'>>23352422
26
East Of Eden
I love it, Steinbeck is one of my favourite authors and I love how vivid his characterisation is - why is Cathy such a bitch though?';

'>>23352422
30-1, but almost there.
Pic related.
Gay.';

'>>23352422
i want to smell and kiss her feet';

'>>23352422
38
Solenoid, by Mircea Cartarescu
Engaging Kafkaesque journey into the life of a former aspiring writer, current school teacher.';

'>>23352422
Are webnovels deemed literature?';

'>>23352422
>My age is unknown to me and the authorities
>I can't read
>I can barely form a coherent thought even without content, thus rendering me having a thought on the book that I am currently reading twice impossible';

'>>23352457
>her';

'>>23352422
20
nothing
bad';

'>turning 23 in a few days
>What I talk about when I talk about running
>makes me want to start running';

'>>23352535
it ages you
guy in pic is 30';

'>40
A House for Mr Biswas
It's comfy as shit. Like Dickens but about a lovable obnoxious pajeet in the carribean. Why don't they redeem their debts?';

'>23
>reading a few, but Simplicissimus is my current favorite
>this novel is insane to me. It came out in the mid 1600s yet Simplicissimus gets into the craziest situations that I could only imagine novels from a few centuries later getting into like learning witchcraft, getting teleported by a magic bench over 200 miles away, and his dealings with the tides of changing fortune up and down in extreme ways constantly. It's a silly book, but a wise book at the same time somehow.';

'>>23352569
Haruki Murakami is 75 and he looks amazing for his age. I don't want to be a pro athlete. I just want to run because it seems fun';

'>>23352422
>22
>will to power
>he repeats himself a lot';

'>35
>/lit/
>FEET';

'feet';

'>>23352422
>21
>Ulysses
>I'm only 300 pages in, but it's really good. The Proteus chapter, especially, was something out of this world, but the quality of the whole book is just unmatched by most of the stuff I read so far';

'>>23352457
feet are for punishing not worshiping';

'>28
>Blood Meridian
>Thoughts?
The most violent piece of literature I’ve engaged with! This was the first book where I went Jesus Christ and had to set it down for a little bit because it made my stomach churn. Jeez Louise it’s dense. I’d say at this point it’s a fun adventure story because the symbolism and everything is so opaque I have no idea what McCarthy is getting at. I’m a little bit pissed off because I was trying to do some reading about the book and spoiled a major plot point for myself.';

'26
the inhabited island (prisoners of power)
berry good. you follow a guy crash-landing on a shithole of a planet. the atmosphere is so thick that you can't see the stars, so the natives have no concept of other planets. main character struggles to fit in their military dictatorship as an outsider';

'>>23352422
22
Winter Pollen: Occassional Prose by Ted Hughes
It has been immensely useful for my dissertation essay so far. It has given me a lot to think about, in relation to the concepts of shamanic flight and the inner spiritual world of man. Additionally, it has brought into context a lot more of Hughe's poems for me - such as his interview with Ekbert Faas, where he details his perceptions of natural and synthetic violence.';

'>>23352846
>some renfaire fag or something made his magical realm IRL

gotta respect it';

'>>23353323
>shamanic flight
What traditional sources is he drawing on? I've been reading the Songs of Chu from ancient China, they're based on this.';

'Data mining thread';

'>>23352422
>35
>My Friend Van Gogh by Emile Bernard
>The Autumn of the Middle Ages by Huizinga
>Just started both of them yesterday but so far like each of them. Van Gogh's Letters are my favorite book and Bernard provides good background on Van Gogh and his art. His writing isnt bad either and some of his takes on art is the type of stuff i love to read. I just finished Gombrich's Art and Illusion and i found it fascinating. It had a mix of psychology and history; basically the evolution of art, what it is, and how the artist and viewer look at art throughout the ages. Ive been in a phase of reading about art recently so i figured i'd read Bernard's book which was rec'd to me by an anon here (thanks) before rereading Van Gogh's letters.
>I only read the first chapter of Huizinga but so far so good. I'm not too knowledgeable about the middle ages and the burgundian court but its already piqued my interest. From what i gather so far, Huizinga is trying to show the difference in perspective and mentality in the middle ages';

'>>23353369
As far as my understanding of his own interpretation of Shamanism and Shamanic flight, he draws mostly from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Jung. His deconstruction of Shakespeare's Measure by measure as a shamanic flight into the four poles of Tarquin, Lucrece, Adonis, and Venus within the chapter Notes on Shakespeare is very cool. His centenary tribute to T S Eliot ventures into that same Shamanic landscape. Of course the chapter is filled with Hughes' admiration for Eliot but it is a brilliant chapter as well. He delves more into the Jungian, in his explanations for Crow on the beach (Incredibly useful - as my essay is exploring the Crow mythos). Another notable chapter is The hanged man and the dragonfly - centred around interpreting Leonard Baskin's illustrations as spiritual wounds of a Mana-esque fashion.';

'>>23353374
>shall we just log the ip addresses and link to the data google and the other tech giants already have and share with us
>no, that's just what they'll be expecting us to do';

'>33
>Shuggie Bain and Basho's Poems
>Shuggie Bain is great. Not aesthetically brilliant, but a good story told extremely well. Basho is living up to his stature as a master of haikus. Gonna give Issa a try soon.';

'1
teh veri hungry captelliter
gagaga googoo good';

'>>23353410
>four poles
Yeah this is very present in the shamanism of China as well. Not so much of the truly ancient animist layer visible there but it does come up a bit in the songs of Chu, in the form of culture heroes with bear-transformation powers (interestingly this story also reproduces the Zeus-Selene "death from exposure to the true divine form" mytheme). I would assume the Chinese and Tibetan shamanic traditions are close cousins but I don't think it's been directly established archaeologically.
That all sounds really cool though, I should definitely check out Hughes. Also makes me feel a pang of guilt for not having finished reading some of those late Shakespeare plays too, I know Measure for Measure is well-regarded.

