What are the best books from the NYRB Classics collection? There are quite a few cheap ones on eBay but because there are so many (many of which sound interesting) I don't know which one to get.
>>7413749
They're already pre-selected for you as Classics. The publisher is guaranteeing they're at least that good.
Why do you need your hand held so far? Read a few synopses. Find one that appeals. If you're asking for favorites, Jansson, Comyns, Manchette, Hrabal, Fermor, Walser and The Long Ships.
Some I liked:
That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana , by Carlo Emilio Gadda
Skylark , by Dezső Kosztolányi
Diary of a Man in Despair , by Friedrich Reck
The Peregrine , by J.A. Baker
Hard Rain Falling , by Don Carpenter
The Land Breakers , by John Ehle
The Long Ships , by Frans G. Bengtsson
Dead Souls , by Nikolai Gogol
The Gate , by Natsume Sōseki
Amsterdam Stories , by Nescio
Butcher's Crossing , by John Williams
The Chrysalids , by John Wyndham
Some I didn't like:
The Three Christs of Ypsilanti , by Milton Rokeach
Morte D'Urban , by J.F. Powers
Nightmare Alley , by William Lindsay Gresham
The War of the Worlds , by H.G. Wells
The Invention of Morel , by Adolfo Bioy Casares
Chess Story , by Stefan Zweig
Bonus mention for hilarious title:
Memed, My Hawk , by Yashar Kemal
Copy-pasted titles from here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/197995?group_id=2083
>>7413766
What didn't you like about the Casares, Zweig or Rokeach?
>>7413760
>Why do you need your hand held so far?
I don't. I'm interested in which ones are other board members' favourites. The last NYRB thread was really interesting and read a load of plot introductions that intrigued me.
I'm not gonna pick one based on a /lit/ consensus, I'm just interested in what you all think. I guess the end of your post addresses, thanks, I'll look into them.
>>7413760
Good selections. Also Vassily Grossman, Gyuda Kruly, and Antal Szerb. Really all of the Hungarian lit they publish is amazing.
>>7413770
>Casares
I guess I was too hyped up by Borges saying it was the perfect novella - the "reveal" pissed me off, but the structure was good
>Zweig
Had just read Zweig's The World Of Yesterday before, that one was worlds better. Main character of Chess Story wasn't particularly well-constructed
>Rokeach
Cool idea, boring execution
>>7413773
You should have said favorites instead of best then. No user here is knowledgeable enough to make that kind of decision about their books.
>>7413785
And this is why /lit/ isn't allowed to say what's best and not. I'm glad you qualified the post by saying you were talking about your likes.
>>7413792
>And this is why /lit/ isn't allowed to say what's best and not
I think your elitism is hanging out
>>7413788
I thought it was assumed. Of course no one has read every single book in the collection. At least that's cleared up.
>>7413796
You're implying I don't consider myself a part of /lit/.
Anyway OP, you should look into their new Calligrams series as well, in addition to the Classics. Especially The Three Leaps of Wang Lun is in the vein of the Classics.
>>7413804
That doesn't stop anyone from assuming they're an authority. See: any thread about national literature.
>>7413766
The Long Ships was fantastic. It was like a mix of genre fiction and high lit.
>>7413818
Is it yours?
>>7413818
While I admire your dedication, your spending habits leave something to be desired.
>>7413818
I'm more interested in the Wakefield. Do you have a section for it somewhere too?
>>7413820
I agree, it is easily one of my favorite NYRB books
>>7413818
you've read like <10% of that
>>7413861
>he doesnt realize how pleb that statement is
https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/24/umberto-eco-antilibrary/
>>7413866
TL;DR
>The writer Umberto Eco belongs to that small class of scholars who are encyclopedic, insightful, and nondull. He is the owner of a large personal library (containing thirty thousand books), and separates visitors into two categories: those who react with “Wow! Signore professore dottore Eco, what a library you have! How many of these books have you read?” and the others — a very small minority — who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool. Read books are far less valuable than unread ones. The library should contain as much of what you do not know as your financial means, mortgage rates, and the currently tight real-estate market allows you to put there. You will accumulate more knowledge and more books as you grow older, and the growing number of unread books on the shelves will look at you menacingly. Indeed, the more you know, the larger the rows of unread books. Let us call this collection of unread books an antilibrary.
>>7413868
TL;DR
>I don't know how to use the Internet.
>>7413868
>and the others — a very small minority — who get the point that a private library is not an ego-boosting appendage but a research tool.
I'm sure that people who treat books as research tools, not ego-boosting appendages, don't post pictures of their shelves on /lit/.
>>7413872
Why would you think that? There are several professors who've posted here, and tons of graduate students.
>>7413866
>>7413868
>mfw I burn down his house and destroy his books
>>7413922
>hi guys i just came from /b/ am i funny yet xddd lamao
>>7413922
>>7413903
Ego boosting seekers.
>>7413965
I guess there's no reason it can't be both.
>>7413766
Nescio. Although you should read him in Dutch, really...
>>7415242
i dont want to learn a language that considers "poffertjes" a normal word
