[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 67 KB, 1008x475, 1285301691490.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1552705 No.1552705 [Reply] [Original]

Recommend me works of literature that isn't the same stuff discussed all the time. Doesn't have to be necessarily deep, just looking for something I can enjoy.

Picture not really related

>> No.1552707

But my picture is the kind of thing I am looking for, I am aware of how popular Hugo is, but only a small handful of his works are ever mentioned here.

>> No.1552709 [DELETED] 

>>1552705
What do you normally enjoy?

>> No.1552714

read some of Rumi's poetry

he's a sufi i think

i love him

>> No.1552716
File: 35 KB, 206x300, Botchan.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1552716

Botchan is a quick, amusing coming-of-age type story by one of Japan's most famous writers, Natsume Soseki. It's not really obscure or anything, but I don't see it discussed on /lit/ very often.

>> No.1552721

There's a book called Sour Sweet by Timothy Mo which is really interesting and moving and full of stuff you never knew about chinese restaurants and takeaways in London. It's also got a genuinely interesting and exciting storyline involving triads. I think it either won or was shortlisted for the Booker prize way back in the day. It's pretty good if my memory is reliable.

>> No.1552726

Just talking about this in another thread.

Check out Samuel Delany's "Dhalgren". It will change the way you think about literature, sci-fi, and the mythology of the American city.

>> No.1552728

>>1552716
Read it, but thank you for the quality recommendation
>>1552714
I'm not really into poetry, sorry man.
>>1552721
I was looking for perhaps something a bit more aged.

Sorry for being a bit picky.

>> No.1552733

The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Nobody ever told me this shit existed. I've been missing work and meals and classes for a week now because I'm too busy reading. And there's six books. At least six books. I'm only not reading this holy script now because I'm almost through the fifth book and I am terrified of running out of more Foundation material to read.

>> No.1552738

Here's a few of my favorites that I rarely, if ever, see discussed on here:

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
The Moon & Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy

>> No.1552740
File: 15 KB, 200x300, Japanese_Gothic_Tales.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1552740

>>1552728
Ah! Well if you've read Botchan, maybe a little more obscure-ish Japanese author?

There are two translated volumes available in English of short stories by Kyoka Izumi, who wrote around the turn of the 19th century. The first one is called Japanese Gothic Tales, second is In Light of Shadows. His work contains a lot of supernatural elements and he kind of hearkens back to earlier periods of Japanese literature with his stories/themes, but he infuses something special into them. Other writers such as Tanizaki and Mishima praised his work highly. Also, his story "The Holy Man of Mt. Koya" is easy/free to find online, so you could try that out before buying the collections or something!

>> No.1552747

>>1552738
Keep the Aspidistra Flying is quite different from his other works, right? Homage to Catalonia is my favourite work of his

>> No.1552749

>>1552728

Well, the Mo book is 30 years old, but if you want something riper, then why not try The Secret Agent. Nobody ever seems to read Conrad anymore, but he could actually write a decent thriller, and The Secret Agent ain't bad.

I never see much about E.M. Forster on /lit/ either, but A Room with a View is worth a read.

>> No.1552757

>>1552749
I am a fan of Conrad, but yet to check out The Secret Agent. I would love to read this right before or after Petersburg.

>> No.1552773

>>1552747
Keep the Aspidistra Flying is similar to Down and Out in Paris and London, if you've read that.

>> No.1552776

>>1552773
Which I have not. Sorry man.

>> No.1552779

The Great Gatsby, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Breakfast of Champions, Naked Lunch, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the Orientalist.

Fucking loved these books

>> No.1552786

>>1552779
...all of those are discussed pretty much constantly on /lit/, barring the last one.

>> No.1552787

>>1552776
Ah, well, in my opinion, Keep the Aspidistra Flying is his best work. Not as much social commentary. It's about a man who wants to be a poet and break away from the world of money and consumerism, but he's just not very good at poetry and by hating money so much, he actually becomes more obsessed with it than if he just lived like everybody else. The ending is kind of interesting, I think, as, depending on your views, it could either be happy or sad.

>> No.1552794

Threads like this are why I come back to /lit/

>> No.1552799

Independent People by Laxness
San Camilo, 1936 by Cela

>> No.1552800

>>1552779

Electric Kool Aid Acid Test blew my mind the first time I read it. When I figured out he wasn't even there for the events he chronicled, wasn't sure if I was more disappointed or impressed.

>> No.1552823

How about Border Town by Shen Congwen? There's a new translation that's actually in print now.

I think he's definitely an unfortunately underappreciated author. That book is good (and short)

>> No.1552906
File: 27 KB, 304x475, wright.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1552906

Meditations in green - Stephen wright

>> No.1552928

Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy(as well as his excellent stand-alone novels) rarely make it into fantasy threads.

Patrick O'Brian is almost never brought up despite the mind-blowing awesome that is the Aubrey-Maturin series.

I don't think anyone has ever mentioned Cult of Luna's book, Eviga Riket(although, that's only good when paired with the Eternal Kingdom album).

Three Kingdoms isn't brought up on here much, but when it does it gets a lot of much deserved love.

I don't think I've ever seen a Robert Louis Stevenson thread. Master of Ballantrae is one of my favorite books.

>> No.1554680

Bamp

>> No.1555163

2666, by Roberto Bolano.

>> No.1555188
File: 65 KB, 421x600, arnold-with-dairy-herd-491x700.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1555188

"Steppenwolf" by Hermann Hesse is one of my favorites. I'm surprised this book isn't brought up more often, given that it's basically the tale of an attic-dwelling neckbeard who's finally forced to deal with everyday life.

>> No.1555191

>>1555163
Is this translated yet? I cant find a english ebook anywhere on the interwebs.

>> No.1555200

>>1555191

The English translation was published in 2008. I don't know about ebooks though.