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/lit/ - Literature

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938729 No.938729 [Reply] [Original]

Have you ever read a book just so you could sound knowledgeable or sophisticated to the people around you? If so, what was that book?

>> No.938746

atlas shrugged, but it kind of backfired on the other people when I told them they were full retard.

>> No.938745

this is the reason i read books

>> No.938756

I read books for fun, which is why I have a large collection of sci-fi. Whatever happened to that, eh.

>> No.938757

das kapital
fool that i was!

>> No.938754

Not at all, and that's what a hipster would do.

I gotta say though, I give that impression anyway, regardless of what I'm reading. It's probably because I'm ALWAYS reading.

>> No.938767

>>938729
Well that's the only reason to read any book really.

>> No.938774

>>938756
ok, this is >>938745 here. Sometimes I read books for fun or to gain vocab in different languages. But those aren't the books I read to make myself look smart.

>> No.938778

>>938767
I beg to differ. For one thing, reading a good book is enjoyable, for another, knowledge is an end in itself.

>> No.938814

>>938757
i see your daskap and raise you sein und zeit. never made it past chapter one. someone better put that shit in tractacus format. still gonna mean fuckall.

>> No.938833

So what book is in OP's picture?

>> No.938836

>>938729

such books are called 'philosophy books'

Try Platon, Aristotle, etc.

>> No.938980

In 11th grade I read Dante's Inferno (The Longfellow Translation) so I could seem smart. It paid off in 12th grade when a teacher was forcing us to read Animal Farm which I read of course, then she proceeded to name off 14 books that she was trying to outsmart me on that I couldn't of read. All the ones named I had read. The whole class was staring at us fighting back and forth and laughing with each book she got called out on. Of course all the books were standard reading for any /lit/, so really it wasn't that impressive, but like normal most of the school is at an 8th grade reading level. Then she pulled one that was almost movie like for me, "Alright, bookworm. I want you to tell me in Longfellow's translation of Dante's Inferno what was it says on the gates of hell. If you can get that, I will give you an A++ in this class." So, being an asshole, I took a piece of paper out and wrote on it and then handed it to my classmate next to me and told him to read it out loud. "All hope abandon, ye who enter in." Just at the first word she knew she was fucked and her face made my year. She ended up being a bitch the rest of the year to me and I wasn't count on her giving me the grade, but she did hold up her end and gave me the only A++ she had ever given out before.

TLDR: English teacher tried to out do me, and got fucked thanks to Dante Alighieri.

>> No.939000

>>938980
>I couldn't of read

You might read a lot, but it sure as hell isn't helping you much.

>> No.939003

>>938980
>that I couldn't of read.
>couldn't of

>I wasn't count on her giving me the grade
>count on

dude, you should have paid more attention to class...

>> No.939007

>>938980
Wasn't that also in the header on /b/ at one time?

>> No.939016
File: 273 KB, 200x150, internet fight.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
939016

>>938980
That is quite possibly the most pretentious story I have ever ever ever ever ever heard. You both should have whipped out your dicks and started pissing into each other's mouths. It would have amounted to the same thing.

lit-penis is worst-penis.

Shut the fuck up about what you've read.

>> No.939009

>>938814
i like you already

>> No.939008

>>938980
+1 sir. I must congratulate you. I've read a lot of "classics" in part because i'm interested but in part because they are bomber to discuss with others.

The Arabian Nights would have to be the biggest "I read this to impress people book" but it is just so interesting. That aside it rarely comes up in conversation anyway.

>> No.939024

>>939016

This is the best post on /lit/ right now

If I was a mod I would sticky and lock this thread

>> No.939027

Odysseus

>> No.939033

>>939027
Think you mean The Odyssey, bro.

>> No.939034
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939034

>>939003

>> No.939039
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939039

So I get the general feeling that while some people read quite a lot of books, that never carries over into proper spelling and/or grammar when they actually write. Would you agree or disagree?

>> No.939055
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939055

>>939024
>>939039
>>939000
>>939003
>>939016
Problem?

>> No.939075

>>939055
>implying that entire post was a troll
>trying to save one's face
don't even try.

>> No.939126
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939126

>>939075
Is that what that is? I rather thought it was a retarded person's face. Like when a baby did not get enough oxygen in the womb and just comes out a little off.

>> No.939134

>>939075
That wasn't me, take it easy. I guess you got trolled by him though.

