Have you read the entire /lit/ starter kit? Is it dated? Aren't Lord of the flies and huck Finn legitimate children's books?
It's for people who are new to reading.
Everything except Catch-22. They're high school-taught books largely (with the exception of Lolita) but that doesn't necessarily mean they're bad. Imagine if they never got picked up by Western high school curricula, many would be widely discussed here on /lit/ likely. The only one that is notably awful is To Kill a Mockingbird
Adults can get quite a lot out of those works, and I don't see why any of them would be considered "dated".
>>8067501
Dated, as in it was put together years ago by a completely different /lit/ demographic, yes.
>>8067501
>Lord of the Flies
It's not a children's book just because it's about children.
>Huck Finn
So?
>>8067501
Read A Brave New World I didn't like it. Which is kind of ironic because I enjoyed 1984. I adored every second of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Fear and Loathing.
I never finished Lord of the Flies (I detest YA type shit). Too embarrassed to read Lolita annnnnd that's it.
Is American Psycho actually good?
>>8067683
Why don't you like that? I can see why this board probably wouldn't, but I'm interested.
>>8067501
I'm up to Fahrenheit
>>8068849
>I never finished Lord of the Flies (I detest YA type shit)
>Too embarrassed to read Lolita
>annnnnd
Jesus Christ, you're an embarrassment.
>>8068860
to some extent I liked American Psycho but about half way through I couldn't take how repetitive the book got, especially considering how disgusting some parts could be. Had a similar experience with Less Than Zero; maybe Ellis just isn't for me although I like the concepts of each of those books.
Also just having read A Scanner Darkly I feel like it would be a much better entry-level Dick novel than DADOES?
>>8068849
>Too embarrassed to read Lolita annnnnd that's it.
Literally kill yourself. I mean it.
>>8067501
Everything except Gatsby and Siddhartha.
>>8068849
> Lord of the Files
> YA shit
2/10 bait here's your reply
>>8069270
Siddhartha is great you should read it. I mean do what you want but I definitely recommend it.
>>8067683
>he doesn't like TKAM
you're an awful human being
>>8068849
>I detest YA shit
>Literally reading from the "Books you should have read in high school" starter list
what.
Also 1984 is a better read but Brave New World carries better and more applicable themes.
>>8069270
Read Gatsby, it's okay but it's one of the most popular and classic books of all time. Also every 'reader girl' has read Gatsby and will think you're cool if you talk about it.
>>8067501
Lord of the Flies is a children's book, but it's good to read on your own as well. I unabashedly love reading children's lit (literature for 8 to 16-year-olds), because it's straightforward, but has depth unlike typical YA novels. Anyway, the themes in Lord of the Flies are interesting, and are easily observed in the story. It's a good start to literary analysis if you are completely new to reading as an adult.
Really such a list should be ordered by level of difficulty.
1. Lord of the Flies
2. Of Mice and Men
3. To Kill a Mocking Bird
4. 1984
5. Brave New World
6. Fahrenheit 451
7. The Great Gatsby
8. Catcher in the Rye
9. Huck Finn
etc. I mean, you could squabble over that order, but those would definitely be the easier ones. I haven't read all the books in the starter kit. But the more difficult books on that list would be American Psycho, and Lolita.
>>8070899
literally the YA of its time.
>>8069082
>>8069163
>Pissy pedophile scum detected
>>8068849
That's not ironic.
>>8069082
That book was written by a man, right? Not a woman using a pen name or some shit?
Literally opening the book about this "born leader" character and how "beautiful" he is in various physical aspects was a real turn off for me.
It's gay as fuck.
>>8072280
all right, have fun missing out on an excellent novel, then
>>8069270
I'm assuming this is a joke, but those are probably the best two books on there
>>8072297
Yeah, child rape makes for a great read, so I've heard.
>>8071163
>Literally reading from the "Books you should have read in high school" starter list
What pervy ass school did you go to that forced you to read Lolita?
>>8072310
for sure, man
Did anyone else's high school have a retarded English curriculum?
In junior year we had this motley crew of mediocre contemporary literature and graphic novels and in senior year we just read American drama. I was in the most challenging English offered, too, the base level classes read normal stuff like Shakespeare and Gatsby.
>>8071163
It seemed like the writing/english teachers I had in high school got to pick whatever garbage suited their fancy.
Off the top of my head I can only remember being "required" to read: Some shitty faggot book about Florida and soccer and oranges "Tangerine" that edgy-as-fuck garbage "The Outsiders" "Red Badge of Courage" and fuck me, ENDERS FAGGOT FUCKING GAME.
