>got into lit. because I was lonely
>discovered my interest in art history, philosophy, classicism, modernity, cultural studies, rhetoric and poetry
>feel infinitely more lonesome from seeing how illiterate everyone in my life and community is
I've realized the only solution is to begin applying to ivy-league schools as a hail-mary applicant and begin a blog writing articles on these subjects to solidify my comprehension of the material plus some responses to sensational articles published in related disciplines to manifest into material a portfolio to show for all my intellectual endeavor.
Anyone else having similar experiences?
If you do that, keep in mind you probably suck ass way more than you realize. You're gonna be missing all these little "tells" that show you're a Real University Guy. Get someone in the know, on the inside, to vet your applications and anything you write. Also read a lot more than they do.
my only friends are dead authors but thats not because I'm smarter than everyone around me and no one is interested in reading what I like rather it's a quirk or defect in my own personality. It's easy to form connections and discuss common interests with people but to care for someone, to commit myself to loving a friend or a girl is something I'm not able to do.
>>8104024
I completely relate. I don't think it's a defect, I just feel we haven't yet met anyone that we sincerely believe can captivate our attention in the way that love suggests. I've had a lot of transitory friends and lovers. It's pretty common for young and intelligent people to be less stationary.
>>8104023
I have people for all of this. It's been well considered. I basically just want to convert my introverted proclivities into something extroverted. And, be it that writing jobs for undergraduate students are tantamount to slave labor, this allows me to keep my day job and develop my skill-set while studying things I find fascinating without the commitment of additional coursework or financial investment. I don't "suck ass" at writing either.
you sound like a huge pseud OP
>>8104121
I'd like to know why.
>>8104140
you're a dilettante who knows a lot less than you think you do and thinks he's a lot smarter than he is.
get off your high horse.
>>8104152
Is your degree in psychology, psychiatry, or shitposting?
Wait, let me guess.
Where does one find another person who is interested in literature in real life?
I have friends but I feel unable to truly connect to them because we don't share the same interest.
>>8104169
birds of a feather :^)
>>8104019
>MFA in a private liberal arts school
still feel lonely. it seems like people only read the assigned reading and no one is all that ambitious or well-read.
>>8104187
That is exactly the same experience I've had as an undergraduate and why I'm beginning this process. My Composition professor literally had to beg our class to read twenty pages of an article published through Harper's over a four day period.
>all these fucks who don't go to book stores
>all these fucks who don't talk to people until they find literary people
I have hardly any literary friends but my fiancé whom i met in the first week of college liked books and loved hearing me ramble about these weirdos she'd never heard of.
Our main "dates" when we aren't fucking brains out is going to bookstores together
PS OP you arent better than anyone else for having read some books. I've read harder books than you and yet i don't feel the need to be a tryhard snowflake
You have some mental issues with how you perceive yourself and clearly you use reading as a crutch for whatever deficiency is present
>>8104199
>PS OP you arent better than anyone else for having read some books. I've read harder books than you
how exactly do you know it when he didn't list the books which he have read in his life
>>8104019
Eh, I come from an uneducated family. I'm the only one who reads for more than just pleasure, but for knowledge. I have one or two friends who I have stimulating intellectual conversation with. The rest has been an internal dialogue playing out over hundreds of journal pages.
Just by writing in my journals on every topic to strike my fancy, I've gotten a better education than any university could dish out, for infinitely cheaper. Not to mention I got to explore my own mind, and crack open memories and suck out their marrow.
You don't need anyone. As Voltaire said, "we must cultivate our gardens."
>>8104202
people with good taste tend to be confident and not need validation from others nor go on rambles about superiority
>>8104203
Same. It's good to know what writing did for your digestion of material. I've just begun making that transition. I know reading outside of class, especially for Art History, improved my comprehension and retention of material taught in class by far. And, I had some memorable discussions with my professors, so they're good connections to have.
>>8104199
Cool story bro.
