/lit/ - Literature

>>12140913
is this a man?

>giving up on Paradiso because it's too gay

>>12140913
I intend to read them, according to Goodreads my two year anniversary of shelving The Iliad as "to-read" is in about 3 weeks.

>>12140913
I've read all of these except Paradise Lost, are there any reasons to read it?

>he reads problematic old whitey literature
This is the reason why young women writers can’t get their feet on the ground. Have you ever thought of reading something interesting for a change???

>>12140913
I haven't gotten around to them yet.

>>12140932
pseud cred

>>12140954
Like Infinite Jest??

>>12140913
Books on how to win at warfare are the only books worth reading.

>>12140954
>>12140963
At least DFW got his feet of the ground.

>>12140913
I read Faust in place for Paradise Lost.
That cool?

>>12141005
Yeah, wasting your time once should suffice.

>>12141005
Yeah, you're alright. I was going to add Faust and the Metamorphoses to the OP, but I thought I'd go a bare minimum.

i've never liked shakespear, or plays in general.
am i stoopid?

>There are posters on this board and in this very thread who have not read the Old 1835 edition of Kalevala in Finnish.
Why even post?

I haven't read them because I don't know Homeric Greek nor Italian. Sucks to be a poorly educated moderncel

>>12140913
I have the Iliad that is translated by Samuel Butler is it a good translation?

>>12140913
I've read Lattimore's Iliad and Odyssey. I intend to return to them through Pope's translation. The rest I intend to get to but would at least like to work my way through the Bible first.

>>12140913
Okay, I've read them all and written papers on them. Now what?

I mainly read non-fiction but even I'VE read those. Havin' a laugh at all the "people" in this thread who haven't, there's no excuse.
Should've added Faust pars one und two, desu

>>12140913

>tfw only read Shakespeare's tragedies and only just barely qualify to circlejerk about insulting the plebs in OP's thread

>>12140913
I've been thinking about reading them, but I've heard that Paradise Lost is gay as fuck.

>>12141752
Is there anything more scathing than a smug and/or laughing anime girl?

It burns right through my soul.

I half read The Iliad (it was boring), I've read The Odyssey many times in different translations, I've read The Divine Comedy twice, I've read Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear, and I've read Paradise Lost twice.

bonus: I've read The Aeneid twice, and I've read Goethe's faust

>tfw you don't mention the fucking Aeneid.

>>12140913
Working on Paradise Lost right now.
I've become kind of paranoid about translations lately so I'm sticking with the brits: will hopefully tackle some Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spenser, and various romantics next.

>>12140913
I already read the Iliad and the Odyssey, I was about to read Othelo and I already read other three Shakespeare's classics (Hamlet, Macbet and Romeo & Juliet). Then I want to read more ancient literature: Antigone and the other book of the Oedipus triad (I already read Oedipus King).

The Divine Comedy is the one with the circles of hell right? I intent to read that one later too. I don't know about Paradise Lost, I might want to read something else first (like the first book of the Dune series).

I've read the Iliad, Odyssey, Divine Comedy and some Shakespeare (Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Titus Andronicus).
Haven't gotten to Paradise Lost yet. Also want to re-read the Divine Comedy but I want to learn to read Italian first.

>>12141803
Anime is the metaphysical realm of forms; the smug anime girl is the platonic form of smugness from which all other things are mere shadows. To gaze upon any form will set one's soul alight, much as Socrates describes in Phaedrus, which is why the smug anime girl has such a piercing presence.

>>12141988
Akane > Rikka

>>12141687
Read Lattimore'e Iliad and Odyssey is next, then I want to return to them through Pope eventually as well.

>>12141803
actually being laughed at by real women, this only applies if you are not a psychopath though. if you are autistic enough and mildly psychopthic no amount of negative social stimulu can harm you but of course you will never find love or true friendship :(
>>12141988
this does nothing for me, i am desolate

>>12141839
I knew I'd missed something.

hmmm this is a pretty cool circlejerk

>>12141005
It is and it isn't. Paradise Lost for an armature of Puritan character, Faust for one of Romantic character. Both did serious damage to the Western psyche, and of course are now absolutely indispensable

Milton stands above the others like a black man among whites

>>12140919
I sure hope so.

