Unpopular Opinions

[Anonymous No.8700022]

The Sound and The Fury is a more difficult read than Ulysses.

[Anonymous No.8700043]

Verbosity is a good indicator of pretentiousness.

[Anonymous No.8700044]

>>8700022
The explanation I've heard is that Ulysses is more straightforward but filled to the brim with references, while The Sound and the Fury is presented in a more complex way yet is ultimately a "what you see is what it's about" kind of book.

[Anonymous No.8700054]

>>8700044
Good post anon. Not being sarcastic

[Anonymous No.8700057]

Popularity is usually a good indicator of quality

[Anonymous No.8700068]

>>8700043
I actually agree with this. I cringe when writing is artificially pumped with large words that don't belong.

[Anonymous No.8700070]

>>8700057

Absolutely unequivocally false.

And you know it.

[Anonymous No.8700113]

>>8700070
Nope

[Anonymous No.8700323]

>>8700057
>>8700070
Ehhhh. Popularity, up to a certain degree, *is* a good indicator of (at least) broad appeal, if it only means that X number of people have consumed the work, a large percent of that X have also enjoyed it, AND a large percentage of those who liked it are spreading the word about it. And if that popularity doesn't instantly vanish due to being "flavor of the month", then it's an even more solid indicator of broad appeal.

Of course, the groups which the work is targeted to and gaining traction with play a big role in whether it appeals specifically to you.

[Anonymous No.8700670]

>>8700057
Not always, but generally. I wouldn't have found DFW if he wasn't popular desu.

[Anonymous No.8700714]

>>8700670

One does not find DFW...

DFW finds one...

[Anonymous No.8700743]

>>8700057
Since when did James Patterson become quality? Or Danielle Steele? Or Nicholas Sparks?

[Anonymous No.8700762]

>>8700022
Raymond Carver is the GOAT short story writer

[Anonymous No.8700824]

>>8700022
Neuromancer is horrible.
Pens that cost more than $1 are a scam
Jung was a crackpot and Freud was a genius.
Stirner is the final form of philosophy
Ayn Rand is brilliant, although I agree her writing is wanting
Depression actually does make you a better writer
Greek literature is an obsolete relic, and a few hours wikipedia training their mythology is all that's necessary to catch up with them outside of philosophy.
Several of Murakami's novels will be classics and taught in high schools in a century.
Postmodernism will be with us forever, like cultural AIDS.
Coffee makes you a worse writer
Steampunk is actually kinda cool as an aesthetic.
Alcohol makes most people better writers.
Finnegan's Wake is the most enjoyable book ever written, regardless of how much of it you comprehend.

[Anonymous No.8700878]

>>8700043
False modesty is worse than pretentiousness. Being ashamed of using big words when you're a word specialist is ridiculous. You should learn to use whatever language the situation calls for rather than stick to some dumb maxim.

>>8700057
Popularity without quality is an inducator that there's a whole subset of experience criticism has failed to integrate or even perceive.

[Anonymous No.8700892]

>>8700022
Taipei is a great book and lit's inability to see why confuses me.

[Anonymous No.8700909]

There is nothing inherently "wrong" with genre fiction.

[Anonymous No.8700924]

Many people you know who like to read are intimidated by your opinions and shy away from connecting with you about literature on a meaningful level

[Anonymous No.8700975]

>>8700022
August Derleth's fanfic is better than HP Lovecraft.

/lit/ rather adorably reflects the tastes of pretentious men in their early 20s and the reason that everyone doesn't talk about their canon isn't because they are stupid, its because they read it 20, 30 years ago and moved on like everyone else. You will too.

You grow into magical realism.

John Le Carre writes prose of unmatched clarity, something that is 10 times harder to do than pages of florid gibberish.

Writing is a job like any other.

[Anonymous No.8700992]

>>8700975
>/lit/ rather adorably reflects the tastes of pretentious men in their early 20s and the reason that everyone doesn't talk about their canon isn't because they are stupid, its because they read it 20, 30 years ago and moved on like everyone else. You will too.

This should read at the top of the board

[Anonymous No.8701745]

>>8700975
>John Le Carre writes prose of unmatched clarity, something that is 10 times harder to do than pages of florid gibberish.
What's his best?

[Anonymous No.8701752]

>>8700022
Somebody have this pic in bigger res?

[Anonymous No.8701759]

>>8700924
>Many people you know
false premise

[Anonymous No.8701761]

>>8700975
>>Writing is a job like any other.
>The purpose of writing is commercial gain.
>A good writer does a good job when his book sells well.
>A bad writer does a bad job when his book does not sell well.
If this is not what you're saying, then it's not a job like any other.
Either that or you have an odd idea of the motivations of employees. It's not like they're a bunch of masterless samurai, looking for a purpose in life.