>>8104152
Awesome projection, but I think you're an insecure screw who invested so much time, money, and commitment into formally attaining knowledge for the sake of an anti-climactic sliver of paper that you no longer wish to believe knowledge can be acquired any way other than through a ridiculous tuition payment and the scrutiny of some disinterested academician.
But, I don't know you.
>>8104169
I'm having trouble with this. I took a creative writing course trying to find like minded people. I met a few, but surprisingly most students in the class did not read and I'm not exaggerating. Having to read their writing was like stumbling through a diary or some adolescent pop-fiction. The others were all mixed up in their lives and from various cities, so the odds of us hanging outside of class were slim.
>>8104227
Yeeeesh
Too cool for college too?
>>8104223
That is the most pretentious shit I've seen in this thread. Everyone seeks validation, regardless of tastes in what you may call "high" or "low" art. You seek validation in your fiance, that's why why you felt compelled to tell an anonymous forum board that you would ramble about whatever and feel appreciated by your girlfriend's attentiveness. Seriously, you just made yourself look like such an unexamined hypocrite.
And, I never said I was superior to anyone, you idiots are projecting.
>>8104237
I'm still going to do the whole uni thing for the credentials, but yeah dude.
>>8104250
>feel more lonesome from how illiterate
You're not highly literate because you read Stoner nor are other people illiterate because they don't read X
You're here posting this to cull up the other /r9k/-lite losers who fill holes up with books to replace where personality should be
>>8104223
This
>tfw have the exact opposite problem with OP in that I meet plenty cool people but am not that good at maintaining relationships
>>8104263
Um, actually you're illiterate if your reading comprehension sucks (not by dyslexia) and you're literate if you read at all with any acknowledgement of form, prose, rhetoric, or composition. I haven't read Stoner. I think you're a pretentious ass-hat for assuming I'm like you. Also, projecting.
>>8104269
So you don't understand what it means to be illiterate
You didn't read one /lit/ meme
Congrats
Please do inform us of you knowledge of form though. In you wisdom and literacy, do you prefer the Spenserian or the Petrarchian?
>>8104277
I don't know because that's not my specialization or what I've studied into. It would be best to consult someone who knows more about it than I do.
>>8104282
Well surely you must have some thoughts on the process of destabilitization of English as an anti-colonialist act undertaken by James Joyce
>>8104277
But thanks for this because it's really interesting and something I'm interested in. It's especially helpful as I'm working my way through Aristotle's Poetics.
>>8104293
who even cares about this kind of thing
>>8104293
No, but that's sounds super interesting also. Do you have a suggested scholar who I could read in regards to that matter?
>>8104295
In the real world, a few scholars paid by universities.
On the internet, autistic people. Don't judge, there is no cure.
>>8104293
I just got into Foucault, Fanon, and Said independently of my academic studies. If I had stayed with the curriculum of my undergraduate class, I'd be writing articles about sexy emojis or some shit like that.
>>8104306
>http://www.academia.edu/22643386/Colonialism_and_Nationalism_in_James_Joyces_Ulysees
>Views: 9
hahahaha
>>8104306
>People who don't just read a book and view it as a single, contained story and nothing more
I dont see what that has to do with pasting interpretative lenses over someones work in a considerably haphazard fashion.
>>8104310
The bulk of higher level academia is spending years writing a paper that will be read by <50 people and being okay with it. I don't have an opinion on it either way but if that's OP wants to do this is what he should expect.
>>8104312
If you simply READ an author like Joyce, it's pretty clear he has quite a few opinions on the subject of colonization of Ireland by the Brits
It's not shocking then to see his final works increasingly utilize Irish dialects and reject the English he perfected
>>8104316
I'm not laughing about doctoral theses, I'm laughing about the rampant dick-swinging in this thread of "No TRUE literary person lacks knowledge of [X content], ha ha, SEE, YOU are no TRUE literary person."
