No.542
Catch-22. Still. Technically Crime and Punishment still too.
The last thing I read that was really compelling to me personally though was something I just finished a little while ago, In Cold Blood.
It is and was magnificent.
The better part is not the account, though technically that's all it is. The impressive part of it is an experiment he performed in writing it, to see if in writing essentially awful, pathological people well enough and sympathetically enough you can make them likable.
It was a resounding fucking success. It's also just great in general.
He really did something with Perry.
>>540People's History is good in how it introduces you to events you wouldn't hear of otherwise. And yes, in many cases that would be because history is largely written by those on top. But to me it seems biased the same as most other selective histories would be, maybe even moreso, just in the opposite direction.
Not that that's an evil thing necessarily. But when it comes to history keep in mind that those writing it often do have a given agenda, and a lot of histories will be selective about what they include as a result. Not that that means what's there is lies, but because when you read history you assume on some level you then know all or most of what happened at a given time and place, and thus are given to dismissing on faith in the author the possibility of events that might contradict a given narrative.
tl;dr if you want to get into it reading widely different sources is a good idea, for roughly the same reason it is with news.
>>541Lolita is long but I think that's because it's more something poetical and prose-y than just a novel. He was probably just having fun showing off in writing a lot of it, not that that was bad.
Doesn't he start hallucinating about cheerios talking and stuff?
I feel like vaporwave is a thing only because they are going to make another movie about that book some day and it will and should make up the entire soundtrack of it.
No.543
In addition to the previously mentioned titles, I've also started reading through a collection of Montaigne's "Essays."
Doing all of this reading lately has made me painfully aware of how much my attention span has shrunken. As I am now, I find it difficult to read through one chapter of any given work without my mind starting to drift. I suppose that I'm making strides toward improving it by reading, at least.
I couldn't find a single goddamn picture of Kyoko reading a book. Maybe she's actually illiterate.>>541Ah, I don't have a copy of
American Psycho; at least, I don't have one in the mounds of books that I've purchased. I'll scrounge around and see if I can't find a copy. Also,
Lolita was one of the most excellently-written books I think I've ever read. It did seem to drag a little in the middle, but nonetheless I quite liked it.
inb4 called a pedoWhat short stories and manga might those be?
>>542Catch-22 was superb. Interestingly, for all of the Dostoevsky I own, I don't have a copy of
Crime and Punishment. In fact, I think I decided against buying it when I was at the bookstore buying all of that other Dostoevsky stuff because I didn't want to empty my bank account. I'll make a note to get it at some point, along with
In Cold Blood – you've sold me on the latter.
You make a very valid point. In addition to
A People's History of the United States, I'm planning on reading
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, and maybe also
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Do you have any good history book recommendations for me (preferably covering stuff other than only US history)?
No.544
>>543My attention span is also really terrible. I've learned that not paying attention to how many pages I've been reading helps me read longer. I also just read for small amounts through out the day instead of long periods at a time.
Any one have tips to help with reading for longer times?
I would be careful with American Psycho. Not only is the gore extremely graphic but there are some eye parts you wouldn't particularly like.
The Manga I'm reading are Oyasumi Punpun, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, and the Spin off of Oreimo. There was one by the author of Aku no Hana i'd like to check out too. For short stories I forgot exactly which one my friend had mentioned, but the other one is "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" by Flannery O'Connor. I've read it before but wanted to reread it.
No.547
Spider 'gain, lost my trip.
>>543>Guns Germs and Steeleeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
You could do a bit better.
Scarcity played a role but I think it's a little silly to think that was the absolute defining factor of how civilizations involved. That's an argument for another time and place though.
It depends on what you're interested in. I'm mostly just into niche shit myself. If you're into Japanese history but don't want to just read textbooks about it, James Clavell's novels seem pretty good. If you don't know much about revolutionary Russia and want to know about it, Ten Days that Shook the World is biased as all hell but is well worth reading. If you like the other extreme, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is actually pretty damn readable.
If you DO like American history, David McCullough is pretty good.
