Daily reminder that compassion, not reason is the highest agency of man
>>9654266
this is what Jesus believe
"If there is an absolute truth, rationalism is not a part of that truth"
Nietzche said something like that I forgot though
proof?`
So is this the new wave of philosophy? Is anyone on /lit/ interested in this stuff?
take a hike bookfag reading is for losers
Who let the fucking /g/ into philosophy
I was reading some of Graham Harman's stuff but I quickly got derailed and into all the thinkers he's responding to and building from. So Whitehead, Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Lingis, etc.
The idea that objects have a kind of 'personal life' is novel but shallow. Or at least it doesn't hold my interest.
Am I too retarded for this book or is it just suppose to be this complicated to read?
Might be the former, I'm afraid. I was 12 or 13 when I read it and don't recall any great difficulty.
it's a favorite of 14 year olds so take a guess
>>9654187
as you evidently have comprehension difficulty: that wasn't supposed to be an actual question. You are too retarded for basic lit, senpai.
So, okay: Severian eats Thecla's cooked corpse with the gland of the alzabo, which allows him access to her memories, and this is what basically makes him HER, in a metaphysical/supernatural sense, in a way that other people can detect throughout the rest of the story.
But Vodalis, and that other chick, and everyone else in the secret dinner ate from Thecla and took the alzabo's gland too, and from our glimpses of them going forward they don't seem to have been affected by it in nearly the same way Severian was. Is this just because Severian was destined to be the Autarch, and so there is something about him that particularly lets others live again in his spirit? Is this what the Hierodules are getting at in their focus on him?
>>9654160
I don't think that anything is explicitly stated about this but it's implied that most of Vodalus' goons have performed the ritual at some point but from what we see of them none are affected as Severian is. The closest we see to this outside of the Autarch is the Alzabo, which seems to, at least to some small and deliberately self-deluding degree, sincerely think that it's acting in the interests of those it has already eaten.
We don't see enough of Vodalus and Thea to really say decisively that they aren't strongly affected by their consumption of Thecla but it does seem likely that all they got were memories, and if any personality got through it was only a shadow of who Thecla was, whereas Severian literally becomes her. Severian's miraculous powers resurrecting her spirit after her body was destroyed does seem plausible considering what else he can do but the behaviour of the Alzabo and the old Autarch suggest otherwise.
>>9654160
Severian has perfect memory. Whenever someone else eats the flesh of the dead, they can access their memories just like we might. Or maybe worse. So when Vodalus captures Severian and the Autarch, Vodalus doesn't recognize who the Autarch is. Even though he should be able to, because Thecla does. Severian remembers everything, he's the computer, in his own memory and the memories of those he absorbs. Including the memories of himself from other timelines. The reason why he is the New Sun, according to the Heirodoles, is his perfect memory. When he becomes Autarch, he can access all the memories of his predecessors, exactly, but still to summon those memories requires time. That's why he doesn't go to Yesod till after his reign and writing The Book of the New Sun.
>>9654243
>Severian has perfect memory
I thought the unreliable narrator meme meant that he didn't have perfect memory, he just sort of acts like he does.
>new york times bestseller
>explores the themes of X Y and Z
>Nobel prize
Just as meaningful desu
>bad advertising
/lit/ noob here, both in terms of the board and literature as a whole. Nearly finished this, and I just know that this book has got to be a big fat meme on this board, but I'm genuinely curious what you all think of it. I'm thoroughly enjoying it, to the point where I'd probably call it my favorite book, but considering how few of the agreed-upon classics I've read that's not a hard position to reach. Even after just a cursory first reading I get the impression that all the typography and formatting gimmicks might be more surface-level than the author wants you to think, which makes me feel as though it might not be the kind of work that ages well. It's not as though /lit/ telling me it's shit is going to make me stop enjoying it, but I'm curious if the real enthusiasts feel as though it has any substance or if it's the kind of thing you outgrow after immersing yourself in the canon a bit more.
Also just talk about the book I guess.
>>9654128
It's honestly not that big of a meme. The only threads that really come up about it are literally this kind. (Is it good?)
Nobody here really cares about it/nobody talks about it all that much.
>>9654128
It was my favorite novel until I really dug deep into pomo a few years ago. It's not longer my favorite or anywhere near that (I hadn't read much at the time) but I still think it's pretty damn good, if a little gimmicky at times. There's some legitimately well done and creative parts, and it unsettled me at times. Definitely a fun read that's deceptively light and easy.
I've seen people call it a meme because later on he throws the sentences all around the page or some shit. Other than that it's an okay book but yeah no one really cares about it
Is /lit/'s hatred of David Foster Wallace like /tv/'s hatred of Tarantino, in that he's actually a talentless hack who normies think is cool and talented; or is it like /mu/'s hatred of The Beatles, in that they're incredibly talented and influential people but the board is full of edgy contrarians?
>>9654041
He was a talented hack.
I feel sorry for people who understand culture only through these vague and pointless analogies. I feel even more sorry for people who don't understand that memes aren't literal.
