/lit/ - Literature

>>15422829

>>15422829
>apologizes for books in shelf

>>15422837
a generally grievous collection

>>15422829
This shelf looks very sterile.

>>15422837
>>15422829
>having the books pushed in all the way like a fucking retard

Not a fan of paperbacks.

>>15422829
Terrible. Just fucking terrible.

>>15423208
Would rather have paperbacks than a bunch of fugly B&N hardcovers to be honest

>>15422829
I only own one physical book (practical c programming) all my other books are just epubs in a calibre library

>>15422837
>he has Tarkin, but he doesn't have The Thrawn Trilogy

These threads are always fucking terrible because only Anglosaxon fags can post, otherwise you wouldn't even know or understand some of the titles.

>>15423222
You have no taste. I'd hate to see your environment.

>>15423208
>>15423222
I'd say it depends on the book, in sheer material quality hard covers are always better, but paperbacks have sometimes better covers/looks.

>>15423208
We have some books in common.

One day based rapture will return and redeem us all from this horrible pleb sesspool
One day

>>15423434
Those are wonderful
>>15423222
Either tasteless virgin or coping poorfag

>>15423222
>fugly
Hm, okay kid.

>>15423506
the native american myths one does look quite nice

>>15423630

>>15423639

>>15423624
They range in quality pretty significantly. I have probably 30 or so of them (10 of which I actually bought, then a bunch that were given as host gifts once a few friends decided that I must have been collecting them, and it became this weird joke. They now live in a closet [the books, not the friends]). The volumes that only hold one book are solid, though the omnibus 5+ novels in one volume one are not great.

The Arabian Nights one is legitimately good quality.

>>15423645

>>15423208
Gaudy and garrish

go ahead and mock me for buying penguins or whatever, i only started reading last year after a friend got me to read the republic which i found interesting
not too bothered about attaining some academic level knowledge of the history of philosophy (though i'll probably get there someday), just food for thought
also to the left is kant's prolegomena and stranger from a strange land, which i'm currently reading

>>15423813
I like that we can tell which books you read and which ones you haven't even touched.

>>15423208
Bait

yall want a medal or something

>>15423915
no i just had a really bad habit of annihilating my spines when i started reading lol, all my recent reads look intact
will probably buy new copies of the damaged ones at some point when they start to fall apart

>>15423813
Stranger in a strange land is garbage, don't bother. It might've been somewhat relevant for a mainstream audience when loose sexuality and occasional lesbianism had shock value.

>>15423961
a friend bought it for me and i'm already half way through, enjoying it so far desu
don't really care for all the free love nonsense, i just find interesting the angle it takes of approaching our culture and society as a true "outsider"
on that note i'm aware how many of its observations may be incredibly obvious, but it still engages me for what it's worth

>>15423047
It's library standard, unless you want bugs and critters fucking, shitting and making nests behind your books, or worse eating them.

>>15422837
first i was like "cringe"
then i was like "i want that general grievous bionicle tho"

>>15423208
pure kitsch

>>15423630
>>15423639
>>15423645
>>15423661
by far the best itt

>>15423953
Serious question, how the hell do you manage to do that to the spines of your books?
Do you bend them all the way around so that the two sides are touching each other, and then squeeze them together like that for 10 hours?
Who the fuck does this?
The /lit/ meme of 'you have to completely destroy your book so it looks like a piece of shit in order to prove that you've read it to pseuds on the internet' needs to die

>>15424090
>how the hell do you manage to do that to the spines of your books?
the strength of a thousand men
>Do you bend them all the way around so that the two sides are touching each other, and then squeeze them together like that for 10 hours?
no, just grab as close to the spine as possible on both sides then crank it
>Who the fuck does this?
me, at least i used to
>The /lit/ meme of 'you have to completely destroy your book so it looks like a piece of shit in order to prove that you've read it to pseuds on the internet' needs to die
never knew that was a thing, i just did it because i don't use bookmarks and was invested in dumb online games at the time so i didn't have much time to read, thus often forgetting where i was

Everyone itt should just kill themselves. Actually no need since you will never reproduce anyways.

1/4

2/4

>>15424154
>>15424169
3/4
Other cookbooks currently in kitchen.

I have no other space in my room for it

>>15424154
>>15424169
>>15424189

>>15423208
kill yourself.

>>15423208
neo-grandma shelf

>>15424199
>drums
based. what kind of kit is that and what kind of music do you play?

>>15424131
But I have a daughter.

>>15424697
Its a Millenium MPS-850
Usually just play black metal or practice different rudiments, but its a bitch for when people wanna examine my bookshelf

If you have Infinite Jest on your shelf, I automatically think you're a pseud

it's not much, college drained all my energy for my hobbies, thank god I just graduated

1/?

>>15424951
2/?
It's all changed by 6 or 7 books in the past two weeks

>>15424955
3

>>15424946
What guitar/bass is that? I have a fender mustang bass that looks just like it.

