/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.9469917]

Which book provided the most fun and enjoyable read for you?

[Anonymous No.9469929]

Armor, followed by Grendel. The latter really must be taught, on a dry run it's just kind of wacky atonal modernism with fun mythological characters.

Armor, though, is pure fucking hype in text format, aside from maybe the picnic scene which had no purpose (really most of the frame narrative has no purpose other than being fun, and that's ok)

[Anonymous No.9469932]

>>9469917

The lightbringer series by Brent weeks was my most recent fun read.

[Anonymous No.9469950]

>>9469917
American Tabloid by James Ellroy.

A number of noir books from the mid 20th century: Jim Thompson, Patrica Highsmith, David Goodis.

Charles Willeford's books are a lot of fun as well because his main characters tend to be low-life psychopaths.

[Anonymous No.9469953]

>>9469917
My Struggle vol 2

[Anonymous No.9470026]

Redwall

[Anonymous No.9470037]

The Day of the Jackal

[Anonymous No.9470043]

This book made me laugh more than any other. It also made me cry. It's long but I couldn't put it down, Barth is a genius

[Anonymous No.9470524]

Xenophon's Symposium

[Anonymous No.9470539]

Don Quijote; though his Novelas Ejemplares are just as good

[Anonymous No.9470546]

I really enjoyed reading The Savage Detectives, though reading it so compulsively caused me to become "intoxicated" by it, so sometimes the enjoyment left. But in the end it was an amazing, fun read.

[Anonymous No.9470555]

A confederacy of dunces. It's honestly like an r9k greentext in book format.

[Anonymous No.9471278]

>>9470555
not sure if want

[Anonymous No.9471283]

The Magic Mountain by Mann

[Anonymous No.9471285]

>>9469917
Weirdly Kafka - The Trial

It feels strangely reassuring that I'm not the only one who struggles with the absurdity and uncertainty of human existence. More than other related books by authors such as Camus or Sartre

[Anonymous No.9471344]

>>9469917
Robert Louis Stevenson is in the perfect sweet spot of having lots of proper literary and intellectual merit, but also being chockablock with with fun stuff like pirates, mad scientists, sword fights and sizzling gypsies.

[Anonymous No.9471349]

>>9469917
Illuminatus Trilogy

[Anonymous No.9471557]

ulysses. never had such laughs reading a book

[Anonymous No.9471606]

>>9469917
A tie between 1984 and Beowulf. Beowulf would probably win because I read it aloud like I was telling a story.

[Anonymous No.9471613]

>>9469917
I know it's a meme, but Infinite Jest. Maybe because I also played competitive tennis when younger, was 4th regionally (not very good)

[Anonymous No.9471651]

>>9471606
>1984
>fun and enjoyable
lol

[Anonymous No.9471663]

>>9471651
>Not finding the torture and abuse scenes hot

[Anonymous No.9471666]

>>9471663
found the /b/tard

[Anonymous No.9471676]

Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I grew quite fond of the characters the more I've read, the world building is phenomenal and the world itself is thoughtfully crafted, while the prose is filled with detailed descriptions, yet is always fluid and there's some clever world play in it. I even loved the songs, especially the one for Boromir and Mithrandir.

>inb4 tax memes

[Anonymous No.9471699]

>>9469917
I have a little penguin 50 page collection of Marquez stories. It's called seventeen poisoned Englishmen. The middle two stories are my two favorite short stories of all time.

[Anonymous No.9472635]

>>9469917
Sharpe Series by Bernard Cornwell.

[Anonymous No.9472644]

>>9471344
Same here
Obviously as an adult I've never felt the same joy as I did as a child, so Treasure Island will probably forever be the one.

[Anonymous No.9472650]

Some crappy YA fantasy book that I read when I was 12 yo, but that's only because back then I was not dead inside.

>>9470546
Same for me. If on a Winter's Night a Traveller was also a very enjoybale read, albeit lighter than TSD.

[Anonymous No.9472763]

>>9469929
>Grendel
+1!

Flann O'Brien
Flashman
Recently: Martin Booth: A Very Private Gentleman

[blueeyeswhiteprivilege !8aWlqIh8lo No.9473750]

>>9469917
the secret history and narcissus and goldmund are comfy af

[Anonymous No.9474166]

>>9469917
I only read books that I know I'll enjoy. I rarely finish one that I don't. My last favourite book that I read was probably The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac.

