How much has literature informed your opinions, personality or perspective, /lit/? I'm curious as to how often a reading experience continues to affect you long after the act, and if a work of literature did change you, which was it?
a lot
>>7683160
I read a lot of non-fiction, especially on Theology and Philosophy. I usually think about what I've read and figure out if I agree or disagree. If I disagree, I try to come up with counter-arguments.
Oh, and I guess reading turned me into a theist.
>>7683160
a lot
Before /lit/ I contemplated suicide and thought the world was a boring place only fit for losers. After /lit/ I realized holy shit it really fucking is.
That's it.
>>7683168
How's that lad
>>7683160
philosophy gives interesting insight generally
>>7683160
basically themes and characters make me think about stuff i wouldn't have otherwise
>>7683180
I found that believing in a God has more advantages than disadvantages
>>7683194
It doesn't seem to be a simple choice between JIF and Skippy.
What happened that made you actually believe.
>>7683194
>pascal's opportunistic wager
MALA FIDES
A
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A
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literature ruined my life
>>7683551
how so laddie?
>>7683194
>choosing beliefs based on convenience
This isn't even possible pham
>be me
>be the class clown throughout childhood
>friendly with everyone
>Chad in the making but with the intellect not to make my confidence obnoxious
>parental divorce
>begin reading
>stop reading and turn emo
>begin reading again and internalize my emoness
>isolate myself from everyone
>become depressed and casually nihilistic in college
>read Ligotti, Schopenhauer, Unamuno, Houellebecq, Lovecraft, Leopardi etc
>ironic pessimism becomes sincere
>become anhedonic
>live a Bernardo Soares-esque life of wagecuckery and reading and daydreaming
>invest heavily into my imagination
>get home from work at 6:00pm, hurry to eat and lie in bed daydreaming and then allowing myself ten hours or more to live happily in dreams
>almost a lucid dreamer at this point
>lose interest in books
>practically a mute at this point
>just stare without expression at people if they say anything to me
>post multiple threads on /lit/ from the perspective of invented characters
>have such a weak notion of the "self" that I mistake these characters for my own personality
Feels so, so good man.
>>7685259
wow
>>7683194
that's retarded
>>7685244
wrong
yes it's affected how i view the world and interact with others for the better, i think i have a lot more empathy and general understanding of emotion than if i didn't read literature
this has been particularly obvious to me through reading authors and works about experiences far from my own, writers such as thiong'o, soyinke, rushdie, morrison etc in particular
then of course there's dealing with your own place in the world and understanding of self, with writers such as beckett, proust, shakespeare, goethe etc being obvious influences here
a broader reading of humanities in general (history, philosophy etc) has also helped, but nothing has really had the same emotional etching and deep understanding that literature has provided for me - particularly in the novel form
>>7683160
It just have made my life more difficult. hanging out with people, all the little decisions of a day, going across the street. I just reflect to much, because at a certain time of my life I started to see every little thing as a part of a story, in which nothing is without a cause and nothing is to ignore. it makes me sick
>>7683168
>theology
>non fiction
>>7683194
Back to /his/, lad!
It's allowed me to live a pathetic, insincere, and boring life while convincing myself that I'm actually benefiting by doing nothing worthwhile and reading made up stories.