fuck all these threads desu

what are novels/short fiction with characters who are philosophy grad students or philosophy professors? have Foucault's Pendulum so far

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>>7594535
>fuck all these threads
I love the thread-close button feature for this.

Maybe QTDDTOT could advertise the chatroom

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Authors similar to Tom Clancy? Themes I enjoy: unadulterated patriotism, fear of "others", oper8or as fuck.

>inb4 get out pleb

What's your favourite colour?

>>7594547
the roads to freedom trilogy

>>7594599
blue

>>7594566
nice gets

now get out pleb

Is the penguin edition of White Noise any good?

What does /lit/ think about Bernard Cornwell?

What are must reads relating to contemporary art theory?

>>7594630
not sure about books but I'd recommend following e-flux

>>7594618
>the roads to freedom trilogy
thank you

>>7594535
I forgot about the name of a book. I need help to remember it.

There was a missile, and a guy who can stop time. He can stop the missile from crashing and killing him by keeping time freezed, but doing so everyone else is freezed so he is alone on earth until his death.

>>7594625
sure why not

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How can I get into reading faster, but retaining all of what I read?

>>7594650
So there's no errors?

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Durer or da vinci?

>>7594599
Gold

>>7594599
Purple

What is the best Spanish edition of the brothers Karamazov?

>>7594638
Thanks, I'll check it out

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>>7594599
Blue

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Does anyone know the name of the really depressing memoirs of some random post office worker.
>If you know what im on about thank you

can you recommend me some book about death's acceptance, more specifically about detaching my human soul from my body so I don't have to feel sad when I'm killing myself
please

What's the Vaporwave of literature?

>>7594749
Tao Lin

I can't find my copy of blood meridian anywhere. I looked under my bed and in my living room but nothing.
Where is it /lit/?

>>7594749
a ransom note compiled of fashion magazine clippings

>>7594735
a real life memoir? or do you mean Bukowski's Post Office?
>>7594747
Plato's Phaedo and Epicurus' Letter to Menoeceus

>>7594760
In the bathroom, below the sink, between the sink and that cupboard

That's where I lost my copy of "Enemy Mine"

>>7594760
In your mom.

>>7594760
you gave it to a friend. oh rite you aint got no friends L O L

>>7594769
:(

>>7594651
Watch subbed anime

>>7594764
>Bukowski's Post Office
No thats not it sorry. thanks though

Why do I sometimes get annoyed when I see happy people

>>7594799
Because you wish you were that happy.

I'm writing a story about stage magicians competing. How do I create an excuse for the two competitors to act and react to each other so it feels more like a battle than a 1-round contest?

>>7594799
sexual frustration

you feel the need to put your dick in a vajay

>>7594804
Watch a rap battle

>>7594811
that kind of assumes there are multiple rounds to the battle, and to be honest, if I did that I would run out of tricks pretty fast.

It might be that this idea isn't conductive to the kind of thing I want to write

Seriously way to many useless threads on lit now

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>>7594535
I'll bite.

What is the difference, in /lit/ terms, between William Gass and William Gaddis? Both of their works are mentioned here on occasion, but one is supposed to be in the new meme trilogy, or something? I can't keep them straight.

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>>7594547
Pic related tb quite h.

Welsh, Irish, or Portuguese?

>>7594667
Davinci

>>7594599
BLUE

>>7594535
Thank you for making this thread OP

>>7594892
kek

>>7594646
shit nigga this sounds so much like something like Borges, it's just a quick guess. I don't actually remember shit, but I think the story goes along the way of a man about to get shot and before getting shot he asks God or some shit like that for mercy and God gives him a full life by making the seconds in which the bullet leaves the gun until it hits him into an eternity or a long ass time. might be wrong or crazy so don't trust me desu.

>>7594934
You're thinking of The Secret Miracle.

What's some good hypnosis porn?

No sissy/gay shit please

How can I get better at writing dialogue?

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Everybody told me though when i had a mustache i let it be too wide. do you have a grooming guide for them?

who kicked Slothrop in the boat

>>7594889
delete this

Is butters a transexual or is "she?" a real female

>>7595469
It was a dude pretending, using screen caps from a video

>>7594566
Gibson's Blue Ant series

Best translation of Brothers Karamazov?

>>7595574
Avsey

How should I start a short story? How to add more metaphors?

I don't understand fair use, but I want to write a novella about Jeff Mangum traveling backwards in time, through his dreams, to rescue Anne Frank. How likely is it that, given the remote eventuality in which I manage to complete such a manuscript, I should be sued after any publication for defamation or copyright infringement?

>>7594566
Read House to House. It's a true account of an infantry squad leader's experiences during the siege of Fallujah. It's fucking excellent and very exciting.

>>7594627
like you see, nobody cares

what books have you fapped to?

