>book you're currently reading
>opinions on it so far
>>7521515
> Notes from Underground
> Introduction/10
>>7521517
Neat. Hope it convinces you to read more books.
>book you're currently reading
2666
>opinions on it so far
It's garbage.
>>7521515
>book I'm reading
Kamasutra
>opinion
A decent look into human sexual psychology but I don't agree with the philosophy. (Ex. It's okay to cuck people)
>The Devotion of Suspect X
Takes kind off long until anything happens but I can tell that the second half is gonna be interesting.
>book you're currently reading
Kafka: Complete Stories
>opinions on it so far
The longer stories were pretty good, but I feel the shorter, more Expressionistic ones are where he really shines
>book you're currently reading
Atlas Shrugged
>opinions on it so far
Hideously dull and unjustifiably long
>The Man in the High Castle
the first page was pretty nice
>>7521515
Essays and Aphorisms by Arthur Schopenhauer. Bought it today, it's brilliant so far. I'm drunk and some parts of it make me tear up because it's so beautiful. I hope I die when I'm 40.
blood meridian
had to read the first chapter twice just to get used to the style, but now it flows well
Dune.
It's okay.
>>7521515
>book you're currently reading
Lolita
>opinions on it so far
I like it
The Idiot
Pretty fun, even though sometimes I lose track of what's happening. Dosto is sure confusing.
>>7521515
>breakfast of champions
>had me at butthole illustration
The Great Gatsby (it's a classic that I never read in school)
It's alright. I honestly am not expecting too much out of it.
the long ships by frans g bengtsson
i just started it but it seems like it will be fun as fuck
>this thread again
Ancient Celts.
Can't wait catch on more history from the first millennium BC
>Dubliners
10/10, you guys weren't kidding about this being great, very excited to read more Joyce.
>>7521776
Hi Ken
>The Vorrh
For being only three chapters in, this book is fucking cool.
I had to take a break from staring at all the canon classics/philosophy books I've bought and pile up telling myself I'll dive in eventually.
>I quit reading for a long time to try writing. It's okay you can laugh.
This is a breath of fresh, new air and I think it will be a good beginning back into literature.
>sorry in advance if weird alignment on pic
Stoner.
Beautifully real and a new favorite.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
>>7521777
Sup Mark
>>7521792
Not much just bored
>>7521770
Sleep tight porker.
>>7521793
Go read a fucking book then
>>7521634
Of course it's okay to cuck people so long as you're not the one being cucked
Catch 22.
Not as funny as people say it is, but Clevinger's Trial was GOAT.
>>7521817
Vatsyayana argues under certain situations (he lists many that are a stretch) it is okay, but if everyone cucked by his standards then everyone would also be a cuck.
>>7521823
I read it two years ago andcan't even remember what was Clevinger's trial about, it was the made up basement stuff?wtf, and I even found the book to be as funny as people claim it was, just not at all times(it did in fact have absolutely humour-free passages)
I am reading Dubliners by James Joyce.
I have just finished "After the Race", the 5th short story.
For the majority of the time, I enjoy the prose hugely.
The problem I am having with the book is that I am having more difficulty picking up the themes than I have experienced with books in the past. It is making me feel less of a reader, to be honest.
Nonetheless, I am enjoying it a lot and look forward to reading some more by Joyce.
"Le Comte du Monte Cristo" by Dumas.
I'm 250 pages through it and it seems like everything has happened except the final climax where we find out who wins. That's a bit odd granted the book is 900 pages long.
Other than that, I'm really enjoying it.
>>7521770
fuck off porker
Anna Karenina
I'm not sure if it's boring as fuck or pure genius or 2deep4me or the translation is shit.
>>7521770
Sleep tight porker
My sleeps have been quite uncomfy recently, tbħ
>War and Peace
around page 300 i started to get worried it wasn't as good as its reputation would have it to be. but once i hit page 350 it started to just roll along. 100 pages a day or so since then.
tolstoy's characters are ambiguous. like real people. i enjoy it very much.
>>7521878
I really hope this was a Dexter Lab's pun and you didn't really make such a amerifaggish mistake
>>7521515
>Infinite Jest
At times very, very funny, occasionally profound, touching too, but much too often aggravatingly turgid and rambling.
I am 15 pages from the end, and I had to put it down. Simply cannot take any more in this sitting. I am currently having a very hard time imagining how he will bring it to a satisfying conclusion in the span of these pages, when he has repeatedly shown a complete ineptitude/unwillingness to be succinct.
Overall, I have quite enjoyed it. But as to the claim that some are making that this will be considered a timeless classic and masterpiece, I am doubtful.
I am very much looking forward to reading something that isn't David Foster Wallace.
>book you're currently reading
>opinions on it so far
Surprisingly comprehensible (though far from easy), highly entertaining, and the way Pynchon deals with the concepts here is pretty amazing. His prose style gets very repetitive at times, though.
>>7522075they all just get killed by an asteroid
>Consider The Lobster
It's my first foray into DFW's work and it seems as if this board has overhyped him because, although he is quite good, his work is nothing remarkable and nowhere near the level /lit/ has placed him.
