QTDDTOT

nigga the fagles translation basically is a prose translation, god knows it wasn't trying to be poetic

>>7586831
If like to read Pope as well

What is this shit. Why would anyone want the Iliad in prose? This was an oral tradition. You think Homer belted it out like the audio version of some John Grisham shit?

>>7586840
A story can be told in many ways.

You think homer belted it out in english?

>>7586960
A story can be told in many ways, but a translation can always be more faithful to the spirit of the original.

is Franzen worth reading?

Is the penguin edition of White Noise any good?

>>7587530
Absolutely.

>>7587539
It's probably fine

>>7587539
It's fine. I teach the book, and I own the Viking edition, but I usually tell my students to pick up a $5 Penguin paperback on the internet.

Does anyone else even still have it in print?

I wouldn't go seeking out some obscure edition for minor differences. Just get the book in the cheapest form you can. It's not like you have to be concerned with footnotes or translations. It is an English book that was initially released with no extra material. What are you possibly losing by getting a newer edition?

I wanna read some Sartre but I'm not too into philosophy, is Nausea a good place to start?

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>>7589710
Yeah, but his mainly shit.

>>7589738
thanks mate, anything I should know before I get into it?

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Can we have, like, a weekly off-topic thread?

Is there a word that basically means "mind, body, and soul"?

>>7591548
Human

Is there a word for Schaudenfreude, but turned inwards?
Like instead of finding amusement in other's misfortune, laughing at your own miserable state?

>>7591584
I'm sure there's a more accurate term but all I can come up with is spite.

>>7591584
self-deprecating?

>>7591584

masochism?

>>7591584
>>7592727

I think this is probably the closest you'll get in English, though the connotations aren't exactly the same...

Help me decide what to read next:
Skylark - Kosztolanyi
The seducers diary - Kierkegaard
Invisible Cities - Calvino
Pere Goriot - Balzac

>>7589710
Read Existentialism is a Humanism. Very short roughly 40 pages. Best outline to his ideas out there.

>>7592908
Calvino.

Couple of questions for theatre buffs: A while ago I heard about a German play called "Job" which features a parrot which both talks and explodes onstage. But the title makes it impossible to find in a search through bookstores, google, or anything. I'd like to know the author, or if someone just has a link to more info about the play that'd be good.

Also, a long while back a friend with whom I've lost touch recommended a play in which the characters keep a Bengal tiger in the bathtub. That's the only detail the guy mentioned, and again I've had no luck searching.

>>7592908

Calvino or Kosztolanyi, throw Ballsack away

Could someone recommend books/essays ABOUT art criticism (rather than consisting OF criticism)? Could be literature, film, music, or all of the above. I just want to read something about how critics' approaches to art changed over time - what conceptions of 'good' art did critics from 300 years ago have, and how do they compared to current criticism? That kinda thing.

>>7592916
>>7592943
Good choice lads, enjoying it (Calvino) already. It's relatively light which is nice after reading the karamazov brothers. The descriptions make me feel nostalgic for cities I've never been to (and don't exist).

Is there such a thing as literary fantasy? The only thing that really comes to mind is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel.

>>7593763
Gene Wolfe

>>7586822
Where do you guys get book recommendations from (excluding here) seems like all websites are pretty much terrible, they usually review only obscure non-fiction or young adult trash

>>7593791
Wikipedia? If you're into the history of literature or traditions than wikipedia provides a pretty good timeline of important works.

>>7593791
Mostly myself, I look up authors that influenced or were influenced by authors I have read and liked.
Goodreads sometimes has decent suggestions.
If I'm at a real loss I will buy a random nyrb book. Have never been disappointed by them.

i'm reading a collection of Hemingway's short stories and i'm a little puzzled by "An African Story". great story but wikipedia states that it is "From The Garden of Eden (Novel) (1986)". I haven't read that novel but it's synopsis shows me that the two likely share a main character. but what's the relationship here? does An African Story appear in full as a chapter in The Garden of Eden? Was it one of many chapters that was scrapped? Related question: how does the quality of The Garden of Eden compare to his other novels (i am wary because it was published after his death and edited without his blessings)

do you guys write outlines of what you're going to write or just freeflow?

>>7594784
outlines.

i did freeflow when i was younger and things always fell apart about halfway through. outlines help me stay on task, give me guidance when i'm losing steam (or when i have a fair amount of time between writing sessions) and make sure that i know how things are going to wrap up in the end so i know what to build toward.