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>>7594688Colección: Clásica Maior
>Número colección: LVIII
>Traducción: Fernando Otero y Marta Sánchez-
>Nieves. Marta Rebón (Libro III)
>Encuadernación: tapa dura
>ISBN: 97884-84289210
>Páginas: 1008

this one is really good

>>7594893
there is no reason to learn any of them

Are there any good Bowie biographies out there? All of the ones on Amazon and Goodreads seem to have only okay reviews.

What are some books similar to Huxley's Point Counter Point?

>>7594599
Yellow. No, blue.

>>7594658
Not that guy, but you're usually pretty safe with Penguin, anon. It's only their edition of Gravity's Rainbow and some editions with unfavourable translations you should ignore, but for the most part they're reliable and affordable. Go for it.

>>7595726
Possibly not, the man lived a very private life. The only worthwhile memoir would be one he would've written himself if he actually ever wrote one, but of course he never did. Sorry, anon.

You're probably safe with most of the biographies but they'll only detail his professional career and probably wouldn't be much better than coffee table books.

Honestly, the best biography of him would be his actual discography.

Has the cosmological argument ever really been disproved? From what I can understand of Hume's objections, it hasn't.

I just bought the last days of Socrates. I haven't read any Plato before, this will essentially be my intro into philosophy? Do I need to read anything else before this? After I read this can I read the Republic?

>>7594561
What the fucking shit butterdicks

>>7594561
>Those fucking eyes

>>7596375
Get a book about the presocratics.

>>7594651
Same as anything and everything else, practice

I'm writing a short gay erotica piece that correlates with a much larger story. Problem is, I can't write erotica since it's mostly metaphors and I have never had any homosexual encounters to push me farther along.

Also I hope I am not coming off as too big of a pervert, seriously trying to look at this from an authors perspective.

>>7594535
I recently began an amateur study of philosophy. I started with the greeks (mostly Plato and Aristotle). Where do I go from there?

>>7596692
How long did stood by them?

>>7596755
did you*

>>7596692
Descartes

>>7596661

you can't write erotica because it wouldn't fit into the context of the larger book ? or you can't write it because you've never had a homosexual encounter?

either way, read homosexual erotica or erotica from a straight female perspective. also, just pretend you're gay - think about sex and just replace the vagina with a penis and a woman's body with a man's body. watch gay porn. stop having hangups.

>>7595709

Shogun by James Clavell

>>7594535
When will butterfly kill herself?

>>7596797
It's more like an complex excerpt to occupy people that is connected but not apart of a larger project I've been working on and off on. The main character is bisexual and he figured out his friend is not only gay but has a sudden affinity for him that eventually leads to a one night stand.

And I will. It's not necessarily the fact that I don't know what to write either, however I tend to miss typing the finer details that made my earlier works not erotic enough and overall mediocre.

>>7594535

Who is the best post-Orwell English writer?

Does anyone else get annoyed by the overly long dialogue of characters like Dmitri and Fyodor in TBK? I know it's part of their character but full pages of inane drivel wears me out.

Are Khaled Hosseinis books actually decent? All 3 of them seem to be ridiculously well rated on GR but I don't know. Not really interested in Afghanistan

How do I read? Furthermore, how do I read better?

>>7596904
ishiguro
>>7597080
shit tier
>>7597086
start with the greeks

>>7597086
Scan your eyes across text. Comprehend it's meaning. Do this often and it'll get easier.

>>7595709
snow falls on cedars

bonus points for when we did readings in class and the girl major with tiddies read "that" part

>>7597097
its*

>>7597191
Reddit**

>>7597223
Please let's refrain to carry everything toward memes.

What is the best translation of Jorge Luis Borge's work?

>>7594599
grey

When I try and use #bookz it can never connect.

I'm looking for Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples Volume I if anyone can help me

>>7597411
Cant use irc? Loser!

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Can anyone share any more charts similiar to this?

can someone dump me a bunch of "/lit/ top 100" style infographs, you know what i mean...just lists of canon books.

a friend of mine wants to start an "academic reading club" and i figured why the hell not i'm not above a bit of circlejerking

he's in charge of the /phil/ reading list and i do fiction

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>>7597469

>>7597430
Think you could get it for me and upload it to megaupload mr tech genius

>>7595455
porque?

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>>7597469

>>7597469
Literally read the sticky

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>>7597474

>>7594735
book of disquiet?

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Forewarning: I'm a 'pleb'
I'm trying to read 'The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays' but literally 90% of it is going right over my head. I mean I could sit and figure it out sentence by sentence but it would take me 500 hours to finish the damn thing.

recommendations based on naked lunch? having trouble getting out of my edgelord bubble

>>7597552
>it would take me 500 hours to finish the damn thing.
seems the way to go for this one really

>>7594599
Evergreen

>>7597568
i liked the syntax, political humor and surrealism :)

How do i kill a demon?

