>>7502773
start with the greeks

>>7502773
How to Read Literature Like A Professor by Thomas C. Foster is supposed to be excellent for this sort of thiing.

anyone else find the metamorphosis just absurdly funny on second read?

>>7502838
i thought it was funny the first time
like dude turned into a giant bug but he was still stressed about the same shit and acting like a lil pussy
he could have just been like fuck it and ate some garbage

>>7502773
read what naturally captivates u
if you're having a hard time you either need to learn more words, read different books, or stop trying to fool yourself -- a good book will entice you with its understanding

>>7502838
it's black comedy which is what Kafka excelled in. The irony is also friggin' everywhere. OH CHRIST I GOTTA GET TO WORK! says the vermin-man. His dad hates him but they only have the money to live on because of Gregor's overworking himself, etc

>>7502773
1. read a short bio on the author. The Wikipedia summary will do just fine usually for a first read
2. Contextualize it. When was it published? What world events, literary trends, etc. caused and aided the piece's formation?

those two alone really do wonders

>>7502773
>I have failed ayuuuooh.

>>7502773
They're trying to say "read my next book and maybe I'll trickle some more truth to you"

>>7502857
i get the black humor but I was straight up laughing
like audibly, and at a high volume
while in public
and then the family's like "well gosh we tried to just let him go his way our gregor wouldn't have burdened us like this"

read the greeks

>>7502780
In the same boat, possibly more elementary: The well-educated mind by susan wise bauer.

>>7502841
You do psychedelics?

that image is like odradek to me

>>7502773
Really almost any book will have the ideas the author wants to talk about pretty clear.

Obviously not liberal gender/race/queer study garbage, that's imagined by readers 100 years after the book was written.