.P No.5276206]

>>5276201
O.P here, ~100 pages

[Anonymous No.5276209]

>>5276205
*polls

[Anonymous No.5276212]

>>5276189
it should be a new book every week, if you people truly love literature you would easily be reading a book every day or two

[Anonymous No.5276214]

i think this is a neat idea to make friends

[Anonymous No.5276215]

>>5276201
All this talking and never doing. Hell I remember the /lit/ good reads book club tried to just read a 150 page books and I think only 3 people finished. Numbers where also low on the discussion. Can't we just admit that this board is for young men that think they have it all figured out and think they are the top of the 4chan crop of failures.

[O.P No.5276216]

>>5276205
O.P here, I'll allow it

[Anonymous No.5276217]

New poll:

http://strawpoll.me/2319810

[Anonymous No.5276218]

>>5276206
>>5276203
This is fair and ideal imo, seeing as many of us don't have the luxury of being able to go through a book in a week for many reasosn

[Anonymous No.5276219]

>>5276175
>not starting with the pre-Socratics

[Anonymous No.5276222]

>>5276219
post a poll or fuck off

[Anonymous No.5276224]

>>5276217
>http://strawpoll.me/2319810
I lol'd

[Anonymous No.5276225]

>>5275952
>>5276078
>>5276175
>>5276205
>>5276214
>>5276206
>>5276215

WE gotta do this shit with a skype group, you guys.

I think that we probably all just want to hang out and discuss some texts, make some internet friends.

Who wants to make the skype group?

[O.P No.5276226]

>>5276217
Lel

[Anonymous No.5276231]

>>5276225
lol gaylord

[O.P No.5276232]

>>5276225
I would do it but there is no organization here

[Anonymous No.5276234]

>>5276219
Ahhh shit son, I totally blanked. Also wanted to throw in the Wisdom Books of the Hebrew Bible.

Since the pre-socratics are mostly fragmentary, we can definitely incorporate lines into our discussions in threads here or on skype.

[Anonymous No.5276237]

>>5276225
no secret clubs

[Anonymous No.5276240]

>>5276225
I for one (and i'm sure others are the same) am hugely socially retarded and appreciate the freedom of anonymity. skype group would make me feel left out ;_;

[Anonymous No.5276241]

>>5276225
Good luck getting these shy little flowers to speak. They know once they open their mouths, all that air of intelligence is going to show itself to their massive ignorance.

[Anonymous No.5276242]

>>5276205
>>5276181
>>5276187


No I'm all for reading Aesop's Fables but it is not in a format that can be easily divided for a book club. They're too short, and we wouldn't be able to divide it correctly for discussion.

[Anonymous No.5276253]

>>5276225
>>5276231
>>5276232
>>5276237
>>5276240
>>5276241
>>5276242

Alright, so add me on skype (mrchrisblackwood) and we can get this secret club thing going.

[Anonymous No.5276254]

book clubs only work when there is a text that has been finished and is then discussed afterwards. chapter by chapter doesn't work because people read at different rates, and some people don't want to 'stop' -- they may feel the urge to go on because they're enjoying it so much, and discouraging this is very very bad

a book every two weeks seems reasonable, but perhaps add a limit of 350 pages or less? that way even slowpokes aren't left out

[Anonymous No.5276261]

>>5276254
Most of the fags that I have on goodreads maybe read a book every 3 months.

[Anonymous No.5276266]

>>5276254
limits are entirely ghey, just make the deadline longer for 350+ books

cause we all know we're reading infinite jest at some stage if this takes off in the slightest

also imo breaking it up allows for more focussed discussion, if you only discuss after you're all finished you're just gonna be making broad sweeping statements about the book as a whole

[Anonymous No.5276267]

>>5276222

[Anonymous No.5276268]

>>5276253
lel fag

[Anonymous No.5276273]

>>5276225
Faggots reading books by faggots
top kek

[Anonymous No.5276276]

no skype pls :c

[Anonymous No.5276280]

>>5276273
But who will shit in their mouths?

