Other than A Christmas Carol. What are the must read Christmas literature?
The other Dickens Christmas storiesThe Nutcracker by DumasRock Crystal by StifterChristmas at Thompson Hall by TrollopeThere's also The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by Hoffmann and The Night Before Christmas by Gogol that I haven't read yetThe rest are mostly very short
>>24951717Nothing Lasts Forever by Thorpe
Jesus in the Talmud by Peter SchäferSo you know where Jesus is immersed right now and don't have to follow him
2025 is almost over. What's the best book you read this year?
>>24951740>Eckermann's GoetheAny favorite tidbits? I've been meaning to get around to it, but I'm waiting until I finish Wilhelm Meister.
>>24947496>no country for old men>>24947564>SuttreeIf you haven't yet, All the Pretty Horses and Blood Meridian are must reads
>>24947281Du côté de chez SwannExtension du domaine de la lutteApologie de Raymond SebondLes Fleurs du malComplete Stories of PoeI’m not going to lie, I read them all in English. I seriously need to fix my French learning schedule.
>>24949595FUCK yes
>>24951773Here are a few bits i liked:"Beranger, by contrast, is utterly self-sufficient as a writer. This is why he has never served any party. He finds so much fulfillment in his own thoughts and feelings that the world can give nothing to him and take nothing from him." "An incident from our life is worth recording not because it is true, but because it meant something." "Error belongs to libraries, truth to the human mind. Books beget more books, but the study of living primordial laws is pleasing to the mind that can grasp the simple, disentangle the complex, and bring light into darkness." "The approach I adopted more than forty years ago is still valid: one is led through all the labyrinthine twists and turns of the comprehensible until one comes up against the incomprehensible - at which point, having learned a great deal, one can happily content oneself with that. None of your philosophers, ancient or modern, has managed to go any further." "The story of Napoleon shows us how dangerous it is to exalt oneself to the realm of the absolute, and to sacrifice everything to the pursuit of an idea." "we should not get hung up on one particular thing and try to turn it into the ultimate ideal. We must not think that Chinese literature is everything, or Serbian literature, or Calderon. or the Nibelungen; if we are looking for the ultimate ideal, then we need to go back everytime to the ancient Greeks, in whose works the finest human qualities are always represented. We must regard all the rest as just the product of its times, and take from it such good things we can find." I have at least a dozen more but ill stop there.
>short but complex enough to hold your attention>Easy to read without the dumbed down low IQ prose slop of modern fantasy>no political correctnessStart with the pulps
>>24949905>the dumbed down low IQ prose slop of modernI don't think you know what those words mean and that's why you hide them in a greentext faux-quote.>Start with the pulpsPut the pulps in the scifi/fantasy general if you want clicks
>>24949905First poster is an estrogenic ass faggot. Yes OP, you're right. It's nice to read high quality short stories. It helped my zoomie attention span too.
>>24949905Conan rules! I must write pulp and more stories like Conan.
>"They dance so languorously, the women of Syria. I knew then in Jerusalem a Jewess who, in a hovel, by the light of a small smoky lamp, on a bad carpet, danced raising her arms to clash her cymbals. Her back arched, her head thrown back and as if dragged down by her heavy auburn hair, her eyes drowned in voluptuousness, ardent and languishing, supple, she'd have made Cleopatra herself pale with envy. I loved her barbaric dances, her slightly husky and yet so sweet singing, the smell of her incense, the semi-sleeping state she seemed to live in. I followed her everywhere. I mixed in with the vile crowd of soldiers, boatmen and publicans she was surrounded with. One day she disappeared and I never saw her again. I looked for a long time for her in doubtful alleyways and taverns. She was harder for me to do without than Greek wine. A few months after I had lost track of her, I learned, quite by chance, that she had joined a small group of men and women who were followers of a young Galilean miracle worker. He was called Jesus, came from Nazareth, and was crucified, for what crime I don't know. Do you remember that man, Pontius?">Pontius Pilate frowned, bringing his hand to his forehead like someone who is trying to remember. Then, after a few moments of silence, he murmured:>"Jesus. Jesus. From Nazareth? No. I can't bring him to mind."
>>24944367Jews were nowhere near as small an ethnic group back then as you probably think they were, they made up like 10 percent of the empire's populaton which meant millions even back then. And by roman standards their religion was seen not unlike the way non-deluded westerners see islam nowadays.And if you know how jews think of gentile westerners now, you know how the average jew thought of romans back then. Having millions of people adhering to a religion in your empire that think only they are truly human and everyone else are subhuman helots made by their god to serve them is basically a recipe for disaster.
>>24948635jews were never a tiny ethnic group up until the post-ww2 eraeastern europe was full of them in the 19th century
>>24943625I bet he remembered when he got to Hell though. Although the reference isn't totally clear, Dante seems to have in the vestibule of Hell, amongst those who failed to choose a side between good and evil.