>> No.939144

>>939075
>don't
>Don't

>> No.939147

>>939134
regardless, i wont believe it was a troll. i think the guy just honestly wrote the story thinking he was cool, and he didn't notice the grammar mistakes he made.

>> No.939163

>>939147
I've been there before. To the point where I refuse to correct the grammar and spelling of my previous journal entries because it may shed some light on how I thought a word was spelled at the time or some such.

>> No.939188

>>939147
I didn't say I was cool, and I wasn't trying to be. I thought I was making that clear when I said all the things she was asking me are pretty basic reading. I just happened to get lucky that something I read to seem sophisticated payed off. I mean, the whole point of the topic is just that.

>> No.939198

>>939147
>regardless
>i wont
>i think
>he didn't notice the grammer mistakes he made.
Smooth.

>> No.939214

He trolled the shit out of you whether he meant to or not.

Good show.

>> No.939210

>>939188
while i do agree with you that the story is actually pretty funny. since this thread is basically -about- being pretentious, you did fit it pretty well.

all i'm saying is that i don't believe that you put in the grammar mistakes -just- to be a troll

>> No.939231

>>939210
You miss where I said I wasn't the guy who said that?

>> No.939243

>>939210
>while i do
>since this
>all i'm saying
>i don't
>he didn't notice the grammer mistakes he made.

>> No.939252

>>938729
you mean there is some other reason to read a book?

>> No.939270

getting trolled by an unintentional troll is not getting trolled

>> No.939277
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939277

>>939270

>> No.939359
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939359

It's like this thread got so derailed. Honestly people! Can't we all just stay on topic?

>> No.939379

>>939210
>>939359
>>939147
Same Fag.

>> No.939399
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939399

>>939379
No.

I am the following:
>>939008
>>939034
>>939039
>>939126
>>939163
>>939359

>> No.939405

I read Twilight so I could have something to talk to a girl about. does that count?

>> No.939423

>>939405
Yes and no. You are pandering to popular culture but a majority of the females I know detest twilight. It rather depends on whom you plan to speak with.

>> No.939433

>>939405
i read "unbearable lightness of being" to impress a girl. i ended up getting a lot out of it, so the joke was on her

>> No.939436

>>938745
you know, this is what caused Fahrenheit 451.

>> No.939443

Walden, by Thoreau. I was in 10th grade, and at the time all I was reading was Stephen King. I started it with the overt goal of being smarter after finishing it, not to enjoy it for its merit. However, the writing was too dense and I couldn't mange to get through it.

I should revisit it sometime.

>> No.939449

>>939436
i read that as 'f451 became popular because people wanted to sound smart' then i lold

>> No.939460

>>939423
>>939433
I knew she liked Twilight. So I read it. Next time we were within proximity, I pulled out a Twilight reference to see if she would laugh. She did. We got into a conversation about Twilight.

it wasn't "because girls like Twilight." It was more "Because THIS girl likes twilight"

>> No.939474

>>939460
you read a book to impress a girl, you are a fucking loser, no matter the book

>> No.939475

I read a book called Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq so I could talk to a woman about it. Turns out the book got me thinking and I just got fed up of the girl and started my celibate.

>> No.939480
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939480

>>939460
Excellent reason. The mass that is my brain approves whole heartedly.

>> No.939482

>>939474
ok, but how is that so much different than >>938729 ?

>> No.939488

>>939482
>>939474
said 'impress a girl'
>>938729
said 'sound knowledgeable or sophisticated'

there is your difference

>> No.939492
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939492

>>939488
Approved.

>> No.939501

>>938980

The Divine Comedy is pretty standard reading and used in many English curriculum's for 11th/12th grade. What school did you go to?

>> No.939512

>>939488
> people around you = the girl
> sounding knowledgeable = having read Twilight
I agree that there's a difference, but what it really comes down to is deceiving people in your vicinity that you have qualities that you don't. If a girl thinks you have good taste for having read Twilight, so be it. You are sophisticated in her view. In a wider scale, something more "classical" might fit the bill.

>> No.939514

>>939008

Who is "impressed" by The Arabian Nights???

>> No.939516

>>939512
True true. We should all be bibliophiles for the simple love of reading.

>> No.939519
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939519

>If a girl thinks you have good taste for having read
Twilight, so be it. You are sophisticated in her view

that girl must be one stupid broad

>> No.939527

>sounding knowledgeable = having read Twilight

/thread

>> No.939536

>>939516
>and everyone agreed and got along well.
/thread