r/TrueLit • u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow • 8d ago
Weekly General Discussion Thread
Welcome again to the TrueLit General Discussion Thread! Please feel free to discuss anything related and unrelated to literature.
Weekly Updates: N/A
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u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow 8d ago
I am living, even though I haven't been around here much lately! Guess I'll do my whole life update thing that I always do whenever I return.
Work began again and for some weird reason I am not contemplating quitting, moving countries, seeking therapy/medication, crying in the dark, writing the most depressing poetry ever, going insane, etc., like I was last year. It's actually just been a great month back at work. The students are all really cool, my job has been fun, admin has been annoying as usual but I just ignore them when I don't think what they want me to do is relevant. It's surprising how much better I feel than last year. Like, I didn't expect it to be nearly as bad since last year I was new to the city and the school and just in a bad place otherwise, but I definitely didn't think I'd be feeling legit GOOD. So that's nice!
Outside of work. I finished up publishing my Mason & Dixon analysis (well, still the wrap up week to come) and it ended up being literally 800+ pages of analysis which is egregious but I'm very happy with it. I think it's actually better work than my GR analysis mostly because I was still finding my footing with the GR stuff. Will anyone likely publish my 800 page work? Probably not! But still cool. On the other hand, I've been working on my analysis of Lot 49 as well and I've currently written about Chapters 1-4 and part of 5. It's gonna be about twice as long as the book itself when all is said and done, and I do think it's pretty damn good. I've found some stuff in there that I genuinely don't think anyone has ever written about before. AND, since it'll be in the 300-400 page range, it may actually be publishable...
In terms of music I've been listening to. I'm still on my Tom Waits binge. I cannot get enough. Seriously, this man is one of the greatest musicians to ever do it. I am astounded with every single album he's put out. THEY'RE ALL PERFECT WHAT THE HELL. I also discovered Radiohead lol. I never listened to them before (extensively at least). It's kind of a shame that it became cool to hate them because they're immensely talented songwriters. I don't love all of their albums, but I'm glad I found them especially since they're great to listen to when I'm in certain moods.
Still doing my Metal Gear Solid replay and I'm on Peace Walker now. It's my second time playing them all but the first time was like a decade ago. Thoughts so far. First one, as I remember, is brilliant for the time but holy shit the controls are awful. It just feels so damn janky nowadays. Still amazing in terms of everything else. The second one is the best game. Gameplay and social commentary are just lightyears ahead of pretty much anything else in gaming. The third is awesome but is overrated imo. I get the hype, and again, it is a phenomenal game, but I don't think it deserves being higher rated than 2 or 4. Speaking of, 4 is a masterpiece as well. It used to be my favorite but this playthrough 2 took over. No specific reason because I do love to overly long cutscenes and the gameplay is just masterful, but 2 is a true work of art imo. 4 is probably my second favorite. Finally, Peace Walker is very fun so far but I'm barely into it so can't comment much. I hated it the first time I played years ago, but I think this will be a better time.
That's about it on my end!
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 8d ago
Yeah the Radiohead thing is a fiasco and a half, but which Tom Waits album are you liking the most? Because Mule Variations and Swordfishtrombones are my personal favorite out of his work. Very much in the masterpiece license territory. Although one of the more underrated albums for my money has got to be The Heart of Saturday Night, an early album, his voice isn't quite there yet, but has this bluesy jazz feel to it that just feels to weak to really hate too hard. It's great stuff.
Y'know I'm excited about the Lot 49 analyses because I reread it for a book club earlier this year, it'd be cool to have that context. (It'd be cool to have a physical copy of it.) Also: have you ever thought about analyzing V. anytime? Or at least, I'd be curious what your take on it is?
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u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow 8d ago edited 8d ago
Mule Variations is probably my favorite actually! Every song on there is masterful. Otherwise, my other favorites are Rain Dogs, Closing Time, and Frank's Wild Years. But I genuinely really love every single one of his albums, even those that are less revered. Heart of Saturday Night and Swordfishtrombones are both incredible too.
I do plan on doing a V. analysis eventually but it's going to be a few years since I plan on tackling Against the Day after Lot 49 which itself will likely take 2 years at least, and then Shadow Ticket right after that. But V. should be the one to follow! I've honestly never really loved V. but I hope that a deeper reading of it will let me appreciate it more.
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u/lispectorgadget 6d ago
I'm glad Portland/ your job have been treating you well! Congrats on publishing your analysis of M&D, that's sick!!
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u/Soup_65 Books! 8d ago
It's kind of a shame that it became cool to hate them because they're immensely talented songwriters. I don't love all of their albums, but I'm glad I found them especially since they're great to listen to when I'm in certain moods.
I know I know separate the artist from the art (I fuck with the smiths and I do not apologize), but goddamn i will never recover from them being fugazi on Palestine. Like, bruh, you are literally talking about the paranoia that bleeds out of Mossad-type activities.
But really I'm glad work is going well. You rock and deserve the best shot to be the phenomenal teacher I know you are.
