Board: /lit/
"/lit/ - Literature" is 4chan's board for the discussion of books, authors, and literature.
/lit/ is for the discussion of literature, specifically books (fiction & non-fiction), short stories, poetry, creative writing, etc. If you want to discuss history, religion, or the humanities, go to /his/. If you want to discuss politics, go to /pol/. Philosophical discussion can go on either /lit/ or /his/, but those discussions of philosophy that take place on /lit/ should be based around specific philosophical works to which posters can refer.
Check the wiki, the catalog, and the archive before asking for advice or recommendations, and please refrain from starting new threads for questions that can be answered by a search engine.
/lit/ is a slow board! Please take the time to read what others have written, and try to make thoughtful, well-written posts of your own. Bump replies are not necessary.
Looking for books online? Check here:
Guide to #bookz
https://www.geocities.ws/prissy_90/Media/Texts/BookzHelp19kb.htm
Bookzz
http://b-ok.cc/
http://libgen.rs/
Recommended Literature
http://4chanlit.wikia.com/wiki/Recommended_Reading >Be me
>Be Judge Holden
I have acquired the hat and have dyed my skin white.
I am going to change my name soon.
I am truly becoming an enlightened being. 
/wbg/ Worldbuilding General
Eons Edition
Welcome to /wbg/, the official thread for the discussion and development of fictional worlds and settings.
Here is where you can share the details of your created worlds such as lore, factions, magic systems, ecosystems and more. You can also post maps for your settings, as well as any relevant art, either created by you or used as inspiration for your work. Please remember that dialogue is what keeps the thread alive, so don't be afraid of giving someone feedback!
FAQ:
>What is worldbuilding?
Worldbuilding is the process of creating entire fictional worlds from scratch, all while considering the logistics of these worlds to make them as believable as possible. Worldbuilding asks questions about the setting of a world, and then answers them, often in great detail. Most people use it as a means of creating a setting or the scenery for a story.
>"Isn't there a Worldbuilding general in >>>/tg/ already?"
Yes, there is. However, that general is focused on the creation of fictional worlds for the intended purpose of playing TTRPG campaigns. Here you can discuss worldbuilding projects that are not meant to be used for a roleplaying setting, but for novels, videogames, or any other kind of creative project.
>"Can I discuss the setting of my campaign here, though?"
If you want to, but it would probably be better to discuss it on >>>/tg/ . We don't allow the discussion of TTRPG mechanics, however. If you want to discuss stats or which D&D edition is best, this is not the place.
>"Can I talk about an existing fictional setting that is not mine?"
Yes, of course you can!
>"Does worldbuilding need to be about fantasy and elves?"
Worldbuilding, as already stated above, and contrary to what many believe, does not inherently imply blatantly copying Tolkien. In fact, there are many science-fiction setting out there, and even entire alternative history settings which do not possess supernatural elements at all. Any kind of science fiction book has an implied setting at least, which involves a certain degree of worldbuilding put into it.
Last Thread: >>23235266 Took an IQ test and I’m only 110. I’m basically a midwit consoomer destined to never create art. Is there any point in continuing to delve into literature despite knowing most of it will go over my head or should I just quit reading entirely? Now I know why I struggled so much in college with my degree and have trouble concentrating and learning new tasks at work.
It sucks to be just smart enough to understand how dumb I am. "Tattertown" edition
Previous: >>23328783
/wg/ AUTHORS & FLASH FICTION: https://pastebin.com/ruwQj7xQ
RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS: https://pastebin.com/nFxdiQvC
Please limit excerpts to one post.
Give advice as much as you receive it to the best of your ability.
Follow prompts made below and discuss written works for practice; contribute and you shall receive.
If you have not performed a cursory proofread, do not expect to be treated kindly. Edit your work for spelling and grammar before posting.
Violent shills, relentless shill-spammers, and grounds keeping prose, should be ignored and reported.
Simple guides on writing:
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHdzv1NfZRM
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whPnobbck9s
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAKcbvioxFk
Thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUD4Z0akybU >Every time an anglo character says Iqbal it's stylized as Ick-Ball
>Try to look up the correct pronunciation
>This is how it is pronounced according to all sources including Arabic ones
What did award winning author Zadie Smith mean by this? For the discussion of Japanese, Chinese, English, and Korean webnovels/lightnovels.
All forms of litrpg, xianxia and other genres such as Isekai, and media such as visual novels are welcome. Formerly web and now published works are also allowed.
You are free to post your own works(as long as it is WN format) and ask for feedback.
For published novels and tradSci-fi/Fantasy please head on over to >>/sffg/
Due to the constant complaints from /sffg/ I have decided to create a general that will primarily focus on the Eastern web/light novel and English litrpg scene.
