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Beyond sane knolls posted:What's yall's opinion on William Golding? I just bought The Scorpion God and The Paper Men based solely on the covers/historical setting/vague fond memories of Lord of the Flies. I read The Inheritors like 2 years ago and thought it sucked poo poo. Lord of the Flies is kool though, and I think Golding won a Nobel??? so he must be good? Has anyone here read The Man Without Qualities? I just started it and it is some good rear end stuff.
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 06:38 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 23:51 |
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david crosby posted:I read The Inheritors like 2 years ago and thought it sucked poo poo. Lord of the Flies is kool though, and I think Golding won a Nobel??? so he must be good? IMO the nobel prize is very hit or miss, and as often a political prize as a literary one.
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 11:48 |
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I read uh, Freefall and wasn't too impressed. Good luck with MWQ crosby. Apparently it needs sustained attention throughout, though I've been wanting to borrow my sister's copy to try it.
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 13:35 |
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re: Golding, I enjoyed The Spire and Pincher Martin. Lord of the Flies is great of course, but I also wasn't a big fan of The Inheritors. I don't think I've read anything else of his, so maybe that one was just a rare dud.
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 19:07 |
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david crosby posted:
I have only read the first half but recently was given the whole work when someone moved. Its very good and I'm going to reread everything from the beginning
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 21:32 |
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I am remembering how the main character impresses a nymphomaniac by telling her how great it was that he was beaten up in the middle of the street for no discernable reason and I am laughing again.
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 21:40 |
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Seriously I don't think y'all mother fuckers listened to me when I said read David Vann get on that poo poo pronto
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# ? Apr 3, 2015 23:26 |
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ulvir posted:i'm reading inherent vice now, and I kinda regret this not being my first pynchon book. I'm only 1/4th in, but it feels a lot better than the crying of lot 49. not that the latter's bad, just if things continue as they do, a lesser book than inherent vice TCOL49 is Pynchons worst book, it gets recommended because it's short or its all that person was able to read.
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# ? Apr 4, 2015 06:47 |
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Seriously I don't think y'all mother fuckers listened to me when I said read David Vann I'll check him out OP, just as soon as I'm done with Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
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# ? Apr 4, 2015 06:54 |
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Nanomashoes posted:TCOL49 is Pynchons worst book, it gets recommended because it's short or its all that person was able to read. Yeah I didn't like it, it had none of the powerful imagery of V. or Gravity's Rainbow.
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# ? Apr 4, 2015 09:11 |
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Crying of Lot 49 is loving aces, you dopes.
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# ? Apr 4, 2015 14:47 |
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Shibawanko posted:Yeah I didn't like it, it had none of the powerful imagery of V. or Gravity's Rainbow. quote:Oedipa sat on the earth, rear end getting cold, wondering whether, as Driblette had suggested that night from the shower, some version of herself hadn't vanished with him. Perhaps her mind would go on flexing psychic muscles that no longer existed; would be betrayed and mocked by a phantom self as the amputee is by a phantom limb. Someday she might replace whatever of her had gone away by some prosthetic device, a dress of a certain color, a phrase in a letter, another lover. She tried to reach out to whatever coded tenacity of protein might improbably have held on six feet below, still resisting decay - any stubborn quiescence perhaps gathering itself for some last burst, some last scramble up through earth, just-glimmering, holding together with its final strength a transient, winged shape, needing to settle at once in the warm host, or dissipate forever into the dark.
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# ? Apr 4, 2015 16:42 |
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So my takeaway from this thread is that genre fiction is distinguished from more sophisticated stuff by quality of writing? Example: A Canticle for Leibowitz is generally considered a masterpiece by most literary critics, despite being within the "genre" of science fiction (which was until recently not considered real literature).
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 06:22 |
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AYC posted:So my takeaway from this thread is that genre fiction is distinguished from more sophisticated stuff by quality of writing? Yeah that seems right to me. Lem = highbrow lit because of good writing/ideas, Gaiman = lowbrow/non-lit because of the bad writing + being married to amanda palmer.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 06:28 |
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david crosby posted:Yeah that seems right to me. Lem = highbrow lit because of good writing/ideas, Gaiman = lowbrow/non-lit because of the bad writing + being married to amanda palmer. Ironically, I'm actually reading American Gods for my Religious & Science Fiction class at the moment. It's a'ight, but I am annoyed by the fact that nobody has commented on how weird a name "Shadow" is.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 06:31 |
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AYC posted:So my takeaway from this thread is that genre fiction is distinguished from more sophisticated stuff by quality of writing? Age probably also helps in that respect. There's an above average chance that Stephen King is viewed as literature in 50 years or so.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 15:11 |
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AYC posted:So my takeaway from this thread is that genre fiction is distinguished from more sophisticated stuff by quality of writing? I'd say it's also got a lot to do with its adherence to/restrictions by the genre's rules and boundaries. regardless if the author chooses to subvert your expectations or whatever, you can pretty much go straight to a fantasy shelf and know almost exactly what you'll get without even reading the paratext.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 15:34 |
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computer parts posted:Age probably also helps in that respect. There's an above average chance that Stephen King is viewed as literature in 50 years or so. How many detective story authors from a hundred years ago do we still talk about, and do we do so in terms of literature?
