Let's do some word association, just a few words.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see the word:
Knowledge?
Play?
Future?
Reason
Childhood
Optimism
this game sucked
books
soccer
a flying car
Intelligence
Games
Present
Bout to read this.
What are some other books that take place in Ciudad Juarez?
The idea a city woven in violence is fascinating. And the fact it exists is horrifying.
>>7590936
the movie The Counselor that mccarthy wrote the screenplay for was solid to me, now with a directors cut i think
>>7590936
>What are some other books that take place in Ciudad Juarez?
for fiction there's nothing worth noting yet. there are many writers falling under the "border narrative" umbrella, but only a handful of them have written specifically about the city, hardly any of them has been translated and none of them are particularly good writers.
as for "non-fiction", "huesos en el desierto" is a alright though some might not agree with the direction the author's hypothesis and methodology head to.
>>7590968
>huesos en el desierto
does an english version exist? cant find one on amazon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zw7cj6f
No cheating faggots
8/10 although they weren't very good questions desu
8/10 as well. Has anyone read it more than once? How is the second time through?
8/10 as well although the questions are more about history than the plot of the book?
>>7590663
I should probably read it again at some point, considering that I've read it when I was 13 and probably misunderstood half of the book
What i am for, lads?
you'll see
I read it on a hot midsummer day and it was really great. I feel like the title story blows all its steam in the first few pages with the death and isn't that exciting afterward. Patriotism was my favorite by far, it was one of the most intense feelings Ive ever got from a book
>go to indie book store in my neighbourhood
>never see any mishima there
>nerdy autistic jittery guy always at counter
>decide to ask for once
>ask him where the mishima is
>he lights up
>gets super excited
>he loves mishima
>i get excited because i made a friend
>talk for 30 seconds about mishima excitedly before i realize he's saying machinima
>he thinks i'm also saying machinima
>too awkward to pull out or admit the mistake now
>spend 15 minutes talking to this guy about machinima
>don't know much about it so i'm bad conversation
>just referring to some random shitty machinima i saw on youtube in 2008
>not even sure if that's actually what machinima is
>guy is disappointed and weirded out at this bad convo because of how enthusiastic and into it i seemed at first
>end up leaving feeling like a weirdo who creeped out the store autist
>can never go back there again
>still no mishima
Post patrician lit that legitimately scares the shit out of you. Interpret as you will, but in my case it's a horrifying, despicable set of ideas expressed by an extremely skilled and intelligent writer. (Pic related).
Milton's Satan desu senpai
Schmitt isn't all that bad. Surprisingly respected by some on the left. Also didn't puss out of Nazism when the going got tough. Good on you, Carl.
>>7591553
blood meridian desu senpai. Thinking about that book keeps me up at night.
Favorite poem thread?
Here's one of my favorites by Oscar Wilde
Thou knowest all; I seek in vain
What lands to till or sow with seed -
The land is black with briar and weed,
Nor cares for falling tears or rain.
Thou knowest all; I sit and wait
With blinded eyes and hands that fail,
Till the last lifting of the veil
And the first opening of the gate.
Thou knowest all; I cannot see.
I trust I shall not live in vain,
I know that we shall meet again
In some divine eternity.
Michael Drayton, "The Paradox"
When first I ended, then I first began;
Then more I travelled further from my rest.
Where most I lost, there most of all I won,
Pined with hunger, rising from a feast.
Methinks I fly, yet want I legs to go;
Wise in conceit, in act a very sot;
Ravished with joy amidst a hell of woe;
What most I seem, that surest I am not.
I build my hopes a world above the sky,
Yet with the mole I creep into the earth;
In plenty, I am starved with penury,
And yet I surfeit in the greatest dearth.
I have, I want; despair, and yet desire;
Burned in a sea of ice, and drowned amidst a fire.
Lord Byron, "Don Juan", 4.xi-xii
The Heart--which may be broken: happy they!
Thrice fortunate! who of that fragile mould,
The precious porcelain of human clay,
Break with the first fall: they can ne'er behold
The long year linked with heavy day on day,
And all which must be borne, and never told;
While Life's strange principle will often lie
Deepest in those who long the most to die.
"Whom the gods love die young," was said of yore,
And many deaths do they escape by this:
The death of friends, and that which slays even more--
The death of Friendship, Love, Youth, all that is,
Except mere breath; and since the silent shore
Awaits at last even those who longest miss
The old Archer's shafts, perhaps the early grave
Which men weep over may be meant to save.
>>7588019
Absolutely beautiful piece
> Novels are excluded from "serious reading," so that the man who, bent on self-improvement, has been deciding to devote ninety minutes three times a week to a complete study of the works of Charles Dickens will be well advised to alter his plans. The reason is not that novels are not serious—some of the great literature of the world is in the form of prose fiction—the reason is that bad novels ought not to be read, and that good novels never demand any appreciable mental application on the part of the reader. It is only the bad parts of Meredith's novels that are difficult. A good novel rushes you forward like a skiff down a stream, and you arrive at the end, perhaps breathless, but unexhausted. The best novels involve the least strain.
