Why do you guys hate this?
too popular desu
/lit/ hates it because they're hipsters who hate any popular literature, they think if they shun what the proles like it necessarily puts them above them
>>9041653
Because it's fantasy-pulp-by-numbers. It's been done a thousand times before, and usually better. And because the author has no discernible writing style.
Protip: don't come here hoping to validate your taste for trash.
are white people bad at magical realism or is it too deep 4 me or just a bad book
i think white people invented magical realism.....like most everything.
>>9041513
That's not a good book.
His short story collection Ellis Island is better.
>>9041513
Lol I had a Hispanic professor give us 3 essays on magical realism cause "we didn't understand it well enough"
Every literary source says his definition is wrong
Can someone explain Herman Melville to me? I read Moby Dick a while ago and was blown away, predictably, and I figured now I'd read Typee because I'd heard it was his next most acclaimed novel, and because it's interesting to see the evolution of an authors style.
However I cannot figure out what makes Typee so great, and if it's the best novel other than Moby Dick he wrote (not including his short stories or Billy Budd), how the fuck did he manage to write Moby Dick in the end? Was it his ridiculous reading of Shakespeare? His meeting with Hawthorne? Typee seems like a quaint, cheerful travel memoir bookended with an adventure story, two genres I have not read enough of to know how ahead of his time he was with them.
Maybe my copy was abridged? It's a 100 year old hardback I found in a used book store, like 210 pages long, average density of around 375 words per page, I do know that old books were more often censored if something was deemed offensive, is that what might have happened to me? Cheers lads.
Who told you Typee was good? His novels othwr than Dick were commercially successful adventure books. Moby Dick is his master piece and would have been forgotten if DH Lawrence hadn't republished it in the 1920s
After Dick ypu should read Budd. Bartlebe lves up to dick
>>9041508
I only read Moby Dick, once, as a teen. Yes, the whole thing, yes, I 'got' about eighty-ninety percent of it, including the various references to the ancient world, which I'd learned recently in history class.
The "middle-third" that is commonly derided seemed to me to be just the comfy part of the book where Ishmael is just doing details about whaling, and what daily life is like. This lets us get closer to the characters, the men and their work, and come to understand them as human beings, though obviously we are vaunting forward toward The Great Conflagration. The front and back thirds are the "plot", perhaps, while the middle third is a long piece of prose style. But then it's been a very long time.
I suddenly want to re-read it.
Like the other anon sorta-said, it's my understanding that things like Omoo and Typee were popular and well-liked at the time, while when Moby Dick came out, the reaction was a collective "meh".
>>9041508
Typee was his first work, followed by the closely related Omoo. They both sit in the halfway zone between non-fiction travel and fictionalized self narrator. Neither is among his great literary works, though they were the only two in his career for which he earned fame, respect, and money. This is like because people took him as the quaint adventurer and didn't notice the ironic social criticism he scattered throughout.
The question of how he progressed from there to Moby Dick is best answered in a combination of his reading (good biographies will mention not just shakespeare but his intense interaction with Milton - Satan/Ahab etc - and classical tragedy (in translation)) and by reading through the other novels that led into Moby Dick in which he explored more and more not just of what he'd read but of what he himself thought. Few people read them but if you're interested then it's best to go to Mardi, Redburn, and White Jacket in that order of publication.
Otherwise if you just want his next best novel go for Confidence Man - though it is very different and far denser than Moby Dick. Generally though his later shorter fiction is where he's at his finest after Moby Dick - Bartleby, Billy Budd, and Benito Cereno being the clear standouts.
what are some of the worst pieces of literature you have read?
Your dairy desuzoid-kun.
The waves. Leftist cuckolds or maybe actual girls here held it up as a masterpiece of female literature.
Dis a fucking pointing. Never wasting my time on women's "literature" again.
What is /lit/'s general consensus on Dune? Is it an enjoyable read, or is it not worth the time?
Star Wars knock off.
C-3PO mentions Spice in the first movie for fuck's sake.
