i sometimes feel like maybe loneliness is our natural condition. but then I don't always think that. solitariness is different from loneliness. solitude is being alone with yourself whilst not feeling this is how you will always be or wanting to always be. loneliness is despair, feels like a despair without end. it can be assuaged though. even when alone. after all, would a lonely person watch youtube videos on books or whatever? watching them makes me feel less alone
being alone, loneliness and solitude are definitely different, and blurrily overlap sometimes. i agree that loneliness is a sort of unbounded despair. in my case - and in others’, like for instance ellison’s invisible man - loneliness also feels adjacent to not existing. that’s usually how i differentiate being alone (i exist, just not in the presence of others at the moment) vs being lonely (i am waiting to exist again) for myself. i started this channel in part because i was so lonely
@@bibliosophie i'm glad you started it and glad to have discovered it. in a way people who read books and feel this compulsion to read may have a natural tendency to melancholy sometimes, which is somehow related to loneliness, and may engender it or be a by-product of it. keep reading, keep sharing x
@@zoobee yes, i think there’s a lot of overlap between melancholy, loneliness and the sort of pondering that might lead to being an avid reader. plus, reading can fill a void when you’re lonely! (i’m also an insomniac who usually takes a lot of public transportation, so that rounds out my readerly qualifications)
Cela fait plaisir de t’entendre parler de livres. Tu es belle, forte et aimée. Tu traverseras cette journey avec grâce j’en suis certaine. Merci pour tes recommandations. Loneliness et Scaffolding ont l’air intéressants.
100% with you on loneliness, and in fact all “negative” feelings, which often need to be explored and wallowed in, within reason, but which we have been taught to help others to snap out of and ‘gain perspective’. But they are stubborn feelings! And they are not without purpose! The perspective we need is not that they will pass, but where they come from and what they tell us we need in our lives. Love your thoughts as always 👏
i love that you consider your mental state or preferences in the reviews of books such as the age of loneliness. i have read/watched many book reviews in which they have reflected their review merely on if they were entertained in the moment. i wish that more people my age/in my generation understood their taste in books and knew that they might not like some aspects of a book with a different preface or genre than they're used to and were more critical in their reviews especially with modern literature. when an author has a heightened sense of intellect, not a lot of people will truly understand their work. when readers misunderstand their work and make a bad review merely because they didn't get it, that's when it hurts the author in an unfair way. i mainly just want modern authors to get the recognition and respect that they deserve. your outfit in 20:51 was so well put together. (it even matched the book)
i must consider my biases and mental state! this is a channel very much about my reading experience, and i could never pretend to have objective tastes! and thank you!
I don't think I had ever heard sing before, you're incredible, I would love to hear you sing Verdi! Thanks for the shoutout and I think Binet is just what I was looking for lately. "20th century virgin..." lol Courage, ma belle, tu es forte et tu vas y arriver!
Sophie, your thoughts on loneliness were so spot on. We need essays from YOU! I like to feel lonely sometimes, sometimes more than sometimes. Ha. I think it is an important space. As are pockets of love and I’m thrilled that you’re receiving them in abundance. As you should be. Giving Granny & giving raver boy… iconic. Ps. Just ordered Vivienne.
Thank you for introducing me to books that I may never have encountered! Added a couple more to my TBR:) P.S. You totally pull off the shaved look! I did not use wigs, when I lost my hair from chemo, but loved playing with the artistry of scarves:) My hair had been wavy before, but grew back to shoulder length in about a year and was VERY curly. Got a new beginning and a fun new look as well 😉
i’m glad i could add to you tbr! currently i don’t plan to use wigs, but who knows if that’ll change. thank you! (i’m also very curious about how my hair will grow back)
You will get through this! I love your channel Sophie. You encourage me to stretch myself in the content I read and think about. I love hearing you speak, your thoughts are so inspiring. Thank you Sophie, you are about the same age as my now grown children, from this Mamma 's heart to yours ..... a big hug and healing light ❤️
I just found your channel yesterday, and I am really taken by the way you present the books, the synopses, your reaction and analysis. And we have similar tastes in books. I'm looking forward to catching up with your older videos and anticipating the ones to come.
age of loneliness is going on my tbr, sounds challenging but also necessary right now. the shaved head looks so good on you!! loved hearing your thoughts on scaffolding, that was a really enjoyable one to me. much love to you sophie
Beautiful Sophie, such a joy to watch this vlog 💗 everything you said about Scaffolding made me want to pick it up. Vivienne also sounds wild. They both have such gorgeous covers too!
