/lit/ - Literature

anon please help me. I'm looking for book recommendations about the everyday life of people living in the American "wild west" in the 1860-1900 era, specifically written by someone who lived it. Outlaws, politicians, law people, store owners, regular people. I want something that will get me as close as a book can get me to understand what was life like for those people.

>>19482936
Believing things will get better and working hard to make it so and then wah lah things magically get better when you make conscious changes and plans to improve your life instead of wallowing in self pity or hitting the dopamine button and avoiding difficulty for comfortable mediocrity.

>>18393667
lamp.lit.magazine@gmail.com

>>16899788
Apu is a life-affirming symbol and the purest soul ever.

>>16648116
The painting is called Edge Dancer by Michael Whelan. Unfortunately I don't have anymore like it

>start working on a 2nd novel
>it's a lot more interesting and fun to write than the 1st one
>still feel obligated to continue working on the 1st since I'm 20k words in

I've read so much Faulkner lately that even my journal entries are starting to sound like a Quentin monologue. Send help

>>16315863
>character in the book you're reading is trying to herd some cows in the wild west, when suddenly you look down and find yourself on a galloping horse being chased by a marauding band of injuns

>>16268126
"My friend is dead and it's my fault," he said to himself, out loud.

>>16267624
fastest good response poster on the whole wild board

>>16232479
>S'pose

A um bochincho certa feita
Fui chegando de curioso
Que o vicio é que nem sarnoso
Nunca para nem se ajeita
Baile de gente direita
Eu vi, de pronto, que não era
Na noite de primavera
Gaguejava a voz dum tango
E eu sou louco por fandango
Que nem pinto por quirera

hey /lit/, who is your fav troubadour?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOgkUe2437o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNUUFZwe0wA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNP47yk_kJs

An old town stood by a dyin’ river. There was no more than a few dozen who lived there, ‘n yet it was called Manhattan. The soil was mostly barren ‘n the wind battered ‘n blew about the briers ‘n the wheat. Winters, while short lived, were harsh. First frost’d often come up ‘n take whatever survived the dry spells. Autumns seldom showed. Summers sweltered on—it didn’t seem like they’d ever end ‘till they did. Only real pleasant time was spring, when there was more grazin’ than scrubs ‘n brush ‘n the sunlight warmed the cool ‘n lively air that stirred in ‘tween the twisters. Daughters’d rollick to have the breeze ‘n their hair ‘n pick the flowerin’ weeds. Sons’d test their marks on empty cans after walkin’ ‘em out ‘t the range. Mothers’d wash clothes ‘n pin ‘em upside the house. Fathers’d plow ‘n keep stock.

It was that fairest season at the time, ‘n the war bein’ had was still raw. There was an old weathered crosshatch runnin’ along a new asphalt road ‘n a powerline—a pickup shambled down it, as it outpaced the fence, spanned the river, and led into the town, where a handful’a buildins sat ‘n waited.

“Top ‘er off will ya.” A stranger stepped out of his truck and shut its door after rolling up its window, then walked ‘t the curb, drew a cigarette, and stood. His smoke dithered in the wind as 'e stretched ‘is arms over ‘is head. He was a young man. And in spite of his age his skin looked rough ‘n his eyes were heavy. His hair was light ‘n pomaded ‘n ‘e hadn’t had a shave ‘n days—‘is strong jaw ‘n crooked chin were almost hidden by an unkempt flaxen stubble. He wore a denim jacket ‘n drawers ‘n his boots had fancy stitchin’ on the sides but all the threads’d been frayed. ‘Cross from him was A.D. Protheroe’s, a druggist. Down the line was a clothier, grocer, ‘n a bank ‘n a few others. All the storefronts were made from the same kind’a brick, ‘cept ‘f course those couple wooden left. A coupe, an old model-A, ‘n a small number’a dust covered pickups rested before ‘em, flankin’ the brief stretch’a road which was inner'sected in the middle by another tread with dirt. Further off rose a water tower billin’ the town’s title ‘n statehood. The pump rang.

>>12773860
okay dummy.

>>12773763
Lonesome Dove is pretty good too.

>>11468453
like a reading group? or set of reading groups for different ages and different recommended book lists? or like a groupon book buying thing.

>>11467978
cormac mccarthy

>>10870751
>always shill worm ouroboros whenever i have the chance
>no anons ever reply or seem interested

>that part in blood meridian when there was blood on the ground

>>10587932
>childhood is thinking norm meshes best with conan and letterman
>adulthood is realizing he works best with andy

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJvLRM9Otg

>>10221989
How are you constructing a narrative if you don't know what you're doing? Do you just spew whatever out onto the page?

>how do i edit
Take stock of the story you have written. You should have done this before you wrote it. Consider your characters, consider their motivations and psychology. Do they grow or change over the course of the story? Are they forced to make moral decisions? Now consider the setting. Are there characters present who shouldn't be, or needn't be? Does it make sense for them to be here? What is the emotional impact of the relationships between the characters? What are you, the author, withholding from them that the reader may pick up on (and build tension from)?

The way I do it, it's not an axiom really. Just hard work and planning. I start with an idea for a story. A big, broad idea that needs to be sharpened. Then I choose themes I want to explore in the work, or that I think could have literary merit. (e.g. do I want to use magical realism? which human experiences do I want to explore?) Then hopefully I am inspired and develop the right characters for this journey. Then I set them down into the world and help them along their emotional vectors. Some of them don't make it. Resolve the narrative by tying all the characters together. Think of it like playing pool. These characters emotional states and transformations should have been lined up before the shot. That makes endings easier to wrangle.