>>15424964
4

I just want to see a thread like this were pseud faggots post the actual number of the books they've read

>>15424968
squier jaguar

>>15424975
~170

>>15424789
dangerous but cool

>>15424169
>karamazov
it's so thin, the font must be unreadable!!

>>15424975
During quarantine I've read:
- Non-Fiction
- The Chapo Guide to Revolution
- Desert of the Real
- Illustrated Rules of Football
- Ghosts of my Life
- Dr Montessori’s Own Handbook
- Make It Stick
- Thetatius
- Ion
- [[Deep Work]]
- [[Poetics]]
- The Pocket Idiots Guide to Poker Tells
- [[Writing to Win]]
- freakanomics
- the weekend novelist
- The War of Art
- Bossy Pants
- Fiction
- Metamorphosis
- [[Valis]]
- American Psycho
- The ocean at the end of the lane
- V for Vendetta
- Notes from the Underground
- Number of books started and abandoned: 7
- In the middle of:
- [[Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance]]
- How to Read [[Lacan]] (chapter 2)
- Lolita
- Dubliners

>>15424972
5

>>15425011
>chapo guide to revolution

stopped reading there

>>15424789
Gonna drop a based on this one

>>15425011
>chappo
What kind of faggot do you have to be to buy and read this book?

>"I've got under 40 books and have read 5 of them"

no wonder post2016 /lit/ is so shit

>>15425051
>>15425076
lol, what do you suggest I read instead?

>>15424022
This is 100% incorrect. You want the books on the edge so you can fucking read the spines retard.

>>15423695
true

>>15425410
>>15423695

You mean, More likely to have sex.

>>15423630
Chinkpilled

>>15425138
Start with the Greeks.

probably going to get hate but i like my b&n collection

>>15425007
retarded opinion - it's 1.5" thick, ~775 average thickness pages

>>15424652
Feeling envious?

>>15425776
What if I’ve already read some of the Greeks?

>>15422829
Good, but too many Americans and too many translations. Learn Spanish already, anon.
>>15422837
Cringe and gay, you have to go back.
>>15423217
>>15423434
>>15423506
Cringe and gay, you have to go back. B&N hardbacks are marketed towards children and women, you faggot. Also too many translations.
>>15423630
>>15423645
>>15423661
Looks like some Sl*vic tongue, gross.
>>15423639
Ch*nk? Disgusting.
>>15423813
Still midwit-tier, and too many translations, but you're on your way to basedhood.
>>15424154
>>15424169
>>15424189
>>15424202
Most based so far. Too many translations. Some vulgar trash mingled in there, sadly. I can also tell you don't really read very many of your books, you're just a book collector.
>>15424588
Flip this, please. I'm not a fucking bird.
>>15424789
Cringe, /pol/tard. Throw away Kaczynski. Hard to imagine a more vulgar writer to put on your shelf. You don't belong on this board.
>>15424946
Messy fuck. Clean your shelf.
>>15424951
>>15424955
>>15424964
>>15424972
>>15425050
Cringe. Way too many Americans, plus you're messy and gross, and either you're buying used books from barbarians or you treat your books like shit.
>>15425807
Not your shelf and you're not funny.

>>15423208
based

>>15426012
>B&N hardbacks are marketed towards children and women

Here's how I see it anon,
>Invite lady friend over
>She likes the idea of reading but doesn't do much of it
>She spots the eye catching visually appealing B&N spines
>She picks up a book "It's so big anon" while the textured leather and smell capture her senses
>She begins imagining a future with me and our future kids reading these books
>We start having wild nights all the while under vasectomy
>Get bored with her and repeat process

>>15426078
I mean, this is kind of based, but be honest, are women really coming over to your place?

>>15426090
Wouldn't you like to know.

>>15426104
Yes, because it determines whether or not you're based.

>>15426078
>>15426012

kys

>>15425138
literally anything else other than subhuman political interpretation
>we need more free gibes

>>15426144
No, I think I'll pass.

>>15425011

>>15423208
Absolutely based

>>15423208
get a gf desu

>>15426316
I've had several. Long term just isn't for me. It's like buying a bouquet of flowers. They're beautiful but they eventually begin to die.

>>15426012
Cont.
>>15426332
Based, too many translations, but based. Major problem is that it doesn't look like you've read any of them.

>>15426012
>Still midwit-tier, and too many translations, but you're on your way to basedhood.
i'm aware, just working my way through the classics to see what appeals to me before i branch off in said direction, but thanks anon
don't have enough time to learn other languages at the moment though desu

>>15422837
have the same physics and calculus books but newer editions, your thoughts on knuth? i was going to study through concrete mathematics

>>15426332
Based and magyarpilled

>>15425344
Get glasses dumbass.

>>15426012
dios mio..

This is my windowsill and I’ve read basically none of these

>>15426389
Nice, you'll get there. You're on the right track.
>don't have enough time to learn other languages at the moment though desu
Come on, anon! You can do it. At least pick up a romance language. It doesn't take too much time!

