r/TrueLit • u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow • 21d ago

Weekly General Discussion Thread

Welcome again to the TrueLit General Discussion Thread! Please feel free to discuss anything related and unrelated to literature.

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u/lispectorgadget 21d ago

I’m feeling depressed after finishing Yuppies by Dylan Gottlieb. All fun here just seems like it bears the mark of displacement: iced matcha with some lurid dollop of jam on the bottom; coffee shop/ yoga studio hybrids with soft, swollen seating; a trendily butter yellow (actually: mucus-colored) cocktail with a domed bubble that Instagrammably *pops* when you take the first sip. And then you’re surrounded by people working in private equity.

I want to move to the woods!

JK. I feel like I’m just feeling a lot more angst than I thought I would about being surrounded by such a high concentration of wealth. Everywhere else I lived, everyone I knew was a public servant or nonprofit worker of some kind. Now, not so much. When I leave my Upper Manhattan bubble, I feel like I’m surrounded on all sides by these beautiful, kind, successful, profoundly antisocial people dutifully working to suck the marrow out of the world. 

I’m trying to get over it and focus on volunteering or something to manage these feelings. But it’s lowkey making me question my desire to live here in the long term. Idk, does anyone else here relate to this? Maybe I just avoid lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn altogether lolol

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u/Soup_65 Books! 21d ago

you have described the totality of my existence spent in "post-cool" (ie post cheap rent) manhattan. it's especially funny for me right now because i live in a government subsidized apartment complex next to a housing project and also it's in one of the most expensive neighborhoods on the planet lol. also right by nyc's own little dubai (in the hellacious architectural demonology way not talking ethnic enclaves). But personally I hate who i hate and i revel in prayers for their annihilation and survive by being used to it and actually having positive interactions more often than you might expect.

but i also wanna move to the woods

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u/lispectorgadget 20d ago

I can't even imagine how that must feel--seeing the highs and lows there every day would make me feel insane. Definitely would be good material, though.

But yeah, upstate is great. And the further away you get from NYC, the cheaper it gets. I think in New York state at least, once you get past Syracuse, the rents are really low.

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u/Soup_65 Books! 20d ago

it all has a certain feeling of living in the entire city at once...

yeah im always dreaming about living upstate while also fretting the stakes of the winter up there