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/lit/ - Literature

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6337897 No.6337897 [Reply] [Original]

>One of the greatest works of imaginations in literary history.

>> No.6337976

>>6337897
Just a preachy piece of shit that americans obsess over.
Bloody idiots

>> No.6337980

>>6337976
i want to bury you under all the pages of clarel and let you starve to death

>> No.6338000

>>6337897
Sweet, can't wait to read it.

I don't think I'm courageous enough to read it in English yet, so I'll try and find a good copy in the library.

>> No.6338004

those review sites always remind me of indictments of mass culture or mass man or whatever

>SUZIE Q. HIGHSCHOOLDROPOUT
>Proud middle-aged mom of 6, reads at sixth grade level
>Review of: Hamlet
>I liked it :) It was OK but it had problems. I didn't like when the man did the thing :/ I think Shakespeare should have made it shorter :P
>Overall rating: 3/5 stars

>> No.6338011

>Modern masterpiece, more like SNOORE-sterpeice amirite? Uhhh I don't care about whales unless we're saving them in which case I'm all aboard, anyway if you want a real masterpiece read Hungary Games Mockingbird

>> No.6338157

MY COCK IS INSANELY HARD

>> No.6338161

>>6337980
Why are foreigner so assblasted on this board? These books are very well received abroad, if they don't trust our reviews.

>> No.6338175

>>6338004
>SUZY I. DRINKWATER
>Proud feminist, fat activist, and blogger.
>Review of Moby Dick.
>I found almost everything about this book to be problematic. First and foremost the title has the D word in it. Not only is that word my trigger word, but it seems to advocate male cis to read the book instead of woman and people of no gender. Secondly, the book starts of with the main character being a man. Really? I know this was written in the 19th century but that doesn't excuse the publishers of today for not changing the character to a transsexual, polytheistic overweight feminist. Uh, hello people! It's 2015! Get with the times.
>Oh yeah, it also antagonizes a morbidly obese whale. Being fat isn't a choice, it is purely based on genetics. The whale doesn't over-eat it just has a thyroid problem.
>0/10 read Hunger Games instead.

>> No.6338191

>>6338175
this is... so real.

>> No.6338203

>>6337976
I'm French and that comment triggered me. I suggest you get eaten by a shark.

>> No.6338222

>>6338175
Ishmael is gay though.

>> No.6338229

>>6337897
Your mum wrote her autobiography? :^)

>> No.6338244
File: 536 KB, 651x2881, ohgodthismakesmelol.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6338244

>>6338229
Your'e*
jesus lern how to spelt dum dum

>> No.6338259

>>6338244
No u! :<

>> No.6338268

>>6338175
lel

>> No.6338293

a beautiful Gnostic tragedy

>> No.6338294

>>6337897
We also live in a culture where thin is unhealthy and fat is healthy. What do you expect?

>> No.6338305

DIDNT HAVE SOLID MOTIFS ABOUT CULTURE UNLIKE HUNGER GAMES AM I RIGHT?

>> No.6338306

>>6338294
The day of the rope, soon

>> No.6338368

ITT: people who don't understand goodreads.

The star system doesn't even matter, just go read the top reviews. If someone giving it 3 stars has very good reasons for why it's an average book that you agree with, maybe they're right. You can leverage that with a person who left it 5 stars, and see if the way that person speaks about the themes and what the book meant to him allures you to the book.

Goodreads is a great website, and it's often a more reliable indicator of whether I'll be into a book than posting a thread here.

>> No.6338401
File: 37 KB, 770x282, trigger.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6338401

>>6338368
I don't understand Goodreads.

>> No.6338411

>>6338401
like I JUST said, some of the reviews are bad, and stupid. If you can find a review that's well written that entices you to the book based on what they say about it, that's a reliable indicator you may enjoy the book

>> No.6338418

>using goodreads

>> No.6338448

>>6338411
You didn't even just say that though. Am I being tricked?

>> No.6338486

Anything that's a 4.5 - 5 star on IMDB or Goodreads, is usually something that almost nobody has heard of except for like, one or two guys, who consist of the only people who rated it; or something that's highly overrated and rated so highly from people who have haven't watched / read that many films / books to have a perspective of what a 5 star film / book would be.

It seems the best widely-acclaimed works praised by academics and credible critics, are ones that are typically rated between 3.5 - 4.3 on both sites. They are often too difficult or too ambiguous for most people to understand or fully like, but also too respected to severely down-vote without looking like you're an idiot who admits that you couldn't understand it.

>> No.6338738

Are there any alternatives to GoodReads?

>> No.6338794

>>6337976
At least we don't marry our whales like you Brits do

>> No.6338821

>>6338794
France approves of this

>> No.6340542

In middle school this Asian kid carved a piece of bar soap into the shape of a whale and kept asking people if they wanted to see his Moby dick

>> No.6340581

>>6340542
When I was in middle school some kid walked around with a stuffed astronaut and walked around asking people if they wanted to see his ass----tronaut.

>> No.6340584

>>6338004
>find that one book that is like twilight but [fill in with whatever you have laying around]
>girls and young women in the comment section literally gushing over it like it's the greatest literary achievement of the 21st century
>5 star review "~~OH MY GAWD WHEN HE DID THE THING WITH HER AND SHE WAS LIKE OH MAH GAWD I WAS LIKE YES THIS IS LIKE THE GREATEST BOOK EVAH :3 teehee~~~"
>posting shitty pictures they made in MSpaint, of actors they would cast if it became a movie
>it's all generically hunky dudes and chicks that lack vitamin d
>negative reviews asking what is wrong with everyone in way too many words
>page after page of this shit
Some people have way too much fucking time on their hands.