>>15426219
Read Adam Smith, different classes have different interests and the rich do work to disenfranchise and oppress the poor, economists have known this for centuries

>>15424090
I just finished a paperback of War and Peace and some of the pages were printed so close to the spine I literally couldn't read the first words on one page and the last on the other without basically pulling the whole book apart

>>15426012
I'm >>15424154

No time to learn another language while working 60-80 hour weeks and trying to stack up enough cash to retire young. I'll work on languages after.

I definitely buy faster than I read but I've read many of them and have been working through the backlog for the last year without buying too many more (other than The Bad Side of Books and Butcher's Crossing, both of which I recently purchased).

I like to go out and buy many books from an author if I read one and like it. Did that with Roth after reading American Pastoral and now have gone through 6 of his and working on #7 now.

The nonfiction is less complete. I tend to read sections or just occasionally open for a reference. Also do nonfiction over audio while working out and buy the hardcopy so I can easily review earlier sections or reference particularly interesting parts.

Pic related is last finished book (last read was Brief History of Seven Killings but I put it away after 200 pages).

>>15426490
eh, i learned a bit of german in high school but had issues with attendance which lead to my studying at a hospital school so i never really got anywhere with it
though i might pick it up in the future if i find some time, i still think it's a cool language

>>15422837
this is so many programmers i've met

Don’t have many books as I haven’t been reading for too long but here it is

>>15423208
Based. I go hardcover if its over ~400 pages but under that its more awkward to hold in MY opinn

>>15423813
You need to read the books, anon

>>15423813
I would make fun of you for some of them being clearly more read than others, but honestly it's the more fun ones anyway

>>15426658
>No time to learn another language while working 60-80 hour weeks and trying to stack up enough cash to retire young.
Pretty based, I can respect that.
>have been working through the backlog for the last year without buying too many more
Nice, I think a lot of anons got to do that. I always try to read at the same rate I buy books, with 2-3 books on the backlog at all times. Sometimes I splurge if some books I'm looking at are in low stock.
>Pic related is last finished book
Cool cover. Thoughts on the book?

>>15426663
Yeah you should, you have a lot of German literature already, imagine being able to read Faust in the original, that'd be epic.

>>15423208
Pretty cringe, desu. The literary equivalent of a prostitute's makeup.

>>15423208
Some medieval shit.
But I don't get the hate.
>>15423645
Whats up with the cups.
>>15423661
A little small.
>>15423813
Did you get them all the same height on purpose.
>>15424189
Who puts books in the kitchen.
>>15424588
How did you get the shelf on the wall.
>>15424789
Someone likes birds.
>>15424946
garbage
>>15424951
Take care of your books Jesus.
>>15424955
shove a couple books on the bottom shelf.
>>15425807
Hate the nerd shit.
>>15426332
Nice.
>>15426470
Absolutely Disgusting.

>>15426707
>>15426760
see >>15423953
a good few reads are indistinguishable from recent untouched purchases because i kicked the habit promptly after realising they'll fall apart in a couple years when i go to reread them, which i likely will

>>15424154
>>15424169
>>15424189
>>15424202
Please be my friend, anon.

>>15424789
How the fuck do you have a copy of Sun and Steel? Maybe it's just because I'm in the UK but everywhere I look online it's £100+ and it's not like I'll find it at any bookstore

>>15426844
Looks like a nasty used copy, falling apart and gross lmao probably owned by a formal homosexual

>>15423639
Is dream of the red chamber/three kingdoms worth it? Problem is they're long and idk where to find a good translation

>>15423813
There's literally nothing wrong with buying Penguin.

>>15426872
homosexuals tend to be well dressed

>>15425807
I'm more troubled by your sagging shelves.

>>15426332
>1st edition Women and Men
We have a sorcerer amongst us

>>15422829
Apologizing to fags on the internet about what books you own. Never gonna make it bro!

>>15427064
Yeah right, I've met a lot of fags at uni and their style is shit and tacky, overly flamboyant

Maybe some dandy fags from fin de siecle france looked nice, but nowadays it's just cringe shit

>>15424588
your bookcase has fucken fallen on the side, pick it up retard

I am well aware that I am a pleb.
Forgive me /lit/

>>15426962
yeah i hope there isn't, but i was half expecting some elitist douche with his head up his ass to give me a lecture on why my editions are too "entry-level" or something

Pleb

>>15422829
i think what a lot of people's shelves need is more coffee table type books. like stuff on planets, photography, fashion, architecture. it's snazzy, interesting, and often very enlightening if you choose it with the same enthusiasm as any other book.

>>15427380
>all those translations
>calling others plebs

>>15427328
They're ok but the paper kinda sucks. It's not nice to touch or look at and the pages deteriorate pretty badly. They will also look worn at spine after the first read.