>>23353446
Have you read Wang Wei?';

'>>23352422
>33
>Sodomies in Elevenpoint
Great book, will finish it tonight. It is an "organic travel diary" where Busi alternates explicit descriptions of his sexual encounters with men, mostly but not only in third world countries, to extremely deep reflections on writing and advices on how to be a good writer. As you go on you realize that most of what he writes about when it comes to sex and travel description can actually be read as him putting in practice or showing what he has been talking about. Pick him up, he's a great author. More of his stuff should be translated, in my opinion.';

'>>23352422
22
V. and Godel Escher Bach
V. is fun if I don't take it seriously by trying to pretentiously read into it. I dropped GEB a few months ago after feeling like my brain was melting but I've read up on some of the concepts some more and started from the beginning again. Seems to be making more sense and the actual idea Hofstadter is getting at is a lot more profound than I previously understood';

'>19
>Moby Dick
Loving it. I think the (very) long sentences are meant to structurally resemble the flow of waves';

'33
Oresteia
Only just started but it's interesting';

'>>23352422
19
The History of the peloponnese war - thucydides
Going slow but the speeches are awesome.';

'>>23353473
>Have you read Wang Wei?
No, I haven't. I am fairly new to Eastern poetry. Studied Western poetry for the last decade and a half and decided to give Basho a go and it's blown my mind so fair. I'll put Wang Wei on my list.';

'>>23353519
Based. It has some parts that are kinda disappointing from a modern reader pov but overall it's some of the undeniably greatest stuff ever written.

>>23353528
There's a lot of variety in Chinese poetry but Wang Wei is the quintessential quiet, Buddhist poet of "absence" in the vein of Basho.';

'>>23353145
>major plot point
there are no major plot points in BM except maybe the ending
they just roam around killing for 400 pages and then it ends as predictably as it could be';

'>>23352422
>none of your business
>The Pale King
>Not bad. Certain vignettes are among the best things Wallace ever wrote. But I think the themes of all love being essentially self-mortifying, growth the fuck up, carry your cross and suffer through adult mundanity etc etc are simplistic and, paradoxically, a bit immature.';

'>>23352422
28
Imajica
I don't really like it. Probably would enjoy it more had I read it when I was younger where my imagination was less depleted';

'>>23352422
>32
>underworld by delillo
the good parts are good and the way he weaves all the characters together is cool but so much of it is about characters I don't care about, the Klara chapters are painful';

'>>23353473
That is intensely interesting how we see the same/similar ideas of Shamanism emerge amongst people seperated by thousands of kilometres. It makes me feel more and more that Jung was onto something tangible and sensory. I certainly need to read more Levi-Strauss. This bear-transformation and Songs of Chu as well. I would be curious to see how the geographic locale of tibetan shamanism caused it to differ from chinese shamanism - if they are cousins or perhaps delineated along a mutual path. Quite similar to how Irish Catholicism and Celtic Catholicism in general are disinct enough from their Roman cousin. If you are interested in reading some Hughes', I would reccommend Crow and Lupercal as the two bodies of work which really show his full poetic ability. Hamlet in my opinion is Shakespeare's greatest display of the shamanic flight. For instance, Prince Hamlet's chronic sexual dilemma surrounding his mother and uncle Claudius and this being transformed by Ophelia's submersible flower death into a natural almost salve-esque revelation.';

'23
The Sound and the Fury
Really loving, Took me a few pages to understand what was happening in the first part, but I found it to be very impactful as it went on';

'>>23352422
19
flowers of buffoonery
relatable';

'>>23353592
And it's not just China and Tibet, the four directions are also fundamental to Native American religion, whereas you don't really see them at all in Western traditions - you can see the "Eastern" (since NatAm peoples came from the far East) religious paradigm of shamanism and sort of balance it against the "Western" (West Asian and then later Mediterranean) paradigm which centers more around the temple and priesthood as an entity connected to a particular building. But ancient Indo-European nomadic traditions probably complicate this dichotomy too. I don't know anything really about the more granular differences but Tibet seems like a very cool world in itself, their visual art is stunning.
I don't know much about Crow but on looking it up it says something about the crow searching for a goddess - the goddess thing is a major archetype within the Chinese tradition, originating from the Chu songs, and bird transformation is a central part of Daoist lore which is in large part a remix of shamanism. I don't know to what extent I could really believe in a literal "collective unconscious" but the depth of the roots of these archetypes is absolutely immense and I'm sure they appear in all sorts of ways even in contemporary culture and end up affecting people who haven't the slightest clue about their origins.
>>23353592
>this being transformed by Ophelia's submersible flower death into a natural almost salve-esque revelation.
That's an awesome reading, I love it, can you elaborate on this part? Water goddesses specifically, and their flower adornments, are actually the specific form taken by those first antecedents of the shaman-goddess tradition in the Chu songs, so it's actually kinda mind-blowing to me that this similarity exists (and I would've never drawn the connection on my own, so thank you).';

'>>23352422
>33
>Mother of Learning Arc 2
>Having devoted my life to fantasy book reading, it's probably one of the last already published fantasy books I'm interested in reading :^(';

