ok, to start it off. you guys are freaking intimidating. I was lurking some of those /lit/ threads and most of the stuff written in there I didn't even understand.
>mosty read fiction and fantasy all my life
>read a bit Gogol and Tschechow due to my father insisting on it, I liked it to be honest
>speak German, English and Russian (in that order of proficiency), just picked up Spanish a year ago
>german education yr 13
now what did I miss? I don't even know where to start and whether or not I should get some good literature into my brain. I've spent most of my free time with watching tv and playing games (oh, and lurking 4ch, for about a year now or so)
Thread will probably get deleted anyways..I guess it's more about starting to move in a chosen direction than to actually standing in front of a gigantic crossroads intimidated to make the first step
>inb4 tl;dr
shameless selfbumb with a micro-spaceship
The Greeks, either their philosophy, poems or tragedies it doesn't matter.
>>7521009
Don't be intimidated. You're way ahead of many here in terms of your desire to learn and not show off.
What do you want to do with your reading? Any particular area(s) of interest?
luckily, people here are shockingly helpful and kind when you're sincere, rather than
>this book is shit
>spooks, spooks
or
>this book greatest prove me wrong
you're doing better than 97% of the board, because it's mostly monolinguals here
anyway, try reading some Kafka and Dostoevsky. they're fairly amazing as well as accessible.
happy reading, OP!
also, someone's going to recommend Finnegans Wake, don't listen to them
You seem like a nice guy who wants to expand his horizons.
I'd suggest starting with whatever you feel like and branching out from there. You seemed to like the Russians so perhaps Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy will be good for you.
I always found the dystopian stuff a good way to ease in after reading Sci-fi and fantasy for years. Brave New World and that might be a good place to start.
>>7521028
Just crossed into my twens. I'm pretty lost in all terms of that matter. I've always been interested in the subjects my teachers taught me, but never felt I could dedicate my life to it. I don't know whether or not I should believe in a higher being, whether reality is what I convince myself it is. I don't know whether I should study something. Go abroad for a year or just to work here in Germany, to take some time to find myself. The human psyche fascinates me...I also started to become interested in Buddhism, Lucid Dreaming and the like...I don't know whether or not that's temporary, I guess I just need to cling to something as of right now
Maybe you should go back to reddit
someone post the /lit/ starter kit and greeks or something for this lad
>>7521065
I'm not a reddit user, although some might expect this with my kind of background story, haha
>>7521069
aah, I didn't read the sticky. My bad, I knew I forgot something. Would you recommend to read these starter-pack books in their native language or should I pick up the german translations for better understanding? (I'm a internet-kid, pretty confident in my English skills, though not on a native level of course)
>>7521065
Good, good, keep using this meme so it dies a quicker deathimplying the next meme substitute for original thought won't be worse
>>7521075
Your English def seems good enough to read the English titles in English. That will improve your skills on top of doing away with the limits of translation.
I'd say dive straight into Crime and Punishment. It's straightforward enough and has a strong plot. Try to read consistently and not take long breaks between sessions.
>>7521009
>>7521059
>Just crossed into my twens. I'm pretty lost in all terms of that matter. I've always been interested in the subjects my teachers taught me, but never felt I could dedicate my life to it. (…)
Thomas Mann’s „Zauberberg“ might very much be something for you. It’s a bit long, though.
If you’re in it for the feels, try Christian Kracht’s „Faserland“. It reads very well and has a special (and Germany-specific) kind of sadness to it.
And then there’s Kafka, of course. If you haven’t read anything by him so far, I’d highly recommend „Das Urteil“ to see if you like him. It’s certainly available for free on the web and rather short: Kafka wrote it in one night.
>ok, to start it off. you guys are freaking intimidating. I was lurking some of those /lit/ threads and most of the stuff written in there I didn't even understand.
First off lad, don't worry unduly about the opinions of the people on this board; just read. There used to be a fair amount of learned voices here, but it's in large part degenerated to a mimetic echo chamber. That being said, the book recommendations you'll see on /lit/ tend to be good, since they've been inherited from the /lit/ of old. Start with the Greeks or not, you really can't go wrong with the Western canon. At any rate though, your principle aim should be that you take advantage of your acquired tongues to read such great writers, in their original compositions, as:
>Tolstoy
>Dostoevsky
>Goethe
>Schopenhauer
>Nietzsche
>Mann
Don't be afraid to read translations, but understand that some essence will always be left behind. Most of all: have fun. Reading is a joy, and not some grim duty taken on for vanity's sake --thus it must be to you, lest thou beest some wretch of a knave and not a scholar forsooth. Godspeed then, anon. Oh, and if you mean to read the meme trilogy start with Infinite Jest, since it's the most "accessible" of the three.