>>8072367
Damn, you sure that wasn't middle school? I was required to read The Outsiders and Ender's Game too but that was like 7-8th grade. Those are definitely a bit too simple for a high school course.
>>8072280
Please be bait
>>8072384
As far as I can remember, yeah. Although, to be honest, once I got my English credit I dabbled in unnecessary shit, like a poetry class,
A.. creative writing class, I guess? (had mostly to do with famous American authors/literature of the South) I would have despised that one if it hadn't been one of my favorite teachers.
And one based around the Science Fiction classics of the Golden Age. (Which sucked, because the teacher was an SJW landwhale with shit taste.
It's hard to remember it all, I graduated 7 years ago, but boring turds like Romeo & Juliet and Oedipus Rex were thrown in there too.
My teachers had seriously shit taste.
>>8067501
yeah i have read them all except invisible man. they're all popular and they're nearly all pretty good books
siddhartha is a huge pile of dingo droppings
>woooo muh mistickal self discovery
what a load of old bollocks
and i don't get why one flew over the cuckoo's nest is on there. there's nothing really special about it. i guess it's an american thing.
>>8072415
>and i don't get why one flew over the cuckoo's nest is on there.
>there's nothing really special about it.
Fuck you, it's a fantastic read.
i've only read TKAMand didn't love itI started catch 22 and mostly enjoyed it but it takes too much effort to read ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Why isn't there a list of stuff to read after you finish the starter kit
>>8072315
im not sure but i know my HS library had a few copies of it
along with like two shelves of Stephen King
so maybe mine was just chill
>>8067501
I've only read two in their entirety, have started and never finished at least 4 others. But this was before I knew they were on a meme list.
>>8068860
No. It might actually be the worst thing in that pic. BEE is a massive hack.
>>8072441
>>8068849
>ironic
No
>>8067501
Being "a children's book" doesn't preclude a work from being worthwhile. The same is true of genre fiction.
>>8072507
I would wager it's because you're supposed to use the starter kit to get a feel for what you would enjoy, and then proceed from there. Many of the authors in the kit wrote more than one book, for starters
>>8067501
i have read of those brave new world, flew over the cuckoo's nest, 1984, 451, the picture of dorian grey and huckelberry finn... i also have read pale fire and steppenwolf, that's instead of lolita and siddhartha respectively
i have no desire to read the rest, those are mostly american highschool stuff which is not very interesting to me, i will likely read electric sheep and listen to an audiobook of lolita and that's all
>>8068860
I liked American Psycho a lot. I'm also a bit of an edgelord. In that picture I would replace it with The Stranger tbqh
>No 1984
>No animal farm
>no Dune
>no The Stranger
>>8072310
>>8072280
You fucking uncultured swine, how can you be so fucking closed-minded to not read an excellent novel because "ew pedophilia is gross."
What is wrong with Catch-22? Keep seeing people bash it here but no explanation is given. Even if it's not the best I can't think of a similar but more illustrative book.
>>8067501
desu there should probably be some black authors and some poetry anthologies or suggestions. It's definitely missing a lot of classics and significant pieces of literature and includes a few that aren't really important but fun to read. If you search for reading lists from classes at reputable universities or good high schools (i.e. good boarding schools or prep schools, ap english classes) you'll find good suggestions.
Also just because they were written for children doesn't mean that they dont merit an analysis. There's some interesting statements in Huck Finn for instance about race relations in the south.
>>8075312
>Book about some dude wanting/trying to fuck a kid is considered "open-minded high culture" here.
Yeah, sounds like 4chan...
Why would I read an anglo-centered pile of shit ?
>>8067501
>Of Mice and Men is objectively the worst Steinbeck
>currently reading Huck Finn, it's good, love Twain. Recommend Puddinhead Wilson highly
>Lord of the Flies and To Kill A Mockingbird are for 15 year olds
>>8071238
Anything that isn't a non-fiction philosophy book is YA to this fucking bored.
Is there a children's canon?
I've often thought about what books I would get my children to read, were I to ever procreate.
>>8075410
it's a great book thats humor is lost on teenagers and young adults
>>8075794
Harry Potter and other books that everyone can appreciate.
>>8075792
Naw. TKAMB was really the 1960's equivalent of YA. If you can't see the connection there, you obviously don't read.
>>8067501
It's mostly stuff you're supposed to read in high school. The problem is that most people coming here after that phase in life were also part of the group whom dismissed this literature as not being worthwhile. It's meant to build up the base of knowledge to bring them further into the western canon which will allow them to enter the discussions we have here and at our expected level.
