Post embarrassing /lit/ confessions

[Anonymous No.23056467]

I've been reading Moby Dick for half a year and am only half way through

[Anonymous No.23056486]

I stopped reading Moby-Dick, not because of its length, not because of its style, but because Ishmael is a fucking annoying cunt

[Anonymous No.23056505]

>>23056467
I dream of becoming a successful author that will influence the literature.
But I fucking suck.

[Anonymous No.23056542]

>>23056467
I have roughly 450 books I've picked up from charity shops over the last 8 years but have oly read around under half that amount

[Anonymous No.23056549]

I've tried reading Steppenwolf three times now and I can't get more than halfway through it before I lose interest. It's not even a long novel.

[Anonymous No.23056556]

I haven't read any books because I feel overwhelmed by reading lists and I am not interested at all in typical /lit/ recommendations and prefer to be guided by my own interests and synchronicity but I haven't encountered any books in a 2nd hand store that weren't totally awful wastes of paper. The last book I read was months ago it was desert solitaire.
I'm getting antsy
Throw me a book, divinity!

[Anonymous No.23056577]

I read Game of Thrones in about 3 days

[Anonymous No.23056587]

>>23056467
I haven't read a book in three years and my average screen time is 8h per day, mostly spent on Twitter interpreting a fake persona and arguing with strangers

[Anonymous No.23056595]

>>23056467
>Moby Dick

i'm third of the way through. when does it get good? so far it's just been ishmael ranting about every stupid shit

[Anonymous No.23056635]

>>23056549
Same

>>23056467
I've been in university for more than three years and I still don't know Latin. I have two Latin exams.

Also I spend more time on the Internet than reading. I guess the two thing are related

[Anonymous No.23056783]

I drank to much at a faculty get together last night and then spilled my spaghetti over Brown's Laws of Form, Hegel, and Lawvere in front of my advisor. I knew what was happening, but it's like I had left my body and could see myself confess to intuitionism.

The just exchanged glances, and he nodded and said "well, those are some really interesting opinions Anon."

It's over.

[Anonymous No.23056791]

I exclusively read thrillers about FBI agents

[Anonymous No.23056798]

>>23056783
What awful faculty dismiss intuitionism?

[Anonymous No.23056806]

>>23056467
I've realized I am nihilist determinist with no actual values or beliefs, chasing my tail through a hall of mirrors, not sure what I actually think or want.
What's more, I'm not sure I give a shit, such is my apathy. Books for dealing with or resolving this feel?

[Anonymous No.23056872]

>>23056806
For the a good definition of reflexive freedom and what it takes to truly become an agent.

[Anonymous No.23056883]

>>23056872
For recognizing that the reduction of ethics to mere emotion and nihilism is a fault of Enlightenment ethics, not of all prior ethics.

Also good, though more dry, is Sokolowski's The Phenomenology of the Human Person.

[Anonymous No.23056884]

>>23056872
Thanks, this helps. Anon, any other books on your mind for problems like childhood trauma, feeling socially alienated, and misanthropy? This may sound hilariously typical, but I'd really like to resolve these issues rather than cope eternally.
Also, do I need background in Hegel to get this?

[Anonymous No.23056885]

>>23056883
The word phenomenology makes me laugh because of hegel lmao

[Anonymous No.23056899]

>>23056883
Any books on coping with having done something you find unforgivable?

[Anonymous No.23056945]

>>23056467
on first two reads Brothers Karamazov reaffirmed my atheism. I read it for a third time and now I get it
I always pride myself in public on reading alot even though in period od 2020-2023 i read less than 20 books altogether, and I had incredible amount of free time.

[Anonymous No.23056947]

>>23056467
took me like 2 years to read IJ. was a few years ago. neural pathways can be hard to forge, but they do establish eventually. I found the irlen thing was a hang-up for me, but really it was the grit of reading every day. now knocking down 40-50 pages daily. can't emphasize how important the daily grind is. I lose ground if I miss even 2 days of reading. all good, OP.
oh yeah, I also sometimes use a youtube interval timer eg "3 minute interval timer" in the background to set the pace. I make a mental note of where I am on a page when it beeps and try to meet that same spot 2 pages later for the next beep. can read 40 pages in an hour if I keep the pace. counterintuitively, rather than distracting, I find it forces me to focus.
>in before dyslexic ngmi
GMI

[Anonymous No.23056965]

>>23056467
Finish it, it's a great book still relevant in modern discourse.

The whale is clearly a metaphor for Ahab's unfaithful childhood sweetheart, who indelibly marks him with emotional scars that send him into an impotent rage which supersedes any love held for his wife and son. In his quest to avenge the dignity she stole from him, he purposely meets all the men she slept with (whaler ships) and bolsters his hatred for whores. Alas, at the moment of reunion, even as bloated and marked by the harpoons of sperm whalers is she, the heart cannot deny itself, and the animosity so long held disperses itself under the ministrations of her muscular tail. So onwards he rides, no longer captain but first mate, upon her flabby folds, towards the fabled shores where spermy waters and burly whalers lie.

[Anonymous No.23056978]

>>23056965
kek. she sounds like a beauty. saved.

