Hey there, Veeky Forums. Hope you're having a fantastic day, I just bought this book and it's my first ever book. I am not joking when I say that for my entire life I have never read a book before. A random person online that I had a debate with opened the topic of literature and he convinced me to get into reading.
I wanted this to be my first as I like things that have to do with Angels and Demons stuff like that. I sort of judged the book by it's cover and bought the more expensive and prettier book translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow instead of the John Ciardi one. I don't know if I made a mistake buying this one instead of the John Ciardi books but that's what I'm hoping to find out with the help of you.
I've never really got into reading because I thought it was boring and not interesting, I always prefered watching Movies and Animation over reading the source material. I don't know how hard it will be for me to stay focused and actually read the book and enjoy it but I guess I'll just have to see.
I'd love it if you shared your first experiences with books and reading. Thank you! :D
Connor Phillips
>I am not joking when I say that for my entire life I have never read a book before. If this isn't a ruse you will not get very far in that book.
Lucas Gonzalez
Not a ruse, I've never bothered to read a book. I know that I most likely will not understand it all but I hope it's a good introduction to literature.
Dominic Thompson
A good introduction to literature would be Siddhartha or Catcher In The Rye or Full Metal Jacket. Not an incredibly dense, incredibly religious, translated epic of a man's personal journey through Hell during the Middle Ages.
Ian Young
I definitely must check out "The Catcher In The Rye" in the future.
Colton Diaz
Dante is a very fine choice, but you should know that the Divine Comedy is a heavyweight of Western literature – it is a poetic summation of Medieval theology, a systematization of Late Antiquity metaphysics, a retelling of Graeco-Roman mythology and overall a phenomenal and deeply penetrating discourse on human nature woven with a masterful skill of allegory.
It is in many ways a book for educated readers, but I have met a few who enjoyed it without any serious background in the prerequisite matters – just make sure to read casually through it without looking anything up. That is, take from it what you can for now and don't bother with the elements that goes over your head. Longfellow is fine precision wise, though his language is a bit archaic, but it tends to hit a sweet spot here and there.
What is your general taste in anime, movies and - I suppose - videogames? I might have some recommendations based on that. Likewise, what was the argument that got you into reading?
Elijah Miller
With movies, anime and video games I love fantasy, supernatural stuff interests me. Yesterday, we were arguing about politics for some hours and we ended off on what we agreed on and I don't remember exactly how but he mentioned literature. I said that I've never been interested in it and he continued to tell me all about it, I felt like I was missing out on a lot of fun and the next day I decided to go and buy Divine Comedy as it's a book that has been in my head for a while after watching the anime 7 Deadly Sins. (even tho they have no connection, the book popped up when I searched for the 7 Deadly Sins).
Jordan Bennett
Well done on taking the initiative! But like other posters said, Divine Comedy is a bit heavy to start with. If you've legitimately never read a book through before, pic related is quite good, most of these are standard high school reading (don't let that put you off!), so they're all accessible and relatively short.
Gavin Hernandez
>Huck Finn >Lord of the Flies >Mice and Men Good list user; I'd add Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row (both humorous). Also, Hemingway's short stories In Our Time.
Robert Scott
I see. I found 7 Deadly Sins to be an alright anime, but nowhere near Death Note, HxH (2011) or Berserk (1997).
The quintessential classic of fantasy would be The King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsany. It's a very dreamlike work with exceedingly beautiful writing and a great inspiration for later authors of fantasy, though largely forgotten these days.
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov in Hugh Aplin's translation is likewise an excellent work of fantasy with diabolical undertones.
Personally, I'm particularly fond of Dark Fantasy. I would recommend the following in no particular order.
>The Golem, Gustav Meyrink >The Other Side, Alfred Kubin >The Circus of Dr. Lao, Charles Finney
The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake is simply out of this world and stands apart from the rest. If you have an affinity for the grim and ambigious atmosphere of Dark Souls, you'll love this.
The Worm Ouroboros by E.R Eddison is fairly difficult due to the nature of it's archaic language, but well worth the effort.
You can read up on these works online and see if it's something that takes your fancy.
