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/lit/ is for the discussion of literature, specifically books (fiction & non-fiction), short stories, poetry, creative writing, etc. If you want to discuss history, religion, or the humanities, go to /his/. If you want to discuss politics, go to /pol/. Philosophical discussion can go on either /lit/ or /his/, but those discussions of philosophy that take place on /lit/ should be based around specific philosophical works to which posters can refer.

Check the wiki, the catalog, and the archive before asking for advice or recommendations, and please refrain from starting new threads for questions that can be answered by a search engine.

/lit/ is a slow board! Please take the time to read what others have written, and try to make thoughtful, well-written posts of your own. Bump replies are not necessary.

Looking for books online? Check here:
Guide to #bookz
https://www.geocities.ws/prissy_90/Media/Texts/BookzHelp19kb.htm
Bookzz
http://b-ok.cc/
http://libgen.rs/
Recommended Literature
http://4chanlit.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_Reading
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>>
Are you incapable of making decisions without the guidance of anonymous internet strangers? Open this thread for some recommendations.

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How do you get the motivation to continue writing?
Furthermore what authors do you recommend for aspiring fiction writers?

So far my literary inspirations are
Orwell
Plato
Nietzche
Lovecraft
George R.R. Martin
& Stephen King
>>
>>22117923
That’s a very weird inspiration list anon.
I would add a Stevenson to it. Simple stories like his show good prose alone can make a great book.
>>
>>22117923
you sausage roll looking twat
>>
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>>22117941
I meant inspirations as them being the authors I've read so far, apologies if I caused confusion
Which have motivated me to pursue creative writing
I did enjoy Treasure Island so I get your point I think Robert Louis is a quite cozy author

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post your poetry

I find it hard to admit
that I am bound to follow
the seasons of my passion
like the waves of the sea,
changes and returns

if I could, I would wake
all day and night reciting
and conjuring Your secrets
but I am weak and vain
I am distracted by temptation
they lead me astray merely
guessing, merely guessing

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>>22110656
this is about my grandma who had alzheimers when i was a kid. she was my best friend. i've worked up the courage to actually visit her grave for the first time

you remembered me last time
i'm sure you forgot about it
and that was so many years ago

when you left, i came to visit
but i couldn't bear the graveside
it's been thirteen long years
since we've seen each other
i hope you remember me this time
>>
>>22117712
>tfw dad died of Alzheimer's a couple years
>tfw he had been in an old folk's home for a few years by then
>tfw I was only 24 at the time
It still hurts Anon
>>
>>22117772
she practically raised me until i was 7. then she started forgetting things. visited her all the time still. then we had to put her in a home. looking back, i'm amazed that she remembered me until the end. she died when i was 10.
now i get scared if my dad even forgets his keys on the counter. developed an intense fear of forgetting things so i just absorb everything and try to hold onto it all.
>>
>>22115155
Supposed to be in a sarcastic tone, the parts you’re talking about is part of the mockery.
I can see your perspective, I wrote it in five minutes to shitpost after all, but I think it’s inherently flawed due to that. It requires a specific time of insincere shitposter to appreciate.
I should rip out the stuff about cars and make that a poem. I like pink haired bitch, though, but only in mockery…
>>
>>22110656
I used to use this as a mantra of self-hatred. It’s silly looking back, but boy does it remind me of a bad era.
Every act is the will of another’s.
Every failure, solely his own.
Arm-in-arm, no sisters nor brothers.
Fatefully he retreats all alone.
Solitude brings him nothing but comfort.
No tears, only numbness and bliss.
Watching others these feelings convert,
into envy of “true love’s first kiss.”
Fool of all trades, forgetful of each,
the armless poet will voicelessly screech.
Eyeless watcher, thoughtless writer,
the hands at his throat every moment grow tighter.
Nothing he can give, though all is required.

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>ASOIAF is supposed to be the dark n gritty realistic take on soft fantasy like LotR
>LotR is actually darker far more morose and more in tune with the dark myths of the past
>ASOIAF is pretty much genreshit with gore n tits
Why is the reception of both different from the actual reality? At least Elric balances edge ad gore and sex with depth and innovation.
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>>22117925
>DARK AND EDGY
basedface.jpg
>>
>>22117898
>>22117911
>>22117920
>>22117926
>>22117929
>this shithead hasn't got tired of making a fool of himself in this thread yet
>>
>>22117930
>name calling
>>
>>22117939
>quotes grandma to protect his ego
you already reached your lowest when you tried to argue that jesus was less known than tyrion there's nothing left to salvage
>>
>>22117945
She's not my grandma, idiot. I've never even heard of her before.

