What's the most try-hard book a normie can read in public, /lit/?

>>9514343

I ocasionally see people in public transport either reading printed book or looking Up their ebook reader but yet i have to someone actually caring for what one's reading. I wonderful how you detect "normie" aspect of person just by looking.

>>9514376
how high are you

>>9514343
not the bell jar.

I saw an overweight, professorial looking chap reading Ulysses on the train. I wanted to ask him what he thought of it, but he was reading and I was off my face on amphetamines so I thought it best not to interrupt him.

>>9514343
How is reading the bell jar try hard? It's really simplistic, babies first literature tier, high school level reading.

>>9514343
A saw some Latin girl on the underground reading 'A Critique of Pure Reason', her expression was totally blank and the edition was in far too good condition to have been properly studied.

On the subway, I once saw some white guy dressed in terribly fitting Chinese military uniform and a Stalin-esque cap while reading the Communist Manifesto. I'm not sure how normie that is though but it's definitely trihard

http://www.theonion.com/article/man-reading-pynchon-on-bus-takes-pains-to-make-cov-3192

I remember my literature professor said she had to read her hardcover of Ulysses on the train to our class and felt a bit embarrassed/pretentious about it. I thought that was cute.
She wasn't a normie though so I don't know why I'm telling you that.

Of Grammatology

>>9515053
>Why are you reading a book about grammar, Anon? We studied that in middle school !

>>9515003
Dude just lost a bet, most likely.

>>9515053
>Of Grammatology (French: De la grammatologie) is a 1967 book by French philosopher Jacques Derrida that has been called a foundational text for deconstructive criticism. The book discusses writers such as Claude Lévi-Strauss, Ferdinand de Saussure, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Étienne Condillac, Louis Hjelmslev, Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Roman Jakobson, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, André Leroi-Gourhan, and William Warburton
this book must be quite a ride, isn't it

>doing a short intro to narrative filmmaking assignment with three other people
>one of our characters needs to be reading a pretentious book for a scene
>this one girl had been flirting with me the entire time
>girl says "how about Finnegans Wake? classic pretentious white dude shit"
>even though I didn't need to at all, go on autopilot and say "that's actually a fantastic book, have you read it?"
>she gives me this dead look like "yep, that's what I thought"

Well that was embarrassing.

>>9515141
You dodged a bullet, my friend.

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>>9514343

I don't think there are any “try hard” books. I always am happy to see a soul reading in public, whether it be in a park or on the subway or on the bus. Naturally, I always want to respect the boundaries of the public reader. I also suffer from incurable public awkwardness and social anxiety and so I rarely try to start to chit chat if I find myself close to someone reading something that I recognize.

There was this one time though, I was riding the bus on my way home from work. It was summer. The guy seated next to me was reading Plato, I think it was Parmenides but I'm not really sure if I remember correctly. Anyway, this guy, he hadn't turned the page for a very long time, and when I glanced over at him he was sweating a little, visibly trying very hard to focus, but one could tell he wasn’t quite getting it, you know? Which is perfectly understandable, I mean, it’s Plato. He’s not the easiest guy to comprehend! A few more minutes went by and this guy still struggled with the same page. It suddenly dawned on me, the socially anxious one, that maybe I was the one making him uncomfortable? Had he seen me continuously glancing at him? What should I do? Should I say something?

For a few minutes I tried to come up with something to say. You know, just whatever, anything that could sort of kill the imagined elephant growing in-between our two seats, ya know? But as I said earlier, I don’t have the most rigorous social skills, so when I finally did end up saying something, after pumping myself up mentally for what felt like ages, I just blurted out “A-are you an intellectual?” to the guy. It wasn’t even intentional, I mean I think the plan was to say something about Plato and how he can be challenging even to the most intellectual of minds, but, yeah… It didn’t go too well. The guy looked up at me with a confused look and said “Not really”, and I mean at this point I had really screwed myself over. How could I possibly save this moment? In fact, that’s not even what I thought. My mind went completely blank, I get like that in social situations, can’t really help it. So I just stuttered some random gibberish back in his face, “T-that’s… P-plato.” Honestly I don’t even think it was intelligible, but he looked at me angrily like I had really offended him.