[Anonymous No.8701769]

DFW is a faggot.

[Anonymous No.8701795]

>>8701752
Also requesting this. Can't find a source, and can't make out the name

[Anonymous No.8701797]

>>8701752
>>8701795

[Anonymous No.8701802]

>>8701797
Thanks, may the spooks never bother you.

[Anonymous No.8702186]

Against The Day is heavily underrated.

[Anonymous No.8702195]

>>8702186
please elaborate, i'm interested in hearing your opinion.

[Anonymous No.8702236]

Why the fuck does Stirner have black hair.

I thought we'd busted this myth.

[Anonymous No.8702276]

Gene Wolfe > Virginia Woolf

[Anonymous No.8702289]

>>8702276
I don't think anyone disagrees.

[Anonymous No.8702292]

>>8702289
>tfw the entire literary establishment disagrees

[Anonymous No.8702294]

>>8702292
Sorry, I got distracted and completely messed that post up. It was meant to say:
>I don't think anyone sane disagrees.

[Anonymous No.8702400]

>>8702276
go find some soap and wash your mouth out, you filthy heretic.

[Anonymous No.8702507]

>>8702186
100% agreed

[Anonymous No.8702683]

>>8700762
You mean Gordon Lish

[Anonymous No.8703088]

>>8701761
I don't understand your comment.

What I am saying however is that writing is not a breathless spiritual pursuit where you spend the day kissing unicorns and pulling rainbows out of your butt.

It involves delivering, not fucking editors around and meeting deadlines.

[Anonymous No.8703096]

>>8701745
I'd go early rather than late.

His imperial period is "Tinker,Taylor" then the "Honourable Schoolboy", then "Smiley's People". You can probably get them as a collected edition, the Karla Trilogy or similar.

[Anonymous No.8703107]

>>8702292
I find Virginia Woolf physically painful to read.
Aware of the virtues but it makes me nauseous.
Entire novels made up of nothing but feels, revolting.

[Anonymous No.8703867]

>>8700057
Of course.

If nobody know about it, it's probably forgettable

If a decent number of people know about it (and have actually experienced it) it's probably good or atleast decent.

If WAY to many people are crazy about it, it's probably casual shit for plebs with an attention span of a goldfish.

[Anonymous No.8703897]

English is ugly by defeault and it only became literary after most classic writers bent its laws to make something good out of it.

[Anonymous No.8704067]

>>8700824
enjoyed reading this, thanks

[Anonymous No.8704112]

>>8703897

(granted its the only one I know) to me English sounds the most beautiful and like it contains at least above average quantity of variety in its phonology

(I like how Italian and German sounds too, regularly, and then doubly due to opera)

[Anonymous No.8704117]

>>8704067
And here I was thinking I'd alienated this entire board.

[Anonymous No.8704395]

>>8703897
it's ugly by default but that's why it's so great when it's not.

[Anonymous No.8705269]

>>8700824
>Several of Murakami's novels will be classics and taught in high schools in a century.
I'm not that opposed to this, Wind-Up is actually pretty good.

[Anonymous No.8705271]

>>8701759
depressed kek

[Anonymous No.8705278]

>>8705269
How does it compare with his other works? I enjoyed a few of his short stories and a couple novels. I almost threw Kafka out the window a couple times but I'm willing to read another and I hear Wind-up Bird is his best

[Anonymous No.8705282]

>>8705278
not him, but why did Kafka rustle your jimmies?
I recommend Hardboiled Wonderland, but I'm this contrarian fuck >>8700824 so take my recommendation with a grain of salt.

[Anonymous No.8705298]

>>8705282
Well it was my second reading, I enjoyed it the first time but I was far less discerning back then.
KotS doesn't have a single original theme, the transgender character was 2edgy4me, I got sick of all the album reviews and relentless name-dropping, the narrative was forced and felt ad-libbed at times, literally every character was some fucking philosopher or music expert or history buff or some obvious extension of Murakami. And the goddamn similes. "she was like a 3D painting in the forest of his mind". That one stuck with me. I almost launched the book straight out the window.
I don't hate Murakami as a writer, i enjoy most of what I've read, but Kafka is just a 400 page salvo of shit flung carelessly in all directions

[Anonymous No.8705333]

>>8705278
Hey I'm the dude you replied to
I've only read Wind-Up so I can't comment but I've heard it's very similar to Kafka so maybe do what >>8705282 says. Honestly most of your complaints in >>8705298 still stand for Wind-Up, I guess it's just his style. I didn't mind it for one book but I'd never want to go through his whole catalogue, I'd get sick of it as well.