>A Radically Condensed History of Postindustrial Life
>When they were introduced, he made a witticism, hoping to be liked. She laughed very hard, hoping to be liked. Then each drove home alone, staring straight ahead, with the very same twist to their faces.
>The man who'd introduced them didn't much like either of them, though he acted as if he did, anxious as he was to preserve good relations at all times. One never knew, after all, now did one now did one now did one.
Can someone explain the last line? What is the object of the 'knowing' that one never knew? I get that maybe the repetitions indicate each subject's separate knowing. Buy what do they now know?
as if shit like that didn't happen in pre-industrial french salons, dfw is such a lightweight thinker, i would say he should kill himself if he didn't already
one never knows why in hell everyone pretends to like everyone else when in their heart of hearts everyone hates everyone else, or is at least indifferent.
>>7685823
allegory
There are three people. Each are wondering the same thing independently and in isolation. If they all knew this they'd be closer, but they're not because they don't share their thoughts.
My personal opinion?
>Mary Sue main character with green eyes, fieryred hair and silver scars.
>Supporting characters are bland as fuck archetypes from some bad Anime.
>Bad world building, boring lore that does not affect the main story at all.
>Wish fulfillment. At some point Kvothe pwning noobs and having sex with sexy, supernatural girls gets embarrassing.
>Plot is boring and pointless as fuck.
And people say this is the greatest Fantasy of modern times. It's like Twilight but for reddit, desu.
Anyway, how do you think they'll manage to squeeze a Movie, a TV Series and a Game out of this crap all at the same time?
>>7685746
There is a fantasy general.
Sage
Help /lit/
There's a certain book I can remember as a child but I don't remember the name or anything. The illustrations were of these really creepy jamaican rat humanoids. They were sort of realistic looking with evil eyes and shit. Gave me nightmares. Pic related, it's a series with illustrations that also gave me nightmares.
Also, creepy children's book illustrations thread
>>7685602
I read this to my 5 and 2 year old for halloween.
Now my 2 year old asks if there are ghosts in her room before bed. They liked the story about the mom with glass eyes and a wooden tail
What are /lit/'s favorite self improvement books?
The New Psycho-cybernetics
>>7685048
The Power of Now
why would I want to be affected
Hey /lit/. Pls help me:
I just went back to college this past fall semester as an English major. Reading is the only thing in the world I'm good at. I like to think I write well too, but let's leave that alone.
I have good taste. I enjoy reading good literature. I like Melville, Joyce, Eliot, Yeats, Shakespeare, Milton, Homer, etc. Much of what's on my syllabi I have read already, and what material I haven't read is on my to-read list anyway.
But I don't see myself becoming a teacher and I'm coming to learn that I loathe academic work. I've to do a "research response poster" for a course (on Antony and Cleopatra) and it makes me feel terribly depressed. I don't like literary theory and I don't like research. To me reading is an end in itself.
The point is I'll graduate next winter semester if I keep at it -- but if I don't want to be a teacher or academic, is it worthwhile? Surely someone else has had similar troubles. I'm leaning hard toward returning to a shitty job and living shittily and just reading and writing with all my free time. I was happy then.
Should I drop out again or should I try to figure out how to enjoy literary analysis? Am I stupid?
Seems like you're already in deep. Did it really take you think long to realize you don't like academic work or the options this degree will give you?
Anyway, it is nice to have a degree under your belt, regardless. It's better to have an English degree on your resume instead of having reading and writing on there as a hobby.
that brushwork makes her skin look hairy.
>>7684307
>
But I don't see myself becoming a teacher and I'm coming to learn that I loathe academic work. I've to do a "research response poster" for a course (on Antony and Cleopatra) and it makes me feel terribly depressed. I don't like literary theory and I don't like research. To me reading is an end in itself.
You sound like a lazy faggot, learn to take pride in what you do. If you can't even write a paper without getting depressed I don't think you're gonna make it in reel lyfe
I love the following passage by Dostoyevsky but I don't think I understand the last sentence:
"He wandered aimlessly. The sun was setting. A special form of misery had begun to oppress him of late. There was nothing poignant, nothing acute about it; but there was a feeling of permanence, of eternity about it; it brought a foretaste of hopeless years of this cold leaden misery, a foretaste of an eternity "on a square yard of space." Towards evening this sensation usually began to weigh on him more heavily.”
