Archived threads in /lit/ - Literature - 666. page
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Why the fuck is comedy forever stuck in being either "memoirs or joke books". What the fuck?
What if I want a novel that's funny and ISN'T a memoir?
Why is the whole fucking genre fucking ruined by this fucking bullshit goddamn it. It pisses me off to no end.
Just look at the memoirs- all by some comedian assholes I've mostly never heard of. Are they physically INCAPABLE of just writing a fictional book instead of drawing from a past that would be better suited in a biography instead?
I'm fucking sick of it.
a lot of classics are hilarious but they aren't labeled 'comedy'
>>7891915
Kingsley Amis, pleb.
it's all because some douchebag named jorge ate the pages in the 1300s
what have you say, /lit/, on Rawl's Theory of Justice and reflective equilibrium? do you try to have consistent morals, or are you perfectly fine with backtracking on your own beliefs when personally convenient?
>>7891893
here's a pdf of 'Justice as Fairness' for anyone who is unfamiliar but interested in this;
http://philosophyfaculty.ucsd.edu/faculty/rarneson/Courses/RawlsJustice.pdf#page=4&zoom=auto,-151,579
anybody
>>7891975
tldr Rawls doesn't even
You are lost because you are free.
thanks Kirk
I have read his novels translated by Harmon and his short stories translated by Muir
I am interested in reading The Castle, at least, by Muir, because I read his translation emphasizes the theological reading
I prefer Harmon's prose translation however, and am wondering if the newest Schocken books edition of his collected stories is still primarily Muir or if it has new translations by Harmon (it doesn't list one translator online because though Muir does most of it in my edition it's various translators throughout)
>>7891856
Shut up Franz
What are the best depressing poems?
>>7891766
anything by Swinburne
Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward
Depressing poems are the worst.
Positive poems are the best.
>he grins smugly because he knows you can't understand his writing
Whenever I imagine Pynchon doing this when I get lost in a difficult passage of his, I make sure to jizz onto a printed out picture of his face to maintain my dominance
Gene Wolfe is actually pretty straightforward in his writing, its just the techniques he employs tend to baffle people because they arent used to them.
He's just writing what he himself would read, honestly.
I need to reread BOTNS.
Can someone summarize or explain his writing style to me briefly? I'm reading through one of his books right now, I have a few russian authors and I want to better understand what i should look out for or possibly notice as to his unique style, especially with it being translated wondering what might have been lost.
I'm not asking to be spoonfed I just want to understand better the literature i'm reading and the unique variations author to author.
A French realist embodied by Russian culture.
>>7891723
Alright I appreciate that, I did some more reading up on it all, thanks m8. I'll keep it in mind when reading him. The writing seems very simple throughout so far, i'm halfway through fathers and sons. I wonder if it's the translation or just his style
Turgenev was a great prose stylist. Who is the translator?
1) How hard is it to become a decent writer who can live off his writing, if you put in a respectable amount of time each day?
2) Is good writing an acquired skill or is it an unreachable goal for most people despite hard work?
3.) I'm 25 and working construction. I really want this monotony to end. Where would I start?
You learn how to write by writing and reading a shitload. These two activities, in proportion to the time you spend on them, will make you a better writer, regardless of where you're at now.
It's not possible to know how far you can go when you embark. You have to just go for it.
>>7891659
>you will never breed a qt viking chink
>1) How hard is it to become a decent writer who can live off his writing, if you put in a respectable amount of time each day?
Even if you're good, or you are the next Nietzsche or something, the market is only reasonably "safe" for commercial schlock about teenage vampires fisting each other
>2) Is good writing an acquired skill or is it an unreachable goal for most people despite hard work?
No amount of skill can replace talent, and some people are lucky enough to have talent innately, but skill can hone talent, and skill + vision can be fine even if you're talentless. The problem is that vision is hard to come by (what do you want to say that's really unique, important, or interesting?), and again, mostly comes to talented people without their really trying.
>3.) I'm 25 and working construction. I really want this monotony to end. Where would I start?
That's a tough one
Hey /lit/
I need some advice. I think I may stop at chapter 10 of my book and find an agent I guess. The issue is that I don't know a whole lot about publishing. I was told that I could go through Amazon but I don't want to if I don't have to. I want to go through Random House with Penguin Audio if I can get that far and hope to get Jim Dale to read it. I've always wanted this. My biggest dream is to see my work finished and people enjoy it as much as I do.
Also, is 10 chapters, with 10 pages enough? 100 pages? I know there will probably...
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>>7891658
finish the book first anon. also one page a chapter seems a bit short. if thats the way you want it then thats fine.
>>7891658
Agents won't even consider taking you on unless you have a complete manuscript, and at least a second or third draft of it at that. If you're talking fiction, anyway. Nonfiction is different.
As for Amazon, you can put basically anything up there but all the work of promoting it is up to you.
>>7892079
No no, I'm doing every 10 pages is a chapter.
I'm saying, 100 pages, 10 chapters.
