Archived threads in /lit/ - Literature - 405. page
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Is lovecraft overrated? I've been reading a collection of his work and he seems to have a really bad sense of atmosphere and pacing.
Worse yet, a lot of the time when he's describing something that's supposed to be terrifying or disturbing he just said it is instead of describing it
>>8091614
Which stories have you read?
Everythings 'indescribable' or 'unspeakable' as well. Come on m8, you're a writer, at least have a go. He has good titlesthough, eg 'At the Mountains of Madness'
>>8091614
overrated? well, he has had his awards stripped away.
he's far from overrated. he's an awesome launching pad.
ask an armchair Burroughs major anything
(also I made a chart)
the GOAT author gets a bad rap around here and I'd like to change that
>>8091548
Very nice. No one ever talks about The Nova Trilogy here, which makes me sad.
>>8091548
>expecting /lit/ to have good taste
That's your problem right there.
How do you think Burroughs squares up with the other Beats and American counter-culture writers. I've only just started Junky, but I've always rated Kerouac and Brautigan at bit higher.
>>8091580
Burroughs out-does Kerouac and Ginsberg both in terms of scope and definitely in terms of substance. Kerouac at his best though is another thing /lit/ memes itself into missing out on. Visions of Cody is a masterpiece.
tbqh I haven't read Brautigan.
itt: overrated shit
shitstorm incoming, it's a big one so stay inside, lock your doors, and close your windows.
>inb4 all hell breaks loose
>>8091532
how lonely are you that you resort to such bald trolling
sad
Are Norton Critical Editions worth getting or looking into? Such as the one for Faust, I'm curious as i've never had one before, I usually buy oxford, and i'm wondering how in depth they go.
>>8091527
fast was p. good. when mepistro came up and was all "hey yo bitch, i'm takin gretsin" and fast was like "iongivafuck"
They have some really weird choices of translations. I think all of them are actually done in house.
They're good for stuff in English, but shop around when it comes to translation.
>>8091569
Alright, I appreciate the insight. they looked really comprehensive, I was worried about the translations cause I heard different things on them.
I'll look into them for english.
>
What book is this? I'm curious.
>>8092713
Book of the New Sun
MEME??
MEME??!!
MEME!!!
ITT: movie that were actually better than the book
>>8091434
>book
>two short stories
nice try, OP.
i'll offer my "controversial" choice.
That was easy
you are a complete faggot. kurosawa was not trying to make a movie out of the akutagawa story. he just took the two stories as a setting to tell his own. akutagawa's are great in what they do and tell, and so is kurosawa's. theyre completely different even if related.
![cotd_email_1411037572_1396961662_00001[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/yNKWpIM.jpg "cotd_email_1411037572_1396961662_00001[1].jpg")
>150 wpm reading speed
>lower comprehension than speed readers
>can't even get myself to read a whole chapter in one sitting
>keep finding books that sound interesting but i'll realistically never actually read
please help me
step 1: practice, maybe you just don't read frequently and thus suck at it
step 2: wait to see if this resolves the problem, if it doesn't go to step 3
step 3: get some ADHD meds or something from a psych or try being less addicted to the internet or whatever
OP, I'm assuming youre a shitposter and a faggot.
In the small case that you are not –smartphones and online interactions have corrupted your brain. You have had no use for detailed comprehension or close reading. However, now you want your brain to do something different.
Practice reading. Just practice getting through even when you don't find it interesting. Read poetry and prose and anything else you can find. When you're bored in a waiting room or something, try reading a magazine and you may find you can "read" it like you haven't...
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>>8091448
>>8091456
Thanks for the real responses to my shitty thread. Should I start with books written for kids like Goosebumps or is that going too far? I dropped out of middle school and have been aimlessly just browsing the internet never leaving my house for the last 10 years and now I'm borderline retarded because of it.
Since we had two threads about south american writers, why not a more general thread?
posting cutest spic
I wish Gabo was my grandpa, he looks like such a happy, fun old man.
