New readers general:

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>>9324043

Here's another version.

/fit/ of all people should be the most motivated in reading the Greeks.

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>>9324043

Once you're done with the Greeks you may resume with the Romans.

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>>9324052

Again, here's another version.

>>9324043


Can I listen to audiobooks for stuff like "Mythology"?

/fit/ here, after the Romans what's next?

>>9324043
>>9324045
>>9324052
>>9324057
This is why none of you will ever make any great work of art.

>>9324072
Read the Bible. Then continue with: http://sonic.net/~rteeter/grtbloom.html

It will keep you busy for the rest of your life.

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>>9324072
Aquinas and Italian Renaissance works such as The Divine Comedy and the Decameron. Alternatively, you can go the Middle and Old English routes with Beowulf, Le Morte d'Arthur, Piers Plowman, Canterbury Tales, etc. though keep in mind you definitely should have read the Bible in its entirety by this point.

>>9324080
Did Bloom actually read all that list?, wow.

>>9324078

How many great philosopher and writers can you name that didn't have a good understanding of the Greeks?

>>9324090
None, he is a memer.

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>>9324078
Ummmmm

>>9324072

I mean the whole point of starting with the greeks is to understand the works of philosophers and such.

So you're going to need to continue with the western canon. Start reading Abrahamic theology. Quran, Bible, Divine comedy, etc.

Feel free to read works of fiction here and there too. Might be kinda long for a new reader but I'd recommend Dune. the 4th installment is legit one of my favorite books of all time.

>>9324070

Want to know /lit/'s take on audiobooks as well.

>>9324159
they are shit

>>9324159
They're fine.

But I never use them.

>>9324116
>I mean the whole point of starting with the greeks is to understand the works of philosophers and such.

I literally can't even... literally!

>>9324043
Get off me cunt i'm still on the starter kit

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>>9324344

>he can't read 20 books in a day

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>>9324344

Whatcha reading right now?

>>9324344
Anon don't the starter pack is cancer.

>>9324869

I think some of those books can be pretty brutal for beginners. Something like 1984 is fine but stuff like Lolita is pretty rough.

I really enjoy reading about the Greeks, but I actually reading the original works was a real slog for me.

I don't know if it's the language, or translation, or just style. But man, ancient literature has a way of presenting gripping, fascinating material in the most boring way possible.

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>>9324857
Just finished Watchmen and waiting on V for Vendetta to come in the mail. I'm gonna start with Mockingbird again even though i think it's shit

>>9324887
Probably bad translations. If you read good ones they can be as fun as any popular contemporary fiction.

>>9324922
Name some good translators, then. Every one I'v read felt stilted and awkward. Homer and Xenophon shouldn't put me to sleep. I was expecting Plato and Aristotle to bore me, but Thyucidides?

>>9324043
How necessary is it to read about the presocratics? If I just jump right into Plato, will I regret not reading about them?

>>9325006

Nah, you can skip them.

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>>9324159

They're good for light fiction but terrible for study. It's hard to retain things you listen to because you can't easily skim forward or look back, reread, or check notes. Of course you can't underline or highlight anything either.

>>9324159
Do you learn and retain better from a lecture or from reading it yourself?
If choice one, theyre fine for you
If choice two, don't use them/use them only for entertainment

I don't do much reading but i'm looking to get into it. I got finished reading Watership Down not too long ago, and loved it. I've also read Life of Pi, really enjoyed that one too.
Can anyone recommend some similar books?

>>9325006

It's enough to read a history of them so you're aware of what the different schools generally thought. I'd recommend a New History of Western Philosophy by Anthony Kenny, it's on Libgen.

>>9324043
>Start with the Greeks.

>not smoking Crack and starting with Finnegans wake

Newly converted from fit here.

What's the closest to dark souls that literature has?

Like dark and depressing high fantasy?

>>9326357
You might like The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

Hey /lit/, I'm a /fit/izen and also a small time actor. Is there a starter pack for plays?

>>9326382

ty

>>9326411
Start with the Shakespheres

>>9326574
well memed
I've already read all of his works

>>9326633

Is that so? Explain the significance of Hamlet's soliloquy in act 4 scene 4. If you look it up I'll know.

poetry guide please.

>>9326670
Hamlet is a giant fuccboi

>>9324043
just skip to Infinite Jest

>>9324043
Is jumping into the greeks to hard for someone who never read a book outside of highschool. Will i lose interest?

>the legendary and possibly mythical story of Orpheus

lolwut? am i missing something?

>>9326902

Maybe. What I did was listen to audiobooks for most of the greeks. Until I reached Plato and Aristotle.

Try reading a bit of fiction first.

I skipped the Greeks.

>>9326902

You'll be fine, especially if you start with Edith Hamilton's Mythology and then go into the Iliad and the Odyssey from there.

>>9324080
I can't belive he has read that much
how much time would it take?

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>>9324043
Fuck the greeks, read pic related and then a couple of the good greeks if you have time.

>>9324098
I really like your third book.

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Why not read philosophy backward?

You work out your own biases by inference and gain the perspective of the past with relation to your own.