[Anonymous No.5276282]

>>5276240
>>5276276

Nigga is you serious.

[Anonymous No.5276286]

no skype, no big bucks

[O.P No.5276288]

>>5276254
We'll read ahead and still take part in the discussion

[Anonymous No.5276290]

>>5276253
added

[Anonymous No.5276293]

>>5276266
limits are there to make a routine, so people don't keep fucking posting "hurr how many weeks is this one?" and cluttering up the board

additionally we should read books that are very very rarely mentioned on /lit/, that way 50% of people won't be simply rereading, and it also makes sure that the number of people in the bookclub is not reduced each week by the large percentage of people who have already read the book not bothering.

for example, instead of Lolita, which everyone had already read, why not Despair? that way only, say, 5-10% of people will have read it

[Anonymous No.5276296]

>>5276282
>>5276290
;_;

[Anonymous No.5276298]

>>5276286
NO WHAMMIES.

[Anonymous No.5276303]

what happened to mann and mishima you fucking idiots

[Anonymous No.5276307]

>>5276293
Stop wasting time on these fags and do something. Like read a book!

[Anonymous No.5276310]

>>5276307
i just finished don quixote nigga i need a break lol went through 400 pages today
besides, the purpose of the club is not reading, but discussion

[Anonymous No.5276320]

Alright, we need a poll for formatting / skype or no skype, so here it is.

http://strawpoll.me/2319942

[Anonymous No.5276322]

You guys must be pretty lonely.

[Anonymous No.5276331]

>>5276320
>2 sections
>pick one

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276332]

>>5276322
nigga you dont even know

[Anonymous No.5276333]

>>5276310
Then pick a book and make a thread and hopefully it does one of two things. You get a discussion about the said book or you get people interested in reading it. These book clubs have never and will never work.

[Anonymous No.5276336]

Why not just do weekly threads?

You can use spoiler tags you know, not everyone has to be at the same part.

[Anonymous No.5276341]

>>5276320
Why weekly threads? People are obviously gonna make threads outside of that, /lit/-book-club general makes more sense to me

[Anonymous No.5276342]

>>5276322
That is what it really comes down to. But here is the scary part. Most of these people that want to do this are fucking mindbogglingly boring. Like amazing no personality boring. They read books in hope some genius will rub off on them like some VD.

[Anonymous No.5276348]

>>5276342
Why do you read books? To jerk off at how great you are when the author says something you agree with?

[Anonymous No.5276350]

>>5276331
Alright, so we need a poll for the formatting and shit. Here it is.

Everybody vote on this.

http://strawpoll.me/2319975

[Anonymous No.5276354]

>>5276322
i don't understand loneliness
i can go weeks and weeks by myself, walking in the woods alone all day and reading and not feel anything
then i can go out to bars with friends each night and feel the same
is it an actual feeling? or am i a sociopath?

[Anonymous No.5276355]

>>5276348
You offended little boy. Did that hit a little too close to home?

[Anonymous No.5276362]

>>5276354
You feel that way because you've never been confronted with any extreme kind of loneliness, seriously, spend a year or so alone and it'll kill you. Everyone needs time out but you cannot underestimate how important it is to communicate and share ideas and love people that love you. Living your life internally will drive you insane, it just does not work

[Anonymous No.5276368]

>>5276362
how is it possible in this century to live a year alone?

[Anonymous No.5276371]

>>5276355
No, but like, OBVIOUSLY people read because they want to learn stuff and better themselves, that's got nothing to do with boringness or loneliness

[Anonymous No.5276377]

There is solitude which is being and doing things alone and loneliness is what people experience when their mothers or fathers didn't hug them enough or they think they need other people to validate them to be a happy person.

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276382]

>>5276355
not the guy but it's kinda equally fucked to be some boring bottom-of-the-food-chain type guy and to bully them, imo

>>5276368
if you have the dough it's ez. i dont live like that but i could just lock myself into my room for a year

[Anonymous No.5276384]

>>5276371
No. Have you seen the threads on this board. People are on here to have other losers validate them. That is all this board is about.