>A glossary for those of you who don't know what Xianxia is:
https://www.wuxiaworld.com/page/general-glossary-of-terms/
>Website for Litrpg:
https://www.royalroad.com/home
>A website that hosts the metadata of many Eastern web/light novels and translation links:
https://www.novelupdates.com/
Picrel is Sunny from Shadow Slave
If you have any questions or ways I could improve, please say. >Be me, see this book recommended on /lit/
>Read it
I am very impressed. I liked it a lot. The wordplay was enjoyable and the plot, while a bit scattered, was likewise enjoyable. It reminded me of "Between Two Fires" in a way, except from a Jewish rather than a Christian angle, and set 1960s-2017 America as opposed to Black Death France.
I am now reading the Book of Job. This book awoke an interest in the Jewish religion in me. Explain why christcucks are so obsessed with try to reconcile Nietzsche and Christcuckery. what the fuck happened to this series. The first book was great but then it seriously fell off. I haven't read the 3rd book. I've been putting it off. >hey geppetto i wanna became a real woman Is masturbation actually bad for you? What are some books that will help me decide one way or another? Post your favorite art edition What books should I read if I want to be more intelligent? Doomers get in here and talk about anything Houellebecq. I'm currently reading Interventions 2020. Approaches to Distress (3) is full of his potent cynicism that I'm loath to enjoy. He was filtered by Plato's Sophist. There is no such thing as difference-in-itself. Identity and difference are two sides of the same coin, like yin and yang. Deleuze also lied about Plato, saying that he placed identity ahead of difference instead of holding them to be two syncategorematic universals of equal standing.
Why do you read this charlatan still? He set back metaphysics a century. Other authors are welcome since I've already read most of Thompson's works >everything exists and doesn't exist at the same time bro
WOW, this blew my mind I read a lot of books and majored in English. My vocabulary is better than anyone I know irl and I've rarely (if ever) discovered a word on /lit/.Yet when I write or speak it's exactly like any other normie. Wtf is going wrong here? Trad Chads
We can't stop winning! What do I read first? The Rig Veda? The Bhagavad-gītā? Upanishads? Sankara? So what was the point of this? Wait wasn’t there supposed to be a Zizek-Land debate or are timelines displacing once again? >and as /lit/ continues to ignore the greatest living philosopher... He was right about everything. Why does lord of the rings read like a edgy teens writing?
>And then his sword caught fire, it was badass bro Does the Quran just resonate with people better? Christianity is dying while Islam grows. Does this settle which holy text is does it's job better? I'm going into my last year of engineering, but I needed to take an elective this spring to fulfill the interdisciplinary requirement. I chose creative writing. I'm supposed to write a portion of a short story and read it to other students and the TA in the seminar period. This seems really interesting, and I've never experienced this in engineering before.
I want to name the character of my short story something subtly offensive and humorous. I was thinking "Jonathan Hardcock". Can you help me think of other names? Also is there a chance I could get in trouble or is this sort of playfullness pretty standard for creative writing? other posts you know like these? have sent some of my own before, perhaps conciser /pg/ - Poetry General
Post poetry, your own or otherwise, and discuss. Critique and discussion constantly in dire supply. If you're looking for critique, consider giving details on what exactly you're wishing to improve in the work(s). >get a random thought in my head while reading
>stop absorbing the words I'm reading due to this intrusive mental tangent
>don't notice what I'm doing until several paragraphs in, thus having to reread a significant portion of the page
Repeat 5 times an hour.
How do I improve my focus when reading? I literally have to force myself to stay focused otherwise I simply won't process the words I've read. Relaxing in the thermae edition
>τὸ πρότερον νῆμα·
>>23288574
NOTE: replace ' dot ' with an actual dot to access the links below
>Μέγα τὸ Ἑλληνιστί/Ῥωμαϊστί·
https://mega dot nz/folder/FHdXFZ4A#mWgaKv4SeG-2Rx7iMZ6EKw
>Mέγα τὸ ANE
https://mega dot nz/folder/YfsmFRxA#pz58Q6aTDkwn9Ot6G68NRg
Feel free to write your thoughts/stories/etc... in your target language.
>Work in progress FAQ
https://rentry dot co/n8nrko
You are very welcome to suggest additions/changes/etc... especially for other classical languages So if Nietzsche thought that Victorian society was too "Apollonian" and needed to be balanced out with Dionysianism what would he make of modern society? It seems to be both too Appollonian and Dionysian. How does one make sense of this? 
