Which book is perfect in your eyes, anon? Not just something

>>9907331
For me, personally, it has to be the Culture of Critique Series by Kevin McDonald

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>>9907331

The László Krasznahorkai books from the Serpent's Tail editions have a minimalist design that is pleasing to look at.

>>9907331
For me it's my diary desu

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest comes pretty close for me.

Ecclesiastes

>>9907339
Anne Frank gtfo

>>9907331
/lit/bros, any books that capture the feels that this song makes me feel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Bb0k9HgQxc

>>9907331
john gardner's grendel. if you're into the idea of a monster wandering the scandinavian wilderness and monologuing about the insipidity of human life, there you go

>>9907331
The Secret Agent, definitely.

Tristam Shandy

>>9907338
I have that book sitting on my desk. I borrowed it from the library on a whim. Is it as good as the critic endorsements make it out?

>>9907439
Epic, foreboding, but also kind of hopeful? Made me think of Robinson Crusoe.

>>9907439
I miss the leftovers. I wish I had a suggestion for you but I dont. I just really enjoy this song.

I decided to crack into Paradise Lose again since I already had it from my time in Uni, and I forgot just how dense it is with references. More than half of my page is footnote explanations. Can be a real pain on some.

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>>9907331
The Lord Of The Rings (it is a single book, fight me).

After about 10 years of first watching the Jackson's films, I finally grabbed it and decided to read it. Fell in love with it instantly. The way Tolkien builds his world and gives us more info about it was really well done, the Treebeard chapter was 30 pages of him babbling about shit that happened to Pippin and Merry and it was fucking great, really liked all those songs about the world, too, really well done. The prose is fluid, beautiful and yet simple. There are a lot of moments when Tolkien is describing something, be it old ruins, a hall, some character or whatever and never was I bored with it or felt what he was describing was unnecessary, it all had it's place in there. The characters, although not as complex as Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov, were still nicely written and their dynamic and overall friendship growth were done rather well and there are some touchy moments, like say Gandalf's sacrifice in the mines of Moria or Boromir's last stand. Also, fuck PJ for unnecessarily making Frodo a little bitch in the movies, while he was anything but that in the book, even in the times when he was on the verge of death. And there's no melodramatic romance between Arwen and Aragorn here, which is another plus. Overall, I loved every single bit of it and must read Silmarillion, too, since I've heard it's Tolkien's best work.
/blogpost

The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Unless you're experiencing acute anxiety over a post-colonial loss of identity it might not resonate that strongly with you.

>>9908679
Fellow Tolkien fan reporting in. Yes, LOTR is one of the best. Something I enjoy about that novel is how it gives no shits about the standard advice on how to write a "good story".

>extremely slow, meandering beginning, expects to grab the reader's attention with... Bilbo's birthday party
>quite bizarre pacing if you compare the first third of Fellowship to the latter parts
>Council of Elrond is what, 60 pages people just talking and bitching at each other (one of my favourite chapters though)
>halfway through LotR the author splits the narrative, follows one set of characters then goes back in time to follow the other set
>very short climax compared to the rest of the novel

And despite all that, what an awesome story it is. I think it works because there was so much depth to his world *before* he started writing LotR. All that First Age stuff began to form up decades previously. Which is why you're as captivated by characters discussing the world's history as you are by the battles. Also, you mention characters weren't that complex, in general I guess you're right however: gollum, denethor, boromir, the one ring (it's practically a character the way it's written), tom bombadil...

A quick warning about the Silmarillion. Personally I DON'T think it's Tolkien's best work (that's LotR). You should definitely read it, it's awesome, but remember it was published by Christopher Tolkien who collected and edited most of his father's First Age stories. He did a terrific job but it might frustrate you at some points simply because many of the stories within it weren't sufficiently fleshed out by Tolkien. Some important episodes are covered in just a sentence or two, such as the Fall of Gondolin.

For those stories it is worth seeking out the Book of Lost Tales volumes 1 and 2. These are a collection of Tolkien's earliest writings (mostly unfinished) but some of it is incredible, and the Fall of Gondolin in Volume 2 is one of my favourite. You'll find it interesting how the idea of Balrogs evolved and meet First Age Glorfindel - which was fascinating for me.

>>9908748
It doesn't really get any better than the second half of The Return of the King for me.

>>9908748
Well said and thanks for informing me about Silmarillion, I'll check out both volumes of BoTL. Cheers lad and have a nice day!

>>9908751
Oh yeah. What sticks out in my mind is that dawn during the Siege of Minas Tirith and the way Tolkien tells us the Riders of Rohan have arrived.

We're totally distracted by the horrific stuff happening in the city, the relentless rolling of the droms, building up to Grond and climaxing with THAT confrontation between Gandalf and the Lord of the Nazgul.

"Old fool! Do you not know Death when you see it?"

And then in the most glorious recurring theme of the books, Tolkien suddenly switches back to nature. Amid all the horror and confusion, a cock crowed somewhere in the city, because despite all the unnatural darkness it was actually dawn. "Shrill and clear, recking nothing of wizardry and war".

It seems to echo and it's answered by another sound - the horns in the distance.

Utterly brilliant.

>>9907331
>but something that's a full 10/10 for you.
absolutely nothing. nothing is perfect.
I've never given anything a 10. I think the highest I've ever given is a 9.8. My favorite book is only a 7. It's not a 9 because there's this one scene that is just... not good.

>>9908820
>>9908820
What was the 9.8?

>>9908924
it was an anime
Desert Punk

>>9909153
>>9908924
I'd like to add that I was 15 at the time.

>>9907579

I pulled that pic from Google. From the author I only read Satantango and Melancholy. It's honestly weird and hard to get into due to the punctuation weirdness.

My guess is a lot is lost in translation.

Midnight's Children

>>9907331
The complete Faust what i would classify as a 10/10 though as far as i can tell quite a few people just really dislike the second part which is hard to understand for me.
on another note The Count of Monte Cristo is another book i would say is a perfect 10 out of 10.