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/lit/ - Literature

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7230677 No.7230677 [Reply] [Original]

share your /lit/erary confessions so the cool kids can make fun of you

>> No.7230692

Although they're not usually my favourites, from time to time I'm not against reading a YA fiction novel if I want a book I can speed read without needing to think much while doing so.

I also enjoy a good graphic novel and comic, as long as it isn't capeshit.

>> No.7230697

>>7230692

Oh no fam.

Oh no.

>> No.7230705

I think murakami is OK.

I read meme books.

I prefer essays to novels for the most part.

I want to live the literary lifestyle after paying off my student debt with my STEM job, but years of dry sciences have sapped me of my humanity.

(Help)

>> No.7230713

sometimes i will type up a reply on /lit/ like i'm the foremost expert in the world on the topic but then i'll have to google it to be sure i'm not making an ass of myself and i'll end up realising i was totally wrong, my assumptions about the topic were childlike and i should be embarrassed that i was going to post them, and i'm actually a huge retard, and only then do i really realise i have never actually read any of the books i was just about to comment on, or even a book ABOUT those books, i was seriously just going to type up a paragraph of information based on random shit i read on /lit/ or wikipedia like that's a perfectly normal thing to do

>> No.7230718

I've not read Moby Dick yet.

My main reason for disliking Shakespeare is because we studied Romeo & Juliet in school and the teachers crammed it down our throats, expecting us to inspect every line of dialogue with a thorough analysis on usage of words (sometimes the etymology), the historical context of the play and the influence it had. I admit that sort of thing would interest me more nowadays but at the time, when I was 14, I was fucking bored.

I have nothing against genre fiction and I think some novels that belong under the genre fiction umbrella term are as significant as some of the high-brow classics (emphasis on "some").

I think buying pre-owned books is awful because anyone who sells a book pre-owned clearly struggled to keep the book in a good condition.

I refuse to read e-books however the kindle app on my phone has about 100+ books downloaded.

I only know three people that are well-read IRL.

I think a lot of popular fiction is awful - the mixture of dime store trash, YA fiction and adult contemporary middle-of-the-road literature nearly puts myself off reading. Not many people have taste.

>> No.7230719
File: 34 KB, 490x736, pynchon speculative.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7230719

>>7230677
I am Thomas Pynchon.
I have never once smoked cannabis.
I killed David Foster Wallace for denying my influence, and I pay for the infant souls that Harold Bloom needs to stay alive because he likes me.

>> No.7230726

>>7230705
Define "meme books" please. If you mean you have read the "meme trilogy," then that's fine because those books are considered classics in their own right. Otherwise I don't really know what you're talking about.

>> No.7230735

I had to read a summary of Heart of Darkness when I was done because the prose was too complicated for me and everything went completely over my head

>> No.7230754

>>7230692
i read the last book of the hunger games because my little cousin likes them and i wanted something to talk to her about because i have nothing in common with a teenage girl. it wasn't horrible. i would have thought they were deep when i was 13 too.

>> No.7230757

>>7230719
I believe you.

>> No.7230760

>>7230735
I'm in a similar boat. I tried reading it one morning and most of it went over my head. I'm going to tackle it again sometime when I feel more confident about it, but I share your similar feeling of struggle with that book.

>> No.7230767

the mystical, incomprehensible, hermetic cryptic nature of literature (esp poetry) is worthless.

>> No.7230769

>>7230754
Yeah, it's clear why they're popular when they dilute Orwellian themes for an entry-level audience. It'll be many young people's introduction to such ideas and, hopefully, it might motivate them more to explore other novels that might develop those themes. Plus, for entertainment's sake, it's okay.

>> No.7230772

>>7230713
This is how most people are on this board, except they don't have the decency to delete their posts

>> No.7230792

>>7230677
I'm a kissless virgin.

>> No.7230806

>>7230769
true. what caused me to read it was i heard her call peeta and catniss "star crossed lovers" and i was said oh like romeo and juliet. she didn't know what i was talking about so i got to enlighten her a bit about actual good stuff. hopefully, like you said, it opens them up to more reading.

