What are some essential philosophy books? It doesn't matter what timeframe
>>7465298
>It doesn't matter what timeframe
not true. the "timeframe," as you so inelegantly put it, matters a great deal. indeed, it all depends on just where you begin. that is to say, with whom you begin.
>>7465308
all the major ones
>>7465298
>tfw no trebuchet
I did not even know I wanted this
>On the mood to read something with a nice, immersive story
>Decide to read this
>Call me Ishmael
>Describes every man as a horny gay guy
>Every other chapter stops to talk about some useless nonsense
Story is pretty enjoyable, though. But fuck, I'm on page 200 and I suspect I've only really read about 100.
Does it ever stop?
>>Describes every man as a horny gay guy
>projecting off the charts
>>7465173
I wish, man. I don't care if the protagonist is gay or not, but for fucks sake.
>>7465170
>>Describes every man as a horny gay guy
that's just male friendship, admiration and bonding, nothing gay about that.
>>Every other chapter stops to talk about some useless nonsense
Those useless chapters usually have some sort of philosophical nugget in them or practical info that helps the story out later on.
Finish it. The ending is amazing and redeems much of the "boring" parts.
Why do people get triggered by black people playing white parts in Shakespearean plays? The plays have been performed over hundreds of years in a ton of interpretations, including changing the setting to latter times. If all variety is strictly forbidden, then do the plays have to be performed with same proper accent as well? they generally aren't.
I saw the film "Titus" and it was far different from how Titus Andronicus would look in Shakespeare's time, but it was probably one of the best stagings of it ever done.
I recently got into a heated argument because I mentioned that people thought it would be cool if Idris Elba played James Bond. His argument was "It was written in the past and it's about an english gentleman! He should be white!" when I pointed out that doesn't necessarily mean anything, especially now, he just kept repeating that "it was written at that time". His girlfriend intervened, so we stopped arguing, but I wonder what he would have said if I had pointed out that James Bond has always been a modern character and his new films take place now.
It's stupid. Unless the ethnicity directly effects the plot, then there's no reason. (Although I do think that people should be the right ethnicity in biographies.)
>Why do people get triggered by black people playing white parts in Shakespearean plays?
Because its only ever blacks. If theatres/studios ever actually cared about positive racial representation they'd include actors of all races and not just the stereotypical black man replacing a white man and the asian women replacing the white women? I'm probably biased in being an asian male, but it does offend me when we are essentially ignored in 99% of all media. In my opinion, including black actors in theatre/film is just fetishization of the stereotypes of african american culture especially when you consider just how disproportionate the actual statistics are. Why can't an asian man play hamlet? Othello? Prospero?
>>7464996
maybe there aren't any asian male actors? I don't think studios have a limitless supply of actors that can play a particular role and still be good at it, especially in theatre.
Theatre people aren't racist.
Imagine a life where you have never had to excel at anything. You have never desired success or felt admiration for someone great. There has been no desire to surpass the great, nothing beyond mere existence.
You are bored as per usual, posting about how you look and never deriving any happiness from these posts. All you do is feed your need to denigrate your equals and superiors. The past year has been dull and mundane, spending your time reading about people's lives, people you have never met. You sit there, developing a smell, posture and outlook.
Then you see the exoteric man, exerting his will. Something you have yet to experience. Externality is no issue, he does not see a conflict between desire and reality. They witness the desired, think upon the desirable and attain that which they desire. The bitterness, detatchement and irony is entirely absent, as they congratulat each others prowess and success. They feel the moment with such passion and sincerity.
You reflect again, you realise that which is absent. You will never acheive such externality.
So you get up and leave, their inviting eyes remain unoticed. They shrug their shoulders and forget you, they have eradicated you whilst you fantasise about a scenario in which you wittily dismiss such contentment. That is happiness for you.
>>7464535
>Imagine
>exertion of will is inherently virtuous and therefore desirable
Oh, you poor guy. It must be hard being you.
