Post the best book you've ever read

since we're only posting nyrb

I really like this book. I related to Brian Kibby so much and felt for him etc. Book made me cry.
Poor Bryan, but at least he made it out in the end. And hopefully he hooked up with the Harvest Moon chick.

forgot pic...dammit

Just picked this up a few days ago.

New York Shills of Books

Cool cover. What's this about then, in your words? Is it Salinger core?

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>books literally no one has ever heard of
lolwut

The best answer, cliche as it sounds, is Don Quixote. It includes the entire Western canon within it. Every great and important work from The Odyssey to Ulysses is subordinate to it in depth and self-awareness and, also, humor. Every great book can be read in the light of already having been parodied, intentionally or unintentionally, by Cervantes.

If we want to make this board better, mods should facilitate the discussion of Don Quixote.

careful guys, don't cut yourselves on his edge

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>inb4 this post starts a jihad

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i will admit that Hamlet is equal to Don Quixote. But I give my higher preference to Don Quixote.

Mrs. Dalloway
>too lazy for pic just imagine it in your head

That book is heartrending, especially towards the end. There were some passages that made me want to cry, like the Crown Prince's memories of the war in East Prussia; the peasant cavalrymen reluctant to trample the ripe wheat, the Russian with the lance in his chest begging the crying German not to feel bad. . .it makes your heart hurt. World War One began in late summer, right when the crops were ready to be taken in. I know from other reading that they delayed mobilization to the last possible second so that the men could harvest one last crop before going to war and getting slaughtered.

Reck's grim, short, description of the disasters in Russia was a high point as well.

Unsurpassed tbqfh

nothing like salinger. it's like a 60s neorealist italian movie in book form with a french take on the plot of the movie 'about last night' i.e. coupling as a method for entering adulthood.

This every time.

The last 2 chapters, my god the feels.

That cover is incredible.

i unironically agree with this

lol you haven't heard of life and fate? pleb detected.

Sure! I will, thanks!

Ant specialist writes from the pov of ants, who meet a dangerous species : the feet.
Really makes you think.

snobs be posting lesser known books.
I loved Lolita, Ada is absolute bull shit.

are up there for me, and pic related

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did Kinote/Botkin write the poem?

More importantly, were Kinbote and Shade fucking?

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Grossman and Modiano are very well known, the others a little less so but not particularly obscure. I'm guessing you don't read much or are one of those people who restrict themselves to "the classics".

Has anyone fully read Don Quixote? Which translation is best? Is it worth it?

Ctrl+F

Not to be pleb as great as this book is, it does such a good job it feels constricting and choking to even read it.

Grossman translation

booom

Grossman indeed. Don Quixote is low key the best book.

Italian neorealism only stretched to the mid-50s so your post is slightly confusing to me

this

Lit major kids are so fucking obnoxious

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man subjectively.

Ulysses objectively.

Pic related is the only nyrb I've read and I liked it, but I wouldn't call it the best.

damn you, you beat me to it

has anyone read this? any thoughts?
I haven't read it yet so no thoughts but I've included it in my syllabus for ind. study this fall.

sorry i wanted to make a new thread

Is this NYRB or in general?

I enjoyed this recently

Definitely one of the most intelligent and best books ever written.

As I'm reading it it's probably gonna be ulysses. Brothers K otherwise

Slaughterhouse Five

Michael and the Sex Goblin on wattpad. Solid elevating stuff.

Pic related by far

Brent Weeks - Lightbringer Saga -
I liked the magic and Kip.

My diary, desu

How is the Bible in any way a great book in and of itself?

>Ecclesiastes
>Proverbs
>Job
>The Gospels
>The Apocrypha
>Genesis
>Revelations
it's just damn good reading.

You get an idea of how influential it is when you randomly happen upon an aphorism common in western society but have no idea where it originated from. It's chock full of those.

Because it pretty much is the inspiration for about 80% of all literature. Even Richard Dawkins the most anti Religious person ever has said he think the bible should be taught in schools not as fact or religion but because of how influential it has been to literature as a whole.

