I lost my kindle fire a few months ago and have yet to replace it. It isn't that big of a deal because I like physical copies anyway, and I have several semi-competent to above-average used book stores in my area. I also wouldn't be too concerned if I could still frequent the decent libraries in my 'city' (Albuquerque), but a youthful indiscretion from the 90's prohibits me from obtaining a library card.
What I'm wondering is which of the online sites offering 'free' pdfs if you join up (of course with the option to cancel after you get your free book) are reputable. I'm nervous about giving out my info just to get the new Jack Ketchum, John Connolly, and Joe Hill books just because they don't carry them in my 3rd-world country of a town. I also wouldn't mind a few books from Palladin Press.
Does anyone have any knowledge regarding which of these sites are legit? I could order the newest books by the aforementioned scribes from Hastings but it would probably be cheaper just to buy another kindle. I'd rather just get them free on a trial basis via pdf, and either cancel upon reciept or continue the service if I'm blown away by it.
Help me out here guys.
>free pdfs
>reputable
Why not just use libgen or whatever the copyright infringement people are using these days?
Also was this you?
>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/man-banned-libraries-earth-article-1.1289988
>>8113063
read the sticky how to pirate books; basically you either use a pirate library like libgen, or a pirate irc, or a torrent, neither of those asks your info and usually doesn't even need a registration
>>8113106
Since I've lost my kindle, I've downloaded on my phone Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, Programmed to Kill, Hunter, Brave New World, and On Writing without any problems. Other than Hunter (which was even more ridiculous than TD), they were all nonfiction. When I try to get Hill's The Fireman or Connoly's Song of Shadows, I get these knockoff 'Give us your cc#, but we won't charge you if you cancel within a month' bullshits. Now I assume that some of these sites are reputable, because similar sites dealing with other media exist and flourish. I'm mostly thinking of hbogo, but I'm certain there are other examples.
I just don't know who exactly to trust, because no one fucking reads anymore and any site I encounter could either be the best site for readers in the world or a giant cactus up the ass.
I'm fairly new to rhe internet. Vpn tor hacker bullshit might be on the horizon for me, but for now I just want to read some fucking books they don't carry in this miserable ghosttown. I just don't want to get raped after putting out my cc number. I got enough of that in prison.
what are some modern, really funny books that I could read? just finished Confederacy of Dunces, and it was great!
>>8113020
my diary tbqh
Next to confederacy pic related made me chuckle the most
It's not good literature but it's funny
>>8113020
i though catch 22 was pretty funny, but it also has very dark moments
Recommend some good books or authors that aren't as well-known on /lit/.
Avoid classics or memes.
I was recommended pic related but I haven't read it yet.
>>8112857
Anyone read Penelope Fitzgerald?
I'm interested in reading 'The Beginning of Spring.'
EL Doctorow - Billy Bathgate
Michael Cunningham - By Nightfall
Alice McDermott - That Night
Anthony Trollope - The American Senator
Iris Murdoch- A Fairly Honourable Defeat
Elken Wood-East Lynne
Anita Brookner - Look at Me
John Berger - King: A Street Story
Looking to comprehensively understand the greeks. Suggestions?
Pic unrelated
women and men
Yes.
Buy a refurbished amazon Kindle paperwhite, then download the program 'calibre' which is a book sorting library, then proceed to use libgen.io and scihub to collect all your books and journals, add them onto calibre, then send them to conversion to your kindle.
Do you people not have libraries? I don't mean like big collections of books in your own home, but actual fucking public libraries where you can go and check out books?
Or you could just buy 50 books from Amazon.
DO NOT EVER JOIN A FACEBOOK WRITING GROUP
jesus christ everyone in every single writing group on facebook is just fucking retarded
NORMIES TRYING TO WRITE REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
>>8112848
>having a facebook in the first place
...
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Is he right?
>Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these...
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>>8112843
This fat fuck needs to read more history.
This thread is better than the Ann Coulter thread currently on the front page, so here's your bump.
Yes, he is right. Tolkien wrote a fantasy with realist elements. Gurm writes realism with fantasy elements.
>>8112877
>Gurm writes realism
Is there anyone one /lit/ who has read a work in the original language and a translation?
When i read translations, i get the sense that the style is an 'academic' style.
How close to translations come to the original style of the work? Do they capture it pretty well, or do they render it in a style that is overly academic and alien to the original style?
>>8112814
>How close to translations come to the original style of the work?
This is almost a meaningless question because the answer is dependent on so much: the original author, the original language, the translator, and the translator's language. You'd be better off asking about specific pairs of languages (e.g. French to English), if not specific authors.
In my experience though, I wouldn't consider any translations I've read to be "overly academic"...
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>>8112868
But aren't most translators from a more academic background? as opposed to writers, which can be from every type of background.
>>8112814
Ive read some of the Aeneid in latin and the whole thing in English. Generally the english translators try to reflect the original connotations, but it isnt always possible. The best versions will include annotations to inform you of such details as well as cultural significancies that dont come across initially.
Of course the Aeneid is a special case being poetry; the original flow is pretty much entorely lost in English, so reading it in Latin adds a much greater appreciation. I imagine the impact would be less for prose.
>tfw you write because you want to be loved, rather than because you love writing
>tfw writing is the only way you can find meaning in your worthless life
>tfw writer's block
>>8112731
>love
>>8112748
>meaning
>>8112731
>tfw you do both
Anyone else find his writing style awful? Like he inherited almost the same shitty style of writing as Kant and Hegel? Like his ideas aren't the problem, he just writes them in obtuse prose.
>"prose"
since when did my property start concerning itself with spooks
>>8112597
Wow, did not see that post coming. I'm not talking about his ideas, please take the memes to one of the other meme threads.
>>8112588
I do, although its better than some of his other works that ive read for what its worth.
Its a style that doesnt age well and probably why he will always be kind of obscure
gather round boys, lets all share our favorite non-fiction books, ill start.
best piece of travel literature ever written, in my opinion
really a shame he died so early
>>8112614
well I'm retarded
Bang bang, pow pow
Hey /lit/ can anyone take a look at my bookshelf and tell me if I am on the path to literary life? Am I missing any essentials in my library?
>>8112486
2/10
very poor bait apply yourself
>>8112495
So, your assumption is that I came up with a list of books to purchase, neatly arranged them on my gestapo mamallian, and then took a pciture for bait?
>>8112486
You should try reading more poetry and plays desu
What's the most passionate novel you've ever read, /lit/?
William Gaddis - Agape Agapē
Maybe it's because an angry old man is dying and writing one last banger, but it is nothing short of pure fury
>>8112371
>reading translations
Why does the phrase "no problem" piss off older generations so much?
Does it?
>>8112124
Never seen that happen.
>>8112136
yes it really does. At least in the south where I live
>147 pages in
should I continue?
>>8112118
if you have to ask...
You should finish the book and then start again
Why did you even start?
Got meme'd?
>muh great literature
I enjoy reading erotica more than reading literature, what is wrong with me?
>>8112081
you need a dik in ure boipussi
life is short, sink in hedonism
>>8112081
deplorable
repress your base desires and pursue betterment before it's too late