'>>23353716
Absolutely, we can see it in the Native American populations as well. I feel that was known to Hughes as well due to his anthropological archaeological academic background. We can catch a glimpse of this in Crow's Elephant Totem Song. The 'waltzing through the thorny growth' like a spiked tumour in the spiritual body of the tribe who worship this totem. I personally feel like this itself is a critique of the disconnect between western civilization and its pre-civilization history. Tibetan art is absolutely incredible, the mandalas and sculptures fill my mind - the V&A in London has this absolutely beautful painting called the Tangka painting. With its lotus throne and fiery hues. I think the inner sense of balance and direction is significantly more important within literature than people think. We see it come through exceptionally within like you said the connection to religious buildings.
Crow is such an enigmatic and dynamic character, as well as being a concept itself. Crow the being is heavily inspired by the Jungian archetype of the trickster and Hughes himself has spoken about the fertility aspects of the Crow character, with Crow representing the sperm and the unceasing ecstasy of life - the complete submission to primordial instinct. The Goddess and mother archetype are heavily present within the Crow books. Usually they take the form of Eve or simply 'woman' and Hughes uses the story of Eden to show how the Crow is representative of a physical, visible shamanic flight in order to commune and often times rescue the woman, who is representative of nature herself. A Horrible Religious Error, Apple Tragedy, and Crow's vanity show this best in my opinion.
Ophelia's drowned suicide amongst the foliage is the real turning point of Hamlet's spirutual wound - it is the point where he has failed to grasp the shaman inside him, the spirit guide of Horatio is no longer useful and instead it transforms him into a malevolent state of being pushed towards doom by his own father (a poignant tribal motif, a village elder). This is further reinforced by the British Celtic shamanism itself, with bodies of water being portals and sacred spaces. Ophelia enters one side and exits another - her death is transformative for both herself and Prince Hamlet, she becomes more than real to Hamlet to the point where he wishes to follow her into the ground itself. She herself has become a spirit greater than Hamlet's father because she occupied the Maiden character prevelant in a lot of Shakespeare. That doesnt even take into account the undertones of incest between Ophelia, her father, and brother. There are definitely further references in other works by Shakespeare. Such as The Tempest with Caliban and Sycorax and Ariel being quite literally ripped from the oak.
I think Keats understood this. 'The one pours balm upon the world' in the fall of Hyperion. This spiritual wound thats been left to fester since humanities divestiture from the natural world.';

'>26
>feast for crows & Washington bullets
>my fifth time through feast and its as mid as ever, way too many new characters and plots (this is why he will never finish the series) i could give less of a shit about the dornish and ironborn and arya's chapters are also low quality, do love the cerci, jamie, briene, and sansa plots tho and podrick "odd boy" payne is the GOAT
>Prashad is great writes a really accessible piece of serious scholarship on the most evil nation on earth, fuck amerikkka and long live the revolution
>>23353145
blood meridian is moby dick for redditors
>>23352452
hot
>>23352435
never finished this one, liked the one he did about the old man and the fish or whatever the fuck
>>23353619
is it as inscrutable as everybody says it is? iirc nabokov called him a poser
>>23352422
>>23352846
>SNIFFFF';

'19
The Ottoman Road to War in 1914
I don’t know how I was led to believe men competent enough to rise to such heights of power entered the First World War because they were dumb…';

'26
Zorba the Greek (just finished as of 10 minutes ago)
Thoroughly enjoyable and life affirming. Nietzsche, spirituality and raw human feeling echoes throughout in a very poignant way. I could continue for another 1000 pages reading about Zorba and his escapades';

'26
The Television by Edward Lee
kinda hot 2bh';

'>>23352422
40
mote in god's eye
helps me sleep';

'>>23352422
24
LOTR
I'm on Two Towers, absolutely love the adventure. Having read The Hobbit prior, I appreciated how LOTR's far more grand tale in comparison nevertheless starts off in the same vein; just a humble adventure to Rivendell following 3 little Hobbits and a strange Ranger, eventually branching out into the epic with branching plotlines it is known. It eases the reader into the intricacies of the world and its lore, it starts off small despite the quest at hand, and it doesn't feel that far of a step up from The Hobbit in its simplicity, initially. To me, that's a good thing.
Now, in Two Towers in particular, I enjoy how the plot therein branches into two halves: the perspective of the scattered Company, and the perspective of Frodo and Sam. I think it's a clever way for the story to constrict itself chronologically by having the second half begin a little after the first half began and helping fill in the gaps (after all, the whole time the Company WAS wondering what happened to the two), and it really gives you a sense on who is doing what when, despite the sundering of the Company.
I'm almost at the end, can't wait to get to the last book.
Oh, and I also love Tolkien's landscape descriptions (gullies, dales, etc.).';

'>>23352422
>26
>Power Broker
Absolutely fantastic. The writing is great, the history is great and the structure is really enjoyable. Each chapter is a great character story or will focus on a project, presenting it as impossible and then document Moses weaving these wild solutions and the ripple effects of thr decisions and works themselves.

I am 800 pages in and just read that in his 60s Moses wrote an erotic pulp novel called 'From Palms to Pines'. I now am determined to find it.';

'>>23352422
22
Tartar Steppe
Very based. Picked it up since an anon recommended it and has hooked me for sure. It's interesting as I find myself relating to Drogo in a few ways. Which is probably why it was recommended lmao.';

'>>23352422
>26
>Epic of Gilgamesh
>I'm starting Bloom's big, official list of the Western canon and I'm currently really liking how funny the Sandars translation is, especially when Gilgamesh btfo's Ishtar by saying she's a hoe and then throws a cow thigh at her. It's surprisingly cozy and it's wild this thing is 5000 years old.';

'>>23354366
I think I saw that thread where he recommended you it';

'>>23352422
>28
>The City of God
Exceptional. Augustine gives me the same feeling as reading Plato, which is not surprising. Aristotle and Aquinas are both extremely dry writers, more organizers of their predecessors thought than full fledged philosophers, footnotes to their master's thoughts. The power of Augustine's intellect is astounding. Even more so when it is considered that his teaching is so clearly seen even with all the rhetorical flourish.';

'>>23353861
>is it as inscrutable as everybody says it is? iirc nabokov called him a poser
Yeah the narrative is very schizophrenic, I really enjoy what it's going for though. Nabokov had beef with everyone who ever picked up a pen so I wouldn't put too much stock in that';

'>>23352422
>23
>War and Peace
The greatest work of art ever created. I am living inside of this book. It's unbelievable how good it is';

'>>23354632';

'My front burner books right now. I've been in the mood for graphic novels and just started 300.';

'28. I'm reading The Idiot. I'm enjoying it a lot. After Notes from the underground and Crime and Punishment it's refreshing to have a not misanthropic protagonist. I love how unphased Myshkin is by the usual mind game bullshit going on in Dostoevskys other novels. I'm also reading The Bell Jar on the side and I'm not getting how it was considered really depressing. I don't read "chick" books so I figured I'd give this one a shot. The paranoia around being and underachieving overachiever is relatable though.';

'>>23354764
are you an aries';

'>>23352422
>age
24
>current book
My little war by Louis Paul Boon
>your thoughts on it
War sucks, fascism sucks, Belgium sucks.';

