/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.13030862]

I am an illiterate idiot. Never read a book beyond Harry Potter when I was 12. What is essential reading for me? Please specific books too, not just authors

[Anonymous No.13030884]

Why do people ask these questions? Couldn't you research this, yourself?

[Anonymous No.13030889]

>>13030884
He did say he was illiterate

[Anonymous No.13030891]

Start with the Hunger Games.

[Anonymous No.13030896]

>>13030891
Then, Pynchon

[Anonymous No.13030897]

>>13030884
>>13030889
>>13030891
Come on guys please help me out here

[Anonymous No.13030898]

>>13030862
Start with these. These are mostly basic high school-tier books you should have read already. Given that you read Harry Potter at 12, you're 34 years old max and probably much younger. These books aren't very long or time consuming, many can be read in a couple days (given that you're not used to reading, it might take you as long as a few weeks to read one. Give yourself a schedule, maybe an hour of uninterrupted reading a day)
Look into the books before you read them so you're not going in blind, reading isn't a passive hobby like watching a movie.

[Anonymous No.13030901]

>>13030898
After that, you should start getting into longer books. There are some repeat books between these charts, you don't need to read them twice. These books are really long, some in the thousand+ page range. Yet these are essentials that I think you'll enjoy reading very much

[Anonymous No.13030904]

>>13030901
Here are some essentials of classic fiction, maybe read "How To Read A Book" before going deep into some of them. And again, really really look into the background of these books before reading them. Even if you just read the wikipedia article, that's better than nothing. Classic books are extremely context-based, if you read about this stuff without knowing about any of it first, you're gonna be lost

[Anonymous No.13030906]

>>13030904
After that I have to ask, what are your interests? What do you hope to get out of reading? Do you want to do it as entertainment? Do you want to read philosophy? Are you interested in religion? Science? Do you want to become a writer yourself? There are a ton of great books and charts out there, but so far all I know is you've only read Harry Potter

[Anonymous No.13030918]

>>13030906
My interests are Art, philosophy and Science, and Politics. I do not want to become a writer myself, I want to read to educate myself, because I can not really have sophisticated conversations with people. I dont want to read to sound smart but actually be educated, does that make sense? I am exactly 18 right now.

[Anonymous No.13030927]

>>13030898
>>13030901
>>13030904

This is bad advice and I'm sick of the 4chan method that permeates every board of autistic charts and "entry level" and arbitrary tier lists.

OP clearly lacks the critical thinking skills and political, social and philosophical contexts of most of that work and why those author's wrote what they did.

“To a person uninstructed in natural history, his country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall.” A quote by Thomas Huxley. This is literally what you're doing. Telling him to go take a walk in the park and then come back a botanist.

For any lurkers are confused individuals who conform to the 4chan chart methods. Stop it. Pick a time period or literary movement that interests you from an overview and research specific authors that either embody or counter their paradigm.

And that doesn't mean that you need to necessarily start with the Greeks, you don't need to understand the literary context of the earliest written words, just the movements that strike your fancy and preferably what came about subsequently.

It sounds vague because it is. There is no magical chart that will make you an elite.

[Anonymous No.13030933]

>>13030918
Okay, well then you're actually getting a good early start. Read the charts definitely. If you want to understand philosophy, start with the Greeks. You don't need to read every book on this chart, some books are supplemental reading to understand the classics or stuff like the Greek Epic Fragments (you definitely need to read Homer though)
From Plato and Aristotle, you don't need to read the complete works. For Plato, read
>Apology
>Euthyphro
>Crito
>The Symposium
>Phaedo
>Republic
>Parmenides
For Aristotle, read
>Ethics
>Politics
>On Poetry
>The Organon
>Phtsics
>On The Soul
>Rhetoric
There are a ton of /lit/ philosophers who can guide you through your journey in philosophy better than I can

[Anonymous No.13030938]

Lmaoing at chartfags tbqh

[Anonymous No.13030942]

>>13030927
>Look into the books before you read them so you're not going in blind, reading isn't a passive hobby like watching a movie
>And again, really really look into the background of these books before reading them
>This is bad advice cause OP lacks the political, social and philosophical contexts of most of that work and why those author's wrote what they did

[Anonymous No.13030975]

>>13030927
>OP clearly lacks critical thinking skills
You said so yourself. OP would have a hard time picking what interests him. That's why the poster above you provided a chart of books that many first-timers found interesting, and told OP to look them up and not go in blind. Meanwhile you gave no meaningful advice to follow and just shat out your own musings.
>>13030862
Advice for actually reading the books: don't worry about understanding everything. Even if you only got 20% out of it, as long as you found it interesting enough to go on it was worthwhile.

[Anonymous No.13031076]

>>13030927
Now THIS is really bad advice. You're telling someone who just wants entry-level recommendations to study historical periods and literary paradigms. Sometimes people just want to read fiction.

[Anonymous No.13031233]

>>13030862
Read books you think will interest you based on their descriptions. Without knowing what interests you no one is going to help much beyond suggesting things that interest them.

[Anonymous No.13031686]

>>13030862
Just go to a library and find a book that seems fun.

[Anonymous No.13031881]

Almost all the advice in this thread has been garbage so far. Especially the charts. They are seriously complete shit, I'm not kidding. Every next one is worse. Actually they're so bizarre, they're probably meant to be troll images. Those aren't books someone should start reading with, with a few exceptions. Of Mice and Men is a good pick, Steinbeck is very good and very accessible.
This anon didn't give bad advice. >>13030891 You really should start with the Hunger Games. I don't know why you're opposed to that. Oh wait, I do know - you're already taking the hivemind's opinion as gospel, even though you don't even fucking read. You're off to a great start, you'll fit right in here.
The Hunger Games is a pretty good series. You might enjoy it. Or not. If you're not enjoying the first book, just drop it and read something else. That's also valuable advice - don't waste your time forcing yourself through a book. Don't read for the sake of reading. Read what you enjoy. This is why you start with "simple" reading. Because reading literature is something you have to teach your brain gradually. There are a lot of great books out there you most likely wouldn't enjoy if you read them right now.

>>13031233
>>13031686
These posts are also good advice

>>13030933
>start with the Greeks
AAAAAA

>>13030938
this

[Anonymous No.13031935]

>>13031881
>Read what you enjoy
awful post

[Anonymous No.13032018]

>>13031881
You're assuming OP would find Hunger Games interesting, which I highly doubt, since he ended up on this board. I'm 19 and I've moved on from that 6 years ago. Hunger Games won't engender a lifelong interest in literature. This has nothing to do with 'muh pseud credit'. The books in the charts are actually good starters, and OP should only pick what interests him.