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Here's the thing though: Harold Bloom's canon has some pretty universally accepted masterpieces, but some of the additions and exclusions also showcase his own idiosyncrasies as a unique reader. This is especially the case for his listings for the "chaotic age" 20th century. And there's nothing wrong with that - the only trouble comes when one points to his choices as some authoritative thing. He was a remarkably well-read man, but we can't look to one man to decide the books worth reading out of 4000 years of the entire world's literary output. I think I remember reading that he'd attempted to distance himself from that list later in his life.

At any rate, I'm of the belief that, ultimately, we're trying to feed something within ourselves when we read great literature. Our own interests are shaped by the things we read, but they then shape the course of what we go on to read. And sometimes the thing that gives us what we need is not necessarily the thing that critics decide is one of the best things ever penned. Sometimes you find a real meaningful reading experience in something that doesn't involve a considerable mental strain to understand. For example, check out Jorge Luis Borges' reading list:

http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/jorge-luis-borges-personal-library.html

If Borges stuck to the canon, and never pursued an interest in pulps and genre fiction, his own works would be completely different. Pynchon is another one - his works are saturated with so-called "low" art forms, and he displays an almost encyclopedic knowledge of their inner workings. I guess my point is, at the end of the day, you are your own guiding light. A canon can give you many points of entry into the world of great lit, but you are your own person, and there is no 'one size fits all' list to follow for the rest of your life.

I get what you mean, I got Adam Roberts' Latin translation, <em>Pervigilium Finneganis</em>, because it was cheap and he was open about it being a dumb joke.

That’s why I started with Plato, too. I’m very curious about this philosophy textbook, The Great Conversation, to get a broad overview with some solid points of entry. I think a person could spend multiple lifetimes reading every philosophy book, so I wouldn’t mind a little curation.

I often wonder what the point is though to go down the rabbit hole of philosophy books. Like it like it seems like a good idea and of great value, but also what’s the point, too? Which brings me back to Plato and why I really appreciate his dialogues because I think the point with Plato is that when you argue really you’re trying to help the person come to the truth but you’re also trying to help yourself come to the truth as well. I feel this kind of spirit is lacking from modern debates. I really think Socratic philosophy, or is it all secretly Platonic philosophy, is an excellent first principles kind of place to start. Winning arguments isn’t good enough.

I live in Austin, TX, where we're lucky enough to have several Half Price Books locations. They're a used book chain that started in Dallas and they have many locations in TX and quite a few in other U.S. cities. About 95% of what I buy I get from them. In the Before Times, I'd make the rounds to all of the Austin stores over the course of a month; now I'll venture out only once or twice a month if I'm sure a specific location has what I want. (Been reducing the TBR pile since the pandemic began.)

If it's something I really, really want and can't lay hands on a copy at HPB, I'll generally order from either Amazon or Abe Books.

Plus Carroll literally described what the elements of Jabberwocky mean & look like - TedEd didn't do their research very well.

And if you want more proof -- oh, look, on Amazon.fr, the classic Hetzel editions of Verne listed as "Âge de lecture 9 - 12 années": https://www.amazon.fr/tour-monde-80-jours/dp/2368086315/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Jules+Verne&amp;qid=1623219218&amp;refinements=p_n_feature_eight_browse-bin%3A5441462031&amp;s=books&amp;sr=1-1

For the genetic perspective, I would recommend:

A First-Draft Version of Finnegans Wake

and

How Joyce Wrote Finnegans Wake: A Chapter-by-Chapter Genetic Guide

i liked hayek's challenge by caldwell. i read it years ago and have no idea why - i am not exactly a fan of "that kind of economics", but i loved the book. it had decent prose, explained things very clearly, and it turns out that hayek had quite an interesting (intellectual) life.

more from me in the second user review on amazon's page. i wrote that back when i read the book, so it's a lot more detailed - https://www.amazon.com/Hayeks-Challenge-Intellectual-Biography-F/dp/0226091937

That's a really hard question to answer. The problem is not so much the translations, which are for the most part at least decent (except for Hollingdale's! Don't get those), but the fact that English-language publishers have always felt free to mix and match his stories, when they are actually much better enjoyed in the original arrangements in which he published them. That is to say, of the three story collections published in his lifetime, two -- namely Fantasy Pieces in the Manner of Callot and The Serapion Brethren -- are much more like concept albums, and probably should be read from beginning to end. Especially SB, which has a framing narrative that introduces and then comments on all the stories.

