Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

Guy A. Person: May 23, 2003

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Wasn't taking down Christians at all? If you can't laugh at the fact Old Testament God is a prick, don't know what to tell you.

just lmao if you're a christian and don't think of god as an aloof prick

# ? Aug 30, 2016 16:55

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:54

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Just curious, do you know of any other Lit authors that have dipped their feet into 'sci-fi'?

In terms of content?

Chang-Rae Lee
Richard Powers
Cormac McCarthy (depending on how you want to categorize The Road)
George Saunders

probably more but thats off the top of my head

# ? Aug 30, 2016 16:58

Mover: Jun 30, 2008

I recall Harold Bloom giving a shout out to The Left Hand of Darkness in The Western Canon, though he later disowned the big list of contemporary stuff at the end of the book as publisher mandated, but he clearly still think of her as important and talented, at least.

I know Kingsley Amis experimented with genre stuff, doing a trippy ghost story in The Green Man and some heavily PKD inspired alternate history in The Alteration.

# ? Aug 30, 2016 17:00

Twerkteam Pizza: Sep 26, 2015; Grimey Drawer

Mover posted:

I know Kingsley Amis experimented with genre stuff, doing a trippy ghost story in The Green Man and some heavily PKD inspired alternate history in The Alteration.

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Chang-Rae Lee
Richard Powers
Cormac McCarthy (depending on how you want to categorize The Road)
George Saunders

I love that this thread helps me make lists like this, but lol at The Road. It has the understanding of social interaction that most Libertarians have.

# ? Aug 30, 2016 17:16

Burning Rain: Jul 17, 2006; What's happening?!?!

A human heart posted:

great post, you're really taking those Christians down a peg or two

What's wrong with it? too polemical?

I thought Weep Not, Child is much more flat and preachy than A Grain of Wheat. also, it doesn't help that some of the writing is literally this (from the very beginning, Njorogo tells his brother that he'll go to school, brother replies):

Ngugi posted:

'No, brother. You know I am being trained as a carpenter. I cannot drop the apprenticeship. But I am glad you're going to school.'
'I am, oh, so glad. But I wish you too would come.'
'Don't you worry about me. Everything will be all right. Get education, I'll get carpentry. Then we shall, in the future, be able to have a new and better home for the whole family.'
'Yes,' Njorogo said thoughtfully. 'That's what I want.'

And it goes on like that with exposition thru wooden dialogues. I mean, early Latvian lit (i.e., late 19th century) goes like that as well, but I wouldn't actually recommend anybody reading it unless they have some specific interest in it.

# ? Aug 30, 2016 17:37

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

It has the understanding of social interaction that most Libertarians have.

I thought you wanted Sci Fi?

# ? Aug 30, 2016 17:44

Twerkteam Pizza: Sep 26, 2015; Grimey Drawer

Mel Mudkiper posted:

I thought you wanted Sci Fi?

Lol

yeah, it's still a fun read

# ? Aug 30, 2016 18:31

DoctorG0nzo: May 28, 2014

Relating to the "blurred lines between genre fiction and literature" discussion earlier do we like Vonnegut in this thread? Cause I do

Also just so this isn't a total genre derail, I've finally, finally gotten around to Hemingway's complete short story collection, which I've been meaning to do for years, and it's so loving good. Other than the really well known ones (Snows of Kilamanjaro, A Clean Well-Lighted Place, Hills Like White Elephants, which all deserve their reputation) the standouts to me have been Soldier's Home, Old Man at the Bridge and My Old Man. Still got a decent amount left to go, too.

As much as I love Hemingway's novels I think he works best in short form.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 01:12

Solitair: Feb 18, 2014; TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY!!!

Mover posted:

I know Kingsley Amis experimented with genre stuff, doing a trippy ghost story in The Green Man and some heavily PKD inspired alternate history in The Alteration.

Most of what I know about Kingsley Amis comes from him making GBS threads on Gormenghast. He'd be right at home in this thread. (I say this as someone who loves Gormenghast.)

