Is there a better book about human behavior and influence that this?
>>7583761
No, honestly.
>>7583761
just be yourself xd : the book
>>7583761
>is there a better book about human behavior
I can think of 100
I see a lot of advice here about reading a lot to diversify your writing style. The more you read the better you can write. I think this is true, and besides reading a lot is always going to be better than not reading at all, but is there any merit in the imitation of a particular author? With enough practice can your imitation be as good, or even better, as the real thing?
Do any of the writers here practice imitation in this way?
I practice involuntary imitation.
It works about as long as it takes for people to figure out which authors I'm ripping off.
>>7583716
>It works about as long as it takes for people to figure out which authors I'm ripping off
I think there is a huge difference between a stylistic imitation and ripping off. You could imitate michaelangelo and, if you were really good at it, I don't think people wouldn't be thinking about you being a plagiarist. I think they would be marveling at the art.
Imitation of style is the "natural" way of learning about writing. Of course to be better it comes down to the balance of content.
Looking at examples though the most famous of the imitations are the ones that adds to the style and develop it beyond the original.
I'm interested in books that explore non-western ideas about morality/ethics. Any recs?
Infinite Jest
>>7583720
Done that already
>>7583694
>dat pic
>>7582547
Favorite books as a kid?
I really liked this one. I was surprised to find out there was also one made based off Norse mythology.
>>7583682
Wow why was it linking to that post? Sorry about that.
ulysses
>>7583682
Oh shit nigger I had that book too. Shit was great.
Can we talk about this? I've read it a couple times now for one of my classes and I'm still unable to grasp completely what Blake is talking about. I understand that he's advocating for the existence of both good and evil, but what else? Which of the proverbs matter most and why?
To expand a bit, I'm interested by the lines:
"The cut worm forgives the plow."
and
"The fox condemns the trap not himself."
In the first I assume the worm is forgiving the object itself and not the wielder of the object.
And if the fox is cunning why would he condemn the trap instead of himself for falling into the trap? And why not condemn the setter of the trap?
>>7583685
Wasn't Blake nearly parodying parables in some of his works? I feel that's what may be going on here...
>>7583662
>>7583685
At the simplest level, God made the world and he made it perfect. Therefore Heaven and Hell are both perfect, and their Good and Evil is also perfect.
You can also see this when Blake has the dream about the Angel taking him to hell and telling him how much his life is going to suck for him down there and he just keeps chilling because he knows God and the universe is good.
>"The cut worm forgives the plow."
>"The fox condemns the trap not himself."
Compared to animals, man is like God. So when we are "cut" and "condemned," we forgive God for letting us die because it's his will and therefore the best possible for us.
Look at Thel experiencing the same thing. She knows she'll be wormfood one day but doesn't hate and turn away from God because of it.
In one of his interviews, when asked about his advice to aspiring writers, Junot Diaz said that it would be more valuable to go out and live in the world for three years than to write for three years.
To what extent is this true? Is life experience more valuable to a person's writing than the honing of their craft?
Obviously, a balance is necessary, but what do you guys think?
>>7583604
you need both
one to get the thing to communicate
the other to communicate that thing without being lost in the feeling-to-word translation
also, fuck junot diaz
>>7583604
there is no difference between being alive (aka living) and writing a book. You still need to eat food and breathe air and move your limbs. Or fingers.
What does "living in the world" even mean?
Get a day job? Get a heroin addiction? Visit the great cities of the world? I don't understand what is supposed to occur in order for it to be considered 'living.'
How is writing not living?
A tiny chat
is a Tiny chat
is a Tiny chattinychat / 4chanlit
Log in as a member of the lost memeration, today.
>>r/books
>>7583598
>>r/books
i was just now struck by what could only be described as a hard-on from hell for prose, would you be so kind and make me ejaculate?
Go to bed Tommy.
What's Ligotti's best story?
>>7583356
The Temporary Supervisor by leagues.
>>7583365
Seconded. One of the few stories from Teatro Grotescco that I actually remember.
>>7583420
Is it worth reading the whole collection?
I listen to audiobooks while in bed since I have problems falling asleep. Can you recommend some audiobooks that would work well for this, combination of fitting book and author with a pleasant voice?
Up until now I used works of Lovecraft read by Wayne June. It was amazing, the stories are simple and very atmospheric and Wayne has an amazing deep voice that just makes it feel like he's reading me a bedtime story.
bump, pls guys I can't fall asleep like right now
try lolita if you haven't already
>>7583336
How about a Tesla biography? Wizard.
Ok guys...Please don't crucify me, I don't have a lot of info but if anyone could help me I'd appreciate it. I heard about this (fairly well known I think) book where the main character is talking to a psychiatrist but I don't think you find that until maybe a third of the book is over. The character is somewhat racist and self contradicting and I heard it's pretty funny in a twisted way which is why I wanna read it. Sorry that's all I remember, any help would be appreciated. Pic unrelated
any more details?
>>7583257
No and it's pissing me off, I feel like it's right on the tip of my tongue..I think it's somewhat older, like maybe 1950's or 1960's and I think either the author or the main character's name started with a 'P'. That's all I got unfortunately
>>7583257
Portnoy's Complaint?
>'I will tell you what Jews are like. Once, in the early months of the war, we were on the march, and we had halted at a village for the night. A horrible old Jew, with a red beard like Judas Iscariot, came sneaking up to my billet. I asked him what he wanted. "Your honour," he said, "I have brought a girl for you, a beautiful young girl only seventeen. It will only be fifty francs." "Thank you," I said, "you can take her away again. I don't want to catch any diseases." "Diseases!" cried the Jew, "Mais, monsieur le capitaine, there's no fear of that. It's my own daughter!" That is the Jewish national character for you.
>'Have I ever told you, mon ami, that in the old Russian Army it was considered bad form to spit on a Jew? Yes, we thought a Russian officer's spittle was too precious to be wasted on Jews...' etc. etc.
Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), By George Orwell (Chapter 6)
>Also, I sometimes worked on a Sunday, for which, though I did not know it, I was entitled to an extra twenty-five francs. The doorkeeper never paid me this either, and so made away with another seventy-five francs. I only realized during my last week that I was being cheated, and, as I could prove nothing, only twenty-five francs were refunded. The doorkeeper played similar tricks on any employee who was fool enough to be taken in. He called himself a Greek, but in reality he was an Armenian. After knowing him I saw the force of the proverb 'Trust a snake before a Jew and a Jew before a Greek, but don't trust an Armenian.'
(Chapter 13)
>>7583243
>orwell
>>>r/books/
>>7583243
okay so maybe he had one or two redeeming factors but he is still pleb-tier
Are all Chileans this degenerate?
>>7583218
>implying you can tell how much degenerate behavior an author partakes in solely on the basis on reading one book they wrote
>>7583238
well then there's the savage detectives, the caricature to himself is a bit of a degenerate but who cares
So what do you guys think of 11.22.63 . The hulu series trailer looked promising but I've never been the biggest fan of Stephen King. My favorite from him is probably , the girl who loved Tom Gordon. Does /lit/ recommend picking it up ?
Lmfao h ow/Anti-reddit/ general reddit
>>7582940
It's pretty good, more of an infomercial for the kennedy assassination than a real piece of work by king. If you liked tom gordon you probably liked King's social commentary than his plot, which if true i would recommend salem's lot
A few friends of mine recommended I read the secret life of saeed the pessoptimist. I finished it and couldn't really make sense of what was going on with saeed, aside from his being a surviving coward to every other character's brave martyrdom. Am I missing something?
>>7582841
Just read infinite cuck and Pynchon and then you'll be well read, friend. All other works of literature are just memes.