>>7522091
I forgot the book lol, it's GR
>>7521515
Hello, Peter Mayhem!
If on a winter's night a traveler
Not sure if I like it or dislike it. Seems kind of pretentious
>Crime and Punishment
>Might just be the translation, but Jesus Christ, this prose is awful
>>7522075
>satisfying conclusion
Sorry, you won't find one.
I'm reading Dracula, and even though it's only 400 pages, it already feels too long. Part of it is 21st-century expectations (everyone knows that Dracula is an ancient vampire and knows all the vampire tropes because Dracula created a lot of them), part of it is a lot of chapters where nothing really happens, and part of is that most of the characters are bland as unbuttered toast or else cartoonish caricatures. Dr. Van Helsing is one of the most irritating characters I've ever read. Mina is the only one with a personality that would take more than five words to describe. But that being said, the early parts at Castle Dracula had really punchy prose and were pretty exciting, so I guess the final showdown with him could still be cool.
>>7522154
It's the translation. Or you're a pleb.
Anna Karenina.
Easily one of the best books I've ever read, but I'm in one of the agriculture theory sections at the moment and while it's somewhat interesting, it doesn't make me want to pick it up. The chapters where Levin is mowing the valley with the peasants were amazing. Oblonsky is the top lad, I enjoy all the chapters centered around him and somewhat wish there were more. I hate Anna and Vronsky, so watching Anna suffer is immensely enjoyable. I hope Vronsky gets his soon.
>>7522106
Ur gay, son. DFW is a legend. "Consider the Lobster" is a great essay. That isn't his best collection though, admittedly. I would recommend reading ASFTINDA for nonfiction, Oblivion for short stories, and The Pale King for novels (save Infinite Jest for last). His fiction is significantly more difficult than his nonfiction though, be warned.
>>7521515
The Tunnel
The best thing I've read in years. The writing is, in every sense of the word, perfect: it could not be written better. Hate, anger, and regret seethe through every word, every syllable.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
>>7522136
I just finished Invisible Cities yesterday. Comfiest thing I've read all year. The cities felt like a collection of prose poems and I really digged the interactions between Polo and Kublai. The rare library book that makes me want to buy a copy to keep. I think reciting some of the city descriptions could impress drunk chicks at parties.
>>7521999
This disappoints porker.
>>7522170
I actually haven't gotten to the "Consider the Lobster" essay yet as I started the collection today, but I'm currently in the middle of "Authority and American Usage" and I'm enjoying it thus far. Would you recommend reading all of his non-fiction before moving onto his fiction or could I just jump right into Oblivion after I finish Consider the Lobster?
>Plato: Complete Works
Socrates not dying for hundreds of pages, also some cool philosophy.
>Lolita
First I was impressed by the prose, then it went through a taboo sexual phase which was neat. Now I'm in part 2 and its stagnated pretty hard.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
>>7522247
Nah, read A Supposedly Fun Thing next. Might as well. The short stories aren't 100% necessary, but he's got a few good ones in there ("Good Old Neon"), if you intend to read Wallace's oeuvre.
>>7521804
Yeah, Ken.
Illuminatus Trilogy
I like it
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
Miles: Autobiography of Miles Davis
Only finished the first chapter, seems like a really chill guy, waiting for the part when he does a lot of drugs
>>7522190scan the book and post it ITT as a PDF
>>7522273
Thanks, man.
1Q84
Usually only read ancient books and classics but am really enjoying this.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
>1Q84 by Murakami
Just started it, but the the way he writes it's just horrible. The story is quite interesting, but I just can't deal with so many pointless fucking descriptions, and namedropping of clothes, or music or other shit. It's probably my first 'modern' book, as in not a classic, but it just feels so commercial.
>>7521833
I just finished Counterparts today and the whole paralysis theme is making sense now, and I can see how it applies to the Irish guy in At the Races too.
I'm enjoying it, but the scene at the end of Counterparts is heavy so I started reading Catch 22, when I've finish it and the last few stories in Dubliners I'm planning on reading Ulysses, which is seeming a little less daunting now that I've understood some of Dubliners at least.
>>7522433
Holy fucking shit, I'm the guy below you. How weird is that. I also wrote that I only read classic books.
>>7521515
Ulysses.
I don't know what the fuck to think. The parts I can comprehend are nearing genius territory, but so much of it is incomprehensible either due to difference in culture and time or lack of prior knowledge (Latin/French, irish slang/songs, stylistic references)
Still enjoying it thoroughly, however.
my friend gave me the new book he wrote to see if i can find any incongruences or plot-holes and also to hear my opinion because according to him i read a lot
i don't know where to start... so far is cheesy 1984 meets blade runner sci-fi garbage when everything is over-explained in the dialogue of the characters, the good guys are extremely nice with each other and extremely likeable, the bad guys are extremely bad and borderline retarded with no motivation to be cruel whatsoever but they are anyway
>>7522463
sounds positively...kafkaesque
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
>>7521770
sleep porker tight
>>7521515
>Just Kids by Patti Smith
>Interesting
>>7522469
it isn't though
>>7522485
You're right, it's my first one by him. Well I got it as a gift, so why not. Which one would you recommend?
