Okay, pretty much every trashy novel for teenagers talks about how you "should never give up" and "hold on tight to your dreams".
Are there some out there that suggest that perhaps "giving up" might be the correct life strategy sometimes?
Anything Kafka. Especially "Give it Up!". Not even Kidding.
>>7649641
None of his characters give up until the very end.
>>7649641
you don't understand kafka :)
>>7649666
And it would have been better for all of them to do it sooner. It's similar to the teenage novels, which have characters having to resist the temptation to give up to triumph. In Kafka submission is the only thing that can truly allow you to be freed of the hell that is life provided you're as naturally milquetoast as his usual protagonists.
>>7649666
That's the point, isn't it?
i guess Candide sort of.
also there was a guy in 2666 who was very happy to have renounced writing
>>7649669
I think you don't understand Kafka. In his short stories is never a way to win. Anything they do makes it worse, demise is inevitable. They could have given up at any point and there wouldn't have been a difference. There's no chance and no glory in going down swinging. Just failure.
>>7649621
>Okay, pretty much every trashy novel for teenagers talks about how you "should never give up" and "hold on tight to your dreams".
because liberals have been pushing, for the last 2 centuries, the idea of a willing agent.
of course, women love this so much that they refuse to hear the contrary.
>>7649621
They tell kids that because they know how many adults fucking die inside by 35
>>7649621
rabbit run by updike comes to mind
>>7649621
I've thought about that lately. After trying to become fit for so many years only to start eating unhealthy again and ruining what I've started so many times.
Would giving up actually be a better strategy? Or would that just make me even more unhealthy. I'm not sure. It feels like I'm just wasting time on this in the end. Time I could have spent on other things.
>>7649621
woman in the dunes. basically says to stop living for yourself and allow yourself to be absorbed into collectivism
>>7651030
imo learning to balance multiple aspects of self-improvement simultaneously (i.e. without rapid gains to spur you on) is the highest order form of self-improvement there is
>>7649621
lol I'm trying to write a novel about this exact thing, where a guy basically figures out and comes to terms with that he can't win and he's never gonna get the things he wants.
>>7651018
>novel for teenagers
Beckett beat us all to it.
>>7649621
Bartleby the Scrivener is the most obvious answer.
>>7650949
Oh. I imagine reaching this point in one's life ten years early isn't a very good sign, is it.
>>7649751
But the characters never give up. Did you even read op? Did you read kafka?
Probably Don Quixote.
>>7649621
It's not a novel for teenagers, but Rabbit Run was essentially a book about how following your heart or your dreams is really stupid and that the heart is a fickle bitch that should be ignored most of the time.
Also, I've heard the Scarlet Letter described as a book about resigning yourself to a shitty situation and trying to make the best of it rather than try to break out and live the dream.
>>7651718
This a million times.
