What book fixed your attention span, /lit/?
>>25207287Madonna in a Fur Coat. A fantastic little book
>>25207287War & Peace
>>25207382Yeah he goes on a bit though…
>>25200694Niggas really do annotations, fucking gay
>>25200838It's not even a discernable pattern for me. I planned on blasting through Omon Ra but stopped in the middle of the novel more than a month ago, and I've been chipping away at a Breece D'J Pancake book of short stories instead. I should already have finished three other books by now.I started a project I hope to God I can actually finish this time, but I'm not doing enough actual writing to get enough material to edit down into something really tight and satisfactory to put my name on.
ITT: we post pictures and recommendations for liturature based on the pictures.
>>25206758Nah, cover was far more detailed and artistically involved. I wanna say the guy makes a thread about it around Halloween time every fall. Might have had a black cat on the front if I recall correctly.
>>25205757Confederacy of Dunces
>le maro bing bing WAHOO!! *holds up spork* XDD MUH LOIFE IS LOIKE A VIDYA GAM!!! XP
>>25207222I don't think that's a book anon
Vertebrates evolved a spinal column as a central structure for coordinating the movement of limbs. These limbs function as instruments through which the organism fulfils its most fundamental biological imperatives: survival and reproduction. The arms facilitate grasping, feeding, and tool use, thereby enhancing the organism’s capacity to thrive. The legs and feet enable multidirectional locomotion, allowing the organism to evade predators and seek more favourable environments. The head houses sensory organs that improve environmental awareness, further supporting survival and reproductive success. In this sense, each limb serves the overarching functional demands of the spine.With the emergence of the brain came consciousness, and with consciousness arose the ability to recognise patterns that could be exploited to improve survival and reproductive efficiency. Pattern recognition enabled the formation of social groups, the coordination of collective behaviour, and the refinement of strategies that increased the likelihood of persistence and propagation.Yet consciousness also introduced capacities that extend beyond immediate evolutionary utility. Humans developed the ability to reason abstractly, to imagine, to create, and to contemplate matters unrelated to direct survival or reproduction. We began to think for the sake of thinking. As a result, we now experience a continuous stream of reflection -- often concerning questions that do not contribute to the biological imperatives embedded in our vertebrate lineage.At the core of our existence lies the evolutionary drive to survive and reproduce. This raises a profound question: what purpose does abstract thought serve when it does not clearly advance these aims? The spine, as a metaphor for our evolutionary foundation, is indifferent to questions about the meaning of life; it is concerned only with the continuation of the organism. Yet humans have come to believe -- perhaps tragically, perhaps remarkably -- that there is more to existence than mere survival and reproduction. The persistent search for meaning appears not to be a useless byproduct of consciousness, but an attempt to justify the existence of consciousness itself.In generating theories of purpose, the mind may be engaged in a form of self‑preservation: constructing narratives that validate its own complexity so that it is not rendered obsolete by evolutionary pressures. In this sense, the mind mirrors the spine. It seeks to perpetuate itself for its own sake, functioning as a self‑sustaining system that has become aware of its potential purposelessness. Consequently, the mind continuously generates new reasons for its existence, striving to ensure that its capacity for reflection is not eliminated by the very evolutionary mechanisms that produced it.Your mind is trying to think of reasons for why it needs to exist (i.e. entertaining the meaning of life) so that evolution doesn't kill it off.
People and animals see objects in terms of their use. Food is what you eat. Water is what you drink, etc.In humans this instinct is even more pronounced, as we evolved alongside tool use.Due to increased intelligence, humans are able to introspect, i.e. view themselves as an object.Therefore, humans look for their own use as an object.This is confusing because people use vague words like "meaning", when they mean "purpose", or "function". This has also led to ideas of a creator, which would imbue humans with a function.Of course, because this answer is formed out of ignorance of the question, this does not even solve the problem. The use of an object is how it is used, not what its creator intended it to be used for.
>>25208040>People and animals see objects in terms of their use. Food is what you eat. Water is what you drink, etc.This is refuted by the prevalence of animism in pre-agricultural societies; what you are describing is an artifact of Western capitalist (now global) thought and practice. The Western conception of animism is "the belief that everything have souls" which is framed in the terms of Western philosophy and religion. The animist engages with the world in relational terms, and perceives the world as shimmering with value and personality.An example is found in this documentary following the hunt of an African hunter from a tribe that are one of the last remaining endurance hunters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o His hunt is driven by empathy; his success is dependent on his ability to connect with the animal's psyche. After he kills the animal he engages in a ritual of gratitude and respect for it.Your perspective is little more than a secularized version of the thesis of the first chapter of Genesis:>26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”>28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”>29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
>>25206818>The persistent search for meaning appears not to be a useless byproduct of consciousnesswas someone thinking that or?