I read three Lovecraft stories this week and my opinion of them varies pretty greatly:
>1. The Music of Erich Zann - 6.5/10,
enjoyable in its creepy setting and use of liminality and 'lost places', proto-Mandela on some level, kind of fun but mostly enjoyed for its tone
>2. The Dunwich Horror - 8/10,
from the well-described setting to the various seeming biblical allusions (i.e. sacrificing on the high places, seeming immaculate conception for Lavinia's unholy spawn, etc). But the part that I felt was the main event were the whipporwills. I don't think I ever liked an element of a story quite as much as I did the whipporwills. I never heard one before so looking it up I can definitely imagine them mimicking dying human breaths like organic heart rate monitors. I was more horrified by the whips than by the monster itself.
>3. Nyarlahotep - 3/10,
this one sucked so bad that I'm annoyed that I ruined the streak so early. So vaguely written, so half-committed, not much description of why I should be so afraid of this being and a somewhat weird ending that, as he himself reports, was just someone's non-sequitur bad dream. I'm glad that he expanded upon the ideas in this for Zann but I didn't much enjoy reading this
So knowing this, where should I go next? He doesn't exactly have a lot of material so I want to savor it. >As the dialogue argues, Being (ὄν) and the One (ἕν) can be said of all, and neither can be primary. The problem, then, is how to understand the unity of the ἰδέα if it also is. There must be a difference between One and Being if they can be said to constitute a multiplicity, but the difference cannot be or be one. If, as Heidegger argues, Being is difference itself, we arrive at an understanding of difference that does not efface itself in favour of the identical, and an understanding of Being that does not get conflated with beings.
Wtf, so Heidegger was like a German proto-Deleuze? Wow. What are some must reads about Lincoln's war? Grassy Monday Ruins edition
>Recommended reading charts (Look here before asking for vague recs)
https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/guIyhAzS
>Archive
https://warosu.org/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg
>Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg
Previous: >>23324486 
Why is arthurian stuff so well known, but so little read?
Everyone knows Arthur, most heard of lancelot, and some know of gawain
Everyone knows the holy grail, most heard of the round table, and some know of the bleeding lance
but even though many people know these WORDS, these tropes, people rarely actually engage with Arthurian literature itself it seems. Even disregarding them being old, it still seems way more people interact with Shakespeare or other cultural touchstones like the greeko-roman myths.
Do you think its because of the confusing nature of medieval Arthurian publications? There not really being A "definitive" reading of most stories, but it being spread out over many authors over a few hundred years and some authors work being continued by multiple other sources later on making separate, somewhat confusing, continuities.
It took me a minute to sus out where to begin too, but I do think if you want the heart of the genre, the Work of Chretian de Troyes I think is the closest to the "definitive" as you can get stylistically. there are other great works like Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, but that and the bulk of other post 1200's works seem to really start as a concrete genre of conventions with Chretian. Reading less like a pseudo history like Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain, or even Wace's more fanciful history, and more like entertaining adventures of men and women trying to become better than themselves and navigating this world and maybe the next.
All and all it just seems like a hard subject to get "in" too compared to others, not because of any problem with the writings themselves, but because there is no clear entry point to get familiar with it. 
Various /lit/ publications have come and gone: The Lit Quarterly, Pinecone, The April Reader, and Ideology, to name a few. There have been collaborative works, like Coronameron, The /lit/ Annotated Moby Dick, Legacy of Totalitarianism in a Tundra, and The Complete Works of God II. Some of these projects were one-offs, some were serialized. Some /lit/ projects, like Unreal Press, are still hanging on but are plagued by drama, and some, like &, seem to be rapidly in decline.
Also related are the solo writers of /lit/, composed of various namefags and shills who frequent the board: MNM-DR, John David Card, Zulu Alitspa, Frater Asemlen, Horia Belcea, Ogden Nesmer, Lewis Woolston. There are also those who did not come from /lit/ but are /lit/-adjacent simply because they are discussed here so frequently: Mike Ma, R. C. Waldun, Bronze Age Pervert.
This thread is for the discussion of the history of /lit/ writing and the future of /lit/. Why have so many /lit/ projects failed and fallen apart, and what do you think is next for the scene? Does anonymity vs pseudonymity vs. the use of real names make a difference in the success or failure of these projects, and the way in which these projects are perceived? Of the works that /lit/ has produced, are there common characteristics and themes shared between them? Is there a definitively /lit/ style of writing? Has /lit/ produced anything truly great, and if not, do you believe that it will in the future? picked this up on a whim and loved it. I didn't like what little of his non fiction I had read before but this was an entirely different animal. What're your thoughts on it? What Wallace should I read next? For all discussion related to the works of the philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce.
