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Stravinsky
May 31, 2011

Mister Kingdom posted:

It's more fun to talk about the bad.

I remember literature classes in high school (a looooong time ago) and hating dissecting every loving word. No, Mr. Jones, I don't know what the author meant by the scene with the three-legged dog and, frankly, I don't give a gently caress.

You could uh, not do that instead talk about the insanely sick poo poo that is a Faust making deals with demons and read Pynchon or somethings instead of dumb poo poo.

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Stravinsky
May 31, 2011

"Man reading good books means I can only talk about them in a purely academic fashion," said the idiot who has not moved on since public school.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Stravinsky posted:

You could uh, not do that instead talk about the insanely sick poo poo that is a Faust making deals with demons and read Pynchon or somethings instead of dumb poo poo.

To each his own, I suppose.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Zoq-Fot-Pik posted:

Any suggestions OP?

Sun and Steel, Yukio Mishima
Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin/All Men Are Brothers, attributed to Shi Naian
Divina Commedia, Dante Aligheri, translated by John Ciardi
Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco
Revenge, Yoko Ogawa
The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak
Roadside Picnic, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
At Swim-Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien
Go Down, Moses, William Faulkner
The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

Zoq-Fot-Pik
Jun 27, 2008

Frungy!

Smoking Crow posted:

I recommend my favorite book, Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. It's a beautiful look at the types of hosed up people that choose to live in small Midwestern towns. It's wonderful and dripping with subtext. Make sure to read every chapter twice to get the full meaning!

Effectronica posted:

Sun and Steel, Yukio Mishima
Outlaws of the Marsh/Water Margin/All Men Are Brothers, attributed to Shi Naian
Divina Commedia, Dante Aligheri, translated by John Ciardi
Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco
Revenge, Yoko Ogawa
The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce
Catch-22, Joseph Heller
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak
Roadside Picnic, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
At Swim-Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien
Go Down, Moses, William Faulkner
The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

Thank you OP

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

Stravinsky posted:

"Man reading good books means I can only talk about them in a purely academic fashion," said the idiot who has not moved on since public school.

Way back in my undergrad years I took a lit class and holy crap it was so much better than any of my lit classes in high school.

Not that I minded those but dang if they don't make people think that non-genre books are supposed to be incomprehensible without a lot of studying.

Damo
Nov 8, 2002

The second-generation Pontiac Sunbird, introduced by the automaker for the 1982 model year as the J2000, was built to be an inexpensive and fuel-efficient front-wheel-drive commuter car capable of seating five.

Offensive Clock
Read some real literature says the guy with the anime avatar.

OK, Mr. Anime Dude, I will. Oh wait I already do. OK, bye!

Damo fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Jun 18, 2014

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

Damo posted:

Read some real literature says the guy with the anime avatar.

OK, Mr. Anime Dude, I will. Oh wait I already do. OK, bye!

Get the best of both worlds, and watch a literary anime such as Ping Pong: The Animation, imo.

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice
I actually just finished a reread of Catch 22 (it's pretty light reading, frankly, and I recommend it to everyone) and watched the movie which I'd never gotten around to before. M&M's brothel was a particularly good touch for the adaptation.

Butt Frosted Cake
Dec 27, 2010

Damo posted:

Read some real literature says the guy with the anime avatar.

OK, Mr. Anime Dude, I will. Oh wait I already do. OK, bye!

The anime is drinking piss as well WTF?!?!

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Butt Frosted Cake posted:

The anime is drinking piss as well WTF?!?!

I would love to know the subtext for that.

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Mister Kingdom posted:

I would love to know the subtext for that.

It's olive oil. Someone in GBS made it for me because I opened an olive oil appreciation thread and my old avatar was Katyusha.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Smoking Crow posted:

It's olive oil. Someone in GBS made it for me because I opened an olive oil appreciation thread and my old avatar was Katyusha.

But what does it really mean?

VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE
Aug 1, 2004

whoa, what just happened here?







College Slice

Smoking Crow posted:

It's olive oil. Someone in GBS made it for me because I opened an olive oil appreciation thread and my old avatar was Katyusha.

You should do an avocado oil thread.

