/lit/ - Literature

You've come to the wrong place. /lit/ is about shilling the same 10 books again and again.

Its not high literature but "the raw shark texts" got me back into reading after 10 years of video games and movies

>>12384505
>Flannery O'Connor
>in any way under-recognized

>>12385286
Have you read anything else by Serge?
Memoirs of a Revolutionary sounds intriguing.

Most moving war/POW memoir I've ever read:
https://archive.org/details/andersonvilledia01rans

Charming fairy-tale well worth the read (by the guy credited with inventing the Western genre)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26448/26448-h/26448-h.htm

>>12384410
Michel de Montaigne is criminally under-recognized on this board. Without him Shakespeare, Descartes, Nietzsche, Flaubert, Pascal, and more greats would not have fully bloomed.

>>12384410
William Kennedy is most well known for Ironweed but I like this better. I like gamblers and gangsters better than winos I guess.

>>12384410
Walter Benjamin's One Way Street, his most important work imo

>>12385444
this is big

>>12384410
Recommended to me in fucking /sffg/ like 3 years ago of all places. Genuinely my favorite book now. Thanks, anon.

>>12384410
Recommended to me in fucking /sffg/ like 3 years ago of all places. Genuinely my favorite book now. Thanks, anon.

Trout Fishing in America was the pinnacle of American sarcasm-style humor. It sounds gimmicky because everything that tried to copy it sucked.

bump

his other books are great too from what i've read

>>12385583
why?

>>12384410
>Posts a Penguin Classics version of a book
>Somehow fits into "hidden gem"

>>12385388
He's underrecognized here but you're overrating his influence.

>>12385528
Cool shit; I'm 100 pages in

>>12385388
Are you new or something?

insel - loy
slow chocolate autopsy - sinclair
the tragic everyday - papini
tarr - wyndham
moravagine - cendrars
byron & the beauty - bazdulj

off the top of my head

>>12384410
Steppenwolf
it almost always ends up on our top books of 20XX list but hardly ever does anyone discuss it. It really is a great read for young and old men alike. Hesse meant it for older audiences but reading it at 19 served as a cautionary text for me and helped me cure my autism

>>12384505
>Blooms mentions her as part of the Western canon in the "United States" section
>/lit/ talks about her frequently and it's recognized as one of the few female writers who aren't hated here
>proceeds to call her "underrecognized"
REEEEEEEEE

>>12384410

David Rakoff's Fraud
Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping
Mirbeau's The Torture Garden
Lautréamont's Maldoror
Moore's Birds of America
Mosley's Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
The poems of Joseph Brodsky
The poems of W.S. Merwin

Etc. Be forewarned some of them are by living authors.

Charles Williams- The Great Trumps

>>12389101
>brodsky
fie pleb

>>12389138
Summary?

does anyone have that printscreen of the story of the guy reading plato on the subway and some black guy saying something to him?

Mein Kampf

>>12390473
i don’t see how this is relevant to the thread

>>12384410
ANYTHING BY RANDOLPH STOW

I don't tend to like historical fiction, but I like how this work creates a magical history of the Haitian revolution. Is there better magical realism? Sure. This one just really haunted me.
>>12385618
Good taste

>>12391000
Whoops. Forgot the pic.

Pulp inspiration for Robert Howard. To where I've read, it mostly focuses on an oldish Cossack named Khlit, aka "white wolf" and one with the "curved saber." Set in Ukraine, where he goes against the Tatar, Mongolians.

>>1239044
The Greater* Trumps is an occult mystery based on the Tarot. It has many layers to it. CS Lewis rated it very highly. A book you can read and reread as it is simple and complex

>>12384410
I love Lorna Doone, anon. Some of the finest subsidiary nature writing in all of Vic Lit. Would rec Charles Kingsley's novels and George Borrow's works though the latter's stuff may be a little too jingoistic for some..

>>12385528
This. Have you read his book on Knut Hamsun?

>>12384410
Infinite Jest, Ulysses, Moby Dick, Gravity's Rainbow, Book of Disquiet, Art of the Deal.

>>12387330
Fuglene is great too and Vaarnat is okay.

>>12393845
fuck off

>>12393845
The eternal Australian

>>12384410
ANy early work by Terry Pratchett. I think he's underrated as fuck these days.

>>12384410

>>12390473
>printscreen
this is not how we say what you are trying to say

>>12394460
I literally don't understand a word you say. WHat the fuck are you on about?

