Introduce me to the world of Weird Fiction /lit/. Who else would recommend besides Lovecraft?
>>9226232
Oh man, Lovecraft isn't even that weird. Here's some recomendations.
Dogwalker by Arthur Bradford- short stories about dogs, and people fucking dogs, and dog-human hybrids, and people killing dogs.
Naked Lunch by William Burroughs: Lots of gay alien sex, alien drugs and alien drug dealers. Some murder and executions as well.
1000 Days of Sodom by de Sade- Snuff, Pedophilia, Scat, etc
Cities of the Red Night by William Burroughs: Ancient cities of sex and drugs, an anarchist pirate community where a guy invents the revolver. Also cowboys.
Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino: short stories about dinosaurs, evolving molluscs and anthropomorphized planets.
>>9226232
I wish I were at home right now, reading Pynchon
I once brought Pynchon into my cubicle and read it for three straight hours.
What a life
>>9226191
How was that? Which one did you read?
That's funny because I'm reading at work now and I'd rather be here. I have more time to read here than when I'm at home because of my gf and dog craving my undivided attention.
Does 4chan read Dr Samuel Johnson? Was he the greatest literary critic of all time? Hint: he fucking was
>>9226167
I just finished reading a bunch of his essays for a personal project. I watched a short BBC biopic on him.
The man would be a rip-roaring good time a party.
He was a huge man, who probably had Tourettes, had pretty much gone blind. Probably dropped out of university because of financial issues, probably brought on by drinking. Lived with a lot of street-type paupers. Later in life, had a place with a young slave boy, an elderly blind poetess, a 'doctor' who learned medicine by hanging out at the pub frequented by medical students, and a few other friends and wacky types.
His writing is perfect, his wit sharp, and intelligence awe-inspiring.
A man for the times.
>>9226167
Since I was 14, beginning with Rasselas-- a great one for a kid to begin with. Since then I've read and annotated an old teeny 2vol Oxford Lives of the Poets, the accounts of he and Boswell's journey through the Hebrides, most every essay, everything, in short, except the play, Irene, which, maybe, I'll pick up some day. So, yes.. I've also read all Boswell, not just the life. The one expensive book I own is a large 2vol copy of the dictionary, first authorized American edition from the eleventh London. He's the soul of brevity, point, and wit when it comes to the discernment of other authors, particularly poets, in English up to his time. Only Auden perhaps approaches him in facility of expression (I love the Dyers Hand) in English English, but is a far distant second.
>>9226167
I guess that answer to your general question, is no, /lit/ does not really read Dr. Johnson.
Just started reading this
Holy shit, this is like Shakespeare in prose form
How Melville achieve this?
With ease.
By squeezing the sperm with a few buddies.
>>9226348
kys
Anyone better than this guy at brilliantly witty prose?
Native English only, please!
>no one likes fielding
figures.
>>9226042
I've always felt that Tom Jones is one of the strangest classics in English, as if something else was hovering over the surface of its pages other than (if similar to) reflected light. I'm serious. There's something odd about that book. Joseph Andrews is a romp by comparison.
>>9226101
This is a slow board. Allow some time for people to reply.
Favorite YA books?
I know /lit/ hates it, but I found the concept of a death tournament founded through forced tributes really fascinating.
>>9226062
Battle Royale?
Fiction is for children.
Thanks for the post.
Just like my cock.
>>9226187
The police have been informed.
I desperately want to read classic literature as well as works of philosophy, history, natural science, math, etc, but I'm incapable of focusing on text for more than 10 minutes.
Everyday of my childhood included 4-6 hours of Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel. I didn't know you weren't supposed to watch the commercials so I never averted my eyes during those couch-bound TV sessions that were usually accompanied by food so I also have an unhealthy relationship with eating (I'm not fat though because I exercise).
Now, as a 21 year old, I waste my free time watching Sam Harris lectures and comedian YouTube personalities while eating gobs of peanut butter with a spoon. I loathe myself every minute of it, but I can't stop because this is behavior is so habituated and lets me forget how pathetic I am. I know there's a better way to live, but I can't escape this nutty situation. It's really frustrating because I've experienced the magic of art, but I can't reach profundity with any consistency when I bog my mind down with "Richard Dawkin's 10 Reasons you're Superior to Theists".
Four months ago I got stoned and watched The Big Lebowski and the whole thing made sense. I'd seen the movie a couple times before and appreciated it as a comedy while noticing hints of deeper meaning, but this last time was totally different. It was like I saw the actual movie - all the hidden messages became visible as though I watched it while wearing the glasses from They Live. I understood everything about emasculation/control of men through the porn industry/feminism ("They're going to cut your dick off, Larry"), the representation of capitalism by Lebowski and The Dude's rejection of the system through passivism/unemployment, police as a violent arm of the state, control of individuals by ideologues via ideology, mistreatment of pederasts and the abandonment of Christianity/pedofile priests, American beta-males represented by Donny, fat angry hypermasculine ptsd-ridden Americans represented by Walter, 1991 version of Socrates represented by The Dude, the death of the father figure represented by Arthur Digby Sellers. Ultimately the film is about the "nihilists" representing American Hedonists who are driven to attack men via money/ideology/sex by the capitalists/ideologues represented by Lebowski/Maude/Treehorn. The whole thing made sense and it was beautiful, but I'll never experience anything else like it if I don't undo some of the damage of my childhood.