>“The entire universe is perfused with signs, if it is not composed exclusively of signs.” (5.448) In your opinion, how essential is it for a philosophy enthusiast to learn the foundations of mathematics? Is picrel enough to be able to write the next Great American Novel? I think I'm starting with the Greeks tonight I love trains. Please share books with these lovely machines. What personal items do you take with you every day while traversing the serengeti of your life?
Also how do you transport your shit? Do you use a backpack because you always carry one or more books with you, instead of an ereader and a sling? What backpack and what books? How do you do it anon? In the dying earth series why don’t they terraform another planet and live on that with their magical powers? Shit in rhalito the marvelous they fly to the end of the universe easily.
Also can anyone link the mirrors to archive.org? Can’t find shit J.K. Rowling writing Harry Potter at a café in Scotland in 1998 
Are sex scenes always cringe and bad? Most people say that they should be there to talk about character or advance the plot, but why is that necessary? If fiction is able to go to great lengths to show something as mundane as a character's daily routine, even if it's goal is to show something important about that character, then why can't I go into detail about a sexually repressed character fingering herself? Why is sex such (still) a taboo in English media? Why am I the creep for wanting to show the beauty of such a scene?
The most beautiful display of the feminine sexual experience is masturbation, because there's no violent men that are corrupting such a beautiful ideal. Why can't I have scenes in normal fiction that talk about this experience without it being dismissed as being porn? Porn is sex for it's own sake. Clearly this isn't. This is one instance of an event or a habitual event, that the character partakes in. Why is it such a taboo? It's just a part of life. Also, why would it be wrong not to go into detail about the experience as to show the character who, perhaps, may be vulnerable and finds the act empowering? There's a million ways you could take this. He writes everything in such a dry and complex way it's impossible to understand anything.
I just want a primary source where he describes class dialectic in an understandable manner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70l7iY2olSU
I decided to give up gamedev and start working on my other dream, to make stories, and now I can make them into youtube audiobooks with nice AI waifu art. Post and Discuss Books about history, all eras and locations welcomed Shorter please, I don't have much time
And make sure to explain why Post your favorites!
I have a deep fondness for the Lone Wolf series. Their simple but punchy writing style, the variety of their encounters and monsters, and the gorgeous art call to me. This one especially really shaped what I liked in fantasy - so many good alternate covers too.
I know this might fit a little better on /tg/ but I've seen them discuss the topic several times over the years and I want to know what series /lit/ likes. ITT authors that their entire work is worth reading Thoughts on Ashbery? Any favorite poems or collections by him that you want to recommend or discuss? What do you think of some critics' accusations that his work is meaningless? People are driven by self-insert, they only delude themselves of normativity because society wouldn't function otherwise. Anyone who truly believes otherwise, is a sucker and there are many. That is why the rich and powerful keep winning. Religion, Politics, consumerism and even family relations are nothing more than tools used to control the individual. A individual who can break free from all of this rises to the top, the others drown in the swamp. The only person you should focus on is yourself. I know anons will call me an edgy teenager but I honestly feel like a clown for realising this, this late. I need books written by intelligent people who can articulate these thoughts better than me? Fess up, who are some Booktubers that you watch as a guilty pleasure? Wonder what George Orwell would make of this phrase. >"In mid-1990, she was on a train delayed by four hours from Manchester to London, when the characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger came plainly into her mind. Having no pen or paper allowed her to fully explore the characters and their story in her imagination before she reached her flat and began to write."
Have you ever experienced this kind of instant, mysterious inspiration? Who is the Wagner of literature?
And don't say Wagner. In your fear of creating something normal and unimpressive you stare at the blank canvas of life long enough and you wait until all the paint dries up, and your heart stops loving life, the fire in your soul turns into ash, your flesh turns into bones and your dreams and thoughts fade into oblivion How do you decide on a reading list for the month and stick to it, especially when there's an overwhelming abundance of enticing books to choose from? The average person is unironically too low IQ to read the Bible. All the amount of parables, allegories, metaphors, and allusions are literally too high-brow for most Christians to comprehend the actual meanings within the scripture. Archive.org is die, ChatGPT bros we keep winning :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN9eph9GguM
tl;dr dumbasses who copie copywritten books will get fucked in the ass and we can just make our books with AI now instead hehehe Who are some reliable reviewers on Goodreads? Out of these 4, guess which one doesn’t have a valid plot besides “ehhmm and then the kid punched his way out of this one. Gazpacho then raped and killed a Mexican woman. Chapter 58: Cazuela.”
