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I don’t think anyone like that is going to want to work through most of his prose
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Dec 7, 2022 17:45
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EmmyOk posted:I don’t think anyone like that is going to want to work through most of his prose Why? It’s rather simplified and can be read by readers of almost all levels.
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Dec 7, 2022 17:51
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:Why? It’s rather simplified and can be read by readers of almost all levels. Every book is a child’s book of that child can read etc. I’ve only read Blood Meridian by him but I think the prose in that is noticeably more complex and abstract than most genre fiction especially action books.
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Dec 7, 2022 17:55
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derp posted:i'm not arguing that mccarthy writes good prose and deep books, but the fact is,that on the surface its just actiony violence, cowboys shooting badguys. authors like mccarthy and others put too much faith in their readers to be able to see past that surface, when most people actually cant. a character like Chigurh, for example, no matter how cold and psychopathic you make him, will always lead your average genre reader to think 'woahhh this guy is coooool' and completely miss the point. this means i can never be sure if any given mccarthy fan is actually a fan of literature or they just like westerns and 'cool' violence. is your argument this 
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Dec 7, 2022 17:59
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derp posted:this means i can never be sure if any given mccarthy fan is actually a fan of literature or they just like westerns and 'cool' violence. Sounds like you've got a real hipster-infused false dichotomy going there.
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Dec 7, 2022 18:21
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While we're posting bad takes that everyone hates, here's mine: the characters in War and Peace are completely unrealistic. I seriously don't get why this book is held up as a masterpiece with the most realistic, full-of-depth characters ever written. They fall in love at first sight, are absurdly passionate about everything, etc. Their moods and emotions are so over the top to me. They don't feel real at all.
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Dec 7, 2022 18:47
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EmmyOk posted:Every book is a child’s book of that child can read etc. I’ve only read Blood Meridian by him but I think the prose in that is noticeably more complex and abstract than most genre fiction especially action books. Oh, wow, try not to stub your toe on that bar
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Dec 7, 2022 19:06
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blood meridian was okay-ish, the road was kinda boring and dull, haven't read anything else of his I saw the no country film adaption, that worked well on screen, at least without any prior knowledge of the main text itself. idk what I'd feel about the passenger/stella maris
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Dec 7, 2022 19:11
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I thought the whole point of this thread was to talk about books that are more complex than Wizard School or Battle Royale With Cheese. Cormac McCarthy falls into that category I think, the question of whether or not 100% of his readership gets that doesn't really change it. A book doesn't have to be 700 pages of thick stream of consciousness Ulysses soup to fit into the point of this thread I hope.
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Dec 7, 2022 19:14
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I don't read books to enjoy them I read them so other people think Im smart and if other people won't think Im sufficiently smart for reading a book, well, hell, I won't read it
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Dec 7, 2022 19:18
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Casey Finnigan posted:I don't read books to enjoy them I read them so other people think Im smart and if other people won't think Im sufficiently smart for reading a book, well, hell, I won't read it Have I got a 150 year old 1100 page economic textbook written by a german dude with a big beard for you! (Capital is actually very interesting and useful actually but god drat is it dry)
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Dec 7, 2022 19:24
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Take the plunge! Okay! posted:Oh, wow, try not to stub your toe on that bar It's the bar the poster mentioned. So yeah I think readers who think Blood Meridian is going to be fun shooty cowboy action are going to stub their toes. Don't worry I'm very impressed by how breezy it was for your big ol brain lol
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Dec 7, 2022 19:34
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you see, the problem with most 'faux literature' like McCarthy's books is they are all about the external. They describe a bunch of events happening, and that is the main driver, everything is about 'what happens next' books like that can never be real literature. The huge advantage of text versus screen is that the internal world can truly be described and explored, and only books with a lack of the external can truly focus on the internal.
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Dec 7, 2022 19:46
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blue squares posted:While we're posting bad takes that everyone hates, here's mine: the characters in War and Peace are completely unrealistic. that's a perfectly good and correct take. Tolstoy can suck the poo poo out of my rear end.
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Dec 7, 2022 20:01
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derp posted:you see, the problem with most 'faux literature' like McCarthy's books is they are all about the external. They describe a bunch of events happening, and that is the main driver, everything is about 'what happens next' god drat it
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Dec 7, 2022 20:02
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i mean he's no patrick dewitt
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Dec 7, 2022 20:04
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The Crossing has that one scene focused on the interior of the buried wolf.