>>12142243
Or, in the case of /the one/, a white among blacks

bump, the plebs must be know their status

>>12140954
Cant tell if ironic or not. If not kys please

>he didn't read the Chad edition of the Iliad

>Iliad
Read, it was meh. Translated poetry is a waste of time and I'm not learning greek
>the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy
See above, translated poetry is garbage
>Shakespeare's tragedies
No interest whatsoever
>Pararise Lost
Again, zero interest in some christwankery.

>>12141841
Don't forget Marlowe!

>>12142665

>The virgin Illustrated Platinum Edition

>The chad Wordsworth Edition

>>12142691
>I am a brainlet the post
Subhuman niggers like you should get the rope

>m-muh western canon
'NO!'

>>12140913
I have only read MacBeth.
I currently own the Iliad, the Odyssey and Divine Comedy but just haven't gotten round to reading them.
They've sat on my bedside table for a good few months to a year and my excuse is I don't do much bedtime reading. The books I read I take with me and don't want to be seen as pretentious or a pseud by reading them out in public.

>>12140913
bullshit

>>12142708
Justify that shit, you faggot. What makes me a brainlet? Lack of desire to learn a dead language, or lack of desire to read mangled translations?

I havnt read them because I'd rather read continental philosophy and I dont take advice from incels

>>12142776
basé

>>12140954
Maybe I don’t want to read shitty romance novels? Maybe I want something of substance with what I spend my time on?

>>12142867
Maybe you should stop replying to obvious bait you sperg

>>12140913
I haven't read Dante. He sucks.

Homer is based and super-serum-pilled. Milton is genius. Shakes is alright. Meant to be heard.

>>12140957
lol

>>12142691
I could go with this apart from the not reading Shakespeare. There's no excuse for that except just not having gotten around to it yet.

There are some decent (on their own merits) versions of the Iliad/Odyssey, but tbqh I think most of their worth comes from how much they're referenced in western literature. That's the main reason to read them.

>>12140954
The amount of people that took this obvious bait proves that this thread is worthless.
Saged.

>>12142646
really? you couldn't tell? i want you both to cease living preferably as soon as is possible

>>12141803
I can't be the only one who doesn't read posts with little anime girls attached to them. My brain just doesn't even register they exist

>tfw all the above are literally the >foundation of the average middle >and high school system where I >live. Except for paradise lost, thats >gay.

>>12143669
>There's no excuse for that except just not having gotten around to it yet.
How's not having interest in the subject not a valid excuse to avoid said subject? Same for Odyssey and Iliad. I'm tired of the notion that books are these puzzles to unlock with a chest of wisdom at the end of the rabbit's hole of 'required works'. I read for pleasure, I read to engage with genius minds, I don't read for a smug sense of satisfaction I can feel at having recognized the reference to something I've read earlier. The reference has my blessing to fly right over my head, I'll be on my bunk engaging with literature that actually excites me.

>>12143742
Now that's a gurenutextu

I plan to read Fitzgerald's Odyssey, but which translation of the Divine Comedy should I read? Yes I know about translations but surely it's better than nothing

>>12141770
only if you fall for the 'Satan is the protagonist' meme

>>12140913
I’d say 95% of this board does not complete that criteria

I’ve read some Shakespearean tragedies
I’ve read some of Homer
I’ve read the first part of the comedy
Haven’t read Paradise Lost

>>12144135
>I’d say 95% of this board does not complete that criteria
Ofc.
I'd say /lit/ is like Wittgenstein's ladder in a sense.
Once you have accomplished the minimum standard of necessary reading you don't need /lit/ anymore, you will toss it aside and see it as a whole waste of rambling.
You will only get the shit people in most threads, that haven't come close to even touching the Aeneid.
The only reason to return is to talk about esoteric literature that you can't talk to anyone irl about (yet).
/lit/ is nothing but a stepping stone.
Good bye.

