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by gherkinnn 1645 days ago
No specific recommendations. You can’t force pleasure. Keep your eyes open and it will come to you.

Grabbing a small assortment of Penguin Classics in any bookshop is always a good option. Pick three that peak your interest. They’re small, cheap, and don’t spy on you.

Revisiting books you’ve read as a child is interesting as well. You no doubt see the world very differently now – observing the difference in one’s perception is fascinating.

Don’t be afraid of the seemingly trivial. Treasure Island is the source of every single pirate trope. That realisation alone was worth it for me.

Pay attention to the language. It matters so much. I often re-read passages in LotR for the imagery alone. It is so vivid, carries so much weight. Aeons are compressed in to a sentence.

And sometimes the story doesn’t matter. It’s a means through which to have a conversation with the author.

Lastly, what might be my favourite piece if writing: Blauer Schmetterling by Herman Hesse. [0] I prefer the original German, but this translation does it justice.

0 - https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=119749&RF...

1 comments

A lot of times I dismiss books/movies because I've already had the experience.