Hi /lit/, I usually post on /fit/ but I have decided to improve my mind as well as body.
This is my nascent book collection. Please rate what I have and suggest new books to read.
1/4
2/4
I know I read too much science fiction and fantasy, need some non SF/F suggestions.
3/4
4/4
I recall my 'healthy body/mind' days; it's a good mindset for getting into literature. Anyway, here's some recommendations before I go exercise:
Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources - Stephen Miller
The Iliad - Homer
Storm and Steel - Junger
The Saga of the Volsungs
The Apology of Socrates - Plato
>>7453729
I'll chuck some more in:
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion - Mishima
Essays on Idleness - Kenkō
Life of Alfred the Great - Asser
this is a joke
>>7453743
Why? Explain please.
pleb/10
Go read sun and steel
>>7453696
The body is only an ephemeral thing while your soul lives on forever. I suggest that you quit the exercising because it's taking away precious reading time, time that can be spent on nurturing your soul and finding a closer relationship with God.
>>7453756
Post your shelf, boy. Don't act like a /mu/ck to humble beginners.
>>7453766
The time you spent on this shitpost could have been spent praying to the Lord.
kek 6/10 I tip my fedora to you.
>>7453767
Get rekt, kiddo.
>>7453781
>stephen king
At least you tried :^)
>>7453781
Yeah get rekt says No Fear Shakespeare anon.
Tell me, how was OMG Romeo?
>>7453696
>reading for some banal self improvement spook
>not pursuing knowledge for intrinsic reasons or out of a half-imagined intellectual obligation
stay pleb senpai
read Lacan
>>7453781
>no fear Shakespeare
Lmao
>>7453804
What's the difference? You just make it sound hipsterish.
read the sticky and fuck off
>>7453781 (me)
>Gets annotated Shakespeare
>gets un-annotated Moby Dick
Yeah, we're the kiddos.
Was not expecting to find Brendan Behan in the middle of those. How did you chance upon it?
Start with the greeks, kid
>>7453845
I don't exactly remember, it was referenced in another book but I'm not sure which.
>>7453858
Just any of them, there are quite a lot. I have read Anabasis by Xenophon, but that is it.
>>7453868
Read Sophocles' Theban plays
They're really good
>>7453868
Homer is a must.
>>7453878
Oh and you definitely don't 'suffer' through Homer, he's the enjoyable to read.
Right this is my amazon basket, I'm about the pull the trigger on this order unless anyone has any alternatives. Will still monitor the thread for suggestions. Thanks for the help.
>>7453935
Quite plebian. Don't listen to those who want you to read “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”, it has to be read in original language and with a strong understanding of Latin/Greek metrics. A translation is boring and doesn't bring anything worthwhile, you should rather stick with Edith Hamilton's “Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes” to get the basis. What exactly do you appreciate in what you read? You should read the sticky and avoid the Greek until you transitioned from a plot-driven experience to a genuine excitation for the prose. I suggest a set of selected short stories.
>>7453935
Oops, you nearly fell for the greeks-meme there, son
>>7453935
You're gonna burn out if you're just going to read greek classic after greek classic.
I would recommend you read some classic russian literature too. Start with Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment.
>>7453953
you're going to burn out if you're just reading classic after classic garbage.
I would recommend something good. start with jk rowling or bolano.
>>7453953
I'd disagree. I love reading through the Greeks as they all had relevance to each other.
>>7453953
Isn't Dostoevsky going to burn me out. I have Notes From the Underground, which I really liked, but I think reading a book four times as long as that in the same style as light relief would be tough.
I've read Dead Souls which I also enjoyed, so I am definitely interested in more Russian literature.
>>7453953
>starting with Dostoevsky before reading every single literary and philosophical work before him
>starting with Dostoevsky before having an extensive knowledge of the history of the world before him
>>7453997
Great to hear. Drop the Greek, it doesn't concern you right now, and get a copy of Anton Chekhov's short stories and Leo Tolstoy's “Anna Karenina”. You'll love it.