Why did Harvard Classics give an entire volume to The Wealth of Nations but only publish the first part of Leviathan?

What's the best book on the presocratics?

Also, should I take notes when I read fiction? I'm reading the Iliad right now, and haven't taken any notes because I haven't really felt the need to.

>>7597604
forgive him

does anyone have the excerpt from that sexual piece where the husband shits on his wife's chest and she remarks that "it's so stinky"

>>7597680
>>7597680
Not sure about the best, but Russells history of western philososphy does a great job with them

>>7596790
nope man
recently i've made inroads towards accepting personal failure
like not even in the distant past, but truly doing something and accepting if it is shit

i guess i would encourage you to do the same. read it, let it wash over you. let yourself understand the failure, don't ignore it. but also feel the distance between you and it (which is your discomfort) and know that this distance is yours also.

Which one do I read first? The Illiad or the Oddyssey?

And is there any prerequisite reading I should have done to understand them? I already have a good understanding of Greek mythology, and basic knowledge of Greek culture and history.

>>7598327
Illiad first, then Odyssey. Also, heads up because they are quoted in the Dialogues of Plato; so you may want to read those afterwards.

Does anyone have a PDF of Child of God?

Is the meme trilogy itself... a meme?

>>7594535
Does /lit/ ever write or read greentext stories? I was considering writing an elaborate adventure story. If not, where is original fiction welcome on 4chan?

how long does it usually take for the downloads to start downloading upon request on #bookz?

>>7596802
Mah nigga

>>7598467
Instantly

>>7598493
Well, shit

Can we have a weekly off topic thread?

>>7598327

Dude read the odyssee first, the illiad is heavy and indigest mostly.
I'm pretty sure homer was paid to put some people name/descendants, you will see 1/3 part of the book like this: is name was ... commander of the army of... who was born in the year... married to... inventor of... (imagine 3 page like this) and son of... who was the precedent heroes of... married to
.. (3 page again) who was the son of... (yeah here we go again) i'm exagerating but mostly its a really big part of the book every character or side character get is own fucking biography and genealogy three, for mostly no purpose.

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Can someone explain post modernism?

>>7598540
no

>>7598540
Postmodernism is what happens after modernism is no longer modern.

>>7598540
post-modernism is simply the state of affairs in our advanced capitalist society.

literally "after modernity"

modernity being the period of inquiry stretching from Descartes to Wittgenstein

>>7594535
In what order should I read the greek tragedies?

>>7595709
Lolita

>>7594747
Staring at the sun by Yalom is not too bad

>>7596904
DFW

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Is The Three Musketeers worth reading? Or the rest of the series for that matter? Are they any good?

>>7594535
Does anyone have the /lit/ essential Christian Mysticism chart? Had some good recommendations on there.

For those who have read 'John Billy' from DFW's Girl with Curious Hair, what the fuck is going on at the end. Why does an otherwise grounded/'realistic' story suddenly have the characters floating and buzzards pushing up against the window and all the other crazy shit. It feels like forced surrealism. Pls respond, I've just finished it and I'm upset.

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>>7598899
Not exaclty 'Mysticism' but related.

What are some good books on evolutionary psychology?

Any books that deal with sexual frustration and ressentiment against women?

1. Whats a good method to improve my logic and reasoning? Im getting into philosophy, but i want to make sure Im not missing anything.

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How do I start with pic related? I've read Job and liked it, but don't want to read it cover to cover in fear of getting bored by the more anecdotical/historical parts. Some anon a few years ago posted reviews of a few books (parts of the Bible) in a thread I happened to be in, but I forgot which ones.

So which parts are the best/worth reading?

>>7599504
Just read it all.

Need suggestions for books that deal with a character who finds it increasingly hard to tolerate being among people. It is exasperating, mentally exhausting, anxiety inducing, panic causing and nerve-wracking amid all the conscious awkwardness.

The protagonist increasingly dwells on loathing himself for his pathetic and despicably mediocre nature and his failure to be normal and have a well adjusted social life. People (specially women) don't acknowledge his existence apart from momentarily pausing to judge or remark on his creepy, confidence-lacking. pathetic nature.

The protagonist constantly wishes he die in a horrific accident because that way he won't feel the guilt of killing himself while a part of his family is still alive to mourn. He fantasizes of dying or being killed in several ways several times every day because that will help him end the wretched joke of his despicable existence which can be expressed as a sequence of failures at being a desirable human being. The protagonist feels crushing sadness periodically which goes unnoticed by anyone and everyone around him including his family. He feels at an utter loss of how to deal with these periodic surges of devastating sadness and melancholy that further feed his desire to die a brutal death because maybe the brutality of the death will absolve him of his wretchedness, failures and shortcomings.

