4chan archive /lit/ (index)
similar threads
2012-10-07 04:08 3038323 Anonymous (book.jpg 387x520 41kB)
I want to get into reading and be smart like you guys. Is this a good book to start with? I'm gonna buy the original one none of that edited shit. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1614271526/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

8 min later 3038343 Anonymous
pls help me lit

13 min later 3038355 Anonymous
>>3038323 dont read that rubbish

14 min later 3038359 βPictoris
It's not a good book to start with if you're just picking up reading, no. It's muddled with allusion and odd literary tricks that you probably won't get until you've read a bit. I recommend George Orwell, Kurt Vonnegut, Albert Camus, some of the Western canon, and whoever sounds interesting to you if you want to pick up 'serious' reading.

15 min later 3038361 βPictoris
>>3038359 Final note, reasing does not inherently make you smart.

15 min later 3038363 βPictoris
>>3038361 reading*

19 min later 3038369 Anonymous
>>3038361 1984? Are you really suggesting me that book? I've read a lot of negative comments about that one. Some people say this is a good book. Should I start smalltime, like Shakespeare and stuff? Thing is I'm not a native english speaker so archaic english is gonna be hard for me.

23 min later 3038378 Anonymous
>>3038369 try gulliver's travels and charles dickens

25 min later 3038380 Anonymous
>>3038378 Ok, thanks.

27 min later 3038388 Anonymous
>>3038380 I suggest that because most of the stuff people suggest here is too trendy, too 'literary'... Start off with the classics

30 min later 3038395 Anonymous (1270061661552[1].jpg 1500x3688 850kB)
>>3038388 I thought this book was a good starting one because I was reading this guide.

31 min later 3038396 Anonymous
>>3038323 >Not reading the Gabler edition.

32 min later 3038402 Anonymous
>>3038396 I don't want shitty editions, no matter how good they are. I want the original, the one that actually received critical acclaim.

38 min later 3038416 Anonymous
>>3038402 It's only the original in appearance only. There are tons of editions that have the original text AND annotations to help with the nonsense found throughout. How do you expect to understand something that not all native English speakers can understand, when you're not even a native English speaker? Just swallow your pride and get an annotated one with the original text. You won't come off any less pretentious and condescending when you start lecturing your friends on how well-read you are.

41 min later 3038427 Anonymous
>>3038416 I don't have any friends, and even if I did, I would not tell them I read books. I don't want no help to read it, hell even if I need to check what does this word mean every paragraph I'm gonna do it anyways, all by myself.

42 min later 3038434 Anonymous
just give it a wait until you are ready to tackle it. maybe try crime and punishment

54 min later 3038473 Anonymous
>>3038323 mate no point reading this till you've read the Odyssey I also thought I'd start there but the book is like an extended cryptic crossword, deeply rooted in references to literature and to life in 20th century Dublin I've no doubt you could soldier through it but you'd get nothing out of the endeavour start with 'the great gatsby', then some hemingway

57 min later 3038483 Anonymous
>>3038473 Alright, I'll read that then, and some classics too.Thanks a lot.

2 hours later 3038681 Anonymous
>hurr durrr reading aristotle and plato, hemingway, george orwell, shakespeare, etc will give me a smart Reading some stories will hardly do anything if you don't see the subtext and allusions the author does, it'll just be a story with everything going over your head. >hurrr I don't need no gadurn edits I was born in the 19th century it's all just english to me What are you, 12? >be smart like you guys I would've picked some philosophy to get you into critical thinking and into some schools of thought and maybe Art of War and Games People Play, things that you can pick and choose what to actually apply to yourself, but these all have those icky sidenotes from authors further complimenting the text that you're apparently too good for

3 hours later 3038715 Anonymous
>>3038681 >>games people play is a great book.

4 hours later 3038816 Anonymous
>>3038681 I never supported edited editions, but since you are being so nice I guess I could give it a try and get a copy with author's notes. The thing is why the fuck makes a book that nobody will get and that will need the writer's explanation? It does not seem plausible to me.

4 hours later 3038822 Anonymous
>>3038473 >mate no point reading this till you've read the Odyssey Not true. You need only be familiar with the basic structure and central characters of the Odyssey to get the allusions (which, by the way, are not the most important or most interesting part of the book).

4 hours later 3038824 Anonymous
Yes, do it. It's fucking hard, but if you can read Ulysses, you can read almost anything.

4 hours later 3038839 Anonymous
>>3038824 I don't know, some people said no, but some people say yes. I'm confused. It's either that or Les Misérables but I do not speak Freanch. I could learn tho.

