Page 400 of 421
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 07 May 2023, 4:28pm
by Silent Majority
29) Dark Entries - Robert Aickman. 1964. Paperback. The first set of short stories from this self described "strange tales" writer who loathed the idea of horror. Aickman's writing is seductively fussy. You're provided with pertinent glimpses of who a character is and what's going on with them like a voyeur being shown more than is proper. The creeps seep in from the parts in the story where you'd expect them the least. Highly recommended.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 07 May 2023, 4:38pm
by Marky Dread
Silent Majority wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 4:28pm
29) Dark Entries - Robert Aickman. 1964. Paperback. The first set of short stories from this self described "strange tales" writer who loathed the idea of horror. Aickman's writing is seductively fussy. You're provided with pertinent glimpses of who a character is and what's going on with them like a voyeur being shown more than is proper. The creeps seep in from the parts in the story where you'd expect them the least. Highly recommended.
I used to own "Powers of Darkness" in hardback. But I took it to work and it got nicked. Sells for silly money now.
"Dark Entries" has to have had an influence on Bauhaus.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 07 May 2023, 5:56pm
by Dr. Medulla
Marky Dread wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 4:38pm
"Dark Entries" has to have had an influence on Bauhaus.
Despite it being the song title, I always heard "dark entrails."
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 07 May 2023, 6:08pm
by Marky Dread
Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 5:56pm
Marky Dread wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 4:38pm
"Dark Entries" has to have had an influence on Bauhaus.
Despite it being the song title, I always heard "dark entrails."
You're a scary person to know.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 07 May 2023, 6:20pm
by Dr. Medulla
Marky Dread wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 6:08pm
Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 5:56pm
Marky Dread wrote: ↑07 May 2023, 4:38pm
"Dark Entries" has to have had an influence on Bauhaus.
Despite it being the song title, I always heard "dark entrails."
You're a scary person to know.
I just have bad ears.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 08 May 2023, 7:25am
by Silent Majority
30) The Black Jacobins - CLR James. Paperback. 1938. A towering testament to the power of humanity and one of the best books I've ever read. This is the story of an exceptional man and a people bound and mistreated coming into their confident best and achieving far more than any at the time would have expected. Toussaint L'Ouverture was a slave who became the head of the only slave rebellion that succeeded on the scale of a country (modern day Haiti) and then its ruler, with a unique genius for managing the imperial powers with their designs on the island. Betrayed and imprisoned by Napoleon, he left the most incredible legacy.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 08 May 2023, 7:44am
by Dr. Medulla
Silent Majority wrote: ↑08 May 2023, 7:25am
30) The Black Jacobins - CLR James. Paperback. 1938. A towering testament to the power of humanity and one of the best books I've ever read. This is the story of an exceptional man and a people bound and mistreated coming into their confident best and achieving far more than any at the time would have expected. Toussaint L'Ouverture was a slave who became the head of the only slave rebellion that succeeded on the scale of a country (modern day Haiti) and then its ruler, with a unique genius for managing the imperial powers with their designs on the island. Betrayed and imprisoned by Napoleon, he left the most incredible legacy.
I read something by James during my diss research.
State Capitalism and World Revolution, I think, but, as is my way, I can't remember for sure now. What lingers is how distinct he was from the Marxists of the immediate postwar period in not turning away from the working class as the engine of change.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 09 May 2023, 6:18am
by Silent Majority
Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑08 May 2023, 7:44am
Silent Majority wrote: ↑08 May 2023, 7:25am
30) The Black Jacobins - CLR James. Paperback. 1938. A towering testament to the power of humanity and one of the best books I've ever read. This is the story of an exceptional man and a people bound and mistreated coming into their confident best and achieving far more than any at the time would have expected. Toussaint L'Ouverture was a slave who became the head of the only slave rebellion that succeeded on the scale of a country (modern day Haiti) and then its ruler, with a unique genius for managing the imperial powers with their designs on the island. Betrayed and imprisoned by Napoleon, he left the most incredible legacy.
I read something by James during my diss research.
State Capitalism and World Revolution, I think, but, as is my way, I can't remember for sure now. What lingers is how distinct he was from the Marxists of the immediate postwar period in not turning away from the working class as the engine of change.
Extraordinary writer telling a fantastic story which should have had several Hollywood film adaptations by now.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 10 May 2023, 8:02am
by Dr. Medulla
Finished listening to Draper's book yesterday. Nothing terribly interesting or revelatory about it. Draper focuses on the state of the national GOP post-6 January, looking especially at Marjorie Taylor Green, Paul Gosar, Kevin McCarthy, and Liz Cheney. MTG and KM come off as shallow and ambitious, playing to the basest of the base (not entirely insincerely), to further themselves. Gosar is a moron but sincerely committed to wrecking everything. Cheney gets to seem noble for, at the very end, rejecting Trump (Draper ignores everything else about her in order to make her star shine). Overall, the book is like the cliché about journalism being the first draft of history. It's material that's out there, but I don't think it really does much to further any kind of conversation.
