Do I need to read all the dialogues, or can I just read the republic?
>>7732371
start with the Greeks
>>7732384
That does not answer my question...
>>7732371
Dude, you can do whatever you want. What do you want out of Plato? To say "I've read him", or what?
Is his short work or novels worth reading? Or is he just some crazy guy that people who are into magic pretend is good. I know Nick Land likes him, not sure why though.
>>7732362
>guy helped create scientology
well, OP, what do you think, really?
>>7732386
Uncle Fester helped create Scientology?
>>7732362
i'd like to hear more thoughts on this too bc i know a lot of the modernists were really into the occult stuff like anthroposophy/theosophy/etc. the only examples i have are andrei bely and ts eliot, but joyce referenced the theosophists in ulysses too
What if all of classical music is just making a joke out of the ego's problems? all sad music is sarcastically sad, and all jovial music is just sarcastically happy. Imagine one giant creepy dude playing all of your music that you love but playing it with a giant grin on his face. Don't take it as a depressing thought, you're supposed to laugh at your humanity. It's like the AI that looks past at itself. Once you've realized this thought, imagine that you feel depressed at this thought itself and then you decide to play music that expresses your depression...
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dude postmodeernism is fucking gay you can just shit on a canvas and call it art >_>
I find that each chapter of Finnegans Wake can be taken alone as a canto.
In fact, in conversation with friends (usually over espresso), I prefer to refer to Finnegans wake as "The Cantos of Jim Joyce".
"Jim" because I feel that I've developed something of a bond with the bespectacled Irishman. You see, on my mother's side we're Irish. Imagine what it would be like having a mustache like his. I close my eyes and, when I concentrate, I can feel the tickle of whiskers, like a trace of pepper caught in the steam rising off of my...
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>>7732260
Every time I discuss this idea with friends I'm told it's schizoid to think so. I played music for years with these people until I realized their art only served to manipulate the emotions and well being of others and themselves. I am still deeply interested in music though-- my resolve has since heen to tune the guitar to whatever I like and pull music out of the air. I had anxieties before about not being able to play the same sound twice but that spook got rekt eventually.
>tfw I feel like everything I want to write about has been written about
>tfw I want to find a way to write a politically/philosophically original novel when every idea has been beaten with a stick over and over
Maybe I'll write a dystopian novel about equa- Harrison Bergeron.
That's okay because I can still write a novel and a totalitarian sta- 1984.
No, I'm fine. I can neatly intertwine romance with politics in a- Great Gatsby.
I feel like if I write anything it would...
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i've been struggling with writer's block for a little bit but i've started reading again and i find that the more i read the more ideas i get and finally the urge to write grows larger than my writer's block and i manage to churn out something interesting, or at least something i think is interesting. don't really worry if something's been "done before" at first and just write what you want
it's about execution not originality ya goof
>writing dystopias
>2016
So, /lit/, is this the great literary critic of our time. Moreover, is he the last of us to deserve the moniker "Renaissance Man?"
who dat
>>7732012
George Steiner, you philistine.
>>7732007
>Greatest literary critic of our time
>Fails to post a picture of papa bloom.
who here bought all 3 books
>>7731812
i did that with pinecone. never again.
I did.
>>7731813
>>7731824
not what i'm talking about my nig nogs
Is he worth reading?
Where to start?
with his first book like you would any writer
Yes yes yes
Start with Revolt Against the Modern World
Start with the Greeks.
what is /lit/'s opinion on Rabelais?
Steven King tier
>>7731487
okay. why?
>>7731487
no reasons?
anyone?
What is your motivation for reading philosophical works? Do you simply wish to better understand the way that people around you think, or are you seeking a new worldview?
>>7731454
just for the dank memes.
>>7731454
I just have a natural taste for the avant garde, but I'm learning even the simplest things can be incredibly profound.
hey /lit/
There's a course on Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez coming up at coursera
https://www.coursera.org/learn/macondo-gabriel-garcia-marquez
The works that will be studied are Leaf Storm, No One Writes to the Colonel , Big Mama's Funeral, In Evil Hour and One Hundred Years of Solitude.
It will be subtitles in English.
Is anyone interested?
Also /gabo/ general
He's mediocre at best
>>7731220
This.
I can't imagine how boring going it would be to go in depth analyzing some very shallow and boring pieces of literature.
YAWN
No thank you.
>>7731213
Cervantes was better.
Really?
>>7731020
Considering its just a ranking of authors' obscurity, it's not that bad. And the bottom is good for finding experimental writing.
>>7731020
No its shit meme
>>7731020
It's ranking how hard they are to understand. Regardless of whether you like a certain author or their work is part of the canon, it ranks how easy it is to read.
Kinda went overboard on my trip to Barnes & Noble.
>>7730992
how is the halo series? i read the first one. breddy good, i thought. much better than starship troopers, really.
>>7730992
Only good thing there is Trump
I've been meaning to get into the Song of Ice and Fire series. Tell me how it goes.
Is it worth it? If so whattranslation?
nah
>>7730720
Burton translation, totally fappable
>>7730720
I've always liked it, but that's mostly because of nostalgia. It's up to you, really, but I'd say yes.
Don't know crap about translations, though.
How many of you seriously aspire to be a successful published author?
There are a lot of people with this attitude, that they are reading to "get good" at lit or build up a repertoire that represents all the quirks and facets of their style, but the same people dont spare a thought for their own voice or ideas or the truthfulness of what they write. It is like they're trying to crack the trade or something because they're too detached to really get into it.
There's something to be said for writing when you actually have an artistic vision...
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>>7730571
You can have your own thoughts while reading to improve your prose. Reading doesn't do much for your creativity, it just influences your prose, and hopefully, it improves it.
>>7730627
What this anon said, really. Reading a fuckton will generally improve your own prose, but I can see people becoming too derivative of previous works in the process. My prose is much better for having read as much as I have, but I can't say I'm a good "writer". Ideas are few and far in between.
As you read, you realize that your ideas are not your own at all. At least, you are not the first one to have them. This may make you lose motivation, realizing that you are not a special snowflake, but it can also do the opposite: motivate you do delve deeper into those writers that you feel a connection with. In short: be influenced. No masterpiece stands on its own.
Has the European migrant crisis produced any good literature?
Does "Submission" by Houellebecq tackle any themes related to the crisis, or is it basically just "dude muslims are savages lmao" ?
Why don't you read it and find out?
If by the 'migrant crisis' you mean the recent influx of Syrians into Europe as a result of their civil war, then Submission preceded that by a few years. It does however deal with the increasing diversification of westernized societies, particularly with respect to the increasing Islamification of France. It makes some interesting predictions about what might happen (albeit slightly over-the-top and satirical) and particularly about why it might happen. I didn't read it as being anti-Muslim at all - from what I understand Houellebecq is essentially playing devil's...
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