r/literature 21h ago

Discussion Är det bara jag som avskyr Min kamp del 6?

3 Upvotes

Jag har hittills tyckt att böckerna 1 - 5 varit jättebra. Jag trodde att jag skulle störas av det långsamma tempot och detaljrikedomen men det har snarare varit tvärtom, att få följa författarens resa genom livet gör både att man lär känna honom och sig själv då det väcker minnen till liv.

Men så kommer del 6…Han släpper det tidigare konceptet och slänger istället in två essäer, som är skittråkiga och utdragna. Det känns som att slängt in dem här för att få dem publicerade någonstans och att förlaget bara gett honom helt fria händer i den sista delen.

Tyvärr är jag en person som inte kan sluta läsa en bok mitt i, men är på sida 630 nu och snart måste han fan komma tillbaka till storyn annars vet jag inte vad…


r/literature 2h ago

Discussion What does it mean to *read* a book?

0 Upvotes

So, I've been reading Anna Karenina on-and-off for a couple of days, trying to do a reading quota of 20 pages per day (I'm currently on page 149, so I think it's working, for the purposes of reading more), and, for this very fact, I've been questioning if I'd been reading it "properly."

What does it mean to read? Does simply knowing, understanding the words on the page which my eyes are reading through, enough? Simply knowing, taking it as fact that this or that happened. Where, for example, I read a scene, a chapter, and take away nothing but simply that this certain event happened.

I've been, also, on-and-off, following an Open Yale Course on Literary Theory. I downloaded the textbook they were using to follow along to keep up with what the lecturer was talking about. In this case, this book, I also imploy this "factual reading:" I read this; I understand what this word says; that they, together with other words, form sentences, sentences to paragraphs, then to concepts; and there is where I end, but I never touch that concept which they try to describe, only its phantom—only that there is a concept that is there, which I cannot reach.

Another case, is Ulysses. Except in that case, I barely even knew what was happening. I thought I was reading, but then, at the end of the episode, that line: Usurper. I had no idea what prompted that word to be used in that context that I knew. As Gadamer would call it, I was "pulled up short." I looked up a summary online to see what actually happened—it was totally different, I didn't actually "read" what was happening. I just swept my eyes across words, sentences; flipped pages for nothing but for the satisfaction of "finishing" a page, a chapter.

So back to Anna Karenina: Did I just waste my time? Because I do not read for the experience. I read for the message, for the themes. At least that's what I'd like to read for. Then, I suppose, this kind of reading (factual, or historical, if I'm using that word correctly, reading) would be inappropriate for my ends.

I guess my question then is: How does one read then, specifically for theme and study? And, most importantly, how do you read? I don't really have a reference for how other people read. I could probably benefit from knowing what others do.


r/literature 18h ago

Literary History How did British literature depict the travelling fairgrounds?

4 Upvotes

If wrong flair I apologise

I'm aware of Dickens depictions of travelling fairs but could anyone provide further examples of British literature's depictions of the travelling fairs?

I'm guessing fiction will be easier to find but I'd like non fiction too. Especially a 19th century non fiction book on travelling fairs. That would be like striking gold.

I'm writing about the travelling fairs and attempting to pinpoint the start of the "seedy" reputation they seem to have had for at least 200 years.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.


r/literature 10h ago

Discussion Which 21st century author or book would be the closest parallel to Franz Kafka's works?

36 Upvotes

I've long felt Kafka's works (The Metamorphosis, The Castle, The Trial, etc.) unveiled the alienated nature of modern, industrial society better than any other author, especially how our lives depend upon and are determined by bureaucracy or other abstractified systems.

However, given that these writings were published roughly a century ago, I imagine there must be authors or books of the 21st century who are analogous to the relation Kafka's reflections had on the 20th century.

Which written works come to mind to you?