The protagonist constantly attempts to be indifferent and nonchalant about the lives of those around him but periodically succumbs to intense bouts of jealousy and ressentiment during which he internally imagines horrible things happening to all those successful, beautiful and socially well adjusted peers. Then he eventually calms down and after reflection realizes that those horrible things should occur to him instead of the beautiful people around him.

The protagonist simply does not kill himself out of the fear of botching it up and the anguish that it might cause to one or two close relatives. The protagonist isn't impoverished or doesn't face any financial hardship but still is trapped in a spiral of loneliness, guilt, pessimism, anguish, sadness, loathing and disgust at the self. The protagonist detests being seen or witnessed/seen/heard by any human apart from his immediate family and constantly attempts to avoids people despite being drawn to their happy lives. At this point he just wants to conveniently end the ugliness and finds respite in a bit of literature that keeps him company and draws his mind away from the torment and anguish. However, he realizes that it isn't enough and eventually the growing misery will become too much for him to handle at which point he will quit.

>>7594535
I wanted to start reading, but I don't know where to find books. Is there some sort of online library where you can read books?

>>7594646
Sounds like a Twilight Zone episode.

>>7599413
My struggle Knausgård
Anything by August Strindberg

>>7598540
it's a catchall for the vague culture of suspicion/anxiety/critique that succeeded modernism postwar

everything became very pessimistic, self-referential, self-conscious, aware of its own self-consciousness, aware of its own lack of meaning, etc.

>>7599551
Bookzz.org
Gutenburg
Mit.classics
Sacred-texts

>>7597253
norman di giovanni is often considered the best and if you google him you can see that he worked closely with borges and such. all his stuff is available in older editions (i think) but borges' young succubus wife booted him out of the publishing rights when she inherited the estate. at least some of his stuff is very easy to find online and you can compare it with the modern translator to see if you care all that much about him. personally i didn't see enough of a difference to bother about it.

>>7596692
read all of plato and the major works of aristotle then
http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/
in order

then 19th/20th cent are easy enough, just use wikipedia

then backtrack for "minor" ones that you missed

>>7594651
stimulants
it's really all about focus

>>7599504
You're supposed to go in order.

>>7599679

I honestly like D.A.Y's translations better (I can't remember his name, only the initials) than Di Giovanni's...

>>7598540
Every fucking thread this same fucking question

Anyone know the name of a 90's YA book about a young boy whose lost his parents and is raised in the wild west by Natives. I think he carries a hatchet although it has no bearing to the YA novels "Hatchet"

>>7598540
Thebookchemist does a good job.

>>7598540
ironic

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Are Everyman's Library Classics decent editions of classic works generally? There's a sale on them at my local bookstore, but I don't want to drop precious £ on shite tbqhw/ufamily.

What are some actual shortcuts to being a better writer?

>>7599969
They use old translations

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How do I read faster? I read at the pace of a 12 year old but I really enjoy reading.

>>7600206
If you enjoy reading why would you want to read faster?

>>7600212
I dont have the time to read as much as I do and im like retarded slow. Im not looking to speed read, just improve my rate of reading. I know about not visualizing the words internally and using a line as a guide but it doesnt seem to help.

>>7599969

They're great books. High quality material and pretty to look at. In regards to translations, the majority of translated works I've got from Everyman are Russian authors. They use Maude for Tolstoy, which is arguably the best translation, and P&V for Gogol, which is actually one of the few instances I've encountered where P&V works.

I'm not entirely sure what translator they used for Borges, but it definitely works very well.

So yeah, Everyman's is a very solid choice. If they're on sale, I'd definitely say go for it.

>>7600219
Read more

>>7600219

>I know about not visualizing the words internally

I'm not entirely sure we're on the same page here, but why would you want to avoid that?

Savour it man. People who speed-read are like people who speed-fuck, it makes no sense.

If you really want to read more, cut back on the chans. It's a terrible waste of life and precious time. The time you spent shitposting just now could have been spent reading.

is Anne Frank´s diary a good read ?

>>7600224
Posting from phone at work, meant to say vocalizing. But yeah you're probably right, just need to make the time.

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what SPANISH translations (+ critical work, if possible) of Plato, Sophocles, and the rest of the greek gang should I look for? basically want to get everything in this list but I can only find Hamilton's locally, and Amazon is not an option

>>7594561
My question was 'where is butterfly?'

Then again, I thought butterfly never used a trip

>>7598624
Outstanding stories for the young. I'd say if you're posting here you're probably past the window where they will affect you, but they're good stories, and you should probably experience them.

>>7594535
I need a few examples of reluctantly obedient figures in literature, ie who know what they're doing is awful but continue anyways without questioning whoever gave them the orders.