>>7892087
That I've heard too. I've heard they read the first 10 pages and the last 10 pages and say if the book is good or not. Then again, this 1 girl I knew back in culinary was able to publish a book about as think as a common rule book or so and made a few bucks of it. She was a high schooler and a snob. She would never talk to me. Trying to get some...
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what's some good anti-sexual fiction? looking for something that depicts sex and/or its consequences as grotesque, destructive, malevolent, or anything similarly negative. i'm en route to becoming a wizard and i'd like to start building a conceptual framework to justify my aversion towards carnality.
Is pic, uh, related?
>>7891650
Yes, black hole is a graphic novel, a coming of age novel about a STD condition which gives mutations to those who catch it. The condition can be seen as a part of growing up and becoming an adult since it passes to those who have it and have sex. It's great. None of this superhero bullshit that comes with comics usually.
>>7891650
well it certainly depicts the potentially grotesque consequences of sex
what podcasts does /lit/ listen to?
haven't had too much time to listen to too much lately, so I pared down my subscription list to:
The Daily Shoah
Chapo Trap House
Hollywood Handbook
Uhh Yeah Dude
Otherppl is a great book podcast. Interviews. New American fiction, some mainstream, mostly alt/independent. Has had on George Saunders, Jonathan Lethem, Tao Lin. Recently had on Hunter S. Thompson's son because he wrote a memoir. Like the host a lot. Maron-like monologues about life at the beginning are maybe even more crucial to me than the interviews. Interviews are good 95% of the time. Conversation focused on biography of the writer, sometimes craft. Sometimes the guest is annoying and you have to stop, but it's rare. Great podcast, listen to it all the time. Highly recommended.
>>7891627
sounds interesting, I'll check it out.
I should probably say a little bit about the podcasts I listed in case anyone cares
The Daily Shoah - keep an eye on what /pol/ alt-right guys are up to. can be funny.
Chapo Trap House - new left wing podcast hosted by 3 funny twitter guys. 99% of the show is them being disgusted by and mocking garbage political analysts like Peter Daou and Jonathan Chait, highly recommend.
Hollywood Handbook - satirical "hollywood insider" podcast,...
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I'm only subscribed to In Our Time, Samurai Archives and Myths & Legends. All well worth listening to.
sup /lit/ any recs on modern journalism that takes a unique approach similar to hunter s thomson something like vice but more interesing thanks
Try Buzzfeed
if you want literary personalized journalism go for the new journalism movement
Martha Gellhorn, Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, etc.
these are writers who saw no need for the objectivity of journalism and interjected themselves into the narrative, which is where a lot of things like today's news commentary or blogs essentially stem from
unfortunately can't really recommend anything from the past decade or so, but definitely check this out if you haven't
I am a famous writer. Obviously I am not going to reveal my identity, but you guys can ask me anything.
>>7891524
what's your identity?
Is it as glamorous as the idiots on here think it is?
Roughly what percent of your book sales do you receive once your agent and all that has been considered and how much do you end up making a year.
Also do you have any say in the cover art.
Does anyone else have a lot of ideas and "stuff to say" but not enough technical ability to get it out in a good way? This is honestly a retarded dilemma because it feels like I have to spend years making my writing better before finally expressing (in a relatively acceptable manner) what I have to say in this current moment. It's like holding a shit for 3-5 years straight.
>It's like holding a shit for 3-5 years straight.
I don't know, dude, you sound pretty eloquent.
>>7891415
I don't have a lot of "stuff" to say philosophically. I don't put myself up on a pedestal compared to anyone else really.
However, I will admit my day dreams are very lucid, and I have the feeling I may be alone on the way I perceive the world, or at least "feel" about it.
I want to write in hopes of connecting my feelings to someone as best as possible, and maybe probing a reader's mind will help me in knowing if I am truly alone or not.
Yes I actually feel the same way sometimes.
This is in large part why I read. It's in me. The world and its wisdom is all in me, but there are times it feels trapped within my vessel. And so I read to gain knowledge to gain wisdom to say and speak the virtue and glory that I know is deep down in my heart.
So, what'd you think?
Didn't read. Didn't think. There's no discernible talent.
The voice of a generation.
A light fun read, never thought of it again after I finished it
>Just recently got into /lit/
>Starting to replace vidya with books
>Want to read something but I suck at making decisions and picking what to read
>Spend too much time thinking about it and just decide to sleep
How do I fix this?
>>7891401
You need to work on your "fuck it"s.
I'm doing Greeks. Whenever I can't decide between philosophical texts, I just grab a play more or less at random.
>>7891401
Grab whatever book is literally closest to you and begin reading.
>>7891401
Stop right now.
Please read "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer J. Adler.
I fucking promise you, you have been numbed to how to properly read by all the videogames and media you have consumed all your life.
This book changed my life, it's like learning how to "lift weights" with your brain, in order to achieve a higher understanding.
Don't be afraid to read for entertainment, but please get a grasp on the art of reading itself before trying to act "patrician"...
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