Your top 3 favorite books and why
Gravity's Rainbow. It's good.Moby-Dick. It's good.Doctor Faustus. It's good.
Gulliver's Travels. I like the way Swift weaves allegories in to his prose.Journey to the End of the Night. I like the way Céline portrays psychological states.The Karamazov Brothers. I like the way Dostoyevsky discusses Christianity throughout his books.
Moby dick - no explanation neededUbik - only scifi I ever readCrime and Punishment - longest book I ever read
>>248987772666The Brothers KaramazovA Country Doctor's Notebook>whyNone of your business mate
>Moby-Dick, MelvilleSublime>Rabbit, Run, UpdikeUpdike is the only author I've read that actually understands humanity>Beyond Apollo, MalzbergWritten with an energy I've found nowhere else
>john hawkes- second skinPerfection; simple as.>samuel beckett- how it isMade me cry and helped me fix my life.>murasaki shikibu- the tale of genjiIt's a long story.
Can someone help me understand why Moby Dick is considered so praiseworthy?I'm not American so I don't know anything about it.
>>24898861You could always look up summaries, thirdie.
>Moby DickLove the bromance and the whaling autism.>Do Android Dreams of Electric SheepLove the sci-fi and existential setting wrapped together.>Catch-22Love the humour.
>>24898861
>>24898894This is more so just another affirmation of it being a good novel. Not an explanation as to why...
>>24898897he’s not calling it a good novel.
>>24898777Essay on Man: themes and verseAnimal Farm: messageEndless Night: vibes
>>24898861gnostic larping
>>24898777>One-hundred years of solitudeThe perfect book, every sentence looks like that expensive handcrafted belt that lasts decades and is very elegant. The story is incredibly fun, Gabo knows how to tell tragedy without pity, and it is truly the greatest romance of Latin America.>The second book of the 3-bodies problemThe Dark Forest is very fun, haunting, and probably the best sci-fi / fantasy book.>Karamazov BrothersBegins a bit weak and it is a shame that the second part of Dostoevski's story will never be released, but has fantastic discussions even if Ivan wasn't meant to have the last word. It is a very deep work and probably Dosto's best.
>>24898777Dino Buzzati’s Un Amore - captures the inner war of a man caught in obsession. poignant and raw.Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan - intensely human, funny, absurd, heartbreaking. has it all.Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield - semi-autobiographical novel by the greatest storyteller to live. Victorian lit is challenging but it will make you grow.
>>24898861Moby Dick is like if tumblr xirs could actually write well. The plot is bloated and the characters are absurdly one-dimensional, serving only as set pieces to illustrate the author's modernist view of a multicultural liberal America, but it's so well-written that the whole thing flows effortlessly.
>>24898777>Infinite JestI'm pretentious>The JungleI'm a commie>BlindsightI'm a nihilist
>>24898861Americans desperate for a classicAnyway:>Iliad>Shakespeare>Flashman
>>24898777>The Book of Disquiet by Fernando PessoaDeepest book I've ever read.>The Hour of the Star by Clarice LispectorYou won't get it.>Stoner by John WilliamsIt showed me what's like to grow old and have a family in the most honest way possible.
It's too hard to name three, but I think I can concretely name my favorite book, As I Lay Dying. The style, pacing, characters, and black comedy tone just had me hooked from beginning to end. I read it while grieving a death in my family which made it all the more relatable. I also read that Faulkner wanted to publish it without the characters names as chapters, and this could be complete bullshit, but I think that would have made it even better and I believe you could pick the characters apart easily enough.
