Archived threads in /lit/ - Literature - 572. page
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Seems like I got a, partly, lit-related problem, feel free to harass and insult me if you consider the post inappropriate.
So, I'm struggling with the idea that what I'm occupying myself with (reading, listening to music, watching movies) has become a, albeit temporary - I've dropped out of college twice due to some difficulties maintaining mental stability but haven't given up the will to grant academia another shot but yet - surrogate for an ambitious, self-actualized pursuit of a socially respected career.
And why I may cling to the proposition of being able to somehow integrate those rather recent private interests into a future job, I seem to outright lack the ability to ever be vocal about what I particularly enjoy about reading, listening to music, watching movies etc.
What I feel I'm unattainably removed from, is acquiring the confidence in giving up on the concept that I've got to be able to hold a one hour debate on, for instance, the significance of the political climate Dostoevsky penned C&P in in order to justify my picking up literary studies as a major. To my own bewilderment I consider being under the impression of standing an expert on a topic that one bases one's studies on both absolutely necessary and foolishly presumptuous at the same time.
In short: When settling for a Major, how do I overcome the feeling of being required to be particularly knowledgeable about this field of interest when in fact I can only account for a vague sense of inexplicable wonder but probably would stand small in any factual discussion with my peers?
Pic, it's a swimming pool in Berlin.
Rewrite that with a fourth of the words and then I'll consider answering your stupid question.
In the meantime, get over yourself.
>>7995675
You're not smart enough to be a literary scholar. Major in business or something.
/lit/ how the hell do I prevent this from happening other than wearing gloves?
>>7995657
what the hell do you do, put the book in a vice grip?
>>7995661
No, I just hold it in my hands. Sometimes my hands get clammy I suppose. It doesn't happen all the time. For instance I read a whole book in one sitting and it didn't happen, but I just read for like ten minutes and this is what happened.
>>7995657
Put it back on the bookshelf and it will heal itself.
What is the difference between Victorian era horror/science fiction/fantasy and genre fiction?
>>7995612
Mary Shelley wrote one of the greatest books of all time
It really doesn't matter what genre she went into.
One is good and the other is bad.
>>7995898
Explain how genre fiction is inherently wrong?
Does anyone else dislike early Yeats? yeah hes a master of form and syntax, that's undeniable, but his subject matter is horribly cliché. Dude has like six poems about waning love and autumn n shit.
>>7995522
nah, to me hes the perfect bridge between traditional poetry about love/autumn/classical imagery and batshit modernist stuff
Late Yeats is where its at bby
>>7995522
>Dude has like six poems about waning love and autumn n shit.
I agree that early Yeats isn't as good as late Yeats, but God damn I wish this meme would die.
Forgive me, people of 4chan, for I have sinned.
But I ask for your absolution, for sin was motivated by my desire not to criticize without knowledge of the facts, which is the form of ignorance I try to avoid like a conspiracy-theorist shuns scientific evidence.
I read the whole Fifty Shades trilogy. Downloaded from the internet, of course. Sin I'm fine with, but burning the money goes beyond absolution.
To give you an opinion on the books treating them as "erotic novels" would be almost useless, since in that aspect they're nothing special. Infact, and I am sorry for the total lack of modesty, I myself could have done better.
If you want a nice sci-fi series, however, this is perfect.
For those who have the picture unclear or unknown, the novel's protagonist, Christian Grey, is:
1) Rich as the devil
2) So beautiful that for the bloody heavens sake Bradley Cooper please go hide forever
3) Owner of some sort of galactic empire
4) Keeper of a rare example of gargantuan dick
5) Able to use perfectly the aforementioned gargantuan dick
Only problem is, he's a sadistic, completely anaffective asshole who enjoys beating little defenseless girls.
She, on the other hand, is a perfectly virgin, unexperienced, idiotic modern-Cinderella that manages to, in order:
1) Draw his attention
2) End up in his bed
3) Reach a compromise
4) Make him change his mind a little
5) Change him completely
6) Marry him
7) Have an average of fifteen orgasms a day in the period between point 2 and point 6
Given these assumptions, it is easy to understand how the novel itself is worth a lot more from the sci-fi point of view rather than the erotic one, because buying Blake Lively is much easier than enduring the sillinesses and the needs of the protagonist.