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 15:58 |
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AYC posted:So my takeaway from this thread is that genre fiction is distinguished from more sophisticated stuff by quality of writing? Canticle for Liebowitz 2 is real good.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 16:00 |
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Ras Het posted:How many detective story authors from a hundred years ago do we still talk about, and do we do so in terms of literature? Shrlock Holmes?
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 16:30 |
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Ras Het posted:How many detective story authors from a hundred years ago do we still talk about, and do we do so in terms of literature? Only a few but I think King would be one of the few in the future
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 16:51 |
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Smoking Crow posted:Only a few but I think King would be one of the few in the future A lot of his stuff is just generic genre fluff, but occasionally he writes something truly wonderful. If nothing else, The Stand is a masterpiece.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 17:01 |
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Ras Het posted:How many detective story authors from a hundred years ago do we still talk about, and do we do so in terms of literature? egdar ellen poe
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 17:10 |
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Ras Het posted:How many detective story authors from a hundred years ago do we still talk about, and do we do so in terms of literature? GK Chesterton.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 18:20 |
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Could Wilkie Collins count?
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 18:50 |
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Either we've hit peak irony or mother fuckers in here are seriously arguing Stephen King is entering the literary canon
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 18:51 |
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Either we've hit peak irony or mother fuckers in here are seriously arguing Stephen King is entering the literary canon It's ok, bad writers have entered the canon before
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 18:52 |
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Smoking Crow posted:It's ok, bad writers have entered the canon before I could see him being something of a historical interest I guess EDIT: but lol at the Stand being masterpiece Mel Mudkiper fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Apr 5, 2015 |
# ? Apr 5, 2015 18:56 |
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Smoking Crow posted:It's ok, bad writers have entered the canon before All literature is subjective and there are no good or bad writers
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:35 |
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AYC posted:All literature is subjective and there are no good or bad writers Nice
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:38 |
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On an unrelated note what do you super-refined TBBers think of Neil Gaiman? Reading American Gods right now and it's entertaining, but not anything super mind blowing.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:39 |
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AYC posted:On an unrelated note what do you super-refined TBBers think of Neil Gaiman? Reading American Gods right now and it's entertaining, but not anything super mind blowing. His greatest contribution to letters is Sandman
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:43 |
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AYC posted:All literature is subjective and there are no good or bad writers Mind = blown
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:44 |
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Smoking Crow posted:His greatest contribution to letters is Sandman I started Sandman over a year ago and still haven't had the energy to finish it. It's just so... uuuggghhhhh. I am sure if all you read are fantasy stories and comics than his take on those genres is great and unique but unless you already buy in on the genre itself the whole thing is tedious and navel gazing.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:46 |
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I started Sandman over a year ago and still haven't had the energy to finish it. It's just so... uuuggghhhhh. I am sure if all you read are fantasy stories and comics than his take on those genres is great and unique but unless you already buy in on the genre itself the whole thing is tedious and navel gazing. Real talk about comics right now: the greatest comic is Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth ok now quit talking about the funnies
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:48 |
AYC posted:On an unrelated note what do you super-refined TBBers think of Neil Gaiman? Reading American Gods right now and it's entertaining, but not anything super mind blowing. He has a few genuinely good works but in a lot of his later work especially he's coasting.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:50 |
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Either we've hit peak irony or mother fuckers in here are seriously arguing Stephen King is entering the literary canon Here is what Brainworm (the English professor in A/T) had to say about it 6 years ago: Powered Descent posted:Here's a strange one for you. Brainworm posted:If I were betting, I'd split two ways:
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 19:55 |
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Zaito posted:Here is what Brainworm (the English professor in A/T) had to say about it 6 years ago: So he's going to be remembered because a lot of people like him and he writes less thematically potent stories.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 20:00 |
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Apparently, yes.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 20:03 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 23:51 |
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Mel Mudkiper posted:So he's going to be remembered because a lot of people like him and he writes less thematically potent stories. I dunno, I personally liked picking apart the religious undertones in The Stand. Though I am a bit biased as he was the first author I really got into; if nothing else I can credit him for making books a serious interest of mine.
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# ? Apr 5, 2015 20:05 |