/lit/ - Literature

I never see anybody talk about Louis Auchincloss, who I've been on a major binge of recently. Great stuff.

I'll eternally shill Peter Matthiessen, who isn't particularly obscure but who also doesn't often make it into "best of" or "must read" lists

>>15716

>Louis Auchincloss

Holy shit this dude wrote. Where do you even start with him?

>>15719

I think "Confessions of a Jacobite" and "Diary of a Yuppie" are both excellent and quick reads.

Christopher Isherwood (Prater Violet, and others).

I realize he was born British, but later became a US citizen.

same man

>>16587

Post your rewrite and part 2 of your intro.

>>16594

busy the next two weeks so don't hold your breath about it

>>16531

Not bad, but a bit wordy and you kind of made up a word or two (shoned?)

Here's my version:

The city was dark and dusty. A killer dressed in grey crept through its streets, stalking his target. A gunshot cracked in the distance and his focus narrowed on the task ahead. His heart beat louder and louder in his head with each step forward, edging closer to the climactic release of his trigger that pulsed in his right hand. Wretched, primitive street children scrambled across his path with their scrap metal toys clanging in the cold night, their faces black from the city air. The gang of half-naked youths took a few steps closer to the man with an inkling of an idea to beat him over the head and rifle through his pockets, but the six-shooter glinted in the yellow streetlight and the marauders scattered.

Gief feedback pls

>>16605

"A gunshot cracked. . . .his focus narrowed" I'm not sure what focus narrowing looks like to you. Show what you mean instead. It's also strange that he is holding his gun out; says a lot about the character's impulsiveness or narrow focus, or how dangerous and criminal the place is. You should demonstrate or hint more; the character of the person more, or imbue into the narrative a narrow focus and adrenaline as if the mental state of the character is infecting it. There's no consistent "voice", if I'm using that concept correctly.

>>16588

Continued …..

When I opened my eyes again there were sirens in the rear view mirror. The head of my vehicle was bent like a new transgendered woman: all inside out. There is an officer at my window, I pull the peachskin away from my flacid cock but as it slids up my shaft I remember briefly the corpse of Vanessa, and the peach skin flies towards the window from the force of my sudden errectness. A loud splatter latter and the officer's nose wrinkles in disgust.

"fuck it, let him burn"

"Nothing here is worth saving"

I closed my eyes again as the flames wrapped around me, and I wondered if this is what Vanessa felt like in her final moments.

I support this.

Actually there's a huge market for this… I really do support this. You'd make a shit ton of money if you wrote at least 10, 000 words then sold it online epub style for 10 - 99 cents or some shit.

A shit ton of money for a NEET, that is.

>>16591

>>16592

>>16593.

Thanks for the support dude, honestly I expected people to think I was trolling. While this is definitely fun to write, I also believe there is some deeper meaning I can tap into here. But it's gonna be a journey to tap into the right energy to treat it with respect while still being engaging to read you know? Again though, thanks bro for being able to see what I see. I felt alone in that a long while.

>>14053

Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales is the only book that comes to my mind.

>>14053

There's not really anything like the Bible from that region, to my knowledge. The best you're going to get is things like folktales and epic poems. The Epic of King Gesar was a really big deal in that part of the world, but every country has their own version of the story.

>>14059

wrong mah nigga

>>14053

here we go:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veda_Slovena

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Veles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nart_saga

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Igor%27s_Campaign

if you're interested in indoeuropean religion/culture, i suggest you do some research on kalash-people, heinrich zimmer, rig veda, homer/hesiod (duh) … interesting was the moment after patroclos dies right the greek warriors cut off some hair of theirs to show their mourning, there was a similar thing in a byelorussian film about WW2 with the hair part compare it to the tenethos/hypnos story from greek mythology…. theres also an encyclopedia of indoeuropean culture if you search for it in the internet … encyclopedia iranica is somewhat nice too.. it depends if you re rather into primary or secondary sources m8

ps

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysiaca I don't know if its helpful but still

The icelandic sagas seem's to be the largest source.