Can someone help me? How do I learn to read? Am I young enough to undo some of the damage my parent's incompetence has brought on me?
I'm not joking, btw. I couldn't post this without a bit of humor, don't let that take away from the fact that I really do hate myself and I'm genuinely looking help.
>>9225996
You come up with that analysis yourself? It's good stuff.
Just read
The more you get rid of social media and cut down phone usage the better
You gain intelligence from a war of attrition against ignorance. you spent years letting ignorance win. who cares if you can make up for all the lost ground...the point of reading is to gain knowledge and truth, which is of infinite value you to you
>>9226005
this. also the lit starting guide gets shat on because the books arent great but its a STARTING guide, its a good way to get reading and gain speed. Reading books that are very "obvious" like Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye and L'Estranger help you state the obvious and then take that to tougher texts
I am an undergrad at an ivy majoring in philosophy. I felt really overwhelmed by all my peers being extremely well read and intelligent. Eventually I realized the only difference between me and them is the hours they put in, not a fundamental difference
Once you get an appreciation for literature and feel better about it, start with the greeks.
>>9226019
>Start with the greeks
Good lad
Since reading literature, my appetite and need for video games has diminished completely. The time I fucking wasted on that shit-tier entertainment... Thank you for saving me.
how I envy you!
ok, ok, I relent. Congratulations OP, what an exciting journey you've just begun!
You're welcome.
>>9225899
now try sucking dick and you'll see how much of a waste reading actually is
Can any il/lit/eratis indulge me as to what the hell this is about?
Is the Middle East alive? What is The Blob? And what's the Cross of Akht all about?
do peyote and meet the weird naked arab
>>9225890
can't help you, but it sounds cool.
>>9225890
I remember discovering this when I was dicking around on amazon one day. I have no idea what it's about though.
Just finished this. Honestly I loved the stark prose and the descriptions of the desert landscape. It made me want to take a trip to the desert sometime soon. Has anyone else read this? What were your thoughts? One thing I liked was how the description of the desert changed from something open and infinite to then something almost overbearing afterthe daughter disappears. Also enjoyed the film stuff.
It was ok. Prefer his other works, but I dont think I really "got" this.
>>9226135
yeah, i can agree with that. I wasn't really sure what to make of it when i finished it. the only other one ive read is white noise and this definitely felt different. i mainly just read this because my college had it in their library and it is really short
i really need to get my shit together and do one of lone pine peak's ridges soon.
Is Scarlett O'Hara autistic?
>She loves to socialize in high society, since women simply have to follow the script and bat their eyelashes at appropriate intervals without actually contributing to the conversation
>Her best subject in school was math and she can do long calculations in her head, but she has no interest in the humanities
>She has difficulty interpreting social cues and often acts out when she can't express her feelings
>She finds it easier to talk shop with her lumber customers than to socialize with her peers
>>9225832
That depends... Do you consider critique and rejection of social trends to be a sign of autism?
If you take an academic and stick him in the middle of a frat party, or vice versa, would you realize that certain people are more acclimated to certain situations? Or are they just both autistic
>>9225883
I don't read it as her critiquing or choosing to reject anything, but an inherent lack of ability.
>Whats been posted
Banality of Evil
"La-bas" by JK Huysmans
Le Misanthrope - Molière
Thomas Ligotti- Conspiracy Against the Human Race
everything Celine wrote
The Tunnel - Sabato
Der Steppenwolf - Hesse
The Joke - Kundera
Notes from the Underground - Dostoievski
No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai
Les Fleurs du mal - Baudelaire
Schopenhauer
John Grey
Derrick Johnson
Something Happened
>>9225801
>No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai
He doesn't hate people hes just fearful and alienated which makes him unable to understand or connect with society.
Can you be a misanthrope and still not hate yourself, /lit/?
louie ferdinand celine's journey to the end of the night . set in france during ww1 .
ITT: only the most redpilling reactionary literature
see if you can track down some samuel francis
Those are some amphetamine eyes
Rediscovering Colors: A Study in Pollyanna Realism - Michael Watkins
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution - Bernard Bailyn
The Philosophy of Vacuum - Simon Saunders
Incerto - Taleb
After Godel: Platonism and Rationalism in Mathematics and Logic - Richard Tieszen
Paradoxes of Rationality and Cooperation: Prisoner's Dilemma and Newcomb's Problem - Campbell and Sowden
The Hatred of Music - Quignard
Teleology Revisited and Other Essays in the Philosophy and History of Science - Ernest Nagel
Philosophy of Probability: Contemporary Readings - Eagle
Material Constitution - Michael Rea
Holism in Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Physics - Michael Esfeld
Instantaneous Action at a Distance in Modern Physics: "Pro" and "Contra" - Pope, Osborne, Winfield
Considerations on France - Maistre
An open letter to open-minded progressives – Moldbug
Are there any books about unreciprocated love? I'm going to read White Nights by Dostoevsky but are there any others?
>>9225679
my diary tbqh
>>9225679
goethe's werther.
>>9225689
his diary