/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.15431855]

Rate the last 3 books you’ve read /10

[Anonymous No.15431873]

>>15431855
windup bird chronicle bymurakami 8
other 2 are in spanish so dont bother

[Anonymous No.15431917]

>>15431855
blind watchmaker by dawkins - 10/10
little life by yanagihara - also 10/10
historia polski by marian toporek - 8/10

[Anonymous No.15431921]

Blood Meridian 8/10
Confederacy of Dunces 7/10
Catch 22 9/10

[Anonymous No.15431927]

...Let me think about that.

[Anonymous No.15431942]

>>15431855
The Misfortunes of Virtue 7/10
Beyond Good and Evil 8/10
Crime and Punishment 9/10

[Anonymous No.15431948]

The pigeon: 6
Stoner: 10
Confederacy of dunces: 9

[Anonymous No.15432016]

In order of how recently I finished them:
Real England: The Battle against the Bland by Paul Kingsnorth - 8.5/10
1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric Cline - 3/10
The Outlaws by Ernst von Salomon- 9.5/10

Most of the way through Letters from a Stoic currently and it's sitting at a solid 8

[Anonymous No.15432033]

Zeno's Conscience ?/10 needs reread

Eagle in the Snow 7/10 comfy if not very substantial

Selected works of Cicero 10/10

[Anonymous No.15432048]

Heart of Darkness 8/10
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep 6/10
Faust Part 1, hard to rate, I'd say my enjoyment of it was like a 7/10 but I wouldn't be doing its genius justice

[Anonymous No.15432180]

>Wuthering Heights 6/10
Ending ruined it for me
>Mere Christianity 6/10
I realize it's for the layman but too shallow, too surface level
> 100 years of solitude 9/10
Best translated work I've ever read

[Anonymous No.15432187]

Conflict in Man-Made Environment: 2/10
De Moneta: 10/10
The Topics: 8/10

:3

[Anonymous No.15432204]

>American Psycho
6/10 - It is the kind of book that you read just to read and once you are done you realize that you wasted a solid 10 hours of your life.

>Call of the Wild
8/10 - It was short, sweet and to the point. You got the idea of what was going to happen about halfway through, but the transformation of Buck from bitch to alpha was enjoyable nonetheless.

>Why We Sleep
7/10 - It is hard to rate a science-based non-fiction book. It was...informative? It definitely helped me get more sleep, so I guess it gets a good rating.

[Anonymous No.15432209]

>>15431855
The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith vol.1: 10/10
The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith vol.2: 10/10
Irish Ghost Stories (edit. David Stuart Davies): 7/10 I didn't enjoy LeFanu's stories (the first story is not even about ghosts), however I found out some interesting authors.

[Anonymous No.15432219]

>American Psycho
3/10 - It is the kind of book that you read just to read and once you are done you realize that you wasted a solid 10 hours of your life. This book inspired me to buy satin pajamas.

>Call of the Wild
8/10 - It was short, sweet and to the point. You got the idea of what was going to happen about halfway through, but the transformation of Buck from bitch to alpha was enjoyable nonetheless. The book gets bogged down in a lot of hamfisted descriptions but you can skim over them and the book is unaffected.

>Why We Sleep
7/10 - It is hard to rate a science-based non-fiction book. It was...informative? It definitely helped me get more sleep, so I guess it gets a good rating.

[Anonymous No.15432245]

>Skavenslayer 7/10
Not high literature, but a fun pulpy ride.
>An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding 9/10
Read Humes Tretise on human nature before, but this is a great simplification on his part. Explaining things in more common and succinct language. Be great to Introduce a laymen to the problems in Phil. Think it should be high school reading
>Panses 10/10
Great almost stream of conscious enquiry into human affairs, the guy behind it had an amazing skill for insight.

[Anonymous No.15432272]

>>15432245
Shot, one more
>The Night Land 6/10
Interesting premise and great setting, and unlike most I like the faux 17th century writing, but the author doesn’t capitalize on the elements he produces to make it great. The story itself is a decent knights tale with a great mood, but it could have been so much more.

[Anonymous No.15432298]

I don't read books.
I just shitpost here.

[Anonymous No.15432377]

>Brave New World - 6/10
Interesting for how prophetic it was, but found the actual storytelling to be pretty bad. It feels like Huxley couldn't figure out how to communicate his ideas through a story until about halfway through
>By Night in Chile - 8/10
My first Bolano, has me really excited to visit his other stuff. Some really beautiful imagery here
>Journey to the End of the Night - 9/10
Consistently hilarious and at some moments heartbreaking, loved this all the way through. Some parts felt like they dragged on too long, but that's only really a minor complaint

What should I read next?

[Anonymous No.15432652]

>the castle by kafka - 7/10
abstract. good dialogue, but overall message was pointless and superficial

>stoner by john williams - 9.5/10
very profound. concise too

>a dance with dragons by George - 0/10
im a faggot for reading fantasy

[Anonymous No.15432669]

>>15431855
Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic 8/10
Milestones by Qutb 7/10
Mein Kampf 5/10

[Anonymous No.15432702]

De Res Publica - 4/10
Constitution: No Authority - 6/10
A Letter to Grover Cleveland - 7/10

[Anonymous No.15432727]

>>15431855
eye of the world 7
battlecry of freedom 9
broke millennial 5 (not one...i'm 40)

[Anonymous No.15432894]

>Mind in Society - Vygotsky 8/10
There's some interesting content in here, but I think I approached it believing that'd I would get more out of it.

>The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell 9/10
One of the best book I've read this year. It strikes at the core of my interests regarding human behavior, that is, complex interactionism.

>Chaos - James Gleick 7/10
I only went as far as Calc II in school and had very little knowledge of physics outside of classical mechanics, but I found the book pretty fascinating, although one criticism I have is that it meanders a bit without elaborating on certain concepts for the sake of the lay-reader.

[Anonymous No.15432958]

>Mind in Society - Vygotsky 8/10
There's some interesting content in here, but I think I approached it believing that'd I would get more out of it.

>The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell 9/10
One of the best books I've read this year. It strikes at the core of my interests regarding human behavior, that is, complex interactionism.

>Chaos - James Gleick 7/10
I only went as far as Calc II in school and had very little knowledge of physics outside of classical mechanics, but I found the book pretty fascinating. Although, one criticism I have is that it meanders a bit without elaborating on certain concepts for the sake of the lay-reader.

[Anonymous No.15434602]

bump

[Anonymous No.15434623]

Notes from Underground 7.5/10
The Gambler 4/10
Anna Karenina 9.2/10

[Anonymous No.15434637]

>>15431855
Concept of the Political 10/10
Left Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder 9/10
Fourth Political Theory 10/10

[Anonymous No.15434641]

Notes from Underground 7.5/10
The Gambler 4/10
Anna Karenina 9.5/10

[Anonymous No.15435143]

Little Children-8/10
The Abstenance Teacher 7/10
The Monkeywrench Gang 8/10

[Anonymous No.15436361]

>>15432298
That's unfortunate books contain some great information not found within any other medium.

