/lit/ - Literature

Conan the Cimmerian Hipster Slut 13/03/29(Fri)08:23 No. 16780 [Reply]

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I've spent the past several weeks listening to Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and found that I have come to like the tales and the character less and less. The initial stories are superb; Conan is a strong man that has his own weaknesses and a unique barbaric background, but he seems to degrade into a know-it-all, swashbuckling superman as the stories progress - Even the barbarism vs. civility subtext becomes incredibly forced.
I feel like Howard began putting less effort in as the character became more popular, knowing it would sell and make the cover of Weird Tales. This is disappointing seeing the incredible promise in the first 8 or so stories.

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Hipster Slut 13/04/10(Wed)20:05 No. 16797

>>16780

considering he killed himself at 30, thats probably what was happening with Howard himself. Gaining accolades, being buddy-buddy with guys like Lovecraft (also an elitist).

Ghadaffi Reader 13/03/29(Fri)00:37 No. 16778 [Reply]

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Yo readers

Has anyone here ever read Ghaddaffi's Green book?

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Hipster Slut 13/04/02(Tue)09:41 No. 16782

No but I have a PDF of it I have been meaning to get around to reading

My little cognitive community 13/03/29(Fri)12:01 No. 16781 [Reply]

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I, like all of you, are probably going to be interested in doing self-linguistic pattern matching; since we spend so much time writing on the internet it could be interesting. Does anyone know of any freesoftware or onlinesoftware which will do that, or any easy manuals to do it?

A good free program for reading books online rather than adobe acrobat? Hipster Slut 12/11/20(Tue)01:23 No. 16398 [Reply]

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Hey I figured /lit/ would know this better than anyone but do you know any good free programs for reading books on your computer that's better than adobe acrobat but can use PDFs?

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Hipster Slut 12/11/25(Sun)16:52 No. 16418

>>16417
Thanks again

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Hipster Slut 13/03/29(Fri)00:31 No. 16777

yeah foxit is good

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Hipster Slut 13/03/29(Fri)00:45 No. 16779

4th-ing foxit.

Transcends. Kaya Sinclaire 13/03/28(Thu)08:23 No. 16775 [Reply]

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Hipster Slut 13/03/16(Sat)16:45 No. 16745 [Reply]

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Why don't you write a journal. Before you think, oh, it's all so very, unnecessary, I have no will or want for it, consider how in your old age you will forget your memories and your past will be a blur, and you will forget who you really are and all the small lessons, insights, joys and ranges of phenomenon you had that a simple description might re-awaken!

This being said, I'm considering starting now and doing a backlog based on what I can remember, and slowly filling in whatever I can.

It all seems so very, dangerous though. I'm scared of the weight of thinking it through...or missing something and accepting the new history with that gap because it's been cemented.

Are my troubles real?

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CandleJack 13/03/26(Tue)06:17 No. 16767

Human memory is a fragile and infinitely, often subversively and invisibly, malleable and editable thing. Most of this happens without your conscious knowledge or input. Most of this is skewed to the positive because humans are hopelessly optimistic creature.

Keeping a journal can only change your memory from what you THINK happened to what REALLY happened. But is having a good memory what you want? Do you want to think something happened a certain, positive and blissful way in your old age, only to go back and read in your journal that it happened in a different way that was less optimistic?

I suppose a solution would be to only write about the happy things that happen every day. That way you can look back and be happy instead of looking back and realizing how drudging and pointless and painful your existence was.

Compare:

March 25th, 2013:
Got in a car accident yesterday. Totaled the car. My fault. In hospital recovering from two broken legs, fractured pelvis and a smashed right wrist. Hospital food is terrible. Dry meatloaf and stale bread. The jello I had for dessert was really good. I don't know how I will pay the bills. I think the wife might leave and take the kids.

to

March 25th, 2013:
The jello I had for dessert was really good.
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I+want+to+be+a+professional+slacker+(I+mean+book+reader) 13/03/27(Wed)14:13 No. 16774

>>16767
I was getting more at the level of often we think about philosophy, our consciousness, reality, and such things.

In certain states of presence, I certainly don't think of these things.

I worry forgetting part of this is as good as dying.

It is almost, losing a kind of higher level self awareness.

Anyone feel me?

Is there any Tron fanfiction? Hipster Slut 13/03/26(Tue)07:19 No. 16768 [Reply]

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Tron, Splash Damage

Ten years after the events of Tron Legacy. The Digital is open to the Analog. The whole world uses The Grid.

It's become the cheapest means of travel, in one laser and out another on the other side of the earth in seven minutes. Seven minutes, at 2kCPS give or take 800CPS depending on the number of online nodes, approximates to 840,000 cycles 14000 semicycles, or 233 millicycles – for a human a short number of years. This time is spent in the Grid, as a kind of digital vacation. All participants face the excitement and risk of The Grid at their own risk; no guarantees are made for their saftey or survival.

The outside world, still unaware of Clu's failed invasion many cycles ago, stretches their ideology, their systems, into the digital. Analog governments and analog corporations force their analog authority upon their ever-growing digital space. The freedom of The Grid is threatened again, and just as much the freedom of the world itself.

