Archived threads in /lit/ - Literature - 4051. page

Fiction gives you heuristics and mental models to draw from in ways that don't become obvious until they're strongly and broadly sedimented in your mind. It's not an issue of being able to vulgarly model a douchebag you meet as some villain you read about, it's more like adding subtlety to your mind, to its storehouse and networks of ideas, its fundamental categories, etc.

When I think about perfectly scientific astronomy stuff, or the metaphysics of science, or far future human scenarios, I'm unconsciously turning inward and tapping into an aggregate of science fiction I read throughout my life. I don't go "this is like that time in Rendezvous with Rama!", I have just subtly put meat on the bones of a million concepts, gelled together and fleshed out ideas from more technical research without even realising it, made it all more supple and open, made the connections between ideas more elastic. Your experiences web together, and your mind expands to account for it.

Same thing goes for your personality. I could never really fundamentally understand Marxists or care about what they cared about until I met one who betrayed his interior "picture" of capitalism and capitalist processes in terms of art and literature he had read throughout his long life. I realised he fundamentally pictured these vivid images of factories, factory scenes, famous paintings of the industrial revolution, books by Dickens and so on, he could SMELL something of the factory floor when he was reading dry-ass economic articles. I felt like I had interacted with him on a deeper level than normal, I felt that something of him with lifeblood in it had passed into me as it had passed into him from a thousand sources, and it made me understand Marxists more, be more sympathetic to them. His self-individuation made me individuate myself. I didn't become a Marxist, but I feel like whatever makes us human comes closer to the surface when I talk to them now.

Lots of little things like that.

fiction gives you dope aesthetic highs, no joking, that's about it

when you're reading something real good it falls over your life like a kind of haze and everything you see is through the lens of that book
and then when you finish it stays with you forever and you can recall and rejoice in the experience of reading something you read 10 years ago
when i'm feeling down i switch on ulysses mode and see the world thru a new light

>>7863696

This, well said.
Also, helping you cultivate your own personality/charisma/ability to connect with other people. Obviously, characters in fiction can mirror characters in your life and depending on how insightful the author is, studying the characters allows you to handle real people better, imo.

>>7863285
the catechism

>>7863285
Theology for Beginners is good, reading that right now (assuming you're primarily interested in Catholic theology, which I am)

Augustine is a good option. Confessions and/or City of God.

>>7861825
wrong whats it with yo ?

>>7861834
this is /lit/, what did u expect

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>>7861834
>group of bored looking starfish.jpg

No.

>>7861699
Poop

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>Stephen, King of the plebs

The dichotomy between irony and sincerity has been weakened to the point that it doesn't exist.

Irony was all the rage in the 60s 70s and 80s with pynchon et al (barth, etc.) until david foster wallace called it out for being cold and alienating ad hollow and led the charge to put humanity and warmth back in literature. He wrote a short story that destroyed barth and then he wrote infinite jest and destroyed pynchon by showing he coukd write a gravitys rainbow type novel but have it be actually emotionally engaging not just silly and smart. Since then, writers have eschewed irony and gone more for sincerity, and thats where we're at right now. Any writer trying to do pomo irony and tricks in a post-dfw/irony world looks very belated and old fashioned in the current literocultural climate.

A return to sincerity with knowledge of irony. That's about it. It's just a collapse of the two

What are you scared about?

>>7863980
I don't know, it's just overwhelming and completely irrational dread.

If you can read this sentence, you can read a book.

>letting what is supposed to be an enjoyable pasttime make you feel fear and/or shame

>>7861199
it was the collective spirit of all creative geniuses across history working through a common vessel. just like with all the great authors.

he read a lot and since he didn't go to school he read even more to try to get on par with his peers

he had a complex about these things

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>>7861199

bump because its interesting and for the double dubs

witnessed

also, look here:

http://www1.cmc.edu/pages/faculty/welliott/Shakespeare%20Vocabulary%20Chapter%20911.pdf

The Sound and The Fury
The Bell Jar
The Book of Disquiet
Notes from the Underground

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>Arguably one of the greatest generals ever
>Champion of your queen, named prince in the HRE, family that you adore
>Cast down by your queen due to a petty female squabble
>Disgraced by your country
>condemned in your old age for perfidy and treason despite your service
>have series of strokes
>laying in bed of your castle, with all your glories crumbled and Blenheim/Malplaquet years distant
>Your wife and daughters arguing over your fortune your last memory as your eyes lose sight

Churchill's best work and I cried throughout the second volume. The last chapter of Stoner was pretty sad too.

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>>7860538
>getting emotional over Sylvia Plath: the progenitor of Tumblr poetry

I'm assuming you are talking about elementary levels since you don't specify what "math" or "science" you want to learn, and since that's the case just fucking learn it online. Or if you want to get a book then just get a normal textbook.

"Literature that makes me appreciate their beauty more" is for lazy potheads who just want to be told what math might be like and not actually learn it.

>>7858551
This sounds pretty fascinating from what my babby brain can make of it. I'm actually interested in learning STEM majorly so I can into stuff like this. Thanks man.

>>7858552
Yeah, elementary because I'm retard tier. I never went to school so my math knowledge is a patchwork. I taught myself algebra and vaguely up to precalc with aforementioned glossy textbooks, once upon a time, but have mostly forgotten everything, and I'm innately bad at math.

I can learn online or use the textbook method, but I'd rather not. I don't want some For Dummies version that makes everything popsci accessible, I just don't want textbooks that assume I'm an engineer with no time to stop and smell the roses.

His dad was (is?) a Wittgenstein scholar so I'm sure he has a pretty good understanding of his work and themes.

>>7856681
Fuck me, *had.

>>7856681
Or how to seem like he did...

you should probably read a primer or something before doing this

all leftists are hacks

>>7865429
>Even if you spend 500 man hours making a song, if I don't like it it's worthless
What made you think you were labor of a higher order?

>>7864782

My advice is 99.999% of all art is shit

if you didn't like what you saw it was shit.

Theres no "getting it".

>>7864782
What was showcased there?

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This is closest I have as to understanding of art, without the bull.

yes it is.
Hopefully.

Of course. I don't really like his philosophy but his stuff is worth checking out. Honestly if you have the time its always better to actually read something you have interest in. Unless you just want to be a meme poster like everyone here.

if you're underage.

if you're over the emotional age of 14 you will recognize it for the cliche tripe it is.

Vintage for the cover

>>7863326
Gravity's Rainbow the Penguin "deluxe" edition has some typos and shit so avoid it.

C49 is fine

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make sure to get the Penguins Deluxe edition of Gravity's Rainbow. It might be a little bit more ex(pens)ive, but it's worth it, trust me. At least if you get this edition, you won't have to ask for recom(pens)e after buying it. It's a truly indis(pens)able edition because of all the corrections in it.

easily 300 counting whatsapp texts and facebook

All of them.

Nobody reads anymore.