>>15423222
Same. I can't stand the B&N overly ornate design covers for shit like Star Wars novelizations. Just seems like people who want to have an adult study aesthetic but refuse to read anything good.

>>15427416
But I don't have any interest in picture books.

>>15423915
To be fair, some of us can read a book without trashing the spine. I would recommend stuff I just read to my mom and give her my copy and she'd always ask if I even read it because it was so pristine.

>>15424932
I do too. Someone tried posting their shelf on /mu/ today asking for music recommendations based on it and it consisted of Stephen King, other genre fiction, and Infinite Jest. The thread tore into him for being a pseud and his shit thread never recovered.

>>15427483
I moved it into the picture just for you.

>>15423208
>All those terrible Dune books
why would you go past Chapterhouse? Are you insane?

Also, what do you do if a book you want isn't available as a hardcover?

>>15427466
then don't buy any. I'm just saying that having a greater variety of cool shit is better; it seems somewhat pretentious to write off (say) a very well made book about design or architecture as a picture book.

>>15424588
este cabrón compra libros n el péndulo !

>>15427509
Ty anon.

>>15427553
I'd post pictures of my other books, but they are kinda spread around different shelves around the house and if I stand any further back you can't read the titles. I always wanted to be the guy who has so many books he just trips over stacks of them around the apartment. I'm so close.

>>15424090
This tbqh. I don't understand how or why people damage their books' spines so badly. I only notice damage on my paperbacks if they're an inch thick or so. Is this meme spread by people who have to rape books open to comfortably read them?

>>15423813
God damn I'm jealous of how crisp that looks, spines aside. WHY DO I WANT TO BUY MORE BOOKS AGUAHGAUHG I ALREADY OWN MOST OF THOSEEE FUCK CAPITALISM

>>15426332
>that fucking edition of paradiso

>>15427436
I was calling myself a pleb.
Hence the reason I did not quote anyone.

>>15424787
Nice, I only play guitar and I've been trying to find a good drummer for a black metal project.

>>15426332
unread/10

>>15426844
I printed and bounded it myself

>>15427567
You should just furnish your apartment with books like Moon Palace.

>>15422829

>>15427598
Oh, thought you were talking to OP. To give you credit though, you have translations of some good stuff haha

>>15427819
>how to make money in stocks
>the intelligent investor
shiggy diggy

Meh don’t read much

A bit messy

>>15427890
What does /lit/ think of cuddler?
I have one of his books sustained with semi brittle pages after leaving it on my windowsill for a few months

>>15427910
>cuddler
Cussler

>shiggy diggy

Rate
1/3

>>15427890
>Famliy Tree Maker
Do you not know how to procreate?

>>15428023
2/3

>>15428023
>>15428036
3/3

>>15428030
Funny man

>>15422829
this fag doesnt even have brave new world

>>15425011
Having such a badly formatted list proves you to be a pseud.

>>15428292
It’s just a quick list I add to from roamresearch. The formatting is from copying it over and not meticulously green texting every line.

>>15427610
that is a whole lot of mediocre manga

>>15427890
did you take this picture at a flea market?

>>15427890
Are you a 60 year old man?

>>15428423
>>15428292
Here's what it looks like on there.

>>15423208
Horrendous.

>>15424955
Sneed

wide-angle lens

>>15428797

Having difficult with file size and ability to read the shitty titles, so here's a closeup

>look up bookshelf tour on jewtube
>bunch of funko pops

What the fuck is it with these consoomer souless beady-eyed expressionless cheap plastic dolls that's so appealing to normies?

>>15428797

and a zoom in on my favorite hole, especially the maroon books on the right

>>15428877
>Hackett's Plato translations

Hola reddito

>>15428877
>translation
kek

>>15423047

My father shares your view and you, like him, are incorrect. To the shelf back they go.

>>15424022

On the other hand, this is stupid and apocryphal. You are unable to provide a source which indicates that "pushing the books to the back of the shelf meaningfully protects them over a long term interval", because the claim taken atomically is so stupid. Go on, BTFO of me with a simple reference to best practice in library science since you know it so well. I'd actually like that.

>>15426078
Potentially based. Most likely cringe larp

>>15428901

No, I discovered Schopenhauer through Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled, and I never read philosophy before. Is there some other Plato translation? I upgraded to Schopenhauer's Cambridge editions, so I suppose I should upgrade Plato's translation, it just never occurred to me. Or are you trolling?

>>15426844
I got one for AUD $9 at a second hand book stand.

>>15426078
The autism in this post is on another level

>>15426116
He’s not based you retard. What kind of woman comes over and does shit like that? I’ll give you a hint: none of them

Not pictured is Fevre Dream and Micheal: A Novel

Any essential literature I should pick up, just started to really get into reading.

Smelly willies

>>15423506
They do look tacky

>>15424789
How do people react when they find out you're a fascist? Or do you hide it? Do you have any "non-white" friends?