Is there any site that shows the word counts of books?

>>7599504
start at the beginning and read. It will take you a year at a moderate pace. Just swallow it. When you're done reading it, continue reading it occasionally. Revisit books. There is no tl;dr. Every book of the bible has been extensively referenced in literature and thought and you should be actively familiar with it. It's the most important book in our language.

>>7600206
Read more. Don't worry about speed. If you want to read faster read an easier book.

>>7600521
Page count x250 is the usual rule isn't it?

Is DFW living proof that it's impossible to be completely, genuinely satisfied in a heterosexual relationship?

Is the book Villains by Necessity any good?

>>7600559
I did a quick ebook word count to physical copy pages comparison, x250 seems pretty accurate.

>>7594651
>but retaining all of what I read

read what interests you

>>7595078
write dialogues
talk to people
write dialogues
listen to other people talk
write dialogues
read books
write dialogues
watch movies
write dialogues
edit dialogues
write dialogues

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>>7595709
50 shades

>>7600714
>Orgasm! Another one!

>>7594535
I want to read the old Greek plays. Let's say I want to start with Aeschylus. What are the best translations of his work?

>>7594566
Now on the topic of Clancy. Which of his books do I start with for first time readers of his work?

>>7595078
read a lot of plays

>>7597779

Sounds like a classic!

>>7594804
Oh shit dude, look up some videos of Carnatic music with mridangam and tablas battling

I'm on vacation in India right now and saw a live performance last nightt, shit is mind blowing

>>7597411
#ebooks is better

>>7601648
I have the Lattimore and Grene Chicago Press translations. They are nice.

Someone PLEAse explain metaphysics to me. Imagine you are explaining it to a toddler.
I literally can't pluck a simple explanation from any definition i read. Maybe (probably) I am stupid. ANyway. Please help

>>7594599
i don't have one because i'm not 8 years old

>>7600613
>Foucault

huh?

How to find the balance between purple and stale prose?

Rec me lit that is (directly or indirectly) concerned with the passage of seasons. It's a motif I really enjoy.

>>7601919
use metaphors but just don't take the piss mate.

>>7601892
bump

is having an ereader worth it and if so which one?

How useful is Goodreads if I do my best to avoid all the pleb stuff on the site?

what's the best translation of Nietzche?

>>7602714
Absolutely, and Kindle Paperwhite.

>>7602728
Useful for what? The only thing I do on that site is enter books I've finished and give them a rating. It's nice to see all your reads at once.

>>7602741
Useful in terms of recs and learning something new about the books I read.

>>7602741
>Kindle Paperwhite.
how is book availability on this and how easy is it to pirate books?

>>7595612
The worst you could get sued for is using someone's likiness. If you're not steal song lyrics or whatever then you should be fine. I say go for it.

>>7602755
>how is book availability on this and how easy is it to pirate books?
You can find pretty much everything easily. Sometimes you have to convert stuff which takes less than 5 seconds per book.

>>7602793
from pdf to epub?

>>7602821
That's a bit more difficult but most books come in better formats like epub, mobi, azwf. While calibre can convert pdf, it's recommended to first use k2pdfopt, then put the file into calibre for better results.

>>7602843
okay, thank you for the information.

Am I a pleb if I hate Pynchon's tangential writing style that inflates the book and makes the story unnecessarily hard to follow?

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What are some things to do that can objectively increase the quality of your writing?

>>7602916
Be really knowledgeable about a subject, write about it.

>>7602916
Learn English grammar inside and out.

The first thing I see when I read anything is how many dumbass mistakes they make. It sort of instantly says "this nigga ain't never gonna be famous" when they don't know basic fucking English.

>>7602755
Got a paperwhite for Christmas and I'm really loving it, and I'm one of those 'I just love the feel of a real book yknow?' type cunts. If you're a moralfag then the book selection is decent, you'll probably have trouble finding some of the more obscure stuff though. Otherwise all you have to do is get your ebooks by whatever method you like online, download calibre and convert your collection to Mobi, as that's what kindle reads best. Calibre is pretty much iTunes but for ebooks and your kindle

Recommend me my next book /lit/
I'm interested in dystopian sci-fi, politics, (basic) philosophy.

Recently read; brave new world, crime and punishment, anna karenina, 1984.

Currently hesitating between Philip K. Dick's Do androids dream of electric sheep because I absolutely loved blade runner, and anything by Asimov.
No idea of what asimov to go for though.

Also, heard good things about Dune, but im not sure I'd choose it over aforementioned books.

what do, /lit/ ?

>>7603396
You are not really interested in philosophy are you

The>>7603396
Have you read We? It's a Russian dystopian novel

>>7603406
Ill look into it, thanks anon.

>>7603403
I don't know how my interest in philosophy compares to the average /lit/izen, so in order to prevent coming off as philistine I added the "(basic)".

