QQQ Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 all the best writers are shitty people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpyLoo Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 (edited) Wittgenstein used to beat kids when he was a teacher so I guess we must dismiss his thoughts entirely too btw thanks limpy for filling the Jev shaped hole in WATMM's soul Oh, I see you downloaded Wikipedia onto your computerGood on ya, m9! Wittgenstein was way more savage than that, though: He forced his (non-math) students to study math for 2 hours/morning And would backhand them in the face if they got an answer wrong (Span: I love your enthusiasm for disagreeing with me, though!) Here's my specific issue with DFW (and his effect on our culture): I actually think DFW was a genius But I think he had a very mixed effect on the people who read him DFW was able to shake off the tradition-of-insincerity of postmodernism/deconstructionism/etc (of the 60's/70's Barthelme/Barthe/Pynchon sort) But he couldn't shake off the tradition-of-nihilism of that perspective (It's not inherently nihilistic, but if your diet consists almost entirely of cynical postmodernism and cable television, then well...) DFW wrote with an amazing mathematical elegance (e.g. using fractals and modal logic/system-k and -b trees as structure...which is not merely academic-masturbation, that's how to make a novel resemble how the world actually acts at all its various levels, which is genius imo) However, I was never fully-convinced that he was actually interested in overcoming his so-finely-tuned cynicism about the world (from either his video interviews or his writing) And the bummer is that he probably thought that orientation was entirely unrelated to his chronic suicidal depression... Edited January 19, 2017 by LimpyLoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublename Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Limpy, are you on Adderall or anything of that nature? Serious '?' I'm not even havin' a go at you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpyLoo Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Limpy, are you on Adderall or anything of that nature? Serious '?' I'm not even havin' a go at you. lol Nah, drug-free (save for cigarettes, coffee, and crack cocaine) But I've decide to talk in over-the-top sarcastic gestures So that people who talk in over-the-top sarcastic gestures will understand me Otherwise my words are just black lines on a white screen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bechuga Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Forgot to mention I'm also reading a little book of short stories by Nicola Barker, Heading Inland, which includes a man who feeds his hand to an owl. Classy stuff. And I have a copy of White Noise to work when I finish Shark by Will Self. Looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpyLoo Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 just grabbed Chaos: making a new science by James Gleick today (I'm two pages into the prologue and already the math is over my head) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublename Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) Just starting Michel Houellebecq's Submission. Chuckles within. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet was really excellent. Some p clever Rashomon-y type stuff goin' on in there. The Oprah and Sam Walton chapters alone would make The Unwinding by George Packer worth the price of admission. Getting into Rick Perlstein's joints on Goldwater, Nixon and Reagan soonish. Edited January 25, 2017 by doublename Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caze Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Oh shit, I forgot I bought Submission, must read that next. Just about finished Time's Arrow, it was very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tec Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Just starting Michel Houellebecq's Submission. Chuckles within. Christ, just remembered reading his book on Lovecraft. What bollocks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prdctvsm Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 'interesting' / 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumplings Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Just finished Norwegian Wood by Murakami. My first dip into his realm and I honestly feel exhausted after reading it! I'm not sure what to try next if that was a measure of what his other literature is like haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usagi Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 lol good thing I'm clever or else my constant cynicism might be seen as a vice instead of a virtue lol lol lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baph Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 all the best writers are shitty people Can confirm; am best writer and worst person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bechuga Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Just finished Norwegian Wood by Murakami. My first dip into his realm and I honestly feel exhausted after reading it! I'm not sure what to try next if that was a measure of what his other literature is like haha. Wood is his most normal book I hear (yet to read it but will). Try Sputnik Sweetheart or After Dark, both are quite short if with additional elements of the supernatural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumplings Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 Just finished Norwegian Wood by Murakami. My first dip into his realm and I honestly feel exhausted after reading it! I'm not sure what to try next if that was a measure of what his other literature is like haha. Wood is his most normal book I hear (yet to read it but will). Try Sputnik Sweetheart or After Dark, both are quite short if with additional elements of the supernatural. Thanks for the rec, will give them both a try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bechuga Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 White Noise was enjoyable, Delillo is a very quotable author. Will go on to Underworld at some point (ugh, another 800 page book...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerwolf Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 My promise to myself of getting back into reading, hit the buffers (after a very decent spell) with three books that were binned because I just couldn't gel with them and were killing my enthusiasm. On the Road, Carrion Comfort and 11 22 63 (Stephen King) were all ditched. Thankfully I'm back on track with Clive Barkers Books Of Blood volume 1 to 3, and after a week or two I'm almost done. Have to be honest I'd like to find a couple of authors I could really get stuck into, but I'm struggling to find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimpyLoo Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Chaos by James Gleick The Raga Guide lol good thing I'm clever or else my constant cynicism might be seen as a vice instead of a virtue lol lollol But Keanu is a total delight, isn't he? *spends actual time making meme to ridicule Keanu* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublename Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein You ever read any Laird Barron, Beerwolf? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerwolf Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 (edited) Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein You ever read any Laird Barron, Beerwolf? Nope Just had a quick look on amazon, looks good and my cup of tea. I'll give him a go. Edited February 2, 2017 by beerwolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwmbrancity Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 My promise to myself of getting back into reading, hit the buffers (after a very decent spell) with three books that were binned because I just couldn't gel with them and were killing my enthusiasm. On the Road, Carrion Comfort and 11 22 63 (Stephen King) were all ditched. Thankfully I'm back on track with Clive Barkers Books Of Blood volume 1 to 3, and after a week or two I'm almost done. Have to be honest I'd like to find a couple of authors I could really get stuck into, but I'm struggling to find them. have you read Blood Meridian by Cormac? its yuuuuge, head & shoulders above his other work & would personally guarantee you finish it in days (ideal 4 a rainy weekend) visceral & ungodly one sec, landscape diary the next, with a snaking plot, philosophy, genius characters & fate all in 1 get some Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally Vingoe Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 i think capote was pretty accurate in his criticism of on the road. though maybe he didn't actually say it the way people report it: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/09/18/typing/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerwolf Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 My promise to myself of getting back into reading, hit the buffers (after a very decent spell) with three books that were binned because I just couldn't gel with them and were killing my enthusiasm. On the Road, Carrion Comfort and 11 22 63 (Stephen King) were all ditched. Thankfully I'm back on track with Clive Barkers Books Of Blood volume 1 to 3, and after a week or two I'm almost done. Have to be honest I'd like to find a couple of authors I could really get stuck into, but I'm struggling to find them. have you read Blood Meridian by Cormac? its yuuuuge, head & shoulders above his other work & would personally guarantee you finish it in days (ideal 4 a rainy weekend) visceral & ungodly one sec, landscape diary the next, with a snaking plot, philosophy, genius characters & fate all in 1 get some I'll check it out, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bechuga Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Bought The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer because it contains the last Ted Chiang story I have yet to read (but now have and feel sad there is no more Chiang to find :( ). Looking forward to reading the rest of the stories and hopefully finding a few new authors to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tec Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I think unless you're reading it as a teenager On The Road is pretty shite. Took a break from reading about Jack the Ripper to finish The Fisherman by John Langan. Echoes of Pet Semetery and not as effective but it mixes personal loss with huge Lovecraftian horror well. Has a nice sitting round a campfire being told a story vibe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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