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/lit/ - Literature

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6420608 No.6420608 [Reply] [Original]

How many of these did you read /lit/?

Are all those fundamental?

>> No.6420614

Two so far. It has a strong anglo bias though.

>> No.6420615

At least ten of them
I'd say they're required

>> No.6420616

>>6420608

all

>> No.6420617
File: 1.42 MB, 3240x3600, Start with the Greeks v2.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6420617

>that
>starter kit

Pic related is the real patrician's starter kit.

>> No.6420627

>>6420616

I mean I read all, skippable:

The Stranger
Catcher
Slaughterhouse
Dorian Gray
Gatsby
Siddhartha
Blood Meridian
Stoner

>> No.6420633

>>6420627
>Dorian Gray
>Blood Meridian
>skippable

>> No.6420648

>>6420633
>fundamental
>no

pick two

>> No.6420676

>>6420608

Catcher in the Rye, Gatsby and Solitude are casual fedora tier.

The Stranger isn't as impacting as they talk it to be.

I also see a lot of stuff that aren't even the fundamentals of the writers.

>> No.6420678

>>6420608
13

i would drop dorian gray and grapes of wrath, not sure what i'd substitute. if the intent is to initiate someone into board culture, IJ would be a shoe-in. if its meant as introduction to all literary fiction, id try to better balance the pics bias towards 20th and 19thc and american lit.

no one could agree on a single short list of books that are totally fundamental. it'd be easier to break it down by country or region, time period, or style (eg modernism, minimal, surreal)

>> No.6420688

12
as >>6420617 said, one really should STWG

>> No.6420706

>>6420633
as much as we all might love a prosy western, it wouldnt compete with the likes of shakespeare or goethe, who are curiously absent from the list. maybe a technicality. there are only novels on the pic

>> No.6420720

>>6420608
That pic is better than I remember it being, thanks to whoever fixed it

>> No.6420760

>>6420706
>the very first goddamn thing in the pic
>novel

>> No.6420784

>>6420633

Blood Meridian isn't skippable if you're into American fiction but Dorian Gray is shit. Not even worth reading if you are reading essential British writers

>> No.6420792

>>6420617
>wasting your time reading greeks

why would I read a bunch of dead white guys?

fuck off

>> No.6420803

>>6420676
>I also see a lot of stuff that aren't even the fundamentals of the writers.
Develop.

>> No.6420808

>>6420678
>surreal
I'm curious as to what your list for surreal would be.

>> No.6420810

>>6420706
>>6420760

also, dubliners is a novel apparently

>> No.6420812

>>6420608

>that lolita cover

>> No.6420813

>>6420617
Stop trying to get people to read what YOU do.

>> No.6420822

>>6420813
preach brotha

>> No.6420828

Since it doesn't seem to be novel-only (Odyssey/Ivan Ilych/Dubliners), then one of As I lay Dying or Grapes of Wrath absolutely has to be dropped for Hamlet.

Other than that it's pretty good, lot better than the last.

>> No.6420839

All of them.

>> No.6420887

>>6420608
>How many of these did you read /lit/?
12

>Are all those fundamental?
Nah. Read whatever the fuck you want. Don't read books because some teen invented a 'starter kit' which for some reason you should begin reading.
The board is only good to get book titles, if you're interested read it and if you're not, don't.

>> No.6420889

Its supposed to be entry level books by authors /lit/ talks about a lot

>> No.6420895

Which translation of Notes From Underground is recommended by /lit/?

>> No.6420897

>>6420608
5/20

Reading Dubliners actually.

>> No.6420905

>>6420895
Pevear

>> No.6420950

>>6420706
it is a starter kit, not an end kit

>> No.6421034

>>6420706
Goethe? are you serious? have you even read him yourself. Its not something you should just lay on some entry level pleb. Most cities put on Faust plays. I'd recommend that over reading it.

>> No.6421035

>>6420905

Thanks

>> No.6421043

>>6421034
>Goethe? are you serious? have you even read him yourself. Its not something you should just lay on some entry level pleb. Most cities put on Faust plays. I'd recommend that over reading it.

Wilhelm Meister is a work of genius and can be read easily.

>> No.6421064

>>6421043
>everyone speaks german
are you trying to be retarded?

>> No.6421068

>>6421043
wilhelm meister is weird af and not easy. sorrows of young werther might deserve a place

>> No.6421071

>>6421064
>are you trying to be retarded?

There are english translations I guess

>> No.6421074

>>6421064
there are numerous other translations on that list dumbdumb so why are you getting outraged about this one

>> No.6421094

>>6421074
find me a readily available translation of Wilhelm meister...I'm waiting

>> No.6421099

>>6421094
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376160.Wilhelm_Meister_s_Apprenticeship

>> No.6421101

>>6420678
13 for me as well, and I agree with everything after that. Did I drunkenly post this and forget? Are you me?