>>9041364
If you think sci-fi should be about ideas (hint: yes it should) then you'll love it.
If you think sci-fi should be about mindless escapism, steer well clear.
High school tier, easy way to spot an idiot if you see someone with this book in university.
Also great for weeding out stupid cucks like >>9041392
Do you have a friend group filled with genius literary scholars and philosophers and you get together and discuss the most esoteric works of literature ideas and have disgustingly kinky gay orgies? I don't even know a single person in my neighborhood :(
I don't have friends at all. The only person I see on a daily basis is my god forsaken mother.
>>9041319
that feel has an ear now.
I read the secret history and got similar feels
>tfw will never find a circle of people like that
Where do they hang out?
1/Anonymous hacked by Russian intelligence
2/Trump elected as Russian puppet president
3/????
4/Profit
do it quick before douche Trombone starts burning books
>>9041302
>early third millenium
>books
>>9041327
well if he implements his retarded tariff ideas then you can say goodbye to your e readers and computer parts. Nearly all are manufactured in China.
Who'd win in a fencing match, Romeo or Hamlet?
Jay-Z
Lawrence of Olivier
>>9041462
Lol I know that guy.
You read it, then you just sit there thinking "Wow, this sure was fun", there's not content. You don't learn anything, you don't retain anything of value, you don't acquire new skills, you don't learn about history. It's pointless.
In fact, most fictions are 100% pointless. Eragon, SOIAF, Harry Potter, etc.
Though they are "Entertaining" after you're done, that's it. Either you just move on, or you buy the costumes, go to cons, and embrace the autism that is the fandom of really any and every fantasy series.
So, /lit/, my question to you is: Why do so many of you degenerates read Fantasy Fiction. Non-Fantasy fiction still passes, like Fahrenheit 451, and others similar (don't really know books of this genre).
God-Tier: History Books, Discipline books by Ancient Chinese/Japanese generals/warriors, Technical Books.
High-Tier: Political Books
Mid-Tier: Some Non-Fantasy Fiction
Low-Tier: None
Shit-Tier: Fantasy Fiction, Comics, Children's books.
>>9041136
>Pic Related
Good semi-technical books for beginners to Financial Markets.
>>9041136
>>9041136
Most people aren't autistic and like to spend some time entertaining themselves with an art form they enjoy.
I don't read any fantasy fiction, but I also don't read much history or weaboo shit about Japanese swords.
I read a lot of psychology and philosophy, other people might read a lot about economics or medicine or any interests other than yours.
You're not a special super disciplined genius just because you have your own pretentious views about what literature is important.
What's /lit/'s thoughts on self-publishing?
>>9041098
It's probably a lot like masturbating.
Mildly satisfying for a short time, but much better when another party is involved.
>>9041273
>one hour later
>>9041098
i dont like it
Does anyone else steal books? I took a textbook on street law from my high school (I'm 18 and dropping out soon) as well as a Steinbeck compendium. Can't remember the other few I took since it's been a while.
I am more motivated to read books I steal. It's a waste of money to purchase books, but nobody notices if you take them, so it's a win-win.
When I started reading a lot I finished the, maybe 5, books of note I had in my house and started stealing the rest.
>>9041089
I'm too much of a pussy to steal
>>9041089
>>9041089
In high school I may have five finger discounted some. Felt bad about it and bought a bunch of books from the store since then instead of Amazon.
Can I just dive into Kant's works? I have come to the point where I don't think I understand anything about the world around me anymore. I seek some answers about ethics and aesthetics. Can I just start reading Kant's second and third critique? I am working in pure mathematics and have had philosophy and logic lectures before but my general knowledge in philosophy is pretty bad outside of the greek classics.
Please help me out
>>9041053
Why don't those fuckin angels slap some demons? ffs, everyone's getting rich off the soul industry
Try Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics first.
>Can I?
No, you can't
I'm looking for some books that will help me better understand the Middle East as it is today, and specifically why the USA has close relations with Saudi Arabia and not Iran.
