Is 18 too late an age to become /lit/? I never really read

>>8585401
yes, now become another mindless drone who visits /tv/

>>8585401
You literally only missed out on mistakenly thinking that Catcher in the Rye is good by reading it after you turned fourteen. Life is long, there is more spare time right now than at any point in history. You can make it.

>>8585403
"no"

>>8585401
yes. If you haven't read all of Cervantes, Don Quixote, the Bible and Ulysses by the age of 3 then you're an unredeemable plebeian and should give up on trying to read forever

Of course not.

But then again, if you have to ask, then the answer might be "no" for you.

>>8585404
thanks

>>8585401
Unless you are independently wealthy no.

No, you just have to learn to balance the urge to read ahead of your capabilities while also not falling into the trap of reading all of the 500 books you should have already read.

Regiment yourself, read a book a week, and choose wisely. Learn all you can. Look into lectures, analysis, etc.

>>8585486
Are you saying I should skip the books typically read in high school and just read whatever is /lit/ approved?

>>8585474
What did she mean by this?

How do I know what is and what isn't ahead of my capabilities

I was /lit/ as a child, then didn't read much from about 15-21. I don't feel I missed much t b h

>>8585498
How old are you now? You must be old as fuck, you old woman.

Try first, come back later

>>8585492
>Are you saying I should skip the books typically read in high school and just read whatever is /lit/ approved?

No. Some HS books are genuinely good. You just have to wade through yourself, and set a very realistic pace. Read below your abilities for, say, 100 books. Experience books before you start challenging your brain too much, because you're less prepared to understand them than you think.

>>8585499
25

>>8585401
I started becoming lit at 23, maybe even 24, don't sweat about it too much

>>8585517
Can you describe your /lit/ journey and how it started?

>>8585519
Yes, of course. I started with the greeks.

>>8585541
Fuck you.

>>8585541
i like you

>>8585492
don't try to read Ulysses right away...for some reason a lot of people here who haven't read much want to jump into the long difficult memes right away (freudian), just start keeping notes on what interests you and don't be afraid to quit something and move on to something else
also /lit/ is pretty dumb and bad for recommendations outside of it's narrow interests ie books by american or european men between 1915-1996, so look elsewhere for more recent books

>>8585542
this made me laugh

>>8585541
I did though

>Born in lower middle class family
>Went to your average public school
>Mom went to University and taught me a bit of culture
>Loved reading
>Read more than anyone else in elementary
>Only started reading serious stuff in late high school
>Now I'm reading one classic after the other
>Can't help but think that if I started reading classics earlier I'd be patrician by now
>Keep looking up these people who were born in wealth and received high quality education from an early age
>Mfw this female Japanese author received private education, had a linguist father and was reading translation of Joyce at like 13-15
>Mfw I'll never date her

Jealous as fuck desu. Going to places like /lit/ lead me to believe that patricians can be found on every street corner, but the more I go outside, the more I realize I'm in a good spot right now.

Just gotta keep reading.

>>8585492
>What did she mean by this?

If you want to be well read you need a lot of time and effort to invest in it. Its one of the reasons why you see so few middle class or working poor people as great authors or readers.

>>8585774
I'm a college freshman with no job. I'd say I'm upper middle class, though. Can I still be /lit/ (well-read)? I don't care too much about writing or getting published, I just want to be a reader in a society where checking your smartphone is more common than cracking a book out.

>>8585791
You can be well read even if you're a middle class worker. Lots of writers also work you know. But you need to schedule reading time is all.

>>8585791
>I'm a college freshman with no job. I'd say I'm upper middle class, though. Can I still be /lit/ (well-read)? I don't care too much about writing or getting published, I just want to be a reader in a society where checking your smartphone is more common than cracking a book out.

You can easily be well read by the standards of ordinary people and probably your peers - assuming you stay away from acamdics and wealth neets without much trouble however if you want to be some who has good insight and can form novel opinions then you probably wont have a whole lot of luck.

Ask yourself why you want to be well read and what you want to personally get out of it in your interactions and life; honestly if you are not naturally inclined working towards being objectively well read will be a torturous process that wont bring much happiness or reward.

>>8585824
>You can easily be well read by the standards of ordinary people
>easily
How?

>>8585828
Simply by reading outside of university and highschool, even if you knock off a book very month or two itll put you ahead of most people especially by the time you hit your 30s and even more so if you throw in the occasional secondary source.

Most people stop reading outside of formal education and most who continue to read pulp

>>8585401
wtf man you're so young how could 18 be too late

>>8585862
How old are you?