[Anonymous No.23056991]

I thought for a long time that Ralph Ellison wrote “Invisble Man”: as in the scientist becoming invisible story, and was always confused why it showed up in lists of great/important novels. Later learned Wells wrote that one and Ellison wrote a racially themed novel of same name. Yeah, pretty embarassing.

[Anonymous No.23057001]

>>23056542
I've been thinking of getting a collection of books to read. How do you know what to buy?

[Anonymous No.23057027]

I‘ve been reading Gravity‘s Rainbow since 2015. Currently on, I think, page 480 or so.

[Anonymous No.23057347]

>>23056467
1. it took me 7 years and 2 restarts to read Crime and Punishment.
2. I forced myself to read the unabridged version of Stranger in a Strange Land and that started my burnout on Sci-Fi. Final burnout was reading Homeward Bound
3. In my early 20s, I used to force myself read alot of shit books, popular books just to prove i've read them and that series of events made me hate modern protestant (prosperity gospel, evangelical, charismatic, and non-denominational) writings and authors.
4. I have a blog where I write book-reviews.
5. I don't like Gogol.

[Anonymous No.23057357]

I've only read 15 of the books in the top 100 chart.

[Anonymous No.23057500]

>>23057001
When I was younger it was all Stephen King I was interested in, so I have about 50 Stepehen King books. Ever since I've become more "literary" I often go for books I know I should eventually read, things that are apart of literary canon, like Ulysses or Moby-Dick, and I built it up from there with authors I've been interested to read, pulpy sci-fi, and whatever anyone recommends me. There used to be a 2nd hand bookshop in town and the ownwer used to recommend me things he thought I'd like based on my spending habits. I miss him everyday.

[Anonymous No.23057523]

I am consistently filtered by most philisopical texts

[Anonymous No.23057829]

>>23056884
Don't really have a good rec for that. And know, you don't need to know Hegel well to get much out of Wallace's book. It's more about Plato at any rate.

He: Understanding Masculine Psychology was good, if you like Jungian stuff.

[Anonymous No.23058649]

>>23056577
The first book or the entire series?

[Anonymous No.23058662]

>>23056467
I dislike Plato and Confucius

I struggle with Chaucer

I am not a fan of Shakespeare’s comedies or most of his histories

I like Kerouac and feel like he is misunderstood by people who haven’t read him or only read On the Road

I respect Thucydides but hated reading him

Masturbatory philosophy is as useless as masturbating and should be used as such

I like Freud

I hate a pseud phase in my early 20’s where long difficult doorstoppers appealed to me because of their difficultly

Eastern spirituality is better than western

Tolstoy is a sanctimonious preachy faggot

Hemingway’s short stories are some of the greatest writing ever

The Oresteia is just okay

[Anonymous No.23058664]

I mispronounced Goethe's name until one day I was corrected publicly, and I have not left my house in the 15 years since

[Anonymous No.23058907]

>>23058662
Thread's over guys. No one is going to be more embarrassing than this guy.

[Anonymous No.23058919]

>>23057001
Books are expensive, get things worth rereading. And if you love an author, dedicate to reading all of his stuff (Library of America omnibuses are right for the second hand price).

[Anonymous No.23058923]

>>23058662
>Tolstoy is a sanctimonious preachy faggot

Got this much right.

[Anonymous No.23059022]

I don't understand the Chess moves in Through the Looking Glass.

[Anonymous No.23059027]

>>23056467
I tend to miss symbolism and themes, so I have to go to litcharts or similar sites to understand the books I read. They’re often pretty blatant and I feel like a major idiot for not noticing them

[Anonymous No.23059029]

>>23059027
You should stop reading every now and then to think about what you’re reading and how it fits in with the larger context of the book

[Anonymous No.23059569]

I like to read literature thats sexually arousing, like pynchon and lawrence, and while i was reading lady chatterleys lover i was constantly moaning and sighing during the sex scenes

I was aroused by the dominatrix throat stomp scene in ulysseys

I am more interested in fringe guys like steiner, neville goddard, evola, than in mainstream philosophy or science.

I have read hundreds of books in my life but i only ever read 1 book by a black person

I talk abot how i dont believe in science, which i dont, but i also dont understand it.

sometimes after a night/morning of heavy drinking i go a day or two without reading any literature, just laying in bed grazing on content online. this is the thing, i actually feel a little bit almost guilty when i dont read for a whole day.

[Anonymous No.23059663]

>>23056467
I'm more interested in Byzantium, Justinian and Heraclius than I am Ceaser and most of the Western Empire (though I still have many books about the Western Empire). I'll give my boys Marcus and Ceaser this, they wrote some good shit. But the post-Christian Empire in decline is fascinating.
Anyway "Justinian: Emperor, Soldier, Saint" was a good read. One of the few recent books about a Roman Emperor I'd recommend. Not because it's exceptional, but mostly because there's not a lot of great books on the Eastern Empire. "Justinian: The Last Roman Emperor" from 1930 is also not bad if you want something pre-WWII. "Belisarius: The Last Roman General" is a good companion piece even though you learn very little about Belisarius the man. It's mostly a history of his campaigns. Still a good read. The only other good book I've found on him is from 1829, "The Life Of Belisarius". That book goes into depth on his life and the relationship between is wife and Theodora.