No one will understand the Greeks without their context - what was widely accepted, what was cliche, which were the big unsolved problems - and the only way you can get that is by working from what you have. Philosophy ain't about first principles, it's about prying out your assumptions.

http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/04/11/read-history-of-philosophy-backwards/

>>9324159
My biggest regret is listening to Lolita. So fucking stupid, one of the best books ever written and I missed half of it. Also, Jeremy Irons is not a good Humbert.

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>>9329004

>listening to lolita

Do I really need to read the entire iliad and odyssey? can't i just read a summary?

>>9327712
who is he?

>>9329291


Max Stirner

>>9329212

I don't know. Those books are pretty important anon. You can always try but I wouldn't advise it.

>>9324089
Of course anon, he can read a thousand pages an hour

>>9327053
YOU WHAT?!

>>9324072
This, >>9324080 , yes, but don't forget to add, at the very least, this: http://sonic.net/~rteeter/grtorien.html

Bloom's list is exhaustive but needs to be spiced up.

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>>9324910
resident Mooreposter approves

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>>9329692
>no Heart Sutra
>list of Chinese classics fails to mention one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China
>no Kojiki & Nihon Shoki
>no Monogatari genre beyond Genji (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, etc.) and no Japanese fairy tales (Momotarou, etc.)
>all that poetry and for some reason no fucking Hyakunin Isshu
SHAMEFUR DISPRAY

>>9329778
No doubt. The Shahnameh is also under Islamic lit which I'd disagree with. I was trying to use the same website as >>9324080, and in any case I don't know any proper exhaustive list of Oriental Classics (if you do, please share).

Also, there are other classics that aren't included in Bloom's canon and aren't oriental which do deserve a mention: Kalevala, Popol Vuh, etc.

>>9325309
Seconded.

So what's the point of this "start with the Greeks" approach? I assume it's because the Greek classics establish a lot of literary patterns, characters, and elements which are followed by countless authors later in history. But with how often it's said, it feels like a meme.

>>9330675
Meme only means it's been repeated ad nauseam, it doesn't necessarily have peyorative connotations.

>>9330675
there is a lot of people on this board who actually never read anything and they're always quick to call reading some of the most important foundational works of literature "a meme". it's really stupid.

you dont need to read half of what's on these charts, but as long as you've read at least Plato, Aristotle, Homer, etc. you'll be good. Take notes and if you enjoy it, you can read other greek works like plays and such.

>>9329212
wtf

off topic but is there anyway i can improve reading speed and comprehension? do I just need to keep at it? ive gotten better at reading over the last couple months but im still a little bit slower than your average person and it makes studying annoying

>>9330927

Git gud.

>>9324043

Whose the greatest female writer of all time?

Heard Virginia Woolf was pretty good.

>>9332454

**Who's

fuck me.

>>9330927
Nootropic stack, that gud shit

>He reads anything but Aristotle

>>9329291
He is LURK MOAR

>>9328835
The best thing about starting with the Greeks is realizing how much of your beliefs are historically contingent, making you weed out the biases brought upon by history. Nobody also reads, say, Plato only for the sake of understanding Plato but rather also because the guy still says things that can be used to explain and understand our current situation. Such is the goal of philosophy.

>>9327712
>the spooked should fear the Stirned

>>9330927
Copy the book down in a notebook as you read.
Write in cursive since it takes more brainpower.

>>9329212
What the actual fuck?

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>Read page of The Iliad
>Realize I have no meaningful understanding of the page
>Re-read the page
Am I too dumb for literature?

>>9332721
Did you read "mythology"?

>>9324045

Did you follow this order?

Holy hell this seems like a commitment. I was just thinking about reading The Republic and going from there. Maybe this was all a mistake. A brainlet like me should just keep playing video games and continue being useless.

>>9332771
>starting with the Republic

Go read the Apology, kid.

>>9324045
A few weeks ago I saw this chart and bought Edith's book on kindle. At first I thought it was a meme but goddamn /lit/ I can't believe how fucking awesome it is. It really transports you back ages and captures the mythological feeling. Somehow it makes me nostalgic.

>>9324090
Shakespeare :^)

>>9332771
anon, I know your feel but it's worth it. So many things in your day to day life will be related to the greeks and their stories that it is worth it.

It's kind of like one big meme that everyone is in on but doesn't realize what the source is.

>>9332721
>watch a random episode in the middle of a tv show
>am I too stupid for tv?
You are most certainly not

>>9324043
I was working my way through the Greeks, and Plato stopped me. Homer was not that difficult, even entertaining in parts, Sophocles was passable, the histories were good, I was even able to get a basic understanding of Aristotle, but Plato has done me in. It's confusing, bland, and I fear may be above my ability. Is Pato absolutely fundamental for a foundation in the Greeks?

>>9332694
this unironically

>>9326411
shaw, beckett, marlowe, ibsen, sophocles, aeschylus

>>9329212
The Odyssey is amazing Anon :( don't do this to yourself

you're gonna make it

Has anyone actually bought and read these "complete works of" for Plato and Aristotle? They're just so massive, they're basically textbooks. Are they really better than buying individual editions of their works?

>>9333021

Might have something to do with the translations you're reading?

>>9333102

You don't NEED to read everything. Just the important stuff. Anything else is a bonus. I personally have them both on my kindle.