[Anonymous No.15436386]

Against the Day - 7/10
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - 6/10
Both Flesh and Not - 8/10

[Anonymous No.15436432]

>>15431855
AMERICAN FEMALE SERIAL KILLERS: The Full Encyclopedia of American Female Serial Killers
stay the fuck away from nurses/10

Syrian Dust: Reporting from the Heart of the War 2/10 roasite take on Syria

War of the flea
7/10

[Anonymous No.15436464]

>Yu Hua's Brothers
8/10 nice moments, fun read though a bit melodramatic
> Wuthering Heights
9/10 perfect characters and drama the way I like them
> Gombrich's The story of art
9/10 not in depth enough but it serves its main purpose as an introduction into paintings, architectures, and sculptures

[Anonymous No.15436545]

>>15431855
They were all great. I’d highly recommend them to anyone.

[Anonymous No.15436888]

>>15431855
I Claudius 9/10, possibly a 10 I really loved it
Confederacy of Dunces 8 (a little too long)
Catch-22 8

[Anonymous No.15436934]

>>15431855
>Temple of The Golden Pavillion 7/10
>Ass Goblins of Auschwitz 2/10
>Montaigne's essays 8/10
It has been a weird week

[Anonymous No.15436973]

>>15431855
>Antic Hay, Huxley. 4/10
>War and Peace, Tolstoy. 10/10
>Coming Up for Air, Orwell. 9/10

[Anonymous No.15437027]

>>15432180
Wuthering Heights is just awful, seriously, what is the moral of the story? Never adopt a dirty gypsy or your daughter will fall in love with him while he domineers, abuses, and figuratively rapes your family and estate? It's popularity among women proves the liberation of women was a mistake
>>15432219
Was Why We Sleep easy to read? Does it aim to help people sleep better or more just to understand the process of sleep in a more abstract way?
>>15432377
Huxley loves characters and ideas, but the plot or story structure of his novels tends to be lacking, that being said Brave New World is better than a 6, c'mon anon
>>15432652
>self deprecating because you read a book /lit/ likes to hate on
have a little more self respect you insecure faggot
>>15434641
Is Anna Karenina very similar to War and Peace? I'm given to believe it's more of a drama/romance book, but if I liked War and Peace will I like it?
>>15436464
Wuthering Heights SUCKS

[Anonymous No.15437065]

>>15431855
>My War Gone By, I Miss It So by Anthony Loyd Very engaging, beautiful and fucked up book 10/10
>Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Good intro to Norse mythology by using a beginning middle end narrative; engaging 8/10
>The Little Prince Actually not a book for children; I read it during a manic depressive episode and it was not a fun time 4/10

[Anonymous No.15437611]

>>15431855
ok
>8/10
>5/10
>10/10

[Anonymous No.15437628]

>>15437611
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

What were they

[Anonymous No.15437631]

>>15431855
O Feijão e o Sonho, 7/10
Fogo Morto, 9/10
Vidas Secas, 7/10

[Anonymous No.15437663]

>>15431855
Homage to Catalonia - George Orwell 8/10
The Great Mother - Erich Neumann 7.6/10
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 7/10

[Anonymous No.15437668]

The Well of Ascension, Mistborn book 2: 5/10
The Saviour's Champion: 6/10
The Hobbit: 8/10

[Anonymous No.15437723]

>>15437027
i havent read war and peace yet. anna karenina is barely even a love story. it's about life and human relationships, and coming to terms with our own mortality and finding a path

[Anonymous No.15437732]

>>15437723
sounds like a lot of whats in War and Peace

[Anonymous No.15437735]

>>15431855
The Brothers Karamazov 10/10
Lolita 7/10
Northanger Abbey 5/10

[Anonymous No.15437736]

>The Anabasis of Alexander by Arrian
10/10

>Roman History by Appian
10/10

>Commentary on the Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar
10/10

Can't go wrong with the classics.

[Anonymous No.15437739]

>>15432245
Panses? What do you mean?

[Anonymous No.15437765]

>moby dick 9/10
genius masterpiece that i need to read again someday, imperfect score because i only enjoyed a handful of cetology chapters
>slaughterhouse 5 7/10
i remember loving vonnegut as a teenager but it didnt do much for me this time
>roadside picnic 7/10
unironically the movie was better

[Anonymous No.15437801]

>Blood of Elves ( 4/10 )
Got bored, wanted to read about Geralt more and the generally the characters were boring.
>Foundation and Empire ( 8/10 )
Excellent science fiction, the plot is inspired by Byzantine empire history and the execution is quite well.
>Puslu Kıtalar Atlası ( 9/10 )
One of the classics in Turkish literature, extremely fun and the characters are entertaining.

[Anonymous No.15437816]

>Brave New World, 8/10
>American Psycho, 7/10
>Fight Club, 8/10

[Anonymous No.15437824]

>Invisible Cities
8/10. Very aesthetic descriptions but it definitely deserves a reread in a few years. I felt like a massive brainlet during 70% of it

>On Writing
Pedestrian but still valuable writing advice. Good for motivation. 7/10

>The Force of Destiny
8/10 (?) Hard to properly rate it because it's a history book and written very dryly. It's informative but apparently has a post-modern slant (I am not smart enough to know how this impacts his analysis) but I found most of the conclusions he drew to be pretty solidly supported. Italians are a feral breed

[Anonymous No.15437860]

>>15437027
Fuck you Wuthering heights is great, not all stories need a good moral to be a good one, sometimes to showcase a specific set of personalities and raw emotions is enough to make one a great story as long as the execution is done well

[Anonymous No.15437861]

>>15437628
oh alright. it was no longer human, the night soul and other stories, and moby dick.

[Anonymous No.15437897]

>>15431855
from the fatherland with love - ryu murakami 7/10 trashy but very entertaining
the temple of the golden pavillon - yukio mishima 9/10 great work
regarding the hostage question - ernst jünger 4/10 rather boring desu

[Anonymous No.15437971]

>>15437860
What is great about bitter, vindictive people bending their entire will on making themselves and those they love as miserable as possible?

[Anonymous No.15438033]

The Unicorn Project - 4/10 reddit as fuck and its sister novel is much better. Only a good read if a company you've worked at is actually struggling
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (the full book) - 8/10 All solid DFW essays. The state fair one drags a little though
Thinking: Fast and Slow - 7/10 Quite liked the examples from the author's personal experience

[Anonymous No.15438054]

>La Casa Verde by Vargas Llosa
7/10. Got me a while to get into it as the narrative is intentionally jambled and zigzags in both time and space but I found it really enjoyable and well written. Reminds me of Faulkner and Woolf, but not THAT good. Interesting setting and characters too, I really want to pick up something else by him so open to recs.