>>7464535
I do not think I have felt actual ambition in my life. To me I am just a thing that happens. My friend is deeply saddened by this, she considers me talented. She is somewhat talented herself, albeit not terribly, but moreso ambitious. I think we compliment each other. She envies me for my potential, I envy her for her will.
But wait, how in the name of fuck is this literature?
Im tripping on DXM and weed edibles tonight to get the creative juices flowing for the novel I am writing. It's a Post Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Western with Fantasy elements. It's gonna have everything. Anyway, I want to develop my anti-hero some more and thought the best way to do it was to have people ask questions about him and answer them as a character; someone who has run in to him.
Basics:
>It is the year 2218
>The majority of the world was devastated by nuclear fire 196 years ago.
>There are three main bastions of civilisation and technology in North America: Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia.
>The cities survived the bombs because they were prepared decades before there was even threat of nuclear war.
>the people that live in the cities are all Post-Humans.
>The minds of the rich and powerful uploaded in to synthetic bodies that are indistinguishable from real ones; perfect and immortal
>Scattered across the wasteland live the descendants of those who survived by other means.
>Extreme 1%/99% dynamic. Think, eugenics mixed with Rapture from BioShock.
>Focus is on Las Vegas and the surrounding deserts (Mostly the Mojave)
>There is a legend in the wasteland of an enigmatic man who wanders the Mojave Desert.
>The Black Man (not THAT kind of black)
>He is know for his blood-lust, persistence and ability to kill anyone/thing in his way with his gun or by "other means".
>He does not sleep, rarely eats but has an affinity for clean, cold water.
>He works for the people in the cities (Las Vegas) but is not one of them (Synthetic body with an uploaded conciousness) but still preforms feats that no ordinary man can accomplish.
>The Black Man goes out of his way to be in the background. If you see him, its because he.s there to kill you. Otherwise, you dont even know he's there.
>The number of people who have met him in the wastes and walked away alive is pathetically low.
"Heard you been askin' 'bout the Black Man stranger. You won’t get anything outta' the folks around here. Dumb, superstitious lot they are. Meet me at the fire pit in the centre of town in a few. The sun’s gone down so we can talk alone. Oh, and don’t bother showing without some fucking whisky. I've had enough of the shit-water that passes for drink in this crap-heap.
>>7464155
#cringe zone
>>7464163
why? Does the imagination of others make you uncomfortable?
Any comments on Flaubert's Madame Bovary?
Mhm.
Flaubert is top three French writers, including playwrights
Fuck everyone that disagrees
inb4 monolingual plebs start moaning about Hugo and touching themselves
i read vargas llosa 'la nina mala' and after i read it they told me i needed to read bovary first so im doing that.
>>7463711
Sounds like you're mistaking /lit/ with reddit
best book to gift le gf this xmas? also alpha male general
wizards keep out
you cannot banish me puny mortal
>this wizard guy again
>should just rezz that guy
>gotta get my chips tomorrow though
I saw this thread on /tv, and I thought I would try to bring it here, on lit, for a more thorough discussion. I'm sure you guys have talked about this before, but I have to ask, What does lit think, not just about Pegg's statement, but about the idea of second childhood in general?
Pegg Article: http://www.avclub.com/article/simon-pegg-worried-our-obsession-nerd-culture-infa-219672
A. O. Scott Article of NYTimes on Modern Adulthood: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/magazine/the-death-of-adulthood-in-american-culture.html?_r=0
>>7461981
The man may star in funny poop joke movies but he's still british.
inevitable progress of an old trend. blame 19th century romantics.
this is not new or particularly interesting.
I'm finding it impossible to have a second childhood. I simply don't enjoy childish things.
I don't have the time to read all of Chomsky's books, so recommend one or two books of his of major importance.
in linguistics or politics?
>>7461544
Politics
>>7461544
Or one of each.
Is infinite jest worth reading in spanish?