>>14053

Check out the Kolbrin

Look up Alexander Rabinowitch's trilogy. It's excellent and thorough.

>>16566

Thanks for the suggestion. I mean to post this in the Last Books Read thread but I haven't posted on an image board since 8chan died

Some countries extend copyright for 70 years after a creator's death, but some (prominent examples being Canada, and New Zealand) only extend it for 50 years.

Richmal Crompton died in 1969 and Thomas Henry, the illustrator for the vast majority of the books, died in 1962. So from January next year the Just William books will enter the public domain in the +50 year countries.

Canada has its own version of Project Gutenberg (Gutenberg.ca) and another site called Faded Page (fadedpage.com).

Volunteers on those sites are trying to digitize as much as possible because if the new trade deal goes through with the US, copyrights will probably be moved up to +70 years after death.

Faded Page seem scrupulous about getting the original texts and proofreading them thoroughly. If both the author and illustrator died more than 50 years ago they try to include the original illustrations as well.

Check out their early illustrated editions of some of Enid Blyton's work. Here is the first in the Malory Towers series.

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20190330

"Entrepreneurs aren’t risk takers, they’re risk eliminators." Jake Endres, Crooked Run brewery.

420 thread?

Once in a while a topic pops up here that takes me by surprise. I'm not adverse to the subject, nor do I feel it undeserving of the board's attention. I aim not to dissuade. I am puzzled though, given the discussion on the relative merits of alternative pharmacopoeia "trade" publications being thoroughly covered elsewhere.

For myself, the subject of drugs depicted in literature tends to evoke the work of three authors. The first is an utterly surprising scene of a final voyage drug trip undertaken in a forgotten novel by Gore Vidal. Vidal mixes in his usual pet peeves on sexuality and society. More important, he uses this scene to swim through symbolism so as to bury earlier themes and characters he will no longer explore in his novels. Amusing to see how an author learns how to let go. Finally, taken at face value–if you were lucky to have survived such an ordeal–this scene is as horrifying as it is peaceful. Vidal got the details of ODing in this way down pat. Something I never expected to see from Vidal.

Frederick Prokosch touches on the means of running heroin across the middle east in one of his novels. It's not central to his novel, though. What is interesting is his historical depiction of the existence of an underground drug trade in the 1920s. When people get all nostalgic for the 1960s, or the 1980s, their memories are, most often, just more of the same of an older generation.

Hunter S. Thompson. No more should need be said, although I find people most often skip by his message in favor of the bedazzling mayhem. Thompson was far more literary than he is given credit for.

Anyway, to the point of OPs request, personal endorsements of meaningfully useful non-fiction would be the most welcome. And, the most interesting. I hold some observations of my own, but I prefer to compartmentalize and separate my opinions elsewhere, as per the leading quote. For the rest of the board, feel free to share whatever, and thank you!

Imperium by Robert Harris was really good.

>>16297

I said nonfiction but whatever ok

>>16287

The Mediterranean in the Ancient World by Fernand Braudel

Halfchan keeps promoting the IRC model of book sharing. I'm not so sure this is in proper keeping with modern image-board culture. Based on my limited expeditions into IRCland, if you can't find something elsewhere it won't be found on #bookz either. Plus, there's a lotta extra effort, expense, and learning curve you have to put in to guarantee anonymity and privacy over IRC. At least it's something to be aware of for the more curious to try.

The Libgen blob became the single greatest library on Earth. This should probably be your first stop for searching.

/pdfs/ here on 8chan is an option, albeit they're best fit for the cultural warrior types. Worth a quick look though.

The onion lands (or the even more exotic network frameworks being developed) host a growing field of repositories, but I personally hate seeing any Tor exclusive resources discussed on a clearnet service. The September that never ended has ended. No more hand-holding please! Leave the normalfags to stew in their facebook/twitter/google enclaves so we might enjoy what remains free and worthwhile for a while longer.

libgen

</thread>

>tfw not in bib

You can always just get a library card OP. I've got one just to test out mozilla's location spoofing feature.

>>16494

You can use tor or any proxy/vpn to circumvent those.

