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[IDEM]

Dyer will be more up your alley then -- it actually owes more to Thomas Bernhard than to Lawrence. It's really genuinely funny in an existential way.

I'm halfway through Charlie Kaufman's Antkind atm. Incredible. Should appeal to a lot of people here -- think Pynchon meets Kafka meets Beckett with a side of DFW and PKD. And then some.

Here' the Kirkus Reviews review:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/charlie-kaufman/antkind/

[Dpek]

On 2/23/2020 at 11:01 PM, IDEM said:

Dyer will be more up your alley then -- it actually owes more to Thomas Bernhard than to Lawrence. It's really genuinely funny in an existential way.

I'm halfway through Charlie Kaufman's Antkind atm. Incredible. Should appeal to a lot of people here -- think Pynchon meets Kafka meets Beckett with a side of DFW and PKD. And then some.

Here' the Kirkus Reviews review:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/charlie-kaufman/antkind/

Where did you get Antkind, since it will be released in July? If the answer's a bit illegal, I'm happy to continue this conversation in DMs!

[IDEM]

4 hours ago, Dpek said:

Where did you get Antkind, since it will be released in July? If the answer's a bit illegal, I'm happy to continue this conversation in DMs!

Lol, not illegal at all, I got an ARC. 

[Dpek]

5 hours ago, IDEM said:

Lol, not illegal at all, I got an ARC. 

I’m mega-jelly!

[joshuatxuk]

finally finished this last month after never finding the time to really pour over it, read most of it in hospital waiting rooms and it was a comforting distraction 

started Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312  today and I've very enamored with it. 

[Limo]

Just finished The Skin (It. La Pelle) by one Curzio Malaparte. It describes the conquest of Italy by the allies during World War II, focusing mostly on the period in Naples. One of the more disturbing books about war I’ve read - although it’s also, in places - grimly - funny. It’s also full of the stereotypes ( not all of them wrong ) and casual racism one should expect from a book written in the 1940s, so if you can’t stomach that you should probably skip it. But you’d be missing out on some seriously good (disturbing) war writing. And the chapter where they try to cheer up a young American soldier who’s dying because his guts have been blown out is just heart wrenching.

 

Author is a bona fide interesting character, too. Fought in WW I, marched on Rome with Mussolini, reported on the war on the Eastern Front and the one in Finland, was then imprisoned by the fascists and ended the war as a liaison with the Americans (which is what this book is about). After the war he became a communist.

 

[prdctvsm]

 

 

[milkface]

Thought I'd ask here as you'll all be well read, is there a name for the concept of something no longer existing in its non-physical form? (Like how if someone dies, they technically still exist as photos and memories, but they would completely cease to exist if everyone they ever knew died and the photos were destroyed).

[Joyrex]

6 hours ago, milkface said:

Thought I'd ask here as you'll all be well read, is there a name for the concept of something no longer existing in its non-physical form? (Like how if someone dies, they technically still exist as photos and memories, but they would completely cease to exist if everyone they ever knew died and the photos were destroyed).

The word "ethereal" comes to mind, but I'm not 100% sure that's accurate:

Definition of ethereal

1a: of or relating to the regions beyond the earth

b: CELESTIAL, HEAVENLY

c: UNWORLDLY, SPIRITUAL

2a: lacking material substance : IMMATERIAL, INTANGIBLE

b: marked by unusual delicacy or refinement "this smallest, most ethereal, and daintiest of birds" — William Beebe

c: suggesting the heavens or heaven

3: relating to, containing, or resembling a chemical ether

[IDEM]

Or do you mean "ephemeral"? Sorry, not a native speaker ...

[Roo]

In the sense of the stuff we leave behind, 'ephemeral' records are sort of transitory traces left behind (think of those receipts that fade after a few years, or secretive messaging services like WhatsApp), not things that would typically be preserved long-term, but in the absence of more concrete evidence (like if records are shredded) can become something worth keeping for its best-available meaning. Rarely they beat the odds of their design and live on, they aren't intended to be kept around. It would follow that hoarders would have a more blurred sense between the ephemeral and the precious. They are not built-to-last or designed for archival purpose, but capture traces of actions (however fleetingly).