Btw, spanish cover > american cover
>>7461300
>2015
>being Mexican
>>7461300
por supuesto
>>7461300
I like the idea for the cover but it comes out horribly. That looks more like a magazine cover than a book.
Rules:
No posting unless you've already critiqued a work (except for the first post, obviously).
READ WHAT YOU WROTE OUT LOUD BEFORE YOU POST IT
What's the best thing that's ever been posted in one of these threads?
>>7460608
it's copyrighted now, friend
Another chapter from "Practice what you Peach", about a peach farmer who hates peaches.
In their latest adventure, Frank (the old peach farmer) and Mira (his fat wife) welcome their new neighbors with a very special gift...................
I'd like some honest feedback on a poem I wrote please. Everyone I share it with says its amazingly done, I honestly think it's mediocre. Please, honest feedback.
I put alot of song titles in here from songs I listen to so points if you find them,
April's leaves
Her voice is quiet, like an unheard song.
And yet it makes me want to sing, sing, sing.
Just being around her makes time feel long.
But she won't ever see me, say a thing.
I gave her a song, Moonlight Serenade.
It matches her, with its quiet sound.
And I think I’ll miss her unselfish aid.
Her wisdom had volume. Her advice, loud.
I miss her words, they felt high and free.
She showed me the beauty of April's leaves.
Lovely, like tea for two, and two for tea.
That all changed, when she decided to leave.
Close as we were, she wants nothing of me
Nothing will be the same, it's hard to see
>>7460277
Everyone you've shared it with is wrong and poetically illiterate. Let's get to criticism:
You ended every line on a caesura. Pretty big problem as all your lines start to sound the same and we can safely predict the period at the end of them.
"Her advice, loud." is ungrammatical because you did not use the word "is" in the previous clause / sentence.
Need full stop after "I miss her words"; comma is ungrammatical.
Line beginning "Lovely" is ungrammatical.
No comma after "that all changed."
Full stop after "nothing will be the same."
So, all in all, do you even grammar? Punctuate your lines the same way you'd punctuate sentences. And if this poem is representative of how you punctuate sentences, then you're doing it wrong and need to go back to school. Actually, you're probably still in school based on the writing. It's quite juvenile. The language is unimpressive and the content is very high school. The rhyme is tacky and unsubtle, with fat, gauche monosyllable words for every rhyme. Also, when referring to juvenile poetry, i.e. the poetry of beginners, there is no "good" or "bad." Because it is not poetry. You have a long way to go.
Do you want to keep writing poetry? Then answer the following. Do you read any poetry? If you don't, then start reading. If you do, read more.
Songs: Sing Sing Sing, Moonlight Serenade, Tea for Two, Hard to See. I think incorporating these into the poem is pretty tacky.
>>7460680
Each lines supposed to be 10 syllables. I was lazy, I know, which is why I don't like it.
>>7460680
I think you're being a little harsh, anon.
Hes obviously a beginner, and there's obviously some sort of scheme going on with the 10 syllables a line.
His Grammar? Bad, sure, but I think it should be apparent enough that he probably is in highschool, in which case who cares, its a blue board.
If you want people to get into literature at a young age like what /lit/ should be rooting for, you'd encourage the guy.
Where do i start with Cyberpunk?
>>7458618
Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy
Stephenson's Snow Crash
>>7458618
my diary t b h
>>7458626
i loved neuromancer but snow crash reads like a weeaboo wet dream.
How many of you secretly hide your own beliefs in your work? Beliefs that you know the wider public wouldn't approve of and could cripple you professionally if it were to be known?
Some authors now long since dead are still falling to people twisting their words and making them out to be something they weren't. Tolkien being an obvious one. But did he do it intentionally? Was he hiding his opinions in plain sight to allow for a shield of debate?
I've written a few novels here and there (no, I will not be saying which, otherwise it would make it obvious), and each time I've managed to hide my own opinions in them. I've obscured them by having undesirable characters espouse them, or I've hidden them under what should be obvious allegory, just to give myself an escape route if anyone were to try to claim they were mine. I've even put conflicting ones in, though I've often favoured the my true belief.
