I want to get into sci-fi. Is Iain M. Banks a good start?
I'm halfway through the Consider Phlebas and I'm kind of liking it. Is the rest of the series any good? Are there any similar books/series?
If someone mentions Star Wars or Star Trek I'm gonna slap someone, be warned!
>>8110546
Don't be a fag just read Xenocide by Orson Scott Card and you'll be set for life.
Yeah I've read a few other books in that series and enjoyed them just as much. Not Excession though, I never finished that one. I was going through a rough time when I read it so maybe it deserves another shot. I think Banks said that he was inspired by the Hainish novels by Le Guin
Banks is a good popular introduction to sf. He's all about politically driven space opera, which are broad and relative areas for an audience not interested in harder sf's contemplation of ideas. The Player of Games is considered the best general introduction of his corpus, since it covers many of the themes that will reoccur in the series, as well as having efficient plot progression. Consider Phlebas is also a good place to start, and even though it's meandering and digressive (which I suppose fits the outcast protag), it happens to be relatively fast-paced for space opera, as well as striking bits, such as the destruction of a dyson ring, and a pyramidal sadist.
Use of Weapons and Excession take the series to its heights. In particular, Use of Weapons has compelling characters, and a plot structure with convergent symmetry comparable to that of fine Greek tragedy. It also addresses the philosophical implications of the futility of human nature and interfering with other planets' politics. Its two principal characters, Zakalwe and Diziet, explore this vein. Zakalwe, who has a bleak past, and seeks redemption, is paired with stealth operative, Diziet, who is a conflicted pacifist finding a balance with her military operations, and who questions the motives of her agency's meddling.
Excession is denser reading and more complex, and definitely requires knowledge of previous entries to appreciate about a third of it. It raises the stakes of The Culture's infrastructure to its highest, but I thought the climax and triumph at the end was an ass pull. I'm mentioning it to round off this post, since a good portion of Banks' fans consider it his best.
There are trippy/psychedelic novels, poetry, and non-fiction, but is there such thing as a psychedelic play?
I'm very into theatre and psychedelia, but I've never found a cross section of both.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
>>8110421
lol @ satan dick
alex grey confirmed cuck
>>8110446
>doesn't even have 666 in his trip
turn it off
Oh man I'm really having a hard time with this one, how do I read this ?
lol you are such a faggot
use your eyes
>>8109951
le epic my man, simply epic
More of these.
>>8109363
why not make this a lit humour thread
>>8109821
also dumping i guess
>>8109824
Opinions on Cormac McCarthy?
He's one of my favorite writers. I often reread his script for The Counselor and sit back in awe of how badly Ridley Scott changed it and fucked it up.
ye
I've only read No Country for Old Men. Found it tough going to be honest, great story but the writing was a bit quirky. Sentences could last for a whole page with "and" being every 5th or 6th word.
What are some good books about libertarian philosophy and individualism?
>>8108100
Das Kapital
If you were to defecate in your fist, smear it on the wall, and decipher some political philosophy from it, you'd have a more effective, realistic philosophy than Libertarianism
>ur gf sends this text
what do u do, /lit/?
I tell her she accidentally took a picture of the illuminati book and applaud her on buying catcher in the rye.
>>8107041
I'd say nice meme comma babe
>>8107041
Mirin 100% battery, also
>marry gf
>have kids and be the ultra-traditional, stoic father
I'm looking for fiction with the following themes:
Traditionalism
Natural order
Societal homogeneity over heterogeneity
Authority
Conquest
Anti-egalitarian
Nature conservation/worship (Blood and Soil)
Separatism
Any recommendations don't have to have all characteristics and feel free to recommend works that have characteristics I didn't mention but are similar to those I mentioned.
Thanks
just start with the greeks you'll be fine
>>8106115
Literally this.
>>8106115
That was a spicy mehmeh! Have some gold!
That's it. Post your poetry, and we'll comment.
http://affalencia.blogspot.pt/
>>8100760
How does it feel to pay for the wall?
>>8100803
It's portuguese, fgt.
From Portugal.
Can we discuss this masterpiece? Also highly recommend Butcher's Crossing, might even be better than Stoner imo
>>8114831
Did you check the catalog first?
Stoner threads have gone from once every other day to every six hours in the past week
I think Augustus was his greatest novel. It's the only novel I ever cried during.
It's an ok novel, not outstanding
Why does this literary masterpiece have so many haters?
a woman wrote it
>>8114790
You need to be over 18 years old to post on this site.
>>8114790
Because it's not very good to anyone who has read books that are actually good.
Is there any good prostitute related literature? I'm considering selling my virginity to a whore and want to be prepared.
APOTAAAYM
I would think there's a shitload. Maupassant's Bel Ami comes to mind if you are looking for male prostitution, and you know he had an intimate knowledge of the subject.
William T Vollmann has lots
Which H.P. Lovecraft book do I pick up? I would prefer to have a hardcopy of his complete works without any caricatures of cthulu on the front.
>>8114678
What you want is ISBN 1435140370. It's cheap too.
>>8114678
Necronomicon: The Best Weird Tales Of H.P. Lovecraft is the most complete and best bundle. It also didn't change any racist things so you can actually read the novels as the author intended it. And that all in a hard cover about the size of Infinite Jest.
As far as I know, the only affordable complete edition of Lovecraft's works (without ultra-gaudy artwork) is the second edition Barnes and Noble hardcover. Avoid the first edition because it's full of typos and other errors.
The Centipede Press 'Masters of the Weird Tale' is the GOAT Lovecraft volume but it's out of print and worth a few hundred dollarydoos.
>First act: God is vengeful and angry
>Second act: God is an omnibenevolent goody2shoes
...so what's with the retcon?
written one thousand years later probably when violence was more controlled under roman laws or whatever
The NT is Hebrew Bible fan fic
I've been seriously studying Bible as a Jew for my entire life and fuck do I hate any time Christians try to interpret "Old Testament"
>>8114591
The first act is a heavily revised history of the Jews designed to promote nationalism and cohesion amongst them.
The second act is a set of documents deemed important by the members of a cult surrounding a Jewish guru who those attached to the story and intent of the first act considered a subversive liar.
Do you think this is true?
>>8114407
I mean, the source of this picture is shitty, but to hell with authorial intent - this is to a degree true. Although the "beware" part is dumb, just write "take notice", it sounds like a veiled threat. Beware the quiet bookworm, it's not just books in his backpack.
>>8114407
Considering how much I masturbate, and how many books I read, then yes.
X D
D