Any suggestions?
>>9040881
The Bible, Talmund, and Koran
And Bin Laden's Manifesto if things still aren't clear enough
>>9040881
pretty sure it's cause the saudis played ball and were happy to trade a few billion barrels of oil for road and infrastructure, while iran, being civilized, turned down the obviously shitty deal...
murica
CIA/MI6 installed a client regime in Iran in the 1950s and then there was a popular uprising in the 1970s and the CIA/MI6 responded poorly and now it's like a brown version of North Korea
I just want to take a second to talk about how The Great Gatsby is one of the worst, most dull, pedantic book I have ever read. Perhaps it would have made more sense to me had I read it decades ago when its jargon was common, but even then I find the book to be borderline doldrum. It's the story of an asshole who meets a decent guy who falls completely in love with a cunt so vapid it makes the book look like the Dissertation of Man by comparison. I don't like Gatsby either, he's an idiot that I at least sympathize to some degree, yet I find his character to be as infuriatingly dense as it is purportedly intelligent.
But the book itself is ultimately just damn boring, and while I don't think it's written poorly in a technical sense, as it makes great use of literary techniques to create believable characters and imagery, its meaning is shallow and has no right to drone on like a self important twat only to show to me how unlikable everyone in the fucking book is. It's like Keeping up with the Kardashians in book form and I couldn't force myself to be interested in it.
I do not understand why the book is held in such high regards in so many circles. It is uninteresting, surface level tripe. It only maintains any mystery at all due to depriving you of any significant information, leaving you to infer what is going on, but anyone familiar with the time period will pick up on exactly what is happening by chapter 4, leaving its shocking reveals to be as stimulating as being hit with a wet piece of bread.
>>9040870
I masturbated with a wet piece of bread before
>>9040920
>>9040870
I haven't gotten around to finishing it yet, but I feel like these characters are so far detached from God (good morals) that they have no hope of ever saving themselves from ignorance or vapidity. It's an interesting concept, imagine if you lived in a society that forced circumcision and also kept secret that foreskins exist. You wouldn't feel a need to regain anything or even at loss because you have no idea you lost anything. The book is kind of an analysis of people functioning without any sort of moral guidance, I'm sure the books later point is that humans need that guidance, or maybe it isn't.
Yo /lit/
My friends keep raving about this book, critical reviews look pretty decent, but reviews from sites like goodreads make it sound like shit. How is it?
>>9040823
>critical reviews look pretty decent
Really? I thought the prevailing informed opinion was that it was unbelievably awful.
But anyway, I'll save you some time:
"A wealthy man of Baghdad who had lost all his money, in despair, lay down to sleep and in his dream heard a voice say, ‘Verily thy fortune is in Cairo. Go thither and seek it.’ So he set out for Cairo and in that city he was mistaken for a thief, seized by the police and beaten near to death.
After three days in a cell the Chief of Police sent for him, asking ‘Whence art thou?’ ‘From Baghdad,’ the prisoner replied, ‘I saw in a dream One who said to me, “Thy fortune’s in Cairo. Go thither to it.” ’ The Police Chief laughed and said, ‘Thrice have I seen in a dream One who said to me: “There is in Baghdad a house with a jetting fountain and under it a great sum of money lieth buried. Go thither and take it.” Yet I went not for I had no faith in an idle dream, which is only the foolery of sleep.’
The poor man was given money to return home by the Police Chief, whose dream of a house with jetting fountain perfectly resembled the man’s own house in Baghdad, so when the wayfarer returned to his city he at once dug underneath the fountain in his garden, and discovered a great treasure. Thus abundant fortune is given to the Blessed when the dreamer becomes the dreamt in another’s thrice seen dream.
Shallow aphorisms floating in an "exotic" yet insipid story. The epitome of airport philosophy.
I, as a Brazilian, am compelled to dissuade you from reading this claptrap.
>>9040823
Even Brazil, his own country, doesn't take him seriously.