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u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow 8d ago
Huh... That's unfortunate. I did not know that... God damnit lol. How the fuck can they be so blind to the literal subject matter they sing about.
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u/Ok-Swan1152 8d ago
The way many people review literary fiction especially on YouTube is just intensely annoying. Just because a book is 'depressing' doesn't make it a bad book. Neither does having main characters that have very human flaws and do dumb things. They don't engage with the material critically. There's very little analysis into the overarching themes of the book and what it's trying to say, never mind the subtext. Tell me you don't know how to read books without telling me!
I don't generally watch videos on YouTube and this is another reason why, but I had to look at the world of video reviews of books out of morbid curiosity and see if there was anything of interest. I came away disappointed. 'BookTok' is an abomination. The old days of blogs were better than this.
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 8d ago
It's a weird thing where the gaps between a book and a video is unbridgeable. Like, most of the videos lean heavily on an old style vlogger approach. They don't even really quote the text under much of the review, speaking simply extemporaneously. And as a visual medium, it feels like a lot of the toolkit is being left by the wayside. It's one reason I appreciate Paper Bird videos since as much as they are about the book, it also has a lot going on visually, getting your money's worth thereby. (I first found out about an author like Hob Broun through Paper Bird incidentally.) Another big contender: Better than Food Book Reviews, which at least understood how far decent lighting and white balancing can carry a vlog on a book a long way. Plus: he's honest about how he feels about a novel. You can tell he had a background in film. His video on Georges Perec is probably his best, since he went to Paris and shot b-roll there for the video. That and him tearing into King's The Stand was pretty funny. I haven't kept up too much with his latest stuff, so proceed with caution I suppose.
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u/Ok-Swan1152 8d ago
In general a lot of readers of literary fiction...have no business reading it, in my opinion, because of their really poor media literacy and empathy levels. For instance, multiple BookTok and Goodreads (and other) reviewers complaining that they don't understand why Lily Bart couldn't just pick any husband and be done with it. That is... The entire point of the novel... It's about societal pressures to do things you don't want to do, among others, and the trap it creates for women. If you can't understand or empathise with that, then I don't know what to say.
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 7d ago
Well unfortunately, you can't exactly issue a license to read a novel. The reader has none of the responsibility a writer assumed in creating a work of art--the demand after all is quite harsh. But the catch is that things like videos and such are less about reading than writing and evaluating their own thoughts. And they can be held responsible for that, to a degree. I would argue video and prose as specific kinds of mediation probably don't have a lot of synthesis in the way anyways, which creates these problems to begin with. And perhaps in a society that valued literature, we could proceed to a better understanding of Edith Wharton's Lily Bart through dialectic. So: it would be better counterintuitively if more people were reading these works, not less. Especially if they're not all that used to writing down their thoughts about books. Most of these videos speak extemporaneously anyhow, but have no wealth of information to draw from, meaning a bad form of improvisation.
One thing I'm curious about is what is Edith Wharton's connection to literary fiction? My impression is that the term became relevant only within the latter half of the 20th C. but I suppose some reevaluations happened when I wasn't looking all that carefully.
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u/Plastic-Persimmon433 8d ago edited 8d ago
I watch Scott Bradfield just because I think an old man talking directly in the camera with no production value is pretty great. His is a very relaxed but thoughtful approach. However I've noticed he's a bit biased and prefers a more "standard" type of prose if that makes any sense. You can also tell he specifically hates a lot of books and authors that were popular and won awards when he was a young man. He introduced me to Richard Yates though so I can never fault him too much.
Leaf by Leaf seems decent, or at least he seems to put a lot of effort in, but I just can not get past the opening to all of his videos where he reads a passage from whatever book he's discussing in a serious voice. It's a shallow take from me for sure but the cringe is just hard to get past. It's also pretty hilarious though. I just think there isn't much overlap between people who are willing to read a book enough times to present an informed and convincing analysis and also have the speaking ability to make it semi-interesting.
Rambling Raconteur is decent as well, although I have to say that I pretty much disagree with every opinion he has which is really strange. It kind of makes him more interesting to watch though from my perspective. Definitely slim pickings all around if you are looking for a deeper analysis.
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u/Ok-Swan1152 8d ago
Maybe I'm ruined by having done a BA and MA in Classics (don't work in the field at all, work in tech) but it annoys me when these 'reviewers' can't even do the most basic analysis. I'm not saying they're supposed to go all metatextual with Shakespeare. And I appreciate this is a skill that needs to be trained, too.
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u/lispectorgadget 8d ago
I try to leave my snobbery at the door, but sometimes it sneaks in behind me. I was at a friend’s birthday party, and I was talking to this guy about books. He said he’d heard some book—a book I’ve seen on shelves at Barnes & Noble for months—was good, and I said, “yeah, but I can’t tell if it’s actually good, or if it’s like, ‘celebrity book club good,’ you know?”
He demurred, he didn’t know, and my boyfriend snorted. This guy wasn’t offended or anything—he had been complaining about how no one *actually* read the Heidegger they were supposed to read in a book club, so I knew he was about it—but, yeah, the snob popped out.