>>25208092Contrast that with this Lakotan prayer:All my relations. I honor you in this circle of life with me today. I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer…To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I thank you.To the mineral nation that has built and maintained my bones and all foundations of life experience, I thank you.To the plant nation that sustains my organs and body and gives me healing herbs for sickness, I thank you.To the animal nation that feeds me from your own flesh and offers your loyal companionship in this walk of life, I thank you.To the human nation that shares my path as a soul upon the sacred wheel of Earthly life, I thank you.Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
>>25208039>everyone knows Glorp Shitto, it's so obvious!Just because you're in the loop doesn't make it any less vandalistic.
why are people so resistant towards the idea of a universal metaphysics?
>>25207970So: hylics, using sophistry, resist the idea of a universal metaphysics as explained by Guenon. Where did Guenon explain his idea of universal metaphysics? Who are the “hylics?” Are they an organised group? and what kind of sophistry do they use to resist universal metaphysics, and why?
>>25207965What is metaphysics and why is it a pointless endeavour?
>>25207915>>25207970Rope around the neck, as tight as it goes.
>>25208070> So: hylics, using sophistry, resist the idea of a universal metaphysics as explained by Guenon.Precisely.>Where did Guenon explain his idea of universal metaphysics? Throughout his published books, which are great reading material and are worth owning hard copies of, although you can easily find free PDFs of them online on google or libgen.The metaphysical core of his work is his so-called ‘Metaphysics trilogy’ meant to be read in order1) Man & His Becoming According to the Vedanta2) The Symbolism of the Cross3) The Multiple States of the BeingIf you are serious about reading through those, it’s best to start with his first book “Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines” where he systematically defines the terms and concepts he uses in later groups. Throughout his other books though there is other material supporting his central thesis such as his books on symbolism convincingly cite a universal metaphysics reflected throughout various symbolisms. Guenon is not the only exponent of a universal metaphysics, he is just perhaps the most influential and most widely respected. Guenon is really the only author in metaphysics/religion where even today you can easily find a bevy of people from disparate religions in disparate countries who still nonetheless identify as Guenonians who subscribe to his worldview while remaining Christian, Muslim, Hindus etc. If you go on X roughly half or more of the posts about him are not in English, a good amount of the discussion about him is in Arabic and Turkish.Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
>>25208112>t. sophist
post and talk about your favorites from the junior fiction shelf from your library, pic related was this for me. its like my hero academia six years before it was even a thing, but a year after the movie sky high.
>>25207670Rand? I became a lolbertarian/ancap. Wittgenstein and Kant? Literally fucking nothing, I got filtered hard, but I loved talking about whatever I learned about them from secondary sources. These days I read fiction almost exclusively, probably because of how bad these two filtered me. If I ever pick up philosophy again, I'll be a good boy and start with the Greeks.
>>25207670You’re too right, friend. That’s one good thing though about youth, you can pretty much blast through anything without much care to fully understand what you read. I was a bit of a slacker though. I had to study Macbeth in school, and found it to be tedious. I never studied Hamlet though I’d probably feel the same. But as soon as I left school, I thought I’d read it before watching a play and fell in love with Shakespeare’s stuff afterwards. So honestly it depends. You still ever go back to the stuff you read as a lad?>>25207674Kek, that first part doesn’t surprise meAnd neither does the second. I didn’t pick up either until my mid 20s, and I struggled myself then. I’m rereading the CPR now though. Wittgenstein I will get back around to at some point eve though I don’t really agree with him.It’s funny you mention Subahibi. I heard about that because of Wittgenstein, not the other way around. I don’t really indulge in visual novel/anime stuff. Even still I gave it a try and found it really enjoyable but it was quite ghastly and depressing too.
>>25207695Funnily enough, I didn't even manage to finish Subahibi. I was big on visual novels and I remember everyone hyping it up before release so I prepared as best as I could, but ended up tapping out during Zakuro's chapter. I was too much of a wuss.It did leave quite an impression on me, and it (alongside Black Souls 2) laid the foundation for me to eventually enjoy Gravity's Rainbow. Whatever gets the kids reading and all.