[Anonymous No.9474172]

Ulysses, Faust Part II, The Passion According To GH, that's the stuff I find fun and enjoyable.

[Anonymous No.9474228]

>>9469917
All Murakami novels and short stories and also Underground by the same.

Also David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, Number 9 Dream, and Ghostwritten.

Also Gulliver's Travels. Fucking Hilarious.

[Anonymous No.9474230]

>>9470037
I loved the film. I should read this. I need to check this used bookstore near me for it.

[Anonymous No.9474782]

>>9473750
I really liked the secret history. Is Narcissus and Goldmund similar? Or just also good

[Anonymous No.9474795]

Franny and Zooey or Tortilla Flat

[Anonymous No.9474882]

>>9470555
I can actually see Ignatius ranting on /pol/ about the benefits of monarchism.

[Anonymous No.9474886]

>>9469917
My diary desu

[Anonymous No.9476387]

age

[Anonymous No.9476425]

Animal Farm. It's super comfy, especially with all the pictures. Probably my favorite book also desu

[Anonymous No.9476435]

>>9469917
God I want to pet that cat

[Anonymous No.9476654]

>>9469917
siddhartha from hesse
just some good shit

[Anonymous No.9476699]

>>9469917

Don't think starting my own thread just for a question like that is necessary, and since the topic is about reading and pleasure gained from it, here we go:

Is it necessary to begin with The Greek to begin with the /lit/'s world ?

I don't want to read greek myths, I'd like to read some classic meme, the most famous pieces of work done and from there, find my way up to more discreet books, and maybe come back to the greek.

Is it very problematic to start with the most famous book (things like Hugo, Hemingway, Poe etc.) instead of what is advised by /lit/ ?

I want to take up reading as a hobby, is it also wrong if I begin with meme shit tier like Harry Potter (I like reading them from time to time and it could ease the setting up of the hobby) or should I man up and get my hands dirty with more "classic" books ?

[Anonymous No.9476705]

Twlight. Just saying.

[Anonymous No.9476720]

Lights Out in Wonderland by DBC Pierre. I also enjoyed the Wilt books by Tom Sharpe

[Anonymous No.9476813]

The master of the game

[Anonymous No.9476918]

I haven't read that many books yet, but I haven't smiled and chuckled to them as much as I did to this one.
Something about the characters, setting and dialogue worked for me.

The Old Man and the Sea was also comfy.

[Anonymous No.9476922]

>>9476699
Follow your heart, do what thou wilt, be yourself &c.

[Anonymous No.9476931]

>>9469917
Invisible Monsters and Rant. I'm not fucking sorry.

[Anonymous No.9476937]

mason & dixon

[Anonymous No.9476976]

The Warlord Chronicles, by Bernard Cornwell

I can read it a hundred times, I will always enjoy it as it was the first, and cry at the ending.

[Anonymous No.9476983]

>>9469917
Not "fun" so much as kind of a headache. My brain felt a little stronger after reading it.

Love reacts only, haters begone.

[Anonymous No.9478496]

The Bible

[Anonymous No.9478498]

>>9478496
lol u neva r had sex

[Anonymous No.9478516]

>>9469917
In Search of Lost Time

[Anonymous No.9478518]

>>9471676
The characters and world-building are amazing. Comfy as fuck to read before bed/10
>>9474228
Did you also read what I talk about when I talk about running? I haven't read all of his books but I found it really interesting. For him it seems as though running is an extremely integral part of his discipline and structures his day and writing. Of course there's more to it but I really like reading about an authors day-to-day and how they motivate themselves.

[Anonymous No.9478544]

This shit. Couldn't put it down, finished it in a few days. Also I never get emotional over books but this made me tear up at a couple points.

I really don't get why people read so much fiction when non fiction is just as riveting with the bonus of it being actually fucking true lol

[Anonymous No.9478552]

Oblomov, Count of Monte Cristo, Wind Up Bird Chronicle and a few parts of War & Peace

Each for different reasons but they were all really great to read and long enough to get some long sessions out of.