>>7453997
I didn't mean as light relief from the greeks. It's supposed to deadlift your mind alongside the greeks.
>>7454001
>reading paper without intimate knowledge of the chemistry and quantum mechanics behind matter that make the book exist and the biology and neurology that allows you to see it and understand what it says, not to mention a heavy background in linguistics so you know why each word means what it does, and a decent muscular build from daily gym training so you don't hold the book like a girl
Like, fuckin duh
>>7453937
fuck you anon. like anyone has the time to learn that shit
read whatever the fuck you like, OP. the only people who'll tell you otherwise are people who only give a damn so they can impress other dickless halfwits who've tricked themselves into thinking that their affinity for literature is based on literature, itself, and not the pseudo-intellectual half-ramblings that they exchange over GOAT lit on anonymous message boards
>>7454462
He's asking for books you dipshittus
>>7454470
and where'd that get him? bunch of faggots telling him to start with the greeks (fuck the greeks) and recommending literature that's way beyond an entry-level.
op you clearly like SF, so just work your way through that cannon and see which ones you like best. if the book doesnt grab you 50 pages in, drop that motherfucker. pick up another one. i swear the problem with this board is people do more lurking than reading (and yet here I am)
>>7454484
Read this before you wreck yourself mate.
>>7454488
i do need to read that, you're right
but also fuck you anon ill do what i like and the only thing you can do about it is unknowingly respond to more of my comments in different threads probably thinking highly of me bc im based as fuck, undermining your own insults with the respect you'll implicitly (inevitably) foster for my person
>>7454462
Stop being mad because you couldn't achieve it. It's very common to study Ancient Greek and Latin in order to read classics—not mentioning having a strong understanding of historical grammar—and many people do it without whining like you did. Reading Homer in translation has almost no sense unless you want to know “the story”, in which case you could just watch a movie or read a book about it—as I suggested, Edith Hamilton is a conventional yet comprehensible introduction—and actually, it takes away all the good reasons to dig in. Some translations aren't even in verse.
>>7454484
Luckily the original poster seems to be slightly more curious than you, and more inclined in acquiring common knowledge while discovering new experiences and challenges in high quality material. “Just read what you want” is the worst advice someone could give. You're telling him it's fine to never learn new things or leaving his comfort zone.
>>7454499
> implying one could never 'want' to do those things without first being prompted by anons on 4chan
how pathetic are you?
>>7454508
I may be wrong but it looks like it's what the original poster is implying by “suggest new books to read”. Now get the fuck out and stop perverting him with your plebish entitled spirituality.
>>7454516
lol spirituality? do you even know what that means? maybe look up the greek root of that word and get back to me m8
>>7454520
You mean the Greek “spiritus”? Get the fuck out.
>>7454531
so you know the greek and still use it incorrectly? embarrassing
this is what happens when Google is your failsafe
>>7454498
The only /lit/ poster I respect is Myself B)
>>7454534
Gr8b8.
>>7454535
wait til you see my copies of Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow, and infinite Jest!!!!!! you'll change ur mind i sware!!!
>>7453997
Might as well try Gogol's Short Stories. They're absolutely amazing.
>>7454540
ya get fucking rekt kid
>>7454543
Ya'll motherfuckers are lyin
And getting me pissed
hi, i'm new here.
just a candid observation, it seems like this board is populated mainly by highbrow wannabes. there's a few here who seem to genuinely care about literature, but their opinion is drowned out in a flood of shitposting and pretentiousness.
>>7454584
i found this handy dandy guide so your shitposters can establish a heirarchy
i'm never coming back, this has been a harrowing experience
>>7454605
This place is just for literary banter; the real /lit/ is in the select goodreads crew.
>>7453792
If you're interested in bodybuilding and discipline, go for Sun and Steel.
>>7454617
Not OP, but how long is it? Might grab a copy for my phone.
>>7454605
>causes: art
kek
>>7454616
Shut up pinky
>>7453781
Shakespeare isn't that hard, friend
