Archived threads in /lit/ - Literature - 566. page
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I'm afraid to ask here because this is the most religious board I've seen, but I would like to discuss Darwin.
I'm looking for an up-to-date version of The Origin of Species, keeping focus on nature and its workings rather than science. I am an atheist but I don't care about the whole evolution bit, I just want a good naturally descriptive book. Sort of like a field guide
>>7996860
>rational
What did he mean by this?
>>7996869
Just speaking from experience (I live in the American South), whenever I talk about a subject that ever so slightly questions the almighty I get a shitstorm.
So it's just to be safe
>>7996860
One tip for you. Don't talk religious shit to religious people or atheist people. Neither knows their shit. All they know is screaming profanity at each other and at each other's "god". Also they have no idea what actually a "Gee Oh Dee" is.
How would you define a well-made character, /lit/? It seems very easy to stumble into writing mary sues or other types of common cliches and endlessly redone archetypes, or to accidentally turn the protagonist into a self-insert.
Is a more complex character inherently better than a simple one? Is a realistic character better than one clearly constructed for dramatic purposes? Is an arc and a significant change necessary for a character to be written well? Who are some of the most well done characters in literature?
>>7995731
fundamentally, characters are arcs. at best you can subvert structure by replacing 'one arc over 3 acts' with repeated one-scene arcs or something similarly weird, but if you get any further away, you're writing experimental modernism aka poetry, not narrative fiction.
>>7995747
So if a major character remains static throughout the story, would you consider him to be poorly written? Or are there cases where a character's tendency not to change can be interesting in and of itself, like in the Sound and the Fury when Quentin and Jasonare unable to cope with a changing world? People often claim that this makes them "flat," I guess.
>>7995731
do what bradbury does, draw a scene, let a character wander into it. don't concern yourself wit freud and jung before you know what your story is about
I just started the Wheel of Time series. I'm a few chapters into the first book. It is absolute dogshit. I know the series is thirteen books long or so. Is it even worth it?
>>7999241
Why don't you read the next 4,000,000+ words and find out?
If you don't like it already, don't read it.
>>7999251
Blow me, scrublord.
>>7999241
why the fuck are you reading a children's book? are you some kind of manchild? maybe you should give up and read the very hungry caterpillar lmao
MY BROTHERS
MY SISTERS
COMRADES
HOW
DARE
A
R
E
THEY
HOW
HOW
HOW
HOW
D A R E
THEYINSULTRELIGIONWHENITISTHEFOUNDATIONOFHIGHCULTURE?
CELESTIAL NORTH HOWEA
I dare you to watch the hug Richard gives him and not tear up
https://youtu.be/HmTPLYT_-nU?t=26m23s
>>7999255
around 26minutes in
Adiós, Untermensch.
I am arguing with a friend on what makes a philosopher, he argues charlie kaufman is a philosopher because his films explore philosophical themes how do I explain to him the most simple way possible how he is wrong
>>7999190
>arguing on youtube
if you know he's wrong it should be no problem for a smart guy like yourself to explain why.
>>7999283
Well I explained he is not trying to contribute to philosophy he doesn't work on philosophical problems so he is not a philosopher. When he makes films there made for entertainment not to solve philosophical problems or contribute towards philosophy.
Hi /lit/. I'm very interested in reading The Divine Comedy and as it stands a Kindle version is my only hope of reading this for now. Which translation is better? I tried John Ciardi's and the Hollanders', and while the latter has faaar more extensive footnotes (apparently, compared to a mere synopsis of a cantos at the beginning) it lacks the poetic punch Ciardi's translation has (which seemingly lacks many contextual clues).
Should I buy one translation over the other, or should I get both and use the Hollander translation as a tome of footnotes?
>>7999136
Thank you, anon. That chart helps a lot.
Do you really want extensive footnotes for your first time reading it? You don't want to be mired in commentary, you want enough information to be oriented. Ciardi is a good choice, so is Mandelbaum.
Hey /lit/, I'm looking for a book about astrology. Have any good authors written essays of which I am unaware? Would appreciate any recommendations you have!
>>7998943
>redit
Think you've already got your answer my friend.
So now I've read Jesus' Son, Angels, and Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, and I thought all were great. Anyone got advise how to proceed? What to read next of him?
Also Denis Johnson thread, I guess.
Tree of smoke?
1. Do you follow any blogs?
2. Do you have a blog? If so, why? And what's it about?
Let's maybe make a list of good blogs. I'll start:
>Aphelis (http://aphelis.net/)
>Vertigo (https://sebald.wordpress.com/)
>Letters of Note (http://www.lettersofnote.com/)
I'm thinking of starting a blog myself, just to force myself to write regularly and slowly build a portfolio so I can eventually get published in literary journals.
>>7998913
>I'm thinking of starting a blog myself, just to force myself to write regularly and slowly build a portfolio so I can eventually get published in literary journals.
I say go for it. As long as you share it with us.
Make a thread under the name #7998913 when you do. I will be checking periodically for your follow-through.
How important is dialogue vs. description for you? I tend to write a lot of dialogue and very little description in my stories. I keep the description bare minimum. Such as "James and Mike sat in a booth inside the Blue Marlin restaurant. It was packed with patrons. Luckily they were seated by a window with a solid view of the street."
Followed by two thousand words of dialogue with little action or description breaking it up.
>>7998903
Depends on the scene brah.
Actions speak more than words in some cases but dialogue is the world's insight into a character
>>7998903
I like the idea, a movie-like device it seems. But you'll need to work more on writing descriptions, this example isn't very good.
If you're doing that you might as well write a screenplay
Daily reminder to learn a new language
Tutti i giorni finché ti piace
>>7998858
Thanks OP. I wouldn't mind getting into Arabic.
Daily reminder that time spent on /lit/ is better spent with a book in your hands.
Should I read the Decameron before the Canterbury Tales?
>>7998847
Only if you want to. It's not necessary. If you get the Riverside (or any decent edition) of Chaucer, it'll explain his borrowings adequately well.
>>7998882I got me a spanish translation
As the poster above said, you don't need to.
But you should because the Decameron is the tits
literally UNDERSTANDING: the book
This is the first paragraph of Dune..
Why do people slop up this shit? This is just another "creative" type taking advantage of what is already known and thought of about the universe and then adding arbitrary names and years to it.
We need to stop slopping up fiction and start making books on how degenerate humanity is RIGHT NOW. We aren't perfect RIGHT NOW. We need to stop creating dream worlds and start making paradise RIGHT NOW.
the irony of this post
try reading the book you'll find these particular issues are completely addressed
>>7998780
Get over yourself. The chapter intros are part of the staging. If you had read literally one further page before shitposting, you would have had your curiosity piqued by the disparity in tone and subject of the intro passage and the characters in the body of the chapter.
>>7998780
>we need to stop slopping
>we arent perfect
>we need to
>we
>we
>we
kill yourself, kid. nypa
Good day my fellow german /lit/fags. I'm about to buy Ulysses but I won't bother reading it in English. So, what'st the best German Ulysses translation?