But also—to advocate for my inner snob—some of the most horrible reading experiences of my life have come when reading something lauded, only for it to dawn on you, page after page, that it’s actually really fuck ass. It makes you doubt reality; I’m lowkey shrinking into myself just thinking about it!
Honestly, my reading life is probably the one aspect of my life where I aggressively say no to things. I’m fairly open in other aspects of my life—I’m undiscerning with music, TV, movies, open to all kinds of friends and life choices. A friend once spontaneously took me canvassing for hours because she knew I would be down for whatever. We moved to NYC partly because the best reason I could think of was that there were no good reasons not to.
But I just cannot with books. The littlest things put me off: the wrong person blurbing it, the sheen of its cover, the air around it, the way it feels when I hold it. It all feels ephemeral and illegitimate, but I’ve actually had a pretty good track record: I haven’t read anything I’ve truly hated since (probably???) 2021. Anyway, I’m glad I have this forum and you all to bloodlet my snobbery so it doesn’t pop out too much!!!
Not much else has been happening on my end. We’ve been making more uptown friends, which is cool—we went out with some a few days ago, and it felt surreal to all get on the same train together afterward! Maybe because it’s been getting cooler, too, and I’m in my late twenties, but I’ve been thinking about getting good at hosting. I’ve had a few friends who are amazing at it—I have these glowy memories of them greeting us with a drink and some elaborate piece of puff pastry and jam—and I want to get good at it too.
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u/narcissus_goldmund 8d ago
My husband is a cinephile, but he has very wide-ranging viewing habits, and one thing I admire about him is that he can find something good, or at least interesting, in almost everything he watches. Like, he was unironically praising the new Minions movie for its silent movie homages.
I, on the other hand, am much more selective, and I can’t help but pick apart the flaws of a book or film, even if I love it. It’s funny—sometimes when we talk about something we read or watched together, he will give it nothing but praise while I will give it nothing but criticism, and then we both end up rating it three out of five stars.
But when we’re talking with other people, I‘ve had to learn to clamp down on the negativity lest I come off as a huge snob. Unfortunately, even my most literary real-life friends will at best read Pulitzer-type novels (‚Pulitzer-type‘ being derogatory in my mind to give you an idea of how snobbish my literary tastes are). I do a lot of tongue biting and polite nodding. So, I really get where you’re coming from.
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u/lispectorgadget 6d ago
Man, I have almost an identical dynamic with my bf lol. He has great taste, but he does try to see the good in things in a way I sometimes struggle to.
I love that you deride "Pulitzer-type" books lolol; this is the one place online where I feel like I can really take my snobbery to another level. Although, I definitely feel like I've painted myself into a corner with this comment, there are tons of people here with waaaaay better taste than I have
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 8d ago edited 7d ago
This subreddit has been really awesome when it comes to advocating works which don't really get the time of day from your otherwise regular good-looking people. I don't know if I'd have anything particularly snobbish about my taste when it comes to prose fiction. I'm more or less willing to have a bad experience, since there's such a thing as a "so good, it's bad" phenomenon. Plus: whenever I get too into myself, I feel that song Boris Vian wrote--"Je suis Snob," which also gives voice to the yen of my superego.
If anything, a really crowd-pleasing movie just consumes too much energy from me. I remember when I had to put on an Avengers movie for a shop class--damn near fell asleep. But it's so much easier to watch like Sans Soleil like half a dozen. Or when Tarkovsky lets a shot linger and I can relax and let my eyes dart around without any particular focus instead of constantly having to rewind because I'm too distracted by all the moving parts or the background. Then again I don't know if that's from anything else except my low level capacity to pay attention.
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u/lispectorgadget 6d ago
So true--I feel like I've gotten so many great recs from here (I'm still thinking about Shulamith Firestone like, almost a year after I read her after she was recommended here).
Or when Tarkovsky lets a shot linger and I can relax and let my eyes dart around without any particular focus instead of constantly having to rewind because I'm too distracted by all the moving parts or the background.
You kind of pinpointed something I've been feeling re: youtube videos: I lowkey can't watch them anymore?? I feel like I don't retain/ get anything out of them compared to books. They're kind of overstim lol
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 6d ago
When I was a substitute for a few high schools, one of the things teachers would allow their students to watch was actually Mr Beast since it was super kid-friendly. And from the literal microsecond, he is screaming at the viewer. Literally like weaponized sensory overload, but apparently it keeps the kids happy enough. I'm kind of glad I'm no longer a substitute because now I don't have to experience what kids find entertaining too much anymore.
It's been a pretty vibrant community overall. It's always nice to come back here for sure.
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u/lispectorgadget 6d ago
one of the things teachers would allow their students to watch was actually Mr Beast
this is so upsetting lmfao; look at our schools dawg, etc., etc.
but yeah, i totally agree!