Anyone know of literary fiction that deals with infertility?

>>7594794
Actually this

>>7594667
Leonardo.

>>7603432
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

>>7599504
Start with Genesis.
Keep going from there.

>>7600609
It is possible, you need to eliminate the pathological need for love. Chicks strive for the love of the dude itself which is pointless because you can never truly possess emotion of someone. The only thing worth doing is to appreciate her beauty and seek enlightenment in your own body

>>7600249
pls respond

Best translation for Andrei Bely's Petersburg?

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Just saw this thread after making my own thread for this question: do any /lit/izens use Smashwords for self-publishing or even buying reading material?

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Which translation for the Epic of Gilgamesh is best?

I would go check the archive but that's sadly not possible anymore

WHY is the Stranger so revered?

Why is the Iliad good?

Why does this board hate all British literature from the 19th century?

Why are Chandler, Carver, Roth, Mailer, Miller, Lawrence, Wharton, Forester, Bellow, Heller, and Capote ignored by this board?

how do I thicken the plot in my novel
at the moment I'm writing a really shitty romance novel at the moment. And I'm finding it tough to add differing levels of plot, because for the duration of the book, the two lovers are seperated and are restricted to communicating through letters.
To be honest, I'm not that far into the book and am already considering scrapping it.

>>7594535
How the fuck do I find a "voice" to write with?

Great writers like Delilo and McCarthy and Faulkner always have such distinct, interesting voices, even if they write in the third person but I can't seem to find one no matter which perspective I'm writing from. It either sounds forced if I TRY to have a voice and if I don't try and just let myself write without thinking too much it's either boring prose or just generic high school sounding shit. This is my biggest barrier because I always like the plots I come up with but I always end up raping them when I try to actually hammer them out because my prose is so shitty and never gets any better

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>>7604819
I don't know shit about writing novels but if I was tasked with thickening the plot in a romance in which the couple is separated I would introduce temptations that drive them apart, so that the physical distance is mirrored by an emotional distance until the ending at which they unite both physically (unite reaaally close with each other) and emotionally.

Temptations could take the form of other characters and/or mundane things like "As a favor to Jane I never ate ice cream but now that I'm far away in Shanghai I can eat all the ice cream I want!"
Ice cream could also be alcoholism that the lonely man struggles with in a far away land where he is removed from friends, family and loved ones and surrounded by Chinese people or whatever

I also think it would be important to introduce subplots that don't have anything to do with the romance, at least not on their surface.
E.g. what are the backstabbing chinks doing and how is the character troubled by the triads and all the opium addicts running about? That could all feed into the romance when he meets another woman during that shenanigans but I don't think it has to
Also you could spend time going into why they are separated in the first place, you wouldn't have to reveal that at the beginning but sort of unveil what happening as you go along and maybe have the characters referring to some stuff in their letters that the reader doesn't yet know about

>but why do they stay together?
Because they are in love and true love conquers everything :^)
-the end

All in all I would look how other romances thicken their plot so you can steal from those and to try to come up with some ideas that you can implement in different ways, at least try to turn your novel into something that you don't think is garbage, it feels good to finish something even if you have to revise it a lot
You'll make it

>>7604862
thanks a lot lad, I really love the idea of temptation, and I think I found the perfect way to bring it into the overall plot.
It's amazing how sometimes hearing something obvious from another person makes it seem all the more genius.
have a good day

Why do some people strongly recommend the NRSV over the NABRE when the translations are very similar?

>>7604936
typically it is a distinction in organisation.
iirc NABRE is the only bible cleared for use in the United States, whereas NRSV I believe is more likely to be used by other denominations (if they're not using KJV).
However, if you're not living in the US, I would have absolutely no idea at all for why someone would promote one heavily over the other.

Does anyone else feel like a /lit/ general could be a good idea? Sort of similar to a 'questions that don't deserve their own thread' thread - it'd just be a place for us to chat, ask some basic questions about what we're currently reading, etc.

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>>7605117
you mean like our own board or something?

Postmodern books that mix low and high culture?

>>7605148
V.

>>7605157
Thank you.

>>7605157
V. sucks.

>>7605170
It's basically just a 500-page intro to Gravity's Rainbow but fuck you, it's worth reading.

>>7605172
pynchon is worthless, really. no discernible talent. a facsimile of a reasonable author. current age claptrap. will not be missed.

is it possible to display more than 11 faborites on your Goodreads page?

Have you ever masturbated to a book ?

>>7605216
Savage Detectives

>>7605216
oh yes, many

>>7605216
I've jizzed a couple of books by accident :(

>>7604821
I think it's something that comes through practice and stealing things that you like authors doing from the works that you read.

I'm in the same boat as you.