I said "in and of itself"

I don't know, how is Ulysses a good book in and of itself given that 90% of the text is literary allusion?

Alright have you read it? Like the gentlemen above me cited, their are some amazing stories in it. Revelations is a personnel favorite short story of mine. Just read it from a pure literary stand point, if you don't like it that's fine it's your opinion but it might be because you're an edgelord.

Because Ulysses' greatness and use of literary allusions was immediate, whereas the Bible's worth has been determined retrospectively.

I have, and there are some beautiful passages, but it's hampered by the tedious genealogy and lack of philosophical or theological depth in itself. The depth has been added later by scholars. It's basically a compendium of folk-stories. I know it seems ignorant to speak of the Bible like this because its the Bible, but I'm judging it by the same criteria I would any other book. Cast aside your prejudices. The bhagavad gita is far more interesting and has a cohesive philosophy.

>whereas the Bible's worth has been determined retrospectively
Yes, because it wasn't until 2000 years after it's first iteration that the christian holy text became widely recognized.

Idiot

>It's basically a compendium of folk-stories.
You say this as if mythological texts aren't among the most universally celebrated works of literature.

Nobody here is saying that you have to appreciate the Bible for it's phenomenological or ontological content.

The Odyssey is garbage it's just a dude who is really shit at knowing his address.

the aesthetics are fantastic
and it's a poetic guide to morality and truth :^) maybe you're a fedora though

moby dick

Perhaps he's referring to Pasolini?

best nyrb

>The Odyssey is garbage it's just a dude who is really shit at knowing his address.
kek

The Quiet American,
Graham Greene
peace and love

>The Quiet American
Thought I was the only person who had ever read this. Good book, not the best, but it's good. Makes me miss my viet girl

What this user said, .

In and of itself? Philosophy and forgiveness. The book of Job is (and because I'm too tired to go into detail, I'll just say...) deep.

The gospels and the character of Jesus, especially coming off the Old Testament, are powerful. Seriously, everyone should read this thing. As a former agnostic (proud, cringing atheist in high school), I plowed through the bible this year and have changed, albeit slowly.

It might not be the greateat book of all time,but it made my feelings move a lot.

it's pretty good, but J.E.W.'s nyrbs are better

Seriously, I know some people are pushing this thing hard; but it truly is my favousite book. I still count Don Quixote, Moby Dick, Shakespeare, Dante as "better," but this is my personal "best."

my mistake. meant 50s then, think la notte

>The bhagavad gita is far more interesting and has a cohesive philosophy.

By far, by far the best religious/spiritual work I've ever read.

Indian religion in general makes the Abrahamic look shallow and simplistic.

Second time reading this felt identical to tripping on mushrooms.

>tfw will never finish House of Leaves because you gave your copy to the qt stoner chick in HS who turned out to be a slut psychobitch and you don't want to feel that feel

>in and of itself?
too many
>>>>>>
to warrant responding

I bought this 5 or 6 years ago when I started to read seriously again after a long break in high school and middle school. Googled the best books and this was at the top (with IJ lol). I bought it read 100 pages and gave up.
Considering reading it now since I still have it, but my first impression and the general lit opinion has me second guessing.

Left my copy with my ex too and he took it to another fuckin country I feel u

I did that exact thing and so has everyone I've ever talked to about it. It's super heavy to start reading but once it's got you it's got you.

I think it's like that deliberately to ward off scrubs.

Oh, you KNOW they were fucking

this is one good ass book and i can't believe how gaddis flies under so many people's radar

pic

>lol just read Bakhtin for college lit class and now I know what I'm talking about

Riddley Walker

It's not like that deliberately; the story started as literal creepypasta and the pacing is fucking wonked because of it

Didn't expect to see this here. That ending was so horrible in the best possible way. I loved it.

Thanks. Antonioni is one of my favs.

I haven't read Ulysses yet, but I agree with the first part. Though the 80 or so pages I have read from Ulysses were god-tier.