There are tons of different directions you could go, and it's easy enough to guess bias in a basic way and avoid stuff that's mostly rhetoric or revisionist or whateverthehell.
Not that this necessarily fits here but there are also a lot of good documentary series. Ken Burns' The Civil War is pretty close to my heart, even though watching it now the production is pretty cheesy.
Never read American Psycho but this talk of actually being able to identify with Bateman a little is reminding me of how I felt the first time I read Clockwork Orange. I genuinely loved Alex. He was so vital, so full of will, so fun-loving. He was vile but triumphantly vile. I legitimately loved him.
Maybe it helped that I was 14, but yeah.
No.550
>>548Weird, I remember considering the whole environment of it hellish. To the point that when people theorize that the reason he's never caught and nothing ever changes is that he's actually in hell, it makes sense.
No.551
>>550well i'm only half way through the book, so its possible.
No.552
The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway. I really enjoy his writing style and I'm excited to read his more well-known novels.
No.558
Journey to the End of the Night.
Best thing since In Cold Blood.
Honestly going on the list of favorites and I'm not even through it.
No.561
>>540How'd you like Nausea? When I was reading it it felt like a chore, the prose especially. But I seem to think about the book often, for some reason, so maybe it's worth a reread.
I'm currently reading, and really enjoying, Moby Dick.
Before this I read The Master of Go.
No.566
Working my way through some classics recommended to me by a close (internet) friend.
I just finished The Waves, just starting Absalom! Absalom!, and then straight into The Master and Margarita
>>555The same goes for abstract expressionism.
>anyone could write itBut anyone didn't, Hemingway did
No.568
>>566No, because that's a terribly drawn dick. I'm a little disappointed in you.
Hemingway produced easily-consumed literature that was worthwhile and well-written. You produced a sloppy cock that has no more value than a picture of a smug anime girl.
My point is that "too simple, my kid could've done that" is not a valid criticism. You should not let the complexity (or lack thereof) impact your opinion of art.
No.569
>>568>has no more value than a picture of a smug anime girl.Are you that dense fuck that complains about anime in a weeaboo imageboard on every occassion?
>You should not let the complexity (or lack thereof) impact your opinion of art.Then why are you saying that that dick is not well drawn? It's a perfect example of super deformed art, moreover, that anon went as far as to emulate how a child would draw a dick, making it even more pure; the epitome of simplicity. Your opinion was biased on your evaluation of the complexity of the drawing, oh, なんて事！
No.570
>>569>Then why are you saying that that dick is not well drawn?I wasn't complaining about the simplicity of the dick, I was referring to the overall hasty and reactionary nature of the dick.
The mediums are also entirely different but my initial gripe still stands.
Hemingway's simple writing is easily absorbed but carries heavier meaning. Before post-modernist trash flinging, said meaning in art was realized and reflected inside of the consumer. It was not imposed by the artist.
Points for trying though.
No.572
>>570>I wasn't complaining about the simplicity of the dick, I was referring to the overall hasty and reactionary nature of the dick.>No, because that's a terribly drawn dick.Sure. Also, there's art in doing it hastly, my point is still valid.
In any case, if we go by arguments, the "anyone could, but Hemmingway did" is just as stupid as "anyone could do it" in my eyes, no idea what are you guy even trying to prove with all of this. Specially considering those arguments are pretty subjetive and can't make room for a settlement in each side; it's more like you are trying to prove who's got the longest dick here or who's got the deepest abstraction on this.
No.575
When not poring over my copy of the
Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook, I've been reading some of the short stories written by the French Decadents.
>>559>BorgesI read "The Garden of Forking Paths" not too long ago, and I very much enjoyed it. I'm thinking of getting a collection of his works once I've reduced the size of my disgustingly large backlog of books.
>>556>Les Fleurs Du MalI like your taste. Perhaps you'll enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mUX1l89npg No.681
>>575author/ edition? Interested.
No.682
>>575Sorry, of the linux one.
No.684
>>683ya but I saw the cover and figured it wasn't it
No.697
recently finished:
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith). I bought this on the back of it winning the 2016 Man Booker International Prize and I was not disappointed. Essentially the decent of a young woman into madness told through the eyes of members of her family. Beautifully dark.