However, I continued to read: being the sex-addict that I am, the idea of reading an erotic story from the female point of view attracted me a lot. I am a person that elevates to absolute dogma the desires of my partner and does everything to satisfy them, and the concept of "being on the other side", although in a figurative way, it was an experience in which I would have gladly immersed.
To this regard I was, in general, quite disappointed.
The writer has the merit of getting script and characters right, as well as the kind of public to target. In this sense, I feel somehow forced to appreciate it because the genius is also "speed of execution", but I can not help but think of how much better could come out of other pens.
About the "erotism", the novel is sometimes weak and vaguely childish, but mostly repetitive (the simple phrase "I moan" is as recurrent as irritant). The fact that I liked some parts leads me to think I would appreciate a novel of the same genre written by some author worthy of his title. The character of Christian Grey is definitely well built in regards of the mystery aura, the secrets (which were the only reasons why I went ahead with the other two books) and the magnetic charm, despite the premises of the story are not credible.
Besides, reading hundreds and hundreds of pages identifying with the absence of linearity typical of female thinking process (for females not introduced to the pleasures of double-digit IQ, of course) is frankly an exhausting experience, and I'll spare you the luciferin, blinding and balls-melting furnace that some passages, totally useless but apparently indispensable to the advancement of the wanna-be-plot, were. A plot that could be defined egregious for small literature niche (as every Nicholas Sparks novel is, for instance, since the target is trisomic girls), but for a novel that has been cited as a 'literary phenomenon' is more or less demeaning.
Fifty Shades is not a phenomenon of any kind but, as mentioned, sci-fi.
It is the embodiment of the desire of all those women who share their beds with a just average looking husband which has not the strength or the will to fuck their brains out properly: to find a wonderful man with few flaws, and be able to change them, with the biggest FUCK YOU to rationality, independence and freedom of will, and putting in between a dozen of cervix-shaking orgasms(an unknown thing for many women, unfortunately) and all those sexual experiences that, given the structure of the society (generally repressive towards women looking for a certain type of relationship and practices) and given their perennial status of dissatisfaction, generally remain forbidden dreams, also considering the fact that they wouldn't have the guts of making them come true even if they had the chance.
In conclusion, a weak novel, with a weak character, for weak readers. A great idea executed with the carelessness of fanfiction and the vague aroma of Twilight, with the remorse of having wasted a great opportunity: think about all those writers out there that may have produced something better that will be ignored because "We have already a Fifty Shades of Grey".
Post Scriptum: to the engaged male anons, if your girlfriend is getting toxic because you practice masturbation (it is a misfortune that can happen), if she read the saga you can bring it up to her and shut her mouth * forever, since the things are equal.
*with your phallus
PS2: Sorry any mistake, English is not my mothertongue
I thought I'd be a /lit/bro and tell you guys that Thriftbooks.com is having a summer sale ending May 9th(?). 20% your order. One of you will probably make use of this.
Are you a '/lit/bro'? or are you a 'GUERILLA INTERNET ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN BY THE MAJOR PUBLISHING FIRMS AND AMAZONbro'
>>7995863
I'm a /lit/bro. I saw the deal when I woke up and thought someone on /lit/ mind find it useful.
Post one of your absolutely favorite books that you think everyone should read.
There are a lot of translations of the Bhagavad Gita out there, but Ranchor Prime's is one of the best and easiest to read.
It is a religious text, but you don't have to believe it to appreciate it. If Hinduism isn't your bag, just see it as an alternate way to view the world.
Whose got finals? who loves em? who hates em?
I'm especially curious as to hearing about projects that people feel passionately about for their finals, or that you've found what you're saying has become important to you otherwise.
