I have an interest in writing and literature, but I have been out of school for a very long time and haven't read a book in forever. I am looking for a list of books that are well-written that I could read to get back into the swing of things. I'm mainly worried about my grammar and to a lesser extent vocabulary. Mainly grammar. Anything that is well-written and also bonus points for any extra stuff like good story, characterization, prose etc.
I was actually thinking of going down the checklist of the western canon and finding different versions of them and going from there. If you think that would be a good idea, it would be great if you could give some idea of where I should start and which versions and why etc.
>>9821644
Finnegans Wake
>>9821644
depends on what you mean by "good" prose.
>book is written in a language you don't know
>there are translations available in 2 languages that you do know
>no way to know which one is better
And what book would that be?
>>9821585
The Name of the Rose.
The choice is between Russian and English
>>9821586
???
name of the rose is eco's most famous work, and I've seen it in no less than 6 languages personally. where the fuck do you live?
It was there that the complete manuscripts of the writings of Homer and Plato were preserved for Western civilization.
> was destroyed during the Sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204
> had plans to be converted into a mosque in 2017
Don't bother OP. /lit/ is too cucked discuss anything like this honestly.
>>9821593
What could we even discuss? Constantinople fell like 600 years ago. If we wanted to discuss the modern conquest of Europe we would have to go to /pol/, probably cripplechan /pol/, unless you know of literature about it.
>>9821571
Consider the value of the corpus destroyed when Demonoid went under.
If Enlightenment is instantaneous but requires tremendous amounts of will-power and time, is it even possible to start without a leap of faith? Or can one fiddle with Zen?
Enlightenment is a mental state that is carefully crafted over a long period of time. If you look at pre-Sectarian Buddhism, what you realize is that the "religion" preached by Siddhartha Gautama is really more like a proto-psychology explained through the language of the Indian subcontinent, mainly Indian customs and Hindu metaphysics. Siddhartha Gautama describes what the mind is, how it causes suffering, and then advocates the solution to it through the acceptance of truth and, more importantly, the attempt to fully incorporate it into one's beliefs through meditation and the like.
The interesting thing about pre-sectarian Buddhism is that, due to its practical nature, it is very compatible with a lot of other materialist and reductionist thought from the West, and you start seeing comparisons with Heraclitus, Epictetus, etc. In other words, you don't need to fully accept the Hindu account of the life, i.e., reincarnation, to fully appreciate pre-sectarian Buddhism, which made Buddhism very appealing to Western philosophers in the modern age like Schopenhauer. But ultimately only Epictetus gets close to the type of lifestyle change advocated by Siddhartha Gautama, since without practical changes, no philosophy will improve your life.
>>9821567
yes students must have faith, or doubts, since the two words are the same.
you lose faith, you lose doubt, or like normies put it, you gain certainty when you see ''the dhamma'' which is called ''being a sotapana''.
>>9821587
I'm reading DT Suzuki atm and he clarifies the history and psychology of buddhism a lot. Also how practical it can be. Yet he maintains then Enlightenment is one timeless event and this I have trouble with. I can agree with crafting yourself, changing (or developint or whatever) but not so that after one moment you are forever without doubt. Ibn Arabi described knowing God as a constant shifting between ecstasy and anxiety. Because at first you marvel at his greatness but then despair in your own limitations. I'm much more inclined to think like the latter.
What is your favourite novel by this guy?
I've read "Sun also rises" but it was one of the most boring books ever. "Old man and the sea" was better, but still it's nothing that would hit me.
I've got a feeling that I'm missing something great, because of his fame, but I'm hesitant o start another his book.
>>9821546
The Sun Also Rises is honestly his best novel. the short story Snows of Kilimanjaro is also excellent.
He's a better short story writer than novelist. My favourite is probably Farewell to Arms.
>>9821546
A lot of authors have specific styles and thematic that would only appeal to certain types of people.
If you are not obsessed with masculinity maybe Hemingway is just not your type.
