/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.7146102]

I'm not really a big reader but my Internet recently went down for the day, and since I have no other hobbies or interests I decided to read a book. So I read Animal Farm, and now I'm hooked and want to read everything.

These are the novels I'm looking at getting right now (ignore the blender bottle). I tried to get a good mix of genres and time periods. Are there any here that aren't really a good idea for a beginner to get into, or any others you would recommend instead? I just want to get a well rounded base so I can eventually read more complicated stuff.

I've already read all the high school essentials like Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, etc

All input is appreciated!

[Anonymous No.7146133]

I would say drop Naked Lunch if you're not a very experienced reader. It's a divisive book to begin with, but it'll be even worse if you're not used to more experimental styles and can't make any sense of it.

I would drop The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test and Call of Cthulhu as well, not because they're bad books but just because there are better things a new reader could be checking out.

By all means, if you have your heart set on those books read them, but I would suggest maybe trying Crime and Punishment, The Myth of Sisyphus, A Farewell To Arms, and The Odyssey, for more introductory works.

Fear and Loathing, Lolita, and The Trial are excellent choices though. Brave New World is okay, but maybe something you could just check out of the library to save money on.

Anyways, welcome to /lit/

[Anonymous No.7146135]

read the fucking sticky

[Anonymous No.7146148]

>>7146102
I can't recommend spending any time on Lovecraft unless you're just curious what the hype is about, and then you could just read one short story online and be done with it.

[Anonymous No.7146156]

>>7146102
Start with the Greeks. Really. There's a reason "the Greeks" were enough for all of Europe and Asia Minor for centuries.

[Anonymous No.7146164]

>>7146102
Remove everything under the blender bottle, and remove The Trial because it is a translation.
If you're barely starting to read be sure to get an annotated version of Lolita.

[Anonymous No.7146169]

nice bait, 9/10 solid troll

[Anonymous No.7146183]

>>7146164
>annotated version of Lolita
ignore this

[Anonymous No.7146232]

>>7146133
I mostly went for Lovecraft because I hear his name mentioned a ton and I really enjoyed stuff like The Mist, True Detective s1, Evil Dead, Re-Animator, etc and I've heard they're all heavily inspired by him. I understand he's not exactly a classic, and I had no idea where to even start with him so I just went with the first thing that came up when I googled his name.
>>7146148
Which short story would you recommend?

>>7146156
I read Plato in high school and thought it was cool but besides that I find Greek to be incredibly difficult to get into. I can read maybe five pages of Homer before getting frustrated to the point of quitting. Maybe that means I'm stupid, idk

>>7146169
not b8

[Anonymous No.7146258]

>>7146102
>>7146232

Read books that you enjoy. You should know that people on this board are going to shit on anything that isn't "literary canon," which is why you have people advising you to start with the Greeks instead of reading Lovecraft. Also, if it wasn't written by a white male, don't expect much discussion here. Animal Farm is Dystopian Fiction 101, if you liked it you might want to check out 1984, Fareingheit 451, and Brave New World. Other good scifi reads are Isaac Asimov's Foundation, The Left Hand of Darkness, Dune, Neuromancer, The Forever War, Rendezvous with Rama, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Lovecraft is a blast to read. If that book is your first exposure, consider picking up HP Lovecraft: Tales published by the Library of America. It has a much more comprehensive selection than the Penguin edition and includes two essential Lovecraft novellas, "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" and "At the Mountains of Madness."

Check out your local library. Every library should have a solid selection of literary fiction. Hemingway is a great place to start as his prose is easy to read. Check out The Old Man and the Sea. If you like it, go on to A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, or The Sun Also Rises.

[Anonymous No.7146268]

>>7146183
>>7146183
Fuck off, retard, it's like you want to turn him away from reading.

[Anonymous No.7146272]

>>7146258
Fuck off back to tumblr.

[Anonymous No.7146281]

>>7146268
>calls other people a retard
>recommends an annotated edition of pleb shit
ironing

[Anonymous No.7146293]

Ignore everyone but no one either they all mean well and it is good advice to an extent but there are few readers here.

Buy Naked Lunch if you like but be prepared to likely not enjoy it your first time round but that too is okay a book doesn't lose value sitting on a shelf.

Starting with the Greeks is a good idea if you decide to take literature more seriously and it wouldn't hurt to pick up The Odyssey as well. We have a /lit / starter kit somewhere around here which has a variety of books around the level of Animal Farm and those are all good books as well.

The only advice I really recommend is to try and buy used. thriftbooks.com is a great tool but you might occasionally get something with distracting marginalia on the poorer quality ones however being able to pick up twenty or so books for the price you are buying now. Used bookstores and thrift stores are also worth the look. I picked up in goodwill the whole of In Search of Lost Time for four dollars and in great condition.

[Anonymous No.7146300]

>>7146102
That's a very nice blender bottle. I might get one myself.

[Anonymous No.7146312]

Honestly check the sticky and try to find a good library or used bookstore. If you aren't picky about used books you can also buy them online at Abebooks. I hardly ever buy books at amazon or chain stores anymore - I either use my uni library or abebooks. I am privileged though because my uni library is quite extensive. I wince when I remember all the money I spent on new reprint editions of common classic books when I could have just checked them out. I was always afraid they would become due before I was finished but I later learned that I could renew library books 99 times.

