Can you read when depressed? I haven't read a book in three years
>>8827784
It's not easy. I can read like one chapter of something every couple of days.
But yeah the only cure for depression is death despite what most normals say.
It sucks cause i loved reading as a kid and now its just so difficult.
I can read a couple of pages a day.
Thought?
Thot?
>>8827780
I meant *your thoughts on the book in the original post.
>>8827741
Lengthy and extremely laborious to read. Did not finish.
>Mine: The Great Gatsby
The Bible
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Raymond Chandlers detective novels about Philip Marlowe. I read them once a year.
I finished reading The Brothers Karamazov and I loved the message of being in love with life and the general positive vibe that I got after reading it. I've heard Anna Karenina is similar and I'm currently reading it, are there any other books are similar with their message?
>>8827603
>I finished reading The Brothers Karamazov
>I loved the message of being in love with life and the general positive vibe
Wow you completely missed the point of the novel
>>8827618
It's clearly a joke.
>>8827603
why is this considered YA on here?
I have no idea what it's about, but are the themes well covered or it has some kind of simple moral to it?
>>8827580
It's not, I'm pretty sure most of the people who dislike it just know it's popular and want to have great opinions.
Read it. It's fast and pretty fun.
It's aboutbirds
>>8827642
go back to r/books
it's YA. it's not bad YA, but it's not good YA either. it's thoroughly mediocre
>>8827580
It could possibly be a confusion stemming from it's accessibility. Since it isn't particularly challenging to read and understand, it must be for teenagers.
I'm back at the bookstore, reading Dante. (I've settled on Kirkpatrick's translation.) A few feet away in the poetry section there's a pretty girl looking through books as well. Not planning on striking conversation unless there's anything pertinent to say, but obviously I'm hoping something pertinent happens to say about. After a bit of time, out of nowhere, comes into the scene a guy with peroxide blonde hair. "Hey K?" "Yeah." "I'm L, nice to meet you!" They have a semiformal, first-Tinder-date half-embrace. L asks, without any pause, poor guy seems so out-of-place and awkward, "So what kind of stuff do you like to read?” "Um, weird stuff," she says. (Sounds nice to me.) "Oh cool, I like to read a lot. I'm *really* into sci-fi." She visibly makes a face. "And classics, you know, like the stuff we read in school." "Like what?" she asks. "Oh, like, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men," you know. She smiles and gently shakes her head. I know it would be inappropriate for me to put myself in the scene, to say or do something, so I don't, but at the same time I'm feeling if in any circumstance it is imperative, let alone appropriate, for me to put myself in the scene or do or say about anything, it is this. I don't do or say anything. They leave in a minute. I go back to Hell.
>>8827468
cute. you can cut most of the sentences after their conversation. just use the last 3.
>>8827468
Wow you're pathetic
>>8827468
"I go back to hell"
You cringy dweeb cunt
Looking for books focused on the criminals, like The Godfather. Does lit have any suggestions? No police/lawyer procedurals.
>>8827400
city of god by paulo lins
>>8827400
Gomorrah.
Doesen't get better than that.
>>8827400
Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member
50 Cent - From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens
These two books provided me with a lot of perspective, influence, and entertainment back when I was living in a not-so-great part of California. In addition to reading the book you posted every other week.
Anyone know good places to watch college lectures? Preferably nothing made purely as an online resource, but recordings of professors at actual universities.
>pic unrelated
>>8827132
Yale Open Courses
>>8827144
I looked at them and they didn't have much of what I was looking for (just two different courses, it appeared, under the philosophy page). Anything you know tailored toward a wider range of /lit/ subjects?
>>8827164
that Sadler guy
This isn't addressed to most people (I hope). I have been incredibly depressed for a few months and was having anxiety attacks in the middle of the day. I am somewhat better now.
I hadn't read a book properly in 3 years. Read some stuff for school but hated those books.