Ephemeral describes the concept, but I don't think it could be exclusively used for non-physical. I've seen digital stuff described as ephemeral (usually in terms of its difference from physical, like how electronic records aren't as static and can be modified, which complicates their authenticity). Digital content which has lost its purpose and structural context might foreseeably become unintelligible and inaccessible (like if the software/hardware is obsolete, the persons who can access and make use of the information are now defunct, etc.). Idiosyncratic digital notes you leave to yourself as short-term reminder and would immediately delete after use. Like I might write 'pay ___ bill' or 'film 2/3 way through' or 'interview friday 3pm' or code a receipt number or password in plain view. Recycle bin fodder.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Roo

[Roo]

Someone completely beyond any trace of recall is just dead underlined. I could swear I've come across the forgetting concept before, but I guess there is always the possibility you'll be dug up at some later date,  so it doesn't feel quite as final as the physical (bodily) death. Maybe you were captured in the background of some random's family photo album without your knowledge, or did a buried time capsule thing in your school days. Even with the lessening of physical traces left behind nowadays, there is likely to be an imprint somewhere out there which could change in relevance.

It would be pretty difficult to completely vanish within 150 years. There would have to be some big natural/man-made disaster which wipes out all the people and institutions who've known you, as well as lifestyle choices like out of a Paul Auster novel. Our lives are often more ephemeral than we would like to think, but the real test of that is a long way off and depends on others.

Edited March 5, 2020 by Roo

[zkom]

I've been reading quite a lot lately. On my 11th book already this year and now reading John Higg's The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds.

Lots of interesting info and speculation in this book. Crosses over from the KLF, to Robert Anton Wilson, JFK assassination, Dr. Who, Alan Moore, etc. And it's weirdly affecting my dreams and makes me remember the odd coincidences regarding The KLF back from my teenage years and childhood. 

More or less independently the following things happened (you need to remember this was all pretty much pre-internet so I had no way of knowing the connection between these things and I wasn't part of any "scene"):

• I became a KLF fan around the time when the White Room was released but I had no idea what the lyrics were about
• I got a Lord of the Rings poster as a birthday gift from a friend
• I bought the Illuminati board game, again I had no idea how these might be connected, just liked the idea of a conspiracy boardgame
• I became an Orb fan (mainly by Little Fluffy Clouds) without knowing Cauty's involvement in the early years
• Read Katie Hafner's and John Markoff's Cyberpunk book about the Chaos Computer Club

So, being maybe a bit slow, at some point I started to figure out that the Illuminati boardgame was inspired by the Illuminatus! novel, which I found about from the Cyberpunk book, and that also inspired the KLF's lyrics, which started to suddenly make sense, and learned that Cauty was involved with the early Orb and then I discovered that Cauty had designed a LoTR poster.. so I went to check the signature on the poster on my wall and it said J. Cauty! I was fucking mindblown that all these things I like have such a weird common connection. It felt like there was some kind of outside force in play.

Anyway, reading this book and remembering the weird "synchronicities" from my past is kind of fucking with my head again, in a good way, I hope. Or then I've just spent too much time coding alone and I'm slowly going insane. 

[sweepstakes]

Gave up on Gibson's Peripheral. I think I'm just tired of the Gibson "many threads merging into one" shtick.

Started reading The Pale Fire and finding it much more enjoyable, although (because?) the premise is pretty bonkers.

[Entorwellian]

[Lada Laika]

Just started Charlie Jane Anders’ “The City in the Middle of the Night” and enjoying it quite a bit. No wonder she ditched io9 - she can actually write.

[cwmbrancity]

On 3/6/2020 at 3:04 PM, zkom said:

I've been reading quite a lot lately. On my 11th book already this year and now reading John Higg's The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band who Burned a Million Pounds.

Lots of interesting info and speculation in this book. Crosses over from the KLF, to Robert Anton Wilson, JFK assassination, Dr. Who, Alan Moore, etc. And it's weirdly affecting my dreams and makes me remember the odd coincidences regarding The KLF back from my teenage years and childhood. 