Seriously, I don’t get how this shit gets lauded as the great western epic, besides violence and some interesting Christian metaphors, why would anyone prioritize reading Blood Meridian besides any other fiction piece? i am a young man in his early 20s,
i am tired of depending on literature as a crutch for comfort and plan on trying my best to cut back on it and focus on building a good life,
give me some recommendations to read that will uplift and push the soul to try its best through thick and thin through the many different times to come 
>The act of writing is related to the absence of the work, but is invested in the Work as book. The madness of writing—this insane game—is the relation of writing; a relation established not between the writing and production of the book but, through the book's production, between the act of writing and the absence of the work.
>To write is to produce the absence of the work (worklessness, unworking [désoeuvrement]). Or again: writing is the absence of the work as it produces itself through the work, traversing it throughout. Writing as unworking (in the active sense of the word) is the insane game, the indeterminacy that lies between reason and unreason.
>What happens to the book in this "game" in which worklessness is set loose in the operation of writing? The book: the passage of an infinite movement that goes from writing as an operation to writing as worklessness; a passage that immediately impedes. Writing passes by way of the book, but the book is not that to which it is destined (its destiny). Writing passes through the book, accomplishing itself there even as it disappears there; yet we do not write for the book. The book: a ruse by which writing goes toward the absence of the book.
(The Infinite Conversation) >What if Jesus wasn't a pacifist but used his divine powers fully to destroy his enemies with lightning bolts and fire from the sky and establish himself as a God King
>And what if Satan got sick of just influencing mankind and decided to use his army of fallen angels, demons and evil spirits to invade earth
Why isn't this a book? life is so big and confusing,
so many dreams and little guidance,
i admire the old elite that lived with ultimate skin in the game, and were the throne or coffin type of men,
what are some books to invoke the will to try your bet, and give company through time good and bad Did anyone read picrel? The author's wife must be one of the most fucked up people I read about, especially the way she cucked him all the time. Great about what happens when you settle with the BPD arthoe, be careful what you wish for anons. >It's being made by the guy who made star trek nemesis Are there any books or good articles on how to analyze literature and notice themes within the books? Who is the most important thinker/author of the last 1000 years and why is it Voltaire? >"...to say two plus two makes four" Rod Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of the 156 episodes of the Twilight Zone, one of the greatest TV shows in history
Cranking out finished scripts like no one else
Was he the greatest writer of all time? 
THIS THREAD IS NOT ABOUT DIVINATION
This is week 3 of your "Meditations on the Tarot" (MOTT) book club
The subject for this week is: THE HIGH PRIESTESS (pages 29 to 49)
If you haven't read it, you can do it now.
Next Saturday (May the 4th, 2024) the Arcana due is still THE HIGH PRIESTESS (I decided to have two weeks per chapter) but you will be, of course, welcome to post any insights, notes, questions regarding the previously read materials.
1. I packed MOTT & books most relevant to it into a convenient 184MB archive
link: https://files.catbox.moe/0ubl85.zip
There is also two auxiliary archives:
2. Holy Texts (Catholic study Bible + Tanakh w/ Hebrew-English parallel text 163MB)
link: https://files.catbox.moe/8j0iyi.zip
3. Tarot related (histoical, occult, and professional investigations 187MB)
link: https://files.catbox.moe/3tjyjx.zip
>Good podcasts related to MOTT:
https://podtail.com/es/podcast/the-christian-mysticism-podcast/
https://shwep.net/podcast/ (the person is LGBT, but fortunately a professional so can successfully abstain 99.95% of the time)
>Good music to listen while reading MOTT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lS_Y-aNJwk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Clq0rDR-w
>Archive:
Week 1 Chapter 1: >>23283755
Week 2 Chapter 1: >>23307690
>Note:
Additional books are only to be discussed if relevant to the current (or previous) MOTT chapter we are discussing. What happened to /crit and feedback threads? Let's bring them back.
OP will crit every submission posted here. I promise to help and be fair. I'll post my own stuff later.
Post your fiction excerpts, non-fic rambles, poems, whatever and in exchange give feedback on others' work.
>No matter how bad you think something is, try to find at least one thing good to say about it.
>And please provide your fellow anons with more advice than kys, stop writing, etc. Just a few sentences, what works, what doesn't, and ways their work can become better.
ok somebody post something they're working on and i'll read it. When is this asshole going to get off his fat ass and finish this shit?