>> No.7230870

>>7230806
My younger brother is somewhat similar - he seems to enjoy reading but usually it's only YA fiction. I'm okay with YA fiction if it gets young people reading, but I'm also the sort of person who thinks that people shouldn't read it exclusively, so if my younger brother is looking for a new book, I tell him to check out some classics that have similar themes to the YA novels he's read. So far it seems to have worked.

>> No.7230883

>>7230792
>>>/soc/

>> No.7230890

I will adamantly challenge somebody if, in person, they claim to have read 1984 just because they know some of the ideas in the novel. It annoys me when people lie about reading a book and 1984 is considered the most lied about novel - most people claim to have read it when they haven't. I usually ask specific questions like "what was the location of Winston's arrest?" and "what is in room 101?" in person so they can't google it. If they don't know, I call them out on their bullshit.

It can literally be read in a day - people have no excuse for not reading it.

>> No.7230903

I think no true classic has been written in the first 15 years of this century - nothing that'll stand the test of time of a few hundred years.

>> No.7230907

98% of my book collection was written by white dudes

>> No.7230934

>>7230890
well i read it and i can't remember where winston got arrested

>> No.7230945

>>7230890
I claim to have read 1984 because I've read V for Vendetta. I don't remember whether I've actually read 1984 or not, nor do I care.

>> No.7230948

>>7230934
while trying to fuck?

>> No.7230960 [DELETED] 

Of all the novelists I've read, only four of were women - Jane Austen, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and Willa Cather.

>> No.7231000

>>7230945
Don't be a faggot and claim to have read something you haven't. People can easily pick up on that shit if they've actually read the book themselves. If you don't care to read the book, why do you care enough to lie about reading it?

>> No.7231005

>>7230948
>>7230934
Yes, in the room above the antique shop. How could you forget?

>> No.7231021

>>7230890
Doing God's work, anon.

>> No.7231028

I didn't understand one bit of tcol49

>> No.7231031

>>7231028
That's fine, anon. TCOL49 isn't light reading, despite its short length. Pynchon can be very puzzling and esoteric. Pynchon-lite is an acceptable area to start if you're interested in his writing but, y'know, want to actually understand it.

>> No.7231066

>>7230890
Considering I haven't read it in years, if you asked me I'd probably be incredibly fuzzy on most of your questions. I can't even remember where Winston got arrested, and all I remember about room 101 is that it's where they took him to be broken with his worst fear.

>> No.7231070

>>7230705
> I read meme books

Erm… what? Fuck this ironic shitposting culture 4chan has, what the fuck are meme books?

>> No.7231075

>>7231070
meme books = books that are memes, obviously ya dip

>> No.7231077

>>7231066
at least you know what room 101 is

>> No.7231087

>>7231075
You're not helping, anon. YOU'RE NOT HELPING

>> No.7231091

Donald Duck classics (Keno Don Rosa) are the best

>> No.7231094

>>7231070
I assume he meant the "meme trilogy" of books, Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow and Infinite Jest. I'm not keen on people referring to it as the meme trilogy, but it's what they do nowadays. Them memes, it's what all the kids like nowadays, along with their angry birds and the rock and the rollers.

>> No.7231095

>>7231091
Don Rosa is fantastic. My nigga.

>> No.7231122

I pronounced it "Don Quicks-Oat-ee" until I was 22.

>> No.7231186

>>7230890
i think this is fair. it always bothered me when people lie about reading books they haven't read. it's so obvious when they haven't read it and they try talking about it like they have but i've never really thought of ways of calling people out on it

>> No.7231197

I have three chapters left of Hopscotch.

It had better pull something great out of its ass, because otherwise it was just okay.

>> No.7231210

>>7231122
If this is true, it's cringeworthy.

>> No.7231227

>>7231210
I think it was recently suggested to be the most commonly mispronounced title.

>> No.7231237

>>7231094
Why is it ulysses and not finnegans wake?

>> No.7231238
File: 169 KB, 783x1250, Dub-Liners.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7231238

>>7231122
I still pronounce Dubliners wrong in my head.

>> No.7231241
File: 138 KB, 1955x820, tendies.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7231241

>>7230890
You show those normies who's boss, anon.

Did your mummy lie about it and set you on this crusade?

>> No.7231245

>>7231237
Accident of history, anon.

>> No.7231247

>>7231237
Nobody even bothers lying about reading Finnegans Wake. The bait is just too obvious.

