Now Reading

reading The Cabin at the End of the World and it's decent. 3/4s of the way through and been entertained and surprised, but worried the wrap up is going to trash it. the 'action' scenes are a little too 'this then that then that' and it's dwelled on a bit, along with the 'horrific' aspects so far, which isn't the most interesting parts of the story imo, but it's not been a huge drag or anything.

 jus started :

  On 2/22/2023 at 9:19 AM, luke viia said:

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These are fun. Morally reprehensible (lots of gods raping unwilling mortals *and the punishing them for it*) but fun nonetheless. +1, would read again.

  On 2/22/2023 at 7:54 PM, Limo said:

These are fun. Morally reprehensible (lots of gods raping unwilling mortals *and the punishing them for it*) but fun nonetheless. +1, would read again.

indeed, disturbing, gory, unfair, and fun. just finished it earlier today. i feel like ovid had a good & insightful grip on the idea of gods-as-nature instead of powerful people ruling from the clouds. even Jupiter explains to Venus that what the Fates write is out of his hands; he can read it, but he can't change it. he also explains this to a woman he rapes, which is uh... less admirable... but allegorically, Ovid has a general point. (i'm not a fatalist, btw; but there's some sense in remembering that what happens to us is often completely out of our control)

i felt like the speech by Pythagoras at the end was A) awesome and B) did not at all fit the rest of the book, but it was my fav part. the three-page exhortation to be vegetarians and stop sacrificing animals followed by a few more pages explaining that change is our only enduring reality was a beautiful wrap-up, but then ovid had to add a few things about augustus being the greatest... and he still got exiled.

anyway: i started House of Leaves last night. meant to read for about 30 minutes and it turned into 3 hours. this book got its claws in me real quick.

this book is a trip

  On 12/10/2022 at 8:26 AM, prdctvsm said:

   .pdf 

yuo tube review 

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Thank you. What have you thought about it?

  On 3/10/2023 at 11:58 PM, logakght said:

What have you thought about it?

spot on; particularly the author's insight into what he terms 'auto-exploitation' ; how cognitive capitalism/social media has entrained, normalised both individuals & organisations into the marketing paradigm in order to exploit our content/info to serve the interests of Big Data™ algorithms that then distract us w. spectacle, sell us shit we don't need, & fuel the machine ))::

https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/8/1752

  On 3/9/2023 at 6:35 AM, luke viia said:

started House of Leaves last night. meant to read for about 30 minutes and it turned into 3 hours. this book got its claws in me real quick.

"finished" this a couple nights ago. took a break from it for about a week but over the past few days i'd been feeling kinda sick so was just sitting at home under the influence of dayquil and diphenhydramine.  picked this back up and absolutely soaked in it, reading for long stretches into the night, didn't leave the apartment for a few days. when i finally set it down around 11pm two nights ago, i got up to hit the bathroom and the path outside my bedroom was pitch black and I immediately had this awful sense of vertigo, normally my eyes adjust fast but i felt lost, just stopped in my tracks. legitimately felt panicked for a sec. the book is wild but not exactly scary; the darkness in HoL was/is fascinating and often vivid (? if darkness can be vivid idk) but I didn't feel all that affected by the idea as I read it so it was extra weird to have such an intense reaction. really fun book, lots to keep thinking about when you're through it all. ...I have my theories.

but sheesh that trip through my living room was surreal.

also, the Whalestoe letters, my god

  On 1/6/2022 at 6:21 PM, dcom said:

Bret Easton Ellis is a great writer, but American Psycho can be a bit infuriating because of the style. Although I like all he's written. Glamorama's my favourite. American Psycho is his third, Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction came before it, The Informers, Glamorama, Lunar Park and Imperial Bedrooms after. White is his latest and only non-fiction, and he got cancelled because of it,  but I'd recommend reading it anyway. He's one of my favourites alongside Chuck Palahniuk, Irvine Welsh and Douglas Coupland.

What did you think of The Shards?

  On 3/28/2023 at 2:51 PM, IDEM said:

What did you think of The Shards?

Haven't read it yet, but I'll let you know.