>>12384410
It's hard to explain why this book is so great. It's an old academic going for a walk in the english countryside and just thinking about the things he sees, and the stories he knows about them. I wish more people had read it, because I love it so much, but a truly selfish part of me wants to keep it my secret. Read it if you are so inclined, and I truly hope you enjoy it.

>>12394518
STOLEN

>>12394681
?

>>12394706
i tried to make a joke about reading your secret book but im an autist

>>12394740
ah, no problem anon. A social faux pas on an cantonese birdfarming forum is nothing to be ashamed over. I hope you like the book.

Hob Broun
Coleman Dowell
Forgetting Elena

Stefan Georg
Zettel's Traum by Arnod Schmidt

I'm guilty of pushing this epic poem once in a while. The original swedish version is exceptional, and whilst the english translation doesn't hit all the same notes (atleast for me), it's still very good.

Goldonder Aniara
has carried on its journey
for twenty years today.
And many stood unspeaking.
But suddenly someone said
a light-year is a grave.

Those twenty years of journey
are sixteen hours of light-path
on the sea of the light-year grave.
Then none of us were laughing.

Near all of us were weeping.
A light year is a grave.

Moonchild- Aleister Crowley

don't tell anyone about it though. Shhhhh h

>>12390837
Where i could find him to read online? Looks like really good writer though

>>12385583
I hated this book. Maybe it’s becuase I never made it over 100 pages, but the prose bored me to death so I dropped it. The plot wasn’t much better either

>>12395238
>near all of us were weeping
>a light year is a grave.

what did he mean by this

>>12396083
The poem is about a colonial spaceship having left an Earth destroyed by nuclear war and ecological distasters being knocked off course by a passing asteroid, continuing on into the depth of space, unable to alter their course. In that scene, they (the people, not the crew) find out they'd only traveled 16 light-hours in 20 years; an utterly insignificant distance outside of our solar system. A light-year is a grave.

>>12384410
Milovan Vitezović - Pessimists and Communists
RAD | Beograd 1989

>>12396065
>the prose bored me to death so I dropped it. The plot wasn’t much better either

>>12385339
Frank Norris in general is underrated. The Octopus and The Pit are classic works on the evils of modern industrial society. I have yet to read his other stuff, though.

>>12396065
>the prose bored me to death
I was going to tell you to read a different English translation of it but Michael Meyer's is the only one. Oh well, maybe someone will do a new translation someday.

>>12390473
>>12390770

I know this is offtopic but this is the first screengrab that's made me laugh out loud in a year, bravo.

>>12394278

Do people really not read him? In the 90s - early 00s he was generic as hell.

>>12385583
You're welcome.

>>12387330
Is that scifi?

>>12396100
it's okay. maybe I need to read it in the broader context of the rest of the book to get it

>>12396184
Yeah, probably. The translation is not as good as the swedish original, but I found it perfectly servicable. Though the pieces certainly work better in context; it goes for both versions.

>>12396161
im reading this right now, big bub just returned to oregon, and not really feeling it yet, does it get better?

>>12384410
Not exactly unknown but almost universally considered garbage.
Salinger's masterpiece and unironically one of the very best works of literature of the past century.

>>12394518
>silkworms
Sebald is hugely underrated on this board

I really like Anatole France

>>12384410
I have never seen this mentioned on this board, although Tolstoy's other works are discussed often. I discovered it at a thrift store and started reading it today. If you are feeling like life is not worth living, please do yourself a favor and look into this.

Toomer is perhaps one of the most underrated modernist figures, whose only worthy praise was given by the poet Langston Hughes. The lyrical beauty of his prose gives him a wholly unique voice. If you have a problem with black/mixed writers then it’s your loss, but his reverence and empathy for a particular image of black southern life is totally absorbing.

>>12396536
Agreed. He's great--

>>12396598
Tolstoy has some great insights but he also had some pretty insane ideas within those works

>>12396759
This was hilarious. I really like the gods will have blood as well. I think his politics are bougie and boring, and everything he writes is very didactic, but I still enjoy him immensely, which says a lot.

>>12385360
Not the guy you're talking to but Memoirs is a heartbreaking work. It's also a great story at face value of a social climber, from a young Romantic in France to a depressed old man in the administration of the Soviet Union. You also fully realize how much history has been left out of history, big names back in the day are now no longer even a footnote in textbooks, Serge included it seems

>>12395238
Keep up the struggle of finding good sci-fi man.