>>7521765
I didn't like the Great Gatsby at all. Every other lit student I've talked to about it acts like I'm insane.
>>7522492
>It isn't though
>Blood Meridian
Afraid it might creep itself into my #1 favourite book spot
>>7522498
Kafka on the shore, Wind-up Bird Chronicle, Hard-Boiled Wonderland, Sheep Chase
>>7522440
Aren't you going to read any other Joyce (or the Odyssey) before Ulysses?
>>7522463
Seems like you already got your critique ready, that doesn't harsh at all, actually very informative.
>>7521626
Die
>>7522440
What do you mean when you say 'understood dubliners'?
>A Canticle for Leibowitz
It's like a mix of The Road and Fahrenheit 451. Not bad so far, but I'm not even a quarter way in. I'd recommend it to anyone who read either of those books and liked them.
>>7522525
It's true, though. 2666 is awful.
>>7522510
it isn't
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>>7522522
I'm just going to read it and see how I do. My family knows a guy who wrote a book on Joyce and he told me if I'm finding it difficult to skip the 3rd chapter or only read Bloom and go back over Dedalus.
Being from Dublin though and having the luxury of being able to text this guy if I'm confused, I'll hopefully not need to skip anything.
>>7522527
Well when I found out what simony meant I could see that theme reoccurring too in the two gallants and the story with the implied kiddie fiddler in the field with the two boys. I'm a little less intimidated now by Ullyses at least
>>7522545
>Being from Dublin
Do you live there still? It'd be so interesting to read the book in some of the places where it happens.
>Ficciones
>Reading it in Spanish to spruce up my knowledge. Some stories are more interesting than others. It's difficult to appreciate the writing style when you're trying to decipher the meanings.
>>7522543
*Tips fedora*
:DDDD
>>7522569
There is a part in Arby where he described the boy looking out a square window and you can see on that street still that the only square windows are on the third story.
At the Races is really nationalistic too, he used a lot of the streets older British names.
I suppose it is nice being able to picture the actual locations and views he described.
>>7521515
>Mason & Dixon
>DFW you will never smoke weed with George Washington
>Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
>what a fucking cuckold beta
About 200 pages in. Definitely a pop lit tier book. The prose is clumsy, but somehow also very honest and compelling. I'm liking it so far despite the fact that it's clearly written for plebs.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker!
>>7522594
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>>7522625
you're gonna like the ending
>>7521515
>The Year of the Flood
>It's not as good as 'Oryx and Crake' -- completely devoid of compelling characters or themes. At this point I'm basically reading it forthe plot.
>>7521770
Sleep tight porker
>Frankenstein
>not bad. Solid 7/10
The palm at the end of the mind by Wallace Stevens
If it were just poetry it would be 9/10. The plays drag it down to a 8/10, but the plays contain iridescent shards of genius as well.
Infinite Jest
I had just finished Brief interviews with hideous men and decided to tackle IJ on a holiday over the next 2 weeks. I'm only at about page 80 but I seem to be enjoying it thus far. Having to switch between the front and back for the footnotes is getting a bit tiring however, especially because you have to hold the bulk of what you've yet to read in your hand when flipping to the footnotes.
>>7522741
That was the single biggest fuck up imo.
The endnotes can be printed as footnotes at the bottom of the page, but no we have to have it your way DFW even if it does divide the reading experience well.
>>7522741
Use a bookmark for the endnotes nigga. But yeah I'll admit it's unnecessarily tedious
>>7521646
What are your favorites of the shorter stories? Of those I've read, I'm partial to Poseidon, The Vulture, and The Bucket Rider.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
borges - ficciones
I love it. Reading the stories is an almost spiritual experience.
>>7522247
Oblivion is probably the least accessible of his collections/books and the quality isn't consistent. You don't have to read all of his nonfiction but people typically find it more engaging than most of his fiction.
If you want to get into his fiction I'd say just go straight into Infinite Jest, if you want more nonfiction A Supposedly Fun Thing is good.
>>7521770
Sleep tight porker
>>7522517
It'll wear you down soon enough.
>>7522826
If you have shit for taste and possibly brains, yeah, it might do that.
>>7522157
yeah I had to read Dracula for a high school English class and I remember that the first chapter is GOAT and the rest sucks
Literally just finished the Red Rising books out so far. Overall, slightly better "Young Adult" books that at least dont pull any punches and mention things like rape and genocide when talking about "the evil gubment". Plus Im a sucker for "Revolution from Within" plots/Space Operas.
I'm also 50 pages into a biography of Attaturk, pretty interesting so far.
"Fury" by Salman Rushdie (Dutch translation)
Not sure if it's the Dutch translation sucking all the verve out of the prose or whatever but it feels boring as shit
Stoner
It's pretty good. I've teared up a couple times and I'm not even halfway through.
>>7521770
sleep tight porker
>The Castle
>pretty gay
>>7524783
fag
>Dune
Prety good