In other words, I'm laughing at
>>8104263
>>8104277
>>8104293
>>8104306
How does a person like this function outside their little ball of hate and derision? It's not pitiful, it's pitiable.
>>8104332
>claims to be literate and have interest in "poetry" "modernity" and "cultural studies"
>knows nothing about any of these
OP, I...
>>8104316
I love reading these types of papers. I think it's funny you believe this would be daunting.
>>8104337
>Thinking I'm OP
Whoa, better keep an eye on those phantoms and delusions, my friend. The world is larger than your small mind.
>>8104328
I'm curious as to how this information is actually used.
>>8104351
I think it's even worse that he derived from my response to the fairly erudite question of "...Spenserian or the Petrarchian?" that I don't have interests in poetry. Simultaneously, he some how applied that to include CS and modernity. This board is so fucking wack sometimes.
>>8104364
OP here. In my understanding, the point of most CS sub-theories and analysis is that they're not prescriptive or pragmatic in any sense, but they seek to identify the relationships of their subjects to the subject's varying inter laps of culture and discourse. In this case, it's how Joyce as an author sought to investigate the Irish identity/experience (themed as "stranger" and "hospitality") in the midst of colonial influences, but that's just what I got form the abstract. It's really not as complicated as anon tried to make it appear.
I'm kind of done with this bullshit for the evening.
>>8104019
>tfw I want to be patrician but I only started reading a lot this year.
>tfw I feel like a pleb when people talk about philosophy and I get standoffish cause I don't care but in reality I really don't know shit about philosophy.
>tfw I haven't even read any of the meme trilogy or not really even that many classic novels either.
>tfw I realize by hanging out here I am not really becoming smarter but just equipping myself to become a Pseudo-Patrician ST edition.
>>8104394
hey, it's cool anon. people on this board use big words to feel smarter than everybody. dont let it get ya down!
Guys, im currently in a strange situation. I am mostly like you, seeking for people whom i can talk to, discuss different topics which transend the idle talk about mundane shit.
So i met a girl, im 21, shes 17. She's smart, reads quite a bit, and has a quite interesting personality. I've asked her if she would like to read a book parallel to me and if we could discuss it afterwards, and she said yes. What book should i go for?
Problem she is at the stage that she doesn't understand what a relationship is and has had a quite easy life until now as shes quite pretty.(Never had to be the initiatior, never had to express feelings as the other side came forward first, therefore never having to acctualy have feelings for someone) Do you have a suggestion for a book that would help me get her into a good mindset, without it being to obvious?
>>8104489
>>8104019
oh shit sorry OP, i derailed there quite a bit, and yes i have had the same sensation with people, whenever i try to talk about philosphy a little more deeply people just accept what i say, it's mostly a monolouge then.
I can't seem to find people who can give me some sort of reflection, as barely anyone goes far enough, or sees that my thoughts are inconsistent.
>>8104489
What do you mean by a good mind set? Like a book to get her to bang you or
>>8104503
Not bang, show her that relationships aren't onesided. If i wanted to fuck her it prob would be quite easy, but i think she would make an ideal girlfriend.
>>8104521
Im not sure that using subliminal tactics to make her your girlfriend will be a good start to your potential relationship. Probably should start by getting to know her a bit more, and then see where that goes. What kind of books or subjects is she into?
>>8104521
Also the way you talk about her is very condescending.
>>8104501
Now you know how it feels to be Socrates, next you'll be "corrupting" the youth.
>>8104531
My thought was quite straight up to be honest, just "why not".
>Im not sure that using subliminal tactics to make her your girlfriend will be a good start to your potential relationship.
Also you may be right about that part, i may be overdoing it.
She would read pretty much anything that i'd suggest, she's a very positive person. I asked her if philosophy would be okay and she said yes, but now i think that i rather would read something a little more subliminal, which offers more to talk about.
>>8104534
Yeah, i try to get rid of that trait, but it's part of me.
