Hello /lit/. I've never been to this board before but I figured this would be the best place to ask for help. I've never read a book before! Obviously I have dabbled and skim-read for my education but I've never read a book of my own choice for recreational purposes... I've attempted many times in my life and just get distracted despite the fact I actually want to read. I'm jealous of all my friends who get lost in books! Does my depression leave me uninspired and distracted? Am I just destined to be illiterate?
Any advice would be really helpful, thank you.
>>8183901
finnegans wake
How many levels of irony are you on right now?
read something fun like this
quick someone post the avid reader
OP try vonnegut's slaughterhouse five
>>8183931
I've heard about that book before actually. Obviously I have read it though, is it good?
>>8183933
have never*
Ender's Game
>>8183933
it's a quick fun read
you might also want to look into 1984, brave new world and some murakami, kafka, camus, steinbeck, hemingway, and philip k dick
>>8183933
Kurt Vonnegut is who guided me into high tier literature. He's no longer my favorite, or even in my top ten, but I still stand by the notion that one can never go wrong with a Vonnegut novel. Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five are solid stories, and I think Mothernight and Galapagos both deserve praise along with Breakfast of Champions.
I do think its important that, upon reading anything, you can always benefit from seeking out both a similar as well as the opposite literary experience. Vonnegut is quirky, but quite cynical. The Old Man and the Sea makes a good counter balance to keep yourself steady as you progress into this satisfying hobby.
Read genre fiction like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, etc. even if its not respected on /lit/. Stuff like Slaughterhouse Five isn't great literature and it's not very exciting either. You might as well read something more fun.
>>8184003
You can read both, I don't like this all or nothing philosophy elitists and anti-intellectuals alike espouse
Read some Steinbeck - short, accessible and good reads. I'd suggest Of Mice and Men or East Of Eden.
>>8184003
genre fiction is even more boring than vonnegut
>these shit responses
Start with the Greeks, OP.
>>8184348
a terrible suggestion
someone who's never got through genre fiction is going to struggle with the odyssey
>>8184351
I've never read genre fiction and didn't struggle with both Illiad and Odyssey because I'm not a retarded fuck.
>>8184359
did you literally start with the greeks?
my recent novel i enjoyed was the buried giant by ishiguro. Its not too heavy a read and has enjoyable prose. From a beginner standpoint, i dont really know how it suits you. Im also following the Long Earth series by terry prachett and stephen baxter. Theres a sense of wanderlust the first book has that could draw the reader in, its pretty funny at times too.
