Discussion of Literature -- no pretentious faggots

>What is your favorite book?
>Why do you like it?

Answer these two questions without saying anything along the lines of:
1) the prose was ____
2) a pretentious sentence with a vague relation to the themes of the book, like "it showed me the importance of human relationships" or "it led me to an affirmation of life"
3) a talking point or interpretation parroted from your professors or a secondary source, like "Chekhov reinvented the concept of Russian art"
4) an example unrelated to the art, maybe from your own life, that is pretentiously flaunted to show just how "deeply" you felt or understood the book, without truly demonstrating any actual knowledge of the work itself, like "Brothers K made me convert to Christianity" or "Ulysses made me burst into tears!" (look how deeply it affected me, I must have understood it greatly right?)

I have never seen a single comment about literature on Veeky Forums that wasn't a recycled meme opinion or a pretentious as fuck undergrad level analysis. You fucks are so obsessed with keeping things "literature-related" and yet the so-called "literature discussions" on this website are embarrassing. Prove me wrong, just this once.

Moby Dick
the prose was great

XDXD

Why don't you start?

>What is your favorite book?
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño
>Why do you like it?
Savage Detectives is the perfect mix between both main branches of spic literature and I appreciate how it's both socially and stylistically aware at the same time.
Also, the prose was great.

Didn't read your retarded list of rules, but my favorite book is The Iliad.

Reason: It provides a great glimpse into the culture of Homeric-era Greece, and it shows the strong bond of fraternity and honor between fellow men. Plus people getting speared every other page is awesome

Maybe Kafka's The Castle. I'm not the analytical type, and I just love how this crazy bastard shows up and completely disrespects everything about this village. Also, the novel ending midsentence, unfinished, seems completely perfect for it. Of course, in Kafka's notes, he said something about a planned ending with the character in his deathbed, which seemed funny.

That or Blood Meridian. He says that he will never die.

And, like, holy shit, who could forget about JR? But, like, holy shit, who can even pick just one book?

Moby Dick

Ahab is an engrossing character, I was constantly invested in what he was going to do or say.
It's full of memorable lines (again, mostly from Ahab).
The Ishmael/Queequeg friendship is always interesting and often hilarious.
Cetology wasn't boring, it was genuinely enjoyable seeing things through the lens of vastly outdated science, and gave the whale an unknowable quality.
Starbuck is a great foil to Ahab.
It's a fun adventure about a bunch of blokes trying to kill a legendary whale.

My favorite book is Ulysses. I like it for its prose

The Sound and the Fury. Although I like the book as a whole, my main reasons for loving it come from the first two sections:
- Benjy is one of the most benign characters in American literature, so seeing him suffer the struggles of communication with other people and the torments of Luster actually wrenched my gut.
- Quintin's section, besides displaying one of the most heartbreaking instances of incorrigible obsession, was my first exposure to experimental writing, so it has always stayed with me.

As for the novel as a whole, the nonlinear structure made it more emotional and impactful than any other book I've read. I hope that's not too "pretentious" for you. If it is, then get back to your plow, serf.

Ditto.

Kokoro is my favourite book. It may not be the " best " book I've ever read but it was one that resonates deeply with me.


Soseki created characters that were perfectly flawed, and in their lives I found individuals whos spiritual and emotional struggles were reflections of my own short lived life. Although you said not to mention prose, it's integral to my love of the book, it's unpretentious, simple snd paradoxically reaches levels of sincere poetry at times. His reflections on young love and its purity brought tears to my eyes, and great sadness when the fininite nature of such love was laid bear.


It was a book that simultaneously evoked great joy and sadness in me. Although I haven't read more than a hundred books so far in my life, it was the only book that really made me have a visceral emotional response.

>4) an example unrelated to the art, maybe from your own life, that is pretentiously flaunted to show just how "deeply" you felt or understood the book, without truly demonstrating any actual knowledge of the work itself, like "Brothers K made me convert to Christianity" or "Ulysses made me burst into tears!" (look how deeply it affected me, I must have understood it greatly right?)
Spotted the undergrad
YUO MUS REED OBJECTEVELY CYKA BYLAT

What is the book about?

Pale Fire is my current favorite book, although certain Irish authors are making me rethink that.
What I like so much about it is the way that Nabokov relates the entire story that's being told in such a fashionable, engaging parcel. It's the most well structured work of its kind.

I couldn't agree with you more, other than it not being my favorite book. The emotional response that the prose illicited in me was physical.

Have you read his others? If so, where should I go after Kokoro?

The plot is relatively unimportant, Kokoro is a reflection on youth, love, virtue and mans loneliness in the modern world.

I disagree. While the emotions evoked by the language and imagery (admittedly I read the English translation) are significant, the book is still rather plot-heavy and revolves around an historical moment for Japanese culture.

It's plot heavy but the plot is used to reflect on the concepts that I mentioned. It's a book that uses its story to contemplate those ideas, not a book that sets out to tell a story.

The death of Meiji was surely integral to Soseki's decision to write Kokoro, but it wasn't about the death of the emperor, or Japan's transitionary period, it was about the spiritual implications of those events.

Okay, I see what you mean. I'm not 100% sold, because I don't think the "spiritual implication" of the events and the events themselves should be considered separately, but as a whole.
But now I'm just splitting hairs; it's a damn good book.

>no pretentious faggots
>on a pretentious faggot board

Yep, give us youe example please OP? I'm interested in what your opinion is but I suspect the question isnt a good one; your 'favorite' anything isnt really an interesting topic and just turns to more 'this is better than this is better than this' pissing contest.

any young man whos struggled with his sexualily and self worth will be hit hard by this book

same with tbqhfam

Montaigne's Essays unquestionably.
Even the early smaller essays offer fodder for endless meditation, out of which spin ideas and perspectives foreign to [the current way of viewing things] and they are therefore of supreme personal value.

Harry Potter because the prose was good

(OP)
I don't have any favorite books, but one contender would be Paradise Lost by John Milton.

The reason is because... Well what the hell do you want me to say then?

>Favorite book
The Bible
>Why do I like it
I don't want to go to hell.

it really makes you think