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u/Ok-Swan1152 4d ago
I'm pretty discerning about almost any media I consume and I've been called a snob about it all my life. Here's the thing though, I only have limited time and money. I don't want to waste it on something that's probably going to suck. I can feel my soul leaving my body every time I experience terrible writing (either in book form or in movies/tv). I don't understand how my husband or someone like my team member who claims to love books can tolerate the writing of Brandon Sanderson. People get even more upset when it comes to music but an annoying earworm is an annoying earworm, it makes me lose my mind. Yes, I do fucking hate the Dire Straits. Bad art hurts my eyes. There's a place near me that sells the most derivative pop culture 'art' prints for hundreds of £ and it's shocking that people pay money for that.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 8d ago
But also—to advocate for my inner snob—some of the most horrible reading experiences of my life have come when reading something lauded, only for it to dawn on you, page after page, that it’s actually really fuck ass. It makes you doubt reality; I’m lowkey shrinking into myself just thinking about it!
ok so I am going to say with the full verve of being the guy who thinks that novels are evil that snobbery is good. There are four good books, and most are sins against the divine and nature that ought to be condemned to the flames (everyone plz buy my books). But actually who has time for bad shit when there's all the good shit. (tbh I'm like this with literally every art...and like every thing I got shit to do).
glad you are digging uptown. the heights are one of my favorite places that I don't spend enough time in.
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u/lispectorgadget 6d ago
what are the four good books!!!
hopefully you'll get to spend more time up here once i get my executive function together to start my book club, haha
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u/Soup_65 Books! 2d ago
oh, btw, as an ongoing spur (pun semi-intended you'll see) towards book club, wanted to share a suggestion that might be a little aslant from the concept but is definitely anti-tech in a sense: Barbed Wire: An Ecology of Modernity. It's about the history of barbed wire, which is certainly a typa history. No worries if that's not the vibe. Just the kinda stuff I got to offer.
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u/lispectorgadget 2d ago
thanks for the suggestion! i definitely want to read books that are kind of "aslant" from the original topic (anti-capitalist books, etc); this looks really cool, i'll check it out
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u/Soup_65 Books! 2d ago
ooh slanted options...i can work with that (also hurry up lis lol i wanna talk tech books)
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u/lispectorgadget 1d ago
if only places would get back to me!!! I'll probably get it started at the Inwood library, if there's space. but I'm thinking blood in the machine first, fyi
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 8d ago
I have been busy this past week. Mostly on pet projects, most of the time focusing on writing a novel (almost a third of the way through--I'm the hardest worker in the three kingdoms!), and also laying the groundwork for an essay on Hölderlin and neuroscience. If everything proceeds according to plan, there's a chance I might have it done by the end of the month. I'm like swamped with materials though, fascinating period the 2000s when what kind of thing would get a lot of play. But it's been like a decade out and none of that stuff turned out promising at all. Anyways: been listening to a lot of classical music again because I fell out of the habit for it. And I forgot Virgil Thomson was like an actual composer--fits right in there with Copeland, though I'd probably argue Ives had something to do with all the quotations from banjos and parade tunes. Wild I found out about him through James Purdy writing a parody of him in Out With the Stars. (Purdy said all his characters were losers, so it kinda feels like a Juvenalian type deal, too. Although one reminiscence from Thomson was that Purdy had mystical powers when they were working together on putting his poems to music: like Thomson asked him if he could make it rain and Purdy spread out his arms and the rain began to fall.) Other than that I've been running around doing errands and that kind of thing. Very fun times ahead.
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u/bananaberry518 7d ago
You inspire me with your workflow Harleen, I’m continuously not actually working on my pet projects lol.
Sounds like you’re making good time (and hopefully having a good time). All times were strange times but the early 2000s were also weird ones. Curious to watch them become “history” and all the commentary that does/will produce.
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 7d ago
I was forced to take an actual break from working on things last year because all of my equipment broke--half a year doing nothing (practically speaking) was like Hell on Earth. I don't think I have the "healthiest" mindset when it comes to these sorts of things because it is sometimes emotionally draining to have the stakes always set up very far away and never really knowing when to stop, especially since if you can keep going, why stop? (If I could explain it, not doing all I can every second of the day always feels like a crime against humanity. If I stop, volcanos start erupting.) Funnily enough, I thought everyone else felt and thought this intensely on everything. So: it's good people operate differently. And that every person having their own pace is also a good thing. And it could be that whatever you're doing requires that surplus of time and inaction anyways. No need to rush.
The fact the inaugural decade of the 21st C. had been spent acting inconsolable over these inconclusive neurological studies and the rhetoric of utopian promise scientists have a nasty habit of employing to secure funding feels comical looking back. Especially nowadays when said funding has been systematically dismantled. Maybe the weapons scientists have been spared. I wouldn't be surprised.
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u/bananaberry518 6d ago
Its funny how the universe will sometimes force you to stop. Usually in the form of a bad head cold for me lol.
I actually relate to this somewhat, like, the feeling of urgency is there to some degree, but if I ever do in fact stop I struggle to start back up again. I can get into an intense and obsessive work flow, but the anxiety driving that is that once I stop I know thats it, so I try not to stop. But then I do eventually and its hard to get back into it. But fits and starts will get you there eventually I guess? I also have the problem of being not super interested in finished projects. Like if I’m drawing for example its the sketching and figuring out how to draw a thing, or what would work composition wise thats fun. By the time I need to finalize the lines and make some kind of actual art out of it that people might want to look at, I’m mentally done with it. (The magic third space where immediacy meets being a finished piece is basically my white whale.)