People who aren't in school anymore get in here too; miss doing finals? are there any kickass papers you wrote that you remember fondly?
does anyone in academia here do creative work? I tend not to, but this semester I am for the first time and so far it's pretty terrifying.
finally (I think), did you take any courses this year you loved or find worth mentioning? What the hell are you taking next semester? I haven't even thought about that shit
I'm writing pretty much three different papers about one book that I absolutely love, but even so it's getting sort of draining.
The one I'm doing right now is at least mostly about Deleuze, I just use the book for my arguments. Problem is it was due by the 'afternoon' today and now its 5pm here.
oh, I almost forgot one of the most important parts; study music reccomendations. post youtube links or whatever if youve got anything extra special you listen to as you study, or that you find perfect for writing
these have been getting me through a lot. perfect for when its time to finally put the book down and start writing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-34mZr-sLs8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ7wg043a8s
(I couldn't find the image I intended to use, so i had to go w the backup)
>>7995411
Praise the Lord by Sergei Rachmaninoff
>>7995411
quite the order but here we go:
>Just finished up finals for all my classes sans a 3 page paper on King Lear that i'm editing with my fiance tonight
I took a course on Early British Literature that really triggered my dick with early Catholic doctrine even more than it had been already. Also introduced me to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which was a great read.
Next semester is interesting. One course on literacy and education, one on Existentialism (mostly Kierkegaard i believe), one on the history of the English language and its grammar.
STUDY MUSIC:
>Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
>Brian Eno - Ambient 1
>A Winged Victory for the Sullen
>Satie
if you're weird like me though you write papers and shit as you listen to free jazz. In which case:
>Don Cherry - Where is Brooklyn?
>TEST - Ahead
>Jimmy Lyons - Other Afternoons
>>7995620
thank you!
I just spilled coffee on my nice new Blake book (from the library) and seeing a proper response was just what I needed.
I used to listen to a lot of Mingus while I did work, but I never got beyond that into jazz. I still have a few tracks of his on my writing inspo playlist on youtube, though, which is otherwise mostly old videogame music, weird japanese avant garde, electronic albums about space, and whatever peculiar black metal I can find.
I miss studying Shakespeare. I was really passionate about him in high school but got over it really quickly when I started smoking weed for some reason. I've always wanted to write something about the Tempest. In the hospital over the summer I started taking notes on it but it never went anywhere, I started Light in August and it fucked me up too much to do anything else.
also this album is incredible for getting lost in writing you don't wanna do
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWGjYg2LmZQ
Name a more comfy narrative
I have had a wierd habit lately of putting this Titanic video on and reading until the ship goes down and I've been finding it pretty comfortable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs9w5bgtJC8
Who are some of your favourite /lit/ reviewers on Goodreads?
My favourite is https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4100763-hadrian
Just to check: someone's already written a story about a famous actor/actress who is tasked to save a world because aliens think our action movies are documentaries and can't comprehend the idea of fiction, right?
>>7995333
Galaxy Quest
>>7995336
Thanks!
I was pretty sure it wasn't an original idea.
>>7995339
You shouldn't let that stop you. Maybe you can do a better job. Maybe your version can be more famous.
What translation is recommended for the Iliad and the Odyssey?
>>7995302
Fitzgerald/Chapman
First/second read
pope's
Fagles, Lattimore, Fitzgerald
Sample these and pick the one you like.
Hi! Could you recommend me some good novels where the protagonist(s) is captured by some kind of "savage" tribe? Could be a desert island scenario. Thanks.
>>7995279
Typee
He wasn't captured but he lived among them.
The guy who wrote moby dick wrote another one that sounds like that. the name escapes me right now
How did this motherfucker get so based?
>>7995276
By eating organic, obviously.
>>7995276
what if Jon Scieszka wrote a Winnie the Pooh story?
He's a taoist sage m8 consult the literateur.
Who here has read Ada?
What did you think about the book and what was your favorite thing about it?
Was there any important things that a reader might have missed on their first read through?
There are a million things a reader almost surely missed on their first read-through
It's Lolita except instead of pedophilia it's incest. Also nowhere as good.
>>7995270
>Ada or Ardor
Pick one fucking title you pedo communist
