mxbx Posted July 5, 2002 Share Posted July 5, 2002 Has anyone here read Kafka's Amerika? If so, would you recommend it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 I hate kafka. Kafka sucks. Why don't you read some real literature instead? (I'm completely basing this off of metamorphisis which was one of the poorest attempts at an interesting story in the history of the world) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 Read 'The Prince' by Machiavelli. Or if its fiction, go for anything by James F. David, Animal Farm, A Discworld book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (the original one) or The Picture of Dorian Grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 I just read grapes of wrath too, a very good book--probably not what you're looking for but good non the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbx Posted July 6, 2002 Author Share Posted July 6, 2002 I hope you're joking about "The Metamorphosis." That story, along w/ much of Kafka's work, is one of the main influences for almost all modern literature. Lucastones: Yeah, I've read Picture of Dorian Grey and Animal Farm (but who hasn't read Animal Farm in school?)... I'll check out those other books you recommended. Right now, I'm really into WWII-era Russian lit. I highly recommend Bulgokov's "The Master and Margarita" and a book called "The Man in the Black Coat: Russia's Literature of the Absurd." Daniil Kharms, one of the two authors in "The Man in the Black Coat..." is probably one of the funniest and most bizarre writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Actually, a lot of his short stories are published on-line if you care to check them out. If you don't, please eat regularly and brush your teeth at least twice a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 Originally posted by mxbx I hope you're joking about "The Metamorphosis." That story, along w/ much of Kafka's work, is one of the main influences for almost all modern literature. I know its a huge influence...... for bad modern literature that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbx Posted July 6, 2002 Author Share Posted July 6, 2002 You're right. Almost everything I enjoy reading is so horribly bad that it can (and should!) be equated to feces. But, oh! What a sweet smell that feces emits! A smell so ripe and repugnant that I weep softly into it's arms every night. No, scratch that. I weep tenderly every fortnight at best. But how those arms caress me! Like a mother holds a babe, the babe wrapped snuggly in swaddling clothes and suckling generously for the most natural of nourishments. We alll should be so lucky as to enjoy bad literature. Seriously, though, I collect Choose Your Own Adventures. I know bad literature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DasJan Posted July 6, 2002 Share Posted July 6, 2002 I did'nt read Amerika, but I love Kafka's many short stories. Kafka must have been such a Psycho! I don't know the English titles of his texts, so I can't recommend you something, but if you find a collection of all his short stories, then buy it! He would be a great level for Psychonauts! Das Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Actually, we didn't read Animal Farm in school. I'm so glad, because if I did I wouldn't like it so much. We would have analysed it and analysed it... thats why I can't stand To Kill a Mockingbird. Ever read the full original Gullivers Travels? That's fantastic. Very satirical. When he's bigger than everyone else they all seem very petty and child-like, but when he's smaller than everyone else its him that seems petty. Its brilliant. I also read Treasure Island thinking it might be a bit like Monkey Island (Herman Toothrot / Ben Gunn?) That was great as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 You know what was really an uninspired book? Brave New World. The author has a cool name, but after that the book just went down hill. The best part was the short history of his life in the back...where it explained he was a heavy user of LSD and claimed he talked regularly with God when he was tripping on acid.....that was hilarious, it really shattered his already cliched social commentary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooJaka Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 I never read Animal Farm in school (some people I know did though). We read Lord Of The Flies instead. It's pretty wicked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scabb Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Lord of the Flies is a great book. Try reading a John Grisham title, they're all the same, but still very readable. Read anything but Shakespeare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Lol, did anyone see that episode of the simpsons that was a parody of Lord of the Flies? Where the bus crashed and the kids had to make it for themselves on this island, and they thought Millhouse ate all the food? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbx Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 Lucastones: Yeah, "Gulliver's Travels" and Voltaire's "Candide" are two of the best satires I've ever read. (Actually, "Animal Farm" ranks pretty high up there, as well.) Manny: I've never read "Brave New World" and I can only imagine your theories are correct. Those who converse w/ God have never been known to produce great works in the past. Hallucinogens only inspire rubbish like Carroll's inane ramlings. Here's an anecdote by Mr. Daniil Kharms about Pushkin that I've changed the names in to reflect my opinion of Carroll: Carroll was a poet, and all the time he was writing something. Once Herman Hesse found him writing and shouted at him, "You really are a scribbler!" From that time on, Carroll loved Herman Hesse and in friendly fashion called him simply Herm. Boojaka: Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm were the only two books I enjoyed reading in school. Hoorah for Golding and Orwell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 I find that books written by the staunchly anti-religious are also usually bad. The stories, while sometimes clever, are usually just thin coverings for the author's rhetoric (cough*Ayn Rand*cough). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbx Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 Careful, Manny, I think you just coughed up an author. Could I lend you some cough syrup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Randinitis isn't a joke mxbx, its a life threatening disease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DasJan Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 I had to read Lord of the Flies. It was sooooo boring! Before you read anything else, read all of Douglas Adams' books! Das Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbx Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 DasJan! I've read the Guide to the Galaxy, but I frowned too much. Sadly, I'd been surpassed. Mayhap I should read the rest of the series in due haste? "Yes, yes" the sparrow called from his perch. I screwed up my left eye til it nearly closed and acknowledged the sparrow, "How then, shall I begin this reading adventure?" The sparrow cackled. He wasn't a sparrow at all, and we both knew it. "Alright, sparrow who we both know isn't, I'll be on my way, then." "The damage was done long ago. You humans are so bold as to think you invented circles. Start with the next volume in the series, dimwit." With that, the beast flew away. DasJan, I must admit these events never occurred. Nevertheless, I appreciate your concern for the further reading of Mr. Adams. Would you recommend the one about the Detective? I can't recall the title, but I know it exists. OR: should I stick with the Hitchiker's Guide series? DasJan, your input is to be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 7, 2002 Share Posted July 7, 2002 Has anyone read Asimov's books? (the early, non-perverted ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mxbx Posted July 7, 2002 Author Share Posted July 7, 2002 Sadly, i've only read Kafka-inspired sci-fi. (i.e. P.K. Dick and Disch) Could somebody help me pick up all these authors' names I keep dropping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wossname Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 This thread's far too literary. Doesn't anyone read pulp fiction any more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon_man Posted July 8, 2002 Share Posted July 8, 2002 I really, really want to read The Prince. I read most of the Discworld, Phillip K. Dick and George Orwell stuff when I was 12/13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DasJan Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 Great post, mxbx! I think you are talking "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul" and yes, I definately recommend them. Unfortunately I didn't read them yet, but I just KNOW they are pure genius. Additionally, some of my friends told me so. And I like Asimov's late, perverted books better. I didn't read them, too, but I'm sure with that. Das Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manny_c444 Posted July 9, 2002 Share Posted July 9, 2002 It wasn't the perverted that bothered me it was the poor quality of the writing. But I really suggest everyone to read "The Foundation trilogy" I think they are geniously written and cleverly plotted...some of my favorite books, science fiction books anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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