What does he mean by "a foretaste of eternity on "a square yard of space."
And why is it bracketed? Is it referring to something?
From Crime and Punishment.
>>7683787
I think by "on a square yard of space" he could be referring to an infinite and deep sense of ennui, hopelessness, being bored with life and knowing one will go nowhere beyond that "square yard" which is their life.
"A foretaste of eternity" is his glimpse of this future of hopelessness, seeing life spread bare before him as an ultimately hopeless endeavor.
As for the quotes, I have no idea.
>>7683787
If I had to take a guess, he's feeling claustrophobic, that the walls are closing in and there's nowhere to go or hide. I think he knows about the years of boredom and misery to come, and recognizes that he can't do anything about it.
>>7683787
It's definitely a sense of anxiety, perhaps the crushing knowledge that he will never be anything but himself, and that maybe he cannot change what he wants to change?
What does /lit/ think of Bukowski? My gf just gave me ham on rye, it was pretty good.
it's shit, and you're shit
pleb garbage
>>7682989
but I love sandwiches.
arfter i started reading him i started drinking almost every day and got fat
He's an okay writer and he got me into better lit, but dont read him
Why is American literature concerned with reality and hardship (Steinbeck, Hemmingway, Twain, Lee) whereas English literature is founded in fantasy (Tolkeinn, Lewis, Carroll, Shelly, White)?
Yes those were the only English authors ever. No, Twain had no interest in fantasy. Adventure and whimsy just wasn't his style.
Read some books, then try not to ask stupid questions. Unfortunately, your knowledge of literature seems to be so poor that you are actually telling us that England has only 5 writers and they all write fantasy. Surprise. How about Dickens, how about Emily Bronte, how about the fucking rest of them?
If I had to live in England I'd daydream too
Are the Muir translations of this guy's work /lit/ approved?
>>7685460
Earliest translation = best translation
always
no exceptions
>>7685462
lol
'no'
>>7685462
this is the dumbest opinion in the world
>Good art can come out of thieves, bootleggers, or horse swipes. People really are afraid to find out just how much hardship and poverty they can stand. They are afraid to find out how tough they are. Nothing can destroy the good writer. The only thing that can alter the good writer is death. Good ones don’t have time to bother with success or getting rich. Success is feminine and like a woman; if you cringe before her, she will override you. So the way to treat her is to show her the back of your hand. Then maybe she will do the crawling.
meh, other ones have been funnier
5/10
>>7685265
>the only thing that can alter the good writer is death
and brain damage
and paralysis
and comas
and ego
and money
and having kids
he can't keep getting away with this
So, you guys excited?
No?
A little bit, but don't tell /lit/.
You couldn't check the catalog?
What is the point of doing an English / Literature major? Why study literature at university? What should be gained from it? Should there even be a literature major at university?
What does the ideal undergrad Lit curriculum look like? Should we study the greeks (and romans)? (personally I think yes.) Should we read according to periods, movements, authors, or some other arbitrary restriction (like literature of the American West or incarceration literature)? What is required reading for a student who takes ~12 courses of in-depth study?
you study literature because you're a pseud who is obsessed with seeming intelligent and insightful because you're a lit major but the programs aren't at all just reading classics but actually force you to engage with literature in a way you never thought you had to -- as a global phenomenon -- so you post about how the leftists have killed literature study and then you drop out
>>7685214
you're being ironic but I can't tell if it's a good thing to read only classics in lit class. as you said, it's true that classes teach you new ways to look at literature, even if some of those interpretive lenses are misled or irrelevant.
Hey /lit/, what's the best translation/edition of Plato's Republic?a nice cover doesn't hurt
Bloom's
>>7685165
Any reason?
>>7685167
Bloom
Is this saga good?
>>7685142
In my opinion it's the best fantasy series out there. It's huge, it's complicated, and you really need to get into a different mindset for reading the books. Still, I can't remember the last time a book made me feel this fucking emotional.
It makes a lot of contemporary fantasy pale in comparison.
>>7685142
Not really. Feels like fantasy RPG tabletop sessions with powercreep. Few ideas, no depth.
Nothing is objectively subjective,
truth/false and why?
>>>/his/
:^)
![kingkiller-chronicles[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/maOgzOK.jpg "kingkiller-chronicles[1]")
