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Practice your writing by typing out classic literature. This method not only enhances your understanding of rhythm, structure, and nuances but also connects you deeply with the timeless flow of literary history.This is a BETA version.
Swann's Way
by Marcel Proust
The first volume of Proust's seven-part novel, In Search of Lost Time, Swann's Way is the auspicious beginning of Proust's most prominent work. A mature, unnamed narrator recalls his experiences while growing up in the home of his aunt and uncle. This novel is notable for its profound psychological insight and the author's reflections on the nature of art and time.
the "little speech" of the painter. "Your friend has such a flow of language, such a memory!" he had said to her when the painter had come to a standstill, "I've seldom seen anything like it. He'd make a first-rate preacher. By Jove, I wish I was like that. What with him and M. Bréchot you've drawn two lucky numbers to-night; though I'm not so sure that, simply as a speaker, this one doesn't knock spots off the Professor. It comes more naturally with him, less like reading from a book. Of course, the way he goes on, he does use some words that are a bit realistic, and all that; but that's quite the thing nowadays; anyhow, it's not often I've seen a man hold the floor as cleverly as that, 'hold the spittoon,' as we used to say in the regiment, where, by the way, we had a man he rather reminds me of. You could take anything you liked--I don't know what--this glass, say; and he'd talk away about it for hours; no, not this glass; that's a silly thing to say, I'm sorry; but something a little bigger, like the battle of Waterloo, or anything of that sort, he'd tell you things you simply wouldn't believe. Why, Swann was in the regiment then; he must have known him."
Other classics
Henry David Thoreau
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Mary Shelley
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Louisa May Alcott
Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag Vol. 1
Hjalmar Söderberg
Förvillelser
Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Crime and Punishment
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Ernest Hemingway
In Our Time
William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
August Strindberg
Inferno
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Victoria Benedictsson
Modern
Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis
Jane Austen
Emma
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Cranford
Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
August Strindberg
Röda RummetWhy Type a Masterpiece?
Typing out classical literature is not just an exercise in patience; it's a deeply immersive way to understand the rhythm, structure, and nuances of great writing. By manually reproducing the works of renowned authors, you engage with the text on a level that reading alone cannot offer. This method allows you to feel the flow of sentences, the choice of words, and the intricate construction of paragraphs that make these works timeless.
Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can't use the wrong words.
– Virginia Woolf
literati is a unique platform where writers can select from a vast collection of public domain classics to type out. This practice is akin to a musician playing pieces by the masters to internalize the elements of composition and performance. Just as the musician learns the subtleties of each note and chord, the writer learns the power of each word and sentence.
Prose is like hair; it shines with combing.
– Gustave Flaubert
Engaging directly with masterpieces allows writers to absorb the rhythm of the text, the ebb and flow of its pacing, and the beauty of its imagery. It cultivates an appreciation for the craft of writing and provides invaluable lessons in how to construct compelling narratives, develop characters, and evoke emotions in readers. Happy typing!
The only truth is music.
– Jack Kerouac