>I Served the King of Englang
9/10. My first Hrabal and I gotta say I'm impressed. Absurd from start to finish and gets progressively more and more preposterous as the neuroticism and insecurities of the main character grows. I don't know if it was supposed to be funny but I laughed a fair amount of times while reading it. Czech history and culture of that time is also very interesting and the plot just flows beautifully through it. Great book, I would recommend this to anyone desu.

>Caza de Conejos by Levrero
8/10 Flash fiction anthology. Takes a very simple premise and gets incredibly surreal with it, I really wish I had written something like this. Funny, macabre at times but short and always a great read. Reminds me of Historias de Cronopios y Famas by Cortázar.

[Anonymous No.15438066]

>>15431855
>The King in Yellow by Chambers
6/10, it started strong, it's well written and plays well with the concept of dread, paranoia etc. Some stories were weak. The better ones I liked more than what I've read from Lovecraft so far (Colour out of Space, the Hound, Dagon, Nyarlathotep, Nameless City, Azazoth, Festival, the Call of Cthulhu.)
>Dracula by Stoker
7/10, some parts were slow and honestly it feels kinda gimmicky how he uses diary entries, I can't see a difference between a diary entry and a usual chapter in someone's pov. The newspaper articles were a nice touch and I suppose it's a good way to keep the narrative going, also to show how time passes.
>The Sword of Winter by Randall
8/10, I was expecting to read some sword and sorcery based on the cover of the book and the title, but it ended up being a mystery/crime novel. I loved the setting (extreme cold weather), nice characterisation and world-building, and the book was very fast paced considering there was hardly any action. A nice, fairly unknown fantasy novel.

[Anonymous No.15438085]

>>15437971
It’s great because for all the supposed power of bitterness and vengeance, they die and move on for love and peace to return. The story is more than just Heathcliff and Catherine.

[Anonymous No.15438095]

>>15437971
I haven't read Wuthering Heights but off the top of my head I can think of three or four novels and stories that fit your description and that I would consider great.

[Anonymous No.15438107]

>>15438085
>it's great because the awful characters die at the end
stunning, I guess that is the best aspect of the book
>>15438095
Which novels?

[Anonymous No.15438159]

>>15438107
El Túnel by Sábato
Victoria by Hamsun
Most (not all) of Brothers K is also like that

[Anonymous No.15438160]

>London Journal (Boswell)
6/10
>The Painted Veil (Maugham)
8/10
>The Comedians (Greene)
7/10

Nothing truly amazing but I've found myself thinking about The Painted Veil a lot since I finished it. Especially the poem that is mentioned within it.

[Anonymous No.15438184]

>>15438107
>it's great because the awful characters die at the end
No, Heathcliff’s death is not why Wuthering Heights is great.
>>15437971
>vindictive people bending their entire will on making themselves and those they love as miserable as possible?
Except that’s not true because the book makes an obvious effort in showing why that’s doomed to failure. See Cathy and Hareton. If what you said is true that Wuthering Heights would have ended the way it did.

[Anonymous No.15438196]

>>15438159
Ah, I didn't like TBK either

[Anonymous No.15438206]

>>15438095
Books about miserable people who ruin lives are some of the best anyway. See Madame Bovary and Balzac in general.

[Anonymous No.15438210]

>>15431917
>little life by yanagihara - also 10/10
wrong

[Anonymous No.15438213]

>>15432016
>3/10
why

[Anonymous No.15438220]

>>15431855
The Iliad 8/10
Brave New World 9/10
No Longer Human 7/10

[Anonymous No.15438230]

The Illuminatus! Trilogy
6/10

>The People in the Trees
8.5/10

>Something Wicked This Way Comes
7/10

[Anonymous No.15438269]

>>15431855
The Call of the Wild - pretty good and I love London's idea of the wild as it speaks to me on a personal level, but he has obvious problems of being quite bad at writing characters and merely having them to move the plot along.

Moby Dick - still reading this one, but it's one of my favorite books already and a literary masterpiece for sure. Melville, I don't know why it took people so long to finally take notice of it, but holy shit can you fucking write.

Batman: A Year One - pretty good retelling of Batman's origin story, might be the most vulnerable I've seen Bruce as a character and was overall quite refreshing. Can't wait to dig into the rest of the more notable Batman GNs, just have to wait until my next paycheck.

[Anonymous No.15438585]

7/10
4/10
8/10

[Anonymous No.15438602]

>>15431855
Women by Bukowski - 6/10
Dune - 8/10
Valis - 9/10

[Anonymous No.15438640]

The Story of a Modern Woman - 5
Pointed Roofs - 7
‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore - 9

[Anonymous No.15438648]

Paradise lost 9/10
The magic mountain 10/10
A confederacy of dunces 9/10

[Anonymous No.15439648]

>>15431855
The Dynamics of Global Dominance: European Overseas Empires 1415 - 1980 - 5/10 Writes well, but his refusal to consider medieval and antique interconnectedness, and his moralisation without considering colonial gains is grating.
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared - 7.5/10 Great fun, neat story, but fizzles out towards the end.
Anna Karenina - 9/10 Beautiful, Levin best boy.

[Anonymous No.15439733]

>>15432219
>10 hours
Why did you reread it so many times if it was a waste?

[Anonymous No.15440459]

Norwegian wood - 7.5/10
The Plague - 9/10
Palimpsest - 9/10

[Anonymous No.15440594]

>>15431855
>>15431855
kite runner.. i kno, way late.. 10/10
revisit Demian... 10/10
Kill all Normies...6/10

[Anonymous No.15440614]

>>15432219
re: Psycho... totally agree..complete trash but such a great meme regardless.. and if you're gen x like me.. it really does define our generation and that eighties era.

[Anonymous No.15440622]

>>15437027
Why We Sleep is written for readability. The author is a professor (UC Berkeley, Harvard), so it delves pretty deep into the technical aspects of what sleep does to the body. It details why the body and brain need sleep, talks about dreams and what they may mean, and then talks about sleep aids and the author's overall opinion of them.

It is pretty good. I would recommend it. It helped me get back on track with my sleep schedule. It is a lot easier to force yourself to sleep when you know about why it is so important.

[Anonymous No.15440645]

Iliad: 10/10. I liked the part with the chariot racing
Venus in Furs: infinity/10. The most arousing thing I've ever read or, possibly, piece of media I've ever consumed. It's quite nearly ruined porn for me.
Mythology by Edith Hamilton: 8/10. Served its purpose well, relatively entertaining.

[Anonymous No.15440646]

>>15439733
I'm a slooooowwww reader. I go through about a page every minute or two usually.

>>15440614
I remember skipping the entire chapter about Huey Luis and the News and then revisiting it to see if there was any sort of character development in it. NOPE. It is literally just a 10 page advert for Huey Luis and the News. Fucking hell, Bret Easton Ellis.

