Is it possible to control lust?
Most great philosophical and religious literature seems to criticize lust or insist we control our lust because it leads us to use women as a means to an end.
The Bible
Stoics
Buddhists
Kant
etc
But I simply can't control my lust. I do fine for a like a day or so and then the need to have sex or masturbate is so furious I just have to do it. I'm filled with that sort of demonic energy and I'll stop at nothing. It's so easy to be full of high-minded ideals for your life and big plans for the future until nature calls. For example I think I would be less inclined to pursue a difficult, high-paying career if it weren't for the desire for beautiful women.
So is it
1) possible
2) desirable
to overcome lust?
>>8680548
Yes
Lust is natural dawg, s'all good. Literally no reason to try and kill part of yourself.
>>8680558
You learn not to shit your pants every time you just feel like it, it's not about killing shit
Are there any literary-focused podcasts?
If the hosts are likable, that's definitely a bonus.
bump th-th-there's gotta be ... one ... right?
Bumping for interest.
Wish l could help OP, but the only thing that comes to mind is In Our Time. They rarely talk about books, but when they do, it's surprisingly through given how short the episodes are.
guess i'll give u a bump too
Another on of these, I really enjoyed the recent ones. I'll start.
>an anonymous aspie discovers cars and steals a spics family
>900 page book about murder
>murder only happens around page 500
An edgy dude complains about the sun then removes kebab and goes to jail
>>8671333
How very quixotic
Share with us what you're currently writing, what you wanna write, or generally just raw ideas you've been sitting on and receive critique.
>>8671301
I've been reading a lot of prose lately. I should clarify: I've been reading a lot of good prose lately, at least what I consider to be good. Gaddis, Mutis, Faulkner (mostly A,A and his short stories), Terra Nostra, the first 100 pages of Underworld, Didion, Speedboat, Onetti, recently Henry Green (Christ, how I managed to avoid reading him for so long is painful to think of, he's so good), mostly modern stuff. I'm trying to figure out a way to write a sentence with movement, with momentum, where forward movement is created by the combination of words and action is achieved at the grammatical level. Too many novels and short stories waste time, space and words by describing what something is, what colour it is, what it looks like; but not enough writers communicate "how" something is, how it moves or changes colour in different lighting or how it is and isn't, and how that affects character.
Robbe-Grillet excelled at writing novels where he would avoid the characters altogether and then somehow still manage to communicate an effective drama; Perec and Butor as well, though emotion and intention are always the sentence's shadow.
Does anyone know, understand? Can anyone point out any more examples of good "prose poetry" they've come across?
>>8671437
Also, Americans: Elkin and McEllroy, athough there are others. Perhaps it started with Whitman, but these guys get at it pretty well though maybe their idiom, their "style" doesn't suit my taste: there's something in wanting to create a new version of an existing product, never mind originality which is a pitfall and disease. There's the cue: to become what already is but different: or, to take up God's mantle and charge, and become that secret energy hidden away behind and above clouds and beneath the waves, always aloof and unconcerned but ever vigilant.
I've had some creative block from fear of undertaking a big project at the moment as I've been trying to work on a novel so I'm trying to unblock it by working on a short story about a poacher in the style of Cynan Jones. It's coming along nicely. I recently found out that one of my stories from earlier this year is going to be in a print publication, which is reassuring as I'd had a bunch of rejections recently, I'd actually given up on waiting for a response from that particular publisher.
I'd rather not talk about the actual contents of the story because of that thing about telling people about it destroying the motivation to actually work on it.
books to read if u are ugly? (meeh that doesn't make any sense) =>any depressing book to read before ending my shitty life
>>8689045
my diary desu
Anon nothing about your appearance is as ugly as your attitude :)
>>8689077
You used that joke once, it was funny, stop it
So I started working on night shifts and have a lot of time to read books there.
Yesterday I read pic related and shit was really good.
What are other good books with a creepy vibe, good to read alone at work in the middle of night? Can be Lovecraft or anything else, I am pretty new to /lit/
>>8688768
>What are other good books with a creepy vibe, good to read alone at work in the middle of night?
my diary desu
>>8688768
the King in Yellow
Read his other tales. Also, Sandkings by George R.R. Martin
Here goes:
Hillary sat at her desk, chomping on her fifth cigar that evening. The phone rang. “Benghazi? How many? How much time do we have?” She hung up the receiver and dialed the Pentagon. “Have my team ready and the Concord prepped within the hour.”
Five minutes later, dressed in nothing but a sports bra and her tighty whities, she layed her gear out in front of her. She began methodically gearing up for her mission. Camo Pantsuit? Check. Belt and Web Harness? Check. Grenades? Check. Assault Rifle? Check. Grenade Launcher? Check. She sheathed her polycarbonate knife and tied the bandana around her forehead.
Ten minutes later, she was on the runway. In front of her was Janet Reno, demolitions expert. Sonia Sotomayer was on the mini-gun. And Pelosi? Well Pelosi was just plain crazy. But there was still one missing.
“Wheres Nader?”
Reno spit her chewing tabacco out on the floor. “Hes on the plane.”
Bill drove up in his presidential limo. “Wait! Sweetheart, don’t go! Its suicide!”
Hillary frowned and said, “I’ve got to baby.”
“Oh, Hillary!”
“Give me some sugar, Bill!” She leaned him over and kissed him deeply, leaving him breathless.
On the plane, Nader was sitting on the plane with his arms crossed. “Long time no see.”
“You cost us the election in 2000,” Hillary said.
“The system is rigged!”
“That how the game is played, Ralph. Best get used to it.”
“Why… you!” Ralph raised a hand to slap her, but Hillary caught it. She leaned him over and kissed him deeply, before dumping him on the floor, breathless.