The age of loneliness sounds very intriguing! Clinging on to my solitude is definitely something I have been "guilty" of as well... I think there is a lot of value in solitude spent in contemplation, thought, discovery etc. Of course, isolation is different. But aren't we all inherently a little bit lonely? at least, in our minds... lots to think about! Honestly some people would probably benefit from spending a little time alone... Vivienne has been on my radar and I haven't seen anyone talk about it so I am glad to hear that you enjoyed it :) Sad to see the purple hair go but honestly you are rocking the shaved hair look !! Sending lots of courage and endurance for your treatment 🤍🤍
thank you! 💜 i think solitary contemplation and creation are utterly necessary - at least they are for me even as a social person - but loneliness isn’t the same as solitude, of course. as you say, i think we’re all a bit lonely, or capable of being lonely, but it doesn’t make the condition any easier, unfortunately
I had a feeling you would look great with a shaved head and you proved me right. You have one of those Audrey Hepburn/Natalie Portman type faces that really suits short hair. I also appreciate the fact that you took time out to call out Pessoa's pseudo superiority lol. Keep on keeping on Sophie.
@@BillStarkwell thank you! i’ve had a shaved before, so at least i knew what i was getting into oyyy the moral/intellectual superiority really is a bit thick sometimes, but i admit it’s also probably a component of what i do like about him
I enjoyed your opinions on The Book of Disquiet! I just started reading it. I had similar thoughts to yours but about Rilke's "Letters To A Young Poet" when I read that. I tried to just read around/through the Solitary Artiste sentiment, as you mentioned in Pessoa's work. I truly loathe that super solitary ideal hahhah - Sending love from Queens!!
ah yes, i can see that from letters to a young poet, too. i don’t remember too much of the isolated artist thread, but frankly i don’t remember the book super well in total, and have been curious about rereading it for a while
It’s good to hear you discuss the setting in Scaffolding, I think much of the ‘Paris as a character’ details went over my head so it’s helpful to have you give a bit more context. I enjoyed it nonetheless and was surprised how quickly I got through it.
Fernando Pessoa in the form of Bernardo Soares is a hard read, but it's a very good bed table book and open it up occasionally and read a bit. He's a national teasure here in my country. And I'd love to one day make a not so artistic movie based on him and his heteronyms. I have to say, love your new look, but it's totally parcial. In my early movies I always tried to totally cut my actresses hair. Not always sucessful, I have to say :) P.S.: Great video, great editing.
yes, pessoa’s shadow looms very large! i think even if you like his work a lot, like i do, it’s impossible not to be annoyed or exhausted by some of his things. there’s something so self-contained and peculiar about him, all while he is obviously part of and responding to various cultural movements of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century and thank you!!
Going to look at Scaffolding, The Age Loneliness, and Vivienne. Funny, I saw two Sophie's won the goodreads giveaway for Ali Smith's upcoming book. I hope one of them is bibliosophie :)
Listening to you talk about loneliness reminded me of Beauty and Sadness, by Yasunari Kawabata. I read it in a moment a felt really lonely, very distanced from people and the world in general, and it impacted me in such a way. There's this silence on Kawabata's writing that allows you to contemplate the grandeur of life and death with time and tranquility, idk. I felt really taken by the book. It discusses art a lot, I feel that you'll really like it. And it might be a good moment for you to read it. Oh, and I've read La septième fonction du langage years ago!!!! Can't believe another person has read this book! I don't remember much, but I enjoyed!! Happy to listen you talk about it! Keep coming with the niche books, babe!! By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while: have you ever read any Simone de Beauvoir's fiction? I kinda fell on this rabbit hole - since about a year, I guess? - and Une mort très douce reminded me of you when I was reading a couple of months ago! idk but the way she describes her relation with her mom and her death made me curious of what you'd think about it. Although I do not recommend reading it during your treatment. Beauvoir has the typical french distant prose (that's a compliment, I love it) but it might be too much. It's a book about her mom dying of stomach cancer. And I know that every cancer is different and it all varies a lot, but I also know it might be too emotional right now. I also loved All Men Are Mortal, and I feel like she got the idea of it after the death of her mother, but idk this one didn't made me particularly curious about your opinion as much as the other. It's also Very French!! I laughed out loud when the main character said nothing ever mattered after the french revolution. Anyway, I hope the treatment is going well
just checked out beauty and sadness from the library as an ebook -- who knows when i'll actually get to it, but yr description absolutely sounds like a book for me
re beauvoir fiction: i've only read la femme rompue (the woman destroyed), but been meaning to get to her longer novels for a while. une mort très douce has also been on my tbr for ages. i have the full collection of her memoirs and plan to get to it chronologically, so i've got some time to recover. i have read some of her writings about death (sartre's, her mother's), so i know the rational distance you describe. have you read any other books by binet ?