You might also try the Modern Library Top 100 novel list. I have hundreds of books listed that I've culled from /lit/ recommendation threads and just discussion over the years. That's where most of my backlog comes from. I also use Goodreads and sometimes blogs like "The Modern Novel" I have read books that I really enjoyed that I stumbled on randomly while searching for reviews of other books I liked.

Also check out Gene Wolfe.

[Anonymous No.7146336]

>>7146156
>There's a reason "the Greeks" were enough for all of Europe and Asia Minor for centuries.
But they weren't, why do you make shit up?

[Anonymous No.7146428]

>>7146258
>>7146293
>>7146312
Thanks for the advice, I have a small used book shop a couple blocks from my house I'll check out tomorrow

And they say /lit/ isn't helpful :'^)

[Anonymous No.7146457]

>>7146102
I read books on archive.org and books "on google"(name of book + pdf or torrent..)

Often archive.org has a scan of an original edition which is cool if you like original editions...

[Anonymous No.7146474]

>>7146133
This is actually really solid advice Although I'll go a step further and say Brave New World is a really dreadful novel. Although Aldous Huxley is a great writer to have dreadful opinions about, Island is one of the worst books Ive ever had the pleasure of hating.

I also didn't like The Trial very much, I think Franz Kafka's shorter works (Metamorphosis, Penal Colony, Hunger Artist) are far superior and carry a lot of the same themes and style.

The Stranger is great intro reading too.

[Anonymous No.7146480]

Get like 10 bottles. Literature is dead.

[Anonymous No.7146496]

>>7146232
Lovecraft is not like any of the stuff you mention, although they carry some reference to the old man. I bet that books about the lore of Lovecraft are more interesting than his short stories themselves. Interesting mythos, but its verbose, and it covers up for some bland storytelling and hilariously bad dialogue at times.

[Anonymous No.7146501]

>>7146474
Shit taste, brave new world is really very good OP give it a go

[Anonymous No.7146514]

>>7146474
Shit taste dude
The Trial is a fucking MASTERPIECE

The Trial > Short Stories > Amerika > The Castle
But they're all really good

[Anonymous No.7146529]

>>7146474
>Kafkas shorter works are better than his novels

[Anonymous No.7146615]

>>7146272
So are you saying /lit/ actually does discuss literature written by authors who aren't white men, or that the only good authors are white men? Either way you're wrong and retarded.

[Anonymous No.7146627]

>>7146615
Why do you think that is something worth mentioning?

[Anonymous No.7146692]

>>7146281
Kill yourself
>>7146615
You're s fucking retard if you believe any of what you're posting

[Anonymous No.7146705]

>Well-rounded base
>Fear and Loathing, Kool aid test, Naked Lunch
>The Trial and BNW
>Lolilta
>Fucking Lovecraft

I'm sure you can hang out on Reddit now. Does Amazon send you a free fedora when you make an order like this?

To put this into terms you might understand it's a bit like saying:

I want to get into cinema so I've chosen these films to get a well-rounded introduction to the history of film

>Fight Club
>The Matrix
>Requiem for a Dream
>Synecdoche, New York
>Trainspotting
>Pulp Fiction
>Gattaca

Amidoingitrite guise?

[Anonymous No.7146706]

>>7146514
>>7146529

This is actually a fairly uncontroversial opinion in the literary world. The Trial isn't even finished.

[Anonymous No.7146856]

>>7146705
Recommend something better then, faggot.
It's easy to call something shit and offer no solution. Post what you think would be good books for a beginner so I can laugh at you.

[Anonymous No.7146863]

>>7146102
That's some pretty good taste for someone whose not a reader.

When you've read those, give our Meme Trilogy a try. Start with Infinite Jest and work your way up to Ulysses if you feel brave enough.

Vonnegut get a bad rap here, but I think he'd be similar to your tastes and Slaughterhouse-25 is an excellent starting read. Catch 22 is another great war book that /lit/ seems to largely praise.

>>7146705
He said he's starting out nigger, let his taste evolve after he's read what he wants. The important thing is to make sure the guy's enjoying the books, or he'll stop reading.

[Anonymous No.7146869]

Might as well read some more Orwell, no? 1984, Homage to Catalonia, Down and Out in Paris and London and his collected essays are all great. It's better to read deeply than widely.

[Anonymous No.7146967]

>>7146336
The narrative is more important than reality.

[Anonymous No.7147650]

>Lovecraft isn't good

[Anonymous No.7147697]

Nice little selection. When your beggining it's good to try different bites of literature; as in, try from various genres and forms. It's one of the reasons why Starting with the Greek is advised; you get to try dramas, epics, histories, and etcetera. Keep reading shit laddy; let them tastes grow.

[Anonymous No.7147902]

>>7146706
You fucking dummy
neither is The Castle or Amerika

But the Trial might as well be finished. It presents a complete story, and likely isn't missing too much.

[Anonymous No.7148036]

>>7147902
>likely isn't missing too much
he died before he wrote the part explaining why homeboy is on trial for

[Anonymous No.7148045]

>>7146102
those books are all great tbh
people will shit on lovecraft but if you're interested in the kind of horror he does, you'll forgive his faults