'>>23352422
>20
>just finished point omega a couple minutes ago
>thought it was really good. I've read a lot of Delillo but only a couple of the newer short ones. I loved the body artist. Loved Cosmopolis. I think Don is the man.';

'>>23354796
No. I'm not sure I understand the question? Is this bait where you call me gay?';

'>27
>Approaches by Jünger
A tenth of the way through and he hasn't actually related an experience of his with any drug at all yet. The transalor's preface was weirdly defensive of woke culture, especially since so far there's nothing that would upset any of the social justice crowd.';

'>26
>dark age
>i want a wife';

'>>23353827
The spiritual wound stuff definitely aligns with the goddesses in Chinese tradition, it's all about that profound sense of lack and loss. Which Keats definitely did feel acutely, e.g. in something like Lamia. And now that I think about it of course Endymion follows that exact same "pursuit of the goddess" form!
Thank you for the info on Crow, I will definitely read it somewhere along the line as I continue looking into different avenues of religious history. But yeah the Hamlet thing is just really cool, I love the Orphic element in the way you describe it.';

'>>23354814
a girl read me my horoscope before and I remember she said this
>being an underachieving overachiever';

'35
royal assassin
2nd book of a the trilogy and it's starting to drag a little (midpoint). otherwise great.';

'>>23352422
27
The Process by Kafka
I like the content but not the prose. It's not difficult, just ugly.';

'>>23352422
>29
>Divine Comedy
>Just finished Purgatory and while I don’t understand a lot of what I’ve read, what I have has been some of the most terrifying and beautiful depictions of Christian theology I’ve ever encountered.';

'>>23354995
Shit, the english translation is The Trial.
Whatever. You get what I'm saying';

'>>23352422
28.
The Hobbit.
It's cute and funny.';

'31
HP Lovecraft omnibus (EVERYTHING)
It's great, I do have to look up words and greek names constantly but that's fun too';

'>>23352422
33
Reading my own book I wrote myself
Not good enough and needs a serious rewrite';

'>>23352422
34
Mort à crédit
I just love everything Céline writes, he's a miserable bastard and hilarious and even manages to be sensible at times. I love how he weaves his litanies of insult and peculiar argot, and his fever-induced streams of consciousness. I wonder how much of it is lost in translation, I imagine most of it is untranslatable, or at least poorly.';

'>>23352422
>lying on wild grass like this
Nice way to get all kinds of bugs crawling all over you in 5 seconds and distracting you from the book. Also, you would kill your shoulders and elbows after a few minutes in this position. What a bullshit photo.';

'>>23355401
unironically touch grass';

'>>23354830
The spiritual wound premise is so prevelant. The most poignant example in the western canon would of course be the story of the Hebrews and their continued state of physical and their mental slavery to acts deemed 'sinful'. I think Blake and him drawing from the French revolution in the book of Los demonstrates the premise so well - the yearning to replace and heal, in essence to merge with a higher form of being.
No worries anon. I love the crow series and the more i reread it over time, the more it reveals itself to me.
Thank you. Shakespeare is so often relegated to a bardic character (not that theres nothing to praise about that) but the spiritual and natural within is usually overshadowed by the political context of his writings.';

'>>23354646
cringe';

'>>23352422
41, gonna be 42 next month
Medieval Europe - Chris Wickham
Slow moving';

'>31
>Serotonin
>Engaging story about a depressed middle-aged man in the process of disengaging from conventional life while recollecting his failed attempts at love. A bit of a strange read for me as I’m currently crazy in love with my gf who recently got pregnant.';

'>>23352422
28
The Master and Margarita
It's jolly fun';

'>>23352422
22
Niebla by Miguel de Unamuno
good. engaging, agile, thought-provoking. need to read more to see where it goes.';

'>>23352422
18
The Magic Mountian
Loving It';

'24. master and margarita. Havent gotten very far. The intro was really strong but then some guy started running around petersburg for no reason and went mad and I thought it was weird. I hope it gets better.';

'>>23352782
not a book';

'26
Atlas Shrugged
Eh, I had no prior knowledge of this book or Rand and I disagree with a lot of it, but it's neat to get some insight into the worldview of other people. Also ironically I've just landed my first big boy job.
I'm not sure if I'll read the whole thing in one go, I think I get the point after Part 1 and there are some other books I want to get back to, but we'll see.
>>23353452
Don't you dare talk shit about the very first book I've owned
>>23353514
I'm pretty sure that'll be next on my list
>>23354997
Dante was really hard to read for me. For one because I apparently got a shitty translation, but also because every other verse is a reference to some historic figure, event or literary work I've never heard of before and I don't want to constantly break my flow by checking the annotations at the back';

'>>23352422
>25
>journey to the end of the night
Not nearly as good or enjoyable as I thought it'd be, but I feel once I finish it I will look back on it fondly. About 50% through right now and it's been hard to pick back up consistently. I think there's some truth to what he's writing, and while I haven't been to war I can empathize with the character to an extent, but reading about visiting brothels constantly and practicing medicine unofficially(?) gets old quick.';

'>>23356970
>Not nearly as good or enjoyable
I'm sorry you're retarded, anon.';

'>>23355868
>A bit of a strange read for me as I’m currently crazy in love with my gf who recently got pregnant
Consider yourself lucky that it doesn't resonate with you';

'31

I went in expecting/wanting a history of building and spaces, like here are the earliest kitchens, and this is how their construction has evolved with time. Now here's doorways and windows and their evolution.