>>7604731
>>7604755
Bumping for these two

>>7603129
Are there any good books on this?

>>7605216
An Anthology of Erotic Prose by Derek Parker (highly recommended)
The Amorous Exploits of a Young Rake-Hell by Guillaume Apollinaire (not so highly recommended)
The Sexual Life of Catherine M.

>>7598540
read the introduction to Zygmunt Bauman's Intimations of Post-modernity.

>>7598539
the Iliad would have been read out loud to the early Greeks at various times, and the names are there to allow individual Greeks to see their ancestors and make the connection of their family line, or so I hear.

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>>7597680
I recommend Robin Waterfield's "The First Philosophers". I haven't read that many though.

also image-related.

>>7597590
Rabelais.

>>7596692
My approach was to read what interested me - I started off intending to read a selection of major works, and I read almost all of Plato and then I started skipping around. Now I wish I had skipped around to start with, reading all that Plato was most likely a waste of time, I've hardly revisited it and I don't think about it much anymore. Unless you're specifically interested in History of Philosophy then sticking to "major works" is if anything a handicap.

Why is nobody on /lit/ ever satisfied or impressed with anything anyone ever submits?

Critique threads used to be my favorite threads on here but I got sick of everyone to be impressed

Anyone got any recommendations on the nature of consciousness and individuality?

I've been reading Descartes and Gilbert Ryle, but I'm interested if there are any other recommendations

>>7600231
no

rly

just leave it at that

>>7594535
How do I read more?

Have you ever seen in writing, when two people say the same thing, it quoted like ""this""?

Is this in any way grammatically correct?

>>7600613
society would be better off without Barthes, Beauvoir, García Lorca and especially, especially Keynes.

>>7606333
because really good authors don't usually come to lit

>>7606797
Honestly doesn't matter. Doesn't seem like it would make it more readable though, which is the goal of punctuation.

>>7594717
who is this cute boy?

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>>7598616
>Lolita

>>7606716
Hegel, but he might require from you some previous philosophical depth.

>>7600538
Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is arguably the most important book in the English language.

Any books on how to overcome social anxiety? No, just getting outside doesn't work. Today, I was paired with two cute girls in a physics class who had no clue about excel which the whole lab required... After we finished and got a perfect grade, one of them told me I should join their group for every lab. I don't think I said anything and regretted it immediately after. I'm way too old to still have this problem.

>>7607041
That sounds more like autism, m8

>>7607079
I've always been afraid of this but I've never been diagnosed.

They've always put me on SSRI's for depression and social anxiety. They once gave me a script of xanax but I told the doctor I didn't want it next appointment because I noticed negative effects on my cognition like I would forget I had clothes in the dryer and stupid shit like that. I'm on no medication now but I don't frequently go to routine doctor visits.

They couldn't possibly want to just use me for a good grade though, right? ;(

>>7599528
Read Filth by Irvine Welsh

>>7607114
Who cares. Let them use you for good grades. Look down their shrit the whole time

Is basic knowledge of the bible enough for me to read and understand The Divine Comedy? Also are there any books I should read before starting it?

>>7607114
do a lab with them next time and see how it goes. maybe take some amphetamines if you're looking for drug solutions.

I have SA and adderall kills it, I get a lot of confidence from stims.

>>7607171
You're right. That makes it worth it.

>>7607201
I may try that. As of now, I have no connection to adderall.

>>7607226
You could also try cruising on a low dose of test

Any help in getting The Divine Comedy in italian with Gustave Dore illustrations, without commentaries - just the poem and illusts?
Used books are ok

>>7607190
Yes.

Ideally "The Aeneid," and before that you should have read Homer.

Neither of those are essential, though. You can just start with Dante if that's what you're primarily interested in.

>>7607235
Are you the same person that suggested adderall? I couldn't do test. I'm deathly afraid of poking myself with needles.

>>7607114
>>7607041
I'm a doctor. Trust me.
I'll write you up a recipie. It won't be nice, that I can tell you. It won't be nice but it'll work. Do you think you're ready for it?
It's going to take a whole lot of sweaty palms.

Chapter one:
The basics
Read How to make friends and influence people. Yes, that book every single /lit/erati will tell you is autist's first book. FEEL every single line the author speaks: this book is about getting to others' emotions. Second, reread it, again highlighting key parts.

Chapter two:
Sparring.
Take each rule, one by one, and start putting them into practice. For example, with everyone you meet, you make a deliberate, conscious effort to smile. Don't half-ass it, do a real big smile, and watch your speaker mimic your big ass smile.

Chapter three:
Investigations.
Next, read up on Emotional Intelligence. Yes, the other book these autists will dismiss as pseudobabble. FEEL the book, and the impact these concepts have on your test subjects.
Now make a syntopical chart with the two books, try to connect concepts from both books as much as you can.

