I've sensed that literature after 2010 has taken a notable dip in quality, which causes me to avoid contemporary lit like the plague. But I want to start reading more of it because it can't all be that bad. There has to be some good works out there. I read picrel recently and was surprised by how eloquent the prose is and just how much you can get from closely reading it. There must be more like this. ITT: post worthwhile contemporary lit
Post-2010 books :
Anonymous :
24 days ago :
No.3726
>>3817
>>3726 (OP)
>after 2010
Well yeah, posterity needs time to work.
I took a contemporary lit class like 4 years ago and every book only had themes of feminism and homosexuality (probably bc it was a liberal arts school lol). From what I can remember we read Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit, The Third Rainbow Girl, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, and There There. My favorite was probably There There but the prose was very simple.
I think one of the reason modern lit kind of sucks is because of technology, at least for narrative fiction. It just feels weird to read about cell phones and texting somehow
Why 2010?
I rarely read contemporary lit in general, but I've been meaning to open up a Murakami and I got Men Without Women for free.
Ducks, Newburyport looked interesting but I've yet to get around to it. Honestly I've yet to read any of the modern "brodernist" novels (as that one stupid thinkpiece called them), since from what I've seen the prose still isn't anything special. The Passenger/Stella Maris obviously had good prose, but that feels like cheating.
> Ducks, Newburyport looked interesting
I really don't think it is. A very long and 'experimental' novel purely for the sake of being a long and 'experimental' novel. I caveat this by saying I've only read a bit of it but I am nonetheless confident in my assessment.
What is a brodernist novel? Like Infinite Jest?
>>3726 (OP)
>after 2010
Well yeah, posterity needs time to work.
Does anyone here like Tao Lin? I've been meaning to read him since I heard he cured himself of autism lol. I also don't know what the "alt lit" scene is, but it appeared interesting to me, though it has many detractors who call it just a fleeting, pretentious farce.
Anonymous :
6 days ago :
No.4618
>>4635
>>4618
>Amherst
I feel like I recognize the name, but haven't read any of his works. Does he have anything else out? Sounds interesting enough though. Might check it out next time I'm looking for a novel.
Big fan of The Boyhood of Cain by Michael Amherst. I think it's the best contemporary novel I've read. If you're familiar with Denton Welch, it's very similar in style; it's about a sort of effeminate (but not zogged effeminate, more dignified British aristocrat femme) young boy having to deal with a weak father and an overprotective mother. A Portrait of the Sensitive Young Man as a Young Man if you will. Without snitching on myself too much I related to it a lot. A Portrait of a Morrissey Type Figure as a Young Man maybe.
It doesn't have the self-pity you'd expect from such a book too. It's not too sappy and sentimental. Highly recommend.
Also please do not do the le ebin F Gardener and Waldun shill bit. It wasn't funny on /lit/ and it hasn't been gifted any humour by posting here. You guys aren't even making a joke. It's just referencing the existence of a joke to let everyone know that you are aware of the joke. Fuck off back to 4chan.
Anonymous :
6 days ago :
No.4635
>>4638
>>4635
This was a debut novel released earlier in the year. He has some non-fiction published, but nothing I'm interested in. I hope he writes more fiction.
>>4618
Big fan of The Boyhood of Cain by Michael Amherst. I think it's the best contemporary novel I've read. If you're familiar with Denton Welch, it's very similar in style; it's about a sort of effeminate (but not zogged effeminate, more dignified British aristocrat femme) young boy having to deal with a weak father and an overprotective mother. A Portrait of the Sensitive Young Man as a Young Man if you will. Without snitching on myself too much I related to it a lot. A Portrait of a Morrissey Type Figure as a Young Man maybe.
It doesn't have the self-pity you'd expect from such a book too. It's not too sappy and sentimental. Highly recommend.
Also please do not do the le ebin F Gardener and Waldun shill bit. It wasn't funny on /lit/ and it hasn't been gifted any humour by posting here. You guys aren't even making a joke. It's just referencing the existence of a joke to let everyone know that you are aware of the joke. Fuck off back to 4chan.
>Amherst
I feel like I recognize the name, but haven't read any of his works. Does he have anything else out? Sounds interesting enough though. Might check it out next time I'm looking for a novel.
>>4635
>>4618
>Amherst
I feel like I recognize the name, but haven't read any of his works. Does he have anything else out? Sounds interesting enough though. Might check it out next time I'm looking for a novel.
This was a debut novel released earlier in the year. He has some non-fiction published, but nothing I'm interested in. I hope he writes more fiction.