>> No.6421104

>>6421094
there are several easy to find ones on amazon

>> No.6421114

>>6420810
And Metamorphosis, The Stranger, and Ficciones.

>> No.6421120

>>6420810
>>6421114
And Notes from Underground, I left that one out by mistake

>> No.6421134

>>6421099
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/376160.Wilhelm_Meister_s_Apprenticeship

Ok, I just saw this edition has ~300pages less than the german edition, be careful with that one

>> No.6421140

>>6421134
are you sure the german edition you're looking at didn't include the journeyman years

>> No.6421151

>>6421140
>are you sure the german edition you're looking at didn't include the journeyman years

yes, i read them both in german, the english edition with explanations is under 400 pages

>> No.6421171

>>6421151
german editions im looking at seem to have 500 pages or so, where'd you get 300

>> No.6421176

>>6421171
also the carlyle translation is about 500 pages

>> No.6421178

>>6421134
yeah thats my problem, most of the english ones seem sketchy, not the case with all the rest on the list

>> No.6421397

>>6420608

8. I don't know that any of them are really "fundamental," but I'd recommend a few of them.

>> No.6421554

>>6421035
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-pevearsion-of-russian-literature/

"Imagine someone translating Paradise Lost from English into Russian who had somehow missed that Milton was a Christian. There is something of that in the P&V version of Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground."

>> No.6421566

>>6420608
A1
A2
A3
C4
E4

>> No.6422359

What do you guys want changed in the kit? I don't know why I forgot Hamlet. Ill replace Death of Ivan for it.

What else? Remember to keep it limited to authors/books discussed here often.

>> No.6422375

>>6422359
do not replace death of ivan ilyich that's one of the best intro books you could have. replace siddhartha, slaughterhouse 5, or catch 22

>> No.6422379

14

no

>> No.6422407

>>6420614
What's your point?

>> No.6422409

i never read the odyssey in its entirety, only parts
i watched the stanley kubrick film of lolita but never read it
i read the stranger, all of jd salinger, crying of lot 49, slaughterhouse five and a few others from vonegut, dubliners, catch 22, and started 100 years of solitude

>> No.6422465

Hey guys, /k/ here. I decided I don't have enough appreciation of art and literature so I want to start reading more. Is this a good infographic? Anybody have any more?

>> No.6423603

OP here, thank you all.

I read 6

-The Stranger
-The Crying Of Lot 49
-The Great Gatsby
-Lolita
-Siddharta
-One Hundrede Years Of Solitude

I have the Metamorphosis on my shelf, so it is the next one. Right now I'm reading other things.

>>6420720
Yes, this pic is the one with less american books. English is not my primary language, but I stuck with these.

>>6420828
Good to hear that because I read Hamlet and not those.

>>6420887
>Nah. Read whatever the fuck you want
Yes, that's what I'm doing, I've only read six books of this pic, but I'm constantly reading all the time. But I feel that some of those are great books who needs to be read.


What are good alternatives?

>> No.6423678

>>6420617

I am become patrician, destroyer of literature?

>> No.6423715

>>6422465

check the sticky for many charts of books my gun wielding brethren! Also you might consider:

http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/

A "problematic" list as we say over here on the left wing but still useful!

>> No.6423722

>>6420608
14/total

am I pat yet?

>> No.6424471

>>6420608
Looks like I've read 14. They're all well worth the time.
>>6420617
9 of those, but I'm not overly concerned with all that supplementary stuff.

>> No.6425042

>>6423715
Goddammit! I always read the sticky! How did I forget? Thanks though good sir.

>> No.6425060
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6425060

>>6423715
Wait
>problematic as we say over here at the left wing
What do you mean? Isn't that a tumblr thing?

>> No.6425086

17
Have not read Dorian Gray, Grapes of Wrath or Lolita.

>> No.6426407

>reading Cis white male books

>> No.6426413

>>6420608
I've read 17, Herman Hesse is garbage. The rest are pretty essential

>> No.6426420

>>6426407
>any writer
>straight

>> No.6426430

16

Blood meridn as i lay dying ivan ilych grapes

>> No.6426437
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6426437

>>6420792
>greeks
>white

>> No.6426477

>>6426430
seriously you haven't read the three best books on that list (grapes is meh), get to it son

>> No.6426634

>>6421114
How is Ficciones a novel?

>> No.6426849

>>6426634
They weren't saying it was. He was listing off the books of short stories and novellas.