4 hours later 3038852 Anonymous
I'm about to start reading Les Miserables. What should I expect?

4 hours later 3038858 Anonymous
Start off with The Stranger or The Great Gatsby, OP.

4 hours later 3038867 Buffon Blowjob
>>3038852 A great, great book. One of the best.

4 hours later 3038872 Anonymous
>>3038858 Isn't The Great Gasby a book used to troll people?

4 hours later 3038874 Anonymous
>>3038872 No, why would you think that? There's a reason why it's considered a classic. I personally thought that it was fantastic.

4 hours later 3038877 Anonymous
>>3038872 If someone recommends On the road, though, then they're simply trolling you.

4 hours later 3038880 Anonymous
>>3038872 No, you're thinking of The Stranger and philosophies like absurdism in general. You'd do well to avoid most things that have come out of France after 1789.

4 hours later 3038884 Anonymous
>>3038427 >Implying dictionaries aren't reference texts

4 hours later 3038887 Anonymous
>>3038874 Atlas Shrugged is also considered a classic.

4 hours later 3038888 Anonymous
>>3038884 I'm just looking what a word means, not what a paragraph means.

5 hours later 3038924 Anonymous
>>3038473 >mate no point reading this till you've read the Odyssey This

5 hours later 3038927 Anonymous
>>3038924 Oh well I guess I'll have to pick up from the 800 bC... Thanks.

5 hours later 3038928 Anonymous
>>3038874 >There's a reason why it's considered a classic. It's strictly an American classic; if you're from elsewhere you might not give a shit.

5 hours later 3038931 Anonymous
>>3038927 Don't read Ululysseseeses straight off the bat; it's like trying to read Einstein's relativity when all you know how to read is 1+1 = 2. It's a different language entirely.

5 hours later 3038933 Anonymous
OP confirmed for 12 yr old sudaca.

5 hours later 3038934 Anonymous
>>3038931 Well what the fuck should I read then? The Great Gasby?

5 hours later 3038939 Anonymous
>>3038934 Unless you are from the USA, no. Not Gatsby. Do you have anything else that you think might be interested in?

5 hours later 3038942 Anonymous
>>3038939 Les Miserables, but I do not speak French... I always liked Don Quixote (read it when I was younger, kind get it but not payed much attention) or Shakespeare (he seems to be really famous for his works).

5 hours later 3038949 Anonymous
>>3038942 >Shakespeare (he seems to be really famous for his works). They are plays; they read differently and thus must be read differently from something like a novel. If you're interested in specifically ENGLISH lit, then don't read translations of classics from other languages. He's one off the top of my head: Heart of Darkness, by Conrad. It's short, and the message isn't so entirely covered by layers of allegory and subtle meaning (it's there, but it's not that "hard") Read. It's short. If you didn't enjoy the experience not much time was lost. The end.

5 hours later 3038951 Anonymous (do you even read 1.jpg 263x384 22kB)


5 hours later 3038952 Anonymous
>>3038942 Shakespeare really is great, it doesn't lose much from being read as opposed to being performed. I'm not going to say read ALL of Shakespeare, but one or two plays wouldn't hurt. One thing to keep in mind is that it is based heavily in wordplay and conceptual ideas, and is usually light on plot and characterization. That's up to you. I'm going to give my personal recommendation of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" by James M. Cain

5 hours later 3038954 Anonymous (do you even read 2.jpg 500x347 26kB)


5 hours later 3038956 Anonymous
>>3038395 >modern classic >steppenwolf okay, that's a bit of a stretch >naked lunch HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAA Naked Lunch is about the worst book ever conceived. The only thing that makes it somehow significant is the man who wrote it. An important man took a shit, we revere it as we revere him, because, after all, he want to HAAAAAAAAAAARVARD SO ANYTHING HE DOES MUST BE IMPORTANT.

5 hours later 3038957 Anonymous
The Giving Tree (no joko)

5 hours later 3038958 Anonymous (do you even read 3.jpg 640x480 47kB)


5 hours later 3038960 Anonymous
>>3038958 >>3038954 >>3038951 I'm trying, please, be nice.

5 hours later 3038963 Anonymous (do you even read 5.png 297x358 100kB)


5 hours later 3038967 Anonymous
>>3038957 You mean "The Selfish Little Shit"?

5 hours later 3038968 Anonymous
OP, what sort of stuff have you actually read/are currently reading?