What did he mean by this?
This shouldn't be that surprising. Novels spoon feed you ideas in tiny little bits, spread out over hundreds of pages. It's not that you aren't being fed a lot, but it happens so slowly that an intelligent reader shouldn't have to strain so hard to consume it.
>The best novels don't involve struggle on the part of the reader
But that's just plain wrong.
It's an opinion that I disagree with. There's merit to working through a difficult work in that it teaches discipline, and sometimes there are nuggets of wisdom that can only be uncovered in the right frame of mind. On the other hand, novels that don't challenge could be seen as more fun to read.
I read this after my mother gave me it for Christmas since I'm into backpacking and thought it was pretty decent, though definetly aimed at a female audience.
Is there anything else you would recommend dealing with nature and the wilderness? Specifically with backpacking or other outdoor activities.
Bill Bryson has a book, Into the Woods. Haven't read it but I've read his other works. He's both amusing and erudite. In a Sunburned Country I can recommend. A travelogue. Highly enjoyable.
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiesen
It's half the authors obsession with Zen Buddhism and half about backpacking through the Himalayas with a zoologist trying to study mountain goats and maybe catch sight of the elusive snow leopard.
walden
Can someone recommend me some leftist books that aren't complete liberal/progressive tripe?
Also another side question, is third position worth looking into? From what I've briefly read, it kind of sounds like more reactionary shit.
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Capital, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Imperialism The Highest Stage of Capitalism, by Vladimir Lenin
The State and Revolution, by Vladimir Lenin
A decent starter pack.
>>7585548
Anything written by 19-th century anarchist qualifies. Try Malatesta or Bakunin.
>>7585576
Thanks but I already assumed Marx/Engels/Lenin were all a given. Anything written within the last hundred years?
can you take a look at this story im writing? its very much in early development. (>500 words)
https://www.wattpad.com/208684681-the-tragedy-of-neon-chapter-one
>>7592154
This is what I was seeing.
>>7592154
I couldn't read beyond the login wall but your prose is very uneven. First you adopt an academic tone which doesn't suit the story using words like: perhaps, assure, chatted, platonic, etc. Then you loosen up and write in a more natural, conversational tone. Compare the narrator's speech to the first paragraph.
>>7592154
>I pulled one out
Is this fucker any good?
I mean, the guy is basically an author. Take that for what it's worth. But in my estimation, you really have to take into consideration his ability to write. I can't say my estimation, or the estimation of his author is really and effectively prorated, but I think we'd all agree that there's no reason to shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.
I've never read him, but this quote from "The Iceman Cometh" has always stuck with me for some reason:
>
What's it matter if the truth is that their favoring breeze has the stink of nickel whiskey on its breath, and their sea is a growler of lager and ale, and their ships are long since looted and scuttled and sunk on the bottom? To hell with the truth! As the history of the world proves, the truth has no bearing on anything. It's irrelevant and immaterial, as the lawyers say. The lie of a pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or sober.
>>7591893
Yes. His long form stuff is good, especially Long Day's Journey and Iceman.
His one acts not so much. I was in a production of the Web. That play fucking sucks but it's his first so what ya gonna do.
https://youtu.be/4eu55SupOVk?t=1622
-Possibly survived a harpoon strike to the stomach
-Cured himself of the MM poison before Kit died, so poisoning is out of the question
-Dug himself out of the grave when Baudelaires were sleeping
-Made himself a boat and sailed off?
The Vile Village > Miserable Mill > Austere Academy > Bad Beginning > Hospital > Carnival > Elevator > The Wide Window > The Reptile Room > Slippery Slope >> Penultimate Peril / grotto / end
rank the series, you cakesniffers
Let's talk about The Tunnel! What are your favorite parts? Why isn't it more popular? Does anyone else feel bitter after reading it?
I liked when they went in that one underground part, and they're all like "oh shit, mufuckas we underground and shit, some nigga get a pickaxe!" and then they get out.
>>7590032
we wuz subterraneans n shit
>>7590056
Dos overworld honkys, yaknowatimsayin, nigga
Are there any novels containing 40s-50's vocabulary and speech? I know, look for books written in the 40's and 50's, but which ones capture the way average citizens spoke?
>>7587185
there are a lot of ww2 instructional videos, a lot
watch those instead
>>7587195
WW2 instructional videos?
>>7587264
yes, you do know of ww2, right?
ITT: Post your /lit/ idols
>You will never write like Ray Bradbury
>You will never love life like Ray Bradbury
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzD0YtbViCs
Who do you wish to be more like, /lit/? Surely you've read the entire collected works of your idol?
Fuck off neophyte.
>>7586420
Why? What is wrong with Bradbury? I love the way he writes. I love his philosophy. I think he's a fine human being and a creative mind
>>7586420
Pleb.