>>16494

install foxyproxy and check proxies online

I'm halfway through it after 20 mins and I can confirm. Alexei bits are so fucking annoying.

>>15555

>people falling for the bait this easily

>>16426

i disagree, the annoying parts are where dostoevsky decides to tell you about the story of an elder monk or a bunch of schoolboys

I read crime and punishment but in the 5 years since I have gotten bored with karamazov

>>16493

this sounds like my kind of book

thanks for the short description, anon

(Derp. Second post. First attempt created a new thread instead of a proper reply. Another pot, another go, just so.)

Taking a look and pondering a bit. My first impressions for what to critique seem to be running off the rails after a second read. I really should not try to do this right after I wake up. After a pot or two of coffee set to chasing away the fog, expect a subsequent commentary in the next four hours or so.

Is this the very beginning of the story? If it is i would say i sort of like it but if not… hmmm depending how long of short write you're doing it could become a bit tedious maybe? That is if your rythym like this stays the same throughout. Thats just my worthless two cents though. I'm very overdue on sleep at the moment so i may be way off and it's vauge criticism anyhow. It's not terrible. I think you should write the whole thing and feel it out as a whole.

I just got quite the idea for a story earlier today and came here to ask some advice myself. I've never written anything outside of schoolwork really. I like the idea i came up with it's origional to me at least and i think it could be really fun. Don't want to reveal the premise. I was thinking i might write a short story of it since i'm a beginner. If anyone feels like giving a total nube a tip or two i would appreciate it. I'm thinking it's going to be a story where you think it's the current time and place but Plot Twist! You find out at the end it's not the current year or more precisely a near in the future setting at all. That's not the main point of the story though. It just drives the actual story home at the end.

>>16445

>>16449

Ouffda. Whatta day and a night. Anyway, here's my late impressions.

The writing suffers from what I would call outlining disease. You are sketching characters out in flimsy first order detail. The problem with presenting characters like this is it starts to read like a laundry list.

>and his sweaty, limp hand felt like a sponge when he had to extend it to greet a new co-worker.

For example, you might try expanding this into a little scene describing how someone reacts to being handed a wet sponge of a handshake, without using "wet sponge" in your description.

>Suddenly, a block to the restaurant, …

I usually interpret this construction as a note from the writer to himself about something of importance in need of proper emphasis. A Freudian slip of sorts. Thing is, if you drop the "suddenly" you have what you want in basic form. I'd suspect you were in discovery writing mode at this point, which is perfectly fine. Going with the flow is one powerful writing technique to move forward. But, with the discovery method, you then need to go back and analyze with an eye to what you were really trying to communicate. Again, what does the need for suddenness mean? Obviously, she's suddenly hesitant, yes. Why? Stereotyped female behavior is cliche. If you imagine a bit as to why you felt the need to note its importance, you may discover a path to a more interesting character, a better means of characterization, an improved scene, avoidance of cliche (or how to better use cliche to your advantage), and a path to a better story.

Those are just my first impressions. I may be telescoping out my suspicions based on similarity other young writers typically demonstrate. It's hardly a fair analysis as there is not enough to go on. Don't be discouraged by my commentary. Keep writing.

I was thinking of suggesting some novels foPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>16445

>>16453

>laundry list

Yeah, that's what I got too. The rhythm of the story is bland and its details are (un/de)saturated. Unless this is an outline, the pacing is too rapid while, paradoxically, on an individual sentence level it's monotonous.

If you're actually serious:

Marcuse - 1. Reason and Revolution 2. One Dimensional Man

Horkheimer - 1. Eclipse of Reason

Adorno - 1. Dialectic of Enlightenment 2. The Culture Industry

Benjamin - 1. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

After you've finished those off, make sure to get a nice 2x4 to beat yourself with until you've realized how much time you just wasted that could have been used reading actual philosophers.

>>16462

>No Eros & Civilization

It's their most pertinent work to our time. Nobody can understand trannies without reading it.

>>16460

Ok, leftypol

>>16465

Did you just assume my gender?

>>16468

I assumed you were a faggot of any kind. a big bundle of sticks