|
CestMoi posted:That guy said Beckett dialogue and it reminded me I read Endgame recently and the exchange between Hamm and Nagg where Hamm's like "why did you engender me?" and Nagg says "sorry I didn't know it would be you" is soooo goooooood Every production in the Beckett On Film collection is good. Michael Gambon is fantastic in their version of Endgame.
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2016 23:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 14:33 |
|
|
corn in the fridge posted:what is the threads consensus on catch 22 because it is my favourite book of all time although i read it at a very impressionable age and ive only revisited it once and not recently????????
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2016 11:12
|
|
|
Aren't you still at an impressionable age?
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2016 14:20
|
|
|
Nanomashoes posted:Aren't you still at an impressionable age? I sure hope so, or all our effort has been for naught
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2016 16:28
|
|
|
You should always endeavour to remain impressionable.
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2016 16:43
|
|
|
Bandiet posted:Every production in the Beckett On Film collection is good. Michael Gambon is fantastic in their version of Endgame. ty
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2016 16:44
|
|
|
I have never been impressed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2016 17:08
|
|
|
Lunchmeat Larry posted:kind of Mallampy about women adding this to my adjective lexicon
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2016 14:06
|
|
|
Edit: I've clearly made a terrible mistake and wondered into the wrong neighbourhood, I'm sorry. Please ignore this post and everything that follows. ---- I'm 30+, have probably read well over a thousand books okay more like 400 books, and then basically stopped reading novels because I had started to doubt after all that if it was really worth it. Over and over again, it seemed to be the same thing - characters I couldn't relate to doing things I didn't particularly enjoy reading about and ending in a profoundly unsatisfying manner, across genres and authors, and on top of all that it felt like I'd seen it all before anyway. I spent the last couple years without finishing a single novel (although I did try to start a few before getting bored or frustrated and giving up). The last fiction book I remember actually enjoying was the Illuminatus Trilogy, which was, like... three years ago. Short stories were basically my fiction limit - they generally had something to say, didn't beat around the bush, and if it sucked, well, I hadn't lost much of value, but mostly I stuck to non-fiction because at least I could get some use out of it. Then I grabbed a copy of Catch-22 for 50 cents for a plane ride, and by god - I was hooked immediately. It was hilarious. It was full of characters who, for the first time in a long time, I could relate to, character's with motivations I could understand and quirks I could empathize with, dealing with events in ways that successfully evoked sympathy for their actions. It switched things up, kept things interesting, constantly gave me different viewpoints, and retroactively added layers of meaning to things I'd already read to the extent that I would read things and get excited for what I knew would be revealed about them later. It was essentially my one last go at long form fiction before giving it up for good, and it convinced me not to. It made me feel like I did devouring a book over a decade ago, in high school or college. It managed to convince me to want to read again, for it's own sake and not just to pass the time, which I had thought was impossible. What I'm saying is: It was pretty good, imo. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jun 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 17:02
|
|
|
now read The Stranger
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 17:13
|
|
|
blue squares posted:now read The Plague
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 17:40
|
|
|
Heath posted:now read The Fall
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 17:47
|
|
|
blue squares posted:now read Fight Club
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 17:51
|
|
|
blue squares posted:now read Harry Potter
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 18:04
|
|
|
Read weird Czechoslovakian modernism full of obtuse references to 17th century Raskolniky theology
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 18:09
|
|
|
Most of those suggestions sound genuinely horrible. If I have to pick, I guess I'd want to hear more about this "weird Czechoslovakian modernism full of obtuse references to 17th century Raskolniky theology" thing, though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 19:01
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:Most of those suggestions sound genuinely horrible. The point of my actual, serious suggestion was for you to read a book that has the explicit purpose of alienating the reader from the main character, because you are way too hung up on "relating" to characters.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 19:07
|
|
|
blue squares posted:The point of my actual, serious suggestion was for you to read a book that has the explicit purpose of alienating the reader from the main character, because you are way too hung up on "relating" to characters. I'm "hung up" on it because I enjoyed reading a book where it finally happened, that was also really good independent from that? Tell me more, I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean or how your book suggestion will help me address this terrible problem. (Maybe it was just nice to have a change of pace for once. I'm reading the Jungle now and I very much doubt there's going to be anyone in this book I feel any sort of kinship with, but I'm reading it anyway and might even enjoy it now that I've got some enthusiasm back) GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jun 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 19:20
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:I'm "hung up" on it because I enjoyed reading a book where it finally happened, You said you were going to quit reading literature because it was a waste of time.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 19:27
|
|
|
blue squares posted:You said you were going to quit reading literature because it was a waste of time. Let's say you're right and I am needlessly hung up on relatable characters. Or, hell, let's say you're wrong, and I'm merely hung up on a book having some combination of a multitude of things that might help me avoid regretting the attempt to read it. I'm still not entirely sure I understand the logic that leads you to thinking "Hey, I think you should read this book that perfectly encapsulates every reason why you were going to give stop reading literature to begin with" would be a good suggestion? GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Jun 10, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 19:53
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:I'm not entirely sure about the logic that leads you to thinking "Hey, I think you should read this book that perfectly encapsulates every reason why you were going to give stop reading literature to begin with" would be a good suggestion? Because instead of writing off a huge chunk of literature you should read a good, thought-provoking, immensely influential work that might change your mind and open you to a vast collection of works. Plus its really short.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 19:54
|
|
|
blue squares posted:you should read a good, thought-provoking, immensely influential work that might change your mind and open you to a vast collection of works Maybe you should suggest one of those, then, instead. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jun 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 20:36
|
|
|
You don't understand this thread. Half of it is dedicated to insulting one another. Was I supposed to give you a high five for reading a book? Okay, good job. But that doesn't accomplish anything. Instead, I tried to help you expand your horizons
blue squares fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Jun 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 20:49
|
|
|
blue squares posted:You don't understand this thread. Half of it is dedicated to insulting one another. Was I supposed to give you a high five for reading a book? Okay, good job. But that doesn't accomplish anything. Instead, I tried to help you expand your horizons There, there. There, there.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 20:58
|
|
|
The Stranger is actually really good and can be polished off in an afternoon, don't let blue squares' tragicomic life choices put you off. e: it might also help to know what these "thousands of books" you read actually were, in the general sense, since I've gone through library shelves like Pac-Man since I was old enough to walk and I still wouldn't peg my personal record that high. Oxxidation fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Jun 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:00
|
|
|
Has anyone here read The Meursault Investigation? Worth reading?