I had read so much about 1984. People quote it every where. To distract myself from I decided to start reading again. And holy hell I picked the wrong book to start with. I more or less know what the message is, but I wanted to experience it for myself. More paranoia and anxiety is the last thing I needed.
I did not finish the book. I stopped a few pages after the two minute hate. I felt claustrophobic, like I was being chocked. The whole thing is meant to make you uneasy and I knew that beforehand but undestimated how well that was done. I imagine the whole thing in my head like a movie playing, and It was horrible to watch him so uneasy and act so paranoid.
The mental image of the city is just kinda scary. Like I am standing in the middle of the street alone looking at a large pyramid like building, fully gray with no windows. And there is not enough colour in anything. Like a low saturated photo of that hotel in North Korea that never got completed.
It may be a good book but right now, not for me.
>>8827125
okay cool
>>8827125
Wow, you're such a disturbed soul.
Go fuck yourself.
>>8827125
Pleasr no joke go get some physciatric help youre close to clicking in to your schizophrenia
in what ways has gravity's rainbow changed the way you view the world and literature as an art form? without gushing over pynchon, it does seem to be a book of overwhelming cultural significance.
nobody wants to actually discuss literature on /lit/. they just post their fucking shelves full of childish pro-capitalist nonfiction and animal farm
>>8827089
>changed the way you view the world
it hasn't
>and literature
songs
>>8827127
try not asking a high school freshman tier question then faggot
it'd obvious you've read less than 200 books in your life
So there are people that literally just come to 4chan to use /lit/?
/lit/ is my main board, and I hop to /r9k/ and /b/ to look at hot girls when it's slow.
started on /b/ 13 years ago and pretty much use /lit/ exclusively now
>>8827084
here, mostly use reddit tbqh
I pose four questions:
Is reading a lot of literature essential to becoming a great writer?
Is writing a lot essential to becoming a great writer?
In your opinion, what is more important to a writer: spending time in post-secondary in a lit-related field, or spending time travelling or using your free time to see things?
Does the man in pic related look like a famous or at least noted author?
>>8827035
>Reading
Not necessarily, but it does help a whole lot.
>Writing
Yes. Only the most wünderkid savants can pull this off without.
>In our opinion
Whatever floats your boat.
>Dude in pic
*Shrugs*
most wannabe writers write too much and read too little
>>8827035
>yes
>yes
>either can be conducive to success
>kinda like Breece Pancake, I guess
"I am in love with [my husband] selfishly...I take selfish pleasure in it"
"If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that men have to reject.”
“To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.”
These quotes combined with Rand's atrocious writing style (please give me more bland and meaningless description) leads me to question why The Fountainhead, Objectivism, and Ayn Rand in general are well known and praised so much. She just seems to be an Anarcho-capitalist's wet dream and nothing more as her philosophy could not be successfully implemented into any modern day society. Why is she important?
>>8827001
She's not.
Now hold the L for getting triggered by a woman with no knowledge of history philosophy or lit.
>>8827001
>>8827001
Do anarcho-capitalists really believe that giving private unrestrained corporations control over every field of society and fuck nature and for profits is any better than what the corrupted governments of the world are doing now?
Dec. 10 1830
Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory
As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!
so what do you think of her /lit/
>>8826926
desu I have no idea what any of her poems mean
>>8826934
>‘Success is counted sweetest’ is one of Dickinson’s many poems on the subject of fame. Dickinson is at her aphoristic best in poems like this, where she shines a light on the complexities of human desire. Interestingly, though Dickinson did not seek publication – her father disdained Women of Letters – this poem was published (anonymously) in an anthology called A Masque of Poets. ‘Success is counted sweetest’ brings to mind the four lines of ‘Fame is a Bee’, where Dickinson points out that fame has both song and sting, but also wings. By turning her back on notoriety Dickinson may have been trying to protect her good name. Or perhaps she feared editorial input because she had already been stung.
who fits well here
Dickinson, Rilke, and _________.
