What should I start first? I'm usually a non-fiction reader.
>>8275461
>Fiction
>>8275461
the recognitions. throw all the other ones out.
>>8275477
middlemarch throw all the other ones out
/lit/ what are your own personal maxims that you keep in your mind when you're writing something?
Stay on point. Make every word count.
>>8275450
write well, not badly
>>8275450
I am here
If Proust could write a 7 volume novel about involuntary memory, should I write one about involuntary imagery during orgasm?
>having orgasms
>>8275416
>>should I write one
you should write a nine-volume novel. numerologically a better fit for the subject matter.
>>8275433
L O N D O N
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N
D
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>Sylvia was behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero Instyle, and to my utter stupefaction the seats were covered in fake leopard skin. The Mitsubishi Pajero (I learned from the special issue of Auto-Journal that I bought when I got home) is “one of the best recreational vehicles for handling back-country roads.” The Instyle model comes with leather upholstery, electric sunroof, back-up camera, and an 860-watt, twenty-two-speaker Rockford Acoustic audio system.
What's the deal with these weirdly specific product descriptions that seem like they're out of some car magazine?
I don't know. Michel always puts some wikipedia info on his books
he's pretty vaporwave desu
INTERVIEWER
You’ve said that you possibly had an American side to you. What is your evidence for this?
HOUELLEBECQ
I have very little proof. There’s the fact that if I lived in an American context, I think I would have chosen a Lexus, which is the best quality for the price. And more obscurely, I have a dog that I know is very popular in the United States, a Welsh Corgi. One thing I don’t share is this American obsession with large breasts. That, I must admit, leaves me cold. But a two-car garage? I want one. A fridge with one of those ice-maker things? I want one too. What appeals to them appeals to me.
Like Houellebecq, Martin's indifference to news and current affairs is matched by a compulsive interest in consumer goods.
At one point, the fictional Houellebecq tells Martin that in his "life as a consumer" he has known only three "perfect products": a pair of Paraboot shoes; a Canon computer-printer hybrid; and a "Camel Legend" parka coat.
'I loved these products, passionately. I could have spent life with them, re-buying them regularly as they wore out," he says.
In La Carte et le Territoire, we also get a glimpse of Houellebecq's ramshackle cottage near the River Shannon, a Lexus SUV, and an overgrown garden.
We are told he suffers from eczema and looks like an "old, sick tortoise"; loves charcuterie [cooked pork] and red wine; hates journalists and sunlight.
"It's true," the fictional Houellebecq says, "I derive only the feeblest sense of solidarity with the rest of the human species."
It is a fact that the real-life Houellebecq rarely appears without his beloved parka - but are the misanthropy and consumer-obsession genuine parts of his character? Or are they feigned for artistic purposes? Only his friends know for sure.
Are there any good books written in Ebonics?
What do you think?
>>8275389
Close enough batty boy. Also, Faulkner when he channels nigger.
Yes.
Check out: http://imgur.com/a/WDwyW
Vote on what book I read next http://www.strawpoll.me/10740181
>>8275327
never heard of it
>>8275327
it's 'sorceress', shitlord.
What do you feel like? I cant really vote without being informed
>>8275243
liver decease killed him.
Will to power - fred
Mars - Fritz Zorn
>Zorn laments his “unlived life”: though he apparently became successful in the eyes of the bourgeoisie (he attended university and became a teacher), his whole life was "wrong." He suffered from depression and never had friends or a girlfriend.
>there's nothing you can do about our absurd and godless universe so just b urself!
Sounds good mate
>>8275237
It must be hard not having someone tell you exactly how to live, huh?
Considering the lack of influence the average human holds over the rest of the world, this isn't particularly bad advice
How to get into Goethe?
I've got an old collection of his works, in Greek (my native language).
Is it even worth it if it's not going to be in German?
I think some of his works (poems of course, but also plays, e.g. Faust, Iphigenie auf Tauris) are best read in German but I think reading his novels in Greek could be fine if the translator is appropriately skilled.
>>8275318
Offtopic: a Greek translation is generally better than an English one? The former seems to me a lot richer, in grammar and vocabulary.
>>8275227
Read it in English and it was dank.
>reading translations
is just a meme bro
How does Homer reconcile the problem of pride and agency when fate and the will of the gods prohibit the Homerian heroes ofhaving any responsibility which is necessary for a sense of pride to emerge?
>>8275156
>fate and the will of the gods prohibit the Homerian heroes ofhaving any responsibility
This part is wrong.
>>8275170
Elaborate.
It seems to me that if fate is the driving motor of all, and if the deeds and virtues of the heroes are bestowed upon them by the grace of the gods, than how can the Homerian heroes have any pride in their actions if they are not responsible for their actions.
I had this problem when reading Homer but I am hoping someone has some interesting ideas on the matter
>>8275204
Fate does not remove your agency. Their actions were still their own. They are still responsible for their actions.
Have you chitat this kniga, /lit/?
Thoughts?
It didn't really connect with me.
>>8275114
The movie was better, I admit.
>>8275125
This.
ITT: gibberish hacks
book cover gore thread?
1. ITT plebs
1.1 The plebs that are the totality of shitposts.
1.12. The plebs who make gibberish hacks threads on this Samoan kite flying forum while outing themselves as plebs.
2. What is then to be done other than saging and reporting?
I noticed I had a lack of knowledge about books written in my lifetime so I have spent the last few months making myself less ignorant. I'll share some of my findings to people as ignorant as I was.
Feel free to also post some others worth reading.
Bartleby & Co. by Enrique Vila-Matas
A book about authors who stopped writing, who ended up preferring not to.
http://www.ndbooks.com/book/bartleby-and-company
Valeria Luiselli said he is one of her favorite authors (I'll rec her books soon)
>>8275027
Contemporary female authors with a 5-5[-5] naming scheme who are quality writers include:
- Joyce Carol Oates
- Alice Munro
- Zadie Smith
- Donna Tartt
Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish
Following a Chinese immigrant and a post-iraq war veteran, Lish comments on the current situation in America with a decent prose style, considering this is his first book.
http://www.nytyrant.com/books.html
Who are the Homer Simpson and Frank Grimes of literature or philosophy?
>>8275028
The question is easy man, Homers are basically people who everyone loves despite them being really shitty or stupid people while Grimes are the ones who worked really hard at their masterpiece, get zero recognition and go unnoticed by the public along with their faults of pointing out how stupid the works of the Homer's of literature or philosophy are.
Hemingway and Joyce
>>8275053
>I don't need to make my novels coherent, because I'M JAMES JOYCE
What are some great books about previous U.S. Presidents? I'm trying to find one on Reagan and want to read one more objective than subjective.
>>8274926
Books about american presidents or policy are uber propaganda tier. If you want to read about it regardless be sure to navigate the waters well and avoid books coming straight from the state department(do i have to mention that they won't mention this?) which will inevitable tell you how great any US president was, and if not how pressured they were, how they made the best of what they had and how they were overall good even though they might have had "some" faults. Your naive objective of finding one "more objective than subjective" - whatever that means - are therefore bound to fail unless you know what to look for.
I recommend doing due diligence and looking up his policies one by one while soberly looking up every little fact until you are convinced you AT LEAST know how you feel about /that policy/. It will still take you less time and feel better upon completion than taking X book and hoping it somehow will be "the true story".
>>8274962
I should also probably mention that Wikipedia is also controlled and regularly visited by the CIA and other three-letter-agencies, Hitler wasn't a bad person, and there /is/ a war going on for your mind. So due diligence is required also here. Stay awake. Good luck.
>>8275067
I see your point, but what does Hitler have to do with this?