In this time, on The Grid, co-exist numerous programs, numerous users, and a small, but resurgent population of isomorphs. There are freedom fighters, soldiers, and civilians on all sides. A conflict will arise, and the casualties will be high. Will you protect The Grid? or tame the wild digital west? Will you get fragged? Watch for splash damage.

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Hipster Slut 13/03/26(Tue)07:28 No. 16770

First Edit

> approximates to 840,000 cycles, 14000 semicycles

missing comma.

> excitement and danger of The Grid at their own risk

+1 to propaganda, and avoid same word twice.

> force analog authority upon their

repetitive when appropriate, only.

> threatened again, and our world along with it.
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Hipster Slut 13/03/26(Tue)13:17 No. 16773

>>16768
It's very exposition heavy, yet it depends on the reader being familiar with the Tron universe. I've seen Tron, but I have no idea what the narrator is talking about. Whilst that probably won't be the case for people who follow the series, it means you are excluding a huge proportion of your potential audience right out of the starting gate with all the jargon. Most games, sequels or other additions to an established franchise deliberately try to avoid that sort of thing, just to be more open to newcomers. That's really what your intro should be aiming to do; welcome the uninitiated.

I recommend cutting the exposition, or at least, transforming it into a much more general summary of what Tron (and your game) is about. Perhaps you could have some fun with the narration itself, phrasing the dialogue in the style of something resembling programmer code, or speaking from the perspective of the computers.

maninahat 13/03/11(Mon)01:14 No. 16731 [Reply]

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I'm putting forward a short story for a competition. One that closes in 12 hours time. Here is the opening. Opinions? Any good? Would you want to keep reading more?

A WATER PIPE gurgled quietly, a fluorescent bulb flickered, and Nichole’s wheelchair squeaked as she fidgeted through Mark’s conversation.
“…So what are you going to do when you get out?” he asked.
“Steal a car,” she said, shrugging.
She scratched away at an old stain on the visiting room table. Glancing up, she saw the worried look on Mark’s face.
“It’s alright,” she said, “they don’t listen in or owt.”
“Nevertheless, you shouldn’t talk like that,” said Mark.
And then he launched into the the usual talk. Nichole resumed scratching the stain with her fingernail, giving an occasional grunt or blink of encouragement as Mark went on about turning over leaves and making up with mum.
She sighed and looked over at the clock. She was only eleven minutes into the one hour visiting period. Once that was over, she’d have two more days to go before she was out of Her Majesty’s pad and put “on license”. Then she’d have to put up with Mark on a full time basis.
“But seriously now, what’s the plan?”
Nichole looked into her brother’s eyes, and then gestured with her own to one of the officers.
“Find his address.”
Mark’s eyes widened. He swung his head around to see who it was Nichole was talking about.
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maninahat 13/03/20(Wed)12:01 No. 16757

>>16751

Well, mine is a consequence of being dialogue heavy. Later parts of this story (not posted here), tend to have less talk and much longer paragraphs. I'm trying for a punchy approach in the beginning of the story to get to the point quickly.

That said, I think there is a general fear that because long paragraphs require more content and description, writers worry about making turgid blocks of text, with lots of redundant or purple prose.

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Hipster Slut 13/03/26(Tue)07:21 No. 16769

>>16731
British?

The dialog seemed off to me, but it might be my accent.
Is this leading to some wincest?

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Hipster Slut 13/03/26(Tue)13:04 No. 16772

>>16769
Yes, British.
And no, no incest, though I might take it into consideration for later editions.

No troubles and a comfortable bed I want to be a professional slacker (I mean book reader) 13/03/26(Tue)12:36 No. 16771 [Reply]

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How much 'academic freedom' do buddhist monks have? Can I get time out to browse the internet and visit libraries and read academic papers in philosophy? How about studying physics or attending university classes? Where does sustenance fit in? Do monks organise for the latest agri-technologies for the personal farms they cultivate? Will I have to simply wait for techno-buddhism to emerge?

Hipster Slut 13/03/20(Wed)13:28 No. 16759 [Reply]

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Would be thankful for any critique on this one also, even if this one is seriously 'lol 5edgy10me'. I am mainly looking for ways in which to improve my writing style though.

>greentext substituted for italics (or just a > in front of words that should have been italicised)

_____

>Lunge, stab, drag, drop.

One.

>Dodge, throw, lunge, stab, drag, drop.

Two.

>Move, hide, sneak, dodge, throw, lunge, stab, drag, drop.
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Hipster Slut 13/03/22(Fri)23:00 No. 16762

>> 16759 my writing style

You have no writing style. All you have is pretense.

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Hipster Slut 13/03/25(Mon)00:57 No. 16765

lol 5edgy10me

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CandleJack 13/03/26(Tue)06:08 No. 16766

It's not bad, it just goes on for FAR too long. Like what others have said, the style is nothing but a gimmick, and such gimmicks should not continue for longer than a few lines at best. Once it starts getting tedious, the reader loses interest. I understand that's what you're going for in the first place, but it overshoots the mark and goes into bad writing from there.

(Like most things in writing, the key to success, here, is knowing what to REMOVE.)

>Three years ago, the very thought of killing another human being would have made you nauseous.

End it after right there, and you've made the point. Move on.