Advice for a beginner

>>9035195
Congratulations to your decision.

>what else is required besides reading?

Applied ethics. Epictet or Marc Aurel is good for starters.

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>>9035195
Reread if the passage isn't clear the first time around, I commonly take small notes in the margins too since I never plan on selling most of my books, also underlining powerful prose.

Don't start with something above your level either, I'd say start with something like Brave New World, something by Ray Bradbury and then move on to once those texts flow easily Dumas..

For me, rereading is key with non-fiction, non-genre fiction and poetry. Glass of whiskey, a beer or a glass of wine can help set the mood for me to completely immerse myself into reading or writing.

Good luck OP

>>9035226
Interesting. Is it possible that sincerely thinking about what I read is enough?

>>9035234
Thanks man. You know, I've always been fond of reading, despite never being much of a reader. I'd say I'm not a bad reader in that I can understand some complex vocabulary and such. But the measure of a skilled reader is his ability to truly empathize with the author, I think, and I don't have that. Maybe with time.

Read as much as you can, young'un

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>>9035264
>Is it possible that sincerely thinking about what I read is enough?

No. Life is not about thinking, it's about living.

>>9035264
>But the measure of a skilled reader is his ability to truly empathize with the author
Where did you get this strange idea? Not from a book, I presume.

>>9035305
But living is thinking. All of living may not be thinking, but it's an essential part of it.

However what you say is true for living. I think op is just asking if that is enough to truly understand a book.

>>9035312
It's a thought I've had for a while. To truly understand, you need to truly empathize. By empathize I mean surrendering yourself to the author, if that makes sense. Probably sounds stupid I guess.

>>9035321
I didn't want to sound mean, it just seems to me that you may be more fascinated with authors than interested in literature.

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>>9035314
OP asked if it's enough to truly understand what he reads. Enough for what? He wants to change his life, as he stated in his first post and in order to change it, sincerely thinking about other people thoughts is of course not enough.

By the way, if you want to do a great shortcut, OP, you could skip the western canon as a whole and go straight to Aesthetics.

This for example:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL9Rjn7EiRw
It has no sense, message, moral or whatever, but it does makes you think and feel.
The glorious last step however - to change yourself for the better - is always in your own hands. Good luck.

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Go on craigslist and find a job on a fishing boat in Alaska.

Go on a hitchhiking trip in a place where you don't speak the language.

Take up a martial art.

Do a teaching program overseas.


Get out of your comfort zone. Reading and thinking is a slow, lazy way to cultivate existential fulfillment.

>>9035368
it's so sad how people like this are the majority of /lit/'s userbase

>>9035335
No, the fascination is with both.

>>9035382
There are several ways to existential fulfillment. Books are a great companion for everybody, but they're not a sufficient criterion. Let's be open-minded.

>>9035401
You'll have to get over this fascination, first of all, if you seek wisdom.

>>9035409
you're essentially advising him to preoccupy himself with nonsensical things in order to forget about his problems.

>>9035563
No, he's advising him to go out and live. Those things and reading aren't mutually exclusive.

Most people here are fat autistic neckbeards who believe knowledge equals wisdom. Then, if they dare to go out, they find themselves frustrated by the fact that having read Infinite Jest won't mean jack shit in real life.

>>9035579
what do you mean by "go out and live" besides things like him I first replied to entails in his concept of "living"? I've not stated that reading and "living" are exclusive of eachother, but OP seems to have a existential dilemma of some level which was what motivated him to read in the first place, not necessairly knowing what exactly it is he's searching for, and blindlessly l consuming literature for something which might fill this void. Now I wouldn't personnaly advise OP to search for his answers on a boat in Alaska, or a german whorehouse.

No, most people on this board are exactly like you and the guy I first replied to.

>>9035563
>nonsensical things
So according to you everything but reading books is nonsensical.
Have you ever been in love, Anon?

>>9035751
If love means wanting to take possesion of someone, then yes.

>>9035803
I'm sorry.

>>9035195
Self-help books. Increase your emotional intelligence and you'll be wiser than 99.9999% of people.

>>9035195
Make sure you get editions with good introductions and notes, as context and history on a work will greatly enhance the reading experience. Works can seem very boring if you don't understand their intended meaning and audience (classic works weren't written with 21st century people in mind, so doing research on a work before hand is often necessary to properly understand it.)

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>>9035803
oh... oh my

>>9035803
But did you want them to take possession of you in turn? Love is self-sacrificial.

>>9035359
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL9Rjn7EiRw

This. I want more of this.

>>9038691
I want to complain about that Vulgate not having punctuation and other normal editing conventions, but I can't summon up the energy to write more than this.

Reading is just another form of entertainment you stupid cuck.

>>9035234
>also underlining powerful prose.
Get over yourself.

>>9038718
It isn't a problem once you get used to it desu.

>>9039001
It's not that it's too difficult, it's that modern editing standards continually remove things which made reading more convenient. First it was the removal of consonantal "i" being written as "j," then the removal of consonantal "u" being written as "v," now the removal of punctuation. I assume next they will remove the spaces between words. That would be "authentic" after all.

>>9039016
Older texts would even mark the 1st decl. abl. sing. with a carat (^).

>>9038968
True, but it's also a source of many other things that can be incredibly useful.

>>9035195
know that reading won't make you smarter
but sure you'll gain knowledge

>>9039220
which is more valuable in my opinion. I don't want to read to boast of a higher iq

Guys
How do you know if what you're planning to write is good or just genre fiction?

If it is, how can it be made better?

>>9039517
just tell /lit/ what you're gonna right about

>>9039653
>right
riiiiiight...

Anyways, it's about a persons journey from one battlefield where the enemies won, to the closest allied forces where he can bring news of the battle, hoping they are willing to stop the enemies from conquering more land