5 hours later 3038972 Anonymous
>>3038967 Fine. Read, "The Giver" (no jokohomo)

6 hours later 3038974 Anonymous
>>3038968 I once read The Odyssey, Don Quixote... I don't know didn't read a lot of books... Kafka's Metamorphosis, The Story of A Seagull and The Cat Who Taught Her To Fly (it was shit), The Little Prince... and that's about it. Welp.

6 hours later 3038976 Anonymous
>>3038974 Did you like Kafka? Read: Death in Venice Then: The Stranger/Outsider they extend on similar themes as the first one you read.

6 hours later 3038977 Anonymous
The Great Gatsby and 1984 are good books and the OP should give them a try, a lot of people have been put off of them for one reason or another but that happens to all popular work, you should really read them for yourself and make up your own mind. I don't think you have to be American to appreciate Gatsby. The book goes through great lengths to describe the setting, after all.

6 hours later 3038978 Anonymous
>>3038976 >they extend on similar themes as the first one you read. But are infinitely better. Fuck Gregor, useless pathetic faggot that he was.

6 hours later 3038979 Anonymous
>>3038977 Twilight books are also popular. Should I read them too?

6 hours later 3038980 Anonymous
>>3038977 >I don't think you have to be American to appreciate Gatsby. The book goes through great lengths to describe the setting, after all. That may be the case. But for several I've spoken to about it (who weren't american in background) it's just a feeling of "who gives a shit?" I know, I know... all that "being able to relate to" crap is stupid when it comes to appreciating the actual craft of literature as opposed to over all plot. But, if you're starting out, it's easier to read things you WANT to read. I never felt any interest in Gatsby when I read it; however, I am considering re-reading it. As I understand it, many american kids dislike it because it was force-fed to them in HS?

6 hours later 3038983 Anonymous FAGGOT
>>3038979 OP confirmed for spic troll who is 12 everyone above this line -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- have been trolled and wasted their time 2/10 getting everyone to reply.

6 hours later 3038984 Anonymous
>>3038983 I was being sarcastic you fucking prick. Popular != good.

6 hours later 3038986 Anonymous
>>3038984 faggot troll: hurr guyse i cna't reads and wanna be smarts and tell me plz what suld I read?

6 hours later 3038987 Anonymous
>>3038979 That's bullshit and you know it. the popularity these books (the ones I mentioned) have enjoyed is based on their supposed literary greatness (which is exactly why people feel the need to call them out). twilight is popular for very different reasons

6 hours later 3038988 Anonymous
>>3038983 >>3038986 Trolled. (Hard)

6 hours later 3038989 Anonymous
>>3038987 >twilight is popular for very different reasons Menopausal women and stupid girls account for a disproportionate amount of book sales?

6 hours later 3038990 Anonymous
>>3038987 Well fuck it I'm gonna read that fucking Great Gasby and then I'm gonna read that fucking Odyssey and then I'm gonna read fucking Ulysses fucking niggers. I fucking hate all of you.

6 hours later 3038991 Anonymous
>>3038990 faggot

6 hours later 3038993 Anonymous
>>3038991 /thread

6 hours later 3038996 Anonymous
>>3038990 :)

6 hours later 3039006 Anonymous
>>3038991 Yeah fuck you too. I'm gonna buy this version. http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Gatsby-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0020199600/ref=tmm_mmp_title_2?ie=UTF8&am p;qid=1349598441&sr=8-1 Is this one okey?

15 hours later 3039711 Anonymous
>>3038880 The Stranger is pretty good, I wouldn't be trolling when I recommend that to someone

15 hours later 3039723 Anonymous
>>3038990 Don't get mad at us because you're too stupid to pick out and start your literary journey and intellectual progress, be thankful some niggers on here actually replied and didn't just tell you to fuck off and do your own homework like I am right now. The irony of you hating editions that have annotations and background context explained is downright hilarious, considering those exact editions are EXACTLY for people like you, people who could not pass beginner English courses and need a scholar to explain all the little details in the book because, as you have already admitted, you don't fucking read, and thus, you will not understand the subtext and/or historical/religious allegories and/or commentary the author might've inserted in their stories. 8/10 I fucking hate kids for this reason fuck escaping captcha I will pay 4chan for an actual method to finally get rid of underagedB& outside of /b/

16 hours later 3039759 Anonymous
>>3038369 >smalltime >Shakespeare What?

16 hours later 3039769 Anonymous
Are there any actual literary novels that allude to The Odyssey?

1.221 0.092