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Is he right?
>Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?
>The war that Tolkien wrote about was a war for the fate of civilization and the future of humanity, and that’s become the template. I’m not sure that it’s a good template, though. The Tolkien model led generations of fantasy writers to produce these endless series of dark lords and their evil minions who are all very ugly and wear black clothes. But the vast majority of wars throughout history are not like that.
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>>8112843
This fat fuck needs to read more history.
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This thread is better than the Ann Coulter thread currently on the front page, so here's your bump.
Yes, he is right. Tolkien wrote a fantasy with realist elements. Gurm writes realism with fantasy elements.
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>>8112877
>Gurm writes realism
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Is there anyone one /lit/ who has read a work in the original language and a translation?
When i read translations, i get the sense that the style is an 'academic' style.
How close to translations come to the original style of the work? Do they capture it pretty well, or do they render it in a style that is overly academic and alien to the original style?
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>>8112814
>How close to translations come to the original style of the work?
This is almost a meaningless question because the answer is dependent on so much: the original author, the original language, the translator, and the translator's language. You'd be better off asking about specific pairs of languages (e.g. French to English), if not specific authors.
In my experience though, I wouldn't consider any translations I've read to be "overly academic" in the slightest.
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>>8112868
But aren't most translators from a more academic background? as opposed to writers, which can be from every type of background.
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>>8112814
Ive read some of the Aeneid in latin and the whole thing in English. Generally the english translators try to reflect the original connotations, but it isnt always possible. The best versions will include annotations to inform you of such details as well as cultural significancies that dont come across initially.
Of course the Aeneid is a special case being poetry; the original flow is pretty much entorely lost in English, so reading it in Latin adds a much greater appreciation. I imagine the impact would be less for prose.
>tfw you write because you want to be loved, rather than because you love writing
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>tfw writing is the only way you can find meaning in your worthless life
>tfw writer's block
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>>8112731
>love
>>8112748
>meaning
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>>8112731
>tfw you do both
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Anyone else find his writing style awful? Like he inherited almost the same shitty style of writing as Kant and Hegel? Like his ideas aren't the problem, he just writes them in obtuse prose.
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>"prose"
since when did my property start concerning itself with spooks
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>>8112597
Wow, did not see that post coming. I'm not talking about his ideas, please take the memes to one of the other meme threads.
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>>8112588
I do, although its better than some of his other works that ive read for what its worth.
Its a style that doesnt age well and probably why he will always be kind of obscure
gather round boys, lets all share our favorite non-fiction books, ill start.
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best piece of travel literature ever written, in my opinion
really a shame he died so early
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>>8112614
well I'm retarded
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Bang bang, pow pow
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Hey /lit/ can anyone take a look at my bookshelf and tell me if I am on the path to literary life? Am I missing any essentials in my library?
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>>8112486
2/10
very poor bait apply yourself
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>>8112495
So, your assumption is that I came up with a list of books to purchase, neatly arranged them on my gestapo mamallian, and then took a pciture for bait?
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>>8112486
You should try reading more poetry and plays desu
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What's the most passionate novel you've ever read, /lit/?
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William Gaddis - Agape Agapē
Maybe it's because an angry old man is dying and writing one last banger, but it is nothing short of pure fury
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>>8112371
>reading translations
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Why does the phrase "no problem" piss off older generations so much?
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Does it?
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>>8112124
Never seen that happen.
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>>8112136
yes it really does. At least in the south where I live
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>147 pages in
should I continue?
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>>8112118
if you have to ask...
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You should finish the book and then start again
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Why did you even start?
Got meme'd?
>muh great literature
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I enjoy reading erotica more than reading literature, what is wrong with me?
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>>8112081
you need a dik in ure boipussi
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life is short, sink in hedonism
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>>8112081
deplorable
repress your base desires and pursue betterment before it's too late
>A real page turner
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>"Reads like a conflation of the Inferno, the Iliad, and Moby-Dick.....An extraordinary, breathtaking achievement."
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>the last panel
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>>8112032
"Powerful... A thrill-ride."
What are some good books on getting fit?
No Sun and Steel please. It's nonsense.
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>>8112021
All you need is the basics if you are a flabby seat potato.
Read this and get the gist of barbell lifting and the mechanics involved. Don't read too much into the dieting section. If you start lifting this way for the rest of your life every week it will change your fucking life I promise you, fuck all that spiritual mojo shit. All you need is lift.
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>>8112063
Are you speaking from experience?
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>>8112021
>>8112063
Read Murakami:what i talk about when i talk about running.
Don't do SS
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Is this book worth buying? I've never read anything by Coulter but I've seen her plug this book and she makes sense to me.
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>>8111960
>conservacuck propaganda
>worth buying
No
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>>8111960
Only if you've already read The Protocols of The Elders of Zion 600 gorillion times.
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>>8111960
Why does her face look like it was stretched downward in Photoshop?
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On simply technical terms, who is the most skilled writer in history.
doesn't need to be the best plot or write even good stories or something deep, only technique.
I'm sure it has to be some poet.
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>>8111838
I'd argue Virginia Woolf or Joyce. Even though they weren't huge fans of one another.
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>>8111838
you're acting like this isnt a completely arbitrary quality
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>>8111838
In what language? And in what time range?
What should I read next /lit/?
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Angels & Demons
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>>8111765
That's not in the pile
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>>8111771
I thought you meant a suggestion based on those.