>>8585862
Dude I'm 18 and I feel old as shit. The fuck are you talking about, hag?

There's no such thing as becoming /lit/ unless you mean how do you become a complete faggot. It's the same kind of shit as "hey guys how do I get redpilled ahurrdurr"

If you cunts were removed from the gemepool by forced sterilisation I would rejoice.

>>8585937
Why the salt?

>>8585401
I read Moby Dick two years ago, when I was early 18. Do the same.

>>8585401
Read The Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail

>>8585937
>forced sterilisation
Why bother?

>>8585894
HAHAHAAHAHA enjoy depression

>>8585406
>by the age of 3
somebody was a late bloomer

>>8585791
You can, but you have to sacrifice time from something else. In the end of the day everyone only has 24 hours a day. Most people don't read as much because they are too busy working, dealing with mundane tasks in life (like paying taxes), being with family or children etc. and spend what little time they have left on a few hobbies. It's perfectly possible, but you have to take time away from something else to do it.

>>8585894
How can you feel old at 18? It's literally the beginning of your life.

I'm 22 and I'm still feeling young. I truly pity you.

>>8586156
I'm 22 and I feel ancient. I envy you.

>>8585727
>Mfw this female Japanese author received private education, had a linguist father and was reading translation of Joyce at like 13-15
Don't mind Japanese, regardless of what education could they get, all they ever produced after WW2 is the same nihilist teenage literature.

sure is underage in here.

OP I have to say that 18 is still fucking baby years. you honestly have no fucking clue who you are for the most part. A lot happens between 18-26. 18 isn't too old for anything unless you're talking about being an olympic athlete or something.

I'm 18 too and I feel an old senile already. The thing is that yes you can be "lit" because to be honest it's an early age to learn and to get through new experiences and stuff even though you feel you had lost a lot. Don't take too seriously, by the way. You can read a bunch of books but also been outside it's necessary to be truly /lit/. Last year stayed at my room all day reading and watching films and almost got rid of myself since well not having any social contact and no getting fresh air can led you to a depress state. Take care.

>>8585519
22 now. I was ~20 when I started seriously, I can give a rundown of my journey.

The list of serious literature I had read up to that point consisted of low-tier high school classics (I went to relatively bad high schools, and didn't take AP classes): TKAM, Of Mice and Men, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, Night (Elie Wiesel), and Huckleberry Finn, and, as an exception: Hamlet. That's all. I'd read and enjoyed Stephen King, Goosebumps, Harry Potter, whatever, but due to video games it took me a while to appreciate reading.

Up until my senior year of college, I still played video games, but I gradually eased into literature throughout the semesters (The Stranger, Siddhartha, 1984, Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye), until, seriously, the two books that got me on track were: Watership Down and Infinite Jest. I loved them both, and while the former was more easily enjoyable, the latter was a challenge I needed.

Since then I've graduated from playing video games instead of reading, to a point where I don't play video games at all (coming from someone who literally would go to class, head home, and then spend the rest of the day on a voice server). Now, I spend my days in the library finishing up my double major (tacked on English), working my way through the western canon while fitting in the occasional /lit/ recommendation.

Just this year I've read 63 books, including East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22, Blood Meridian, C&P, The Iliad, The Odyssey (re-read), The Bible (front to back), some Aeschylus and Euripides and Sophocles, some Plato, Moby Dick, Stoner, Dubliners, Portrait, Ulysses, Mrs. Dalloway, Metamorphoses, Metamorphosis, 6 or 7 Shakespeare plays, some Hemingway, more Steinbeck...

You get the point. My advice if you're trying to get into reading? Have a healthy mix of comfy and challenging. You don't ALWAYS have to be enjoying yourself, but do not read something you straight out hate. It's important to challenge yourself (for instance, starting with the greeks), and you'll probably get overwhelmed if you do. Don't worry! You're training yourself to be disciplined. Over time, you'll like it.

>>8588043
Which list are you looking at for the Western Cannon? Bloom? Harvard classics?

And thanks for your story.

>>8585401
kek. i hated books until high school. I wouldn't consider myself well read compared to some, nevertheless literature is a huge part of my life and I've never regretted getting into books.

>>8585791
>where checking your smartphone is more common than cracking a book out.
mfw i read on my smartphone and people think i'm a stupid pleb facebook drone

>>8588986
How old were you when you started reading seriously? Is 18 too late? Am I doomed?!

>>8588996
Get an ereader, poor guy

>>8588969
Bloom isn't a lifetime reading list. You'd know that if you actually read the book.