>>25205469i thought molly moon was cute
>>25207663>one time I made myself temporarily schizo by reading Revelations and trying to pattern match it to current eventsPierre Bezukhov-maxxing
How might an autodidact go about giving himself a classical education?
>>25207990So I'm uhh really into based esoteric shit and I read mein kampf already which was based but like I want to uhh like uhhhh you know get more insights into EUROPA like the uhhmm you know the pagan cool based shit not any of that Jewish christcuckery so like is there a YouTube video or did varg talk about the Greek philosophy
>>25207980What is a classical education? I would argue it’s impossible for an autodidact to be classically educated since such learning took place in schools, colleges, universities and academies which are now defunct, superseded, reworked or thoroughly dispossessed of a department for the classics. The environment mattered: being in the classrooms, writing theses, studying in the library, boarding with like-minded people, drinking and smoking and rambling about life and truth in the near-by bars. You’ll never be classically educated on your own: it takes an entire institution. Of course, you could take a degree in the humanities and be lectured by women about women, or by communists about communism, or by homosexuals about homosexuality, or all three about the women, communism and homosexuality of the classics, but you’ll never have a classical education. It is past, gone, evaporated, twisting away in every direction like smoke.
>>25208042Then you're only gay if you DON'T suck dick, and the most anti-gay dick there is to suck (the element which is inverse to a man's own dick) is my own
>>25207980So, in general, most American universities will have some sort of way to find out what classes you need to take/choose to get a particular degree, and most of those classes will have the syllabi available somewhere which should broadly (or very specifically if you're lucky) describe what that class teaches and with what texts. You can then go get those texts yourself and learn basically anything at a university level that isn't highly specialized or hands on. There are also many "great books of western civilization" lists floating around which you can follow.
>>25207980Learn Latin, study Latin grammar, read the classics, and move on to rhetoric and dialectic, the quadrivium; in the meantime, learn Greek as well.There are some online classical education projects that can help, like the Lyceum Institute; search for them and you'll find them.
I’m looking for a book on hair loss, or more specifically, how to stop hair loss.
>>25206825Just take a fin tablet once every 2 days. Cost 10 bucks for a month supply. Balding in 2026 is literally a choice for the vast majority.
>>25206825remember when this guy made a response video for Sam Hyde after Sam Hyde make a response video for Elon Musk (neither got attention)?
>>25206920because woman make fun of us about it.stupid meanie women.
>>25206825This guy got mind broken by hairloss so badly that he is now known as "heatherpaedo" on /int/
>>25206825Not a /lit/ topic. But we'll ruthlessly make it one by turning this into a GREAT BALD CHARACTERS IN LITERATURE thread.Three to kick things off:— HUMPTY DUMPTY (LEWIS CARROLL, ‘ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS’)“And how exactly like an egg he is!” she said aloud, standing with her hands ready to catch him, for she was every moment expecting him to fall.“It’s very provoking,” Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence, looking away from Alice as he spoke, “to be called an egg — Very!”“I said you looked like an egg, Sir,” Alice gently explained. “And some eggs are very pretty, you know” she added, hoping to turn her remark into a sort of a compliment.“Some people,” said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as usual, “have no more sense than a baby!” Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
Islington edition unironicallyPrevious >>25200011Here we discuss any kind of science fiction and fantasy. The recommendations are deprecated, but we don't have anything newer.>Recommended reading charts (Look here before asking for vague recs):https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/4rAmSZxb>Archive:https://warosu.org/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg>Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg
I watched The Hustler last night, starring Paul Newman. I noticed that my favorite William Gibson short story (Dogfight) is a ripoff of it, with a holographic arcade game standing in for pool.
>>25207991When Socrates said "the unexamined life is not worth living", he was talking about people like this.
>>25207991The fuck does a pile of bfloat32 matrices have to do with a toaster>>25207896BotNS, blindsight/echopraxia (mild infohazard IMO but good)
Which author made the best magic system and why is it not Brandon Sanderson, but Steven Erikson’s Warrens?
>>25208094I really hate the magic system trope, it's just steampunk-scifi. The point of magic in fantasy is that it can't be fully systematized or understood the way that physical laws can be.