Instead I got a history of famous buildings across the world from antiquity to today, and the contexts in which they were constructed, which is good enough, so I'm reading it, but I'm a little frustrated.';

'20
The trial - Franz Kafka
Really enjoying it and I'm excited about reading kafka I love his way if writing, I've only read the metamorphosis before
I don't know if it's just me but the protagonist of the book, K. , is kind of a dick lol';

'>>23356992
I expect nothing less from the hivemind';

'>>23355842
>the story of the Hebrews and their continued state of physical and their mental slavery to acts deemed 'sinful'
Jews don't believe in working with their hands (as in physical labour), that is for the goyim (beast/non-jew). All over the ancient world it was forbidden to create wealth by hording wealth, because it is adharmic, against the Logos (higher/divine rules of existence, like our own physical laws but existing prior to and above them). I guess I just find it funny that you are using the fact that jews had the privilege and opportunity to horde wealth and parasitize/enslave/oppress people through finance as some sort of narrative for victimization.';

'>27
>The Idiot

Nice book but there are too many characters for my taste so I get lost easily. I may be retarded.';

'Ashamedly I did click on this thread because of the feet first but it's nice that I'm not alone
>>23352422
23
Thank You For Your Service
Reading as the follow up to The Good Soldiers, and man. It's rough. Learning a lot about the nuances of moral injury. I felt I should put it down and take a break at some points but it was so enthralling I finished it in two sittings
>>23352846
This is my fetish. Saved for later';

'>>23355023
That's a good sign. You should never feel that your art is perfect or good enough. That's when improvement appears.';

'>>23353145
The only part that gave me the saddies was the bear at the end, I couldve read 4000 more pages of the Judge & co's campaign against mexicunts and heya hoyas';

'>>23353568
>No major plot points except maybe the ending
I spoiled the ending
>>23353861
>Blood Meridian is Moby Dick for redditors
I haven’t read Moby Dick yet but I don’t think that’s true.';

'>>23356970
>Céline in English
What's the point, his language is half of the appeal. Unlike Camus who's dull and ugly, Céline can't really be translated well.';

'>>23352422
>32
>Heart of Darkness
>it's utter shite ruined by Marlow as a uselessly verbose narrator despite a well written introduction (the first few pages)';

'30
Earthlings
Started off pretty good, the book suddenly jumped forward 20 years so I'm hoping it stays enjoyable';

'>>23352422
>age
29
>current book
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
>your thoughts on it
Fantastic. The 'olde aenglisch' language feels slightly gimmicky at first but you get used to it and it really does make the characters and setting feel like they're from a different time. Actually goes a bit beyond that occasionally and feels utterly alien, yet we know that people like this really did exist in this real place in a point in history that actually happened. You can't help but feel desperately sad for what happened to Buccmaster, his family, his home and his liberty that he loves more than anything.';

'>>23357415
I do not know if you are the anon i was having a conversation with. I believe you have completely misunderstood what I was saying. The Hebrews were enslaved and lived in bondage for many years pre and post Exodus. You are being completely unhistoric to suggest that 'Jews' did not believe in physical labour (note how you are the one injecting Talmudism into a discussion surrounding the ancient/classical Hebrews). The fact that you could not understand or seem to be misconstruing my comparative statement is a bit silly. Could you provide a reference for stating that it was forbidden to 'create wealth by hording wealth' in the 'ancient' world? I am a bit baffled how you arrived at the conclusion that I was suggesting the Hebrews are completely guiltless victims. The Hebrews within the western canon are prime examples of my conception of the spiritual wound - they continuously disobeyed God and continued to stray farther and farther from righteousness (in their conception of it). Furthermore, the Hebrews were continuously seeking God at the same time they were betraying him, developing my comparison with Blake's book of Los. Also human laws are not physical, additionally, Logos is rational discourse and a principle of rhetoric - which in no way excludes individuals from performing physical labour?';

'>>23358602
>The Hebrews were enslaved and lived in bondage for many years pre and post Exodus.
NTA, but you're referring to the story only, right? Because there's absolutely no evidence that there was some nation of Hebrew slaves in Egypt at any point, nor of any mass exodus of them out of Egypt.';

'>>23358609
Theres very minimal evidence, outside of Hebrew text being found in Sinai. The flight of Exodus is more akin to an ancient national myth. If we were to completely throw out the biblical texts then we would not have a lot to work with. This simply wouldnt be very wise to do when discussing the western canon. The Hebrews were enslaved and lived as slaves in many parts of the Middle East, pre and post Exodus - That is something I would willingly work with and develop thoughts around, within the context and lens of the western canon.';

'30
at world's end
i don't get what the hunger is suppossed to mean. any help for a tard?';

'>>23352422
28
Clarice Lispector
It's fucking based';

'>>23352422
>30
>100 years of solitde
>I understand now why everyone who has talked about it to me was female';

'>>23358656
Why?';

'>>23358662
No regards to logical tactics from the perspective of any character, they act by emotion and/or unknown mystic forces
Every second substory is about sex
A lot of symbolism: tarot, alchemy, etc.
The "sane" charachters seem to all be female: Ursula, Rebeca (except for the dirt), etc.

I am only 1/4 in though. I have been reading about ultralight packbacking in parallel';

'>>23352422
33
Water Margin
Lu Ta is literally me';

'>>23358703
Mouf.';

'>>23352422

>24

>Kingdoms of Death
it really took him 6 books to begin the story.

>The Oracle: Ancient Delphi and the science behind its lost secrets
a historical, mythological, and scientific overview of the Oracle and Delphi and her significance in the Greek world. When I first heard that she was huffing fumes in ceremony with Apollo I knew I needed to get a book on it. the book is also about Apollo's significance as well, and his contrast with Dionysus, similar to when Nietzsche talks about it but without all the Nietzscheism.

>Man and His Symbols
Meh I mean it's a bunch of guys that like sucking off Jung who convinced him to write one chapter in their book on comparative mythology.