>>7590277
Go back to /b/

Should I read Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book if I have no experience with literature?

Are Khaled Hosseinis books actually decent? All 3 of them seem to be ridiculously well rated on GR but I don't know. Not really interested in Afghanistan

>first time visiting /lit/
So I just got myself an ereader and I wondered where you guys pirate your books from.
I wanted to read the Discworld series and I found a pretty good torrent, but when I was halfway through The Light Fantastic I noticed it seemed to be missing a part. And sure enough, my epub/mobi version is missing a big chunk of the book. PDFs I found were fine, but I can't find a correct ebook version anywhere.
Anyone know where I could find a fixed epub (or mobi) version?

>>7595446
Read the sticky.

>>7594784
Always outlines, my man. It's good to have the structure ironed out first and then get into writing, although I know I've just free flowed writing in the past just to get myself into the proper mood and to motivate myself into writing more.

There's benefits to both but free flowing it shouldn't be how you write a novel, rather just short exercises.

Anyone know a good introductory book on airplane mechanics? Something comprehensive but accessible, not really looking for an aeronautical engineering textbook, but of course any particularly good or suitable examples of those are welcome as reccomendations also.

>>7596137
Are you interested in how a jet turbine works, or wing design for optimal lift, or propellers or materials or...?

How does /lit/ feel about Chuck Palahniuk?

Just pushed through Fight Club and discuss need.

>>7593791
Buy a guide. I have a complete, commented history of French literature. It gives a lot of references, in which order I should read them, what can I avoid and why, what is the story behind each title or what would be a nice thing to read before going in a deeper work. In addition, I got a very well-read bookshop tenant—that's why you shouldn't buy from Amazon—who often keep away books I might like. Also, never ask here.

>>7596156
I guess closest to the second - guiding principles rather than very specific mechanics, which might not have been made clear in my first question. I'm actually looking to buy it for my brother. So far it seems the obvious choice is a John Anderson book, maybe Introduction to Flight or Aircraft Performance and Design, which are used as textbooks but also apparently written in pretty plain English. Have you any experience with either?

Where should I start if I want to get into Kierkegaard's works?

>>7596766
fear and trembling, then read the bible, then read everything else he did.

>>7594784
Read Writing in general and the short story in particular

Just finishing some books on my classical literature quest.

What should I go on to, next?

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What's the best book on the presocratics?

Also, should I take notes when I read fiction? I'm reading the Iliad right now, and haven't taken any notes because I haven't really felt the need to.

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>>7593237
>yfw you realize all the sections are actually describing the same city (Venice) from different contexts and at different points in the narrator's life.

>>7596233
So you read the one book that had an objectively better movie version?

Looking for a book about the ancient Macedonian empire.

>>7597489
check out this book senpai

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13425.The_First_Philosophers

>>7597489
Second this: >>7598764


I also suggest to read Hegel's analysis of the Presocratics (in his history of philosophy) in the future.

Could someone tell me the german original of the 2 following nietzsche quotes?
and is there a genereal source for finding the original of quotes?

“All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

“Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

>>7600233
Checked my Kritische Gesamtausgabe:

>“Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

>Der Einwand, der Seitensprung, das fröhliche Misstrauen, die Spottlust sind Anzeichen der Gesundheit: alles Unbedingte gehört in die Pathologie.

Jenseits von Gut und Böse, aphorism 154

Can't find the other.

Im reading lord of the flies, currently im on 25% and im hating it ,should i drop it for Notes from the underground or it gets better?

>>7600335
It wasn't really memorable for me either, but I remember it being quite the easy read and you can probably finish it within a couple of hours, if you really hate it go ahead and drop it. Notes from the Underground is unquestionably better.

Is there any site that gives you the word count for specific books?

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Anna karenina, yes or no?

>>7600606
yes lad

>>7600335
It gets better, I felt similar but stuck with it and was quite surprised how it developed. Its such an easy read you might as continue.

>>7600606
Yes. Reread annually

>>7600335
It's a tiny book you can read in 2 or two sittings. It's a classic book for ephebes

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Does such a place exist where I don't have to pay $200 for each of my textbooks every semester?

pic related

>>7600847
Buy them used from the bookstore or people that took the class in The previous semester.
They don't change much from one edition to the next so don't worry about getting the newest edition (unless the class follows the textbook extremely close maybe)

>>7596233
he's a not very good bret easton ellis, and arguably bret easton ellis is a not very good bret easton ellis

>>7600847
Your university library, most likely.