The reason is because she never had a relationship which has lasted more than about 3 weeks, and i think that if i were to show her what it gives (more than literally nothing) i think she would be happy, and so were i.
Also i have had a relationship that showed me so much about myself and how we (humans in genearl) work togehter.
It may be that she really doesn't want a relationship, but i think she just hasn't experienced a real one.
>>8104554
I'd be happily corrupting the youth, as it becomes reality.
>>8104019
try to be accessible and relateable to people.
what art do you like
>>8104689
OP back. That feels like an impossible question to answer; But, when I first began studying Renaissance art, I really enjoyed the Dutch and Flemish Masters, Counter-Reformation painting and sculpture, and Neo-Classicism. There is a ton that I'm missing, but that's what comes to mind firstly. With Modernism, I liked some of it all from the Realists, Symbolists, Impressionists, Expressionists, Fauvists, Surrealists, Dadaists, German Expressionists, Social Realists, Abstract Expressionists, and then the more contemporary periods. I'm only talking about painting though.
>>8104662
I do but I get bored honestly.
>>8105890
>pic
bit garish innit
>>8104662
Do not do this.
>>8105929
It's defeatist.
>>8104369
It's typical academic blowhards, hiding behind large titles and jargon to confuse you (and themselves) that their fancy humanitarian degrees amount to more than: "it's subjective lol"
I could spin something about Kierkegaard's fideistic deconstruction of meta-Hegalian epistemology with reference to his introductions in Fear and Trembling and linguistic flourish in Sickness Unto Death, but those are just empty words that any underage with Google and the Stanford Encyclopedia could do. This kind of posturing is exactly the kind of bullshit the Dutchman and any decent writer would loathe. It's a sign of real insecurity in the merit of your work, and something that plague's the people in /lit/ smart enough to have a shade of intellect in the pseud. I'm as guilty I'm afraid.
>>8105939
To act like a douche who thinks s/he is smarter than everyone is defeatist? If you want friends, you don't have to dumb yourself down. You just have to be friendly. Maybe you could even spark an interest in someone to the things you've learned from reading.
>>8105963
>To act like a douche who thinks s/he is smarter than everyone
I feel like your insecurities are overruling your logic. I never said that I thought I was smarter than everyone and I don't see why the alternative of accessible means being a douche. If I get invited to places, I go, but for the most part I just keep to myself. I think my loneliness is due to a lack of common interest. It doesn't have to do with intelligence, but where people vest their time. Simultaneously, I acknowledge that in order to be anyone in the disciplines that interest me, you have a limited window of time for colleges and employers to accept you and that fuels my sense of urgency. It's not elitist, it's just honest.
Don't make this a repeat of last night.
>>8104566
Well just remember that meaningful relationships can't be forced
>>8105963
And no, I don't want a bunch of friends that I lack areas of common interest with. If that does it for you, then cool, but to me that seems shallow and needy. I can be lonely without being desperate, thanks.
>>8104566
Are you on a phone or just dyslexic?
Give her Seducers Diary by Kierkegaard.
>>8104223
all this niggers who haven't read Nabokov
>>8106011
You sound like someone is a blast at parties anon. Being relatablr is finding a small thing you have in common instead of looking at all your differences. And yeah, assuming everyone is boring is being a douche and isn't true.
>>8106062
This. I love talking about philosophy, but I realize it bores a lot of people and try to ground it in something normal and easy to understand. Like at a party, I'll play pool with some guy tripping on mushrooms and explain Hume's idea that "wisdom is habit" and the assumption of cause and effect; or by a waterfall with a freind, I'll talk about Kierk's concept of vertigo and anxiety. It's autistic and not a tad bit precocious, but often people really enjoy learning these things if they're brought out in an entertaining or just surprising way.