Don't expect from a book to "hit you". To appreciate a book try to understand what it tries to express, how it expresses it and how that makes it different from other books.
Art doesn't have to be specifically designed to appeal to you. Approaching a book with the mindset that it has to please you personally is not literary.
Who is America's foremost prose stylist?
Gene Wolfe.
>>9821460
Damn, Lindsay Graham is getting fat.
>>9821460
John Green.
Let's have some /fun/ around here.
>>9821429
Richard Sharpe
>>9821429
Papageno
Dale Cooper
Gregor Samsa
Why would Greg Sadler agree to this?
https://youtu.be/myNOxWnAr3A?list=PLL7wqBX30gIQXC26hESyL47cOwW_ZrYSK
>>9821411
Maybe Sadler is the man you thought he was. Find another /lit/daddy
>>9821411
>Why would Greg Sadler agree to this?
2socratic4u
>first comment
it's becoming increasingly difficult to find the will to live
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russian-man-shot-in-quarrel-over-immanuel-kant-s-philosophy-8820327.html
>The dispute occurred when two men waiting for a beer became involved in an increasingly fractious argument over the work of Kant – the author of canonical philosophical text Critique of Pure Reason – according to a police spokeswoman in Rostov-on-Don, the town where the argument broke out.
>It is not known which of Kant’s many theories was the subject of debate.
You Kant be serious!
I am still waiting for someone to explain which parts of his philosophy they had a disagreement over.
If one of them held the Fichtean interpretation of the thing-in-itself then they deserved to die for instance.
>2013
Wow, I never knew Kant was less than 5 foot tall.
Can we have a Natsume Soseki thread?
I'm reading Sanshiro at the moment, bought it the other day. The translation is a little... wonky and it can be dry and dull at times, but when it's good it's REALLY good. I especially love his descriptions of nature and the early scene whereSanshiro sees the corpse of a woman who has jumped in front of a train. I also like the characters, especially Yojiro and Haraguchi. What does /lit/ think of Natsume Soseki?
Also Japanese lit general
japs are degenerate perverts who deny christ
I've only read Kokoro but I enjoyed it greatly, also because of the characters so I suspect you might like it as well if you haven't read it already. I like the episodic look into the life of the narrator and Sensei, how each chapter is a small story builds up to the finale. I'll have to read Sanshiro next. What translation are you reading that you feel is wonky?
>>9821220
*steps on your fumi-e*
What are some pedo-core books?
Bump
>>9821055
First time away from /b/?
Why has this guy suddenly amassed such a cult following? I listened to the podcast he did with Sam Harris and he comes off as a con-man that uses ambiguity to awe the gullible. I'm baffled at what's happening with this guy
You're baffled about him and not about guys like Harris who are even more full of shit?
your blue pilled fagot
>>9821031
What he's saying isn't that complicated, dude. Harris just won't concede anything outside of his material scientism mind and gives his fans the illusion that he's hyper-rational because of it.
It's all crazy... all of this. Do you see it?
This was all a spawn of chance. This is the ultimate truth.
Why is /lit/ so pseudo-intellectual?
>>9820986
It is the simplest answer. Anything else is just a coping mechanism by your feeble biological mind. You seek purpose, and as such, create a fictional reality in which you, and your fellow species, serve one.
>>9820995
There are two obvious choices. That it is all a random coincidence, or that there is a divine order behind creation. Due to the harmony and unlikelihood of said creation, I am dubious of your conclusion.
Why do people read this shit?
I can usually gut shit writings, but this book lacks common sense, coherency and excitement.
I bet 99% among more than 2 billions of self-proclaimed Christians couldn't even make it through the first chapter of this turd
>>9820905
The first chapter is literally one page.
Go back to wherever you crawled in from, reading is not for you.
>>9820905
Write the FUNNIEST conversation you can invent
>>9820900
a nihilist and a jainist debate the value of wheel of fortune
>>9820900
Me: Bugs... lay off the carrots
him: you red pilled
her: no I am blue pilled