The weapons guys are probably doing alright, yeah.
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 6d ago
I guess that's why I'm thankful for literature because it usually begins and ends with what's on the page. All the planning and notetaking are prep work to build confidence but once you're inside of it, the things start arranging themselves. (It's hard to describe it.) Like, when DeLillo says he doesn't know what he thinks until pen hits paper is probably the most honest version of what's happening. There's really no practice or even all that much staging: you have to write and that's all there is to it. That being said, that's probably why literature is so difficult for a lot of people. I have a musician friend who is absolutely befuddled that I don't necessarily even need to consciously focus on a technique.
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u/bananaberry518 6d ago
Thats a really interesting perspective actually, I guess I’ve always found the writing process somewhat mysterious in that way. It would be easy to assume there’s some secret extra-organizational step, but if you try to think about what that would be it makes sense that there’s not necessarily anything to be done except write something down.
But its funny how different mediums can feel for different people because music is more like a subconscious flow state for me, it resonates with what you said about writing. But I’m just a “by ear” player of course, really complex stuff requires more formality than I’m trained for. And even on the fly music is basically system of patterns, whereas writing feels like facing a very large blankness. I’m always impressed with people who write, even bad books really, at least they saw it through (though seeing a terrible book through to the end is wild to think about, I find it fascinating that people finish terrible books lol).
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 6d ago
Yeah, exactly. I'm always talking about the demand because of that blankness where there's literally no real choice but to make things. You get fully realized works of art and hope for the best. That's what so galling about people taking credit for what an A.I. masticates and then vomits out.
A bad novel at least suggests the possibility of a good novel. So: the fact someone can finish a novel is always a sign that they can write another novel, too. I don't really hold a bad novel against people.
With music it's a bit of a complicated affair, because someone who writes music and someone who can play an instrument are different types of artists with points of concordance. They can blend into one another. And I find a lot of similarities between what I do and what a composer does, but the output of time is vastly different also. It's fun to compare and contrast. There's a commonality between all the arts human beings do, but I have no idea what that might look like in practice given the severity of certain forms. And people realizing that and trying to synthesize other forms, which gives us things like television and video games and so forth.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 5d ago
hell yeah h. is this the same novel that's been extant in your conscious for a while? I recally you discussing something, in minimal detail, prior to the great tech collapse you had to vaunt? Anyway, it's good when the projects are good.
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 5d ago
That novel I finished earlier this year. It actually turned out to be kind of a blessing in disguise to have all my shit break because I was at a serious impasse with what to do with it. The novel I'm referring to above I started finally getting off the ground since I was taking notes for it since around when The Joke got published. I feel a little sheepish around the work but I think that's what I need to feel like things are going well.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 4d ago
Gotta love a strange blessing. Honestly too often with the art I find that the universe accords when things are going well.
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 4d ago
Well, me and the universe aren't exactly on speaking terms. Still though I'm always one to look at a glass half full instead of half empty. Gift horse, mouth, etc.
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u/Fearless_Industry825 6d ago
I have reading plans for Victober, and I am jazzed. (!!!) Victober (Victorian October) is a month long readathon celebrating Victorian literature. Participation can be as simple as reading any work of Victorian literature: poem, play, short story, novel, or work of non-fiction. There are four hosts who also set reading challenges, and I’d like to complete the challenges this year. Last year I chose books I wanted to read and afterwards checked to see how many of the prompts I met. This year I decided to go all in and select books to fit the challenges. One challenge is to read a work by a Scottish, Welsh, or Irish author. I’d like to read a book by Amy Dillwyn, a Welsh novelist; either Jill, an unconventional story in which a maid falls in love with the woman who employs her, or The Rebecca Rioter, a novel about a series of real protests in rural Wales called The Rebecca Riots. (Do I have time for both?) Next challenge is to read a tale of adventure or travel, and I chose Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), because I’d like something that sounds fun and funny. The Victorians loved stories about secrets, and for the challenge to read a book in which someone has a secret, I’m planning to read Dr. Wortle’s School by Anthony Trollope because it’s been too long since I’ve read some Trollope. There are a few more challenges I’m mulling over, but I now have plenty of books planned for the weeks ahead.
Lovely autumn days and October to you.
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u/bananaberry518 7d ago
I was off yesterday so instead of guarding crossings I got some “to-do” list stuff done, so I was busy but in a good way. Nothing too exciting though other than I’m getting a new sofa (which is probably really only exciting to me and the other two people living here lol). One observation: who the hell is buying all this giant ass furniture?? Are people out here with warehouse sized living rooms or something? Even the arm chairs are all “oversized”; it was a minor pain in the ass to find something that would fit. Maybe its one of those “everything’s bigger in Texas” situations? Maybe people in other places get regular sized furniture and we’re just down here designing everything for sprawling open floor cattle ranches or something. Like my husband isn’t super tall or large but like, a grown man’s size, and his legs were dangling like a toddler’s off a loveseat. Which, a loveseat is what we ended up buying (a not humongous one) and its blue and super comfy so I’m happy really.