Okay, ive been sitting on this for months and i really cant anymore. im a production assistant at Bantam Spectra, been here for years. i am not going to post any proof because i actually want to keep my fucking job.The manuscript was delivered internally in January 2026. Not a partial. The actual full thing. GRRM apparently finished it sometime in late 2025 and the silence from his blog has been intentional, marketing told him to go dark.We have been in full editorial and layout pipeline since February. The official announcement is embargoed until Comic-Con, but we know hes going to announce it on his blog first because he doesnt give a fuck, with the actual release window being around fall. They want those holiday sales.The book is long, like long long, think AFFC and ADWD in one book, I wont say the word count because that alone would identify the source, but its about 1600 manuscript pages. People will not be disappointed on that front.The marketing team has been talking about a coordinated campaign that involves HBO so theres probably content planned to drop alongside the release, ill let you guys figure that out.Ill check this thread for a bit but i wont confirm or deny details that could identify me. Dont ask me stupid shit and yes jon is back lol
>>25200411>>25201399>TWOW is now the QAnon of /lit/kek, somehow it's appropriate
>>25204280>Weakwingliterally turned 360° and walked out of that thread>>25205354Brown Ben Plumm and the Tattered Prince are executed but still alive 50 chapters later
>>25206194>a real dragon (i think it's tyrion)gods no. Seven help us
>>25200054Yeah so George finished the book in late 2025 but said he's still barely making any progress in a Jan 2026 interview? Either he's massively trolling, which i don't believe, or you're just bullshitting.
>>25207951Turning 360 leaves you in the same position, retard. "weakwing" was a nice callback imo
>Notes from Underground
>>25207011noted. I've gotten a lot of spite so far. I'll keep reading
>>25206908>The Five People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
>>25206908Consider Phlebas
>Fireproof: Memoir of a Chef
Bakker: The Unholy Consult
Good evening /lit/,I'm looking for places to talk about literature with people who don't care about inflating their internet identity. I like /lit/ but the incel stuff is a bit too much for me.I'm very new here so maybe I can just learn to ignore the incel stuff like it's a tic that they can't control.Anyway I appreciate any suggestions, thank you.
>>25207787I haven't read much Russian stuff. Only a little bit of Chekhov and some Dostoyevsky. The names make it so hard to follow
>>25207763No one is going to ruin civilization to placate your whims, sorry. You might as well kill yourself now.
>>25207834you and your maga ilk already have.thanks i guess
I hate Booktok so much it's unreal
>>25207726I suggest ignoring the bait posts. Do not engage. Starve them of attention and they will wither like shrubs in the burning heat of a month of dry summer days. What is a bait post? It’s any post you feel smacks of disingenuousness, cheekiness, deceit, cunning, tomfoolery, jest, spite, etc., any post designed to make you angry, upset, tilted, etc.; low-effort one liners and memes; unsubstantiated statements of delusional import should be probed until they evaporate or condense in solid form. In other words, find what’s earnest.
Saturday EditionStubbed >>25197495>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.
>>25207765is there a name for slop that gas been pre-digested and regurgitated through a sloppy translator?
>>25207781refried slop
>>25206599The collective unconscious is a powerful thing.
>>25203457You should plan the entire web novel before posting a chapter, and I hope you polish it before anyone sees it.
>>25206723This has to be a falseflag
Essential leftist literature?
>>25204320good list but>No Giorgio Agamben
>>25205597People who post things like, the Chinese are going to come rape you, etc. etc. reminds me of the poem "Waiting for the Barbarians" by Cavafy.Also it gets funnier when you see a lot of Chinese posting online in English being Sinotriumph maxxers but Chinese posting online in Chinese are going into full civilizational self-annihilationism and are like "Xi has ruined everything, our economy is totally messed up, the fucking Great Leap Forward had better net return on labor than this." Their debt to GDP ratio has skyrocketed past the U.S. and E.U. btw.
