Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

«‹›683 »

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Gravity's Rainbow

# ? Mar 26, 2018 15:47

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 4, 2024 13:55

Franchescanado: Feb 23, 2013; If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment; Grimey Drawer

I'd recommend V. over Gravity's Rainbow.

If you want more literary musings, explorations of depression and definitions of masculinity and more thoughts on sports, The Art of Fielding is very good

If you want more DFW, I think The Broom of the System is better than most of his stuff.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 15:54

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

GR is heavier and therefore more like IJ. Same for PK and Broom.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:09

Franchescanado: Feb 23, 2013; If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment; Grimey Drawer

Mr. Squishy posted:

GR is heavier and therefore more like IJ. Same for PK and Broom.

Yeah, it's heavier, but I think V. has more in common with IJ than GR does. I'd recommend them both, as well as most of Pynchon's other novels.

DFW was a big fan of DeLillo as well, though he doesn't get talked about in this thread often, outside of the occasional White Noise talk.

I haven't read Pale King.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:20

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

I do not understand how anyone likes Don DeLillo.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:21

Franchescanado: Feb 23, 2013; If it wasn't for disappointment
I wouldn't have any appointment; Grimey Drawer

Mr. Squishy posted:

I do not understand how anyone likes Don DeLillo.

Can't say I've read enough to have an opinion on him, I just know DFW loved and taught White Noise in his class, and cited Ratner's Star and Players as big inspirations.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:28

Shibawanko: Feb 13, 2013

I read Cosmopolis and thought it was generic critique of capitalism stuff without any bite.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:36

Shibawanko: Feb 13, 2013

My most recent book was Droplets by Medoruma Shun and it's about a guy whose leg swells up big time with water and his mean wife's first instinct on seeing it is to whack it so it bursts open at the toe. His cousin then tries to sell the dirty foot water as miracle snake oil.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:40

Mr. Squishy: Mar 22, 2010; A country where you can always get richer.

The opening of White Noise made me realize I do not care about Frank Sinatra's location.
e: BS reminded me about exactly which book's opening pages I disliked.

Mr. Squishy fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Mar 26, 2018

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:42

blue squares: Sep 28, 2007

Mr. Squishy posted:

I do not understand how anyone likes Don DeLillo.

If nothing else, read the opening segment of Underworld. Its about 60 stunning pages

# ? Mar 26, 2018 16:59

thehoodie: Feb 8, 2011; "Eat something made with love and joy - and be forgiven"

Mr. Squishy posted:

I do not understand how anyone likes Don DeLillo.

I like most of his stuff but I definitely see why people might not.

I can't recommend Libra highly enough, though. I think it manages to avoid a lot of his biggest weaknesses. His best work imo

# ? Mar 26, 2018 17:11

Boatswain: May 29, 2012

I'm reading RAtner's Star and it isn't very good.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 18:28

MystOpportunity: Jun 27, 2004

End Zone and Great Jones Street are light, pretty funny, and quick, with the added perk of being the source material for large parts of IJ. About half a dozen characters are poached wholesale.

# ? Mar 26, 2018 19:13

Burning Rain: Jul 17, 2006; What's happening?!?!

Sean Penn has a real lit novel out.

quote:

While the privileged patronize this pickle as epithet to the epigenetic inequality of equals, Bob smells a cyber-assisted assault emboldened by right-brain Hollywood narcissists.

quote:

There is pride to be had where the prejudicial is practiced with precision in the trenchant triage of tactile terminations.

quote:

She begins to writhe, cackle, and cough out her laughter uncontrollably. Her eyes watering, she nearly poos. Bob spies what might be a dime-sized and expanding moisture blossom from her rear-end-center, signifying perhaps some minimal rear end-piss.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 09:22

A human heart: Oct 10, 2012

It's good to see American literature maintaining a consistent standard of quality

# ? Mar 28, 2018 10:56

Carthag Tuek: Oct 15, 2005; Tider skal komme,
tider skal henrulle,
sl�gt skal f�lge sl�gters gang

What in God's name... "rear end-piss"?!

# ? Mar 28, 2018 10:58

CestMoi: Sep 16, 2011

drat that's some minimalass piss

# ? Mar 28, 2018 11:18

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

somebody ought to make it illegal for hollywood actors and sports people to write books.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 11:32

Jrbg: May 20, 2014

My eyes watering, I nearly poo

# ? Mar 28, 2018 12:10

CestMoi: Sep 16, 2011

J_RBG posted:

My eyes watering, I nearly poo

Probably my favourite Explosions In The Sky track

# ? Mar 28, 2018 12:34

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

quote:

While the privileged patronize this pickle as epithet to the epigenetic inequality of equals, Bob smells a cyber-assisted assault emboldened by right-brain Hollywood narcissists.