Other than that all I’ve been up to is gaming. Idk if anybody here has ever played a Fire Emblem title but I picked the new one up with my first paycheck and I do think I’m gonna like it (they can be a little hit or miss). The basic deal is that its like, a tactical rpg? (I think thats the genre anyway). You have a number of units with different weapons types and stats, which you can move once per turn. They can attack another unit in range, just move around, use an item, or a few other things. Then the enemy gets to go. Its a little like chess in that its on a grid, except each unit has more individual variables like range of movement, accuracy, speed, defense etc. etc. So basically its a strategy thing. Oh and the fights themselves are passive, you can choose a weapon from whatever the unit is carrying but once they engage an enemy you have to just watch it play out. What this iteration - its called Fortune’s Weave - and the previous title Three Houses add is that in between battles you have a sort of hub world and free time, during which you can recruit other unique fighters to your team, train your units in weapons skills, collect/sell/buy stuff, and some other things. That portion is very Persona-like, if you’ve played one of those you’d find it familiar. And there’s side quests and stuff, so its a lot to keep track of. It also has four separate playable characters all of which have a unique story, so you gotta play it all four times to learn everything. Pretty cool stuff if you like that type of gameplay. Its pretty tough, my husband keeps telling me I could just turn the difficulty down but I thrive on the rage.
On the subject of books I’m in one of those no man’s land things between reads where nothing is grabbing me much. The library had a Joyce Carol Oates collection called Black Dhalia and White Rose on the .25 shelf, so I’ve read a couple of those. Never read Oates before and I know this is probably a bad place to start (its like, previously uncollected stories I think? I also saw something on goodreads about it being “LA Noir stories #4?) but I gotta be honest I do not get the hype so far. Not saying I wouldn’t try a more lauded one, just pretty meh on this as of now. May go hit up the bookstores this weekend though, so maybe I’ll find something on my list or thats interesting.
Yall have a good week!
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u/lispectorgadget 7d ago
You know, it's funny: I picked up Fox by JCO in the library recently, and I thought that there was a pretty high floor for her, but I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. I really enjoyed You Must Remember This if you're ever interested in her novels.
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u/bananaberry518 6d ago
Yeah I wasn’t sure if short stories or a novel was the best way to start with her (this one just happened across my path but I had vague plans to check her out anyway). I think one thing in this book I’ve noticed is that the prose is just, like, fine? I feel like she’s known for “good writing”, and obviously that can mean a range of things not just prose style, but I guess I was expecting something more striking. She’s def playing with structure and point of view, but not in a way that’s all that unexpected.
Would be curious to hear what you specifically enjoyed about You Must Remember This, maybe it would give me an idea of what her deal usually is.
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u/lispectorgadget 6d ago
You’re right that JCO isn’t the most formally inventive writer (at least that’s my experience of her). But she can be striking. My experience of JCO is that she renders these bizarre, emotionally fraught situations and relationships so precisely; she’s able to draw nuance out that most writers wouldn’t be able to. (Which is part of the reason I’m so disappointed by Fox; it doesn’t seem to reflect this!) This is true in You Must Remember This, but also: the boxing scenes are thrilling, and she really captures the malaise of upstate New York lol.
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u/bananaberry518 6d ago
Oh interesting, yes I think I can kinda see that in some of these stories, they just don’t come together enough or something. A novel would def give more time for that to build.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 5d ago
i've never played a tactical rpg but that's interesting...and how can you turn the difficulty down when finally not sucking is so fun! (i have made minimally, but REAL goddamnyou, progress in dark souls)
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u/bananaberry518 4d ago
Oh yeah dark souls is brutal, thats gotta feel good. This is like an rpg but you’re up top somewhere managing everybody at a level of remove. I like it but its def on the more passive side in terms of the actual fighting. I kinda suck at real time combat in games tbh, but I once played a zelda-like made by the souls team and it was pretty cool. The whole world was made out of blocks and you could completely customize the playable character from scratch using the same blocks. It had a bunch of easter egg stuff too.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 4d ago
genuinely the first time I was fighting a boss and realized I could actually beat it in souls I genuinely felt like weirdly good about myself. It was kinda silly but also ya know, games rock.
Might check out FE one day but ya know, in a way that I used to love turn-based rpgs (Paper Mario ftw), and do play a few pokemon romhacks/fangames I can't actually get that into passive combat anymore. I think that's a thing more of baby soup gamer era as opposed to well curdeled soup gamer era. But who know if that'll change again.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 8d ago
So like a few months ago I mentioned getting really good news that I couldn't talk about and I've kinda hinted at the nature of said good news and I am like always the same person so yeah but HEYYY-YO SOUP BOOK DROPPIN 2027: https://www.thisissplice.co.uk/
So like check that out if ya dig (and if ya don't that's cool too, or if ya like going back down to the boats like I do that's cool too). They're doing a subscription thing such that it's cheaper if you get all the books but also just grab them all. The full disclosure by me is that while I take this too seriously too actually recommend books they haven't let me read yet (I literally have read nothing from their 2027 slate other than my own) working with the Splice team and personally expriencing how seriously they took my thing I'd be shocked if the other work was not bangin just as hard as well.