>> No.6426875

Less than half. Enjoyed all but Slaughterhouse, I'm strongly against Vonnegut's prose.

>> No.6427128

I'll tell you which ones I know are not that great:

Grapes of Wrath - Never read, but some other Steinbeck and he's 5th rate
Catcher in the Rye - This is not a high school class for slow learners
Faulkner - Honestly, really not a fan, but he is very respected so if you want America lit go for it, personally I think he's bad
Catch-22 - not a bad book but really not great literature
Pynchon - Again, I know people on lit have a hard on for him but seriously, starter kit? If you happen to be into post modern, sure, but not fucking starter kit, it doesn't belong next to Tolstoy and Kafka.
Vonnegut - not even close to belonging on this list, on par with steinbeck in my opinion
I can't speak to Marquez, Borges, Mccarthy, or Williams

Hesse is not a top-tier author but I fucking loved Siddartha so that can stay, Nakabov is questionable to me.

But Tolstoy, Camus, Joyce, Kafka, Dostoevsky, Wilde, Fitzgerald, and of course Homer certainly belong.

>> No.6427143

>>6420617
>Reading Metaphysics without reading physics first

It's like you don't want to get anything out of it

>> No.6427161

>>6426407
>slavs, Greeks, irish
>white

>> No.6428987

>>6420608
nope

>> No.6428999

>>6420608
8 thus far. Only a few are absolutely must read, like Notes, Death and Metamorphosis. The others are usually great books you want to read sooner or later.

>> No.6429214

>>6420617
>no nicomachean ethics
>no dialogues

other than that it's bretty gud

>> No.6429230

>>6427128
>Never read, but some other Steinbeck and he's 5th rate
usually never come across snobbish assholes like this on /lit/. not only are you critiquing a book youve never read but youre willing to call one of the great American authors "5th rate", putting aside the huge cultural impact he had during his lifetime.

>> No.6429309

>>6420608

I've read 11. I think we need to clarify what we mean by "starter kit" here... Are we introducing people to /lit/ favorites? "Serious" literature? The Western canon? Reading in general?

This is definitely not a great list for people unacquainted with literature. I've read difficult books my entire life, and I still struggled with Blood Meridian, though it was totally worth it. Similarly, good luck with Dubliners if you've never read much pre-1950's language.

On the other hand, if we're targeting people who are literate, but new to the board, or who haven't really read outside of school, then we could drop Vonnegutt and Catcher. Nearly everyone reads those as a kid, and I don't think they're especially highly regarded by the /lit/ crowd.

In any case, you should just read what you want. You should be able to identify characteristics of books you enjoy and find others like that (and I don't mean genres). Develop your own "canon."

>> No.6429401

>>6420608
I've read all except grapes of wrath and they were all pretty good

>> No.6429404

>>6420608

7 and 2 halves (Crying of Lot 49 and Dubliners)

>> No.6429751

>>6420608
>no gravity's rainbow
>no infinite jest
>no Ulysses

>> No.6429783

>>6429309
I think you're totally right about the more difficult books. When i was starting out i was recommended books like these and it put me off for a while. I don't think we should remove The Catcher in the Rye from the list though as it was what got me into reading in the first place, that being said though, i was 15 years old...

>> No.6429809

building my reading list of books I should read/ need to catch up on. Any to add or remove?
Faulkner-As I lay dying corrected version
Hemmingway- short stories
King-The long walk, It
Lovecraft
McCarthy- Blood Meridian, road, NCOM
Tolstoy- Anna karenina
Dostoyevsky-notes from underground, crime + punishment, brothers Karamzov
Cervantes
Pynchon- V.
the cyber raid-stanislaw lem
Don Quixote
the man in the high castle
slaughter house 5
catch 22
The picture of Dorian Gray
Great Gatsby
cather in the rye
sorrows of young werther
paradise lost
invisible man
moby dick
100 years of solitude

>> No.6429919

>>6429809
just create goodreads profile and it will suggest all the books according to your taste.

>> No.6430333

>>6429919
>getting your mind molded by the electronic jew

Good goy.

>> No.6430342

>>6429230
He's just trying to copy Nabokov and sound like a true snobby patrish. He is unfortunately a child

>> No.6430362

>>6420608
the picture of dorian grey
the great gatsby
lolita (i'm trying to finish it but it's really long and boring)

>> No.6430379

>>6429309
I think it should be entry level /lit/ books

>> No.6430531

>>6421554

Thanks for the link, I'm 50 pages into the P&V translation and it didn't make that much sense.

>> No.6430539

I've read 13 of them. Of the remaining 7, I've read 6 of the authors. Only one I haven't read at all is Pynchon.