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Mister Kingdom posted:

But what does it really mean?

Click it and find out! :)

El Burbo
Oct 10, 2012

Damo posted:

Read some real literature says the guy with the anime avatar.

OK, Mr. Anime Dude, I will. Oh wait I already do. OK, bye!

Then talk about them, here, on this forum for talking about books.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Smoking Crow posted:

Click it and find out! :)

Ha! That's exactly what I figured.

Damo
Nov 8, 2002

The second-generation Pontiac Sunbird, introduced by the automaker for the 1982 model year as the J2000, was built to be an inexpensive and fuel-efficient front-wheel-drive commuter car capable of seating five.

Offensive Clock
OK, I will!

Has anyone read that annotated version Lolita? Would you recommend it for someone who hasn't read it before, or is it better for someone already familiar with the novel?

Tarranon
Oct 10, 2007

Diggity Dog

Stravinsky posted:

"Man reading good books means I can only talk about them in a purely academic fashion," said the idiot who has not moved on since public school.

Engaging the text actually owns tho, and it is easy and everyone can do it, and then you get to enjoy your favorite faustian book three times

enjoy the devil book on the surface

enjoy thinking about what the devil book meant to your personally

and then discuss the matter with your close friends and share your perspectives/ideas

what would this world be if all you ever talked about was wasn't it cool when faust made that bargain, and then he got everything he asked for...or did he!!?

SerSpook
Feb 13, 2012




Srice posted:

Way back in my undergrad years I took a lit class and holy crap it was so much better than any of my lit classes in high school.

Not that I minded those but dang if they don't make people think that non-genre books are supposed to be incomprehensible without a lot of studying.

Yeah. I always enjoyed things like Victor Hugo's stuff, but taking some undergrad lit classes can be really fun especially when compared with the high school equivalent.

Bob Quixote
Jul 7, 2006

This post has been inspected and certified by the Dino-Sorcerer



Grimey Drawer
Can't I just use postmodernism to pretend that the books I read with the wizards and poo poo in them are works of art? You know, look for the subtext in the way that one guy decapitates the monster or whatever?

Effectronica posted:

The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett

That book is badass as hell. Have you read Shoot the Piano Player?

Stravinsky
May 31, 2011

Damo posted:

OK, I will!

Has anyone read that annotated version Lolita? Would you recommend it for someone who hasn't read it before, or is it better for someone already familiar with the novel?

I wouldn't get it, because imo its not worth getting caught up on the details it brings up the first time through.


Tarranon posted:

Engaging the text actually owns tho, and it is easy and everyone can do it, and then you get to enjoy your favorite faustian book three times

That's different from what dude was saying though. He only thinks the discussion can take place like you writing an essay on war and peace for ms. Taylor's senior ap english class.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Stravinsky posted:

I wouldn't get it, because imo its not worth getting caught up on the details it brings up the first time through.


That's different from what dude was saying though. He only thinks the discussion can take place like you writing an essay on war and peace for ms. Taylor's senior ap english class.

IMO you should never read an annotated edition before reading the unannotated text unless it's a translated edition which needs a lot of explanatory footnotes. Even then you can get by without it for, say, a good translation of the Four Classic Chinese Novels.

Damo
Nov 8, 2002

The second-generation Pontiac Sunbird, introduced by the automaker for the 1982 model year as the J2000, was built to be an inexpensive and fuel-efficient front-wheel-drive commuter car capable of seating five.

Offensive Clock
Yeah, makes sense. I wonder though if the annotations are written in such a way that I can just ignore them the first time through. I should just crack it open at the store the next chance I get and check it out.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib
So where should I go in Native American literature after Momaday, Silko, and Alexie?

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Effectronica posted:

So where should I go in Native American literature after Momaday, Silko, and Alexie?

I'm only vaguely knowledgeable about Japanese, Euro-American and Russian lit, sorry.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Smoking Crow posted:

I'm only vaguely knowledgeable about Japanese, Euro-American and Russian lit, sorry.

Actually, I was hoping to attract someone else in, but you really should read those three. I would avoid anything Leslie Marmon Silko wrote after the eighties, admittedly.