My heart was pounding so fast by now. That which had been a minor, awkward situation I had turned into a full blown autismo-moment. I managed a forced laugh, smiled and quickly turned my head away from him and proceeded to just stare rigidly at my feet instead, counting my shoelaces. Then I got off the bus three stops too early and had to walk for like five miles in blazing summer heat.

tldr: All books are fine but don’t try to talk with strangers about them if you can’t socialize properly.

>>9514343

Infinite Jest

>>9515314
I've seen 3 hipsters in the past 2 years with that book. All numales with leather side carry bags. Wtf is up with that?

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>>9515141
>tfw you can't punch these "people" in the face

I'm an hardcore commie, and I'd still love to reduce her face to mush. Fuck her.

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>>9515263
Kek

>>9515263
lmao

I knew from the first few lines and the pic what this would be

well-done

>>9514456
everyones copy had to start somewhere

>>9514436
"Try-hard" was the wrong term. I acknowledge your point but then consider who's doing the reading: a wealthy, charismatic, Indian chad. It's less babies first steps and more normie normington's first step into co-opting our hobby as a shallow affectation

>>9514343
The bell jar

>>9514411
Admirable restraint considering your condition

>>9515141
kek

That shouldn't really be embarrassing. You just called her out on her bs. The irony is that she was the pretentious one in that situation.

>>9515341
but on the fucking tube? come on man

>>9514343

da bible

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>>9515263

>>9515141
I'd start to twitch and shit if she said that. I just don't understand how people can think this way, seriously, and with such confidence. It's nauseous.

>>9515616
Any religious work

>>9515348
You do understand its for a TV show and he's playing a character right?

>>9515451
Not every is so fucking pathetic they actually give a fuck about what the other people on the train think about the book they are reading

>>9515329
>dehumanizing someone because they scoff off the most complex piece of literature like the average normie
>wanting to brutally assault someone because they have a different opinion of someone than you (sounds pretty commie lol)
>even mentioning the fact you're a commie even though it's irrelevant
>unrelated picture of schopenhauer for no reason
>image.jpg
Top wew lad

>>9515141
What would "pretentious black dude shit" be? Or "pretentious mexican dude shit" be?

any

>>9515816
Ta-neshi Coates or Frederick Douglass

>>9515816
>"pretentious black dude shit"
Hopsin
>"pretentious mexican dude shit"
Any "deep" book about the "community" he grew up in with his mami and papi

>>9514343
No such thing. Just dimshits who take themselves too seriously and the people who try to impress them for some reason.

>>9515124
>haha I used to always ace spelling tests back in school

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>>9515263
10/10

>>9515141
where do these plebs even come from? Also:
>Irish
>white

>>9515757
no i mean how the fuck can you concentrate on Kant on the tube? the girl and her expression was a clear demonstration of someone way out of their depth

>>9514411
>>9515377
Was thinking the same thing. When I used to abuse amphetamines I'd talk to everyone.

Fenomenology, Sokolowski

>>9515263
A NEW PASTA HAS ENTERED OUR CANON

>>9514343
Saw a guy with nietzsche books sitting on his table in a cafe. Cringed

>>9515263
Lol

>>9515327
>I've seen 3 hipsters in the past 2 years

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>>9515348
I haven't watched Master of None, but I find it hard to believe they're putting Azis Ansari to play a charismatic chad, all his roles so far were the exact opposite of that (and he's perfect for it).

>>9515141
She's right. You got fucking annihilated

>>9515816
A book

>>9515141
dude that's funny as shit, learn to take a joke.

>>9515879
>tfw the british empire, with the most powerful navy in the world and one of the largest empires to've ever existed, got their caucasian asses slammed by a load of misfit, destitute, pale drunkard irish
>who lived on a fookin island which the british were supposed to have a specialty in conquering

>>9515053
>frog-eating pomo hack
>tryhard

>>9516003

he's übermensch material, you clearly are not

>>9516037
he's not a chad at all in Master of None lmao, he's pretty much his P&R character but more down-to-earth

>>9516335
Is it good though?

>>9516335
>but more down to earth

which makes him sort of nothing like his P&R character but u still rite

>>9515263
ROFL

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>>9515810
Kek

>>9514343

Fanged Noumena

>>9514343
a really big hardcover one

>>9515638
Cheekiest lookin cunt I've ever seen

>>9515263
>>9515141

Kek

>>9515934
>>9515377
I was using it on and off for long enough that I learned to control myself in most situations. I've seen people hauled off the train for behaving like that.