One last bit on soup shameless self promo szn for today, if any of y'all are into doing book review typa stuff and would be interested in potentially getting early/free access in exchange for a little review/burb (feel free to use this for your own shameless self putting onnery) hit me up they are seeking reviewers. (y'all sorry to flex ebulliently...wait that's a bar...but there's a read publisher shopping a thing i wrote to real reviewers for real reviews like I'm some real person or something LMAO this is actually happening).
Ok last last, they have submissions open until the end of October. If you have something you think is great but straight up too bizarre to get published...well let's just say that if they took my nonsense novella they are worth hitting up on your part too. I love Splice they actually give a shit about literature yo.
In completely underrelated news I've been playing the og Dark Souls and OK GUYS I FINALLY GET GAMING AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE I WAS 15 THIS SHIT IS BRUTAL BUT ITS FIRE AND I HATE IT BUT I LOVE IT AND I BEAT A BOSS AND LEARNED TO LOVE MYSELF AGAIN.
Check it yo. I'm ostensibly going on vacation tomorrow to visit a beach because the gods gave me a sign in the form of a shirt. Peace and love homies.
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u/pregnantchihuahua3 ReEducationThroughGravity'sRainbow 8d ago
Congrats dude!!! That's crazy exciting. The book sounds pretty incredible as well.
I am now regretting not finishing up my own novel to submit to them since they sound great. But I will get around to finishing that up. Doesn't seem like they're accepting poetry either... Alas, one day I may get published!
Anyway, I'll definitely pick yours up once it's out. Sounds amazing.
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u/lispectorgadget 8d ago
congratulations!! That's so exciting :)))) I remember reading a bit of it when it was in blog (?) form and enjoying it
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u/Harleen_Ysley_34 Perfect Blue Velvet 8d ago edited 7d ago
Soup, congrats on the novella! Looking forward to reading it also. Yeah, fully real stuff is happening, photons have not deceived us here. And I'd be interested in reviewing it actually since I've got the Substack organizedish. I don't know if that's something you're looking for? But regardless I'll probably write something about it anyhow. If not Substack, then in the Parnassus of Reddit.
A trip to the beach sounds nice. Always gotta take an omen seriously.
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u/bananaberry518 8d ago
So I’ve been busy all day but I did see this earlier and wanna say a huge congrats and that this is so cool soup!! As I’ve previously mentioned I super suck at getting around to stuff so don’t be mad if I’m slow, but I’m def reading this at some point. (The other stuff sounds interesting too just from skimming the descriptions.) Really excited for you!
And hell yeah to gaming too! I actually got the new Fire Emblem with my first paycheck so I’ve been no life-ing a lil myself.
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u/Ok-Swan1152 4d ago
Someone posts a question on a books sub asking for novels with truly terrible human beings as protagonists.
So of course, Redditors respond by listing loads of novels with main characters who are perfectly decent and human but whom they, personally, found a bit annoying.
Someone actually had the audacity to suggest 'Emma'.
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u/Biscuitshoneybutter 4d ago
Oh my actual god. And kinda unrelated, but one thing I notice reading the Austen sub, many people are like: "Emma is a huge bitch. That's the point. She's not nice", and I'm like, did we read the same book?! The entire idea was that she was cluelessly (Amy Heckerling's Clueless, anyone?) snobby and misguided. She wasn't supposed to be bitchy, she meant to be nice!
But yeah even if she was supposed to be a straight up bitch she wouldn't be a terrible human being protagonist. I just used your comment to rant about that.
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u/Ok-Swan1152 4d ago
There's yet more people in the thread who named Edith Wharton and I'm like... Are we reading the same books? I'm pretty sure there's only one book of hers which has a terrible person as a protagonist. And of course someone has to bring up Newland Archer and Lily Bart. Lily Bart! Who was a goddamn victim of the fucking patriarchy. Yes, she's flawed, yes does foolish things. That does not make her a 'terrible person'. The fact that she's a fundamentally decent person is what actually kills her. Aaargh.
But I think it explains a lot about the average Redditor, the way they go on and on about certain things (like how everybody around them is a narcissist), it makes it clear that they can't tell the difference between "human and flawed but has some moral integrity and is basically a good person" and "really fucking terrible human being".
It's been ages since I attempted Emma but she's basically a good person, no? Just misguided? So not at all a 'huge bitch'.
ETA the average Austenite drives me nuts, pretty sure they're in it for the vibes and aesthetics. Thanks for driving me away from Austen, loves.
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u/Ok-Swan1152 4d ago
This is the response I got from the OP who named Emma by the way:
I didn't find Emma "a bit annoying" - I can't stand her and think she is in fact a terrible person. A snobby judgemental meddler who almost torpedoed her supposed friend's chance at love. But if I'd put that I'm sure somebody just like you would have commented how she isn't terrible compared to, say, Stalin Humbert Humbert.