[Anonymous No.5276388]

>>5276368
No friends/reclusive personality/unlikeable

I'm talking about an absence of conversation by the way, not literal isolation away from civilisation. And shitposting on 4chan doesn't count

[Anonymous No.5276393]

>>5276382
So I can't hurt someones feelings. With the butt hurt police come after me now?

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276394]

format: skype group dominating

[Anonymous No.5276399]

>>5276394
;_;

[Anonymous No.5276404]

>>5276354
I think its just boredom and people without hobbies (aka way to fucking many) want to do the one thing they like to do, talk and chat or whatever, but can't so it is loneliness.

>>5276362
Basically this too, 4chan and the internet are able on there own delay or even avoid loneliness from striking, trust me if all these people who 'don't feel loneliness' got their internet connect taken away they would feel it fast.

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276406]

>>5276393
much troll very edgemaster

>>5276399
and i voted for it. twice.

[Anonymous No.5276412]

>>5276404
able on their own*

Typed fast, sorry.

[Anonymous No.5276414]

>>5276404
Hobbies can only sustain you so long, they can't truly substitute the values of real communication

[Anonymous No.5276418]

Fucking useless whitepeople.

[Anonymous No.5276420]

>>5276241
This is not the case. I just don't really feel the want to get in a chat room with a bunch of a 27 year old dungeon lord virgin neckbeards.

[Charon !!LbPMS3p2qnA No.5276431]

>>5276175
Pretty good selection you got there, I'd probably add in a bit more diversity, but all of these are things that can be easily discussed and bring in a lot of different opinions and ideas. I just finished my guide to Ancient Greek literature, so if anyone who has enough time on their hands want to get the full effect of Plato or Aristotle, here's a quick guide. The books I have in pic related are complete works, so they're pretty expensive. Even used, they will likely cost about $30. I choose those books as part of my guide since they are commonly used in colleges and considered by many to be the definitive translation.

I personally voted Plato's Republic, but I recommend those who are completely new to the Greeks consider reading up on some of the presocratics and/or reading some of Plato's earlier works, maybe pick up Penguin's versions of the Last Days of Socrates in addition their version of the Republic and read those in that order. Republic can be pretty hefty and at times confusing (at least for me), but I feel like knowledge on Socrates can help ease you into it. The Last Days of Socrates is a pretty short read too.

>>5276350
I think an online discussion like this really only works when everyone has completed the book, so book/month. Not really a fan of the Skype group idea since not everyone has a mic or webcam, text discussions can be reviewed when finished, and making it a Skype discussion will probably cause a lot of people to avoid joining. Skype or text, I'll be a part of the discussion.

[Anonymous No.5276435]

Is there any kind of anonymous text-based skype equivelant?

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276439]

>>5276418
would you rather discuss ubungu obongo's late and great 3rd century woodcarvings

what's your fucking point

[Anonymous No.5276450]

>>5276388
this

having no one to talk to for weeks on end is suffering

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276451]

>>5276420
it's "dungeon master", pleb

>>5276435
IRC ... i think everyone could just use the same nick

[Anonymous No.5276454]

when was the last time anyone had any actual discussion on /lit/ about the content of books?
all the discussion i ever see is:

>is this book good?
>i want to fuck rimbaud's boypussy
>dostoyevsky is god-tier
>infinite jest is good
>infinite jest is bad
>ulysses is god-tier
>joyce fucked farts out of his wife
>marxism/feminism
>random philosophy conversations
>nietzsche shit
>nietzsche not shit
>has anyone read this?
>tram with two tracks
>NEET
>atheism/fedora
>christianity/fedora
>start with the greeks
>vile writing threads
>vile poetry threads
>'top 10s'
>link to article which nobody but OP will read
>muh pleb
>muh patrician
>more trolling and baiting than any other board besides /b/
>art threads
>'insert x', thoughts?
>what is post-modernism?
>history threads
>europeans arguing with americans
>'recent purchases'
>bookshelf threads
>muh classics
>"book has words" -- into the trash
>"accessories that enhance the literary experience"
>recommendations
>book charts
>whining about not speaking greek and latin
>whining about not being in public school
>etc.