The Wisdom Of Insecurity: A Message For An Age Of Anxiety by Alan Watts. This is a good book but it was preaching to the converted. I suppose if you were someone who is quite anxious then there might be some helpful advice. I still love the authors' The Way Of Zen.
The Investigation by Phillipe Claudel. Kafkaesque is the word. Reads like a bad nightmare without ever letting up. Not recommended at all.
currently on:
Overcomplicated: Technology At The Limits Of Comprehension by Samuel Arbesman. Popsci intro to Complexity Theory. I'm punching above the weight of this book so it's been tough keeping focus during the lengthy gaps between points of interest. However it is also very short so it won't be long before I move on.
waiting to be read:
Where The Dead Pause And The Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett
Ours To Hack And To Own: The Rise Of Platform Cooperatirvism, A New Vision For The Future Of Work And A Fairer Internet edited by Trebor Scholz and Nathan Schneider
big up to whoever mentioned Montaigne.
No.751
I'm currently reading The Well of Loneliness by Hall.
Pretty gay, but interesting story and perspective of a girl in the 1920s
Also reading Anthem by Ayn Rand because I like memes uwu
No.963
>>961What level of Japanese reading would you place yourself at?
That book sounds interesting but probably way above my reading skills
No.964
Dead Souls, by Nikolai Gogol
No.972
Right now I'm reading Alexandre Kojève - Kandinsky: Incarnating Beauty
>A compilation of esoteric musings, Kandinsky: Incarnating Beauty explores Alexandre Kojève’s philosophical approach to the relationship between art and beauty.
>A teacher to Jacques Lacan, André Breton, and Albert Camus, Kojève defined art as the act of extracting the beautiful from objective reality. His poetic text, “The Concrete Paintings of Kandinsky,” endorses nonrepresentational art as uniquely manifesting beauty. Taking the paintings of his renowned uncle, Wassily Kandinsky, as his inspiration, Kojève suggests that in creating (rather than replicating) beauty, the paintings are themselves complete universes as concrete as the natural world. Kojève’s text considers the utility and necessity of beauty in life, and ultimately poses the involuted question: What is beauty?
>Including personal letters between Kandinsky and his nephew, this book further elaborates the unique relationship between artist and philosopher. An introduction by Boris Groys contextualizes Kojève’s life and writings.
Tl;dr it's a short philosophy/art theory book on beauty in art by Kojève, a Russian-French philosopher with a focus on William Kandinsky who was Kojève's uncle. It's pretty good if you're into art, theory or philosophy.
No.974
>>973kino taste
if you liked that I'd rec checking out his plays (perspectives on the broken world good one to start)/on the ontological mystery and Discourse on thinking/what is called thinking by heidegger they jive together really well.
No.976
>>975Send me an email with your handle to this email address, if you want, I would love talking with you.
isisqwanon@proton.me
No.980
>>979Because I am autistic - and also I don't want my handle to be public; but that said, I can give you my "probe" account.
thewilltosee
No.981
>>980no patrick autism is not a get out of jail free card
No.982
>>981I don't know what Spongebob has to do with any of this, nor what jail you're talking about.
No.991
I recently finished Murakami's Tokio Blues was… okay, I been reading it while on uni and took me the whole semester (I was reading manga too) and I find it nice, just some times there was more sex than needed but overall was enjoyable.
Now I'm trying both Kawakami Suisei and Sanderson Mistborn.
And from the manga I finished Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku, was really good but the ending wasn't as I desired, also I been starting Otonari Complex which I had in list from years ago.
No.1003
>>991"Norwegian Wood" was beautiful and made me tear up in places. Great book
No.1004
>>540I remember the cirno post you ruined 10 years ago
No.1005
the other day i ordered the essential wallerstein so i can be more annoying when people talk about global politics
No.1016
>>1013>>1014theres no way you read all of that.
No.1017
i only read books by women. what does everyone recommend
No.1019
>>1018you're right! they do do that.