>> No.6340597

>>6337897

The commentary for that book is quirky

>> No.6341329
File: 458 KB, 320x271, Moby-Dick.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6341329

>> No.6341334

>>6338794
kek

>> No.6341341

>>6338175
these tumblr "satire" style posts are really unfunny

>> No.6341347

>>6338794
If that was true your fatfuck nation would be depopulated by now.

>> No.6341376
File: 114 KB, 709x958, kill whitey.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6341376

>>6338368
>just go read the top reviews

A lot of the most liked reviews are really bad though. This one is an example.

>> No.6341467

3.41? More than enough for this overrated piece of american garbage. It's alright though, you fat fucks never were able to write books on our, Europeans', level but you got to have your own national classics, I guess.

>> No.6341472

>>6338794
rekt

>> No.6341509

>>6341467
>you got
Lol'd

>> No.6341510

post a 1-star goodreads review of your favorite book

>> No.6341521

>>6341329
Great song though

>> No.6341526
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6341526

>>6341510
found one that is actually infuriating

>> No.6341558

>>6341510

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/15875442?book_show_action=true&page=1

>90% of the people who pick up this novel won't finish it, and 90% of those who do won't like it. But 100% of them will pretend they do

jesus christ, are their people out there who seriously think this shit?

>> No.6341568

>>6338244

This comic made me laugh much harder than I would have expected...

>> No.6341596

Is "muh hunger games" the standard recommendation that idiots on GR exalt as a masterpiece of literature when they cant understand whatever book they are reviewing or are we just using it as an example because we hate the series?

Also if you want infuriating reviews just go look for the 1-stars on BotNS who hate it because of "misogyny."

>> No.6341604

>>6338448
No, but you're being retarded. He stated that pretty explicitly in his first post

>> No.6341652

>>6341467
Pls be joking.

>> No.6341655
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6341655

>> No.6341685

>>6341652
what if I'm not huh

>> No.6341690

>>6341685
I'll be very sad :((

>> No.6341714
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6341714

What are the most heartbreaking/tragic scenes in Mythology?
For me it is the death of Cuchulainn (Irish Achilles) who straps himself to the post rather than die on his back and the raven drank his blood.
In the Illiad for some reason the creation of Achilles shield by the blacksmith god (can't remember his name) was amazing really struck me

>> No.6341741

>>6341526
Holy shit. Who let these retards on the internet.

>> No.6341768

>>6338293
Why gnostic? I see the metaphysical level of the book, but why gnostic?

>> No.6341781

>>6341526
I kinda feel bad for her husband.

>> No.6341786
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6341786

>>6337897
>tfw one of my favorites has a 4.9

>> No.6341820
File: 203 KB, 361x361, 1427822257860.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6341820

>>6341786
>out of 2 user ratings

>> No.6341829
File: 323 KB, 1597x629, 1419667551214.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6341829

>>6341768
It's not Gnostic. Its religious motifs include Platonism, Greek mythology (and here not just for poetic purposes, but for spiritual), and of course Christianity, so it can smack of Gnosticism, bu tit's not. Moby Dick is not the demiurge, he is God or a chaos monsters, depending on whether you come from a pagan of Christian perspective. He is a destroyer of the order, which from a Christian perspective is sublime, but from a pagan perspective it is terrifying.
http://www.egs.edu/faculty/slavoj-zizek/articles/human-rights-and-its-discontents/

>> No.6341929

>>6341829
I too saw a much bigger influence from plato and christianity than from the gnostics.

I don't think Moby Dick is God, tough- he seems more like Nature (the way nietzsche saw it- uncaring, ruthless, savage) or the Creation. Ahab saw "It" as evil, tough it is simply...uncaring. He is clearly a satanic figure, I think
English is not my first language, sorry for any mistakes

>> No.6341977

>>6341929
No, he's not a Satanic figure. Ahab baptizes his harpoon in the same of the Devil. Moby Dick is a wrathful God, he's not evil. Moby Dick doesn't hunt down ships to destroy, he only destroys those with hubris, most ships are smart enough to stay the fuck away.

Ahab is a villain from the Old Testament who scorns foreboding prophecy, and eventually suffers the consequences of his hubris.

Moby Dick if identified with God several times. "If God were a fish, he'd be a whale", "the grand god revealed himself", etc. If Moby Dick is not representative of God, he is at the least certainly an agent of God's wrath, Ahab is warned over and over that he defies God in his chase.

>> No.6342043

>>6341977

I forgot about the identification with God. You are are right. altough I'm inclined to believe Moby Dick is more of a neutral, natural force, given an evil interpretation by Ahab, I never saw It as an agent of God.

About Ahab, I just remembered he swears he would "strike out the Sun if he insulted me", and you surely know the images the sun evokes, specially on Plato. When I say he is a satanic figure, I mean as an damned man who drags down almost everyone with him. His hubris, his misguided revolt, all remind me of Lucifer. That's not at all incompatible with the Old Testament alusion

>> No.6342747 [DELETED] 
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6342747

>>6341829
>He is a destroyer of the order, which from a Christian perspective is sublime,
Not sure I understand. Could you elaborate?

>> No.6342921

>>6342043
In the Old Testament, God's wrath is manifested through natural forces made supernatural through their magnitude. Sodom and Gomorrah was probably a volcano. The Flood. The plagues of Egypt.