>>24898777>The Day Lasts More Than A Thousand YearsAutism convergence point: central Asia, USSR, and trains>A Confederacy Of DuncesHilarious book, interesting setting and time period, wonderfully written and the apex of postmodernism>The AnalectsBe virtuous and attend to the ceremonies. What a great message
>The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Seahorseshoe theory is correct only in the sense that fags and fascists develop similar tastes. King Mishi was both.>The Futurological CongressI had to remind myself to breath while listening to the end of the audiobook. It's probably not as good as I remember but it's the only time a book frightened me.>Confederacy of DuncesI was listening to this while working some office job and one of my coworkers pulled me aside and asked if I was okay because I was convulsing with stifled laughter. The author killed himself in the house of America's greatest short story writer, who died from lupus at a similar age. A lot of America's greatest authors died around middle age, now that I think about it. Howard barely reached 30. Pancake didn't even make it that far. DFW hung himself in his garage at 46(?), and when his wife tried to get his body down, he hit the floor so hard his legs broke.shoutouts to Flashman at the Charge, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Shibumi. I'm not including short-story collections because I feel like that's cheating.>>24898796>Ubikgreat. >>24898820Been meaning to read more john hawkes>how it isnice>>24899766Flashman 1 isn't even the best flashman you stupid euro-muzzie scum polyp nigggggggger
>>24898861it's the accelerated/AP english class book so all the people who cuck off their own IQ put it as their favorite
>>24898777monkey wrench gang - because I oppose the rape and pillage of our resources for financial gainham on rye - because I enjoy the crude and blunt delivery of the author as he describes growing up a dysfunctional misfitthe last book I dont want to say because governments are here
>>24900180ever thought that maybe it's just a good book?
>>24899766>Americans desperate for a classic>cites Shakespeare as a "book"
>War and PeaceFun>LolitaProse makes me orgasm>Brothers Karamazov Six Sevennnnnn
>>24898861>>24898861It's my personal favorite, for the prose, symbolism, and rich allegory, of course, but also because in many ways it's the last, ultimate death knell of the unwarped primal world. Moby-Dick, to me, is the final conclusion of lit like Epic of Gilgamesh, Odyssey, The Tempest, etc., books that harken back to the days when we were just cavemen, when the world had strange new lands around every corner. By Melville's time, it had all been had been mapped, but the abyss of the ocean was the last and most unfathomable frontier, and I personally believe that Moby-Dick captures the innate sense of dread and horror that we feel at the unknowable universe more than any other piece of fiction. Also, I'm a marine biologist, so I really enjoy the oceanHeart of Darkness might serve as a post script, if there could be one.As for the thread, I haven't read a lot of literature, only started seriously reading last year, but it would probably be Blood Meridian for my second and Catch-22 for my third.
Alice in WonderlandThe Secret GardenPollyanna
>>24898861LARP
>>24898777>LolitaThe prose, and there is so much written about the book. It is a book that one can truly obsess over.>Temple of the Golden PavillionReletable. It also perfectly portrays obsession through a more internal monologue.I don't have a third book that I can confidently place as my favorite.
>>24898861People trying to bait you into reading a book being a tough read
>>24898777>the Infernoits great even tho its fanfic>Les crimes de l'amoursome amazing short story in there by my favorite degenerate>Judithone of the first girl boss in history,and she did slay.
Fellowship of the Ring- favourite part of the best books I've read. Getting a lot of extra information on the story, being well written, from a favourite movie, making the book interesting, fun to read, especially larger parts at a time All the pretty horses - comfy story, fun and easy reading, not as much murder or violence compared to McCartey's other books The Godfather - top 3 movie. Bigger parts and more development from some minor characters in the movie, giving the story more depth
>>24898777Gasset - Revolt Of The MassesWeber - Economy And Society Wells - Time Machine
>>24900196Yes, I have one single bound book that contains the complete works of Shakespeare. What have you got to say now?
>>24900423He would probably say, 'post it'
>>24898904>>24898894Who is this?