honestly, i have been here a year and i doubt i have seen people discussing themes, language, structure, form etc. more than 10 times. nobody ever discusses pre-1900 literature except for greeks, a smattering of romans, dante, cervantes, shakespeare and dostoyevsky.

fuck u /lit/ i hate u

[Anonymous No.5276462]

>>5276414
Yeah I sorta wrote that without explaining what I meant.

What I mean, is that a mix of hobbies and internet can make you feel a lot less lonely, I have a rule where I have to maintain at least two creative hobbies like art, reading etc

One technical hobbie like coding or guns

And as many dumb hobbies like video games or posting on 4chan as I want as long as I got the other three or more in check.

Kept me sane this far at least.

[Anonymous No.5276471]

>>5276454
Random philosophy conversations can be okay, I remember when I was going through Aristotle's collected works everytime I finished one I'd make a thread about it on /lit/ and there'd be okay discussion.

Just gotta frame OP in a way so that only people who read it will respond which doesn't invite shitflinging from people with no idea what they're talking about

[Anonymous No.5276476]

>>5276451
this, why arent we using fucking irc

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276483]

>>5276454
gr8 b8 m8 i r8 8/8

[Anonymous No.5276487]

>>5276483
i bet you're not even asian

[Anonymous No.5276490]

>>5276483
fuck of tripfag

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276494]

>>5276490
He is a namefag thought?

[Anonymous No.5276497]

>>5276450
It messes you up especially if you're an insecure person to begin with (which will obviously be the case a lot of the time) because without any outside reassurance you begin to get into these insane nonsensical dialogues with yourself about stuff like your alienation and what's brought it about and how completely unworthy and pathetic you are in comparison to the rest of the world, you start to get ideas about these extremely weighty topics and ask yourself questions you have no interest in answering, this sort of stuff may or may not have any basis in reality but without the clarity and input you get from sharing your ideas about yourself you can't keep on any kind of plane of complete reality because that isn't how the human mind works, you get these forced effects of solipsism and everything you end up thinking about is coming only through the lens and reflection of your own personality, I mean you can't even begin to underestimate the power of regular conversation as a means of sustenance, and its not even that other people have all the answers and that you the individual are hopeless but without a _dialogue_ or any communication you're hopeless. Communication is pretty much the most important thing

[O.P No.5276498]

Hey guys new thread

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276501]

>>5276487
no, also
>>5276490
not technically a tripfag

[Anonymous No.5276517]

>>5276497
So did you ever make friends anon or did you eventually find a psychologist like I did?

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276525]

>>5276497
agreed.

i went outside earlier after staying inside my room for two and a half days and everything seemed weird and wonky. being on the train felt like being on a plane. people scare me and i avoid eye contact. the supermarket was really crowded and it kinda freaked me out.

on my way home there was this dude i sometimes see who looks like a 6 foot tall version of aphex twin and never speaks... he asked me for a cig (well, he made a gesture that vaguely translated to "smoking") and i gave him one and that kinda made me chill, though i don't know the guy, but ... just that bit of familiarity made me snap out of it.

[Anonymous No.5276532]

>>5276517
in the process of getting back into the habits of conversation and social stuff, i'm heading off to uni in a month in the centre of london so i'm hoping that'll be a good kickstart and much needed

[Anonymous No.5276610]

>>5276501
namefag is just a # away from trip. Just kill yourself.

[大阴茎温柔的心脏 No.5276628]

>>5276610
are you trying to say "there's a fine line, but you haven't crossed it yet. you're alright"

?

[Anonymous No.5276777]

>>5276362
lol casual

[Anonymous No.5276820]

>>5276777
lol autist

[Anonymous No.5277701]

>>5276454
I think that you started lurking /lit/ this year.