Is it true that one typically must write a lot of figurative garbage, before you write something of quality; something that could stand the test of time?
>>7648191
>Writing something that stands the test of time
Nearly fell for that bait
Even if you write something of quality editors are incapable of discerning whether or not it's well-written, and they'll choose a talentless hack before you to either a) fulfill their agenda, or b) posture and follow whichever trends are on the zeitgeist
Writing something that "withstands the tests of time" essentially means writing something that editors are either too scared to publish, or a story where its quality and genius go way over their heads.
anyone know what a good translation of Gilgamesh is? or alternatively have the recommended translations chart?
>translation
>a good translation
any translation? there's only a handful of people who can read Sumerian
besides, you don't read Gilgamesh for literary merits, you read it for its themes
>>7648115
well edition then
ITT: books you dropped as soon as the author mentioned the title in the text.
>>7647931
>Le edge xD
LO LI TA FRUIT OF MY LOINS
Seriously, what a fucking hack.
>>7647931
it's funny because that's the first word in the book
Book titles for a death-of-hippie-culture-dirty-70s-junkie-journalist debut novel?
unnamed procrastinator protagonist is a journalist who ends up wrapped up in all sorts of shit thanks to junkie ex he can't get over and the editor of his paper getting shot. Takes place in disgusting dirty-beach california in the mid-70s, with the hippie dream suitably dead. Just has no book title. I'm 90% done the book and really just want a title to hook people and give them some idea of the basic themes. Not looking for somethign revolutionary or that has that much to do with the book itself. Right now the books working title is "Hedonism: A love story" but that's way too edgelord, right?
>>7647542
bump
>>7647542
Love in the Kool Aid
Feeling Fine
have a character say it ironically
holy shit /lit/ I was not ready for how good this is, I'm currently on book 2 and loving it, please tell me it doesn't get bad later on.
also
>you will never be part of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence and drink with your fellow journeymen on the day of your masking
>>7646951
Its gets better, my fellow wolfe poster.
It gets even more magnificent.
Also, be prepared to not understand everything on your first read-through.
>>7646951
I still reread the first page every few months. Such a magnificent work of art.
I'm due for a full reread soon.
I'm working on a novel (surprise, surprise), but don't have any cred in the literary or publishing community. I do, however, have a few essays which I'm proud of, and figured I could use them as briefer introductions to my work and/or to build up a bit of credibility before releasing a full-length book.
What's the ideal avenue for this? Post the essays on Medium or my personal site? Send a bunch of inquiries with the essays attached to online magazines and hope that one actually reads them?
>inb4 no one will read your book and you'll die alone
>I already know that
I really really like that gif
>>7646898
i don't have any solutions for you but can i read your essays
Put your essays on your blog, spam links on /lit/
Which do you prefer: the Iliad or the Odyssey?
(inspired by my reading the Odyssey for the first time right now!)
Odyssey, personally. I found Odysseus easier to relate to: a guy going through hell to get back to the person he loves.
Also, poor Argo.
Just started the Odyssey. I bought Fitzgerald's translation as I read his Iliad, but why is 'Achaean' now 'Akhaian', and 'Olympus' now 'Olympos'?
OP here.
Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm also reading the Fagles translation, which I quite like. Newer(?) from what I understand but has anyone read the same translation/have thoughts about it?
just download this since i'm in the mood to hear about an inspirational male role model...is it a liberal hatchet job? or an honest look at one of America's greatest business icons andpresidents?
skimmed a few chapters, damn this guy fucked a lot of beauty pageant winners and models, makes bill clinton look like a fucking beta
isn't the real reason you want an inspirational role model that you want your boipussi pounded by a sweaty stud something savage?
>>7645676
this why broken familes are degenerate, ur dad is not an object of sexual desire u fuckin fag, and if ur dad hadnt abandoned u leaving u to search for father figures among any pedo who would pay u attention u'd know that, ur dad is the one guy who will pay attention to u and teach u stuff without collecting a tax on ur anus hole
I've read Mo Yan's Pow! about a year ago and i loved it. ive read The Republic of Wine and Red Sorghum since and those were great aswell.
Has anyone else read Mo Yan? i dont know what to read of his next.
Also a Chinese lit thread in general, ive heard Wang Xiaobo is good but im yet to read any of his works.
Bump. I'm anxious to get to the section on Mo Yan within one of my Anthologies. Additionally, I've been reading some more classical Chinese works alongside the more modern authors within Chinese literature and must say that it is rather refreshing when juxtaposed with the Western tradition.