A little over a month ago I made a thread asking for suggestions for novels set in each US state. The purpose of the project being to gain a fuller understanding of America and Americans. I feel like I'm seeing more and more flaws in what was an initially flawed premise, but I'll crack on just the same. I'm 1/10th of the way through, so here are my thoughts so far:
>1. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck - Oklahoma
Started with this one because I was pretty sure I'd like it, having already read and enjoyed Cannery Row. I got more or less exactly what I expected. Loved the dialogue and the characters. The shorter chapters that spoke to the wider situation were hit and miss, though the one with the title drop is a corker. I can understand the criticisms others have for it, it is not subtle and it is repetitive, but it all chimed well with my faggy socialist sensibilities. As I was nearing the end of the book I couldn't think of a good way to leave things. Obviously there could be no happily ever after but despair on top of despair wouldn't have fit either. The final image is so perfect, hopeful in spite of everything.
>2. The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler - California
As Steinbeck took me to California I figured I may as well stay for a while. I thought this was shite. Hated just about everything. There's Marlowe himself, insufferably perfect in every way. He'll outtalk anyone, he'll best all comers in hand-to-hand combat and the poor chap can't even go to sleep without annoying women trying to have sex with him. The whole cynicism angle really doesn't work when your main character is a superhero. The plot is a bit of a mess, can't say I was surprised to learn it is the result of cobbling together several short stories. The writing is so full of smarmy witticisms that every other page earned an eye-roll. I can't give it much credit for being so influential when the genre it helped carve out seems so worthless. And it's a complete dud in terms of what it can teach me about California, but that's my fault, should have picked something else.
>>8826829
>3. Sometimes a Great Notion, by Ken Kesey - Oregon
Up the West coast for what is actually a good companion piece to The Grapes of Wrath, and not just because they both have movie adaptations starring Henry Fonda. Unions and monopolies are back on the menu but this time our protagonists are a union-defying family of loggers keeping the rest of the town out of pocket. But it's the divisions within the family that kept me engrossed. The complexity of the characters was impressive, at times loathsome and relatable, admirable and pitiful. The way he uses italics and parentheses to differentiate between different narrative perspectives initially struck me as crude, but it became a strength and made for some intense sequences. A minor complaint is that we're treated to the perspectives of some characters who have almost no bearing on the plot and I can't see much in terms of their thematic relevance either. Also loses marks because it contains the word 'Kafkaesque'.
>4. Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson - Idaho
From the rivers and forests of Oregon to the mountains and lakes of Idaho, and a change of pace after 3 decidedly masculine entries. Although it only really got interesting about halfway through when the narrator and her sister started to develop as distinct characters, it ended up being a nice understated story about loneliness and alienation. Lots of small observations full of truth and some great imagery that stays with you. I think she's a very good writer, which is fortunate as she's one of only a few authors with more than one novel on my list. Looking forward to Gilead.
>5. The Virginian, by Owen Wister - Wyoming
To the plains of Wyoming for "the first true Western ever written". It's a genre I'm a fan of, but I have to say I found large parts of this very dull. Much of the novel is spent on a rather bland romance plot. It took me almost as long to get through this as it did the first four books put together. There are glimpses of the reality of the Old West, and glimpses of the myth of the Old West which is probably more important to my stated purpose. If this novel helped pave the way for others like Warlock, Lonesome Dove and Butcher's Crossing then I'm grateful for it, but it's just not all that interesting in its own right.
>>8826829
I tried to get you to read East of Eden for California dude. You should have listened.
Are you Irish at all? If you are you should read East of Eden to make up for The Big Sleep.
Overall though, you're making good progress on the meme nation.
>>8826840
I picked up a copy of East of Eden a couple of weeks ago after finishing The Grapes of Wrath, so I'll get to it at some point.
And yes I am Irish, psychic anon.