[Anonymous No.15440647]

>>15431855
discord.gg/mVNUytg

[Anonymous No.15440671]

>>15440614
it really does define our generation and that eighties era.
how is trash with this achievement?.

[Anonymous No.15440680]

>>15440646
>if there was any sort of character development in it.
apparently it was too subtle or too obvious for you.

[Anonymous No.15440710]

>>15431855
Notes from Underground 10/10
E.H. Mythology 7/10
The Banality of Evil 8/10

[Anonymous No.15440716]

>>15436934
that's a weird compilation

[Anonymous No.15440720]

>>15432669
Based

[Anonymous No.15440765]

Call of the Wild 9/10
Lullaby 8/10
Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea 7/10

I think like I need to to reread Sailor because I dont feel I got the full impact of their inner dialogues and instead focused more about what happened in the story (which there are only a few actual events)

[Anonymous No.15440787]

>>15431855
a room of one's own 6/10
satantango 8/10
hamlet 10/10

[Anonymous No.15440803]

>>15431855
Novels, Tales, and Journeys - the Complete Prose of Alexander Pushkin 8/10
Taras Bulba and Other Tales - Gogol 10/10
The Kreuzter Sonata and Other Stories - Tolstoy 8/10

[Anonymous No.15440817]

>>15440680
Bateman being superficial and glib after horrific murder is character development, I suppose, but at that point I just wanted to finish the book.

[Anonymous No.15440828]

>>15437739
Shoot, ment Pensées, by Pascal.

[Anonymous No.15440833]

O Alquimista (Paulo Coelho) >6/10
Solar Lottery (PKD) >7/10
Cien años de soledad
(Gabriel García Márquez) >10/10

[Anonymous No.15440858]

>>15440817
>Bateman being superficial and glib after horrific murder
this better
>Bateman being superficial and glib (and sad and hollow as shit)

[Anonymous No.15440875]

>>15437735
Based pedoreader

[Anonymous No.15441726]

>>15440622
I've noticed that since I am off work with this pandemic my sleep schedule has moved later and later which I can feel is unhealthy, might try that book, thanks

[Anonymous No.15441823]

Goldner Topf: E.T.A. Hoffmann = 7/10
Faust: Johann Wolfgang Goethe = 8/10
Dune: Frank Herbert = 9/10

[Anonymous No.15442064]

>>15440646
It's pomo literature

[Anonymous No.15442111]

>>15431855
Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? by Baudrillard 7/10. It was pretty good but I feel like I enjoy most other things Baudrillard has written more.
Tomb for 500.000 Soldiers by Pierre Guyotat 10/10. One of my favourite books, probably because it had such an inspiration from Maldoror, which is also one of my favourite books.
Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima 8/10.
Extremely interesting if anything, good short and solid read. Really liked his meditations on "ultimate sensation."

[Anonymous No.15442123]

Harassment Architecture 3/5
Don Quixote 5/5
Flashman and the Redskins 5/5

[Anonymous No.15442157]

>The Man Who Fell To Earth
6/10
>The Shadow Out of Time
9/10
>This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
7/10 - it's not really supposed to be liked

[Anonymous No.15442166]

>>15431855
>my diary 10/10
>my poetry volume 10/10
>my novel 10/10

[Anonymous No.15442666]

There's a unfortunate lack of discussion happening in this thread; maybe I misunderstood it's purpose.

[Anonymous No.15442809]

There's an unfortunate lack of discussion happening in this thread; maybe I misunderstood it's purpose.

[Anonymous No.15442829]

>the brothers karamazov
1/10
>War and Peace
1/10
>Clifford for president
10/10

[Anonymous No.15442852]

>>15431855
TENOUTTATEN

[Anonymous No.15442854]

>>15442829
Friendly reminder that Clifford for president has more political nuance than every single political philosopher of the nineteenth and twentieth century.

[Anonymous No.15442900]

>>15442854
Subtext doesn't mean nuance

[Anonymous No.15442916]

>>15438210
anything less would've been wrong

[Anonymous No.15443099]

>>15432958
Fuck Malcolm Gladwell

[Anonymous No.15443117]

>>15442916
wrong

[Anonymous No.15443119]

>>15443099
Why do you say that? I've only read this one book by him, but the content was engaging.

[Anonymous No.15443193]

Girl With Curious Hair, DFW, 8/10
The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro, 5/10
The Conquest of Bread, Kropotkin, 7/10

[Anonymous No.15443210]

>>15443193
>The Remains of the Day, Ishiguro, 5/10

What didn't you enjoy?

[Anonymous No.15443219]

>>15443119
His whole appeal relies on oversimplifying and overstating, often to the point of flat-out misrepresenting, findings from the social sciences and psychology. He's a journalist. He wants to tell a good story. You won't end up learning a lot of accurate things from reading his books.

[Anonymous No.15443226]

The Maimed by Hermann Ungar 8/10
Double Down by Steven and Frederick Barthelme 8/10
House of Cards by Robyn Dawes 7/10

[Anonymous No.15443265]

The Gay Science 9/10
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man 7/10
Tractatus Logico Philosophicus 8/10

[Anonymous No.15443281]

>>15443210
Mainly I thought Ishiguro was much too forgiving of Nazi sympathizers, the book basically ends on Stevens saying "oops, guess I messed up, gotta do better from now on." It felt like he never truly reckoned with the moral implications of unflinchingly serving a Nazi sympathizer. Also, I get that the restrained style was supposed to be representative of Stevens and his worldview and such, but it made for a pretty dull read. Not a bad book and I read it with some friends who don't read too much, so it was a good book for the group, but I wasn't very impressed. Did you feel differently about the book?

[Anonymous No.15443306]

>>15443281
what's wrong with being a nazi sympathizer? isn't that a good thing?

[Anonymous No.15443317]

>>15431855
>Mythology by Edith Hamilton
9/10 but why does she hate Apollodorus so much when she constantly uses his accounts over others?
>A Confederacy of Dunces
10/10
One of the funniest books I've read
>Superintelligence
5.5/10
Super dry at times, has no real discussion of the state of AI research that might inform one of how seriously his proclamations need to be treated. Makes a couple solid points though.

[Anonymous No.15443328]

Of Mice and Men - 8/10
Ficciones - 10/10
The Crying of Lot 49 - 9/10

[Anonymous No.15443337]

>>15443219
Oh, I didn't read it for academic purposes necessarily. I just wanted to peer into a world that I wasn't entirely familiar to me and see if I found it engaging. Even if portions of the book were oversimplified, it did offer infant lenses to observe the world through, which I can refine in more academic environments in the future.

[Anonymous No.15443370]

>>15443337
*that I wasn't entirely familiar with

[Anonymous No.15444637]

bump

[Anonymous No.15444713]

>>15431855

-Leda & the Swan (10/10)
-Miracleman (10/10)
-The Glass Menagerie (10/10)

[Anonymous No.15445080]

>>15443281
I don't think you understand the book. The entire book even down to the techniques used in the prose is about denial. Stevens never truly changes. It's not that the book is forgiving of Nazi sympathizers, it's that Stevens (representative of England as a whole) is so mentally fucked by the downfall of their country that facing the reality of their situation in the world (as comparative bitches) is literally an impossibility.

[Anonymous No.15445227]

>>15445080
I get that Stevens is repressed and mired in denial, but Ishiguro manages to get past that by revealing how unreliable a narrator Stevens is. We start to suspect as much when Mrs. Kenton shows up. But even when we get past the unreliable narration, Ishiguro presents it as if the greatest tragedy of Stevens' life is his personal failings with Mrs. Kenton rather than his ethical failings. Maybe I'm being too critical or I just have no taste for the romance of it.
Just finished the movie and preferred it a bit, among other reasons, because although it makes clear that Stevens is remorseful, we don't get his inner thoughts. This felt more satisfying to me because it seemed less like shortcomings regarding WWII were being eclipsed by mere romance.

[Anonymous No.15445917]

No longer human/8
Portrait of the artist/9 (reread)
Don quixote/10

[Anonymous No.15445944]

Up country - 7
Horus Rising - 8
Hyperion - 9

[Anonymous No.15447033]

>>15431855
Early Greek Philosophy - Barnes, 8/10
The Rise of China vs the Logic of Strategy - Luttwak, 7/10
The Biocentric Worldview - Ludwig Klages, 9/10

Life is too short for bad books.

[Anonymous No.15447098]

>>15431855
After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre: 10/10, will buy a hardcover copy and reread multiple times over the rest of my lifetime.
Might is Right - 6/10, will likely never read again.
Snow Country by Kawabata Yasunari - 5/10, will never read again. Had a nice atmosphere, and finished with a bang, but was pretty banal and uninteresting otherwise.

[Anonymous No.15447113]

>fear and loathing in las vegas
7/10

>crash
4/10

>no longer human
10/10

[Anonymous No.15447127]

>>15432669
Is that you, Abbas?

[Anonymous No.15447576]

East of Eden 9/10
The Trial 8/10
Neuromancer 8/10

all really good shit. the one good thing about having only having started reading recently is that I have so many fantastic books to read for the first time

[Anonymous No.15448077]

>How Fiction Works James Wood 6/10
Nice bit of rambling on Wood's part but it just wasn't as compact as I would've liked. Too much time was spent on the littlest and most innocent of things and just as I felt a conclusion was going to be reached, he end his resolution in a few short sentences and move onto something else. Felt more like diary entries then something meant for publication
>Hall of Uselessness Simon Leys 9/10
Good shit, nice assortment of witty essays, you feel Leys' erudition shine through his simple but cutting prose style. Took a dip here and there and took me around 6 months to complete, had a wonderful time with them.
> The Hunter Donald Westlake (?/10)
Kept me engaged, different form of Westlake them what I'm used but really want to read more. Strange page turner

[Anonymous No.15448138]

>>15431855
Conan: The Original Stories by Robert E Howard:
7/10
Eragon:
6/10
Eldest:
6.5/10

[Anonymous No.15448295]

the people's republic of walmart by leigh phillips - 7/10
the scramble for africa by thomas pakenham - 5/10
islam the people and the state by sami zubaida - 6/10

[Anonymous No.15449059]

>>15431855

>Meditations and other Metaphysical writings -7/10
>Leviathan - 6/10
>Ethics (spinny) - 9/10

[Anonymous No.15449150]

>>15431855
They were all shit. I have to stop reading non fiction.

[Anonymous No.15449215]

>>15431855
>The Stranger
9/10 - The narrative is so clear and concise that it reads effortlessly. The characters are amusing in a realistic way (the old man that beats his dog but secretly loves him), Raymond, the witty wife-beater, and the narrator. I am thoroughly enjoying it so far. (Halfway through)
>Moby Dick
10/10 so far. This book is surprisingly easy to read. The adventure begins from page 1. (I'm on Chapter 5 lmao)
>The Bell Curve
9/10 - Like most non-fiction it is more difficult to read. However, the topic is probably the most important subject not being discussed today. It is relevant to every aspect of our lives and will decide the fate of our country as a whole. This is a must-read, albeit, a difficult and long one.

[Anonymous No.15449400]

play it as it lays 8/10
the watchdogs didn’t bark: the cia, nsa, and the crimes of the war on terror 7/10
the twenty days of turin 8/10

[Anonymous No.15449448]

A canticle for Leibowitz 6/10
Venus in furs 8.5 /10
The iIliad 10/10

[Anonymous No.15449702]

>>15432180
>mere Christianity is too shallow.
I agree as far as serious thought goes, but the genus of Lewis is that his arguments will answer every question or argument a layperson will ever ask. I've found him more useful then anyone else in talking to normal people.
>>15432958
Gladwell isn't wrong about a lot of stuff, but people that are invested in his stuff are all fags.

[Anonymous No.15449822]

>>15431855
>The dharma bums 3/10
Teehee, I'm a youngster running around with no responsibility. its a shit version of waldens pond or whatever its called.
>the metamorphosis 9.9/10
weird. creepy. macabre. random. but there are still morals to be learned.
>patriots history of the united states 9/10
finally a decent history book of the US

anyone know a book with an evil southern belle character? ever since I read flannery oconner I've got an insatiable appetite for southern gothic

[Anonymous No.15449868]

>>15431855
The raft
Dune
Dune messiah

[Anonymous No.15449879]

>>15449868
Blah forgot rating
>The raft 7/10
>Dune 10/10
>Dune messiah 9/10

[Anonymous No.15449950]

>>15431855
> The Post Office Girl by Zweig
6/10.
> The Topeka School by Ben Lerner
7/10. Decent concept but Lerner thinks he’s readers are too dumb to understand, it did have mainstream marketing though.

>Augustus by John Williams
9/10. Not as good as Stoner or BC but it’s still Williams. Augustus writing about his own death comes close to those chapters in Stoner.

[Anonymous No.15450024]

>>15437065
>4/10
Nigga what?

[Anonymous No.15450045]

>>15431855
Dubliners 8/10
Old man and the sea 7.5/10
The great Gatsby 8/10

[Anonymous No.15450261]

>>15431855
The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back 7/10
The road 4/10
Le camp des saints 8/10

[Anonymous No.15450568]

The Outsider 5/10
Girl with the Curious Hair 7/10
Chamber of Secrets 6/10

[Anonymous No.15450678]

>>15450261
dude the road was good you take that back.

[Anonymous No.15450841]

>>15449702
>Gladwell isn't wrong about a lot of stuff, but people that are invested in his stuff are all fags
Like I said earlier in the thread, it was my first, brief foray into memetic transmission and beginners discussion on the etiology of epidemics. I know it's pop non-fiction, which I don't read that often, but I just picked it up to see if that material interested me. I certainly didn't intend on expressing a slavish investment in Gladwell's word.

[Anonymous No.15451004]

Animal Farm - 10/10
1984 - 10/10
Brave New World - 10/10

[Anonymous No.15451037]

>>15451004
I'm guessing your age is 10

[Anonymous No.15451096]

the idiot 8/10
a room of one's own 6/10
capitalist realism 5/10

[Anonymous No.15451101]

>>15431855

Augustus - John Williams 7/10
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace 10/10
Heart of a Dog - Mikhail Bulgakov 6/10

[Anonymous No.15451185]

>>15436973
>>War and Peace, Tolstoy. 10/10
Thinking of reading, what made it stand out?
>>15442829
>>War and Peace
>1/10
Lol why 1/10?

[Anonymous No.15451216]

I am a Cat - 9/10
Illiad - 8/10
Men Without Women - 8/10

[Anonymous No.15451480]

>>15450678
I don't know man It felt very long and tiring to me. Many people consider it to be mccarthy's worst book. It may be good literary but I just didn't enjoy reading it

[Anonymous No.15451755]

spool of blue thread 4/10
king of torts 5/10
voodoo river 3/10

[Anonymous No.15451775]

The Master and Margarita 8/10
A Cynic wouldn't Suit This Profession 6/10
The Sorrows of Young Werther 7/10

[Anonymous No.15451886]

>Some boring ass book I read so people think I'm smart
9/10 I really got it, you probably wouldn't though

>Not one of my actual last 3 because I'm afraid /lit/ would make fun of the real one
Quite a pedestrian read but not wholly terrible 6/10

>I'm an insecure faggot, obviously
Genius, just genius. Joyce at his best 10/10

[Anonymous No.15452060]

>>15451886
I answered genuinely, post yours

[Anonymous No.15452069]

>>15451185
War and Peace was surprisingly easy reading, with real, authentic characters who were easy to identify with even when their personality or situation were vastly different from mine. I could understand their point of view, actions, and changes and they were almost all very memorable.

It never felt like the author was directing things to support a presupposed agenda (looking at you dosto) and when characters had existential or philosophical quandaries, they felt nature to that character and that situation.

Also, it was very educational about the time period and Napoleonic war as I was very unaware of that part of history before reading.

[Anonymous No.15452092]

>>15431855
>Reading
What board do you think you're on

A Canticle for Leibowitz 7/10
Growth of the Soil 8/10 I would probably rate it higher if I read it in original Norwegian
Marine! The Life of Chesty Puller 6/10

[Anonymous No.15452108]

>>15431855
Orlando, Simonds 8/10
The Crying Book, Christle 7/10
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Sanchez 4/10

[Anonymous No.15452120]

>>15451004
All of these are excellent books. If you truly believe these are 10/10, please get out of the house more. If this is a troll, please get out of the house more. Maybe try to get laid.

[Anonymous No.15452136]

>>15442809
Be the change you want to see.

/lit only infrequently discusses anything. Compound sentences are rare and discouraged. Posts with actually paragraphs are ignored. Try writing a complete thought about a book and, unless that thought is deeply racist or misogynist, the entire post will be ignored.

[Anonymous No.15452153]

>>15431855
The tartar steppe 8/10.very good but not something I want to read ever again

For whom the bell tolls 10/10.a reread and one of my favorite books.people either love or hate Hemingway and I am of the former

Nine stories by Salinger 7.5 out of 10.i really loved some of the stories but others fell flat.i will reread soon bc I got the impression that Salinger’s short works r an acquired taste

[Anonymous No.15452160]

>>15452136
I mean, I tried to contribute to the thread. I could have written a bit more, but like you said long-form posts with paragraphs are ignored.
This is me by the way >>15432958

[Anonymous No.15452639]

>>15452160
I was originally uninterested in any of the books you listed, but The Tipping Point might interest me. What perspective does it represent? Exactly what aspects of human behavior does it examine? Is it written more academically or more accessibly?

[Anonymous No.15452662]

The croning 9/10
Last days by Everson 6/10
Kraken 2 /10

[Anonymous No.15452709]

>"thus spoke zarathustra"
8/10

>"novela como nube"
8.5/10

>"a handbook for the perfect adventurer"
6/10

[Anonymous No.15452980]

>>15452639
>What perspective does it represent?
It's primarily a work of pop-psychology/sociology/behavioral economics crafting a framework upon which to see how ideas or products gain traction within a given environment. Throughout the book this framework is built up through a variety of loosely connected examples. One of the main themes focuses on, I guess you could say, the grassroots, incremental progression of an idea that eventually gains enough memetic momentum to explode into something that is broadly recognized. It's similar to how in population biology there's great difficulty found in the business of predicting the rise and fall of growth rates since they tend to appear stable for a few cycles, but eventually hit a tipping point in which the system suffers from extreme structural instability; that was discussed in the book Chaos which I read deliberately after The Tipping Point.

>Exactly what aspects of human behavior does it examine?
I'd say aspects regarding the dialectic humans have with each other during interactions (what is gleaned/transmitted) as well as with their environment. How we are influenced by these interactions, the limits of social competency (Dunbar's number), three archetypes that Gladwell claims are major progenitors of epidemics, and social, node based frameworks that serve as displaced memory systems are also discussed.

>Is it written more academically or more accessibly?
It's definitely the most accessible of the three books in my post.

[Anonymous No.15453214]

>>15431855
Wealth of Nations books 1-3
>9/10
City of god
>11/10
Leviathan
>reading rn but excellent so far

[Anonymous No.15453247]

>>15437736
Just got ‘The Jewish Wars’ by Josephus; hoping that I enjoy it as much as you with your Roman books

[Anonymous No.15453264]

Storm of Steel 7/10
Bronze age Mindset 8/10
the Machiavellians 10/10

[Anonymous No.15453369]

Spillover - 6/10
Madam Bovary - 2/10
Starvation Heights - 8/10

[Anonymous No.15453511]

Augustine's Confessions - 10/10
Crime and Punishment - 9/10
Lord of the World - 7/10

[Anonymous No.15453739]

>>15452980
Nice, sounds right up my alley, I'll add it to my to-read list

[SAGE No.15453752]

Confessions - St. Augustine - 2/10 (couple interesting ideas but overall shit)
The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis - 10/10
The Silver Chair - C.S. Lewis - 10/10

[Anonymous No.15454901]

>>15431855
Journey to the end of the night - 7.5
Skin in the game - 7
Ferdydurke - 9.5

[Anonymous No.15454914]

>>15453214
You must be very passionate about politics. I was forced to read extracts of those books in the past, would never read them in my free time, let alone 'love them. '

[Anonymous No.15454939]

>>15454914
Not him but I finished Wealth of Nations 2 months ago, it is great, gives you an appreciation of what capitalism could be instead of our neoliberal corporate hellscape of today

[Anonymous No.15456185]

bump

[Anonymous No.15456613]

>>15431855
city of saints and madmen - 10/10
the crying of lot 49 - 8/10
the art of war - 8/10

[Anonymous No.15457281]

How do you guys find what to read? Do you compile a list of classics and read through them or do you read within genres or from authors that you like? Do you tend to read more fiction or nonfiction?

[Anonymous No.15457306]

>>15431855
>Brando Sando's Stormlight Archive 10/10
>Lies of Locke Lamora 10/10
> Tales of Earthsea #1 9/10

To be fair I'm on my 3rd read of SA

[Anonymous No.15457477]

>>15431855
Paradise Lost 11/10
Harassment Architecture 5/10
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind 8/10

[Anonymous No.15457833]

>Hesse - Narcissus and Goldmund
7/10. Great as most of Hesse. Didn't like the Ending though: Dude should've gotten divine punishment when he tried to bang Rebekkah. Instead, he keeps living the fuckboy life and gets a happy ending, wtf?

>Stefan Zweig - The Royal Game
8/10. I was expecting something completely different, but wasn't disappointed. Reminded me a little bit of Sartre's "No Exit". Would've liked if he won the game though.

>Friedrich Dürrenmatt - Suspicion
4/10. Off to a weak start with Dürrenmatt. Didn't like the message. Muh "nihilism bad, christianity good". Not to mention the author apparently did not get Nietzsche in the slightest. And seriously, why does he have to ruin the end with Gulliver killing the doctor? Idk man, I'll try something different from him but if "The Visit" doesn't cut it, I'll go back to reading Max Frisch.

[Anonymous No.15457977]

>>15457281
A mix of everything. I have a list of classics that I would like to read and also some names in the back of my head that get shilled here. If I happen to be in a book store, I look out for those and if they catch my attention within the first, say, twenty pages, I buy them and read the rest. There's also some authors I've discovered by pure coincidence such as T. C. Boyle; I bought "The Harder they Fall" just because the cover looked promising and I loved it. Then of course, there's also the occasional recommendation I get here and lastly, I want to re-read all the books that were forced upon me in school. Figured it would be good to give them a second change because now, I really only read because I want to and not because I have to.

For non-fiction, I have a buttload of e-books pirated from open directories and seedboxes and with those, I really just go after the title and if they fit my general interests.

[Anonymous No.15458453]

>>15457281
Recently(ish) started keeping a spreadsheet with all the books I've read and all the books I want to read in the future. It's pretty helpful to have everything in one place and to be able to filter the list by things like what I haven't read, genre, year, country, length, etc. I do this more with movies than books, but sometimes if I really don't know what to read next, I'll just filter out everything I've read and use a RNG to pick what to read next. Since the list only has classics and things I'm personally interested in, RNG always spits out a pleasant surprise. The spreadsheet initially seems like an overwhelming and impossible task, but you just start with the most obvious stuff, contribute a bit at a time, and eventually it develops into something broad and useful.
With nonfiction (specifically philosophy) I try to be more structured. Right now I'm on a pretty specific track that started with Kant and Fichte and leads into the 20th century German and French continentals. Currently working through Hegel.

[Anonymous No.15458569]

>>15458453
>Currently working through Hegel
How is it working out? I have been wanting to read Hegel for a long time but have been put off by many saying that he was incomprehensible, at least in German (which is my mother tongue). Can you understand him or do you have to read secondary literature as an aid?

[Anonymous No.15458788]

>>15449215
>the bell curve
>good
JEJ

[Anonymous No.15458793]

>>15458569
Hegel certainly isn't the kind of writer that you read once and then understand and move on. Like other system-builders, you need to wrestle with him quite a bit before you start to understand his methods and goals. He's definitely a daunting figure; I'd suggest on the one hand preparing with as much Kant/Fichte/Schelling/etc. as you can tolerate, but on the other hand not letting yourself put him off forever. No amount of preparation will make him easy, at some point you just have to dive in and start putting in the work. Currently I'm supplementing my readings with lectures as I go, but I plan to work through some Kojève and Hyppolite once I finish.

[Anonymous No.15459265]

>>15458788
Sorry, m8. Brainlets are doomed. That's reality.

[Anonymous No.15459464]

>>15431855
Man into wolf by Eisler: 7.5
The Golden Pavillion by Mishima: 8
American Psycho by some guy: 9

[Anonymous No.15459802]

Walden - 7
Fooled By Randomness - 6
The Bell Jar - 4

[Anonymous No.15460059]

>>15453369
why didn't you like bovary?

[Anonymous No.15460112]

>Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar
8/10 - a pretty gripping and intimate history of Stalin and his inner circle during his years in power. Only somewhat marred by some questionable interpretations on the part of the author and overuse of primary sources that are of questionable veracity. Engaging, well written, interesting anecdotes on almost every page.

>Outlines of Pyrrhonism
7/10 - Hard to rate classical works of philosophy. But the particular translation I read was penned by a professor who clearly knows his stuff. Great introduction and commentary, clearly outlining where pyrrhonism differs from modern skepticism and how it functions more as an ethical guide than an epistemological doctrine. The work itself is certainly interesting.

>Soldier for a Summer: One Man's Journey from Dublin to the Frontline of the Libyan Uprising
1/10 - Atrocious. I forced myself through it because I had purchased it years ago, forgot about it, rediscovered it and decided I may as well read it. One point for a single interesting remark on the not quite so inextricable relationship between democracy and liberalism that strangely enough jived with a Junger quote stuck in my head. Poorly written, self-indulgent, and moralizing from the last person who should be.

[Anonymous No.15461144]

>>15460112
I don't think I've ever read a book that I'd consider 1/10. How long did it take you to read?

[Anonymous No.15461187]

>>15461144
A couple of days. It's not a very long book, but the author is no writer, just a self-aggrandizing foreign fighter from Ireland who felt he needed to tell his story.

[Anonymous No.15461201]

>>15431855
Under the Molehill, an Elizabethan Spy Story, by John Bossy
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
Peter and Wendy, by J.M Barrie

[Anonymous No.15461833]

I'm surprised this thread is still lasting. Is it natural for threads to last a couple of days on /lit/?

[Anonymous No.15462440]

>>15461833
/lit/ is a slow board

[Anonymous No.15462474]

>keep starting books then start another before I've finished the first
send help

>the first 110 pages of A Confederacy of Dunces
8.5/10

>the first 600 pages of The Stand (uncut)
7.5/10 Great in bursts, then slows down and meanders, probably should've read the cut version

>the first 150 pages of 2666
9/10 started out rocky, was considering dropping it, then got really fucking good and I couldn't put it down, I might actually finish it before starting another book

[Anonymous No.15463626]

>>15462474
How do you read 100+ pages of a book and then drop it temporarily, wouldn't sunk-cost dynamics start to creep in?

[Anonymous No.15463702]

>>15431855
Tales of the City 9/10
Planet of the Apes 7/10
No One Left to Lie to 6/10

[Anonymous No.15463999]

The Mists of Avalon - 8.5/10
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - 10/10
Wizardrous - 7/10

Just realized that 2/3 of these books I found on /lit/... I guess this board isn’t totally useless....

[Anonymous No.15464073]

>>15461833
I've kept threads bumped for over a week out of spite

[Anonymous No.15464112]

>>15464073
More opportunities for someone to give me a (You)

[Anonymous No.15465231]

>>15441823
Sell me on Dune. I've always heard about it, but know very little outside of the name and it's got deserts

[Anonymous No.15465352]

>>15431855
house of leaves 6.5
if on a winters night a traveler 9
blood meridian 8

[Anonymous No.15465690]

>>15431855
>The Aeneid of Virgil, 9/10

>Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, 7/10

>The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen, 6/10

[Anonymous No.15465751]

>>15438230
>Illuminatus! Trilogy
>Neither 5/10 nor 10/10
Elaborate

>>15440614
>>15440671
>>15432219
>American Psycho
>What is stream of consciousness?
While I agree it is tedious at times, the point of those sections was to demonstrate how much time he spent thinking about those things despite how little they actually affected him.

>>15437065
>4/10
Go back and reread it until you understand

[Anonymous No.15465837]

>Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
>7/10
This was my first Hofstadter book. He has neat ideas and clever ways of explaining it, but sometimes it felt like he was talking about the same thing over and over again after he had made the point. His anecdotes were also off-putting, and at times it felt like he wanted to tell you how smart he was.

>The Four Agreements
>2/10
The worst 'philosophy' book I've ever read. The guy pulls this stuff out of nowhere, acts like it's a universal truth, and his proofs are anecdotes and hypotheticals.

>Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World
>2/10
Again, this book's advice is anecdotally based, self-contradictory and factually wrong at times. Without too much effort, I could make equally convincing arguments that recommend the opposite of what this 'ex-navy seal' prescribes.

My father got the last two for me as a gift. I'm slowly learning he has awful taste.

[Anonymous No.15465854]

Patriotism by Mishima 10/10
Sun and Steel by Mishima 8/10
TSWFFGWTS by Mishima 9/10

[Anonymous No.15466034]

>>15463626
Because I bought a shitload of books recently so I'm getting antsy looking forward to too many things.

[Anonymous No.15466062]

>The Restaurant At The End of The Universe 7/10
Pretty good book. Not as funny or as good as the first book, but it's still a fun read. I feel like I loved the first one and I was pretty much finished with this one by the end of the book.

>The Death of Ivan Ivylich 8/10
Great short story. The way everyone hates Ivan while he's having all these thought about life, death and fear that no one can hear are great. And the bit where his fear of death is seen like a beast watching over him was beautiful.

>Anna Karenina 9/10
Amazing book. I adore levins part of this story and the parts about him and stepan are so comfy. Anna's parts are hit or miss tho, they do often hit like her horrible husband who turns out to be the good guy and her feelings towards her kids, but they can be boring. Also the last part of this book is so forced that it feels like a parody.

[Anonymous No.15466947]

>>15431855
Armor 7
Catcher in the Rye 4
Man in the High Castle 6
Currently reading the Worm Ouroboros which is an 8 1/3 of the way in.

[Anonymous No.15467060]

>>15452120
What happens after I go outside and get laid?

[Anonymous No.15467099]

>>15431855
"As I Lay Dying" by Faulkner - Unlike many things I've read, an easy 7/10 for novelty (I'm no native English speaker and am only discovering the American classics)
"The Case For Germany" by Laurie - less captivating than I hoped and not what you'd normally call a work of fiction, I'd say a 4/10 but I might not be doing it justice
"American Gods" by Gaiman - a childhood favorite I revisited, 9/10

[Anonymous No.15467280]

>>15431855
Moby-Dick: 10/10 Holy shit so good. Best in the English language IMO
Gravity's Rainbow: 8/10 Also quite good but his prose is confusing and convoluted. Overrated by some metrics but underrated by others. It was actually quite a pleasant read for the most part
Lakeside of the Long Sun: 5/10 Not a strong work from Wolfey boy. I feel like he started writing it from a very strong point and had a good ending in mind but stalled in the middle getting from A to B. Very boring.

[Anonymous No.15467321]

The Art of the Rifle 6/10
Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha 7/10
Book of Five Rings, appropriate 5/10

[Anonymous No.15467336]

Fuck You, Cunt! 7/10
My Dirty Shit Is Your Milk Now 4/10
I Rape Holocaust Victims 9/10

[Anonymous No.15467350]

>>15431855
bhagavad gita 6/10 (great parts, but lots of digressions, much is already more concise in various upanishads)
the zen reader [thomas cleary collection] 5/10 (mixed bag)
analects of confucius 7/10 (extremely based and incredibly tradpilled, just some filial piety stuff that goes too far imo)

[Anonymous No.15467484]

The Stranger - 6/10
Ulysses - 9/10
Naked Lunch - 10/10

[Anonymous No.15467488]

>>15467484
>those arms
>that thigh-gap

[Anonymous No.15467657]

>>15467336
based 11/10

[Anonymous No.15467664]

Perfume 6/10
Collected Stories of John O'Hara 8/10
The Other Side of the Sky (Clarke) 6/10

[Anonymous No.15468695]

>We (Yevgeny Zamyatin)
4/10. Decent premise but a rather unsatisfying execution and conclusion. Not especially interesting. Very repetitive, and the main character was melodramatic to the point of ridicule.

>Casino Royale (Ian Fleming)
7/10. Enjoyable first half, excellent action and characterization. Really falls apart by the end, especially in the final quarter. Should have ended after Bond defeats Chiffre in the casino. As an introduction to Bond, I was impressed and would consider reading more.

>The Rum Diary (Hunter S. Thompson)
8/10. Very enjoyable setting and characters. Some scenes went on a little long and the phrasing of certain descriptions can be rather amateurish at times. A bit cliche and sure has a lot of wish fulfillment for the author. I have absolutely no interest in the movie after seeing the trailer.

[Anonymous No.15468699]

>>15431855

>The Iron King: 9/10
>Death of a salesman: 6/10
>What the Buddha Taught: 7/10

[Anonymous No.15469407]

>>15431855
>The cold and the cruel Gilles Deleuze
8/10
>The gay science by Nietzsche
7.5/10 - uselessly cryptic
>Hadrian's Memories by Marguerite Yourcenar
8/10

[Anonymous No.15469976]

Doktor Glas: 5/5
Blood Meridian: 4/5
On Stranger Tides: 3/5

[Anonymous No.15470048]

Normal People - 8
Wind up bird chronicle - 8
The elementary particles- 9