# ? Aug 31, 2016 02:00

A human heart: Oct 10, 2012

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Wasn't taking down Christians at all? If you can't laugh at the fact Old Testament God is a prick, don't know what to tell you.

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

yeah, name a story where god isn't an rear end in a top hat besides the creation

"FREE WILL WHAT THE gently caress YOU IDIOTS YOU ATE AN APPLE THAT GAVE YOU FREE WILL,

GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT"

Mel Mudkiper posted:

New Testament God is the abusive dad who wants to make it up to you and take you to baseball games but everytime he gets a little angry you panic and worry he will break mommy's arm again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip1SYl97kh4

# ? Aug 31, 2016 02:12

A human heart: Oct 10, 2012

Smoking Crow posted:

Gas

# ? Aug 31, 2016 02:12

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

A human heart posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip1SYl97kh4

Speaking of literature...

Richard Dawkins

# ? Aug 31, 2016 02:48

rest his guts: Mar 3, 2013; ...pls father forgive me
for my terrible post history...

Bad

rest his guts fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Jun 24, 2019

# ? Aug 31, 2016 02:55

Popular Human: Jul 17, 2005; and if it's a lie, terrorists made me say it

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Just curious, do you know of any other Lit authors that have dipped their feet into 'sci-fi'?

Kazuo Ishiguro. Never Let Me Go is an awesome sci-fi novel, The Buried Giant is a less awesome fantasy novel.

Margaret Atwood, too, but she has some phobia of the words 'science fiction' so she'd be the first to disagree with me.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:08

Guy A. Person: May 23, 2003

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

I love that this thread helps me make lists like this, but lol at The Road. It has the understanding of social interaction that most Libertarians have.

Dug into my library a bit and wanted to add Richard Brautigan's In Watermelon Sugar to the list of sci-fi by "literary authors" as well!

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:28

Jesus Kristov: May 2, 2007; Stop liking anime you little shits. I didn't die on the cross for you to do that.

Hi child loving thread. I made the mistake of buying a Thomas Ligotti book because I've seen him suggested on the forums, and the writing is almost punishingly terrible.

I'm looking for some good writing to compensate. What are some good suggestions for somewhat contemporary poetry for someone who normally reads prose? The only poetry I've ever read was either middle or renaissance English so something newer than, say, Milton would be good.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:41

doug fuckey: Jun 7, 2007; hella greenbacks

James tate owns and is funny and is easy to read if you don't mind semi-prose poem type of things. see if you can track down return to the city of the white donkeys.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:47

Tree Goat: May 24, 2009; argania spinosa

Jesus Kristov posted:

Hi child loving thread. I made the mistake of buying a Thomas Ligotti book because I've seen him suggested on the forums, and the writing is almost punishingly terrible.

I'm looking for some good writing to compensate. What are some good suggestions for somewhat contemporary poetry for someone who normally reads prose? The only poetry I've ever read was either middle or renaissance English so something newer than, say, Milton would be good.

i've suggested omeros before, and i will suggest it again.

there is a lot of good prose-like poetry tho, you might need to narrow your parameters a skosh

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:48

Mover: Jun 30, 2008

Jesus Kristov posted:

Hi child loving thread. I made the mistake of buying a Thomas Ligotti book because I've seen him suggested on the forums, and the writing is almost punishingly terrible.

I'm looking for some good writing to compensate. What are some good suggestions for somewhat contemporary poetry for someone who normally reads prose? The only poetry I've ever read was either middle or renaissance English so something newer than, say, Milton would be good.

Well, my favorite living poet is probably Louise Gluck, and of her stuff I'd recommend A Village Life. Atypical for her, it's still one of my favorites. It's been described as novelistic, being focused on the web of relationships in a small, fictional Mediterranean town, but there's no real plot or anything. Instead of the big emotional fight, you get the moment where someone looks out over the fig trees after and breathes deep. At night, the worms do their secret work and bats fly past the moon. But in more prose like lines and forming a cohesive whole.

Going back to older but still later than Milton, William Morris' The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs is both beautiful and a complete epic narrative.