Ok, a couple of things

one, epigenetic is the wrong word but since he was desperate for alliteration he hoped no one would notice

two, if you de-pretensioned the sentence, its this

quote:

Rich people care about the size of their dicks, but Bob thinks its dumb

Its kind of amazing he was able to go on all these talk shows to talk about the book and not a single host figured "gently caress it" and roasted him over this poo poo

# ? Mar 28, 2018 14:00

Tree Goat: May 24, 2009; argania spinosa

all the famous talk show interviews with book authors where they engaged in surface-level critique

# ? Mar 28, 2018 14:07

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Tree Goat posted:

all the famous talk show interviews with book authors where they engaged in surface-level critique

not so much critiquing the book as having a shot at Sean Penn strutting in with a cigarette and acting like he is the next Pynchon

# ? Mar 28, 2018 14:18

Tim Burns Effect: Apr 1, 2011

CestMoi posted:

Probably my favourite Explosions In The Sky track

how can you tell the difference between any of their tracks

# ? Mar 28, 2018 15:22

Jrbg: May 20, 2014

CestMoi posted:

Probably my favourite Explosions In The Sky track

The car is on fire and there is no driver at the wheel. Her eyes watering, she nearly poos

# ? Mar 28, 2018 16:43

thehoodie: Feb 8, 2011; "Eat something made with love and joy - and be forgiven"

Tim Burns Effect posted:

how can you tell the difference between any of their tracks

They make different sounds with their instruments

# ? Mar 28, 2018 16:47

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Its kind of amazing he was able to go on all these talk shows to talk about the book and not a single host figured "gently caress it" and roasted him over this poo poo

Colbert's approach was more "ok, you are clearly stoned out of your gourd right now, let's get through this, also smoking is not healthy please get help you are on drugs please get help for your drug use

Sean Penn himself was such a spectacle they barely even got to the book

# ? Mar 28, 2018 16:51

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Colbert's approach was more "ok, you are clearly stoned out of your gourd right now, let's get through this, also smoking is not healthy please get help you are on drugs please get help for your drug use

Sean Penn himself was such a spectacle they barely even got to the book

Yeah its like a clown rolls up with his penis hanging out and just wants to talk about his new spoken word album

# ? Mar 28, 2018 18:50

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

I do kind of hope Penn wrote this while high as gently caress if only to defang the myth of the great geniuses using drugs

# ? Mar 28, 2018 19:14

pospysyl: Nov 10, 2012

Headline: Lecherous Illiterate Loves Alliteration!

# ? Mar 28, 2018 22:09

A human heart: Oct 10, 2012

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Ok, a couple of things

one, epigenetic is the wrong word but since he was desperate for alliteration he hoped no one would notice

two, if you de-pretensioned the sentence, its this

Its kind of amazing he was able to go on all these talk shows to talk about the book and not a single host figured "gently caress it" and roasted him over this poo poo

Thank you for the let's read post demystifying Sean Penn's writing.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 23:38

WatermelonGun: May 7, 2009

Sean Penn hits that alliteration as hard as he hit Madonna.

# ? Mar 28, 2018 23:39

Jrbg: May 20, 2014

# ? Mar 29, 2018 00:13

Mel Mudkiper: Jan 19, 2012; At this point, Mudman abruptly ends the conversation. He usually insists on the last word.

A human heart posted:

Thank you for the let's read post demystifying Sean Penn's writing.

Look man, sometimes there is beauty in studying the coiling of poo poo as it hits the ground

# ? Mar 29, 2018 01:05

Mrenda: Mar 14, 2012

Mel Mudkiper posted:

Solar Bones

What did you think of Solar Bones? The publisher, Tramp Press, are real literary darlings here.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 04:19

Shibawanko: Feb 13, 2013

Since you're all just talking about garbage I'm going to post another Shun Medoruma story, from https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/three-stories-from-the-streets-of-koza

quote:

Flowers

Toward the end of March, along the side street that runs parallel to Park Avenue, the golden trumpet flowers started to bloom. People talk about how yellow the blossoms can get, but it was even more vivid than I had imagined.

I�d just moved to Koza. I ambled back and forth beneath the rows of trees in full bloom. The golden trumpet is the national flower of Brazil, and its color reminded me of the Brazilian team�s World Cup uniform.

I remember being surprised by the breathtaking intensity of the cherry trees in full flower when I went to the mainland for work, but these golden trumpets had a different sort of feel. While the cherry blossoms had an enchanting purity, these yellow petals brimming up against the blue sky gave off a breath of rashness, a feeling of frenzied dancing under a burning sun. Just a few steps away, Park Avenue bustled with high school students and young American troops, but here on the narrow street there was a palpable hush, saturated with yellow. It gave me an uncomfortable feeling, as if the skin on the back of my neck was being peeled off layer by layer. I cut across the side street and went back to my apartment, which was still cluttered from the move.