>>9514381

Why would you even ask?

>>9517283
your first post

>>9515263
geez the autism is strong with this one

Lolita

entry-level tryhard

>>9515757
>>9515925

I actually tend to agree that reading Kant on the tube is fucking stupid. You won't get a lick of it, as an old philosopher's joke that I think I read on here illustrates: we found a copy of the first volume of a lost work by Kant, but we can't make heads or tails of it, because the verb doesn't occur til volume two.

This said I'm resistant to calling reading Kant in public "try-hard." Probably just misguided. Kant doesn't have much street cred.

How insecure do you have to be to be thinking of this shit?

>>9517342

>a young guy who is still trying to work his life out and find his place in the world tries to convince strangers on the internet that he lives a life 100% free from insecurity

protip: you just became the most insecure person itt

>>9517354
The most insecure response to date.

>>9517354
Maybe I am, but I can at least read in public without having an anxiety attack over what it seems like to others. Pretty much nobody gives a shit what anyone reads because pretty much nobody gives a shit about reading.

>>9517363

>fuck you stop ruining LARP time for me

>>9514343
The Art of Power
The Great Gatsby
The Grapes of Wrath
Any Nietzsche
Some leftist philosophy piece in a coffee shop

Anyone who seemed to have trimmed their beard while practicing their "intense" face, and holds the cover up to public view unnecessarily. People who aren't try-hard generally find a less populated area to read, which allows them to focus and their book and ensures they're left alone.

>>9516339
If you like race-baiting liberal propaganda

>read physical copies of LoTRs on the subway
>really embarrassing

>read Gravity's Rainbow on Kindle
>sad because nobody can see what I'm reading

The world is so cruel.

>>9514343
Infinite Jest

>>9514343
Normies need to recognise something to consider it tryhard, and have an extremely shallow pool of references, so it needs to be a famous name.

Normies consider thinking to be tryhard, so a book by someone known to them for thinking "alot" would be very tryhard indeed.

Since Einstein is at the apex of normie understanding of intellect, a book by Einstein would do, or possibly A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking if we're dealing with normies that had enough brain cells to resist getting a tattoo, despite what a cool idea they had for one.

>>9515263
wait no fix it. The guy says that's why you'r reading Plato. Unless he is supposedly so awkward that he forgot what he said.

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>>9515810

>dehumanizing someone because they scoff off the most complex piece of literature like the average normie
t. Anon who is proud of being a pleb
>wanting to brutally assault someone because they have a different opinion of someone than you (sounds pretty commie lol)
Nice commentary.
>even mentioning the fact you're a commie even though it's irrelevant
It's not, read the first post again.
>unrelated picture of schopenhauer for no reason
You could, maybe, try to read Schopenhauer: that post is very close to his stances.
>image.jpg
Completely irrelevant.
>Top wew lad
Nice meme.

>>9514456
Making fun of her on a tuvan shitposting website violates the categorical imperative jsyk

>>9516003
Every time you even see Nietzsche in public it looks pseudy.
Just read that shit at home man.

>>9515263
rashomon. well done.

>>9515816
>mexican dude shit

I saw a skinny Filipino dude at my uni eating pansit and reading Pedro Paramo. He tabbed a bunch of pages so I knew he was actually enjoying it. I kicked myself for not trying to be his friend or some shit. Not really a pretentious book, but it's a bit unusual, and very good.

Y'know I'd say Ulysses. It's complex, but it's fairly well known so you'd definitely give off a strong "look at me" vibe by reading it in public.

>>9517307
Maybe, but your definitely not a normie if you're reading it in public.

>>9517844
i mean everybody knows of Lolita.
It is known as
>that pedo book

>>9517844

You need to be studying a work like Ulysses and making notes as you work through it. It's simply too complex to passively read in public. The only way you could get off the hook is if you had a photographic memory and perfect recall.

If they're reading that in public then it's almost a certainty that they're posturing and wanting to be seen doing so.

>>9517384
were these the books your oneitis was reading before she rejected you.