>>15423630

>Kalevala

Finnbro approves

>>15426012
I only have one B&N hardback and it's the seven novels of Jane Austen, it was way cheaper than buying seven books. Keep seething.

>>15423208
not a fan of good taste either, apparently

surprised that so many people own Graham Hancock's book

>>15429387
Nobody really reads books or even knows what are big “fash” books that go around on the web. Everyone always goes straight for Mein Kampf, picks it off the shelf and they go “woah dude, what’s up with this?” And I say every time “I like history”. Then they put it down and smile big like they just found fireworks. These are hyper liberal Seattle types that don’t know a fascist when it’s right in front of them.

I also have Arno breker and Albert Speer books in my coffee table and they will turn through them without realizing it’s Nazi stuff.

You have to remember that most liberals don’t know anything about history, and don’t even know what Nazis did outside of “killing black people”.

>>15429387
>>15429834
I also don’t hide it or make it known. If someone were to ask, I’d tell them. But I just keep politics vague and kind of inform people of my economic takes and policies. They think my views are leftist and love them, because they don’t actually read Marx and don’t even know what they believe unless their friends tell them. Sad world but you gotta blend in to make it work.

Many hardcore SJW types come to me in secret and say they know what’s up and they’re fascists too but they lie to save face in the music scene. Then they’ll turn right around and go protest for something they don’t believe in. Weird shit.

Can't post photo but my dad has like one hundred 80cm shelves worth of books and more.

>>15423208
I'm the opposite. I fucking hate hardbacks. Can't do shit with those unmalleable bastards.

>>15429913
What are you trying to do?
Store them in your ass?

>>15429922
I'm trying to read comfortably. Hardbacks are not comfy. Can't bloody bend it to make them comfortable in my hands.

>>15428917
English is objectively the most superior language. All other languages are redundant and should be disposed of.

>>15429834
Is the Darger book any good?

>>15429991
No. It’s a pussified version that omits all his violent stuff and only has like 20 pictures. I want to buy the $500 dollar version

>>15427610
>k-on dvd
>latin dictionary
based

>>15428023
>>15428036
>>15428057
>introduction to theology
>several books on modern conflict
>interest in east asia
>jap authors like kawabata
>mark fisher
>some stuff only you know why like tschik and pop science sprinkled in
honestly, authentic bookshelf, not the tenth iteration of second hand classics and an unread copy of infinite jest
8/10 would love to talk over a coffee with

>>15423639
bézd

>>15426332
holy kek imagine being so full of yourself you write an 11 volume biography of your life.

>>15430115
He was a 18th century gigachad. He has every right to be full of himself.

>>15423813
bro you're entry level chad do not let anyone hate you. Keep reading the works of these authors,

>>15422829
I own every book. Name a book and I'll post it.

>>15430251
Ignition by John D Clark

>>15424789
>dumb neo-fascist
>organizes books by size

>>15430036
>the tenth iteration of second hand classics and an unread copy of infinite jest
This is basically me. I only recently started reading again, used to read a lot as a kid but then I discovered the internet and torrenting and got addicted to TV/Movies/4chan.
I bought a bunch of classics/philosophy/psychology books and I'm enjoying what I have, but I feel like my shelf/book-reading-world is lacking and void of a personal touch. How do you guys find good authors that you like? How do you find those special books that aren't too widely known that exactly suit your taste? Am I just going to have to read through many things? I don't necessarily mind doing that, and I suspect/expect that's what will happen, but I'm somewhat impatient and want to skip some of the searching.
I like weird stuff that isn't on a large scale like saving the world or some shit. I prefer more personal stories that may have some supernatural elements, or something that deals with the darker side of things.
Shitty autistic as fuck blog post, I know, but anyway, care to help an anon out with some recommendations? Good Mystery/Thriller/Horror/Suspense type novels? Kind of like Stephen King, maybe, but not Stephen King? Or like if Nietzsche wrote fiction? Or like The Red Book but a fiction novel? Who's the David Lynch or Kubrick of authors?

>>15430254

>>15430270
start out with a book you like. look for other books that author wrote, recommendations for this book on goodreads, amazon etc, if its nonfiction, look at the bibliography of the book and read books that refer to a subject you care for, or that offer a different explanation. look at charts here, post in recommendation threads. look for topic you care about and read the usual books on that subject. look at peoples shelves, if you see something you recognize and like, take a look at other books they have and look them up, often you'll find something that sparks your interest. if you read something and end up not liking it, apply the same principles to rule books out. read reviews of books, again amazon, goodreads etc, and if you agree with someone look at his profile and see what else he liked, perhaps you'll find something.

>>15430251
massive by mickey hutton

>>15430264
big fan of this post

>>15422829
it's not much but it's mine

>>15429834
Who's the black person in the background fashbro?