[Anonymous No.9478570]

>>9476699
are you 13?
Read what you want to read, if you start reading something and don't like it, just drop it and start something else.

After a while you will realise what you enjoy and will be able to branch out from that or go even more niche

[Anonymous No.9478571]

>>9469917
If a book is fun then it's not enjoyable.

[Anonymous No.9478622]

The Moon and Sixpence - W Somerset Maugham
Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles

[Anonymous No.9478640]

>>9471613
i found it very enjoyable as well, anon. i sorta miss reading it. gonna have to pick up the pale king one of these days

[Anonymous No.9478654]

the demolished man
the stars my destination
dark matter
the jeeves novels
my diary desu

[Anonymous No.9478770]

>>9469917
Rabelais's Gargantua and Pantagruel as well as Sterne's Tristram Shandy

[Anonymous No.9478807]

>>9470555
seconding this
>>9474882
my sides were gone when he calls people degenerates..

[Anonymous No.9478838]

The activity of reading Pale Fire is first-rate entertainment.

[Anonymous No.9478970]

>>9478838
I was forced to read it in high school, but a lot of it went over my head desu. That was almost 10 years ago now, I think I should revisit it

[Anonymous No.9479133]

>>9469917
recently the golden calf
ever probably a picturebook about santa town

[Anonymous No.9479143]

>>9476699
This is some nice fresh pasta

[Anonymous No.9479188]

I Am a Cat by Soseki
Tristram Shandy by Sterne
Molloy by Beckett

Those are the first three that come to mind.

>>9470539
>>9470546
>>9471283
>>9471285
>>9472763
nice. Agreed on these (especially Flann O'Brien).

>>9470043
How difficult is this book? I read Lost in the Funhouse, which was very good, but took me forever to get through (despite being only 200 pages).

[Anonymous No.9479232]

>>9479188
>I Am a Cat by Soseki
Maybe I should read it again, but it did absolutely nothing for me. I've read everything by Soseki available in translation, and loved everything except for that one and Botchan.

[Anonymous No.9479262]

american psycho
i've read it like five times and it still makes me laugh

haven't found a book since that makes me cackle in delight

guess i should try reading some of ellis other works

i don't think any of his other stuff could possibly have the same impact as psycho had on me though

[Anonymous No.9479332]

the picture of dorian gray

the amount of times i had to close the book and pick my jaw up off the floor is great

[Anonymous No.9479715]

The Count of Monte Cristo

1,400+ pages of pure hype that builds to an amazing series of like 7 back-to-back climaxes. Feels abound too, by the last page tears were streaming down my face. The absolute most fun and most satisfying book I've ever read, it's like the literary equivalent of nutting deep inside your soul mate for the sole purposes of procreation and love, fulfilling your biological imperative and achieving happiness at the same time. There's parts that drag and shit but damn, 11/10 book imo

[Anonymous No.9479718]

secret history donna tartt
fun as fuck

[Anonymous No.9479841]

Pynchon's Against the Day is a lot of fun

[Anonymous No.9479861]

Osamu Dazai's One hundred views of Mount Fuji

[Anonymous No.9479897]

>>9479715
this. but why tf didn't he kill the cunt Danglars???
that always got to me.

[Anonymous No.9479928]

The Savage Detectives and 2666(though it dragged a bit during the Crimes and Fate parts, but it rose to absolute heights with Archimboldi)
Crime and Punishment
Borges´s short stories, poems, essays, critique, interviews, hearing him talk, etc.
Stoner, even thoug it´s quite depressing, it´s avery enjoyable read

[Anonymous No.9479936]

>>9479897
I guess he got his fill of blood after the first few, no further need. He utterly wrecks absolutely everyone so he had to stop somewhere I guess. Danglars did deserve it though.

[Anonymous No.9479941]

>>9479332

seconding this, its a masterpiece

also in terms of "fun" but not really highly intellectual try Animal Farm by Orwell. Great read, although it's not challenging

[Anonymous No.9479943]

>>9472650
I absolutely loved reading Winter's Night. It's fun, weird, emotional, surprising, and by the third chapter I remember thinking "oh fuck off now" while chuckling out loud. It feels like a fun little reminder of all the things literature can achieve, even without getting super quirky.

[Anonymous No.9480017]

>>9469917

Unironically Infinite Jest.
It's just a big fat toy you can play around for ages.