Chapter four:
Introspection and assimilation.
Meditate on these concepts. Actually do, don't do an uncompromised half lotus and give up because you "can't feel anything". You don't need to feel anything special, just feel exactly what is happening. If you can, do a few sessions of psychological therapy, focusing on these subjects.

Final chapter:
Execution.
There is no reading, no thinking here. Just taking every single lesson this therapy has given you and applying it, failing vastly, infinite times, and eventually, conquering.

>>7607279
I don't trust that you're a doctor but I'll definitely check out those books and "live them" if they don't come off as complete pseudoscience. If they aren't, living them is of course the most difficult part.

>>7607276
No I'm the guy that self medicates his depression with test

>>7607276
Adderall is a good idea desu.
When I took 45mg I became super sociable and I had way more tolerance for people's shit.
I could not stop talking to people about whatever they wanted to talk about, some how I was also enjoying it.

My personally literally did a 180

>>7607476
I did some research and 45mg seems quite high considering they make doses as low as 5mg. I'm only 150 lbs. I would guess 20-25mg would be more the sweet spot?

When starting to read an author, should I read everything he wrote in order of release or should I read the more well known books first and then read the lesser known ones?

I'm asking in general and also for when reading tolstoy

>>7607521
Typically their most acclaimed books are acclaimed for a reason. I usually start with those. I've had moments where I thought I found an author who could do no wrong only to start his early works and not be able to finish.

>>7607515
I dose my amphetamine sulfate quite liberally, and nothing bad ever happened. Trust me, your nose will clog up before you hurt yourself.
The best thing about speed is that nobody can tell that you're on drugs

Is Tolkien's translation of Beowulf good?

>>7608236
It's in prose.

>>7594599
black

>>7608241
Forwhatpurpose.jpg

>>7594599

It's pretty obscure. You probably haven't heard of it.

>>7607515
It depends on the individual, I weight 150lbs too.
when I take 15mg I feel nothing 30mg is mild and 45mg is perfect.
I did 60 once, I got a classic amphetamine high with the euphoria and all

I have a naturally high tolerance, you need to test things out for yourself

>>7594535
what's best Nietzsche's book, I want to know about his philosophy and teaching, I am not interested in if he wrote any fiction. probably going to only 1 book of him (unless it's amazing) so which one should I pick?

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>>7594566
Actually, I think it would be kind of cool to read an oper8or story that wasn't so jingoistic.

>>7610031
Birth of tragedy.

>>7599528
my diary t b h

Wondering if anyone has good recs for books on the history of art? Don't mind if it's for specific periods of time or more general. Basically books on art.

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I bought this version of Gravity's Rainbow,
people say it has a misprint(s)?

how bad is it
on a scale of "it only bothers OCD people" to "throw it out the window"

>>7610563
>"it only bothers OCD people"

IIRC there's a big "info chart" but which lists a single sentence which was cut off early in an earlier edition. That sentence is complete in ebook editions of Penguin so I assume newer print editions have it complete, too.

>>7610563
I received the same edition for Christmas

The misprint was one sentence being cut short which was present in full in mine so I'm assuming they fixed it.

>>7610608
>>7610575
Which sentence, just so I know? I have that edition too and I'm almost done reading it

>>7599528
Against the Grain (A Rebours) - Huysmans. Deals with the intolerance and hate of people, and isolation, as well as the suffering therein, but without the self-pity and suicidal tendencies you're after.

Does anyone else here vastly prefer the experience of being used bookstores compared to being in ones that only/primarily sell new editions?

What are some books i can read if i want to learn about Japanese Mythology?

This is my first time in /lit/, and i'm not a big book reader, but I want to get acquainted with some philosphy knowledge so that I don't make a fool of myself.

What books, from any era, do I have to read to be able to not be a complete pleb? I'm speaking about something like essential reads from big philosophers. I read the sticky but it just gave a massive amount of books about different topics that I'm not really sure about.

>>7610770
Start with the Greeks. Homer.

>>7610858
Seek Fagles' translation. It's not the most scholarly one but still pretty good for a beginner.

>>7610698
Yes it's fucking great. There are 2 baller used bookstores in my town and they're both comfy as fuck, I've gotten great deals there and the staff are /lit/ and legitimately cool to talk to.
>>7607247
ebay
>>7606782
Read a set amount of pages or minutes per day. Read at the same time every day. Read in the same spot every day.
>>7606716
p much every philosopher ever
>>7606333
Writers who are actually serious about being published know not to put their stuff on the internet, since that disqualifies it from being published by pretty much anyone that matters. Yes they check archived web pages and shit.

So critique threads are mostly filled with shit, people who have been writing for less than 6 months, people who aren't serious about writing or getting published, or who are ignorant about how getting published works.