Something moving away from the normally reads prose but different than what people usually think of is poetry is James Tate. He's incredibly funny and very surreal. You can find The List of Famous Hats and The Prince of Peace online (I'm phone posting, sorry!) which are short and representative. If you like that, he's a good way to go.

E: ahhhh that second poem is called It Happens Like This, not the prince of peace

Mover fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Aug 31, 2016

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:53

Mover: Jun 30, 2008

Nice, double James Tate rec.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 03:53

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

rest his guts posted:

It would be cool if some of our literary luminaries had more to offer by way of discussion other than 'he's cool' or 'that's dumb'. It's extremely easy to attack someone else's interpretation without offering any insight of your own. Then again, bitterness is a goon's prerogative

uh... who are you talking to?

# ? Aug 31, 2016 04:17

Jesus Kristov: May 2, 2007; Stop liking anime you little shits. I didn't die on the cross for you to do that.

I read the short James Tate pieces and they made me laugh, plus there's a collection of selected poems at my local bookstore so there's a keeper. Plus it seems they can order in Omeros.

The only Louise Gluck they have is Faithful and Virtuous Night. Any opinions?

I'm not sure where I could narrow my poetry search, otherwise. I dont really have the experience to say what I like. Longform, narrative is cool, if that's a thing? I read a book called The Chimes by Anna Smaill a few months back. It was maybe a little close to YA fiction for this thread, but the writing had a lovely musical quality to it, not only in the choice of words and cadence of sentences but in the way the plot alternated between memory and action, kind of like a "my first Proust."

# ? Aug 31, 2016 04:18

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Mel Mudkiper posted:

uh... who are you talking to?

wrong account blue squares

# ? Aug 31, 2016 07:00

Burning Rain: Jul 17, 2006; What's happening?!?!

Jesus Kristov posted:

I read the short James Tate pieces and they made me laugh, plus there's a collection of selected poems at my local bookstore so there's a keeper. Plus it seems they can order in Omeros.

The only Louise Gluck they have is Faithful and Virtuous Night. Any opinions?

I'm not sure where I could narrow my poetry search, otherwise. I dont really have the experience to say what I like. Longform, narrative is cool, if that's a thing? I read a book called The Chimes by Anna Smaill a few months back. It was maybe a little close to YA fiction for this thread, but the writing had a lovely musical quality to it, not only in the choice of words and cadence of sentences but in the way the plot alternated between memory and action, kind of like a "my first Proust."

Maybe try reading Pushkin's Eugene Onegin? it's one of THE long form narrative poems, plus it's a funny story with lots of sick burns that doesn't rely on Bible and ancient Greek references. Afterwards you could read Vikram Seth's THe Golden Gate to see how the story and form can be refitted for 1980s San Francisco.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 07:09

A human heart: Oct 10, 2012

I read Mayakovsky's poem about Lenin a while back and that was really cool and it's longform, but 1924 isn't exactly contemporary.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 07:50

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

CestMoi posted:

I think you are being unfair to G. K. Chesterton with this post, and I apologise for being the one that caused you to make it.

I was posting out of anger for sure.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 12:08

blue squares: Sep 28, 2007

Mr. Squishy posted:

I was posting out of anger for sure.

You're an angry guy

# ? Aug 31, 2016 14:04

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Speaking of literature...

Richard Dawkins

i too think metal gear is literature

# ? Aug 31, 2016 15:41

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

StashAugustine posted:

i too think metal gear is literature

Hideo Kojima, David Foster Wallace, John Lennon - the holy trinity

# ? Aug 31, 2016 15:46

The Belgian: Oct 28, 2008

Jesus Kristov posted:

Hi child loving thread. I made the mistake of buying a Thomas Ligotti book because I've seen him suggested on the forums, and the writing is almost punishingly terrible.

I'm looking for some good writing to compensate. What are some good suggestions for somewhat contemporary poetry for someone who normally reads prose? The only poetry I've ever read was either middle or renaissance English so something newer than, say, Milton would be good.

I've been reading some Beaudelaire recently and it's good. It's uhh newer than Milton I guess?