>>15430372
That's basically what I've been doing. My post is potentially just a waste of time, honestly. I was more looking for a direct recommendation that someone magically conjured up that was exactly to my liking. I'm being extremely optimistic and unrealistic for whatever reason.
So I've been looking at HP Lovecraft, Meyrink, Ligotti and Blackwood but haven't pulled the trigger on a buy yet. They seem pretty good from what I've read in previews, but not quite "the one" so to speak. (I actually did order some Lovecraft but it hasn't arrived yet)
Perfume, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and The Stand are a few books I've enjoyed recently. Something along those lines.
(I'm also currently reading the Amazon preview of Diogenes The Cynic Quotes and Anecdotes and it's fucking hilarious, so there's my rec for you in exchange)

>>15430421
Intriguing catch.

>>15426351
>reads books

>>15427890
>advanced space operations course
ebin

>>15427819
>he fell for the shungite meme
kek

>>15426884
>they're long and idk where to find a good translation
The editions I have were published by the Foreign Language Press in Beijing.
Both are unabridged. The Three Kingdoms edition uses the translation of Moss Roberts, which is afaik the standard version in academics, and the DotRC edition uses the older translation by Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi, which is less eloquent than the new Penguin edition but is more literal than it.

I haven't read the unabridged English edition yet (it's a recent arrival), but based on the Hungarian abridgement, I'd say that Red Chamber is a really good family-novel. Certainly up there with the greats.
Three Kingdoms is more like an exciting, semi-fictional chronicle than a novel. Certainly not as vivid as your average western historical novel, but the sheer size and scope of it is amazing. It's the Chinese War and Peace.

>>15426830
>Whats up with the cups.
It's a gaiwan. Good for brewing Chinese teas. Bought it with my first pay-cheque when I was 17.

>>15430375
>massive by mickey hutton
keep trying anons, i've got em all

>>15430579
thas a canny phorn ye got yerself wheely billy

>>15430396
Damn, a man's gotta eat.

>>15429834
Holy kek why is there a black person in the background hahahahahahahahaha
Nice job you retarded fed

>>15430748
fuck off you racist cunt

>>15423208
sorry bruh, shit looks tacky

>>15428797
>>15428836
>>15428877
Great shelf, have you read 'The Temple of Man'? How was it?

>>15428797
>>15428836
best itt, nice stuff anon

>>15432105

Thanks. I got through 50 pages or so, but I did not finish. Not because it wasn't interesting, very far from it, it was just much more philosophical/esoteric than I was expecting.

My book journey was UFOs-->Ancient Civs-->Egypt-->Esoteric-->Philosophy (Schopenhauer mainly)
(I was searching for "The Truth")

So now I feel ready to dive back in now that I have a good framework for understanding everything. I think it's been 2 years since I bought it.

Thanks for reminding me. I'll post updates on /lit/ when I begin again.

>>15432143

Cheers

>>15426012
Kill yourself.

>>15430472
I just buy em because they’re aesthetic

>>15423208
>4th shelf down next to dickens
>fable III
what the fuck?

>>15423250
No, he's right. if you're going to buy hardback, buy vintage. B&N is consoomer-tier

>>15432425
cope

>>15430975
How much did all of those complete works cost?

I can't find a physical copy of Princes of the Yen despite it being a historical bestseller in banking finance topics
Is this because some books are limited in publishing?

>>15430975
by Lord Auch, pure glory anon

>>15428873
never has a title been more appropriate

>>15424789
tell me, little radish, do you love me? i love me, too.
oh, my friend, know that i made you, that i built you from the ground up, that i made your choices for you. how much of me is injected into you! how much you defy me!
it took 30 years to design you in thought. it took 10 years to design you in reality, to seep into the infrastructure of this board, to determine what it was you were to read and think.
you will not believe me, but i am at the bottom of much of this, of all this, the chaos, the confusion, the reach for new foundations--the return and displacement of tradition, the host of images and enchantments. know that it was done out of love, that i thought i could do something special with the myth. in the end, the result was you.
you will never know me; but i loved you, i love you now. my sweet, my darling, my dear--here i now sit, waiting for my children to come home.
oh my sweet little radish, you are nothing without me. and me? i am nothing without you; a mere appearance, dreamt by another.

i will never be redeemed for the sins i have committed--the sin of you.

>>15428797
pretty good

A couple years ago I donated all of my books to prisoners so the collection is a bit thin.

You know for a board that states it loves literature it is surprising that most of you only have 2-3 shelves worth on books.

I expected 2-3 Bookcases.

>>15428617
>Chapo
fag

>>15432550
>>15430472

>He still thinks crystals are a meme

>>15423506
The Norse mythology one is the best of the mythology ones both in terms of design and content
Their complete Poe and Lovecraft ones are good too

>>15433668
>Scott Pilgrim
Instantly based..

>>15430251
>>15430579
Owen Meredith's Poetical Works

>>15427380
>elements of style
not as pleb as you think

>>15433668

Literally worse than throwing them away. Worse than useless.

>>15434175
How is that worse than throwing them away? Access to literature in prisons is extremely limited. The libraries are poorly stocked, and some prisons are privatizing libraries and charging inmates by the minute to read on kindles (all while paying them less than $1 per hour for their labor). Prison donation programs can be the only access some inmates have to literature.

No matter what crime anyone has committed, we should all have access to literature that can help us better ourselves and give life value. If we do not value the life of the criminal, then we cannot except the criminal to rehabilitate or not become a criminal in the first instance.

>>15423639
China anon I hope you're still in this thread. If not I'll try track you down. I wanna chat about your shelf and know how you got there? I'm fascinated with China. Almost entirely because the west has failed and if you can't beat em join em. Learning Mandarin (should be HSK 3 by the end of the month. HSK 5+ by the end of the year) and read a lot. Have a book of poetry and how to read/interpret. Im interested in food security in pre/post communist China. The famines throughout history shape the nation. My gf's mum has enough exposure to the idea of cannibalism such that it doesn't revolt her. 'oh yeah, people have done that for sure'
What does that kind of mindset do to a nation? Kissinger's book was pretty brilliant and I'm hunting for more of that. Apparently Spence's Search for Modern China is good but is just a textbook. I've read a number of biographies (Grass Soup and Mother's Ordeal stand out) so any reccs like that.

Hope to find you again, will be looking in other shelf threads.

>>15423208
This is the LARPiest library I've ever seen. Congrads on your autism.

>>15434242
they just gonna tear the pages out for planes/clog up drains with/piss on and thrown at each other
I was a prison guard, almost nobody reads unless it's porn

>>15434305
They clog up the drains because they are caged like rats with literally no resources or stimulation. Prison guards like you who treat prisoners like sub-humans are why prisoners leave jails worse than when they got there.

You were part of the problem.

>>15433698
I have four ikea billys full of books but I will never post them here because I'm afraid of being bullied

>>15434342
Allow me to shed a tear for the rapists, murderers, and thieves who lack entertainment options while incarcerated.

>>15434431
There are over two million people in American jails at any given moment, we have over 22% of the world’s prison population. Now, does America have 1/5th of the worlds murderers, rapists, and thieves? No, obviously not. Those two million people are not all heinous criminals, and they have value and dignity no matter what they’ve done.

I have worked closely with prison populations, and they are just like me and you. I don’t need to be a religious man to see a prisoner and know, but for the grace of god go I.

The many millions of people who cycle though American prisons have been forgotten by society and scapegoated for our problems. When you cage a man and deprive him of compassion, education, purpose, and craft, you create what you fear.

Based on your comments, you are as much an animal as you believe inmates to be.

>>15434287
>I wanna chat about your shelf and know how you got there?
Well, it all started when I was 16 and went to watch a play with my class. During the break I saw that the theatre's bookstore had a small edition of the Daodejign for sale, and instead of buying a slice of cake like my mother recommended, I decided to go hungry and cop it.
Been going deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole ever since. The final push was when my mother bought me a three volume set of classical Chinese philosophy on our way to the hospital.
At one point my history teacher told me that
>You know you can learn this at uni too if you wanted to
So this year I've applied to study China-studies to become a translator.

My knowledge of the language is practically non-existent because I was preparing for the HS exit exams instead so that I could actually learn the language from qualified instructors instead of fucking it all up alone.

If you want good accounts of modern China, then there's a good collection of essays by Yu Hua titled "China in Ten Words" and there's also Jung Chang's "Wild Swans" that tells the story of three generations of the author's family, going from his grandmother being a concubine to a Manchu official to her serving in the red guard.

Personally my interest in China isn't really politically motivated like yours. I see China's current rise as more like an extra bonus.

>>15433698
I don't want to be bothersome by posting all 28 of my shelves.

>>15434487
This is a good post, but the people you argue with are attached to their hatred.

>>15424023
eat dick

>>15434638
Well, all you can do sometimes is spread a little love, ya know?

>>15434527
I tried Book of Changes but the only copy on hand was my housemates super annotated one. How did you find reading it straight? Any approach you found particularly useful?

Learning Mandarin and fucking it up myself is going great. Domino Chinese for $5 a month has been really worth it for content. Can recommend if you don't mind a spergy swedish dude making shit jokes.

I like the idea of becoming a translator or at least some form of correspondant. What does China studies in love? Where are you studying? How long?

Ten Words was really good. Read a couple of months ago and gave to my girlfriend and she loved it. The chapter on person 人 was really funny if only for the fact that she noticed her mother (Taiwanese born) using different words to refer to citizens of China and just general citizens. A strange distinction but a really hilarious real life example of the language affecting how she sees people.

I'll check our Wild Swans for sure.

The china obsession is actually on food and consumption. I'm deep in a rabbit hole of famine, food security, cannibalism, fasting, and obesity. China has a remarkable history in a lot of these aspects so that's what's drawn me to it. I'd like to start to into their philosophy and poetry more. Maybe I should retry book of changes.