>>23352435
Cathy is based on his ex wife kek. I think he had four wives. the book is about good and evil and Cathy is the only irredeemably evil person. the first words used to describe her still resonate with me.';

'>>23352422
28
Les miserables
pretty good';

'>>23352422
21
Temple of the Golden Pavilion
It reminds me of Death in Venice. Not in terms of style or plot but just the theme of beauty and it's destructive power';

'>>23353885
Zorbas is a bum though. Hippies were "life affirming" too and remained subhumans';

'>>23358985
Worthless faggot';

'>>23353145
reddit the book';

'31
Infinite Jest
Not a meme book like /lit/ said, actually pretty good and still very telling of our culture. I've had the book for close to ten years, just been putting off reading it.';

'>>23352422
31
1633, Spain and its world, Great Gatsby

>1633
feels like a narrative/action alt-history. Turtledove is the better alt-history writer desu
>Spain and its world
whole bunch of essays, so it's academic. going to be hard to do a full review on it.
>Great Gatsby
nearly done with it, doesn't capture the whole "Great American novel" feel to it. Still consider it to be a classic though.';

'27 - Canticle for Leibowitz
It’s alright. I finished part 2: Fiat Lux last night. I enjoyed part one with Brother Francis quite a bit more.';

'>>23352422
>20
>Flowers of Evil
>Based';

'>>23358985
death in venice is garbage compared to temple of the golden pavilion -- it's one of the few books you can't argue with nabokov about, it's just low quality.';

'30
Beowulf
Kino, I think epic poems are more my speed with their simplistic fairy tale like formula.';

'>>23359877';

'>>23358602
>>23355842
Yeah >>23357415 is not me, I don't give a shit about the historicity of any of it, and I agree that the Eden myth specifically is a perfect and very precise example of what you're talking about, and then of course everything that follows on and develops from it. Interesting how it isolates that moment in a way that the Greek myths don't exactly - or maybe just deals with it more literally, idk. I suppose in regard to the specific metaphor of the "wound" Prometheus is even more on point, but to take him as a representative of humanity in the myth seems like it requires a bit of interpretive contortion.
Shakespeare is so difficult to pin down, but I definitely think you can frame his disdain for human knowledge and agency as a rejection of attempts to conquer and order nature (broadly defined) rather than submitting to it.';

'>>23359877
I don't think any people has ever leaned quite so gleefully into its arch-stereotype as the French, I truly respect it.

>>23360317
Simplistic, sure, but deep beyond reckoning.';

'>>23352422
4
Hungry Hungry Catepiller
I love it';

'>>23354647
Welp, I just finished 300. Stalled on Children of Dune. Pretty sure I'm going to finish that book on magic, so fuck it. I think I'll start A Canticle for Leibowitz. Spring is the season of science fiction, in my head anyways. I've been on a big reading boost lately and I'm ahead on my Goodreads goal for this year. So, hell maybe I'll take the leap and read Book of the new Sun, too. 300 was cool but much too brief. The art was pretty cool at times.
I'm 30 by the way.';

'>21
>Crime and Punishment
I really love it so far. Very gripping narrative, and I’m a fan of Raskkolnikov’s psychological examination. I loved Brothers when I read it earlier this year and I’m really getting back into the swing of reading again with this book, and Moby Dick just before.';

'>35
>Peppermint
While driving home, I saw a run over kitten in the turning lane going the opposite direction. It was having a huge seizure, thrashing, in fits. I made a u-turn when I could, but by the time I drove back, it had been smeared across the intersection.

When I finally got home, my three year old was at the door with a book, Peppermint, about a kitten, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t look just like it.';

'>>23360605
The stories of Genesis are so brilliant in their creation and othering of the stories. In my mind it places them in an alternate existence and I think that was intentional. The marvel that it was an insular oral story that through the ages found itself forming religions, nations, and humanity itself, etc, etc. I think if one was to examine the myth of Prometheus they would take a very medical approach. Lots of Galen, Hippocrates then depending on your avenue you could discuss Paget, Milton.
Thats the brilliance of Shakespeare isnt it? He holds so many concepts and themes in a perfect tension that it becomes disorienting at points. Like in Antony and Cleopatra, the masculine outer world of Antony and his naval battles, the feminine inner world of Cleopatra and the asp.';

'>>23352460
This is on my shelf, excited to read it.';

'31
Stones of Summer
Like it, hypnotic at times, often rides the line of incomprehensibility. Interesting look in the brain of a mentally ill romantic. Mostly enjoying it as an aesthetic experience because I don't really know what to make of it and no good secondary sources exist.';

'>>23352422
39.
On Human Bondage.
It's as well written as most anything. A better Dickens probably. Won't finish it as fiction is for chuds unless it's scifi.';

'>23
>Herodotus' Histories
>Very interesting but slow-going, I often have to stop and reference maps, family trees, etc.';

'>>23354173
You need to work on being concise.';

'Propaganda by Jacques Ellul.
It's good but fuck I just want it to end already. I will probably give it a re-read in the future.
Next on my list is Propaganda by Edward Bernays.
It's making me feel like I'm one step away from becoming schizophrenic. Sometimes it makes me feel empty inside, sometimes it makes me feel like I stumbled upon valuable knowledge.
This book is the real red pill.';

'>>23363404
Sorry, I'm not good at plot hooks.';

'>>23352422
21
epic of gilgamesh (and it's relevant poems)
some of it is good, some of it is great, most of it mid. I like the epic version more than the poem counterparts, although the bull of heaven part seems like a filler and doesn't really fit the rest of the epic.';

'>>23364049
Bull of heaven has etiological elements I think, though I'm not sure exactly what it's etiologizing. But yeah the poems are rather disjointed. The Lugalbanda/Enmerkar poems are cool though.';

'23
Always reading something weird-fiction related
Loved all of Clark Ashton Smith's works, but I don't think anything will ever top William Hope Hodgson's "The Night Land" for me. I have little hope anything ever will.
I'm looking forward to reading "Awake in the Night Land", though.';

'>>23352422
19
Paedophilia: The Radical Case
Was hoping to see some valid arguments in order to challenge my world view, but so far, the author has only been describing his prepubescent and sexual escapades and the most advanced argument so far was "yeah nah I enjoyed it so maybe your kid will too". Dropped the book before, but I'm coming back. Last chance.
My next book is going to be "The Inevitability of Patriarchy". Got curious because it had bad reviews on Goodreads pretty much exclusively from women, so you know it's right about at least something.';

'>>23352422
27
Brothers Karamazov
I preferred Crime and Punishment so far, I'm a little disappointed because I've built it up in my head as the best novel ever. I like Monkbro but I prefer his brothers although we don't seem to be spending much time with them. Also, I thought the dad was supposed to die? So far the Elder is looking like he's going to kick it and the soldier brother has spent most of the time trying to sort out his marriage prospects. We've even followed he origin story of the cook and the assistant servant but the father is still ticking on.';

'>>23353145
For some reason the thing that really sticks with me was the guy that came into town and accuses the local minister of being a nonce so the mob tries to lynch him then admits in a bar that he had no idea who the priest was. Darkly funny';

'>>23364681
Protip.
Read old books and make up your own ideas. Rarely bother reading a book that's goal is to make a point. They are all written by faggots and/or pedos as you've seen.';

'>>23364649
cute boy';

'>>23364681
Also, there is nothing to understand about Joyce. It's a story.
All people making fiction out to be more than a story are insufferable. The story can have a point, but all rumination about 'deeper' levels is in the mind of pathetic chuds that can't even.

Good luck kid.';

'>>23359935
retarded opinion. structurally and thematically death in venice is obviously superior';

'>>23356221
> for no reason
How inattentively are you reading? He talked to a stranger (Satan) who predicted his friend's death, thus shattering this guy's atheist belief system.';

'>>23352422
21
Warbreaker by Sanderson
Still at the beginning, I find the writing to be slightly worse than how it is in his other books. The plot seems ok though, and I like the color-based magic system. I really enjoy his books, I find them compelling if a bit autistic at times. They're no third-eye-opening mystical manuscripts, but I don't get all the hate they get';

'>>23352422
>31
>21st Century Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19
Really good read about how the Fed works and what some of the stuff they did since the 70s to now. I just got to powells time so lot coming still but good so far.';

'>>23352422
21
Fictions
Jorge Luis Borges
Surprisingly I'm not enjoying it that much and the stories feel superfluous
Just when I'm about to get into the story it ends. I wish "The lottery of Babylon" and "Circular ruins" were longer. Best short stories imo';

'>>23352422
>26
>The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
>*only prior book from him I read was Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which is one of my favorite novels of all time
As expected, comfy yet strange so far. Picking up on what could be strange symbolic connections. The "alley" I suspect is some sort of space between the real world and something else, but I have yet to see what that is. Should be nearing the first 1/3rd of the book by the end of the week.';

'>>23365342
It's a great book, it gets really weird at one point but it's worth it.

If you liked Hard Boiled Wonderland look forward to his new book 'The City and its Uncertain Walls', it's an expanded version of the story about the library with the unicorn skulls.

I believe the English translation comes out in November.';

'>>23365337
The Lottery of Babylon is one of my favorite short stories ever. The Library of Babel is also pretty good.';

'32 (I think, can’t be bothered to do the math)
Tom Jones, a Foundling
Only just started it after reading the intro, currently on page 80 of the story proper and really enjoying it. I’ve read and reread Joseph Andrews as well as a few other of Fielding’s books before and generally liked his style of being playful but serious and acerbic when necessary. In TJ he announces from the very beginning that his style will be more discursive and vast, likening it to a kingdom or a new world where the reader may travel and act as a visitor. I tried rereading DQ before this to get me back into the mood for a picaresque adventure but was not in the mood for Cervantes’ voice rn.
>>23358651
Which of her books are you reading, anon?';

'>>30
>>The Aeneid
>>Just started it, seems a bit try-hard in the sense of legitimizing Julius Caesar's rule but other than that I'm enjoying it.';

'>>23352422
Mid 50's
Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East by Stahel
Very insightful and well-documented';

'22
Aniara
Pretty solid so far. I'm glad its not too maudlin in tone.';

'>>23365346
>If you liked Hard Boiled Wonderland look forward to his new book 'The City and its Uncertain Walls', it's an expanded version of the story about the library with the unicorn skulls.
Oh I've been keeping my eye on that title ever since I heard news of its premise and possible connections. Lucky Germans have apparently gotten a translation already.';

'>>23365384
Yeah, there's a German and a Spanish translation out already.';

'>>23352422
>55
>Woman, a Vindication by A. Ludovici
enlightening, but a touch longwinded, as is typical.';

'>early 30's
>Why I write by George Orwell
I finished it a few hours ago. First and the two last parts were fun. But I particularly liked to read about his ideas for the future of England lmao, he was so wrong.
Starting Spinoza's Ethics tonight, wish me enjoyment!';

'>>23365349
Yeah the prose is unbelievable I wish I could write like that. However I don't really get that electrifying feeling of wonder reading the library. I love the concep but it made me think how books might not actually be the best medium to spread certain ideas. I get that "in awe" feeling more from watching youtube videos and browsing the infinite library than I did reading the original short story. But maybe that's because my first contact with the concept was in another medium and not the book? Idk

Also
>he comprehended that the effort to mold the incoherent and vertiginous matter dreams are made of was the most arduous task a man could undertake, though he might penetrate all the enigmas of the upper and lower orders: much more arduous than weaving a rope of sand or coining the faceless wind.

>he dreamt it as active, warm, secret, the size of a closed fist, of garnet colour in the penumbra of a human body as yet without face or sex; with minute love he dreamt it, for fourteen lucid nights. Each night he perceived it with greater clarity. He did not touch it, but limited himself to witnessing it, observing it, perhaps correcting it with his eyes. He perceived it, lived it, from many distances and many angles. On the fourteenth night he touched the pulmonary artery with his finger, and then the whole heart, inside and out.The examination satisfied him. Deliberately, he did not dream for a night; then he took the heart again, invoked the name of a planet and set about to envision another of the principal
organs. Within a year he reached the skeleton, the eyelids. The innumerable hair was perhaps the most difficult task. He dreamt a complete man, a youth, but this youth could not rise nor did he speak nor could his eyes. Night after night, the man dreamt him as asleep.