Started reading both Kerouac's On the Road and the letters of Pliny the Younger.

hadn't read this in a long time -- 17 years now, almost! -- what a sorry gap that was! This book first found me at a weird point in my life and will always carry a lot of personal meaning, but it's also just a seriously good story, incisive political/social commentary, a hell of a fun time, and emotionally affecting (in book 2 anyway). It seems that most people don't care for the Pontius Pilate chapters, but they're great IMO.

'The only thing that can save a mortally wounded cat,' said the cat, 'is a swig of benzene.'

19 rolling heads out of 10

https://docs.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://www.jgbennett.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/The-Twenty-Attributes-of-Wholeness-JG-Bennett.pdf&hl=en

I think I read almost half of this book in middle school and remember being really into it but losing steam at some point. I barely remembered much about it other than the mood/vibe. 
I recently found this “complete & uncut” edition in a free library in my neighbor’s front yard and have started digging into the 1152 pages or so at lightning speed (for me it is still fairly slow). This book is amazing. I’m about 200 pages in and although it’s been a captivating page-turner, it’s really getting going now. There are so many parallel stories that it’s like reading 12 books at once with a single arc connecting them all. 
btw, I just saw when I grabbed the image link from Amazon that this same paperback edition goes for over $100 used and I got my copy for muthafuckin freeeeeee

  On 3/24/2023 at 6:14 PM, logakght said:

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From what book is this table of contents from?

  On 4/23/2023 at 11:48 PM, WIN IPH UR said:

From what book is this table of contents from?

From the book above.

Here it is if you want it: https://animanoir.notion.site/Japanese-Atmospheres-of-Self-473a40f13fa641058f4931b6a67174f6

https://www.are.na/block/21601955

Finished the third book in Joe Abercrombie’s First Law trilogy earlier today. Really satisfying read for those who are fans of more gritty fantasy like GOT. I will say the first book (which I believe is the first book he ever published) was intensely focused on character development for mainly three characters. Glokta (the tortured turned torturer of the Inquisition who is understandably cynical but also darkly humorous and sharp), Logen Nine Fingers ( a named man of the north with a blood-soaked reputation, looking forward to leaving his past behind him) and Jezal Dan Luthar (from a wealthy family, graced with good looks, good luck, and overall just a young smug cunt of an officer destined to climb the ranks in the King’s army while stealing your girlfriend, etc.). The supporting characters are introduced and do play much bigger roles as you get into the second and third books. I also feel like the writing just gets better and better as it moves along. Don’t want to drop any spoilers but this definitely subverted my expectations quite a few times in a really good way. Definitely recommended.

edit: also found out what Dungeon Synth is perfect for. Listened to a ton of Dim and Ulk’s albums while reading these books. Complimented it perfectly.

  On 4/19/2023 at 2:36 AM, J3FF3R00 said:

I think I read almost half of this book in middle school and remember being really into it but losing steam at some point. I barely remembered much about it other than the mood/vibe. 
I recently found this “complete & uncut” edition in a free library in my neighbor’s front yard and have started digging into the 1152 pages or so at lightning speed (for me it is still fairly slow). This book is amazing. I’m about 200 pages in and although it’s been a captivating page-turner, it’s really getting going now. There are so many parallel stories that it’s like reading 12 books at once with a single arc connecting them all. 
btw, I just saw when I grabbed the image link from Amazon that this same paperback edition goes for over $100 used and I got my copy for muthafuckin freeeeeee

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Just finished. Dang. Reading that book was a post-apocalyptic journey in itself. Great book. Highly recommended… but be warned: it doesn’t hold up well in the race/sexism departments. However awkward those moments are, it’s still worth the commitment. Considering I read VERY slow, I still ripped through this one. Laws, yes. 

Haruki Murakame's Killing Commendatore. The people and locations in this book stuck with me from since a previous read through (where for some reason I got sidetracked and never finished it) In the three or so years since, certain situations or thoughts would conjure the pit & shrine, Tomohiko's mountain house or Menshiki's mansion up clear as a place I'd once visited in real life, so naturally I was immersed doubly this time round.

Loved this guy's books since I was given Wind Up Bird Chronicle around 2010 and recently reread Kafka on the Shore aswell, which used to be my 2nd favorite after IQ84, but I reckon Commendatore has nudged it into 3rd place. 

And recently found out his new novel, The City And Its Uncertain Walls, has been released in Japan! Wonder how long we'll have to wait for a translation..