“Lets move out! That embassy is in hell right now, and they are counting on us to get them out!”
>>8688596
(While the majority of the events at Benghazi were classified as top secret, the following transcripts have been made availible to the public)
Nader said, “We need reinforcements!” He fired his ak-47 into the crowd of technicals surrounding the embassy from the roof of the building, causing one of them to explode and send terrorist flying into the ai
Reno said, “Helicopter Evac is on its way!”
Hillary screamed, “Just hold out a little longer, I can hear the chopper on its way!”
As the rest began to evac, Nader pleaded with Hillary to come with them.
“No! I’ll hold the line here! You call in the air strike and evacuate the embassy!”
“But thats suicide!”
Hillary kissed Nader deeply. “I’ll be fine! Now go!”
Hillary grabbed Naders gun as he ran towards the helicopter. She fired into the crowd of terrorist below as they scrambled for cover. “You want some of this? Yeah! Come get some!” She unloaded her entire magazine into the technicals, causing several of them to explode, before throwing Nader’s AK to the ground and firing her under-barreled grenade launcher in rapid fire.
The helicopter began to life off as they could all hear the jet engines screaming. Hillary ran towards the helicopter as it lifted off the embassy towards the sea, the explosions from the missile airstrikes pummeling the embassy behind her. Her heart pounded as she ran and the final missile struck behind her, propelling her final jump towards the helicopter as she latched onto the rail. With one arm, she held on to the chopper while firing at terrorists beneath her, riding off into the sunset.
what do think?
SNL worthy?
Gaiz?
Is he just a meme or is his work genuinely interesting?
Both
>>8688374
>tfw can't read
Has he ever commented on Zizek or vice versa? I need to know what the two /lit/ philosophical rockstars think of one another.
Why were the greeks so fucking obsessed with happiness? Every greek philosophy school boils down to muh virtues and muh happiness and muh pleasures self-help. Why were they so decadent and egotistical?
Post-antiquity western philosophy was almost never about attaining some retarded comfy state
Genuinely curious about what else you think we should be seeking
>>8688362
I assume OP enjoys abstract philosophy that brings no conflict with the established authorities in his life and will bear no effect in his day-to-day life.
We can't all be Socrates.
Because they were anthropocentric. Also that`s because all their gods are human shaped, and the only difference between us and them is inmortality, wich is more a simbolic concept than a literal.
>sorry for my bad english
Where is the best point to start writing a story at?
I've been planning a book for a while, and I have a ton of notes about characters and the events in the world, but every time I sit down to write it I get overwhelmed with so many places to start it.
It seems natural to start it when the conflict starts, but there's so much that happens before then that makes the characters who they how and how they got to where they are. Not only am I afraid of the readers being confused and lost, but I'm also afraid of not fleshing out the characters enough.
>>8688336
First scene sets the tone, hooks the publishing agent and must keep the reader (a teenage girl) reading.
Here are a few ideas:
a) Often, teenage books will start by the end of the second act (where the characters are at their lowest points) and then have the following chapters as the explanation to how they got there. All carried as a story being told in first person by the protagonist.
b) Start with an incident that ties characters together, such as a murder of a secondary character to be investigated by the detectives in a police novel. Think about your favorite novels, movies and screenplays. Many start like this.
c) Start with the greeks.
>>8688399
>publishing agent
> (a teenage girl)
I do like writing, but I sure do hate the industry
>>8688399
Not OP but this was reassuring, because its very similar to how I've started my book.
JK Rowling (take her as you will) often uses the same trick. She gives a quick glimpse of the bad guys, or something bad happening, at the start of the story, which sets an ominous tone right off the bat, and of course, ties in with the rest of the story by the end of the novel.
Does /lit/ take notes while reading? Specifically, do you take notes when reading nonfiction, philosophy, or something where your primary goal is to learn, like the Greeks?
Bump. I all because I'm about to begin a historical reading plan, and I want to know if taking notes will be helpful or of it will just slow me down.
>>8688251
Yeah
>>8688251
Yeah. I either use sticky notes/ pencil underlines for small sections or bigger notes for family trees/ relations which I collect on the last page. I can't imagine that you would be able to remember everything just through reading without the time to collect your thoughts.
Post your latest hauls,rate other's
>>8687956
you have to go back
>>8687956
Why not read Steinbeck in english?
Does /lit/ play word games? What are your favourites?
I'm playing scrabble right now, but its fucking stupid because I dont really know how to play and we're drawing on points when he's only come up with 2 letter words the whole time ffs (I'm blue)
>>8687883
bump
>>8687883
scrabble is not a word game. the best scrabble players rely on brute force memorization and pattern recognition, and everything is just strings of letters to them. the best scrabble players are competitive in scrabble competitions in completely foreign languages.
>>8688435
if anything it's a pure STEM hobby
>But the game isn't just about words, Fatsis says: "It is a game of mathematics. It's a game of strategy, it's a game of spatial relations and board geometry. You have to have a math brain to be great at Scrabble."
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/21/424980378/winner-of-french-scrabble-title-does-not-speak-french
What is your opinion on DFW's speech This is water? I think it's really great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CrOL-ydFMI
I think its pretty nice
>>8687782
it's comfy at worst, an effective critique of ideology at best.
It's John Green-tier banality
Has anyone here submitted a manuscript to the 2017 Australian / Vogel literary award? Have you received word back yet or are you still waiting?
Shortlisted here. Just got the letter today.
I got shortlisted.
>>8687586
What's your story about m9?
>>8687587
It's sellout YA trash. Three friends manslaughter a motherfucker and go on a whirlwind adventure of self discovery lol.
Yours?