I came in my pantaloons';

'>>23352422
18
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hunter S Thompson was a very cool guy';

'>>23352422
>33
>Bible
>Goated';

'>>23352846
I want this with sound.';

'>>23352422
21
Midnights children
Don't like it. The prose is good, and I like weird nonlinear postmodern narratives, but it feels like such a fucking slog. There's no real driving conflict it's just:
>and then my grandpa saved someone, then my grandma got pissed, and then my aunt got married, and then my mom got remarried...
I'm only 150 pages in but I'm probably gonna throw in the towel.';

'>>23352422
>54
>The Stars my Destination, A. Bester
>I like it. I'm a sucker for revenge-and-redemption stories.';

'Reading this horror short story collection.Not much experience or knowledge of the genre. It is well written and the stories I have read thus far managed to hook or intrigue me from the beginning.
It blends mundanity and horror quite well.';

'>23
>The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization by Asko Parpola
>It's well written but I thought it would include more about the theology and not just linguistics and archeology';

'>>23352569
I know you're meming, but Kipchoge, Kiptum and other pros will run something like 200+ km per week in training, and in those runs they are usually at a pace so high the average guy could only manage to keep up for a minute or so.';

'>>23367575
And? You start an inane already aging practice for what and you'll end up taking it further';

'>>23354405
What book are you in? I'm currently reading book VI of 'City of God' alongside 'Confessions' and his biography by Peter Brown.';

'>>23358534
Some of my favorite quotes from this book:

>sum times the craws they drifs off the hafoc but sum times the hafoc it tacs down sum craw and this then is the greatest thing to see. to see this hafoc and this craw to see them rise and fall to the ground to see this hafoc tear at this craw this is to see the lif of all of us and it is to asc thy self if thu is hafoc or thu is craw. or if this ael for sum men writhes without efen feohtan thu moste see the hafoc tac down the craw he saes and thu will see that all of the world is blud and thy worc is not to lose thine before thy time. be the hafoc not the craw nor the ael for this is how we cum to this land and it is what we is

>sum folcs who is dumb thincs the world is only what can be seen and smelt and hierde but men who cnawan the world cnawan there is a sceat a sceat of light that is betweon this world and others and that sum times and in sum places this sceat is thynne and can be seen through.

>there is ways to see this world i saes. there is the way of the boc and the way of the wilde there is the god of the boc and the gods of the mere there is the way of the crist and the eald ways of this land. i is cum from the mere i specs for the wilde for the eald gods under the blaec waters in the drencced treows. i is the lands law ofer mens i is eorth not heofon leaf of treow not leaf of boc

>luf is pure luf is triewe luf is all that is triewe and when thu has one thu lufs thu is a man gifen sige by the gods.';

'Butcher and behead all footfags.';

'i've been trying to find the source of the OP image and all i could find was a playlist on a chinese website that used this for the art';

'>>23369874
I got it from some girl's pinterest page. She's not that pretty honestly.';

'I love feet so much bros';

'>>23352422
soles';

'>>23352422
>fuck you glownigger scum
>the fabrication of aboriginal history vol iii by keith windschuttle
what do i think of it? i think it’s devastating to the argument of liberal politicians academics and journalists that the stolen generations are a real historical fact. windschuttle’s entire thesis is that there is NO SUCH THING as the stolen generations. it’s a complete fabrication. I think he draws on the available evidence to build his case in a persuasive manner. he highlights the fact that only one aboriginal man out of an estimated 1 in 3 aboriginals has ever received any compensation from a court decision for the criminal negligence he suffered at the hands of the australian government. that’s in sixty-odd years of the existence of legislation for the removal of aboriginal children from their families. he’s fond of reiterating that it was mostly young girls removed from their families and that they were often being prostituted by their parents and had “venereal diseases”. At some point he claims that based on historical evidence about a third of the girls in an aboriginal girl’s home were in the hospital ward for the treatment of their venereal diseases. he also likes to point out that children who were removed from their families by the govt. would either stay with their parents on reserves yet in separate living and sleeping quarters or at the end of their service as wards would have the opportunity to return to their communities which directly contradicts claims of the progenitors of the stolen generations myth. he also breaks down why it’s absurd to claim the stolen generations are a genocide akin to the holocaust. the foremost reason that sticks out in my mind is that no government official involved was ever criminally prosecuted. all the fabricators of the myth sought was compensation. the entire thing’s a fucking scam.

I could go on but I’m sure anyone who’s interested will read it themselves and anyone who’s not didn’t even make it this far. fuck niggers.

his writing style is very dry which is honestly a benefit because the book is very dense with information.

the only other thing I read these days is 4chan greentexts. someone should bind a choice selection of ‘em and print them in a limited run and sell them to the degenerate lurkers and posters terminally connected to this godforsaken hellhole. fuck niggers.';

'>26
>Nicomachean Ethics
>It feels compelling even when things get lost in translation. How fascinating. What is language, really. Also, what's up with 26';

'>35
>Tartar Steppe
>way too depressing than I expected and OP is a faggot';

'>>23352422
>22
>Submission
>god damn does houellebecq love the jews, I for one will happily live with my arabian harem, thank you';

'>>23361871
Sorry to reply so late, anyway: I'm curious what you mean about "othering" and "alternate existence". And yes that's a good point about the medical approach, probably anachronistic to apply something like humor theory but the specificity of the liver is an interesting element.
Tension is a wonderful word for it I think, and feminine and masculine is huge for him, much like it is for Aeschylus. But my favorite juxtaposition in A&C is that of high and low, specifically in the final scene. One of the clearest standout strokes of genius in his whole body of work.';

'>27
>Libra
>just finished No Longer Human and feel that I'm on the opposite loner outcast trajectory now. Enjoying it though, the fictional narratives build with and around the facts of Oswald and the government at the time make for an easily believable and interesting characterization.
>>23352435
I love this book. Was my first steinbeck, outside of mice and men for school, and have returned to it a couple times. Love his characters and EoE has so many to appreciate.';

'>>23353475
faggot';

'>>23367514
French renfaire';

'>>23352422
>the age of jesus christ on the cross
>4chan by anon, FBI and some avatarfags
>quite varied and fun. Much smarter than most people say right here. I also love reading my posts, which I consider intelligent, witty and funny, although generally no one responds and if I post in your thread it will wither and die in a couple of hours. I like that too.';

'>>23373876
>my posts, which I consider intelligent, witty and funny, although generally no one responds and if I post in your thread it will wither and die in a couple of hours.
Did I post this in a fugue state or something?';

'did I mention FEET';