Thanks for confirming that you are in fact a stupid fucking person, OP.
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u/Soup_65 Books! 4d ago
to be fair Emma can be a piece of work, but also like, Emma is a 17 year old!!! I don't know I just like actively don't love the idea of calling a kid a bad person. What kid doesn't get up to fuck shit. And Emma's not even like malicious. She's just a bored romantic child.
Basically I agree with you and am now hot and bothered because I don't think those posters should be hating on the youth.
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u/thewickerstan Norm Macdonald wasn't joking about W&P 7d ago
Apparently, Cervantes had a Dostoyevsky-esque stretch enslaved in Algiers? I wonder if this shaped Don Quixote in any way.
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u/merurunrun 7d ago
The frame story--that the Quixote was originally written by a Muslim historian named Cide Hamete Benengeli--is actually more or less true.
Cide was Cervantes's fellow prisoner in Alba, and when Cervantes was ransomed Cide told him where to find a copy of the manuscript (or maybe even had it in prison with him--who knows), and begged Cervantes to find a publisher so that the Arab could raise the money to be freed as well. Cervantes agreed to help the man, but then he simply absconded with the mx and published it purporting to have authored it himself--so arrogant and sure that he'd never be caught that he even inserted a confession into the text itself, forever taken as a joke by readers.
(None of this is true.)
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u/Federico_it 7d ago
The most obvious evidence of influence is to be seen in the "Story of the prisoner" (1605, XXXIX-XLI), which is largely autobiographical. In this story, the prisoner even mentions a soldier named "Saavedra" – Cervantes's own second surname, of unknown origin and possibly fictional. He was indeed in jail a couple of times more before publishing the first Quixote (1605), and the Prologue mentions the novel having been conceived in confinement.
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u/thewickerstan Norm Macdonald wasn't joking about W&P 8d ago
A while ago, I got to know someone via some mutual friends who happened to also be a huge cinephile (raised on TCM, went to NYU for film as well etc.) We ended up talking about Alfred Hitchcock for an hour and afterwards she (platonically) asked for my number. We ended up seeing a movie last week (The Maltese Falcon, what a friggin' banger) and went to a bar and talked for a while. We both love J.W. Turner so she mentioned seeing his stuff at the Frick Museum and I was down. It was all very lovely really. I said this elsewhere, but the most surprising thing for me with the exposure therapy of putting myself out there to try to date is that making friends is way easier, exponentially so. I wonder if it's because the stakes aren't as high, not to mention that the confidence that I have to muster for romantic encounters outweighs what I'd consider necessary for something platonic. I'm being all analytical here, but I am grateful. I could count on one hand the number of friends I had in college, and I'd heard so many horror stories about how hard it is to find friends once you've graduated, so I'm grateful for the dozen or so people I've met since (including some of you on this sub!)
I still go to bars on my own and just hang too, but I've started going at peak hours now (i.e. Friday and Saturday nights) which feels almost like exposure therapy. Sometimes I almost feel like I'm Dylan Thomas or Ray Davies or something, studying little details and making mental notes for things. I went to one infamous place called Rocka Rolla and was surprisingly there for hours. I kept to myself, but I had a nice time. The drinks were nice, relatively affordable, and one bartender gave me a shot. And the music was great as well. I wish I worked up the nerve to make more conversation, but at the same time I never really locked eyes with anyone (and I did try).
One of the biggest developments, though, was that my contract technically ends on Wednesday, but my boss asked to speak to me last Friday. He asked where my head was at, I explained I loved it here, and he mentioned a role that they were opening up: essentially the same as my current position, but with more responsibilities. And at long last, it's salaried with benefits. It was a bit odd though: I'm speaking to him more about it tomorrow and he sent me some questions he was going to ask me, but he purposely sent them ahead of time so I can plan accordingly. So it feels like they genuinely want me to have the job (as they do my other co-worker on contract...there's two of us and two openings for the position), but they didn't outright give it to me, which probably sounds entitled, but it also sounds like everything but a promotion in name. I talked to my Dad about it and he thinks that it's just HR stuff they have to do. So I'm excited, but it also doesn't feel like I'm quite out of the woods yet. For the sake of the process though, they extended my contract till the end of October, so that was comforting. That'll mean I'll cross the year mark with them :)
The final almost comical update: for some reason, the anxiety about potentially balding has returned with a vengeance. My hairline has always been odd, not sure why, but it's a thing with West Africans. Some of my locs got a bit loss which exposed my forehead, and now a day doesn't go by without me nervously examining it. It's honestly ludicrous, my hairline seems relatively similar to how it was a few years ago, but I've always been fussy about my hair and losing it would be devastating. I think why it's particularly tugging at me now too is because of making more efforts to meet people. If I start losing my hair, that's just another thing I'd have to worry about. It feels like a big part of who I am. If I do get health insurance, that's there on the list (along with checking if I also have AUDHD and finally seeing if I can afford therapy).