Through literature I've been able to vicariously live the experiences of many different men from many different cultures, and this has taught me as much as anything else about 'being a man'. When the book is written honestly (i.e. not for commercial reasons), I often find myself relating to the character, gaining a better insight into the problems of my own life, and so on. So through a combination of my own experience and the writing of hundreds of male authors, I feel like I have a pretty good knowledge of the male psyche.
What books can help me to better understand the female psyche? I don't care if it's feminist literature or not (although I'll probably find it difficult to agree with any third wave feminism), I just want honest accounts of the experiences of women - the things they see and do, what meaning they attach to them, the problems that women have that men don't appreciate, and so on. Pic related is probably the first novel by a female author I've read since my YA days, but I thought it was crap. I'd appreciate any further suggestions because I'd like to read more female authors.
Middlemarch
Tampa - Alissa Nutting
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus
Literally the only book with no agenda that is at least scientific in it's approach without too much self-help wishy-washy shit, PUA stuff, feminist BS, and doesn't overdo the science either.
A guy who used to get tons of pussy put me onto it.
And he's not even a reader, so I knew I would get something from it, and I did.
>>7835822
Women are not to be understood but loved :)
>>7836050
Some say it's an absolute travesty.
Read the rational male. It's great.
>>7836050
Is this actually good? I had just assumed it was some pop-lit shit but I never actually looked into it. I don't really care on whether the book will help me get tons of pussy or not, I just want to understand what it's like to be a woman (inb4 become a tranny).
>>7836742
don't lie, you want tons of pussy
Some of Joyce Carol Oates' work, Mudwoman and Dear Husband stand out.
Frances Hodgson Burnett's Little Princess and The Secret Garden.
Edith Wharton, I can't think of a particular work to recommend though.
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
>start reading the paradox trilogy by rachel bach
>tough yet over-confident female power-armor knight lady protag in space
>a few really great action scenes
>series devolves into lusting over some twilight guy's dick and saving a little girl
I don't WANT to understand women.
>>7836890
Exactly. It's all about the sex. Men too, but we hide it behind work and women hide it behind relationships.
>>7835822
Read Lacan
>>7836921
>we hide it behind shitposts
ftfy
Joan Didion - "The White Album" is a great essay if you've never read her before.
Jo Ann Beard - "Inzanesville" is a novel on my shortlist (about adolescent girls), but I recently finished "The Boys of my Youth", her essay collection, which had some sublime realizations about childhood but was a decidedly female perspective throughout.
>>7836764
I'm depressed and pretty terrified of real human intimacy because I don't want to drag a nice girl down with me, but I also made a promise to myself not to have one night stands, so tons of pussy are definitely on hold at this point of my life. I keep myself sane with books and masturbation, pretty much the /lit/ lifestyle.
>>7836890
I wouldn't mind this to be honest, although it sounds like those books are shit written for a popular audience. I'm looking for more introspective, maybe even philosophical, works about the real experience of being a woman.
The Voyage Out by Woolf.
>>7835822
you could, you know, try talking with women IRL
>>7837334
This is the least useful way to get an honest insight into their psyche.
Anaïs Nin.
read Anaïs Nin.
read the diaries of Anaïs Nin.
it is everything you are looking for and more.
fuck the rest
>difficult to agree with any third wave feminism
that's probably because you wouldn't know the slightest thing about what third wave feminism even means.
>>7837387
That's because it's meaningless feel good trash for useful idiots
>>7837387
Well, judging from what we're seeing/hearing from the vocal parts of it, it seems anti-intellectual and actively harmful to progress.
>>7837334
>>7837349
I agree with the second poster, and not even trying to be an edgy 4chan misogynist here. It's the same for men too, just talking to them doesn't yield too many insights about their reality. There are so many possible reasons why we hide various bits of ourselves from the world around us, even to the people we're most intimate to. I think there are less of these barriers in literature (and art in general) which is why it's such a useful tool for really understanding someone.
I'd suggest you read Ivana Gibová, but I doubt she was or ever will be translated into english
>>7835822
I am planning to read Simone Veil and Virginia Woolf for the same purpose. Not sure if that actually helps but it is one way to start I guess