>there are regular posters on this board that are so pretentious they think reading story-books matter.
Lol, stop taking your juvenile hobby so seriously and pick up a real book.

>>12144270
The Iliad inspired Kant more than Aristotle did.

>>12140922
nothing gay about traveling with Beatrice who's getting a higher level of Super Saiyan and glowing brighter with each sphere
>>12140932
>>12141759
>>12141770
fag
>>12141837
another victim of the catalogue of ships, pleb
>>12141005
Milton AND Goethe not Milton or Goethe
>>12141016
very
>>12141752
>>12141839
yep
>>12141907
>The Divine Comedy is the one with the circles of hell right
The Inferno, that is.
>Dune
>>12141944
>the Divine Comedy but I want to learn to read Italian first
It won't help you, the Commedia is written in a language that is not the Italian you will be taught, think of a Chaucer for ESLs, but harder, because at least Chaucer's spelling reads like a lolcat caption
>>12141907
>>12141944
>no King Lear

>>12140993
Savage

I haven't read them because they seem long winded and dry. Paradise Lost would be first up if I ever decide to dive in.

>>12140913
I read the Divine Comedy, but I felt like I missed out on a lot of the references he made. Should I read all the greek stuff or just get a version with notes.

>>12144386
>Should I read all the greek stuff
START

bump

>>12143775
>>12143775
>How's not having interest in the subject not a valid excuse to avoid said subject?
Because for something like Shakespeare, which has so much to offer to the modern reader other than just having read it, it should be "I'm not interested right now" - the implication of "right now" being that you'll one day be able to read it for pleasure.

>>12144339
But that (and Divine Comedy) are the worst picks. Listen to an audiobook of Homer's works. Go for a more poetic translation. Watch some Shakespeare acted out.
Shouldn't be "dry" at all.

to everyone who hasnt read the Iliad, the Odessy, Shakespear's tragedies, the Divine Comedy, and Paradise Lost, you're a faggot.

>>12140932
Some have said that it is for pseud cred but that is a meme. If you enjoy poetry at all then it is a fantastic read. The beginning was much more interesting to me than the end though as someone who was raised Catholic, because it had more insights into Lucifer's "origin story" so to speak. Read it. It is a beautiful work and you will probably enjoy it.

>>12140913
I read the Iliad and then felt it was basically overrated. It's not that good and it doesn't matter how many references to it exist. Rattling off the backstories of 500 characters before the dark swirls round their eyes is not compelling.

>>12145484
> is not compelling.
Depends heavily on the translation, no?
The thing that bothered me was that Achilles was such a pathetic cunt.

>>12145490
I read the Fagles for whatever that's worth. Hard to imagine the basic plot would be somehow improved through another verbal lens.

>>12145496
Try the Pope. It's more it's own thing, it's great poetry.

>>12140913
Im just starting to really read as i was getting bored with films

>>12145498
Hmm, I'll give him a whirl for the Odyssey then
I liked the "feel" of the Iliad and, I guess, the masculine themes, but I can't say anything about it seemed so profound, as to warrant the start with the Greeks meme
Anyway that's enough of my opinion

>>12140913
Why would i?

>>12140913
I've read them just because they're part of my syllabus in literature honours.

>>12142776
Many of the most important Continental philosophers (like Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Deleuze, and Derrida) were heavily inspired by poetry, theatre, and music, and often made reference to them.

>>12145612
And, Niet was perhaps the most profound incel of all time.

>>12143775
You're so full of yourself.

>>12143775
If you haven't read them how do you know you wouldn't find it pleasurable. What better heuristic than the recommendations of the thousands before you who have plowed through a lifetime of reading.

>>12145626
>Niet-tan
>INcel
He was a based volcel, just like Gautama Buddha and Jesus.

>>12145645
>What better heuristic than the recommendations of the thousands before you who have plowed through a lifetime of reading.
Exactly why I don't read much from the past 50 years. Why do the work of trawling through the muck to find the gems, when they're already been unearthed for me from previous centuries.

