u/echothewoodnymph_

so, i got into a relationship very recently (!!!) with my best friend in university. The way our friendship and eventual romance has progressed reminds me a lot of Before Sunrise. There really is no other movie or media that has come close to being relatable to our dynamic, because walking through city streets and talking for hours is more or less our regular thing. I want to gift him a book for his birthday next month, as we’re both avid readers, and books and movies are things we truly bond over. I’ve been searching this subreddit like a hawk trying to find suggestions that match what i need, but I’ve come to the realisation that love, with all its nuances and emotional complexities, is very underrepresented in popular media. The social aspects of love or the psychological aspects of obsession or infatuation, sure, those have better representation. But honest, true love with all its imperfections? love that becomes divine in its simplicity? I find literally nothing like that. Now, I come to the honourable people of this subreddit to please suggest me underrated books that do correspond to what im looking for, kindly! Some more about our shared tastes is that we adore classics, and linguistic beauty is also a big criterion on which our preferences hinge. Please don’t suggest anything like CoHo or any booktok authors whose books contain no substance. And no Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë, please, because both him and i have read a lot of them already. I’m looking for understated classics/ modern books which are written with sufficient depth.

so, i got into a relationship very recently (!!!) with my best friend in university. The way our friendship and eventual romance has progressed reminds me a lot of Before Sunrise. There really is no other movie or media that has come close to being relatable to our dynamic, because walking through city streets and talking for hours is more or less our regular thing. I want to gift him a book for his birthday next month, as we’re both avid readers, and books and movies are things we truly bond over. I’ve been searching this subreddit like a hawk trying to find suggestions that match what i need, but I’ve come to the realisation that love, with all its nuances and emotional complexities, is very underrepresented in popular media. The social aspects of love or the psychological aspects of obsession or infatuation, sure, those have better representation. But honest, true love with all its imperfections? love that becomes divine in its simplicity? I find literally nothing like that. Now, I come to the honourable people of this subreddit to please suggest me underrated books that do correspond to what im looking for, kindly! Some more about our shared tastes is that we adore classics, and linguistic beauty is also a big criterion on which our preferences hinge. Please don’t suggest anything like CoHo or any booktok authors whose books contain no substance. And no Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë, please, because both him and i have read a lot of them already. I’m looking for understated classics/ modern books which are written with sufficient depth.

hi! so, i see that whenever people look for impactful romantic classics to read, people always just suggest jane austen or charlotte bronte or books like the great gatsby. They're undeniably significant works of literature, but, I'm so sick of British societal stuffiness! The intensity is always subdued and hidden behind the giant ruffles of the society ladies' skirts, if you don't mind the analogy. I've read Indian, Russian, Portuguese literature and German and Arabic poetry, and they all have their specific intensities that is so different from british classics. Of course, i might not have read the british literature that's different from these archetypes! so please feel free to suggest if y'all know any underrated classics that are similar to the genre i wanna read. What i'm looking for might be similar to Tagore's Gora, or the Night in Lisbon by Remarque, or White Nights by Dostoevsky or something quiet, introspective but deeply compelling like John William's Stoner. I want classics that understand the depth and spirituality of love, not just love as a social performance. Besides, I would love to expand my realms of reading to translated works from as many regions of the world as possible. Based on these preferences, could you please suggest some books? Preferably international and/or underrated?

I know this will sound very far-fetched. It is, even to me, and it's not like this is the only thing I plan to do or I'm some idealist with rose-tinted glasses. But hope is the thing with feathers, and try as I might, I can't seem to just swallow my deepest dreams and passions, so, please save the harsh-worded reality check if you have nothing constructive to add.

I'm currently doing an undergrad degree in Maths, and I'm here because in my country, not doing a science degree is akin to blasphemy (especially a medical or engineering degree, but I was even less interested in those and I didn't get into the most prestigious school for engineering, but I did get into the most prestigious school for Math in our country). I've never felt like I've been suited for a STEM degree though. Literature and philosophy have been aspects of my interests that I've orbited around all my life. Writing, mainly poetry, has been the lifeline I've clung to to cope with the absurdities of the universe since I was 8 years old. Now, there's absolutely no way to switch subjects in our universities. They're closed credit, so you have no option but to finish what you started. Besides, I'm not out of my family's clutches yet. I plan to go abroad for my postgrad, however. I do have a realistic projection of the more easily viable options that I have, which obviously involve me staying in STEM, but... would there be any way I could switch to English Literature in my postgrad, despite having a Math undergrad degree, with a scholarship? Preferably in the United States? Could I somehow use my own amateur writing skills? Or write a research paper? I just started the second year of my undergrad, are there any steps I could take while balancing my undergrad work for the next 3 years to get a shot at pursuing my passions?

The only job I could ever see myself truly enjoying is being a Literature professor at a university far, far away from my current situation, and despite mentally, rationally preparing myself for the inevitable realization of its impossibility, I just... can't let this go. I feel like Neil Perry from Dead Poet's Society at times.

i recently confessed to my best friend of a year. we met a year back, but it feels like we've lived lifetimes with each other. our connection has always had this inexplicable honesty that comes from the awareness of inescapable mortality and a desperate need for true connection that transcends labels. our confession (yes, mutual!) itself was tentative, terrified and a bit confused. we're both scared by the awareness that what we've become together is more beautiful than anything we've ever dreamed of before. Anyways, excuse the long context, but my purpose behind all this is that I'm looking for movies that would act as good metaphors for the way we perceive each other. we both really love movies, but we've mainly watched films like blue valentine or in the mood for love, movies about ends and heartache, loneliness. the overconsumption of media like that is contributing to how scared we are, especially how scared he is, even though we know that to define us by the media we consume is to limit our own capabilities and make shallow what we've created. still, I'd like movie suggestions that are similar to Before Sunrise or Amelie, if you guys know what i mean. Slow, beautiful movies that show the beauty of beginnings and human connection. I'd like to watch them and recommend some of these movies to him.