Anyway I tried reading 100yos once and stopped because I got bored, all he seemed to be doing was stating things, like 'x happened then y happened then arcadio buenos banderas XVIII was in front of the firing squad remembering what the gypsy woman's face looked like,' there was very little psychological depth and I didn't find the writing amazing. Should I return to it soon?
>>8092226
Bro did you read like 10 pages? Yes, read more of it.
>>8092236
I think I read about 50 pages tbqh
But yeah I'm going to start again someday.
what are some other contemporary others like bret easton ellis? i like this book, but i don't have much depth within the genre
>>8091350
read Lunar Park please. Way better than Less than Zero.
>>8091350
Jay McInerney, Donna Tartt.
Donna Tartt is BEE but stronger
What should I listen to while reading House of Leaves?
Inb4 Death Grips or some shit.
>>8091275
listen to this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoXu6QmxpJE
Death Grips or some shit.
>>8091275
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn8mxzDYdbE
Is this book good from a literary standpoint? Don't know much about it
I read it at the start of high school on my own and loved it. Take that however you please.
>>8091241
George was a better essay writer than he was a storyteller and his novels even read better if you treat them as essays and not stories.
>>8091241
Read it last week. I thought it was pretty good.
So it seems like a lot of you don't seem to like the English language itself while liking literature.
Tell me, do you think English should purify itself to something more like the language in pic related?
I personally think it would be useful, would certainly be better on our already weird grammar.
Here's a sample from Now
>Linguistic purism is above all an activity: a process of experimentation in which philological research is undertaken to craft the prototype of a new, "cleansed" standard for the language of concern. Before I outline my methodology of lexical purification, I will first try to define more clearly the goals of Anglo-Saxon linguistic purism.
To purifed
>Reirdlutterdom is above all a whatship: a foregang of overfinding in which weafloreforshing is undertaken to craft the ormake...
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The non-Germanic aspects of English are the only good thing about the language.
>>8091068
>beopulf
Why is good writing so lacking in the fantasy/sci-fi genre? Every fantasy book I've picked up in the past decade has had god awful prose, with the exception of a select few. I enjoy the strong writing found in literature, but it seems the strongest writing is found outside of mystery/thriller and fantasy/sci-fi.
Why is there no overlap?
>>8091044
You got it wrong. There is good fantasy, it just identifies as something unfantasylike. Same with sci-fi. Cтpyгaцкиe got so upset at the state of science fiction they renamed the genre they were writing in.
>>8091065
What do you mean by it "identifies as something unfantasylike"?
>>8091044
You probably don't know what fantasy is outside of J. R. R. Tolkien rip-off, H. P. Lovecraft or G. R. R. Martin. Give a try to Jean Ray or Guy de Maupassant short stories, Gustav Meyrink, Giovanni Boccacio, Erckmann-Chatrian, Jules Verne, Robert W. Chambers, Jack London, many tales less-known written by Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol, Ann Radcliffe, Rudyard Kipling and Robert Stevenson, Tommaso Landolfi or Franz Kafka. I'm sure you won't feel this is genuine fantasy literature yet that's how...
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Who is the literary equivalent of Dostoevsky?
>>8091042
Wittgenstein.
Are there any self-help books that are actually good?
Looking for something that will make me stop being a lazy fuck and stop wasting time on 4chan and vidya and shit.
Please help, you are my only hope.
>>8090986
I guess your best bet will be Ego and its Own by Max Stirner. Ignore it's meme status and don't get discouraged if you're new to philosophy, it's an easy read.
Self-help books just don't cut it anymore once you're well-read enough and can see past the bullshit that those books are full off.
>>8091045
Have it on my shelf actually, never got around to reading more than a few chapters, though. Might give it a go, thanks for the rec.
>>8091058
Also I'd suggest to simply pick up some philosophy books on a subject you're interested in and study like a madman. If you're anything like me, you'll get obsessed with it and get into a state of pleasant tension and focus, which is beneficial to you in getting the other shit done