>>24899766I didn't explain why.>IliadGreat in so many ways. Gut wrenching pathos surfs bone jarring violence. There is nothing grander, nothing more human. So distant, yet so near. Tellingly, the narrator convincingly handles the deeds of both Gods and men. The Iliad is truly divine. It is the world's only masterpiece.>ShakespeareWhat strikes me above all is Shakespeare's unrivalled grace. Shakespeare sets up the richest, most intriguing characters and their premises with a handful of beautiful words, and he does this time after time.>FlashmanThere is no need to explain this choice.
>>24900180trvth
Willard and his Bowling Trophies HamletThe Divine Comedy
>>24898861It's almost postmodern in its disparate styles and techniques. It operates something like a novel and something like a scrapbook, expounding upon whales and ships between the narrative. The characters are Shakespearean and the language is exquisite.
>>24898777>1984I love it for all the wry humour it contains. It's a facet of this book that I think often goes unappreciated but it's what keeps me thinking about it every day.>The HobbitBrings me back to childhood. It's so full of joy.>A Canticle for LeibowitzI'm not big into sci-fi but I cannot push that one out of my mind. Still there rent-free even though I haven't read it in years. If I had to pick one of the three to recommend, it would be that one.
>>24899785I recently finished The Sound and The Fury and I’ve got As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom! coming in the mail this week. So fuckin excited
>>24899019>the plot is bloated and the characters are one dimensional>it’s well writtenFascinating opinion
>Alice in Numberland: A Students' Guide to the Enjoyment of Mathematics - John Baylis, Rod Haggarty (1991)>Fundamentals of Abstract Analysis - Andrew M. Gleason (1991)>Mathematics: The Music of Reason - Jean A. Dieudonné (1992)"Mathematics is an activity governed by the same rules imposed upon the symphonies of Beethoven, the paintings of Da Vinci, and the poetry of Homer. Just as scales, as the laws of perspective, as the rules of metre seem to lack fire, the formal rules of mathematics may appear to be without lustre. Yet ultimately, mathematics reaches pinnacles as high as those attained by the imagination in its most daring reconnoiters. And this conceals, perhaps, the ultimate paradox of science. For in their prosaic plodding both logic and mathematics often outstrip their advance guard and show that the world of pure reason is stranger than the world of pure fancy".
>>24898777Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, and Anna Karenina
>>24898777>Pavel Florensky - The meaning of IdealismNearly revolutionized the way I thought about the world and my place within it. Also, explaining lots of art in the process.>William Blake - Songs of Innocence and of ExperienceAccessible and genuine poetry, both qualities are hard to come by, not to mention their combination.> ---Most other books didn't come close.
Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl ozBy Catherine Swinford (Raleigh-ish, NC)He always brought home milk on Friday.After a long hard week full of days he would burst through the door, his fatigue hidden behind a smile. There was an icy jug of Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz in his right hand. With his left hand he would grip my waist - I was always cooking dinner - and press the cold frostiness of the jug against my arm as he kissed my cheek. I would jump, mostly to gratify him after a time, and smile lovingly at him. He was a good man, a wonderful husband who always brought the milk on Friday, Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz.Then there was that Friday, the terrible Friday that would ruin every Friday for the rest of my life. The door opened, but there was no bouyant greeting - no cold jug against the back of my arm. There was no Tuscan Whole Milk in his right hand, nor his left. There came no kiss. I watched as he sat down in a kitchen chair to remove his shoes. He wore no fatigue, but also no smile. I didn't speak, but turned back to the beans I had been stirring. I stirred until most of their little shrivelled skins floated to the surface of the cloudy water. Something was wrong, but it was vague wrongness that no amount of hard thought could give shape to.Over dinner that night I casually inserted, "What happened to the milk?""Oh," he smiled sheepishly, glancing aside, "I guess I forgot today."That was when I knew. He was tired of this life with me, tired of bringing home the Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz. He was probably shoveling funds into a secret bank account, looking at apartments in town, casting furtive glances at cashiers and secretaries and waitresses. That's when I knew it was over. Some time later he moved in with a cashier from the Food Mart down the street. And me? Well, I've gone onions.