He was the greatest writer who ever lived. It's nothing more than a meme
I know it's often considered a "meme book" on here, but is Infinite Jest genuinely worth reading and if so what should I read/research first? Other than Hamlet ofc
>>9654024
Just read it dude. You'll be fine. It's pretty good, and you don't need to research anything first. If you legitimately get stuck on a point, you can look it up.
>>9654024
I really don't think there's a set list of books you should read before IJ. If you want to read it, just read it. You won't gain anything from discussing whether or not to read it on an imageboard.
I personally enjoyed it. But if you're really not into maximalist novels, you're going to have a bad time.
>>9654031
This. It's worth reading if only so you can form your own opinion about it.
What is the best translation of the Odyssey? The main ones seem to be Fagles, Lattimore and Fitzgerald, which one is best for a first time reader?
>>9653997
Lattimore for the Iliad and Fitzgerald for the Odyssey. There are no alternative answers
lattimore will turn your dick soft
>>9654067
Thanks for the suggestion. Can I get it at Walmart?
I just got an email saying I won first prize in a poetry competition and that I am required to present it at an awards ceremony to collect my prize and "network" during the drinks afterwards.
I am too socially anxious to be able to do this. I just want someone else to read it. They say that if I can't come, I have to forfeit the prize and wont be acknowledged since I agreed I'd be available when I submitted my entry. I'm too shy to even accept an award for it on stage or be photographed.
What the fuck do I do? I'm thinking I should forfeit and just send the poem to a publisher since now I have proof it's good.
>>9653988
You wont have substantial proof its good if you forfeit it and the merit of your work has much to do with how you handle yourself as a client of a publisher as much as the content of your work. Furthermore, the whole point of the networking is to send your poem to a publisher as they will be among the people there they will give you their details and all that garbage. This is a fucking golden opportunity, just go and do it because what is the worst that can happen? If you go you may make mistakes or not network effectively with a publisher but that is not grounds for them retracting your award and you still have substantial proof of the quality of your work to send to publishers. If you fail you might be able to feed off your self-loathing and anxiety to create more work but you may struggle to find this type of recognition for your work again and it will eat at you and you might learn to hate your source of creativity.
>>9653988
I'll go for you pussy if I get free meal or drink or something.
>>9653988
Best case scenario: you fumble your way through the night and meet a few people in the industry, not necessarily having to talk to them or pursue them later. You get your prize and the recognition from the industry.
Worst case: you make an aspie pariah out of yourself while still keeping the money and the title.
Leave this board and never return if any one of these apply to you:
>you read any form of genre fiction
>you barely know your classics
>you tend to believe that if you like a given work, it is justified on an artistic level
>you think everyone's opinion should be accepted and respected
>you speak a single language
>you read contemporary versions of Shakespeare or Milton
>you read for the plot
>you read for entertainment
>you rarely read nonfiction
>you don't have a solid grounding in philosophy
>you don't have at least have some understanding of the Three Tragedians and Homer
>you have little to no understanding of literature outside of your cultural horizon
>you have little to no understanding of literature within your own cultural horizon
>you mostly read contemporary literature
>you believe 'the author is dead'
>you make your literary analysis proceed from ideology
>you think intricate prose is 'pretentious' and that the author 'should just get to the point'
>your rarely read poetry
>you think Rhythm and Rhyme is just useless rules and laws restricting creativity
>you have a hard time explaining why you like a given work
>you have a hard time forming structured and relevant literary criticism
>you tend to refuse to judge works for yourself, rather relying on the opinions of literary authorities
>you rarely read for more than one or two hours straight
>He's never read Gene Wolfe
>>9653744
Reminder that plebs have more money and happiness than you
Punk ass bitch
>>9653747
But they're not living the good life
What would you say his masterpiece was?
>>9653742
he didn't have one
>>9653742
Don't you actually have to finish a book to have a masterpiece?
>>9653750
this, really. I would call the castle a blueprint of a masterpiece and that's as close as he got.
why, so you can monetise it?
>>9653736
fpbp
poo hahaha poooooo. funy but stinky. hah
>my vagina when he owns a copy of Infinite Jest
>my dick when she's 3D
>tfw no gf
What the fuck is with the whole "logically operating magical systems" meme that is plaguing modern fantasy? Name of the Wind (which I'll admit has good prose), Harry Potter (which I have not read although I am planning to do so soon), things like that?
Magic is fun because it isn't logical. Why the fuck would lifting a sword out of a rock make someone a king? Why the fuck would putting on a ring make you invisible? Because they make good stories, you empirically minded FUCKS. I hope the publishers finally get wise to this slop and stop this leftist, hyper-rationalist conspiracy. Not everything is fucking science.
I can understand it so far as you want the reader to understand some aspect of the magic so it doesn't feel like an ass-pull if you resolve conflicts with magic, but I'm not into all the diagrams and shit. Leave that to videogames.
i'm sorry, are you accusing harry potter of being too realistic, because thats fucking hilarious. genre fiction readers, when will they ever learn.
There aren't diagrams in Harry Potter, it's a story about kids learning to use magic. Jesus, OP.
>Name of the Wind
No idea what this is
>modern fantasy
There's your problem.
>leftist
I don't understand why you used this word.