I loved Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out and The Garlic Ballads but don't have anything intelligent to say about them that isn't obvious.
Anyone read "Leave me Alone" by Murong Xuecun? I thought it was very fun
Is anyone else living a desolate literary lifestyle?
About the only thing I do is read philosophy all day.
I don't know if I can keep going on this way without any approval or attention from other people and I'm otherwise alone so there's no real way out.
Will it get better or won't it? I'd like advice from expert bohemians.
Pic unrelated
>>7642927
>philosophy
>literature
If philosophy isn't making you comfortable with being alone, you're doing it wrong to be honest next of kin
is philosophy considered literature now?
ITT we write our theoretical suicide notes.
my dick is hard, they call me the bard
goodbi love friends fambly
>>>/r9k/
"I've uncovered something huge, but I think they're onto me. Will publish findings tomorrow. If I don't make it till then this is why"
It has recently come to my attention that a new publisher has acquired the rights to the Freespace license and plans to "reboot" the series, with a new developer. The fact that they have attained a few jobless stragglers from the Volition Inc. of yore does not fool me. They are trying to make a zombie out of the last unzombified thing in this world that I love. I stood by and watched as Fallout was raped to death in its asshole. I watched as everything great about it was gutted out by the meathook of Todd Howard's money-hungry dick. I watched as Diablo was taken from Blizzard North, the only Blizzard division ever to show any real talent, and turned into a faggoty World of Warcraft spinoff with terrible everything. I could even abide Matt Ward turning Warhammer 40k into D&D 4E. I can take a lot of things in this world but I can't take them ruining Freespace. This is worse than Derek Smart getting the license. Hopefully you, the reader of this missive, will understand why I had to die. I cannot exist in a world where the super cool franchise and setting of Freespace has been reduced to the kind of plebeian faggotry that now dominates blockbuster releases. The better the new Elite is, the more pleb it is. It has nothing to do with the original elite. Everything is about money now. Soon Chris Avellone will die, and Kirkbride will be committed to a mental insititution. Soon Tim Cain will get AIDS from his gay sex escapades. They already poisoned the beautiful mind of the homosexual David Gaider with a magical wig. They have taken so much from me and they won't ever stop. I know that this world isn't for me anymore. I know that this world is a place of stupid bullshit and gay retarded faggot video games that are "good" instead of being good. I know that fun is now more important than quality. I can see the signs. And so I will follow these signs into oblivion, and I invite you to join me if they speak to you as well. Goodbye, shitty world. Goodbye bad games.
What is your personal perspective on authors? Could you read a book written by an anonymous man? How much does the author influence your reading process?
Pretty much every book I have read was determined by who the author is.
>>7648669
See anon, exactly my point. Why can't the creation let free itself of it's creator and become it's own entity? Why do we oppress the book?
>>7648679
I don't particularly feel the need.
So is there actually something to this guy's writing or is he only popular because he wrote to appeal to the plebs?
There is a very definitive difference between his appeal to the masses and his intent, and there is a hidden one. One that cannot be read in a plebian reading.
>>7648492
This. It only appears to be a meme until you read him closely and understand he truly was next level.
Chances are the Shakespeare of our time is already alive and active, but he wont be known for a few more centuries.
>>7648507
*cough* Gass *cough*
What books does your girlfriend read?
Is she more patrician or less patrician than you?
I don't have one, but if I did, she would be less patrician than me. I've never met a woman with better taste in literature than me.
>>7648391
This tbhdesuwa
Yes she reads and she's more patrician but I'm catching up.
Starting Uni soon, does /lit/ have any good books that teaches you how to learn?
Disappointing /lit/
>>7648324
yes, do breath meditation to enhance you concentration [samadhi]
you can learn more, faster and better.
a short video on the jhanas
>[YouTube] What is Jhana? By Ven. Henepola Gunaratana Nayaka Maha Thera(Bhante G) (embed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lv0PFLZ12o
>[YouTube] Bhante Gunaratana (1) What is samatha-vipassana? Part 1: samatha (embed)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFOjJtEd2g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESQOi9djyaA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41NpmB2le3I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=div3NnAIoYU
and all the others videos from this series
>The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation by Henepola Gunaratana
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch1.3
>Mindfulness in plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.
http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf2/Mindfulness%20in%20Plain%20English%20Book%20Preview.pdf
for videos, watch ajhan brham
https://www.youtube.com/user/AjahnBrahmRetreats
>>7648501
Why do I feel like you are shilling?