>>9516003
>>9517762
I read it on the bus sometimes but I'm a little embarrassed and open about my brainletness so I think it's okay

>>9516339
yes very comfy show and has patrician soundtrack and film references.

>>9518310
Just underline sentences with a pencil, and people will think that you're a uni student.

It works only with Nietzsche, he is basically the only edgy writer who has managed to become a required read in most humanities courses.

>>9518346
>he is basically the only edgy writer
Have you read any of his work beyond the phrase "God is dead" ?

>>9518550
I've read everything, even his YA novel

Guys there's a girl I see every day reading Ulysses what should I say to her?

>>9519487
approach her and say "hey, I like that book" or some other variation. initiate a conversation about it.

kek who am I kidding, you haven't read ulysses. fuck outta here

>>9519487

Do what this guy >>9515263 did

>>9519487
Sit down near her with a copy of Finnegans Wake and give her smug, condescending looks every now and then

>>9519498
You caught me

>>9515141
Damn she's right

>>9515263
Post the Plato-Pluto meme

>>9519505
Kek

>>9514456
I read the entirety of the Critique from a .pdf on my cellphone twice while riding the subway forth and back to college. Admittedly, it took me like a month to move past the Introduction because I had to reread every single passage a few times

>>9515314
Second

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>>9514343
>get on bus for my daily dose of drudgery
>it's full of other community college reprobates gaily faggoting about
>make my sullen retreat to the back
>notice a beautiful girl reading Finnegans Wake
>burst out a violent guffaw
>begin crying in apoplectic bliss as I feel my way along the railing to a seat
>survey my esteemed peers from my plastic throne, risking another glance at the girl
>smile slowly fades
>it smells like weed and piss

>>9519972

0/10

>>9514343
>see girls in class reading
>they are always <10% through anything
gee if you spent more time READING and not getting fucked up all the time I would have more respect for you

>>9519487

Spoil her the last paragraph being an orgasm

>>9515141
>classic pretentious white dude shit
>white dude
I understand the pretension remark, Joyce probably would have agreed it is pretentious, but why bring race and gender into this?

>>9520429
because it was written by a white dude and has been canonized by white dudes trying to keep the canon all white and dudey which is seriously dangerous and wrong? like how do you not see it, white man?

>>9515003
Was probably just ADF.

>>9520441
>seriously dangerous
wew

>>9516339
No, they first 3 episodes are funny, and then it takes a weird turn where it's just like 6 hours of footage of Aziz LARPing he has a gf. It's really weird. I'm not joking.

>>9516037
Azis Ansari only knows how to play one role and that is Azis Ansari

>>9515348
>co-opting our hobby
ew

>>9515141
>Joyce
>white

Zettel's Traum/Bottom's Dream

>>9515377
this, id talk to anyone on amphs for the smallest reason even though i'm pretty introverted otherwise

I met a girl reading IJ on the bus once. I approached and said
>Oh sweetie, you are so cute, but you shouldn't read this big books you know? You, a plebeian, need at least 2 year of preparatory reading to understand IJ. I bet you are reading it unironically! Jeez, i bet you even like it!
She said
>I have a phd in American literature and i cured and translated pretty much every non-fiction book by DFW for a major european publishing house. What do you want from me?
Poor creature, she knew that my intellect was superior. But i didn't want to scare her
>It is ok, i'm gonna leave you my number, so you can call me if you don't understand something, ok?
And i wrote it on the cover of the book
She never called back

>>9521303
trying too hard

>>9521423

He's a teenager trying to be funny. You can tell.

Go easy on him.

>>9521451
>1.)
Not that guy.
>2.)
>trying to be funny
yes
>3.)
>too hard?
yes.
>4.)
>He's a teenager.
No. I see no conclusive reason to think that this anon is necessarily less than 20 years old.
There's no incentive to self-censor, even if it's idiotic on 4chen. Not like on reddit.
> Go easy on him.
Wrong, this is disgusting and ugly reddit-bitch behaviour.
That's two reddit strikes in one post. Get out.

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>>9515263
a fine edition to my collection

>>9521460
sorry for the autism

>>9514343
brave new world, because "huxley was more on
point than 1984"

kill the normi- I mean The Catcher in the Rye

Handsmaid tale or whatever shit got recently turned into a movie

>>9519505
upvote