I'm BEGINNING to get impatient. Who's best girl? I'm crushing on Yukiko pretty hard. >literature has been a thing for three millenia
>still no incel novel
Are writers just more likely to have sex? What is going on? The world would be a better place if everyone read this >Asian American diaspora female literature
This. This is the distillation of every bad trope in modern fiction made manifest. Why is he discussed so little here? Post the best book you've ever read. Books that explain why there is such a large political divide between the two sides of the Alpes? what are some lit-approved femminist literature? and no The Manipulated Man is not feminist give me some schizo core books. the more esoteric/weird, the better. i have a feeling they may hold true knowledge past all the hand wavey bullshit, just think about it. continuously aiming and approximating and getting silly wit it is bound to lead us towards some unmovable truth. right anons? so far, i know of the kyblion, emerald tablet, secret teachings of all ages. post more >please send two writing samples and your resume to this email address
what do i write about Scepticism is fascinating, but its philosophers are over the world, through different time periods, unlike other schools of philosophy, there is no order. So I am not sure where to begin. A few recs to start would be nice? >Make up fairytales accompanied by pretty noises to appease the bourgeoisie
>They give you their money, let you live on their property and fuck their wives
He was too based for this world. what a horrible new trend in publishing. they basically force you into buying the hardcover because now the paperback's tend to be this 'large print edition', which contains about 40 words on each page and is meant to be read by Grandma at a distance of 25 paces.
of course the real reason is so that people can feel that they are reading 'more pages' and being 'productive'; and when they finish the book will take up 'more space' on the shelf. if you ever happen across one of these 'Large Font' editions at a value village of chapters, have a flip-through. I sometimes wonder how people can be so idiotic as make these decisions, i am waiting to wake up and have this stupid planet turn out to be a dream. He describes classical music as offering nothing more than an aesthetic sensation, the result of aesthetic posturing, "the conception and estimation of art in terms of the unalloyed state of feeling and the growing barbarization of the very state to the point where it becomes the sheer bubbling and boiling of feeling abandoned to itself." For Heidegger classical music is pure metaphysics, an indulgence of bourgeois culture, because it is devoid of an ontological grounding and the ties of people to the earth. At best it's a harmless divertissement and nothing more; the total works of Beethoven nothing but a harmless divertissement!
His estimation of music as a high art seems very unfair, and likely the product of Heidegger's unfamiliarity with classical music as a discipline, but nonetheless I cannot account for such a negative evaluation. What sources offer the best and most complete version of the story of Heracles? TFW most fiction is bad because the majority of authors have unsophisticated worldviews and a shallow understanding of human behavior Been reading some women's romance novels recently to fuel my hatred of modern women, and I want to hang myself. The prose, the characters, the dialogue; it's all the worst I've ever read. I know that these books are mostly just porn for women, but damn, can't publishers find some authors who don't suck to write these books? 
Literature has completely alienated me from my friends.
During the pandemic I read more than I ever had. Lots of classic literature and very little netflix or other pass times. I've kept up this habit since. During this time lots of my friends just drank themselves into obesity and binged netflix and ordered food delivery.
About two weeks ago I visited an old friend - he was basically just a drinking buddy - and I couldn't even get through an evening with him. All he could talk about was buying stuff, consuming, getting a bigger TV, a new car, a new phone. It was the most banal conversation I ever had. I tried to talk about anything else and it was impossible. I've had some similiar experiences with my other friends before, but this was by far the most unsettling.
I don't consider myself an intellectual by any means, or a snob. I just don't know how deal with that fact that:
A. I used to be a selfish consumer.
B. I can no longer identify with that way of life
C. Many of my old friends think engaging in anything beyond mindless consumption is gay
D. Literature has made me more critical of society, and alienated me from my old life Has anybody read this? If so what did you think? Bros, what book(s) should I read after a breakup? Why do pessimistic philosophers have so much to say than optimistic ones? Who was in the wrong here? Why is Yeats always giving these ominous warnings not to look too closely or too deeply into the vision his work discloses? for example:
From The Hosting of the Sidhe:
>If any should look on our rushing band
>we come between him and the deed of his hand
>we come between him and the hope of his heart
From The Happy Shepherd
>Then nowise worship dusty deeds,
>Nor seek, for this is also sooth,
>To hunger fiercely after truth,
>Lest all thy toiling only breeds
>New dreams, new dreams; there is no truth
>Saving in thine own heart.
If we ought not hunger after truth, and truth is in the heart, it clearly follows that we should not look too deeply into the heart.
From The Grey Rock
>We should be dazed and terror-struck,
>If we but saw in dreams that room,
>Those wine-drenched eyes, and curse our luck
>That emptied all our days to come. I'm a really slow reader. what /lit/ canon should i read next? Been getting back into Christian stories and such and have been reading Dante's Inferno, want some more stuff, especially about Christ as I find his story beautiful. So far I've thought of The Last Temptation of Christ and some works by Josephus as he catalogues a good amount of biblical history. Any other books that fit this vibe? Historical, Fiction, etc it doesn't really matter, I'm not one to care if something is blasphemous. Bonus points if it can mess you up emotionally. 
