So I just bought this. Any insights about it? I am somewhat

>>9404161
>book about how to read a book

Looks like you're gonna have to read the book about how to read the "How to Read a Book" book first, OP, you screwed up

Don't read Infinite Jest..
If you're "new with books" then just browse around Barnes and Noble, pick up books that catch your eye and read the summaries. There's no need to follow trends on this board or anywhere else.

File: 1478456184143.jpg (985KB, 2500x1870px) Image search: [Google]

985KB, 2500x1870px

>>9404211
I can't lie saying I didn't know IJ through all the memes but the first 60 pages were very entertaining for me. Didn't get it the joke in the first sentence because English is not my first language and How to Read a Book looked helpful for a more in depth understanding of what I am reading. Are you a troll, anon?

>>9404238
Ah, well if english isn't your first language then by all means. I was just making a joke.

But yeah, don't take recommendations from this place, they might appear intelligent or whatever but they're suckers for trends like anywhere else. Those "greatest literature of all time" lists that you can find on google are a decent place to start if you want to get straight into it.

All I mean to say is don't read a book just because you think you should according to what people tell you, read the summary and a little bit about the author or whatever and decide for yourself.

>>9404244
nice dubs.

Thanks, I was doing that and find it funny that my likes were gravitating to a lot of things I see here, sure I am influenced, but a lot of things I that I discover here and researched are in the western canon. I think I am going with Joyce after the How to read a book, a lot of books I wanted to learn are in the essential list of this author (obviously not IJ) so this also made me confident in my decisions.

>>9404161
This book is pretty much entirely about how to read non-fiction specifically.

Reading like a Writer by Francene Prose is probably the better book. How To Read a Book is more methodical and, to be frank, boring. Reading like a Writer is more about the art of reading. ...The reading list is pretty great too.

>>9404258
Joyce is the fuckin man, start with him.
Just a hint if you're starting with The Portrait of the Artist, the narrator's language is the age of Stephen as the story progresses. Meaning, the beginning sounds like the narration of a 4 year old, because Stephen is 4. The style progresses as Stephen gets older.

>>9404268
Yes, I've read a few pages and got this. Thought it was very cleaver.

>>9404267
I'm a poor fag so I can afford this one this month since I bought the other one but I put it on my wish list already, thank you, anon.

>>9404161
>>9404161

Adler should be really good, haven't actually read this book yet, but I plan to in the near future

I recently obtained a copy of "The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had" which I received as a recommendation from someone here on /lit/, also being somewhat new to reading literature independently. If you can grab a PDF somewhere, I recommend looking through the first 5 chapters. The only thing is that I'm now looking at a 57-book long list I put myself up to completing, but I'm excited to read through it although I realize it may take around two years. Bauer's thoughts are that one should read chronologically to get a better sense of the span of literature/history/poetry/etc., and I'll be tackling novels in that way.

The only difficulty is finding someone else to talk about these books with, to share ideas at having broken the books down with. Sorry if my writing is a little hazy, I'm tired right now as it is late

>>9404350
Are you me? I'm also looking forward for Adler's book list and want to read them chronologically but also don't want to think that I am doing a task so this is way I will be reading Joyce before Iliad for example.

Same problem here, even my most intelligent friends never read or only read scifi shit and when I try to talk about philosophy they never seem to care. Well their loss.

I'll definitely check the book you recommend m8

File: Selection_210.png (242KB, 775x957px) Image search: [Google]

242KB, 775x957px

>>9404370
>>9404370

Haha yeah, sounds like we're in the same boat. I don't think this applies to your situation, but I read a light novel before starting just because I'm a fairly slow reader, and I wanted to get my mind back into the frame of reading. I recorded my speed over time, turns out I improved a little. Getting over the perfectionism of feeling like I need to "get" everything in some sense helps, and I'm looking forward to doing that when handling these massive texts like Don Quixote or Anna Karenina

Yes, I think avoiding the sense that it is a task will be fruitful. I also want to read philosophy as well instead of waiting 2 years to read philosophy simply because I had this novel list to get through, so I might do that concurrently. I wonder if there is some sort of /lit/ forum or chatroom where we can engage in longer term conversation with books? I haven't used discord much before, but I've seen it tossed around other boards. Apparently it is some sort of online chat like skype, is there a /lit/ discord? Or just some other medium /lit/ uses for these things?

And yeah, definitely feel free to look through it! The first 4 chapters are simply talk over the trivium, things about reading, and from then on the rest of the chapters consist of how to criticize different kinds of literature (novels vs history) and reading lists. There is also a brief history of the literature (at least, I read over a brief history of the novel). I've modified the one provided, I think the original list was 32, but I ended up expanding it to 57

Pic related, current booklist. Last one was cut off, it's Everyman by Phillip Roth

>>9404244
The reason to read the /lit/ meme books isn't because they're necessarily great, but because /lit/ actually talks about them. It's good to have somebody to discuss things with, especially if you're new to reading and are having trouble getting into it.

>>9404278
Francine Prose is like a female Harold Bloom that hasn't been run down by decades of cynicism...She's damn good

>>9404161
>Any insights about it?
Just read the damn thing if you already bought it.

>>9404211
Don't believe his lies

>>9404392
A /lit discord channel would be cool, it could even have different rooms for specific books that deserve them

I've read it. 80% of its focus is for academic books, it was a bit disappointing but I rented it so no fucks given. In my opinion, for /lit/ specifically, the ABC of reading by ezra is way better suited

>>9405559

is it good for academic books at least

File: litcord.jpg (83KB, 1151x780px) Image search: [Google]

83KB, 1151x780px

>>9405464

>>9406864

is it good