More or less independently the following things happened (you need to remember this was all pretty much pre-internet so I had no way of knowing the connection between these things and I wasn't part of any "scene"):

• I became a KLF fan around the time when the White Room was released but I had no idea what the lyrics were about
• I got a Lord of the Rings poster as a birthday gift from a friend
• I bought the Illuminati board game, again I had no idea how these might be connected, just liked the idea of a conspiracy boardgame
• I became an Orb fan (mainly by Little Fluffy Clouds) without knowing Cauty's involvement in the early years
• Read Katie Hafner's and John Markoff's Cyberpunk book about the Chaos Computer Club

So, being maybe a bit slow, at some point I started to figure out that the Illuminati boardgame was inspired by the Illuminatus! novel, which I found about from the Cyberpunk book, and that also inspired the KLF's lyrics, which started to suddenly make sense, and learned that Cauty was involved with the early Orb and then I discovered that Cauty had designed a LoTR poster.. so I went to check the signature on the poster on my wall and it said J. Cauty! I was fucking mindblown that all these things I like have such a weird common connection. It felt like there was some kind of outside force in play.

Anyway, reading this book and remembering the weird "synchronicities" from my past is kind of fucking with my head again, in a good way, I hope. Or then I've just spent too much time coding alone and I'm slowly going insane. 

https://www.mumufication.com/about/

Edited March 8, 2020 by cwmbrancity
23

[sweepstakes]

On 2/23/2020 at 10:01 PM, IDEM said:

Dyer will be more up your alley then -- it actually owes more to Thomas Bernhard than to Lawrence. It's really genuinely funny in an existential way.

I'm halfway through Charlie Kaufman's Antkind atm. Incredible. Should appeal to a lot of people here -- think Pynchon meets Kafka meets Beckett with a side of DFW and PKD. And then some.

Here' the Kirkus Reviews review:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/charlie-kaufman/antkind/

This sounds awesome. I love his movies.

On 12/31/2019 at 3:35 PM, Atop said:

Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer 

 

I'm not really sure what's going in this novel based in his Borne universe. It's very psychedelic and abstract but with more focus than stream of consciousness. I'm enjoying being lost in a haze of time and dimension shifting realities, traversed by three beings attempting to correct wrongs committed by the Company. Oh, and psychic blue foxes. 

I've been waiting for this for what must be a year by now. This is definitely on my list.

On 3/7/2020 at 5:12 AM, Lada Laika said:

Just started Charlie Jane Anders’ “The City in the Middle of the Night” and enjoying it quite a bit. No wonder she ditched io9 - she can actually write.

Not familiar with her work but this sounds really interesting too.

Edited March 8, 2020 by sweepstakes

[hello spiral]

I'm reading Andrew Niederman's PIN. I've been a fan of the 1988 movie for about 15 years (it was weird going back to it and recognising Locke from Lost, as the dad. Because when I first saw it Lost didn't exist)

 

I recommend the movie too, it's weird af

 

[Nebraska]

friday 13th 2020 not disappointing so far

[Muflontillah]

Miro Hrubjak - Octopus - slovak book about a hacker fighting local mafia

+ some book about slovak politics

[KovalainenFanBoy]

On 2/23/2020 at 11:01 PM, IDEM said:

Dyer will be more up your alley then -- it actually owes more to Thomas Bernhard than to Lawrence. It's really genuinely funny in an existential way.

I'm halfway through Charlie Kaufman's Antkind atm. Incredible. Should appeal to a lot of people here -- think Pynchon meets Kafka meets Beckett with a side of DFW and PKD. And then some.

Here' the Kirkus Reviews review:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/charlie-kaufman/antkind/

how'd you get it? it's not out yet afaik

[IDEM]

4 hours ago, KovalainenFanBoy said:

how'd you get it? it's not out yet afaik

Yup, I have an ARC. Second half is even stranger than the first. It's definitely not an easy read, very perplexing at times, but even more Kaufman-y than his movies, if that makes sense. Very strong Jungian influence. I've never read anything like it.

Edit: It's also meta af, but I guess that's obvious.

Edited March 20, 2020 by IDEM

[dingformung]

On 3/6/2020 at 4:18 PM, Entorwellian said:

Really? You gonna read the whole fucking thing from front to back? I can tell you that Marx was really bad at writing in an entertaining way. Best way to approach him is probably through secondary literature

[Entorwellian]

3 hours ago, darreichungsform said:

Really? You gonna read the whole fucking thing from front to back? I can tell you that Marx was really bad at writing in an entertaining way. Best way to approach him is probably through secondary literature

Yeah I've read Balibar's "Philosophy of Marx", the communist manifesto and Elster's "making sense of marx" plus what I learned in University (bare bones)