I think it's a good list, but it really needs a couple of Brits. I would probably swap Pynchon for Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell and... something else for A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

>> No.6430568

>>6420608
Its a great chart. I think Hamlet is the only book that should be added. If a Japanese book were added what would it be?

>> No.6430587

>>6430362
you're an idiot

>> No.6430593

>>6420608
>The Metamorphosis
Absolutely amazing

>One Hundred Years of Solitude
Absolutely amazing

>The Great Gatsby
Painfully average

>Siddhartha
I guess I would have found it inspiring if I had read it in 1922

>> No.6431263

>>6420617
Can someone explain how that pic works? First you read Ancient Greece then Bibliotheca then the Iliad but where do you go from there? What's with the different color lines

>> No.6431376

>>6431263
Lighter Orange - Modern history / overview
Red - Mythology overview
Yellow - Poetry
Redish-Orange - Supplementary texts to better understand whatever book its connecting to
Orange - Ancient history (as in history books made in ancient times)
Light blue - Philosophy
Green - Drama

If the color of the book is the color of the line to the next book, that means you read the book first and then follow the line. In other words, one would read The First Poets before reading the Iliad but they would read the Iliad before reading the Poem of Force.

>> No.6432528

>>6420617
This is a great guide for people who are good at forcing themselves to do things even though they're not quite enjoying it and don't yet see the point

>> No.6432544

>>6423715
>THE READER'S LIST
>1. ATLAS SHRUGGED
>by Ayn Rand
>2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD
>by Ayn Rand
>3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH
>by L. Ron Hubbard
>4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS
>by J.R.R. Tolkien
>5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
>by Harper Lee
>6. 1984
>by George Orwell
>7. ANTHEM
>by Ayn Rand
>8. WE THE LIVING
>by Ayn Rand
>9. MISSION EARTH
>by L. Ron Hubbard
>10. FEAR
>by L. Ron Hubbard

pure gold

>> No.6432623

>>6432544
Sounds like you have a political agenda

>> No.6433784

I've read 18 of those. Yeah, I guess they cover the basic "intro to lit" books, so yeah, go for them if you're just starting. Though Stoner was previously put in "Patrician" lists, not begginers. Bloody Meridian I'd say is a bit dry for begginer readers as well. Everything else, go for it. It's mostly highschool-tier stuff. Catch-22 is the weakest of the bunch, but easy enough.

>> No.6433850

>>6420627
>The Stranger
>skippable

>> No.6433857

>>6420676
>Catcher in the Rye, Gatsby and Solitude are casual fedora tier.
*tips fedora*

I'll give that they're required reading but stop being such a hipster.

>> No.6433868

>>6420706
>shakespeare or goethe
>novelists

>> No.6433869

Is there a medium level /lit/ kit? Like when you're done with the easy books, and you want a challenge, but you're not ready to jump right into Finnegans Wake?

>> No.6433885

>>6433784
OP here, my problem is that I'm not american (nor an english speaker) and I didn't read the majority of these.

I am 24 and I had to take the Great Gatsby at the local library for example.

Can we think a "less american" list?

>> No.6433888

>The Odyssey
>Catcher in the Rye
>Catch-22
>Slaughterhouse-five
Got me back into reading/10

>> No.6434321

>>6420706
I feel like a "starter kit" should really only be novels. For someone who doesn't read, all that early british stuff is really dense and illegible. Do you even understand the point....

>> No.6434330

10.
Read them all. There's no reason not to.

>> No.6434338

>>6420608
>Odyssey without the Iliad
why?

>> No.6434570

>>6433885
Problem is that this is an English speaking board and the vast majority of native English speakers are American.

>> No.6434595

>>6434338
I thought it was implied. Anyone who looks into it would realise they go together.

>> No.6434607

>>6426413
>didn't like Hesse
>fucking Steinbeck is essential
Is this faggot any relevant outside of us? His prose is mediocre, he writes about how sad workers are. ffs, if I cared how hard is it to be worker in some shithole 100 years ago I ould read Marx.

>> No.6434638

>>6433784
>Catch-22
>weakest

There are two things this proves
1. You are a retard
2. You can't read and someone typed this post for you

>> No.6434741

1. Metamorphoses

Hated it but i saw the merit behind it.

>> No.6434908

>>6420812
Thats one of my favorites

>> No.6434919

>>6420608
B2
C4
D1
D2

and half of dubliners and i tried to read catch-22 but i didn't like it and dropped it

>> No.6435279

>>6433869
Yes. It is called "All the Rest of the Books".

>> No.6436350

>>6434741
Why did you hate it?

>> No.6436398

>>6420614
so does /lit/ though.