What is your favorite work of literature?

[wolfy]

Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss

 

[Flâneuse]

novel - Atonement by Ian McEwan
poetry - Ariel by Sylvia Plath, especially "Ariel", "Morning Song", "Cut", "Fever 103", "Contusion", and "Edge"
literary essay - "A Sketch of the Past" by Virginia Woolf

 

[Noon]

Off the top of my head,

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Crush by Richard Siken
Seam by Tarfia Faizullah
The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere (short fiction) by John Chu
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I'm leaving a lot out, but most are more modern than classics. Even when I don't agree with the messenger it's hard not to like a beautifully written message.

 

[Wistful Muffin]

I personally love anything written by Dickens, his writing style still amazes me.
Definitely my favourite author.
As for poetry Shakespeare's sonnets are a must.

 

[Noon]

Going to add [Pablo] Neruda's Book of Questions.

 

[Mole]

Don Quixote.

No mistake about it.

If there is any word for the Lark Ascending, this is it.

No mistake about it.

 

[Lark]

If there is any word for the Lark Ascending, this is it.

No mistake about it.

You post some weird things Mole.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Hmm, I'll be a homer and vote for Watchmen. Visually, thematically, caught me at a perfect time, resonated, all of those fun things.

But in terms of something more traditional...I read His Dark Materials when I was young, loved it, and the ending broke me for days. Fiction was never really a world changer for me. That was reserved for A Brief History of Time.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

To be honest, I have a passion for literature and poetry. I have this secret stash of all my favorite poems, plus my own that I've written. Out of all the poems, I love The Road not Taken by Robert Frost:


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This poem appeals to me and many others in so many ways. At least for me, I like this poem because I need to learn how to be who I really am--and not anon behind a screen. This is written so beautifully and I must say, Robert Frost is truly one of my favorites.

There is a third path which is left out by frost. It is the path of transcendence and chosing no road, but rather letting the road melt away, and becoming one with the void while sipping on a mountain dew, and watching Buddhist monk lectures on youtube.

- - - Updated - - -

If there is any word for the Lark Ascending, this is it.

No mistake about it.

You mean Lark Alighting? I prefer the word alight to ascending.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

I personally love anything written by Dickens, his writing style still amazes me.
Definitely my favourite author.
As for poetry Shakespeare's sonnets are a must.

I hear Dickens had an insane IQ and we used to read him a lot but even though he is great at writing I find his characters so horribly clitche as to be entirely unreal compared to let's say someone like Hermen Hesse who probably was not as good with details but more soulful.

 

[Wistful Muffin]

I hear Dickens had an insane IQ and we used to read him a lot but even though he is great at writing I find his characters so horribly clitche as to be entirely unreal compared to let's say someone like Hermen Hesse who probably was not as good with details but more soulful.

I haven't read any Hermann Hesse so I can't quite compare the writing styles.
Apparently Dickens' IQ was 180.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

I haven't read any Hermann Hesse so I can't quite compare the writing styles.
Apparently Dickens' IQ was 180.

Yeah really a high IQ and nearly perfrectly crafted language - just really somewhat stereotypical 1 dimensional characters he must have been a hermit because compared to Hermen Hesse his characters are like Dorthy from the Wizard of oz. I don't know the exact word for it but it's kind of like walking through a really complicated maze that's built like a city if that makes sense. You know it's not a city but the design is magnificent.

Reading someone like Hermen Hesse though, or a similar author, appeals more to the soul.

 

[miss fortune]

bradbury, borges and gaiman for the feel of what they write... something like a cool fall night in the hot tub with a good book

pratchett and wodehouse for something more lighthearted

and some of the best nights I've had were spent with decameron, 1001 nights and canterbury tales

as for poetry, I've usually enjoyed a variety of things ranging from ballad of a white horse to the love song of j alfred prufrock

yes... reading is fun

 

[Wistful Muffin]

Yeah really a high IQ and nearly perfrectly crafted language - just really somewhat stereotypical 1 dimensional characters he must have been a hermit because compared to Hermen Hesse his characters are like Dorthy from the Wizard of oz. I don't know the exact word for it but it's kind of like walking through a really complicated maze that's built like a city if that makes sense. You know it's not a city but the design is magnificent.