>>15434825
sympathetic to your cause anon, but if you're truly looking to spread love you may want to leave out the accusatory "you're no better than what you say others are" bit, comes off a little evangelical

>>15435383
It’s hard, alright! But I appreciate the note.

>>15428057
read the good murakami coward

>>15433668
How is it possible for a Harry Potter book to look 50 years old?

>>15435511
totally understand, until you've seen someone you judge to be a good person in prison or caught up in "the system" it is much easier to accept society's judgement that they deserve whatever happens to them there or should be deprived of resources we take for granted. I really admire your gesture fwiw

>>15433668
huh I guess females do browse /lit/ after all

>>15430036
Appreciate it man!

>>15435517
What's the good Murakami?

>>15434487
>There are over two million people in American jails at any given moment, we have over 22% of the world’s prison population. Now, does America have 1/5th of the worlds murderers, rapists, and thieves?
That wouldn't surprise me at all to be frank. The United States is basically an extension of Mexico at this point.

>>15435575
I do a lot of work on behalf of indigent defendants and inmates, I’m actually an attorney. These people in jail are really just like us on the outside, and even if one inmate reads part of my collection that I donated and finds meaning in it, then it will have been worth it.

>>15436101
cheers anon, a tough road to hoe for anyone. may you find that have changed more lives than you'll ever realize

>>15427610
oh shit i did not know ping pong was out

>>15435739
Ryu lil baby

Bump

>>15427819
>John Mack and Graham Hancock

alien/ancient mysteries pilled

>>15428836
>occult-pilled
Love it, anon.

>>15435363
I don't have a copy of the book of changes because it was fairly expensive to get a two volume set here, and I also doubted my ability to interpret it correctly, so owning it would have been a pseud-move.
I do own a copy of the Lingqijing though. That's the "little brother" of the I Ching and is incredibly simple to use. (Though I wouldn't recommend reading it cover to cover. There are books that aren't meant to be read, but rather consulted from time to time.)

>Where are you studying? How long?
I just applied and there's still paperwork to do. It all depends on how my HS exit-exams turned out.

>>15433698
collecting all the trad and continental references on this board from my greater library so its a work in progress. shelves are used but as purely reference; its a mess.
that people don't post don't mean they ain't got the goods, bucko.

you want a subject? himme with a subject. i got 20,000 volumes and counting.

>>15438427
How are you financing this strange obsession of yours?

>>15438477
onlyfans

>>15433698
I have a Kindle. I do love physical books but they're just less convenient in pretty much every way.

you know when people say it takes x number of days to read a book, do they mean 24 hours * y or do they mean days an loose term based on their culture for what a day constitutes?

>>15438509
You'd probably have to ask them to be sure.

>>15438477
well i started by offering booksellers things like crackers and bits of cut packing tape but that seemed ignominious
got closer with tulips. even closer with mollie.
ultimately succeeded with money.

this board, bro.

>>15438547
>>15438427
>you want a subject?
Goodness me anon. What you got on 17th-18th century Italy?

>>15438427
>>15438547
How many of these have you read?

>>15438563
much happened in italy c. 17th/18th; what you want--architecture, politics, art history, histories of venice/tuscany/rome/wherever, etc.--what specifically are you looking for?

>>15438586
i'd say no more than 7 but definitely more than 3.
i'd say 5. i've read 5 of them totally.

>>15422829
>>15429834

>>15438619

>>15438427
>>15438547
>>15438615
Concerningly based
Please post more. Do you have an estimate of how many there are?

>>15438624

>>15438630

>>15438633

>>15438619
Love the folio editions. Especially jealous of that copy of Ulysses.

>>15438641
My Yale pocket Shakespeare collection.

>>15438647
I'm quite happy with it too, thank you.

>>15433698
I have more than 3 bookcases full of them, although one is in another continent. Pic related is an outdated picture of part of my collection.

>>15438660

>>15438627
how many books i gots? need to account for a new small shipment that arrived during quarantine, but at this point between 20-21k. each has been hand selected; highly concentrated in western politics, history, architecture, philosophy.

>>15438615
Venetian history and general stuff relating to the culture of the time are what I'm most interested in. Thanks in advance, based anon.

>>15438630
The Dick and Gibson hardbacks are ghastly, but I like your PS1 collection. What edition are the Kafkas?

>>15438630
Based Watterson stack

Not home right now but these are the books I've got since being away

>>15439051
based lenin

>>15435363
>>15438357

Fellow Chinabros, I've also applied to study Chinese (and Japanese) at uni.
Would read all the classics and daoist philosophy now but im holding off until I (hopefully) learn classical chinese.

I dont really care about the modern politics that much, much more so about ancient china.

Wild Swans is a great book, I recommend too.

>>15426844
My Mum bought be a mint $200 one for my graduation present. Buzzing m8

>>15439748
Did you at least come out of the closet?

>>15439772
I've been out since 2003