V A L É R Y
A
L
É
R
Y

I don't see Leskov talked about much here. I've read a bunch of his stuff and it was all pretty enjoyable.

Sabato is my favorite Argentine writer besides Borges.

>>12396775
I liked Blood as well, Island, Bonnard..
but pic'd is probably my favorite, just a sweet little novel about the allure and the vanity of 'big plans' or rather talk. I like some of his literary essays as well, not that I agree with them- theyre just enjoyable to read. Remy de Gourmont comes to mind. Ever read him?

>>12396815
Good stuff. Benjamin's great essay is how I became interested. It's included in pic'd.

>>12396894
I have not. I also have avoided his essays because of my disinterest in his politics. Do you have any specific works you would recommend, either of France or Gourmont?

>>12396887
On Heroes and Tombs is his true masterpiece, you only ever hear about The Tunnel around here

>>12384457
Hey, just like /mu/ and /v/!

This has been a favorite of mine for a long time.
Never heard it mentioned.

>>12396213
It's so fucking bad. Shut your mouth. Raise High The Roofbeams was perfect, though.

>>12397307
>>12396887
looks very interesting, thanks for the rec

>>12397468

>>12397546
i like historical fiction so im interested, but please describe why you like it

>>12394460

It's well regarded but doesn't get mentioned too much here on /lit/.

good thread OP

>>12396759
It's funny, I'm just finishing The Chronicle of Our Own Times and I love it. Monsieur Bergerete is such a great character that anon can relate to.

>>12385360
I've only read "Conquered City," which is brilliant – not so much a story as a clump of vignettes starring younger versions of characters from "Comrade Tulayev," plus a few recognizable historical figures. Serge describes Zinoviev as looking like a fat Roman emperor, which is spot-on.

>>12385286
Good one

>>12394518
That's a fucking great book

>>12398966
Thanks, comrade.

>>12385286
Decided to buy on whim, hope it's good

>>12398902
nice book. just discover it

>>12397195
Of France I think that the only other novel of his I've read that hasn't been mentioned yet is Thais- and it's just France, you know? If (you) like him well enough then read it. The literary essays of his that I've read are in a biggish book of translated pieces (from the '20's, I think) that I got at a used shop 3 or so years ago- I know I have it around here some place, if I can find it I'll post it. Just curious, but did Proust spark your interest in him? He did for me, as the novelist in ISOLT is based on him.
Of de Gourmont I'd rec Philosophic Nights in Paris. It's nothing at all like Gellius' Attic Nights or de Maistre's St. Petersburg Evenings, and I mention these because I thought of them when I initially picked it up. (Pic'd is a rarely mentioned novel here by Joseph's brother Xavier, readily available in English. It's quite good). Among the topics is an essay on Leopardi's pessimism, which I mention because there's a moribund Leopardi thread up right now (not mine).

>>12398944
Haven't read but I'll check it out, anon. Thinking of the Vonnegut short most Americans read in their AP English classes-- Harrison, yes, quite like me!

>>12384410
While obviously not an under-recognized author, I believe Hemingway's "Island In the Stream" to be his greatest, hidden gem, work, combining many aspects that made his other works decent but this time leaving out their flaws.

>>12398870
this is my all-time favorite!

>>12398870
im reading it right now and it feels like walking through a swamp, little stanford just returned to "makondo" and i need to gather strength to keep reading it

The war of the end of the world - Mario Vargas Llosa

"Inspired by a real episode in Brazilian history, Mario Vargas Llosa tells the story of an apocalyptic movement, led by a mysterious prophet, in which prostitutes, beggars and bandits establish Canudos, a new republic, a libertarian paradise."

>>12397584
It has strong prose and great language. It has this bounding, mythical feel to the characters and their actions, while maintaining a humble and human ego throughout. It's about ambition, desires, dedication and chivalry. It also taught younger me a ton of new words. Awesome read

anything by Faulkner outside of the meme quadrilogy (The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!)

>>12396138
Agreed. The Octopus especially is more relevant than ever.

>>12398944
Bergerete I believe is based on France himself. I liked The Crime of S. Bonnard, about an aged bibliophile who while searching for an old book winds up attempting to 'rescue' the orphaned 15 yr old daughter of a former lover, and of the consequences, of course.

>>12401302
Loved The Berlin stories

>>12390770
underrecognized

>>12394251
In Australia, only the retards rate Trump's book and toast is the national dish.