[Anonymous No.9480026]

I became an avid reader like three months ago and I can't stop. I stopped watching tv and I don't spend much time on 4chan anymore.

Here's how I did it.

-Remember the average person reads like zero books a year. If you read 5 pages a day, you are 5 pages above the average person

-Don't force yourself to read. Commit to read 5 pages a day. I swear after three days you'll feel like reading more and after a month or so you should be reading 50-100 pages a day for pleasure

-Read various books at the same time. When I grab a difficult book or one that makes me sleepy I grab another and switch. This should refresh your head. Keep them thematically different. I read economics and fiction.

-It isn't a race. Reading slowly won't make you sleepy that fast. Try to acknowledge what books are for you to read fast and which aren't.

-Buy the physical copies. When you get the books from your own money you'll feel the need to read them to avoid the feel of wasting your money.

-Start with books highly discussed here so you feel motivated to discuss.

[Anonymous No.9480084]

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy

[Anonymous No.9480113]

>>9469917
Recently I read the Cossacks by Tolstoy. It was an incredibly soothing and comfortable read. The way he describes the Cossack village and its surrounding makes you feel like you are really there. I think I'm becoming a Cossackboo

[Anonymous No.9480116]

>>9480113
admit it, you just want to knout the zhids.

[Anonymous No.9480249]

For me, I found a lot of pleasure and joy in reading Don Quixote and Moby Dick. Not necessarily pleasure, but I thoroughly enjoyed Crime & Punishment too and I finished it, feeling somewhat comforted by the redemptive ending.

Hoping to come across books this year that I enjoyed like those ones.

[Anonymous No.9480296]

>>9478516
bullshit

[Anonymous No.9480334]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend

I really like comedy

[Anonymous No.9480339]

>>9469917
amsterdam stories
pedro paramo
flashman
journey to the end of the night
candide
the ego and its own

[Anonymous No.9480349]

>>9469917
>pic

2comfy4me

winter can't come soon enough

[Anonymous No.9480381]

Inside 3D Studio Max

[Anonymous No.9480387]

Venus in Furs was a surprisingly readable.

[Anonymous No.9480515]

>>9470026
M Y M A N
Y
M
A
N

[Anonymous No.9480547]

>Know nothing about Bionicles
>All I know is that they are robot alien things that wear masks
>Go to fanfiction.net
>Search Bionicle
>Go to the oldest "complete" series' that you can find
>"68 Chapters"
>Read the collective universe that some literal who has had to build from scratch for years surrounding a universe of strange alien life

[Anonymous No.9480591]

>>9469929
>Grendel
Mah nigga

[Anonymous No.9480597]

Honestly anything by Bret Easton Ellis
(Except imperial bedrooms)

[Anonymous No.9480758]

I'd have to say Azincourt by Bernard Cornwall

[Anonymous No.9480838]

>>9478552
>Count of Monte Cristo
This is my jam if I wanna re read something long, it got me through some tough times in Highschool and just reading it reminds me of those days.
>>9478654
>the stars my destination
The only time I've gotten recommended a book by /m/ and it's the only book I've loved straight from the get go and only loved more as it went on.

[Anonymous No.9480908]

Gene Wolfe's Soldier series.
The narration is almost dream-like because the unreliable narrator suffers from memory loss.
It's like a big puzzle about your favorite greek gods and mythical creatures, and at the same time grounded in the historical reality of the Greco-Persian war.

[Anonymous No.9481446]

Finnegans Wake is unironically a ton of fun to just open to a random page and read aloud from, trying to figure out the puns as you go

[Anonymous No.9481738]

>>9471676
I could not stop laughing when Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas meet back up with Merry and Pippin after chasing them for weeks on end to find them smoking.

[Anonymous No.9482262]

>>9480597
American Psycho made me want to throw up, wasn't very fun

[Anonymous No.9482269]

>>9473750
The Secret History is such a solid book

[Anonymous No.9482898]

>>9478518
No, I own it but haven't read it yet. It is the one book of his that was translated but which I still have not read. I am undisciplined, so I keep starting it and stopping :c

[Anonymous No.9484180]

>>9469917

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

Something about the American Civil War era that I find comfy as fuck.