>> No.7231248

i only pretend to like women writers so my peers don't judge me, with one exception:

i adore the angus, thongs and full fronting snogging series

two confessions for the price of one

>> No.7231258

>>7231238
I remember pronouncing it Dub-lie-ners rather than Dub-linn-urs

>> No.7231265
File: 25 KB, 263x395, 12036581_889379944479172_5887541411519506327_n.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7231265

>>7230890
I don't know whether to admire this or to consider it autism incarnate.

>> No.7231289

I refuse to read anything written after about 1995, because I find that books/texts written after then lack sincerity, integrity, and true humanity. No exceptions. Everything after 1995 is too meta and it destroys my reading pleasure because it is too postmodern.

I never read books written by authors from my own country; I don't read books set in my country either. I find the authors of my country's writing styles to be very pretentious, and their books always feel like they're pandering to some greater literary community. "Look guys, I'm writing a book!"
I don't like reading a book set in my country, because it is virtually never described accurately, or it is either a cringeworthty caricature of it.

>> No.7231290

>>7231248
>series
I have this overwhelming prejudice to look down upon most any 'series' of books.

>> No.7231293

>>7230767
I disagree

>> No.7231296

>>7231289
>Everything after 1995 is too meta and it destroys my reading pleasure because it is too postmodern.
This isn't exactly true, but most 'literary' novels fall under this, sure; but I always found it funny that John Green himself conforms to it.

>> No.7231301

>>7230890
> "so you haven't read it, then?"
> "uhhhh, w-well, it was a while a-a-ago"
> "Be honest, now. We're friends, you see. You don't need to lie to me."
> "R-r-right… w-well, I don't think I actually have r-read it, but I've been meaning t--"
> "You're literally worse than Hitler. I bet you don't even know how important Pynchon is either."
> "W-who?"
> "You sicken me. You don't even know who our lord and saviour is? How about read Mason & Dixon, retard! Or is that too difficult for you? Are you physically exhausted by reading a book with more than 900 pages? Out of breath, are you? You could never handle true enlightenment! I bet you haven't even read The Bible or The Qu'ran!"
> "I'm n-n-not r-religious, anon! You're s-scaring me, please calm down!"
> "RELIGION IS IRRELEVANT. PURGE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU INFECT THE WORLD WITH YOUR IGNORANT OFFSPRING, FEEDING THE EARTH WITH MORE IDIOTIC SPROGS THAT LIE ABOUT THEIR INTELLECT TO MAKE THEMSELVES FEEL BETTER. IT'S SHIT LIKE THIS THAT RUINS SOCIETY AND FORCE-FEEDS INSTANT GRATIFICATION GAINED FROM SELFIE CULTURE DOWN THE GULLETS OF OUR USELESS YOUTH. THANKS, FAGGOT, FOR RUINING HUMANITY."

>> No.7231325

>>7230890
I'm scared I'll meet some spaghetti lord of 4chan accidentally IRL

>> No.7231352

>>7230890
I remember I mentioned the name Emmanuel Goldstein in reference to some kind of politics discussion, and I chuckled a bit, and everyone in the room drew blank faces.

That's the day that I realized it's no point referencing literature in real life at all, because the only thing people read are the news.

>> No.7231362

I don't read because I enjoy it I read so I can say that I've read a book.

>> No.7231368

>>7231352
It's always pleasant to find people who are well-read, though. My lecturer and I can discuss classic literature excessively and everyone else will be staring blankly as we talk. I know someone else at my uni who is also very well-read but I don't seem to talk to him as much.

>> No.7231374

>>7231362
Then why bother reading if you don't enjoy it? You shouldn't have to force yourself just because of the status it might bring.

>> No.7231400

>>7231368
>It's always pleasant to find people who are well-read, though.

It is. There is a girl at Uni that studies Latin who I talk to about lit occasionally, unfortunately, I don't find her attractive.

>> No.7231472

i always fold the corner of my page so i know which page i was last on, even if the books have thick or glossy pages.

>> No.7231478

I've only read about 100~ books but constantly call smarter and people more well read than me plebs.

>> No.7231480

>>7231472
Me too. I don't give a shit.

>> No.7231512
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7231512

Took me 5 months to read Gravity's Rainbow.