>>24943625He would've remembered Jesus if he had had a big black cock. Just sayin'.
>>24943625>quid est veritasIt's literally an anagram: est vir qui adest ("It is the man who is here"
I can't remember anything this guy said.
>>24948663He looks like he's lacking basic nutrients and a balanced diet, he looks underslept, he looks pale like he hasnt been outside for months, he has bags under his eyes like hes been staring at screens all day every dayHe looks sick
>>24951053*"SNIFFPH! And so forth"
>>24948671I read the Penguin volume of his essays and thought most of it was pure garbage, but this is actually good. What do I read of Schopenhauer to get more like this, and less "life is le bad" crap?
>>24948663"I'll dig your mother from the grave and fuck her". Seriously.
>>24948663
Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Slop EditionStubbed >>24943213>What is /wng/ — Web Novel General?A general for readers and authors involved or interested in the growing phenomenon of 'web novels', serialized English fiction posted to websites such as: Royal Road, Webnovel, Scribblehub, Wattpad, Archive of Our Own, Spacebattles, HFY, various personal author websites, and more>Why read web novels?Not for prose or tight editing or deep themes, frankly. As a whole, web novels are infamous for content sprawl and pacing issues. If you enjoy having millions of words to sink your teeth into to get to know the world and characters, though, you may be interested. Keeping up with other readers on a weekly basis to discuss the story's events unfolding is another perk, in the same way discussing an ongoing TV show might be.>Why write web novels?Ease of access & potential for Patreon earnings. Many successful authors gain an audience on their website of choice and funnel their readers into a Patreon. See graphtreon.com/top-patreon-creators/writing for an idea of what some are earning.Also, once an author has earned a fanbase, transitioning into an Amazon self-publishing career is several orders of magnitude easier than starting 'dry'.>/wng/ authors.Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
>>24951718Putting a loredump in my dialogue that I don't plan to ever reference after the chapter ends...perfect
>>24951723I self edited that
>>24951718>air and earth are up and down but fire and water aren't left and rightgay
>>24951512>>24951581>>24951614Thanks, I'll check them out
>>24950445Same here. It's happened to me so many times I wonder how any writer has ever gotten anything done ever.This is one of those instances in which trad publishing beats webnovel serials, you only have to drag yourself through the hell of writing 200 pages and that,s it whereas writing ad infinitum lasts until you Hemingway yourself.
>The Lord of the Rings is often erroneously called a trilogy, when it is in fact a single novel consisting of six books plus appendices, sometimes published in three volumes.-Note on the text, Douglas A. Anderson, 1993What is a book, as Anderson (and presumably Tolkien) means it? For me naively a book and a bound volume is the same thing. Did Tolkien intend for the Lord of the Rings to be published as six books? Wouldn't that make it a hexalogy?
>>24951767The three-volume split was imposed by his publisher Allen & Unwin for practical post-war economic reasons (paper was expensive, and a single massive volume would have been too expensive). Tolkien didn't want this.>Six booksWhen Anderson (and Tolkien himself) use the word "book" they're using it in the older, classical sense, like the way Homer's Iliad has 24 "books" or Virgil's Aeneid has 12 "books.">HexalogyIt wouldn't be a hexalogy because those six books aren't six independent works—they're divisions within one work, just as the Aeneid isn't a "dodecalogy." A trilogy or hexalogy implies separate, complete narratives that form a series. Tolkien's work is formally one story divided for publishing reasons.
>>24951780>the older, classical sense,Meaning?>like the way Homer's Iliad has 24 "books" or Virgil's Aeneid has 12 "books."More examples doesn't answer my question. What is a book?>because those [...] books aren't six independent worksIsn't that what makes things trilogies? They're _connected_ works. If they're independent works there's nothing linking them into a trilogy.
I am ignorant of the Eastern ways. What is the point to negating every point and entering complete dissolution from being? Why is annihilation the good if we can't even have a good? Or am I misunderstanding the Buddha.
A true intellectual understanding of concepts like emptiness does not occur until you have made some spiritual progress. This either requires you to have a teacher who can train you, or you follow a western path first then jump over once you're ready.For now, practise being mindful and meditate. The concept of "ichigo zammai" will be useful, as well as zen stuff as a whole. You need to experience things, not just thinkcel about it.
>>24951049How do I experience things?
Annihilation isn't the goal of TaoismIn Taoism you're supposed to extend your life as far as possible
Who's up for a good ol' fashioned stack/recent cops thread?
I haven't opened most of these because I'm staying with my in-laws for a few weeks.The books wrapped up are Playwrights of Tomorrow 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13.The Japanese books was written by a local bookseller, and recommended by one of my favorites booksellers in the city. It dives into the world of second hand bookstores and how to run one of them. I'll read it with Google Translate.
>>24950784The Bible is the foundation to any serious reading program.
>>24950805This guy has a neo-vagina.