>>8106062
I do find small things in common and can chit-chat and all that, but I do that with most of the people I talk to in my life and it doesn't do anything for my passions, hence why I was talking about starting my blog before people so rudely implied I was incompetent or incapable of doing so because I what anon here, >>8105961, stated. I don't think everyone is boring, everyone has merit and worth. I said that I get bored trying to be accessible with everyone. You are committing to oversimplifications to bolster your argument and it really isn't going well so I would suggest you find some grey in between the black and white.
>>8106114
>everyone has merit and worth.
whoa whoa whoa, let's not go too far here
As a psychology student, I've come to know 4 other people who are relatively well-read and are my friends; 3 of them females.
>dude is 26, pretty cool, but also really impulsive and a lot of times lacks self-control
>first female is ex-gf of said dude, metalhead and open-minded, but with sociopathic tendencies
>second female is a singer in his free time, studies english in another college at the same time, shit happened and she's not kinda rich anymore, but likes to pretend so, narcicistic and nympho tendencies
>third female is kinda simple, introvert who wanted to become an extrovert in college and partially succeeded, struggling to find anything that can be considered as a negative point, except that she acts apathetic a lot of times
All of them are pretty chill, but the first three always like to act superior to the rest, at least when not in front of them.
I'm just telling you this to become aware that it's a double-edged blade, OP.
>>8106113
I do the same thing but what you're doing is basically lecturing versus having a discussion. People enjoy hearing about these things, but when the party is over you're still a delivery driver (or, in my case, a bus boy) going to community college and I want to reach my destination sooner and define myself as someone who aspires to serious erudition. It's just my interest. Kids with some distorted sense of marxism will argue that it's elitist and exclusionary to have those aspirations, but I don't care, it's what I like. They would rather finger paint in the desert tripping on mushrooms before they return home to their parent's houses where they'll be well accommodated for the rest of their lives. I have to fucking slave and I'm tired of slaving for petty cash. And, I'm in noway applying this to everywhere and everyone, this is just my experience in my particular area.
op how old are you? you sound like (or at least write like) the /lit/ version of elliot rodgers!
if you were to write a manifesto what would it encompass?
to the meat and bones of your dilemma, you seem like you've just started off on your spiritual awakening and have come to realize that for whatever reasons you are not where you would like to be. perhaps you were a late bloomer, but i hope you are still young and still have time to travel. do not take your small pond to be exemplary of the world. you don't even have to strive for the ivy's desu. any reputable university will have a subsection of legitimate undergrad intellectuals. i'm not sure why you're so disparaging of academia in your posts. if you wish to meet other like minded individuals, that is where you will do it at this point in your life (assuming you are 18-24). transfer from your podunk school as quickly as possible is my advice. again, it doesn't have to be to an ivy league - there are many other devoted programs out there. hell consider an arts school.
also, one last thing to consider - i see that a lot of anons responded to your posts with animosity. i believe the reason for this is bc of your arrogant writing style in the vein of elliot rodgers. i don't really care about it one way or another, but a thing to keep in mind, if you do in fact go to a better school, there will be students there that have been reading the classics since fifth grade boarding school. academia is competitive and they will have a leg up on you. if these guys thought you came off wrong, i can only imagine what your fellow classmates and professors will think. a little humility can go a long away. if not, fake it til you make it ;^)
>>8106141
>As a psychology student
stopped reading
>>8105890
Good, so you like a little of everything on your plate.
>>8106152
there are tons of smart people who like to trip ballz. you should try it
>>8106025
Both, i was tested as a dyslexics when i was around 10, started doing some courses against it and kinda got to a point where i can say i'm not anymore. I didn't reread what i wrote, which i normally do as i know that my sentences are often quite confuse. Also my mothertounge is german.
Haven't read it, is it a spook or an acctual recommendation?
>>8106017
I'm not trying to force anything, just guide it somewhat. I don't like forcing my ideals on other people anyway, the illusion of free will is granted.
>>8106062
>You sound like someone is a blast at parties anon.
why do people always resort to this?