>>8075823
There's a distinct lack of the greeks
>>8075794
/lit/-core for children:
Wind in the Willows
Alice in Wonderland
The Little Prince
Narnia
The Hobbit
+Newbery Medalists in general.
>>8072315
Books you should have read in high school, not books your high school made you read.
I assume if you're on this board you aren't absolutely opposed to actually reading a book on your own.
What dumb ass high school did you go to where you never learned to read.
>>8075809
You're an idiot if you can't understand the significance of it. Either that or you're not American. In that case, I can understand the disconnect.
>>8068849
>Read A Brave New World I didn't like it. Which is kind of ironic because I enjoyed 1984
I felt the exact same thing. I started reading Brave new world after Orwell's 1984 and didn't feel the same pleasure.
>>8075809
>TKAM
>YA
you're doing a pretty big service to the YA genre there Bud
if you didn't like TKAM you're barely a human being. Read it again now that you're not an immature "I-fucking-love-science" dipshit and appreciate the unassuming, honest, yet profound prose and rich characterization as well as the most compelling portrayal of small-town Southern life... u fuckin dipshit
>>8075844
>appreciate the unassuming, honest, yet profound prose and rich characterization as well as the most compelling portrayal of small-town Southern life
Kek. Am I reading a grade 9 essay?
>>8075925
>Nice argument.
Look at your entire post.
>>8075935
Another amazing argument.
>>8075943
>underage responding to me
>>8075945
>these are words i recognize and therefore i don't need to argue my point further
whether TKAM is shit or not, if you don't see why 'those are just buzzwords!' is sophistry then i'm sorry but you can't fuck my wife
>>8076424
Not him, but the dude was clearly spewing out some sick word salad.
>>8067501
High school Starter tier, or mebbe for vaguely intelligent neckbeard dropouts
>>8067501
The only books I haven't read are Catch-22 and Fear and Loathing. I've seen the film for the latter. I'm in no hurry to read them. My favorite on the list is Catcher in the Rye and my least favorite To Kill a Mockingird. American Psycho gets honorable mention.
>>8067501
it looked like it was thrown together my someone who thought american high school literature was essential
>>8076525
>addition and subtraction is meme math
>the revolutionary war is meme tier history
>the scientific method is a meme
Read all but five. Siddhartha was shit but invisible man was fucking incredible
>>8076525
well, that's obvious
>>8067683
Lolita was actually in my high school book list lmao
>>8075728
>reading for the plot
lmaoing @ ur life
![lolita-01[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/PpYi5Zh.jpg "lolita-01[1].jpg")
>>8077750
>i read it for the plot
>>8068849
>>8075843
This is interesting because I had the opposite reaction.
1984 seems much less fully realized than Brave New World. Considering that a large chunk of 1984 is just essays explaining how his nightmare world would work- it feels like a glaring weakness. The "Boot on a human face" policy is a little absurd, while the "keep everyone happy" seems much more real and dangerous.
>>8072310
>implying it was rape
read all except fear and loathing cause
>reading non fiction
also im gonna count watching the movie as having read american psycho
>>8078570
Why would you count watching it
That is silly you're silly
>>8078635
cause i dont really feel like reading the book desu.
>>8078657
yes
>cringey
senpai those are the best parts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzN3qO-qc8U
>>8067501
ive read of mice and men
>>8067501
i've seen this posted too
is it any good?
>>8078660
>senpai those are the best parts
no i meant in the book, they are meant to be cringey, like we are meant to go "wtf?" at PB's endless lists of wardrobe choices etc that would be completely bizarre in the real world
those are the bits where the "is this the real life or is it just fantasy" theory about the book comes from
>>8068849
>Too embarrassed to read Lolita annnnnd that's it.
Lolita is like a horror movie the content is supposed to be disturbing
>>8072295
>what is unreliable narrator
>>8067501
>huck Finn
Sure Huck Finn can be read as a children's book, but it also has complex and deep themes that you probably didnt grasp when you were 14. Definitely worth reading as an adult, particularly an american.
>>8072295
what book...
>>8067501
ive read 7 of these and have no interest in the ones i havent already read
>>8075829
That's because there's a chart for that already. The wiki literally gives you a choice on whether to start with the /lit/ starter kit or to start with the greeks
>>8067501
Then why don't we make a new one? Then we can compare the two, if the newer one seems more effective as a starter kit than the one in OP then someone can edit the wiki
>>8067501
These books are all pretty fucking boring desu.
I'm actually well read af but I would no shit rather play video games or jack off than drown ~ hours in reading that shit. I'm not into anime or any of that shit, but I recommend you go read any of that before you touch this stuff.
(Maybe with the exception of the Invisible Man)
>>8076584
Loved the invisible man
I've read everything but Siddharta.