Reading someone like Hermen Hesse though, or a similar author, appeals more to the soul.

I'll definitely look into his writing then
Should be interesting.
Is there anything by him in particular you'd recommend?

 

[GarrotTheThief]

I'll definitely look into his writing then
Should be interesting.
Is there anything by him in particular you'd recommend?

Damien...I forget how it is spelled...and Narcissus and Goldmund, but Damien left a strong impression on me. You'll notice that many tropes in movies we watch today come directly from Hesse. We could even say that much of our modern art is based on Hesse, a sleeper foundation, but in truth Hesse is re appropriating much from a previous era. But he does a good job of building on where Faust left off with Mephistopheles, and modernizing it...his writings are considered vogue by some, but they are just really good experiences overall.

 

[Nicodemus]

Narcissus and Goldmund

This one might be especially interesting to people here because Hesse drew on Jung's theories in developing the two main characters.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

This one might be especially interesting to people here because Hesse drew on Jung's theories in developing the two main characters.

You've read it then? I just finished it last night. The last paragraph gave me chills in the same way that a good movie or prolific writing would.

Do you think goldmun was a sensor intuitive feeler and narcissus a thinker sensor intuitive?

That's why I think Hesse becomes vogue. Reading it is like a frantic rush through a room looking for an elixir one has lost and needs direly in the next few moments. His final words are like a hammer. He is never too intellectual nor sentimental. He is always in that sweet spot. His literature is like blues music before the electric guitar.

 

[Nicodemus]

You've read it then? I just finished it last night. The last paragraph gave me chills in the same way that a good movie or prolific writing would.

Yes, I read it, but I already forgot most of it again. I found the homoerotic elements touching, but most of the Jungian stuff and all the aesthetotheological musings are not my cup of tea, which is probably why the whole thing left me rather unimpressed and without strong memories. It struck me as a bit naive, too, as if it had been written by a young adult.

A former teacher once recommended I read Beneath the Wheel. I never finished that; it bored me. That, however, is the extent of my Hesse experience. I have not been tempted to allot him much time since out last get-together.

Do you think goldmun was a sensor intuitive feeler and narcissus a thinker sensor intuitive?

I think the roles, as far as thinking and sensing are concerned, are clear. More important than their particular types are their differences, their complementary dispositions. Goldmund is obsessed with his mother, Narcissus with god, male and female. One seeks earthly experience, the other metaphysical understanding. Archetypes, bla, bla, bla.

That's why I think Hesse becomes vogue. Reading it is like a frantic rush through a room looking for an elixir one has lost and needs direly in the next few moments. His final words are like a hammer. He is never too intellectual nor sentimental. He is always in that sweet spot. His literature is like blues music before the electric guitar.

As far as I know, what made Hesse popular in the States (in the 60s!) were Steppenwolf and Siddhartha.

 

[GarrotTheThief]

Yes, I read it, but I already forgot most of it again. I found the homoerotic elements touching, but most of the Jungian stuff and all the aesthetotheological musings are not my cup of tea, which is probably why the whole thing left me rather unimpressed and without strong memories. It struck me as a bit naive, too, as if it had been written by a young adult.

A former teacher once recommended I read Beneath the Wheel. I never finished that; it bored me. That, however, is the extent of my Hesse experience. I have not been tempted to allot him much time since out last get-together.


I think the roles, as far as thinking and sensing are concerned, are clear. More important than their particular types are their differences, their complementary dispositions. Goldmund is obsessed with his mother, Narcissus with god, male and female. One seeks earthly experience, the other metaphysical understanding. Archetypes, bla, bla, bla.


As far as I know, what made Hesse popular in the States (in the 60s!) were Steppenwolf and Siddhartha.

Thank you for that! I always grow when I hear another's point of view. Sometimes I get obsessed with something like a song or a book and when I hear a more neutral point of view it brings me down to earth.

 

[Nicodemus]

Thank you for that! I always grow when I hear another's point of view. Sometimes I get obsessed with something like a song or a book and when I hear a more neutral point of view it brings me down to earth.

It is possible he is more intoxicating in English. Just not very likely.