Anybody care to explain to me the choice process for /lit/ top 3 books (taken from the charts in the wiki, has been like this at least in 2018 and 2023, probably in between).I just don't get it, it's got to be troll right ?Sorry if this thread has been done over and over again, might as well do it one more time
Number 3 is obvious.Number 1 is obvious. (American website)Number 2 is debatable, but not outlandish by any means.
>>24882134Well an OP asks people what books they like. The site used can sometimes vary but often it is a Google poll. People then submit their favorite books. Usually there is a limit such as 5 favorites but not always. Last year I think there was no limit. Then the person running it stops taking submissions after some time, usually a month at which point he counts the number of submissions or votes each books got. Occasionally the submissions are weighted when the vote is limited like a person submits their 5 favorite in order and the 1 spot receives more points or value than the 5 spot. Either way at the end he takes the numbers, votes, scores and ranks each book from the highest to lowest for the 100 books that had the highest. Sometimes if there is a tie for a certain rank a tie breaker vote occurs.I hope that wasn't too complicated for you to understand and wrap your head around.
>>24882134Moby Dick and The Bible are sensible choices. Dosto is way, way too high though. That's not even his best book and none of his books deserve to be in anyone's top 3.
>>24882134>it's got to be troll right ?I agree bible should have the top spot but Moby Dick is damn good
>>24882134Moby-Dick is brilliant. A perfect marriage of poetic prose, philosophy and symbolism. Ulysses and GR might have higher highs, but MD is great the whole way through while the other two have shit like Ithaca, Oxen and Penelope, sue me and the scat sections.
>>24882144yeah I guess you're right. The bible and moby dick are what I would except any average american to answer for their favorite book. I thought that /lit/ would have had a more contrarian and niche list of favorites.The bible in particular isn't that great of a book for many reasons and it's only people's favorite because they've read passages of it over and over again and they think it's true. Otherwise, especially for a non believer it's really not that great imo>>24882169>A perfect marriage of poetic prose, philosophy and symbolismAs a non native speaker, I cannot really judge well on the poetic prose aspect as my english wasn't good enough to comfortably read the book (I'm alright with most modern books but the sailing lingo was kind of hard, even in my native language), but philosophy and symbolism wise I really don't get the appeal. Maybe I didn't get all the finesse to it but Achab reads as a super caricatural character, kind of like a modern Icarus with a passion for revenge and self-destruction. He isn't a bad character by any means but he's just too one dimensional and everything about him is jus too easy to imagine/explain. I just can't have this process of trying to understand him and failing like I do with more realistic and fleshed out characters. You mention Ulysses for example. I've always found the ending where he slaughters all the people who tried to seduce his wife super violent and out of character for someone who just came home after a very long time and should feel like celebrating. Isn't it more interesting to try to understand why he would be so violent all of a sudden ? There are philosophical aspects in MD but they are super weak compared to stuff like The Idiot from Dostoievsky for example, IMO (not saying it's his best book or the best book ever either)
>>24882239Ulysses as in Joyce, not the Odyssey.
>>24882134hey guys, /lit/ heremy favority books are actually the quaran, the very hungry caterpillar and the god delusion
>>24882134I agree, dosto needs to be replaced by the superior Russian chad Tolstoy, specifically Anna K.
>>24882134Its not a bad choice, really. All three are incredible literary accomplishments.>>24882424I can agree with this, although I am a W&P guy.
>>24882239if you're not interested in the KJV, regardless of your religious beliefs, you're not all that into literature
>>24882169>shit like IthacaI loved Ithaca, what did you dislike anon?
>>24882580I'm on my first read of the Bible, and I admit I was not enjoying it, so, I started discussing each chapter with an Ai. It added so much to what I was reading, and revealed so much meaning, that I am becoming convinced that The Bible is the greatest work ever.
>>24882590please be bait wtf
>>24882593Whats so incredible about using Ai to add commentary to a book?
>>24882424Anba K is women slop.
>>24882585After the exuberance that was Circe, Ithaca's drier tone felt bad, like waking up with a hangover after a night of drinking. Maybe that's the point, maybe I'll discover that it's actually not so bad on a reread, but my immediate reaction was that the gimmick was dragging on for too long.Then again my favourite chapters were Sirens, Cyclops and Circe, while I know there's a sizeable portion of readers who prefer the Stephen chapters. It could just be personal preference.
>>24882604not that anon, and I use AI, too, so not bashing you, but i would like to recommend Matthew Henry’s commentaries, or maybe John Trapp's commentaries to read alongside, assuming you're reading the KJV, and I do recommend the KJV
>>24882134Why is that so hard to believe? The only meme choice on those charts is usually Mein Kampf. Is pic related the list you got it from? Seems reasonable to me.
>>24882645idk why zarathustra is up there. that shit is trash
>>24882636Yes, I am reading the KJV. I started using an Ai just to gain clarification on some of the archaic words, and the use grew to commentary. It is just so convenient. It's something I never consider as a use of Ai, which is as a tutor. Thanks for the recommendations for other commentary.
>>24882657unreadable. i guess it was the worst possible introductions to nietzsche because it was so bad i'll never read anything else he wrote.>>24882660get a center-column reference kjv, you can find them for dirt cheap, and the reference column in the center of the page will have definitions for archaic words, which is easier than having to reference an AI or dictionary.
>>24882645iirc Finnegan's Wake also made either the 2024 or 2025 list, which is safe to assume that that is also a meme pick
>>24882790>'
>>24882590Bible confirmed ai slop
>>24882793Okay man I listen to the song more than I think about the book. I apologize for the mistake but you understand what I'm saying. I'm talking about the book "Finnegans Wake" by the writer James Joyce
>>24882239>I thought that /lit/ would have had a more contrarian and niche list of favoritesThis might have been the case a decade or so back, but the divide between mainstream internet usage and niche places grew bigger, pushing some people in the middle towards the niche. There are many literature subreddits now with better discussions than /lit/. In an ironic twist of fate, /lit/ has become a less than average place for literary pursuit but the users are still convinced it's the beacon that it used to be.
>>24882580I'm not all that into litterature. It's not my personnality. I'm not suscribed to "I fucking love books" on facebook. I read books because it's a distraction. There is so many things to read other than the bible, why would I bother. Also, I hate christianity with a passion, especially the catholic church, and would rather die than get any closer to those people. The rest of abrahamic religions don't sound any better and the other ones are too far from my culture. I've already spent countless hours listening to people explaining the life of jesus to me and frankly I've had enough of it for a lifetime. It's just all bogus, basic ideas repeated over and over again with a reminder to believe in god every three lines and the rest of it being random old stories of peasants fucking goats. People only like it because of endoctrination and I'll die on this hill. Enjoying the bible and knowing all the little stories they stole and invented to convince you to be a good boy doesn't make you a superior being btw.
I'm so glad I read Brothers Karamazov as a teenager so that I don't ever have to read it again.
>>24883612m'lady
>>24883612