Not sure if this belongs on /biz/ so if it does, I apologize in advance, pls no ban. I ask this earnestly, as it pertains specifically to currency/fiscal matters. More specifically, currency as it relates to the late-medieval equivalent to The Witcher universe. I am currently reading Season of Storms, and I am seriously confused about a dispute between Geralt and a reeve in which Geralt is being paid for a contract he has recently fulfilled. Verbatim:
>"A slight error has crept in the document," he said calmly and softly. "We agreed on fifty crowns. This bill has been made out for eighty."
>Albert Smulka clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them
>"It isn't an error...rather, a token of gratitude. You killed the monster and I'm sure it was an exacting job...So the sum won't astonish anyone...
>"I don't understand."
>Pull the other one. Don't play the innocent. Trying to tell me that when Jonas was in charge he never made out bills like this? I swear I--"
>"What do you swear?" Geralt interrupted. That he inflated bills? And went halves with me on the sum the Royal purse was deprived of?"
I am seriously confused here. At first I thought Geralt was complaining he was getting paid MORE, which I found odd. But then Geralt mentioned "inflated bills," and I don't know what to think. How can you inflate a simple payment like that? Explain it to me like I'm 12, please. Help me understand it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-DEpiQMhZ8 the brilliant poetry, probably anonymous, probably Irish, that I was once recommended via /lit/?
it had possibly been posted to /lit/ and it was on a site with other less impressive but competent works.
someone here knows what I'm talking about, and those that don't know about it will be pleased that they do know about it when they find out. Justify induction through deduction or by making an ampliative inference NOW anon. If this was a short story, it would definitely be THE greatest piece of literature of all time. The way it is, though, it's just not that good. The first chapters (until the first inquiry) are amazing, but the nosedive that comes after is incredibly sad. Of course, we can take into consideration the fact that if Kafka's wishes were to be respected, this shouldn't even exist, but it's kinda surprising to see how is in any "greatest books of all time" list. 
I got 5 pages into this and I’ve already been filtered. A father puts salt into a bowl of water and asks his son to drink it. He finds it tastes salt at the surface, at the middle, and at the bottom of the bowl. When he throws the water out and leaves the water to dry, the salt remains.
How I interpreted this was that there is an indestructible divine essence (the salt) within all things (high and low) that transcends death (i.e. the salt survives while the water disappears, the way a soul survives the loss of a body).
What I don’t understand is what any of this is supposed to mean. Saying that the soul survives death seems silly. I know that the matter constituting my body will survive death, but there is no “me” around to experience that survival. Similarly, if the soul simply merges with Brahmin, and ceases to be differentiated from it, it hasn’t really survived at all - it’s either reverted to a previous state of non-being or changed into something *beyond* being (or at least, beyond phenomenal life) - but this just sounds a lot like saying that the soul didn’t survive.
I have read arguments that our true self is an infinite soul, rather than the individuated consciousness, but most ideas of what the “Self” is seem to reference our capacity for reflection - there is something looking at the letters on my screen, and that thing can think about itself in a way that a rock might not.
Can anyone tell me in plain language what the soul is, why we could expect it to survive beyond phenomenal life, and on what basis theologians suppose that this soul will fundamentally change from the phenomenal world of an individuated consciousness to a transcendent world that is something altogether unlike that individuated consciousness? What background other than basic historical literacy do I need to understand and appreciate Spengler? Did any writer ever write the same book several times with all of the versions being exactly the same until halfway through and then going in different directions with different endings? pls rate my spanish prose.
I can try to write in english, but since I want to make a serious novel, I need to write in my native language. I read the first few pages and find the style insufferable. Is there anything good to this tripe? Or did the DEI machine really manage to psyop 98% of fantasy readers to celebrate it because muh black woman? What's the best translation and why? Does anyone else have "Book-Wear Anxiety"?
When I buy a brand new paperback, I'm often times so awed by it's beauty (The crisp page edges, the smooth spine, the unblemished cover) that I get legit anxiety around handling the book and creasing the spine and knowing my thumbs will eventually stain the edges of the pages where I hold them. Sometimes it's so bad that I can't even bring myself to read the book until I've washed my hands and even then I only open the book as little as possible for me to read.
I know that a "pristine book is an unread book", but still, it bothers me and I don't know how to overcome these feelings. >be Plato
>get sold into slavery
>write stuff justifying slavery, eugenics, authoritarianism with philosophy
why was he like this? whitehead poster here: i took a break because of work but now i'm back. good to see the seeds i planted have germinated and the truth is coming to light.
obligatory whitehead thread. 