The most complex thing I'd previously read was Slaughterhouse-Five.

I liked Catcher In the Rye.

I liked Old Man and The Sea.

>> No.7231527

>>7230903
>he hasn't read me

>> No.7231560

>>7231005
Not him, but I forgot too. It's not as memorable as you think. Room 101 and "the Golden Country" are more memorable. Granted, I read it once ten years ago.

>> No.7231563

Ive never read House of Leaves :(

>> No.7231598

infinite jest is probably my favorite book and had a huge impact on my life

>> No.7231716

>>7231238
>sweating from pressing buttons

Oh god, dubstep is such a fucking hack.

>> No.7231725

>>7231716
Yeah it's like they hacked music, figured out how to feed pleasure directy into your brain. Insane how powerful it can be.

>> No.7231756

>>7231289
I'm the other way round; I mainly like relatively insincere writing, or I guess things where it doesn't feel like there's a Big Message.

I quit reading a book in the middle for the first time last week. It was Darconville's Cat.
>>7231598
gravity's rainbow is probably my favorite book and had a huge impact on my life
not even memeing

>> No.7231822

My favourite book is Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, followed by The Time Traveler's Wife.

I'm not exactly a full pleb either, I've read Shakespeare and some other classic stuff.

>> No.7231834

>>7230890
good job fam

>> No.7231847

>>7231725
>pleasure

There is no pleasure in dubstep.

That's the drugs you take.

Literally. molly, x, ketamine. Literally the drugs that you take that make you think everything that is shit is awesome. hence why dubstep is believed to be great.

>> No.7231857

>>7231847
I listen to it sober and its great I dont touch drugs. Not a loser.

>> No.7231866

>>7231857
What the fuck is your point? Bad taste isn't illegal. It just means you shouldn't put your shit opinions out there in public.

>> No.7231876

>>7231866

>Not enjoying either the chill 2step influenced beats of old dub
>Not enjoying the obnoxious and aggressive evolution of dub

Top plen.

>> No.7231882

I find it hard to read multiple classics in a row and will usually break it up by reading lighter stuff like genre fiction, biographies, YA or non fiction. I enjoy faster easier reads after reading a lengthy and heavy classic.

>> No.7231930

>>7231882
You're supposed to mix it up.

>> No.7231950

>>7231866
Hey, I've got my taste, you've got yours. Maybe you've got the bad, you don't know. How you can prove my taste is 'bad' and yours is 'good'? Dubstep is amazing.

>> No.7232041

I started my literary career writing fanfiction.

>> No.7232048

I masturbated to the bathing scenes in Ovid's Metamorphosis.

>> No.7232060

>>7230903
I assume you said 15 years because 19 years ago we got the last great work of literature

>> No.7232109

>>7230769
>dilute Orwellian themes for an entry-level
>Orwellian
>dilute
>entry-level

Is this some sort of homeopathy? If you keep thinning what is in simple in essence, there will be nothing left.

>> No.7232271

I didn't start with the Greeks.
I started with the Rationalists.

>> No.7232433

>>7232271
I started with Existentialists and worked backwards

Trust me, you're alright

>> No.7232472

i've read nearly every murakami fiction novel and i enjoy his tropes

>> No.7232480

>>7231005
Not the same guy either but I've read it twice and didn't remember this either. Definitely remember room 101 though.

>> No.7232481

>>7232472
They're enjoyable books. I think structuring all your stories around a few pillars is completely valid, but his prose often suffers when he's writing about something he always writes about.

>> No.7232501

I read less than a book a year. I read magazines, newspapers and 'culture' sites, though.

>> No.7232515

>>7232481
yeah it might have to do with writing in Japanese tbh, but that's just a wild guess of mine. i recall in the foreword of the Wind/Pinball 2015 new translation, he talked about how he really struggled at first with writing how he wanted to in Japanese, he even tried to write the first chapter of Hear The Wind Sing in English and then translated it back to Japanese to see if it would work.

>> No.7232525

>>7231716
You memetexted "sweating from pressing buttons" like you've never seen Meatloaf play piano.

>> No.7232625

It took me an hour to read ~10 pages of Tao Lin's Bed. I'm horrible at reading and amazing at buying books that I'll read painfully slowly.