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:08
|
|
|
corn in the fridge posted:Has anyone here read The Meursault Investigation? Worth reading? Its pretty good. Nothing earth shattering but definitely an interesting take on the story. It does a very interesting conversion of the story's original philosophic slant into a significantly political one.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:10
|
|
|
should I be worried that every time I read The Stranger I feel closer and closer to Meursault?
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:11
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:There, there. There, there. delete your account
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:12
|
|
|
WAY TO GO WAMPA!! posted:should I be worried that every time I read The Stranger I feel closer and closer to Meursault? If you are worried aren't you explicitly not closer to Meursault?
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:13
|
|
|
corn in the fridge posted:Has anyone here read The Meursault Investigation? Worth reading? One really interesting thing about The Meursault investigation is that it is set in a world where The Stranger exists and has had the same cultural impact as in the real world, only its a memoir instead of a novel
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:19
|
|
|
Oxxidation posted:The Stranger is actually really good and can be polished off in an afternoon, don't let blue squares' tragicomic life choices put you off. I'll keep an eye out for it (and the Mersault Investigation, which does seem like an interesting followup). I'll try harder not to set him off with posts that I didn't intend to be taken so seriously in the future. Oxxidation posted:e: it might also help to know what these "thousands of books" you read actually were, in the general sense, since I've gone through library shelves like Pac-Man since I was old enough to walk and I still wouldn't peg my personal record that high. The estimate was a big exaggeration in hindsight (although I said over a thousand, not thousands, that's too big a claim even for me), it's probably around 400. Also a lot of them were complete garbage, I'm sure. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jun 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:23
|
|
|
I reserve judgment on GlyphGryph until he gives us examples of books he hated before reading Catch 22 This is your test GG. Tell us whether you are a bitch or a king
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:28
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:the Illuminatus Trilogy Some suggestions based on this: You might like Maugham's The Magician. The character of the magician is based on Aleister Crowley, who Maugham knew for a while, and it's pretty funny. Crowley is portrayed as a lecherous evil mastermind and I think I remember reading that Crowley loved it. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150555.The_Magician The Big U by Neal Stephenson is a Nerd Book, but unlike Stephenson's other books, it's short and without pandering. Takes place in an American University, nerds and jocks and a weird hallucinogenic mass psychosis spreads. What can it be?! It's also really funny, and introduced me to Julian Jayne's wonderful The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Stephenson hates this book because it was his first and he's been going downhill since. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/826.The_Big_U Saerdna fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Jun 9, 2016 |
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:28
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:And a lack of relateable characters was only one, of multiple, reasons I felt like that, and not necessarily a requirement for a book to be worth reading. I don't need relatable characters, I just want something that gives me a reason to keep reading. Of course, it seems like the book you suggested managed to hit all of the things that I found make most "literature" painful, even the ones I didn't actually mention, so, uh... yeah The Stranger, classic example of scarequote literature
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:29
|
|
|
yea, i think most of us would be more than happy to suggest books, but it'd be interesting to see what kind of stuff did you read if it all seemed formulaic and unrelatable. realtalk: join in TBB BOTM read
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:29
|
|
|
Burning Rain posted:realtalk: join in TBB BOTM read Seriously you guys I wrote up an effort post and everything 
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:32
|
|
|
WAY TO GO WAMPA!! posted:should I be worried that every time I read The Stranger I feel closer and closer to Meursault? Why do you reread it? I can't remember anything that would make me go back to it
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 21:34
|
|
|
GlyphGryph posted:I'll keep an eye out for it (and the Mersault Investigation, which does seem like an interesting followup). I'll try harder not to set him off with posts that I didn't intend to be taken so seriously in the future. You need to give us concrete examples of what you read. Because you were either reading tons of poo poo or are a huge dumbass, and It's important to kno which so that we can deal with your posts appropriately.
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 22:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 14:33 |
|
|
Saerdna posted:Why do you reread it? I can't remember anything that would make me go back to it Stranger is super-rereadable imo, it maintains several engaging ideas from beginning to end, and they all appear in a different light with each reading. And I don't even think it's a Great book, a lot of the ideas are half-baked, but it's a really loving well-executed book
|
|
#
?
Jun 9, 2016 22:13
|
|