I'm the original original poster. I got was unfortunately on ban for few days due to some misunderstanding with the janitors, no doubt they were bucking for raise. Some others have stepped up in the meantime. This is the latest thread, recapping the first five cantos (we are reading one per day) with the sixth being read today.

Some options questions, answer one or more if you'd like. There is difference of opinion among Dante scholars on these.

>Canto I
What do the three animals represent? The image is drawn from Jeremiah 6:5

>Canto II
Why is Virgil selected as Dante's guide? He inspired his poetic style, but how does this make him an ideal guide in hell and purgatory?


>Canto III
Is line 4 compatible with God as the Prime Mover?

>Canto IV

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>>22115126
Me desu
>>
“… return to your science,
which has it that, in measure of a thing’s perfection,
it feels both more of pleasure and of pain.” -Hollander

Vs


“Remember your philosophy:
the closer a thing comes to its perfection, more keen will be its pleasure or its pain.” -Musa
>>
>>22110780
I am a pleb with audible credits and got the abridged version, dramatized by the bbc, I like it and idgaf what (you) say.
Although I do like the poetry and will work my way into it by way of reading eventually. I'm going to follow the thread regardless.
>>
>>22117467
>abridged
>audio book
Jesus
>>
OP here: sorry I have been so busy

Some questions for you to think about and answer if you can

In Canto VI, Ciacco, after predicting the triumph the rustics (the White Guelphs) and later defeat (by the Black Guelphs), answers Dante about the condition of those he calls worth, the five good men of Florence. Ciacco answers him: they are all in hell and he will encounter all. But only four are named in the rest of the text, Arrigo is never clearly encountered. Why not? It hardly seems like a lapse with all the years of re-reading and writing Dante poured into the poem. Is he someone who is encountered in a subtle way but not named? Is the encounter with him intentionally omitted?

In Canto VII, the sin of Avarice is confronted. But no occupation or class is mentioned except clergy here. Why does Dante not mention any merchants or bankers or corrupt politicians? There is of course a later place specifically for usury but one would think occupations besides cleric would be noted here.

In Canto VIII, Dante encounters Filippo Argenti. According to many early commentators (those who wrote shortly after Dante), Boccaccino was the one who seized Dante's property when his exile was declared. Is that the reason Dante's character here shows a sudden and total hostility whereas he would normally showed some pity? If so, why is this sin against Dante is not even talked about and the location of the punishment does not accentuate it (since it is not that deep of a level), neither does Virgil's condemnation of Filippo (Virgil indicts him for his arrogance).

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>>
Rising Up and Rising Down by William T. Vollmann
Your Face Tomorrow by Javier Marias
2666 by Robert Bolano
The Brunist Day of Wrath by Robert Coover
Solenoid by Mircea Cartarescu
>>
>>22110974
Best post I've seen here in a while.
>>
Against the Day
2666
Austerlitz
The Passenger
The Road
>>
>>22110974
I couldn't have put it better myself. Additionally, I think that only reading the classics diminishes them a bit, since you'll only be comparing them to other classics. If you read broadly and to your interests you'll notice things in the classics you otherwise wouldn't have, and draw connections and parallels that make both texts more rich and fulfilling. I try not to hate on people who get into reading through the canon, since everyone starts somewhere, but many would benefit from not following it so rigidly.
>>
>>22107139
Hmm... gave it some thought and finally went with this. I don't read much.

The Passenger
Against the Day
2666
Austerlitz
The Road

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How many books do you have in your personal home library?
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>>22116995
Less than 30. I utilize the local library. I am getting rid of some of those I own, too.
>>
>>22116995
~400
>>
>>22116995
400~
>>
>>22116995
~400~
>>
>>22116995
004~

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ITT: Philosphers that age like fine wine in our current timeline
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>>22112816
I always took him as more of a historian. What are some of his philosophical books?
>>
>>22112503
Nietzsche is outdated. We have something called science now.
>>
>>22117609
Science has yet to catch up to Nietzsche
>>
>>22112503
Epictetus
>>
All of the Eleatics, Sophists, and Dialecticians. Absolute indomitable chads who are seeing a resurgence in popularity, while neoplatonists, medievals, germans, and other piss-pants losers are getting ditched left and right.

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What possesses someone to write a book like this? Literally is it no pussy? Serious question. I can't pretend I care to know about the nature of knowledge.
Once you understand a priori/a posteriori, analytic/synthetic, and read the intro, that's basically it. How in the fuck is there still like 700 more pages? What else can possibly be said? How do people take schizo shit like this seriously?

Further, what do humans even gain from the "wisdom" of this book?
There's two possibilities:
1. Kant is wrong, so in that case, why read him?
2. Kant is right, and also, again, why read him?
If Kant is right, that actually is a bigger problem and opens the bigger can of worms. It's like satanic dark magic ripping open the matrix level knowledge that we probably aren't supposed to have. It's far better to live in blissful ignorance and not know about all the paradoxes and contradictions of epistemology. Reading shit like this will unironically make you insane. I'd rather just think that math and logic is correct, science is fine and anything is A-OK.
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>>22117752
>Most of the great philosophers had day jobs. Aristotle did everything, Descartes and Leibniz were mathematicians, all the analytics were mathematicians. Kant was...a philosopher?
Philosophy is meant to be practiced after all, it's a means to a end.
>>
>>22117779
My point was that Kant isn't known for any mathematical or scientific breakthroughs of his own. But yeah.
Also I find Hume's view far more uplifting. Didn't Hume specifically say that he was not a skeptic, but that we just need to learn to take more knowledge from our subjective experiences? Remember, this was at a time when it was considered unmanly to show emotion and it was believed that only logic and rationality led to knowledge. I think Hume basically ended epistemology, or at least the sane part of it. He said to understand the limits of rationality, and also be mindful of the rich experiences life has to offer. I guess it's like what Nietzsche said: A philosopher is only correct if you agree with him.
>>
>>22117815
>My point was that Kant isn't known for any mathematical or scientific breakthroughs of his own.
he was the one who came up with the idea that stars are produced in nebulae

and if you want to believe that math and science and logic work, kant is a far better pick than hume
>>
>>22117752
>I sense some big pseud energy from Kant though, also from the more I read him. Most of the great philosophers had day jobs. Aristotle did everything, Descartes and Leibniz were mathematicians, all the analytics were mathematicians. Kant was...a philosopher? Cool I guess. If I had to guess, I imagine that Kant was butthurt that he wasn't as smart as a lot of his contemporaries, so he created a philosophical system that is one giant cope of "Dude like we just can't know everything just trust me lol." It's beta as fuck, and I think I'm done with Kant.
Beyond retarded paragraph. You’ve misunderstood Kant in almost every possible way: his lifestyle, his intelligence, his place in the history of philosophy, and most importantly the actual consequences of his system on epistemology and the ability to practice metaphysics as such. I think one of the major causes of your complete misunderstanding of his philosophical project is the very fact that you barely read Critique of Pure Reason. I would recommend at least getting knowledgeable on the Transcendental Dialectic section to understand the Parologisms and Antinomies of pure reason. I genuinely can’t fathom how you think Kant is more of a skeptic than Hume. Kant’s whole project is the attempt to ground knowledge and action in absolute certainty, whereas Hume primarily tore down the ability for knowledge to obtain a priori validity. Also how in the world did you interpret Kant’s project as distrusting the sciences? He literally framed his Critical philosophy in the prolegomena as an attempt to provide a solid foundation for the natural sciences which he saw as having valid processes of reasoning, especially math which he considered to be known with complete certainty.
>>
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>>22117695
More a too much bussy issue.

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>Open up book by Mark Twain, curious as to why it has a middling rating
>Top review is a woman posting tumblr gifs from the fucking Office saying it was boring
>All authors I'm interested in review bombed for not having good enough representation of women
Is there any alternative for this shit? Amazon is literally just people talking about receiving their book on time, so it's mostly worthless.
>>
>>22117893
You don’t know how to use goodreads effectively. Popular books will always have more ratings and thus bad reviews. Find reviewers who have the same taste as you or express your thoughts on a book well themselves. Follow them. Look for common complaints and common praise for a book. It is easier to use for more niche books where you know if someone read it, they are almost certainly into that type of book and their judgement can be taken more seriously

Why does /lit/ never review books, anyway? I hear so many complaints about GR and there is a perfect opportunity here to build something, anonymously too
>>
>>22117899
Fair enough, I'll try to do it that way. And I'm not sure how you'd stop shitposters in a 4Chan adjacent website.
>>
>>22117899
There are several /lit/ Goodreads groups with a lot of members with 100s of reviews. They rarely ever post them here though. I post mine, literally 100s, and I know a few others who post theirs here. It can be hard to find them even in the archive, unless a tripcode is used, or some other identifier. There are very few incentives to do much of anything requiring effort here and many that go against it.
>>
>>22117931
I would like to start doing reviews but I would like to practice first and get my format down effectively. What seems to be the best way to do a review?