Come on. Fess up.
I think women have lives on really fucking easy mode. Even in shit countries, it's better to be treated as cattle than cannon fodder. I think society is set up to fuck me (male) up.
I think Islam is screwed at the outset due to the qur'an supposedly being the word of god and everyone should stop trying to score PC points and admit tat it's incompatible with lots of what we call liberal / western values. Fashionable coffee house faux intellectuals like zizek (who I like), and /lit/ are not willing to admit this.
I now treat all art as disposable entertainment. Gravity's Rainbow one second, star wars the next. Woop dee doo, they're as meaningful as each other. Also the publishing system is just upper class clubhouse elitism, not that it's 100 % shit, but it does give me license to disregard literature as a whole. /lit/ won't admit this because they want to be part of the club, even though they were mostly too dumb for oxford. Even when tao lin's toilet paper gets published, /lit/ will refuse to admit that anything is wrong. IT's like steinbeck's quote about murrika being a nation of millionaires temporarily down on their luck.
I think Elliot rodger's manifesto was the best book of the 21st century. Yes, I think the youtube videos were a great ARTISTIC addition.
>>7457766
>blacks are inherently less sophisticated than whites or Asians (included them in my fantasy world solely to have slaves for Egypt-like empire)
>Jews are manipulative and self-victimisers (created a race of people that have historically been selfish and deprecating towards others whenever they are in power, but act pitiful and tolerant when they aren't)
>Islam is a barbaric and corrupt religion hellbent on using innocent people as a defence while it rips out the heart of the nation it is infecting (created a poisonous religion based on devil-worship masquerading as a benevolent path to human glory, spreading through lies and deceit)
>women will always be ruled by emotions and so unable to handle the truth if it upsets them (all respectable female characters think and act like men)
>political correctness is a hypocritical poison that will destroy western society (twisted the dominant empire at the time to espouse PC views and force them on everyone)
>violence is often the answer (all of the greatest heroes are violent sociopaths that kill enemies without a single ounce of guilt and it gets shit done)
>>7457793
>I now treat all art as disposable entertainment. Gravity's Rainbow one second, star wars the next. Woop dee doo, they're as meaningful as each other.
This seems like a contradiction on various levels. First, if art meaningful, how can it be disposable? Second, why do make the comparison between GR and SW? The first is all about making popular culture into "true art", the second (or at least the Ot) is a great example of a popular work with quite a lot of value; seems like there's not much to contrast.
If space and time are not properties of the mind independent world, then there can be no separation, plurality or differentiation within the Noumena. But if this is true then how does it make sense to talk about the Transcendental Self imposing the structure of space and time upon the world? Surely anytime you talk about the Self you are already implying a certain degree of separation between objects (so that the Self is different from everything not Self). How can the Self exist within the Noumena if its not located within space? Am I getting this all wrong or is this a legit weak point of Kants metaphysics?
bump plz
>>7457230
I cannot even make sense of your first sentence.
>properties of the mind independent world
I suppose is mind-independent?
> then there can be no separation, plurality or differentiation within the Noumena
We CAN'T TALK about differentiation within the Noumena.
>Transcendental Self imposing the structure of space and time upon the world?
Self-imposing. This is not true. It makes no sense to talk the 'self' as a willing ego.
>How can the Self exist within the Noumena if its not located within space?
Why being located within space is a requirement for the self? The possibility of differentiation does not need to be made within space unless the claim relies on a posteriori premises, reason why Kant proceeds with Trascendental Arguments.
>>7457230
transcendental as in the self transcends an experience by imposing time and space upon it to make sense out of raw sense data. not a good use of the term at all
self is noumena and noumena to kant is impossible to know. you cant know a thing in itself or whatever the fuck
![moby-dick[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/p1W4LbB.jpg "moby-dick[1]")
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