Archived threads in /lit/ - Literature - 4819. page

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best fiction books on sadness/depression

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Are spooks the same thing as fixed ideas?

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Scruton says that he confessed to him about lusting after a member of the female sex. Scruton was a conservative, and Foucault was an absolute madman, so it's possible he was trying to slander him for philosophical purposes. But at the same time, lust for females is a reoccurring subject in Foucault''s work, and we're all probably familiar with the infamous chapter in "Ars Erotica".

One account of this is mentioned in one of Foucault's biographies. If I recall correctly, so the story goes, there was a buxom female Maoist (I believe D cup or somewhere in that size range) who was being sexually frustrated by her husband or lover, and Foucault wrote an article on her behalf that led to the girl being satisfied. Some time afterward, he saw her at a riot and told her she should liberate herself from monogamy, and well, you can guess the rest. Later, he calls on Scruton, who I believe was a bitter enemy of his at the time, to come to his house and he confesses all this to him. Scruton was disgusted, and when Foucault saw the look on his face, he said something like "you cannot possibly be attracted to me less than I am attracted to men!" From what I remember, the biographer seemed to believe this confession took place but thought Foucault was lying about it because of some weird power complex he has, which seems like a stretch to me. I don't know whether or not he actually confessed this to Scruton, but if he did, I'm inclined to believe he was telling the truth. I mean, who the fuck lies about being straight?

Another thing... I recognize this has a lot less credibility, but probably like 6 or 7 years ago, I read a post on reddit from some guy claiming to be in contact with people from Sartre's estate and supposedly they had letters or diaries backing up the claim that he thought women were intoxicating. According to him, Foucault had some weird belief that having sex with women "satiated" him in some way. I assumed this guy was lying, but the only reason I didn't totally write him off is because when I messaged him for more info, he sent me a link to a translated version of some French website where Simon de Beauvoir (1st ever female French existentialist, who supposedly rejected a marriage proposal by Sartre) claims he talked about it at a protest. This sounds like a very strange thing to do, but at the time, lusting after women wasn't viewed the same as it is today in with the left, and in particular, sex with someone from a lower age wouldn't have been viewed as harshly (see the depiction of a handjob of the bum by a female, a playful girl, in "The History of Sexuality"), so a bunch of frogs/continentals talking about this at a protest wouldn't have been that unusual given their value system.

What do you guys think? Have you heard anything about this?

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Is there any decent literary content on youtube other than lectures? Whenever I see book related stuff on youtube it is infuriating garbage like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgnmOtYsuTk

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Wow, this guy is great, I dont know why he gets ignored so much hear.
Can somebody recommend me some more pieces of African literature ?

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My mind has been absolutely butchered by TV, Internet, and vidya so I'm unable to actually read a book without getting bored and just end up blankly staring at the page lost in thought.

I've begun listening to the audiobook as I read and it really helps to keep me focused. Is there something inherently wrong with doing this? Am I not going to get the full experience out of a book by listening to audiobooks?

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Supposedly, the Quran is supposed to be really poetic, beautiful and an arabic literary masterpiece. I don't see it.

Am I just stupid? Should I learn Arabic?

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Books where the protagonist says, "fuck it" and breaks the normality of the societal grind to live free? Similar to pic related or something in the vein of Breaking Bad (but with less of an edginess maybe?).

Thanks in advance family

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Why do people take pictures of themselves reading and share it on social media? I don't think it's ever once occurred to me to stop reading my book to pull out my phone and take a selfie.

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Just gave up on this. I made it 80 pages in and thought it was a bit of garbage. I had the occasional chuckle, but overall it's just lists, not even the good, Pynchon-ey type, but just Ellis jerking off with one hand while typing out high-class catalogs with the other. Bland characters which aren't enjoyable in reality let alone a novel, clubbing with friends which reminds me of teenage benders and the occasional seeping through of his psycho-persona. I know I hadn't read any of the violent scenes, but fuck it, there should be some substance, plus I've seen the film, so I get the gist.

Overall, I felt like I wadding through mud to get through it. If it was maybe 200 pages I would've stuck with it, but fuck hanging around for another 320 pages of that shit.

So: tell me if I'm wrong, right, whatever. Opinions please.

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>started reading The Crying of Lot 49 this week
>tfw Pynchon's writing makes me feel inadequate, both as a reader and a writer
>tfw 99% of its depth goes over my head

How do you guys deal with this (assuming you do)?

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Describe your ideal reading environment -- seating, ambience, etc.

pic related, sublime hammock lifestyle

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So for the last year or so i have been wanting to read more for many reasons like expanding my vocabulary and writing skills which i need really badly, haveing more knowledge and in general feeling smarter and more confident.
Anyway i recently saw a movie called The End of the Tour which is about a interview with David Foster Wallace just after his ground breaking novel ''Infinite jest'', and it kinda pushed me into wanting to read a really good novel.

So anyway!
Can anyone give me advice out of experience? Is this a good book or is it overrated? Can i have some other recommendations ?
I literally know no one that is into reading. I mean who does these days?


I know i know, it's stupid to base something off a movie i saw. But that's how it usually is with me, i grab new hobbies by being impulsive... Sometimes if helps me and sometimes it don't.

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How the fuck did this nigga even come up with all that shit? I couldn't write one page of one of his plays in a year. It's just so fucking dense and complicated. Was he on crack the whole time or what? Shit's mad crazy.

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This is the worse piece of shit I've ever had the displeasure of reading!