>The book that the Catholic Church has been dreading for the last 1,700 years. Ellis latest research reveals who Jesus was, where he lived, and who his family were. Visit his city, see the ruins of his citadel, gaze upon his statue, handle his coins. In reality, Jesus was a son of King Abgarus of Edessa, a princeling with a small realm, a large treasury, and even bigger ambitions. But the wise prince of northern Syria came up against an intractable Rome and his many plans crumbled to dust. As readers will discover, the true history of this region undermines much of the biblical fairy-story that the gospel authors crafted, and so Christianity will never be the same. The jacket image shows Jesus wearing his Crown of Thorns, the ceremonial crown of the Edessan monarchy.
Well, shit. Academics win again I guess. Has anyone manage to go through this devastating historical account?
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>>22109189
anglo-protestant schizophrenia regarding jesuits mixed with german historical criticism
>>
>>22117271
>there's really no good evidence for Jesus
Christian sources
>Gospels + Acts
>Paul
>Didache
>Apostolic Fathers
>Apocrypha (Ebionites, Hebrews, Protoevangelium)
Non-Christian sources
>Josephus on James, corroborating John the Baptist's execution, and the presumable embellishment of the passage on Jesus
>Tacitus
>Suetonius
>Pliny
>Phlegon
>Thallus

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>>22117793
>>22117885
>retard listing people talking about christians a century later as if their existence is proof that jesus existed
lol did you just google those names without reading the accounts?
>>
>>22117909
>a century later
Tacitus and Suetonius were within the lifetime of the Apostles. You also don't use this retarded double-standard for any figure other than Jesus.
>>
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>>22108445
he stated that Jesus was the son of Cleopatra in an earlier book

is writing fanfiction cringe?

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Recently graduated college at 27, friends are drifting away, feel detached from people, can't relate to younger crowd anymore, lingering ptsd from being unvaxxed, experienced life in both the big city life and small towns, now reside in liminal dead end mid-sized city, scared to become a white collar professional and work for the rest of my life, competing seems futile and anxiety inducing, life seems duller than ever, feel like I'm waiting to die.

What should I read?
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>>22117566
Where do you live?

There are programs that let you borrow, and also many countries have grants for specific trades.

Besides, it's not even like you need a college degree. You can get a Truck driving cert and be making an easy 60k within a year. Most certs can be done in under two years without much expense.

Fuck man, stop making excuses for yourself. That's what got you into this position in the first place.
>>
>>22116650
South of the Border, West of the Sun - Murakami.

Trust me anon, I've been where you are now.
>>
>27
>no wife and kids
You fucked up your priorities completely and now you are alone. I'm sorry anon, at least you can find comfort in God still. I would reccomend you read the holy bible and start attending and volunteering at a church and perhaps you will meet someone who can help you
>>
>>22117672
Lol I cannot drive or remember driving laws you are out of your mind, pal. I live in the states. This is hell.
>>
>>22117817
Anon, there are braindead teenagers with a double digit IQ who gets their drivers license every day. Literally just buy a car and start cruising around in it till you get the feel.

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Yo JP, what's going on big man?
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>>22117771
Neoliberalism says culture is fake ok. You are atomized individual with no connection to causality around you, everything is your fault.
>>
He got himself heavily addicted to benzos and had to go to Russia to perform a very dangerous procedure because no doctors here would agree to it. He was put into an induced coma for over a week and was practically a vegetable for an entire month

He never had a particularly deft mind prior to all this, and now he's just a husk who can't form a straight thought

It's likely he's not even in control of his accounts; his daughter Mikhalia is parasitically attached to his brand and has been propping up his corpse for her own benefit for years, so I'd say this is all her. Her "thing" is mimicking /pol/ viewpoints very badly, because she believes none of it and is just a grifter
>>
>>22117801
>resort to lame and shallow pop culture references to espouse their points
Literally been the case since the Greeks, dumbass
>>
>>22117801
Rule 13: don't try to be of the opposite sex, you can't
>>
>>22117826
Nice.

Neoliberalism is a whole bunch of cunts who got rich punting on bitcoin, knowing full well that 90% of its utility was to purchase drugs, cp and third world politicians, trying to justify how wealth is akin to morality

Prove me wrong
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>>22115221
That quote reeks of American pragmatism, which is perhaps the worst movement (literary or otherwise) known to this godforsaken world.
>>
>>22115111
lmao that title tho basado
>>
>>22115111
>young girls in flower
Nonce detected
>>
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>>22115111
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>>22115111
ISOLT was a book that grew in my esteem a little while after I finished it. There were many rough patches when reading it and I was happy when I was done. The impression it made on me grew, and it almost became symbolic. To me that is the sign of a great book. There are many books I loved the moment I finished them but the impression they have left on me is like water through the fingers


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