I knew that it would be bad for me to stare too long at the flowers in full bloom. Nonetheless, whenever I left my apartment and had a few minutes to spare, I couldn�t help lingering. Within a week, the wind and rain had begun to scatter the delicate blossoms. Several times as I walked along the petal-strewn asphalt, I spotted a lone dog: a white mutt with a stump for a right front paw. He must have lost it in some accident, but even short a leg he got around just fine. The stray dog was always on that side street, but he didn�t seem to have any trouble finding food, maybe because he was well behaved and people felt sorry for him. He looked pretty old, and would sit under the eaves of the shops glancing at passersby with his mucus-filled eyes. If you patted him on the head he would give two or three tired wags of his tail, after which he would just sit there.

Sometimes when I was walking down the street, the dog would be pissing on the roots of the golden trumpets, and then he would stand there staring up at the trees. When he did that, it really looked like he was admiring the beauty of the flowers. In fact, he probably understood the blossoms� attraction better than anyone else. Even I, who would stroll under the trees every morning, and during my lunch break, and for more than an hour after coming home from work in the evening�even I didn�t spend a fraction of the time that dog spent with the golden flowers.

*

The first weekend in April, on my way home from drinking at an izakaya in town, I stopped for a look. When I stepped into the side street off Park Avenue, I saw the dog on the sidewalk, gazing up at the trees. More than half of them had turned green, but the late bloomers still had their blossoms. Those were not what the dog was staring at. There was something hovering about three meters above the street. At first I thought it was a late flower�it was the same color as the golden trumpets, but much bigger, and undulating with a strange rhythm. It looked like a balloon that had snagged on something, except that it seemed to have a gelatinous consistency, and gave off a faint light. It floated along slowly, shedding what appeared to be butterfly scales. The thing advanced noiselessly for several meters, until it blended in with the yellow flowers still clinging to the branch.

When I looked down, I saw that the dog had turned to face me, and our eyes locked. His gaze shone with the green and red glow from the neon sign of a hotel. There was fear on his face as he looked away, and something desperate in the way he hopped off on his good front leg. I wanted to get a better look at the thing I had just seen, but I couldn�t work up the courage to step under the trees.

Still thinking about it the next morning, I washed my face and went out into the street. The road was wet; it must have rained in the night. Nearly all the flowers had fallen. The branches around where the floating thing had vanished the night before were bare, with only a few seedpods dangling down.

Slightly disappointed, I went to buy a canned coffee from a vending machine. As I was heading back to my apartment, the dog appeared, walking toward me, with something clamped between his jaws that looked like a yellow plastic bag. The semi-transparent, jellied mass swayed with the dog�s gait. The moment our eyes met, he stopped and let out a low growl. Surprised at his change of character, I held up the coffee can as if to throw it at him, at which he shrank back, spun around, and tore off at a clip that didn�t seem possible for a crippled dog.

*

I didn�t see the dog again for a while. After the last of the golden trumpets had fallen, I was pulling out of the parking lot on my way to work, when I spotted a dog�s leg sticking out at an angle from behind an electric pole. I got out to have a look. Rigor mortis had already set in. His eyes were nearly closed, and his teeth were bared. His lips were caked with a gold-hued scum. I didn�t have time to deal with the body, so I got back in my car and headed off to work.

I pulled out of the residential area onto the prefectural highway and headed down the slope toward Koza Junction. Veins of morning light filtered between the buildings and stretched out over the roadway. Suddenly it struck me that there had been a grin on the dead dog�s face. Clots of yellow were hanging in the bands of sunlight. Sweat crawled down the back of my neck.

I really like this one too, it reminds me of one of Soseki's dream stories (the one with the statue of Jizo), in that it ends in a sudden realization, but this is more mysterious.

# ? Mar 29, 2018 08:40

mdemone: Mar 14, 2001

Burning Rain posted:

Sean Penn has a real lit novel out.

# ? Mar 30, 2018 03:31

fridge corn: Apr 2, 2003; NO MERCY, ONLY PAIN

i finally finished the count of Monte Cristo and hell, it might have been a big waste of time

# ? Mar 30, 2018 08:44

Carthag Tuek: Oct 15, 2005; Tider skal komme,
tider skal henrulle,
sl�gt skal f�lge sl�gters gang

Shibawanko posted:

Since you're all just talking about garbage I'm going to post another Shun Medoruma story, from https://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/three-stories-from-the-streets-of-koza

I really like this one too, it reminds me of one of Soseki's dream stories (the one with the statue of Jizo), in that it ends in a sudden realization, but this is more mysterious.

I liked this but I don't have anything clever to say. Thanks for posting

# ? Mar 30, 2018 09:25

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Jun 4, 2024 13:55

ulvir: Jan 2, 2005

I�m reading contempt by alberto moravia and it's real good.

# ? Mar 30, 2018 16:30

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Read Some Real Literature: Anyway hail satantango

«‹›683 »