Catch 22 is my favorite book. Call me a pleb or whatever, I don't care. I would also remove American Psycho and replace it with Bright Lights, Big City.
>>8072328
we read Great Expectations and the Count of Monte Cristo
>>8072328
The best thing we read in all my high school years was The Odyssey and Frankenstein. We attempted to read Huck Finn and my teacher (who was also a softball coach) spoke to the class for like 30 minutes about the language that was going to be in it and that we would skip over those words (NIGGER) and if someone was offended she would assign them something else to read or they could do homework outside the classroom. Literally lasted one day before some cunt reported her and got her into a lot of trouble.
>>8072367
>Red Badge of Courage
>Edgy as fuck garbage
Dem's fighting words.
>>8079624
No it's not. One of the big points of the book is to remove that sense of unease you would have about the things that happens.
>>8077782
>Nazi Germany
>Ustaše Croatia
>Soviet Russia
>"Boot on a human face" policy is a little absurd
Wat?
Brave New World starts with a guided tour of a baby making factory and ends with what amounted to expository villainous monologues. Huxley wrote nothing but essays disguised as novels, with maybe the odd exception in his very early novels. How can you criticise 1984 for that and not BNW?
>>8067501
TKAM, Huck Finn, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, and maybe even Catcher in the Rye are all children's books. High-quality children's books, but still children's books. Honestly, the term 'starter kit' is fairly apposite; they're all decent books, nice and easy, might help you get into reading, but not the best or most complex or most meaningful, etc., that can be read.
>>8086287
I actually meant The Outsiders is edgy garbage. RBOC was just boring.
>>8067501
I spent a few minutes coming up with a new "starter kit"
>Good ones from the old starter kit:
Lolita
Great Gatsby
Dorian Grey
Catch-22
>Non-English fiction:
The Odyssey
The Sorrows of Young Werther
Hadji Murat
The Trial
>Short story collections:
Wessex Tales
Dubliners
Labyrinths
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
>English poetry:
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Songs of Innocence and Experience
The Waste Land
Ariel
>>8086344
>t. 18 year old
why even make the distinction between high quality children's books and books for "adults?"
seems like you're just trying to be elitist for elitism's sake.
>not complex or meaningful
>huck finn, TKAM, mice and men, etc.
the /lit/ snobbery has to stop.
>>8088265
Nabokov places many well known "adult" classics as favorites of 10-14 year olds. Some people just have different opinions
Snobbery is good btw.
>>8088255
Leaves of Grass
>>8088273
Snobbery isn't good, it only makes you feel good.
>>8088287
he's probably referring to Harold Bloom's article with Time in which he states that reading has to be elitist.
I haven't read his "why you should read and how" book or whatever it's called but it's on my list.
>>8088281
Good call.
See this kind of shows the ridiculousness of such an exercise. I'm not American, so including Whitman would never have occurred to me at all. It's all very individual what one would enjoy reading.
>>8067683
>Doesn't like TKAM
ok kid
>>8088296
Time? Do you mean the NYT? Surely it's not this article in Time magazine that I can't access because I'm not a subscriber. Did he break his jaw cringing from the irony of saying reading should be elitist in a magazine no elitist would ever even touch, let alone read?
>All this fiction
>Not reading the odd fiction book here and there between copious amounts of Non-fiction.
Why do you waste your time reading stories all day instead of learning from actual books?
>>8088325
http://www.slideshare.net/ivanmconsiglio/10-questions-why-reading-should-be-elitist-harold-bloom-literary-scholar
here, I hacked it for you ;)
I think his philosophy is that the model reader should always be seeking out more advanced and more challenging literature.
>>8088335
Well, I guess I'm not a model reader.
>>8067683
All the one's ive read are pretty and worth a read
(except Brave New World which as garbage, but its useful if you want to understand how people over the age of 50 think about authoritarianism and how the world was going to turn out)
>>8072295
Thats kind of the point. Humbert is a maniplative and cruel neckbeard with no friends and only one thing on his mind. Despite the fact that he is clearly a piece of shit that will contribute nothing to society other than ruining some of their children, he can't help but view himself in an attractive light. He describes himself as just the type of person young girls like because of his American movie star looks, even though he's actually this old creeper. He sets himself up on a pedestal and looks down on everyone except his girls.
He views young girls in an overly angelic light (like most pedos) and views almost every other body type as denigrative of this. Women who are too old (even the girl at the start who was sixteen) we're fat, miserably wrinkly or of a disgusting shape. They lost whatever angelic flavor they had before.
Being a chan user you should have met at least 17 people who are like this just today.