>>12394460
I'm going to say printscreen from now on. Cope.

>>12391111
Is this really the inspiration for Conan

understand its science fiction/fantasy and doesn't have too much depth, but it is a wonderfully constructed universe and you can tell that the author had finished all of the lore before she began writing the first word.

>>12389101
>Lautréamont's Maldoror
>The poems of Joseph Brodsky
>under-recognized

welp, I guess everything is truly under-recognized here on this shitboard

>>12401552
>she
Stopped reading lol

>>12400214
ordered it a few days ago, you better speak the thruth anon

Not really "hidden", but I don't see him discussed often on here.

Haven't seen anyone namedrop Elkin before. One of Americas premier humorists, and the Franchiser is his most manic novel.

>>12387725
Will second Insel and Tarr.

>>12394518
I take it you haven't been on /lit/ very long. Sebald, and especially The Rings of Saturn, was nearly a /lit/ meme at one point.

>>12391006
Is this really a hidden gem? It is fairly known in latinamerica afaik.
But well for some lesser known latinamerican lit I recommend Farabeuf by Salvador Elizondo and anything by Roque Dalton.

Barclay's Argenis

Lately I've read Pomilio's Fifth gospel (quinto evangelio) never heard of it but really interesting

Great German novel by a vet of the Thirty Years' War. Mostly fictitious but still very entertaining.

Earth Abides is my favorite SF novel. Written in the 1950s. I dunno, maybe it affected me more than it normally would for anyone else, maybe I made too much of it, but I love this book.

>>12397195
Okay. This collection 'On Life and Letters' consists entirely of literary and familiar essays. Translated and published by The Bodley Head, 1924. Cost me 5 bucks. Pic'd random pp.

>>12401472
Source with more info http://swordsofreh.proboards.com/thread/387/harold-howard-influence-adventure-author

>>12401918
I enjoyed it, and I hope you will, too. Out of his books that I've read, that one and 'The feast of the Goat' are my favorites.

>>12400214
One of my favorite books, I try shilling it on /lit/ once in a while so I'm glad to see I'm not the only one

Zettelstraum
The Collected Poems, in German and Englisch, of Stefan George

>>12384410
I have no idea where this book fits in to the popular consciousness, but I enjoyed it a lot and I can't get anyone to read it.

>>12406315
What's the rundown

>>12406315
I enjoyed Stand on Zanzibar, I'll check it out

>>12395241
I think Diary of a Drug Fiend has more literary merit, Moonchild will probably appeal more to occult practitioners.

>>12396213
fuuuuuuuuuuuck off m8 seymour is shite go read esme and cry like a real man, faggot

>>12400941

Go down Moses is extraordinary. One of my favourites. McCarthy cribbed his style of writing from it, I think. Perhaps without him really realizing it.

>>12400299
Eco is the fucking man

>>12385339
this has a phenomenal ending

Samantha Harvey's "Dear Thief". I picked it up on a whim at the library last year and, even though the synopsis kind of seemed boring (a woman writes a letter to a friend who had ruined her marriage), I gave it a chance. It's a great read. Harvey's prose is somehow cruel in its kindness, and that line of cruelty and kindness and love and hatred is kind of exactly what the main character struggles with throughout the novel.

Normally I don't care about books that center on that kind of domestic affair stuff, but it's just really great.

>"Wild Punch", Creston Lea
This was actually a recommendation in an "alt /lit/" thread just like this a number of years ago. "Wild Punch" is a collection of short stories about backwoods/rural/small town New Hampshire living. It's not southern, it's not quaint northern city stuff, and while it's not perfect, there are a lot of hard hitting emotional pieces. Dirty Realism, but not "K-Mart Realism'. It's worth a read.

>>12409916
Forgot the cover

>>12398979
Great taste

I will mention Pan by Hamsun and The Shadow of the Sun by Kapuściński because /lit/ only seems to ever bring up these authors to talk about Hunger and Travels with Herodotus, but these two are their respective masterpieces IMO. Hamsun specially has a large oeuvre that far overshadows Hunger IMO.

>>12394309
You’re the guy who recommended it to Cliff Sargent, aren’t you?

>>12385528
I'm also about 100 pages in. Extremely comfy, kinda like a coen brothers movie. Great rec.

>>12409950
Pan has been on at least one of lit's top 100 lists. And people rec growth of the soil all the time here.

>>12384410
Not hidden, but definitively underrated