There is only one complete translation of SB, by Alexander Ewing, published in London in the 1880s/1890s (two fat volumes). Fortunately, it used to be available on Kindle for free, and also on Google Books as a PDF. (I'm a Hoffmann fanatic, so a few years ago I tracked down an original copy of the set!)

For Fantasy Pieces, this is the only full translation: https://www.amazon.com/Fantasy-Pieces-Callots-Manner-Hoffmann/dp/0912756020

Unfortunately, it's so out of print it's nearly impossible to track down even a used copy.

As for the third collection published in his lifetime, Night Pieces, as far as I can figure out only half its contents have ever been translated into English, and the situation is even worse with the volume of his Posthumous Tales. (I read the rest in French, since my German is terrible.)

That said, if you have to settle for one mix&match volume, Bleiler's Best Tales of Hoffmann is decent. Also the Oxford Classics The Golden Pot and Other Tales.

One more thing: his three great fantasy novellas were collected as Three Märchen. OOP, of course, but easier to track down and excellent translations. This has the best translation of "Princess Brambilla," which I consider Hoffmann's masterpiece.

Don't read Juneteenth, read this instead

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Days-Before-Shooting/dp/0375759549/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2N2FSH2ZTCOAA&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=three+days+before+the+shooting&amp;qid=1612049583&amp;sprefix=three+days+bef%2Caps%2C140&amp;sr=8-1

That's a good analogy lol. I've found it helpful to refer to Gravity's Rainbow Companion prior to starting each chapter, then when I'm confused, refer to The Gravity's Rainbow Handbook.

A friend told me he thought I was insane for reading two guides just to be able to get through the book but that's part of the fun for me

Looks like clouds will mess up my chances, but there's a big opportunity for a lot of people to see the aurora borealis tonight. So if you have a chance in your area and the skies are clear get out there!

If you want to get into literary theory, you might want to check out Literary Theory by Terry Eagleton or Beginning Theory by Peter Barry. Both books are excellent starting points.

And with regards to improving writing, I would highly recommend Virginia Tufte's Syntax with Style. Check out also this article by Lydia Davis.

There are many free college courses, in particular Yale's 'American Literature since 1945'. There are many listed here as well as free courses you can sign up on in Coursera.

Lastly, look for syllabi. A lot of colleges and universities freely post their reading lists for the semester. Good luck!

Just finished Middlemarch (Eliot). I haven't read any Victorian novels since Dickens (whom I love like I love a good fairy tale), which might explain why the book seemed soggy to my taste. Several stories/characters could've been edited out without damaging the better narratives, and the prose seemed verbose and mawkish. Here's a typically overwrought scene that gives some hint of it:

>“Well, it is very serious, Dodo,” said Celia, becoming more impressive. “How will you live? and you will go away among queer people. And I shall never see you—and you won’t mind about little Arthur—and I thought you always would—” > >Celia’s rare tears had got into her eyes, and the corners of her mouth were agitated. > >“Dear Celia,” said Dorothea, with tender gravity, “if you don’t ever see me, it will not be my fault.” > >“Yes, it will,” said Celia, with the same touching distortion of her small features. “How can I come to you or have you with me when James can’t bear it?—that is because he thinks it is not right—he thinks you are so wrong, Dodo. But you always were wrong: only I can’t help loving you. And nobody can think where you will live: where can you go?”

--Chapter LXXXIV (src)

I can't help comparing it unfavorably to Anna Karenina (Tolstoy was almost certainly influenced by it), which was overall so much wittier and deeper and truer to human life - or mine anyway - than Eliot's dated sentimentality.

Still, there were beautiful parts and trenchant psychology (Rosamond and Lydgate's romance chiefly). So maybe I'm being too harsh.

This edition, I would argue, is excellent: https://www.amazon.com/Finnegans-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-Paperback/dp/0199695156/

It is cheap and affordable, it is a recent publication, and a fully corrected edition, with right pagination, etc.

