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/lit/ - Literature

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8877564 No.8877564 [Reply] [Original]

If you could memorize one (1) book flawlessly, what would you choose?

I was personally considering a dictionary, but I am interested in your less autistic conclusions.

>> No.8877566

why would I want to memorize a book?

>> No.8877568

Moby dick probably

>> No.8877571

>>8877566
To weld its words to your soul.

>> No.8877574

the communist manifesto

>> No.8877587

>>8877564
Finnegans Wake

>> No.8877599

>>8877568
>>8877574
>>8877587
As much as I appreciate the immediate interest, I was hoping for some elaboration on WHY as well as WHAT. My bad for not being more clear in the OP.

>> No.8877604

>>8877564
would a book printed by me count?
if so print out every text that could be usefull and compile it into a single book

>> No.8877611

>>8877599

>Catch-22

>WHY

Don't fucking know, just answering a stupid goddamn question.

>> No.8877612

>>8877599
>>8877574
because i always want to be able to flawlessly recite it at any time at all costs (if exproprietated)

>> No.8877614

The Holy Bible

>> No.8877616

>>8877564
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, anon. An endless source of entertainment, from musicality to literary enjoyment. Experiences and teachings.

>> No.8877619

>>8877599
I've yet to encounter a book with better prose than Moby Dick, so I'd love to be able to have any given passage permanently encoded in my repertoire, available whenever I want.

>> No.8877630

>>8877604
Sure. The more subtle purpose behind the question though is, "What information is worth memorizing in a modern day with so much freely available information?"

So your answer doesn't do much to narrow it down.

>> No.8877807

>>8877616
i only want this so i can quote random obscure lines or passages and lend momentary credibility to my essays and / or poems

>> No.8877834

>>8877807
Seems like something you could do with a little googlefu anyway. I think >>8877571 is closest to the mark when it comes to why you'd do this.

>> No.8877848

The Bible

>> No.8877856

my diary, desu

>> No.8877857

The Qaran

>> No.8877875
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8877875

>>8877564

A thesaurus

>> No.8877881

>>8877614
>>8877848
Pretty much. Every problem would have an answer.

>> No.8877938

why the fuck would you want to memorize a book? what matter is understanding it, grasping its message.

>> No.8877947

which dictionary though?

>> No.8877965

>>8877938
Why read a book if its message can be distilled into a pithy quote? Why not just write the message for people to read instead of the book? Surely that is more time efficient.

>> No.8877970

Either the Bible, The Imitation of Christ, or The Prophet

>> No.8877976

>>8877947
I hadn't given it consideration. Perhaps you have an opinion on which dictionary is best?

>> No.8877978

Some cookbook probably

>> No.8877979

>>8877938
True understanding almost requires memorization. You think you can truly grasp a book by skimming and speedreading a mere once or twice?

>> No.8877987

>>8877976
it'd be impossible because i'm not prescriptivist scum

>> No.8877988

>>8877614
>>8877848
this. NRSV. with the non-canonical books.

if not the Encyclopedia Britannica, if that counts as a singular work

>> No.8879025

KJV

>> No.8879032

>>8877564
Dictionary

>> No.8879034

>>8877564

It would be fun to choose the dictionary and be able to wield a super genius level lexicon but I'd still have to go with The Bible.

It's such an obvious choice, really.

>> No.8879040
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8879040

>>8877564
Mahabharata.

>> No.8879128

Don Quijote

>> No.8879134

>>8879032
This this this. Oh, and did I mention this?

>> No.8879143
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8879143

>>8877564
A book containing all books

>> No.8879152

The Phenomenology of Spirit.

>> No.8879163

>>8879040
Poo in loo

>> No.8879165

>>8877564
infinite jest

>> No.8879261

Hans Christian Anderson's Fairytales

>> No.8879264

My diary desu

>> No.8879271

Paradise Lost desu senpai

>> No.8879277

Mein Kampf

>> No.8879302

The book of the new sun.
A- it's full of puzzles that would be easier to solve if I could memorize the whole thing
B- The main character has a perfect memory, so it's rather fitting

>> No.8879878
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8879878

Use of Weapons.

>> No.8879887
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8879887

Guns, Germs, and Steel

>> No.8879891
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8879891

>>8879878

Excellent book my man

>> No.8879892

>>8877564
Mort à Crédit/Death on Credit.
French actor Fabrice Luchini knows it by heart but then again he recites it almost every night to an audience of sophisticated Parisians.

>> No.8879905
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8879905

>>8877564
Guinness Book of World Records 2004

>> No.8879915

>>8877564
The Lotus Sutra

>> No.8879917

>>8879143
you mean the bible

>> No.8879920

>>8879277
I would want this only if I could memorize it in the original German
I speak no German, have never met anyone who speaks German, and live in flyover nowhere America.
I can only imagine the reactions I would get with my instant EIN VOLK EIN REICH diatribes in pure German. I would start a race war lads

>> No.8879922

probably some really advanced technical book so i could get a fancy job

>> No.8879946

>>8879891
Now I'm imagining Zakalwe returning to his homeworld, only to find that the Stabarinde was anthropomorphized as part of a popular cartoon show.

And she has Darckense's face.

>> No.8880075

>>8877612
>>8877614
Hear, Hear!

>> No.8881298

>>8877875
underrated

>> No.8882531
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8882531

A huge Chinese-English dictionary. I just undercut the entire learning process for Chinese characters I would know each flawlessly.

>> No.8883009

Goethe's Faust

>> No.8883013

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon

>> No.8883220

The annalects of Confucius

>> No.8883249

>>8883013
Napoleon Hill was/is fantastic. His works are a must read imo and it's a damn shame that self-help books aren't discussed around here more often

>> No.8883260

>>8877564
All 20 pages of The Art of War.

>> No.8883279

>>8877564
Metro 2033 in English and russian. I could tell tales for hours.

>> No.8883296

>>8877564
The Holy Bible. Merry Christmas to all my fellow brethren.

>> No.8883570

>>8879271
That's 12 books dumbass

>> No.8884118

i'm an OED man myself

>> No.8884125

>>8877564
the bible duh

>> No.8884474

>>8882531
You can have a word for what something looks like but not for what it represents.

>> No.8885166

>>8883279
is this actually good or just genre fiction shit? I want to do some reading in Russian

>> No.8886175

>>8877564
Thus Spoke Zarathusra

>> No.8886237

>>8877564
someone just read the last chapter of Fahrenheit 451

>> No.8886260

The bible

>> No.8886408

>>8877564
Poetic Edda.

>> No.8886410

Don Quijote, both parts.