hello /lit/ first time browsing and posting.
backgroud: never went to college, slacked in HS but graduated. really manned up n take care of business now
i wanted to start reading more, i feel like itd benefit my life, r. i bought moby dick like 2 years ago to start this change, but i found it a bit difficult to read (did not understand his metaphors and some idioms), which basically through me off the horse by chapter 4, along with not being captivated throughout some of the chapter.
so my question is, is there a way i can assess my reading level, and is this book just slow?
do i just need to pull myself up by the boot straps n dive in?
As a current non reader, any author references would be appreciated.
>>7396214
sorry, im tired
threw off the horse* usually on top of my grammar and spelling. should proof read, i know.
>>7396214
I really liked Moby-Dick but it's quite slow for a non-reader. Have you checked out Cormac McCarthy?
>>7396218
im basically just trying to start reading again.
somebody said i may like h.p lovecraft, but being an older author im assuming hes slow too.
>>7396218
my point of saying "im starting reading again" was no, havent. i will now
>>7396214
Moby-Dick is mandatory but you probably should read some more basic novels before tackling it. Check out the sticky. Off the top of my head, some good books/writers to start with are writers like Dickens, Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Salinger. They'll offer you some relatively straightforward novels with some decent literary merit. If you like your novels to have some action and adventure and move at a faster pace you could try people like Kipling and Stevenson. If you're not averse to it, there's some good genre fiction that is good fun to check out like Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and H.G. Wells. Hope this helps.
>Recommended literature:
http://4chanlit.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_Reading
Ask for recommendations only once you have browsed the wiki.
>>7396214
if you want a good experience of reading, and want to cover the most important bases within a few months, read the following in order (stars are after the super important ones):
- Bible (any time really, maybe read it along the others. for no reason other than that it's important. If you grew up Catholic and went to church you're likely halfway there.)
- Plato
- Aristotle *
- Sophocles
- Horace
- Ovid *
- Virgil *
- Cicero
- Aquinas
- Dante *
- Ariosto
- Spenser
- Shakespeare *
- Donne *
- Pope
- Wordsworth
- Keats
- Melville *
- Hawthorne
- Whitman *
This is a rough crash course that will get you from 0 to sixty rather quickly. Remember that these authors/poets can be reread throughout life and that they in fact need to be if you're going to go anywhere with them. Enjoy.
before you get into classic literature, i would just recommend reading books that sound interesting to you first before going straight into Sophocles and Shakespeare and such. Read books like American Psycho, Catch-22, The Stranger, Lolita, One Flew Over the Kekoo's nest. There easy books and it'll get you into the habit the reading and what literature is like. I started reading YA novels as a teen and by the time I turned 18 I was fine reading anything and didn't feel at all slowed down by the texts. You also learn to get through books that are extremely dry and dull to you (at least for me it helped). So for a year, I would say, just read books that sounds interesting, find a genre that you find interesting, etc. and by no time you'll be reading scholarly works
>>7396214
So far everyone has recommended great ideas coupled with great books, but in my opinion the most important thing for you to do at this stage is to kindle a love for reading. Once you know how great it can feel to be totally enraptured by a story, you'll be more likely to WANT to read, and can soon after have better chances of appreciating less-than-dazzling stories like Moby-Dick (which I love, but would not recommend at such an early stage).
I always do and always will recommend The Count of Monte Cristo. The Buss translation from Penguin is (I think) the only fully unabridged and uncensored edition currently in print. It's like 1100 pages but will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time; it's been over a year since I last read it and it still makes me just stop and think "fuuuck" sometimes.
![1365475090228[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/cPLzO6b.jpg "1365475090228[1].jpg")
>>7396487
this
>>7396214
Moby Dick is a pretty tough read.
I'd recommend Steinbeck for beginner. Accessible without losing profundity. Pretty prose, cozy themes, entertaining too.
East of Eden is great. If you're looking for something shorter, Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday, The Wayward Bus, Travels With Charley, Of Mice and Men and The Pearl are good choices too.
>>7398162
>One flew over the kekoo's nest
kek
>>7396214
American psycho is a very pleasurable read. Very modern as well. It has its parts that drag on or go into too much detail, but overall the subject and presentation is captivating to those that do not read frequently.
Fear and loathing could be another, it's packed full of crazy shit the whole time and also modern, you might enjoy that.
Someone recommended McCarthy, and I've heard good things about blood meridian but I felt the only book I've read by him (the road) was quite underwhelming.
Dfw has a lot of short stories that might interest you, I loved brief interviews but thought oblivion tended to be a bit less interesting and more work to read. IJ is also fantastic but a bit long for you perhaps.
>>7400485
yeah idk why but when you try to type in C U C K O O it changes to kekoo's