Audio book:
Claire Dederer,
Monsters. I posted an early review of this a few weeks ago. I'm both intellectually and personally interested in the question of, I suppose, ethical artistic consumption. Not exactly looking for a way to rationalize enjoying the work of terrible human beings—a get-out-of-jail card, so to speak—than a more productive way of approaching it all.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 13 May 2023, 2:38pm
by Dr. Medulla
I'm a few hours into Dederer, and I hope I can write something coherent about it when I'm done, but I think y'all would like it a lot. If I were teaching my popular culture class next year, I'd assign it. One of things that stands out—especially given the discussion about Assange and the chastising of women—is Dederer relating how men lecture her on how she needs to put aside the actions of certain artists against/to women—notably Polanski and Allen—and appreciate the work divorced from their creators. That is, she was consuming those things incorrectly because she was, well, letting her girly feelings about men compromise her critical ability. It's a revealing thing, where men assert, however unconsciously, that they are above things like context, that that would hinder their ability to be authoritative in the judgements. And masculinity is supposed to be authoritative. That got me thinking about my own stance towards criticism and why what she said rang true to me. I don't, I understood, believe in authoritative criticism. I believe in what I'd call participatory criticism. It's not so much that everyone's opinion is equally valid, but that criticism is always an open question, that everyone is free to play but they have to persuade, and even then, at the end, it's still open. Settled questions are kind of depressing to me, and that's what speaking from authority seeks to do—settle the matter. Anyhoo, it's a very engaging book that hits at vital questions of morality about what it means to be a fan.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 14 May 2023, 4:47am
by Olaf
Dr. Medulla wrote: ↑13 May 2023, 2:38pm
I'm a few hours into Dederer, and I hope I can write something coherent about it when I'm done, but I think y'all would like it a lot. If I were teaching my popular culture class next year, I'd assign it. One of things that stands out—especially given the discussion about Assange and the chastising of women—is Dederer relating how men lecture her on how she needs to put aside the actions of certain artists against/to women—notably Polanski and Allen—and appreciate the work divorced from their creators. That is, she was consuming those things incorrectly because she was, well, letting her girly feelings about men compromise her critical ability. It's a revealing thing, where men assert, however unconsciously, that they are above things like context, that that would hinder their ability to be authoritative in the judgements. And masculinity is supposed to be authoritative. That got me thinking about my own stance towards criticism and why what she said rang true to me. I don't, I understood, believe in authoritative criticism. I believe in what I'd call participatory criticism. It's not so much that everyone's opinion is equally valid, but that criticism is always an open question, that everyone is free to play but they have to persuade, and even then, at the end, it's still open. Settled questions are kind of depressing to me, and that's what speaking from authority seeks to do—settle the matter. Anyhoo, it's a very engaging book that hits at vital questions of morality about what it means to be a fan.
Nice. Gonna keep an eye out for this.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 15 May 2023, 2:51am
by Silent Majority
31) A Midsummer's Nights Dream - William Shakespeare. Kindle. 1596. I didn't like this one bit. Boring. Unfunny. Tedious, endlessly going over the same ground. Even the writing couldn't make up for the fact that I so solidly failed to give a fuck about the story. Next up: Merchant of Venice.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 21 May 2023, 5:38am
by Silent Majority
32) Admiral Hornblower In the West Indies - CS Forester. Audiobook. 1957. My long journey up the ranks of the British Navy with old Horny - that nickname only turned up in one or two books - has reached its end. An unlikably stiff protagonist over those 11 book has gone from a 17 year old Midshipman to an Admiral who's commander in chief of, you guessed it, Frank Stallone. Glad to read it all, will get on to the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey novels in time and will read Forester's original African Queen which was the source material for the Bogart film. Would I recommend these? No. But I did I have a good time along the way? No. But were there good moments in this series that kept me going? There was, actually.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 22 May 2023, 2:46pm
by Kory
Silent Majority wrote: ↑15 May 2023, 2:51am
31) A Midsummer's Nights Dream - William Shakespeare. Kindle. 1596. I didn't like this one bit. Boring. Unfunny. Tedious, endlessly going over the same ground. Even the writing couldn't make up for the fact that I so solidly failed to give a fuck about the story. Next up: Merchant of Venice.
One of his that really lets the visuals do the heavy lifting.
Re: Whatcha reading?
Posted: 22 May 2023, 2:52pm
by Dr. Medulla
New audiobook, started this morning:
Eliot Borenstein,
Marvel Comics in the 1970s. The argument here is that Marvel's more countercultural creators in the 70s created the basis for the edgy, indie comics of the 90s and beyond. To better appreciate Gaiman and Morrison, seemingly, look to Gerber and Englehart. The author is a Cornell literature professor, so this is more academic than popular writing on comics (tho Borenstein is writing about it because Marvel in the 70s changed his life—he's a definite fan).