>>8589005
ok

>>8588999
Right out of high-school. In high school I read all the required texts: Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Bradbury, Shakespeare. At that point I became interested in picking up books on my own. One of my serious frustrations in life is that I have to put serious obligations before reading literature. 18 is very young. You still have so much time. You don't have to read Joyce and Wallace right away. Please just don't waste your life drinking, drugging, or with vidya and porn.

>>8589049
I don't drink
I don't do drugs
I spend more time on /v/ than actually playing games. Been browsing /lit/ these days, though.
Yeah, my porn addiction is terrible. I fap like once a day, or even twice.

Also, what are some good places to read? And is it possible to find a qt female who reads /lit/ approved books? Met one girl but she's unattractive.

>>8585415
Yep, this. Same goes for all the kids with their bookshelves-threads.

>>8589054
>Yeah, my porn addiction is terrible. I fap like once a day, or even twice.
I found the perfect book for you

I'm 23.

I read a lot of genre fiction when I was younger, then later got into vidya and partying/drugs. Recently I realized that books are what I always loved most and I failed in the normie world anyway so now I want to get seriously /lit/. I've read fear and loathing and the unbearable lightness of being.

Now I want to get /lit/ but have to work full time and feel old as fuck

help

>>8589054
>Once a day, or even twice
I could bang my girlfriend all day and I would still find time to bust a nut. Any books on that?

>>8588043
how have you read so much? a few of the books you've mentioned (ulysses, moby dick, c&p, bible) take at least 1 month+ to read

>>8588969
I'm going off Bloom's list.

>>8590319

I read a lot. My summer was spent in doors, and my semesters are spent in the library. I go out on an average once a week with friends, to a kickback or a bar or to walk downtown. Other than that, I'm either in the library studying (or most likely reading and writing), or at home doing the same, or at the gym. And especially with video games out of the picture, there's more time for reading.

> Bible: ~4 months, on and off. Started at the end of spring semester and my summer was spent indoors.
>Moby Dick: ~2 weeks. Super comfy, even the whaling chapters, especially since they always ended on a note deeper than just "whaling."
>C&P: ~3.5 weeks, during the end of spring semester, with finals.
>Ulysses: ~2 weeks. Surprisingly went by faster than I thought. God, Penelope was great, and I can't wait to reread this one.

>>8590321
suck my fucking cock, slut

>>8585727

>translation of Joyce

Typical fucking roastie pseud, that's nothing to aspire toward

>>8590321
Oh, nice! Can you send me his list? Can't seem to find it. :)

>>8590361
http://sonic.net/~rteeter/grtbloom.html

File: 0424ethics.1.dontcopy.jpg (20KB, 460x345px) Image search: [Google]

20KB, 460x345px

>be the son of an English professor with grandfathers as humanities professors
>don't read books for shit despite this, stalled until my senior year (right now) to take my mandatory literature class
>finish all my books late (and only finish them at all to prove something to myself), be 2 weeks late finishing a 300-page book
>said screw it, gonna skip what we're currently reading (Parable of the Sower)

You're probably doing better than me OP.

>>8591156
OP here. My parents are immigrants and barely spoke English growing up. My sister is 10 years younger than me and my parents make her read.

I feel like a failure.

>>8585406
>3
gtfo latefag.

I started "reading" around 17 and I started seriously reading after 21. only downside is I'm 25 and I've still missed stuff like War and Peace but I'm working on it.

>>8586153
Ah, yes, paying taxes. That's a significant part of my daily schedule. That once a year task sure eats into my free time!

>>8590319
I dunno about you, but I finished Crime and Punishment in 4 non-consecutive days. Had to read it for class, with 4 different 'checkins' (finish part 2 by X, part 3 by Y, etc.), and ended up reading each reading the day before it was due. Each reading took the better portion of the day, but I was reading every word, no skimming or anything. Most fun I've had with a book in a long time, actually -- locked in a dorm at Moscow State University reading without distraction.

>>8585401
Never too late, OP. I didn't start reading seriously till 20, and now I'm in a PhD program for lit.

>>8592157
Tell us your journey, anon. How old are you now?

>>8585401
Yes. If you haven't understood Finnegans Wake by the time you're 16 then you need to kill yourself.

>>8585498
I'm the same way, except I'm starting again now at 18

No high schooler has ever fully appreciated literature. You just can't when you're that young. 13 year olds don't enjoy art museums for the same reason. It just doesn't resonate. OP, you are way more than fine. As long as you enjoy reading, even if you didn't much as a kid, you literally have your entire youth and adulthood to read.