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011
Never really seen the appeal of capital L Literature - reading it is a whole lot of work and very little enjoyment - not something I look for when I'm lookin for something to read. Plus, a whole lotta literature is hella depressing, which makes me want to read it even less.

Honestly, literature and genre books seem so incredibly separate in everything they intend to do that even the comparison of a big mac to a filet mignon seems off, - I'd say those two foods have considerably more in common than the average piece of literature and the average genre novel.

Wolpertinger fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Jun 18, 2014

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Wolpertinger posted:

Never really seen the appeal of capital L Literature - reading it whole lot of it is work and very little enjoyment - not something I look for when I'm lookin for something to read. Plus, a whole lotta literature is hella depressing, which makes me want to read it even less.

Honestly, literature and genre books seem so incredibly separate in everything they intend to do that even the comparison of a big mac to a filet mignon seems off, - I'd say those two foods have considerably more in common than the average piece of literature and the average genre novel.

What have you read in terms of "high literature"?

Tiresias2
May 31, 2011

by FactsAreUseless
Crime and Punishment is my favorite novel, but that doesn't mean I can't like some genre fiction. Dune, the Lord of the Rings, the first three Songs of Ice and Fire; those books ain't bad, man.

But I want to emphasize how much you should pay attention to Jive One, with regards to Russian Realism. Because before I picked up Dostoevsky, I thought Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Philip K. Dick were the greats. Boy was I wrong.

Tiresias2 fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Jun 18, 2014

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

Effectronica posted:

What have you read in terms of "high literature"?

I'd like to know too, because that is really painting it with broad strokes. There are plenty of non-genre books that aren't depressing or anything!

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011

Effectronica posted:

What have you read in terms of "high literature"?

Almost nothing beyond the typical high school classics, I mean I've tried some, but not in a while, as I've never been able to actually stick with one for long enough to actually finish all or even most of it. The impression I have of things literature having a tendency to be depressing is just from the descriptions I've heard of literature from people who have actually read it and understood it better than me, though I may just have been bumping into people who really love reading about the futility of human existence or whatever.

Wolpertinger fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Jun 18, 2014

treasured8elief
Jul 25, 2011

Salad Prong

Wolpertinger posted:

Almost nothing beyond the typical high school classics, I mean I've tried some but I've never been able to actually stick with one for long enough to actually finish all or even most of it.

What ones did you try?

Wolpertinger
Feb 16, 2011

tentative8e8op posted:

What ones did you try?

The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit, Animal Farm, 'simpler' stuff like that. If I try to open something like War and Peace I'm lost by page 2.

Effectronica
May 31, 2011
Fallen Rib

Wolpertinger posted:

The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit, Animal Farm, 'simpler' stuff like that. If I try to open something like War and Peace I'm lost by page 2.

Read Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler or James M. Cain or William Faulkner's Knight's Gambit. Their novels are generally considered to be high literature but it's still also detective fiction. Or read some of the great writers of short fiction- Mark Twain, Anton Chekov, etc.

Srice
Sep 11, 2011

I'll recommend A Confederacy of Dunces, since it's an easy read and since you are posting on this site I assume you are entertained by stories of terrible people getting into humorous situations.

icantfindaname
Jul 1, 2008


David Foster Wallace is pretty cool IMO

Rosscifer
Aug 3, 2005

Patience

Smoking Crow posted:

That makes no sense because that would mean that you read both good and bad and only choose to talk about the bad. That would be like drinking champagne from France and Milwaukee's Best and only choosing to talk about Milwaukee's Best.

Studies show that angry posts tend to get more replies than positives posts on message boards. See, The Bad Thread.

Mormon Star Wars
Aug 13, 2005
It's a minotaur race...

Wolpertinger posted:

If I try to open something like War and Peace I'm lost by page 2.

All the cool kids read The Kingdom of God is Within You instead.

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Sir John Feelgood
Nov 18, 2009

I don't think it's that bad. I see people talk about literature all the time. I visit every day and I've never clicked on a genre thread.

Edit: Actually i guess it could be a lot better. There is a ton of genre threads, and I realize now that when i visit this forum I really only check for new replies in 2 or 3 threads I follow among everything there.

Sir John Feelgood fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Jun 18, 2014

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