Should be fine. Is this the one you mean? Sorry, there seemed to be quite a number of versions on Amazon so I wasn't sure which was correct.

I researched this a while ago (didn't actually end up buying). The two translations that are generally recommended are the more recent Guyer and Wood translation and the earlier Pluhar translation. From what I can see only the latter is available in hardback.

I believe both have a very extensive overview/introduction. Both include the two editions of the critique (as any scholarly edition would) but none of them aims at commenting or explaining the text. That work is left to others. I think the Guyer and Wood is generally the one used in academy these days. From what I sampled the Pluhar seemed a bit clearer. I cannot judge any of them for accuracy. An advantage with Pluhar is that he also translated the other two critiques so if you are interested you have the chance of having them all done by the same translator.

> Seeing a lot of love for Beckett here. Anyone ever seen or read his Play?

Not clear here if you've seen it, but here's a strong recommendation for the Beckett on Film collection. If you don't wanna purchase, might be able to find it either at in a local or university library.

This production of Play stars Alan Rickman (!) Kristin Scott Thomas, and Juliet Stevenson. So much goodness. Just about every performance in the collection is just stunning.

I think this is a problem with a specific sector of the publishing industry, but unfortunately it's one that holds a lot of sway.

There's a distinctive trend in academic fiction that stems from a fear of vulnerability. It dictates that literary fiction has to operate in opposition to genre fiction in order to distinguish itself as an intellectual artform capable of valuable insight into human issues, instead of a form of entertainment made by silly people playing make-'em-ups. The result is this stifling morass of pleasantly crafted stories that have the accumulated effect of watching someone go to work every day for a week. Or some boring middle-class people having boring middle-class love affairs. Or some shit about parenting.

Many of the most influential short fiction publications (i.e. Pushcart nomination winning) are based out of universities, and are staffed by grad students who are pretty thoroughly indoctrinated with these ideas. Combine this penchant for tedium with a love of surface-level identity politics, and you too can join the ranks of the dull and acclaimed. (An occasional dash of style-over-content magical realism that leaves itself open to any interpretation conceivable and really has nothing to say about anything may also be acceptable.)

There's a great essay by Michael Chabon about this stuff: you can read it using the Look Inside thing here: https://www.amazon.com/McSweeneys-Mammoth-Treasury-Thrilling-Tales/dp/140003339X

Also I Hate the Internet by Jarett Kobek has a lot of painful and funny things to say about it.

I read Faust 1 and 2.. 1 was actually pretty awesome but 2 was kind of just alright with some cool parts (but I always wonder about translator issues with classics). I definitely will be working through his work over the years. I actually find myself warming up big time to old stuff as I get older. I'm thinking about reading Paradise Lost in the near future.. I'm eying this somewhat pricey new edition of The Anatomy of Melancholy.

Grant Morrison *The Filth* this is a great gift for an edgy teenager. I guess you are looking for novel recs but The Filth is legit.

If she wants to read The Road then that's fine, too. I'd push her towards The Border Trilogy myself (though I think The Road is great.)

Saddly no, although I plan to learn japanese after conquering german. You are right, of course, though. Even the grammar can be tricky. For example, japanese doesn't really require a subject for a sentence, something which english can't really do that well.

This chinese poetry anthology gives a good idea how chinese poetry actually reads in, well, chinese and why translating it to english is quite difficult.

Yet I do still believe that for all the changes necessated by translation from language to language the heart of the poetry still remains and we can still enjoy it even if we do not get the same exact expirience which we would get if we were to read it in the original language.

Someone on another sub alerted me to the existence of this. What the hell guys. And now I'm down the weirdest rabbit hole ever and apparently Donald Trump and people relating him to their eating disorders (negatively or positively) is a thing.

I read Nightwood yesterday; I suppose it's one of those novels that I appreciated more than enjoyed (Not to say I didn't enjoy it). I'll probably have to take Eliot's advice and read it twice, because I found that large sections of dialogue seemed almost resistant to any order of coherence I attempted to impose on them. There was meaning, yes, but I'm not yet sure if that meaning was meant or was just a byproduct of the little symbols I managed to apprehend while the rest of it slipped through my fingers.