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Dec 7, 2022 20:18
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blue squares posted:While we're posting bad takes that everyone hates, here's mine: the characters in War and Peace are completely unrealistic. counterpoint: pierre owns
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Dec 7, 2022 20:22
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Reading about falling in love and passionate people is ableist, how do you feel about that?
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Dec 7, 2022 21:07
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derp posted:you see, the problem with most 'faux literature' like McCarthy's books is they are all about the external. They describe a bunch of events happening, and that is the main driver, everything is about 'what happens next' In fact I am suspicious of all books with a "plot." if the characters achieve any sort of external accomplishments it is not literature
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Dec 7, 2022 21:36
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the death scenes in War and Peace are incredible imho.
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Dec 7, 2022 21:55
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thehoodie posted:In fact I am suspicious of all books with a "plot." if the characters achieve any sort of external accomplishments it is not literature lmao you think books with “characters” count as literature
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Dec 7, 2022 22:55
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Books shouldn't even be about tangible things. They should ignite a metaphysical awakening of pure feeling and ethereal knowledge which the human brain cannot translate to the unenlightened -- a work of pure conceptualization. None of this plot or character or story bullshit for babies. If the book has any sense of being about anything in the concrete world then throw it away.
TrixRabbi fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Dec 7, 2022 |
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Dec 7, 2022 23:10
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I sense that you are being ironic, but actually that is exactly true and is why Finnegan's Wake is considered one of the best literary masterpieces: because it doesn't even contain words
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Dec 7, 2022 23:18
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derp posted:I sense that you are being ironic, but actually that is exactly true and is why Finnegan's Wake is considered one of the best literary masterpieces: because it doesn't even contain words Derp are you loving with me, at this point?
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Dec 7, 2022 23:21
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the greatest book is the blankest page
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Dec 7, 2022 23:22
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ThePopeOfFun posted:the greatest book is the blankest page you joke, but one of the highest purposes of art is to transcend our preconceptions of what it should be. take john cage's 4′33″ for example.
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Dec 7, 2022 23:30
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If you read it and you like it it’s a good book imo.
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Dec 7, 2022 23:39
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derp posted:you joke, but one of the highest purposes of art is to transcend our preconceptions of what it should be. take john cage's 4′33″ for example. god drat it
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Dec 7, 2022 23:52
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derp posted:you joke, but one of the highest purposes of art is to transcend our preconceptions of what it should be. take john cage's 4′33″ for example. the next greatest book is a mirror
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Dec 7, 2022 23:55
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Idaholy Roller posted:If you read it and you like it it’s a good book imo. You absolutely should not “like” a book
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Dec 8, 2022 00:22
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ThePopeOfFun posted:the next greatest book is a mirror You an editor for TIME?
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Dec 8, 2022 01:20
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blue squares posted:While we're posting bad takes that everyone hates, here's mine: the characters in War and Peace are completely unrealistic. Your emotional prison is your own problem. I will brook no Tolstoy slander here.
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Dec 8, 2022 04:10
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ThePopeOfFun posted:the next greatest book is a mirror too derivative
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Dec 8, 2022 06:20
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The Voyeur by Robbe-Grillet. only real literature i can think of
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Dec 8, 2022 18:39
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ulvir posted:counterpoint: pierre owns i like the bit where pierre gets obsessed with numerology and fucks around with his own name until he gets "l'russe besuhof" to add up to 666 and takes that as proof that he is personally destined to defeat napoleon however, anna karenina is boring
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Dec 8, 2022 19:53
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Anna Karenina is perfect. War and Peace is boring.
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Dec 8, 2022 23:14
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Anna Karenina is boring as hell. You'd think a novel that has multiple women getting a train run on them would be more interesting.
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Dec 9, 2022 00:25
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You guys at least like the Death of Ivan Iylich right? I feel like I'm going insane.
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Dec 10, 2022 20:53
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derp posted:i'm not arguing that mccarthy writes good prose and deep books, but the fact is,that on the surface its just actiony violence, cowboys shooting badguys. authors like mccarthy and others put too much faith in their readers to be able to see past that surface, when most people actually cant. a character like Chigurh, for example, no matter how cold and psychopathic you make him, will always lead your average genre reader to think 'woahhh this guy is coooool' and completely miss the point. this means i can never be sure if any given mccarthy fan is actually a fan of literature or they just like westerns and 'cool' violence. you have water on the brain
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Dec 10, 2022 23:17
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