>>12141944
>Also want to re-read the Divine Comedy but I want to learn to read Italian first.
The Divine Comedy is pretty hard to understand for native Italians and on top of all it's so fucking dense with meaning. In the typical annotated version you read in university there's like two pages of footnotes for every verse.

>>12145650
He lusted after his roommate but she rejected him for his other roommate, these are simply facts...

>>12145526
you have to like the intensity of metaphor that Homer uses to enjoy reading some passages. for me it was the pathos of rage and forgiveness that carried the Iliad, and longing carried the Odyssey. Priam and Argos—the two best scenes IMO

Alright you fucking smarty pants, help me out. Who's that character in some Russian novel who is trying to write a huge landmark thesis but when it's published no one reads it.

>>12141030
This is probably the only legit excuse tbf.

excuse: weed made me retarded

>>12140913
>haven't read the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, Shakespeare's tragedies, and Paradise Lost

Literally me. What the fuck are you gonna do about it?

>>12140913
I haven't read a lot of Shakespeare's work but it's because I have seen it performed, so count that if you want to.

Haven't read Paradise Lost. No real reason, so please be brutal, I could use the motivation.

You shouldn't be able to post on /lit/ without having read them

>>12147789
>reading
>/lit/
haHa you’ve got a lot to learn, newfriend

>This many people haven’t read Paradise Lost yet
I bet most people have read the others in translation. Are you guys scared of English or something lmao

>>12144275
But the illiad isn't the critique of pure raisin. Kant's hobbies are irrelevant.

>>12141687
No you return to them in the original Greek

>>12140919

>>12140913
I have read everything on the list except Paradise Lost - but I am so old that I have forgotten most of it. Where do I fit in this paradigm?

HAHA Achilles and Patroclus GAY

>>12140913
>He thinks he's smart because he read Shakespeare
lmao

>>12149642
But Achilles slept in the innermost part of the sturdy hut, with a woman he brought from Lesbos at his side, lovely Diomede, daughter of Phorbas. And Patroclus lay opposite, with fair Iphis, whom noble Achilles assigned to him at the taking of lofty Scyrus, city of Enyeus.

Homer: The Iliad
Book IX

Achilles and Patroclus fuck female sex slaves every night in the same room... im sure things got kinky but these bros aint faggots

>>12146107
based

>>12140913
I want her to rape me.

>>12149642
>>12149906
Furthemore, Patroclus was older. Achilles was not about to get fucked in the ass, you don't get fucked in the ass and be the greatest warrior. Patroclus isn't a bitch either, and for him to take it would be major faux pas

>>12150555
He looks the type.

>>12150712
When did the homo claim first appear. I am old and I do not remember this being a thing twenty years ago.

>>12140913
>There are regular posters on this board who haven't read the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, Shakespeare's tragedies, and Paradise Lost

>There are regular posters on /ck/ who h haven't eaten peanut butter and jelly, cheesecake, beef, and dogshit

(The dogshit above symbolically refers to Milton.)

>>12150757
not sure, but I recently read it as a freshman in college and the amount of people who refused to talk about anything other than how they're obviously banging was frankly disgusting. And I'm not remotely homophobic, but to fixate on that while being almost definitely wrong and irrelevant is absurd

>>12140922
>giving up on Paradise Lost because it's too gay
Could you imagine being this much of a faggot?

>>12150835
He's referring to the Paradiso of the Divine Comedy.

>>12149536
You have past the narcissistic idealism of youth, you can now engage in serious work

>>12150772
If it was some literature course I can forgive because lit students are often the thespian-types obsessed "identity" and their social lives, but I assume a classicist would at least attempt to read it with culturally Greek assumptions.
So what class was it in?

>>12140927
To-read? These books were all compulsory material at school when growing up, you should just be revisiting them at this stage. You must be Murican or African

>>12151415
>You have past the narcissistic idealism of youth
I unironically believe to have only crested this burden during the past year.