>>25207987nice
>>25207666Your skull will be opened and its rotten content will feed dogs.>>25207678>You're critiquing like one source of Sutton when he actually had a wide variety of verified sources.The wide variety of 'verified sources' does not confirm what you say, that's Sutton's problem, retard : selective quotation, interpretive overreach, and the systematic removal of hedging language from primary sources. The documents exist. The leap from "this document records a financial transaction" to "Wall Street conspiratorially engineered the Bolshevik Revolution" is not in the documents, it is Sutton's inference and it is a sign that this retard wasn't serious about his methodology. The Hoover Institution which published the trilogy notably distanced itself from his conclusions even while treating the data compilation as useful. Now let's address: >Academic Trilogy SpecificallyFirst, normal commercial trade is not a conspiracy nor a sign of deficiency from a communist standpoint. Sutton catalogs technology transfers but cannot establish that they were coordinated, ideologically motivated or that the parties intended to sustain Soviet power rather than simply profit from contracts. Merely listing transactions proves nothing, retard. Second, the causal claim is undemonstrated. Sutton's underlying thesis is that Western technology was decisive to Soviet industrial survival and development. But the Soviet Union also received substantial technology transfer from Weimar Germany under the Rapallo Treaty (1922) and subsequent arrangements, far better documented, including the secret military-industrial cooperation at Lipetsk, Kazan, and Tomka. Sutton systematically underweights this alternative channel. His counterfactual claim that without Western capitalism the Soviet state would have collapsed is simply asserted.Third, he cannot distinguish categories. The trilogy collapses together government-approved commercial trade, private business deals, humanitarian relief, contracts signed etc. BEFORE the Revolution and Lend-Lease-era transfers. These have entirely different political and contextual meanings and cannot be bundled into a single explanatory framework.>You people think any source of data that isn't from a compulsively lying murderous dictatorship is muh CIA.But you are actually repeating lies spread by the CIA and debunked by actually documented sources, you goy cattle slave. >lmao I love this cope. So they need to temporarily use capitalism because it actually works and doesn't completely fail like central planning does?Hey, retard, the economy is still entirely centrally planned. Hell Capitalism itself is centrally planned today, you fucking retard. You think an entire nation like the US doesn't work with plans and budgeted previsions which are decided by the Federal State?>Why do workers in Taiwan make almost 4x what workers in China make? It seems that communism is hindering their development.Taiwan is China, retard.
>>25207679>Your statist overlords, mao and stalin were literal child rapists LMFAOThese are baseless claims which rely on no historical evidence. The only sources are tabloids and the biography of one of Mao's bodyguards which was published by a Western editor and refuted by many people who knew Mao himself. Another example of Khruschvite-CIA propaganda. >You're a communist, look in the mirror.You literally claimed that Xi's policy lead to China's decline when its rise has been unstoppable, especially since 2020. Sit tight in your cuck chair, cuckboy>They were more economically productive before xi. Now they have decline. It's almost as if central planning doesnt work.Meaningless statement lmao China has accomplished 90% of its 5-year-plans while you bitches pay taxes so Trump can send money to Israel and subsidize the bankers who will put you in debt and rape your children. >You are in a religious cult.No, the only idolatrous fuck is you. You worship transsexual pornography and hot pockets your whore mother makes for you. >You support extremely rich dictators.MUH DICTATORSYou sound like the most castrated liberal ever. Did you take your hormones today, tranny? >They keep shrinking the state side of their economy every year.You keep lying as if Vietnam's 5 year plans weren't openly available on the internet for everyone to see that I'm telling the truth and that you're a lying cuckold who's being raped by the Epstein class. >>25207682Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.
What else can be added to this chart?Unfortunately, lots of insane writing goes unpublished, but there is some out there
>>25206545Baby Alex by Quentin Scobie He had a mental breakdown a couple years ago and now spends every day spamming /int/ with deranged child rape fantasies. The book isn't much different desu
Schreber, Nijinsky
>>25206545There's that 1mm+ words Pokemon fanfic. Wouldn't call the author sane.
>>25206545I have paranoid schizophrenia and am a published author. No one really takes notice because I’m on meds. But I still have negative symptoms: low energy, avolition, anhedonia, lack of drive. Mix that with anxiety and depression, and you get my “suicide fuel” literary horror that I’m known for.
>>25208068aah so you are "that" guyim on to you anon, im on to you
What's all the hub bub about this one?
It is good.
>>25207576>good>every person that's read it says the first 200 pages are torturehmm
>>25207654Your Gaddis thread no giving what you need?
>>25207541It was out of print, hard to find, and extremely expensive when you did find if used. Since it was rare for someone to have a physical copy and a bunch of pseuds were praising it, it built a cult following around it of people who had never read the novel but believe it to be the greatest novel of all time. So when Dalkey reprinted it, all the pseuds went wild because now they could finally read this book
>>25207984Yet nobody actually has read it aside from me. Curious