It's also a solid contender for one of the ghastliest covers I have the misfortune to possess; this Faber edition looks like the sort of thing you might find on a post-copyright edition of The Great Gatsby, under ten dollars, in the scant classics section of a supermarket bookshelf.

You might want to add 1 per person to the rules in your post. Re: the Ambassadors, I think it depends on the edition, eg this Oxford edition lists 512 on Amazon but from the table of contents it looks like the novel itself is only around 439 pages.

Anyway, of these five, maybe I'll suggest the first one-- The Bridge on the Drina.

I don't own any of his books but I've read excerpts. You can check out the first few pages of his book Lyrics of the Crossing here. He also puts up some shorts on his Wordpress occasionally, which are even wilder. They are free so you can check them out here. I can't say I understand them tbh.

I agree with your thoughts on Dostoevsky. I just finished Brothers Karamazov and though there were portions of it I found extremely engaging and eager to return to it, ultimately it was a let down. Too much of it felt klunky, repetitive and overwrought.

I fatigue on his characters constant heightened emotions. I could see a young person being taken in by his writing and his characters, but I don’t think he ages well. For all the talk of D deeply psychological writing, I don’t see it. Tolstoy is filled with it, but instead of constantly pounding on the keys, he hits much more subtle notes.

Nabakov discusses the great Russian authors in his book “Lectures on Russian Literature”. I was relieved to hear his take on Dostoevsky. Equally heartened to hear his thoughts on Tolstoy and Anna Karenina.

https://www.amazon.com/Lectures-Russian-Literature-Vladimir-Nabokov-ebook/dp/B0785P3PQJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=nabokov+lectures+on+russian+literature&amp;qid=1629489538&amp;sr=8-3

r/literature was such an insane subreddit. everything was banned. good on you for suggesting new authors. Check this out: Wild Grass on the Riverbank (except don't buy books from amazon so find it in your own country), it's not technically new but was only recently translated to english I believe. I read it in my native language and it's absolutely insane, in a good and perplexing way. And while it was originally published in japanese in 2005, it still reads like it was written yesterday.

The main difference is poetry or prose in the translation. In reviewing this (its a book I haven't read but want to read) it appears that the Reynolds translation (in two volumes) is probably the best and most accurate modern translation. Some friendly reviewer on Amazon provided a comparison among translations. Its the top review.

https://www.amazon.com/Orlando-Furioso-Part-Ludovico-Ariosto-ebook/dp/B00358VHWE/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&amp;keywords=orlando+furioso&amp;qid=1615341240&amp;s=digital-text&amp;sr=1-2

There is that one, but there is also a more recent one that was in Harper's and collected in Life Sentences. And also, "In Terms of the Toenail..." here. - https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fiction_and_the_Figures_of_Life/LFmAmzH7XA0C?hl=en&amp;gbpv=1&amp;dq=in+terms+of+the+toenail+fiction+and+the+figures+of+life+gass+pdf&amp;printsec=frontcover

David Markson also wrote a book on it--I haven't read it. There is this too: https://www.amazon.com/Malcolm-Lowrys-Under-Volcano-Bookmarked/dp/1632460416.

Personally, I'm not into the symbolism, more just the prose. It also might just be one of those books that you read and then you read ten years later and it's much richer--happened to me. There was some twitter conversation about which book writers wanted to reread and that one had the most mentions.

It's a late-bloomer (college-level) coming of age novel, but back in the day I recall quite enjoying Richards Grant's Views From the Oldest House. Definitely fits the stoner element, though admittedly from a post-modern perch that proved comedic enough, in a shamanistic, madcap-oddball, occasionally uncomfortable kind of way...

I read <em>The Discarded Image</em> and absolutely loved it. I tried to read Experiment in Criticism, but realized I hadn't read enough of the books he was referencing to thoroughly benefit from it.

To any patrons of this sub who are more well-read than I am, or anyone who has studied literature, I'd highly recommend it.

Neither, I'm criticizing them on literary grounds. This isn't a very uncommon thing either, other writers have criticized Don Quixote.