If Brahman has no object (external object not in dream, external object and internal object not in dreamless sleep) and no subject (not in dreamless sleep) how can the waking life of subject-object duality be engaged with upon actually attaining Brahman in the Fourth which is like dreamless sleep (in that it is without internal/external object and subject)
So as I understand it if waking is like the top layer with external/internal object and a subject relating therewith, a layer beneath that is dream with internal object and a subject relating therewith, and behind that dreamless sleep which is without an external/internal object and without a subject, so then Brahman the Fourth is like the core which pervades all three, and is all that endures.
>So it seems there is a discontinuity between Brahman and engaging in waking life, if thinking about Dreamless sleep is anything to go by, or states of unconsciousness which fit the criteria as nondual? How could such a person interact with the world which presents the brute fact of an external object (not to mention the body itself being one) whether we like it or not?
So how does right perception operate in one who is in something like a dreamless sleep, yet going about in the world?
If the Fourth and dreamless sleep are only distinguished by misperception being absent from the formed yet present in the latter
This "Right Perception" seems to have to operate simultaneously with the Nondual Awareness, and if so we would be able to discuss it since people who have realized Brahman have been in the world and described that they have realized it.
Please people who know, elucidate upon this matter so I don't fall for "alternative hypotheses" like some innate embodied intelligence called "kundalini" taking the role of Right perception for a person who has realized the Fourth, or some power described like "Vimarsha shakti"
With gurus telling me you just have to "Get out of the way" and your doubts will fall away by the power of a descent of grace? Or is this actually the limit of intellectual reasoning that I have climbed to, and the only way to loosen the knot, or resolve the aporia is to now let love, light and nature take its course?
What medicine can I take to also assure myself on that I am not going to end up like that feared outcasted cataleptic puppet sunken, deaf, dumb and drowned in the undifferentiated chaos of the ocean, which I have become paranoid about after reading authors like Guenon talk about Quantity vs Quality or even Sankhyas and Yoga sutra inspired "citta vritti nirodha" stuff talking about Purusha vs. Prakriti, Seer vs Seen, and about there being a regression or inverted realization which is an inferior development bent to undifferentiated matter?
Help me see right and dare with courage, after dipping my toes, not knowing of my ability to swim in the water I have become paranoid about falling in and drowning! Set me right and show me the way to courage and daring. What is the most important aspect of a good novel? For me it's the characters. It doesn't matter how interesting the plot is, if the characters aren't interesting then there isn't much point. Ummm Schopenhauer bros...
>Tetragamy adjusted marriage into an institution that would make life better for men and women, Schopenhauer theorized, because it accommodated the natural sexual and reproductive capacities of humans in ways in which monogamy did not. It also addressed the material and financial needs of all parties in a more rational way.
>Two young men should marry a young woman, and when she outgrew her reproductive ability, and thereby lost her attractiveness to her husbands, the two men should marry another young woman who would "last until the two young men were old." The financial advantage of this type of marriage would be considerable, Schopenhauer thought. At first, when the two young men's incomes were low, they would only have to support one woman and her small children.
This is what happens when you turn to Hindu coomerism instead of fully embracing Christ. I fucking hate paul verhooven for making the movie of this book, it totally misses the entire point of it in order to make this handwavium satire of """facism""" despite nothing about the Terran government being facist in any way.
The message is practically told to you directly by Heinlein himself via Lt. Colonel Dubois, and still no one seems to see it all because that dutch shit couldn't be assed actually reading the thing.
Also, I love this book. It's better than Blood Meridian. Prove me wrong. How did a devout Catholic like Tolkien reconcile that his heroes didn't really worship the One True God of his setting? I really enjoy Jon Krakauer's writing.
He makes some greater nature disaster books. >destroys philosophy, mathematics and the scientific method in one move, starves himself and dies
The culmination of all human intellectual endeavours. Any current magazines that that are worth reading? Hegel? Heidegger? Plato? Aristotle? Who? Seventh Day Adventists randomly dropped this at my house the other day. Anyone else read this before? What, no shelf thread? This is the one in my bedroom. >Philip K. Dick had sex with teenage runaways
Is this true? I need to confirm this claim, because it sounds extremely outlandish. Literature for this feel? Hello frens, can you please tell me a good book on "bubble era Japan" (translated to the English)? Thanks you (Not the dragons, magic and crap) In the way people act and talk? What's the "Tranquility base" of books? >I added another NTR scene in my fantasy story
Why do I keep doing this.... /mu/ ∼ concerts
/lit/ ∼ ?
Well, lit? Whats the correct answer here? You DID read something today, Anon—right? Is the YA Dystopia Genre dead? Are there any examples of Philip K. Dick being a good writer? 
