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/lit/ - Literature

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5043300 No.5043300[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

What do I have to do to begin living the literary lifestyle?

What books that when read would result in me gaining the most knowledge? Would they even be in the form of books? What should I do?

>> No.5043304

Stop overthinking about knowledge by reading or literary lifestyle. Those are essentially myths? The most efficient way of reading is reading about what you're intersted in and learning to discover your tastes and limits as you read. You'll also pick up a lot of good references along the way.

I can rec books if you provide topics of interest and language of choice.

>> No.5043312
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5043312

>>5043300
the kit is a bit dated if you ask me but start with it

>> No.5043314

>>5043304

Sure.

I'm specifically interested in books that tie together history as well as elements of philosophy. Most importantly, I'm looking for a book that will make me look at life completely differently, something that will change how I perceive things, how I act, etc. I speak English.

>> No.5043341

OP here, I've heard that No Longer Human is a great book and it looks pretty interesting, what do you think? Would it be a good book to start out with?

>> No.5043352

>>5043314
> that tie together history as well as elements of philosophy

Try Machiavelli's The Prince or anything by him.
Try Plutarch's Parallel lives.
Try Herodotus or Livy.

> a book that will make me look at life completely differently

That will depend a lot on your mindset and education.

Plato and Aristotles are two giants of philosophy, they're a good bet if you want intellectual challenge.
Descartes, Hume and Kant are credited for kickstarting modern philosophy.
Nietzsche, Marx and Freud introduced the world to the heuristics of suspicion that still dominates us today.

>>5043341
From what I head, worth a try, tough perhaps not as a start.
Fuck, OP, actually go straight for it. Reading is also about daring and exploration, so why not ?

>> No.5043363

>>5043341
If it sounds interesting go ahead and read it. Don't be discouraged if the book sounds difficult. You can always read up on any parts that confuse you later.

>> No.5043380

>>5043352
To add to Machiavelli and Plutarch (though with Plutarch you do get the classical myth-history as a basis) I'd add Ibn Khaldun's History of the Beduins. It's a big book but I'd say it compares well with The Florentine History, also offering a bit of The Prince in it too.

>> No.5043396

yep this is an actual thread on /lit/

>> No.5043422

>>5043352

Thank you, it looks like a great list!

And yes, it is. I'll be picking it up soon.

>>5043363

Of course, thanks.

>>5043380

Sounds good, will do.

>> No.5043430
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5043430

>>5043300
read this then read some introducing books of people you can namedrop (http://www.introducingbooks.com/)) then read whatever the new fotm book is on /lit/

voila, you are now a patrician

>> No.5043436

>>5043430

Thanks, however, I'm not trying to take the easy way, I want to actually learn something.

>> No.5043442
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5043442

>>5043314
>I'm specifically interested in books that tie together history as well as elements of philosophy.
>I'm looking for a book that will make me look at life completely differently, something that will change how I perceive things, how I act, etc.

>> No.5043449

>>5043442

I'm trying to stray away from spiritual things currently, I'll definitely be delving into them later though.

>> No.5043468

>>5043300
there's really no good answer to this: you just have to start somewhere and keep going

there's a lot to cover and you have to accept that you won't cover anywhere near everything

for a more traditional reading list you could look at yale's directed studies course and choose some books from that. the booklists are:
http://directedstudies.yale.edu/literature-books
http://directedstudies.yale.edu/philosophy-books
http://directedstudies.yale.edu/historical-political-thought-books

this would leave out most contemporary texts however and that's a whole nother problem, so you could go through some lists on this site for more contemporary literature: http://thegreatestbooks.org/

if you truly must have an answer then read siddhartha.

>> No.5043479

>>5043468

Thanks for the lists but I must ask: why Siddhartha?

>> No.5043489

>>5043479
because it's short

>> No.5043492

>>5043489

But what exactly does it have to offer?

>> No.5044154

>>5043300
>become NEET
>read some bohemian books but not too much
>lay around idly, walk around idly
>don't create much art
>live art