>>24945672>A book about the celebration of Jewish thinking is titled "To Life!">Jewish thought is defined by extinguishing the life of the people you stole land fromPottery
>>24942138Garbage >>24943238Poverty shelf. Did you model your life on will hunting? How about them apples?>>24945672A mitzvah>>24945672Best stack by far
I write for illiterates.
>>24950803ok, John Green.
>>24950803This is unironically what MrBeast does.
>>24951675>MrBeastMrBeast makes videos, retard.
>>24950803Non canimus surdis.
>>24951699Gen Alpha watches silently with subtitles. He notoriously employs a rather large text publishing team to make them better than the standard YouTube auto CC.
What did I think?
>>24947559This is not a black space.
>>24947736Green eggs and han only used 50 words
>>24948764"how the grinch ruined christmas" sounds a lot more gay
>>24951693"How the Grinch violated the NAP"
>>24948764Wait until you read the Neverending Story.
Talk about poems/poets you like, post your own work, and critique others.
I hide small stones in the forgotten cornersCount the dust grains half heartedlyStill the certainty of sun and moon Offers some solace and measures the timeWell spent, lost forever
EverydayShowing up to the same jobHating itNo time offIrregular hoursTo hurry up and waitOn a payoff Never comingLost in shippingReorderedLost againTimeless waitingOn a gift Of it ending While they never pay himComment too long. Click here to view the full text.
"Cartel" - Julio Cortazar-I see the world as chaos, and at its center a rose. I see the rose as the happy eye of beauty, and at its center the worm. I see the worm as a fragment of immense life, and at its center death. I see death as the flame of nothingness, and at its center hope. I see hope as a stained-glass window singing at midday, and at its center man.
>>24951252It's not a poem.
What's the one by Kipling about a settler/pioneer making his way into an undiscovered land? Thanks in advance, pic unrel
Stephen King says it's good practice to have a goal of writing 6 pages a day. What do you think, anon? Is that doable for you?
>>24951285Stephen King don’t gotta edit to sell novels.Well I do, so fuck him, and fuck Sanderson too.
>>24951323>I'm adding 1 word to my novella a day, I'll be done once I'm in my eighties
>>24951335You think I give a damn about a Hugo?
>>24951285I write at least 100 pages per day, assuming 4chan posts count.
>>24951285uhh I can't reach that number even if I count low effort social media commentsI can't even measure up to >>24951747
Everything else just seems so spooked and retarded. Like these "philosophers" can't even see past their own circumstances or analyze their own thoughts and motivations, only (poorly) justify their own particular neuroses. Has there ever been a half decent attempt at addressing, let alone refuting him?
>>24949436> That's not what I'm saying. Egoism is (can be) a spook too. Spooks aren't some """morally wrong""" thing that you have to avoid, they're just tools to pursue your own self interest. Using spooks is necessary thing, even.Okay, good, so we agree on this. > Could some of these spooks still reasonably be useful to me? Maybe, but I haven't found any that do.This part is personal - maybe none of what we consider respectable philosophy speaks to you and this is fine. I personally found a few that speak to me.For example, epicureans and stoics - honestly if we had more access to epicurean stuff I'd just read that, but I make do with Seneca. A significant part of it has to do with the nice written style and the spook of ancient wisdom, which a modern CBT self-help book (which will tell you pretty much the same things) does not have.I also found some parts of the New Testament enjoyable, because I feel a lot of commonality with the biblical Pilate. The Satanic Bible was also funny, but mostly in the "so bad it's good" sense (it's practically a reference example of disavowing religion while remaining spooked).> I don't believe that these spooks have very good predictive/descriptive power in determining the actions of other people.I think it depends mostly on the stakes. When their decisions become matters of life and death, or have significant impact on personal income - yeah, it's mostly going to be pure "war of all against all" and none of the ideological pretensions will matter. When the stakes are lower, like how people react to some news that does not immediately have to do with them - understanding their beliefs does have some predictive power.There's also another part of reading stuff to understand other people. Again, I don't know if this works for you, or if it's just me. I am personally uneasy with opaque, murky concepts that operate on trust. They feel capricious and ominous. Understanding what goes on under the hood and rationalizing stuff makes me feel good by itself, even when my mental model is imperfect and may never be used. For example, I've had a very fun time reading about the Second Vatican Council and how it's fractured catholics, about FSSPX and sedevacantists - even though I'm not catholic and do not deal with catholics on a daily basis. I think Weber calls this "disenchantment".
You can cleverly get into philosophy of Math because you cannot just do what you want and walk away satisfied.
>>24950827The law of noncontradiction is also a spook. I reject it.>Walk away satisfied
>>24949235spooked
>>24950831fair, but you will not make satisfying progress in your own mathematics without a sound philosophy
>I did not know but that, under the circumstances, such being the case heretofore, I would be left in truth, as it were, without recourse and wherefore I took care for whatsoever means that were expedient yet prudent.
>>24951322"Philosophy"
>>24951322Shit translation