A Carcass posted:

A Carcass

My love, do you recall the object which we saw,
That fair, sweet, summer morn!
At a turn in the path a foul carcass
On a gravel strewn bed,

Its legs raised in the air, like a lustful woman,
Burning and dripping with poisons,
Displayed in a shameless, nonchalant way
Its belly, swollen with gases.

The sun shone down upon that putrescence,
As if to roast it to a turn,
And to give back a hundredfold to great Nature
The elements she had combined;

And the sky was watching that superb cadaver
Blossom like a flower.
So frightful was the stench that you believed
You'd faint away upon the grass.

The blow-flies were buzzing round that putrid belly,
From which came forth black battalions
Of maggots, which oozed out like a heavy liquid
All along those living tatters.

All this was descending and rising like a wave,
Or poured out with a crackling sound;
One would have said the body, swollen with a vague breath,
Lived by multiplication.

And this world gave forth singular music,
Like running water or the wind,
Or the grain that winnowers with a rhythmic motion
Shake in their winnowing baskets.

The forms disappeared and were no more than a dream,
A sketch that slowly falls
Upon the forgotten canvas, that the artist
Completes from memory alone.

Crouched behind the boulders, an anxious dog
Watched us with angry eye,
Waiting for the moment to take back from the carcass
The morsel he had left.

� And yet you will be like this corruption,
Like this horrible infection,
Star of my eyes, sunlight of my being,
You, my angel and my passion!

Yes! thus will you be, queen of the Graces,
After the last sacraments,
When you go beneath grass and luxuriant flowers,
To molder among the bones of the dead.

Then, O my beauty! say to the worms who will
Devour you with kisses,
That I have kept the form and the divine essence
Of my decomposed love!

� William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

# ? Aug 31, 2016 18:16

Twerkteam Pizza: Sep 26, 2015; Grimey Drawer

A human heart posted:

You seem insufferable

# ? Aug 31, 2016 18:36

Twerkteam Pizza: Sep 26, 2015; Grimey Drawer

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

New BotM poll come vote

both books are boring and I don't care thats my vote

*shows you my butthole*

# ? Aug 31, 2016 19:04

Twerkteam Pizza: Sep 26, 2015; Grimey Drawer

Voted for Jeeves

# ? Aug 31, 2016 19:11

Solitair: Feb 18, 2014; TODAY'S GONNA BE A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DAY!!!

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Lmao if you don't think of Atwood as an SF writer

"I can't possibly be a sci-fi writer. My books are too deep and good to be in that genre."

# ? Aug 31, 2016 21:30

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

You seem insufferable

They're good.

# ? Aug 31, 2016 21:36

Schmischmenjamin: Dec 15, 2013

Jesus Kristov posted:

Hi child loving thread. I made the mistake of buying a Thomas Ligotti book because I've seen him suggested on the forums, and the writing is almost punishingly terrible.

i love Ligotti. he has his bad books (Noctuary is a stinker) but i read his writing style as a parody of H.P. Lovecraft's. some of his stories are funny enough when read this way that i'm sure it's intentional. but i wouldn't exactly say he's literary, or that discussion of him exactly belongs in this thread, so i digress.

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

You seem insufferable

might as well have skipped the quote and addressed this toward all participants in this thread

# ? Aug 31, 2016 22:18

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:54

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

Schmischmenjamin posted:

might as well have skipped the quote and addressed this toward all participants in this thread

im very sufferable thank you very much

# ? Aug 31, 2016 22:26

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

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Mel Mudkiper posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Mover posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

A human heart posted:

Ngugi posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Mover posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Smoking Crow posted:

A human heart posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Popular Human posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Jesus Kristov posted:

Jesus Kristov posted:

rest his guts posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Jesus Kristov posted:

CestMoi posted:

Mr. Squishy posted:

Mel Mudkiper posted:

StashAugustine posted:

Jesus Kristov posted:

A Carcass posted:

A human heart posted:

Popular Human posted:

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Jesus Kristov posted:

Twerkteam Pizza posted:

Schmischmenjamin posted: