What's a unique aspect of an undergraduate level degree in English? I've recently been having more and more discussions based on the merit of the degree with people that like to assert having a degree in English is obsolete. Thoughts on this topic based on your own experience /lit/?
>>7997376
It's a useless degree.
But that's true of pretty much any liberal arts degree.
>>7997378
Why is that the case?
>>7997376
lol do STEM xDD
Anyone ever read Pope Benedict's writings? He's pretty prolific and a good writer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI_bibliography
I'm not really into Catholicism.
It's just not my thing.
>>7996609
well, alright friend
More like Poop Bend a dick
Tfw u realize Jonathan Franzen is the best living novelist
Here's your (You)
woops sorry, OP here, I meant to type Taomas Pynchlin, boy what a silly typo
>>7996288
>Who is Gass
>Who is Pynchon
>Who is Corncob Tortillas
>Who is McElroy
>Who is DFW
What was his fucking problem?
>>7996033
delete this
Deep denial and a mother who enabled it.
Not unlike me..!
Instead of engaging with life, he withdrew and tried to find "the answer" in books. Then, every time he tried to re-engage with life, he was so stunted that it led to crushing humiliation, and he rationalized returning to his books by thinking he just hadn't studied enough yet.
What books added value to your life?
Tractatus.
>>7992198
How?
>>7992196
Stoner was a pretty big wakeup call about the dangers of not using drugs.
Today J.K.Rowling apologised for the writing in the death of Remus Lupin. She has before apologised for killing off Fred Weasley.
Should authors ever do this?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/36185825/jk-rowling-apologises-for-remus-lupin-death-on-battle-of-hogwarts-anniversary
>Should authors ever do this?
An author who writes on levels beyond basic drama wouldn't ever think to, as each action taken has a purpose.
>>7989848
How do we make Homer apologise for all those dead dudes?
>>7989848
You're taking this a bit out of context.
It's obvious from the article that she has a self-promotional shtick of apologizing for one death every year. Once per year she lowers herself (slightly down) onto the level of her fandom, and in return they don't forget that she exists. It's a win-win.
>tfw when you've been on /lit/ for nearly a decade on and off
>reading, never faltering, continually reading while people come and go
>make your way through all of the classics and the meme literature and the postmodern
>still reading the same shitposts after you finish entire bibliographies of Joyce, Hemingway, Dumas, Hardy, Hugo, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Gogol and many others
>(and when you already anticipate the machismo...
Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
I've been here for three years, 'seriously reading' for some five
Already feels like I'm way too smart for this shithole, and I feel like a retard compared to most people in real life. Can't wait till I can move on.
I'd call you out for using that picture, but I'm happy you are finding your way. I'm currently meming my way along this board while getting paidlittlefor writing second-rate knockoffs of Barth, Barthes, Perec and Queneau.for you
What was this guy's ducking problem?
guilt from getting sexy with his kid sister little phoebe when he wanted the teacher's d
>>8002273
the ducking problem was that he was really wanting to know where HE will go after the lake freezes over.
Can you guys recommend any literature dealing with themes like; our drive to understand ourselves and technology will lead to our imminent demise?
>>7999892
Fuck off butterfly.
>>7999892
is this real butters??
>>8001107
doubt it. posting style is off. with butters, you can just tell.
so yeah I'd appreciate if you knock it off, guy. it's not especially funny or interesting.
also Zero K.
What should I do with some old books I don't want anymore, /lit/? Most are too old to resell and the library won't take them either since they'd only want stuff they can sell. Throwing them away/recycling them doesn't seem right either.
>>8002980
If they are shitty paperback books that are too worn out for a used bookstore to take just throw them away.
>>8002980
What sort of stuff have you got, OP?
hand em out to kids on halloween
wat
I have the first in the series but haven't read it yet. Do you recommend it?
>>8002679
>i have a book but i'm too lazy to read it, tell me to read it
>>8002679
yes, they are all pretty good. Peake was clearly out of his box by Titus Alone though
I have to put all my books into a storage shed. How can I keep the moisture and humidity from ruining them?
Serious question.
>>8002594
Dehumidifier
Vacuum sealing
>>8002594
airtight boxes you dork. jesus christ you can read ovid, and tolstoy, and joyce but you can't google search your inane question?
>>8002598
I can't afford that shit.
Science fiction thread
We discuss science fiction, our favs, things to look out for. We discuss the genre in general.
>>8001388
Permutation City by Greg Egan is my fave.
>>8001415
Haven't read it. What's it about?
>>8001443
It deals with the question if there are gaps in consciousness or not and if there is a difference between a simulated person and a real one. Some guy thinks there isnt because of what he has "lived" and so spends all his money on a simulation of a universe. He runs it for a bit then turns it off. His reasoning being that it will somehow continue nonetheless. It does, he kills himself, and the simulated people live in simulation for thousands of years. Shit goes wrong. Then end.
Holy fuck this was good
>>8001214
Fine, I'll read it, god damn. Been wanting to ever since that anon posted that prose passage from it. Is the prose that great throughout the book?
>>8001214
What is it about
>>8001253
The passage in question being:
>Sitting before my little fire, I know, when the wind blows outside, moaning in the fieldstone chimney I caused to be built for ornament, shrieking in the gutters and the ironwork and the eaves and trim and trellises of the house, that this planet of America, turning round upon itself, stands only at the outside, only at the periphery, only at the edges, of an infinite galaxy, dizzily circling. And that the stars that seem to ride our winds cause them.Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
Has academia ruined literature?
>>8000638
No, literature has ruined academia
>>8000638
I have a better question. What hasn't academia ruined?
>>8000646
People who actually have a brain.