@@bibliosophie Oh, keep me posted on this one! This book really got me when I read it. I was living in the middle of the rainforest at the time and thinking a lot about ways of translating something so incommunicable to words. So I'm interested in how it is to read this one while on a big city and all. I really hope you enjoy it!
@@bibliosophie oh, nice! Please, make a vlog of this journey!! I just purchased a few of her novels now (we have this university book fair with everything with 50% discount at least, so I took the opportunity) and started Inseparable. Haven't read any other Binet. Tbh, I'm not that into reading a lot of the same author. I get bored easily. This is changing now, with Beauvoir and Duras, but it's still an effort.
@@claaaaaara i hope i do get myself organized to read beauty and sadness! i start so many book oyyyy i have/had the hopes of reading la force de l’âge before the end of the year. we’ll see if i get to THAT 🙄 you give me a good idea about doing a full recap of beauvoir’s memoirs if i ever go through them. would be good to weave in her other works, too, bc there’s definitely overlap. from what i know of les inséparables, it seems to me heavily inspired by her childhood friendship
Ah Vivienne. I have it on hold from the library to see if I can give it a 2nd chance outside of the slumpy period. I’m interested in the book of essays on Loneliness. I do find I like a collection of essays around a theme better than not?
ya, i really like a themed essay collection. sometimes they can get a bit redundant, but it’s still worth the usually greater focus (from me as well as the author). i do suggest a second try of vivienne. it’s a very fast read once you get into it!
I just finished Art Monsters and really enjoyed it. Curious to see how Elkin crafts a novel. Couldn't agree more with your thoughts on loneliness. Btw, if you have never done a video of art/artist-themed book recommendations, consider doing one!
i’ve considered doing an art book video before but been overwhelmed by the prospect. however, yr comment made me reconsider - i started listing some ideas… 👀
i too was aggravated when people told me my loneliness would pass, but in actuality, i preferred it to most things! i just didn't know how. to grapple with it at the time. wha to do with all the blue, but when it's involved in art, and sharing that art, something explosive occurs. it's so strange, to create in solitude, but then to share it for the world. i've never been fond of collaborative work, but am now curious if you ever experienced loneliness or strong solitary moments when working in collaboration with other artists. if something is actually shared or if it's two to three solitary souls working together at something to expunge said states of solitude.
i do find that actual collaboration really helps with the loneliness, at least while it’s happening. and also the exchange i can feel as a student or as a teacher, and a lot with audiences. that’s also why there can be a tremendous loneliness after the high energy of performance
Cancer made a free man out of me. Keep it up! Going to peruse your book recommendations, thank you! And speaking of Pessoa - check The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saromago 😊
thank you! i've read a few saramago, but never the year of the death of ricardo reis -- good idea! edit: ha ha i see i already have it saved in my long list of ebooks. i remember someone else recommending it to me some months ago 😇
Your criticism of The Book of Disquiet (around the artist as a hermetic figure) made me think back to a brilliant Camus essay called "Create Dangerously" (it's part of one of the Penguin $2 pocket series). I'm paraphrasing, but his general thesis is that the artist walks between two precipices: flippancy (or, in the essay, excessive self-indulgence that results in detached, thematically aimless art) or propaganda (overly didactic and institutional art that lacks humanity). It was a sentiment that has proved very influential on how I view/critique art. I haven't read Disquiet, but I have read a short Penguin collection of his poems (perhaps from the same series) and loved some, but did find that others were almost dangerously reductive/unproductive with their extreme solipsism. P.S. I'm not just saying this, but the new cut looks fresh. The shaved head look suits you!
"This feels like the work of a kind of tortured early 20th century virgin - which it is" ahahaha. I think that it is smart to critically analyse the material and be comfortable extracting valuable insights and dispensing with what one thinks of as incorrect, without putting the entire work in box a or box b. nice
there’s so much of the book i love, and i also know that some of the terminology/ideology is really reflective of when it was written, so it’s well worth pushing thru aspects i don’t like!
i got vivre vite (google tells me the english is live fast) when it came out 2 years ago, but i still haven’t read it. i’ve also been curious about avoir un corps, too. (the shorter answer to yr question is no 🤣) what did you read?
@bibliosophie I've read Vivre Vite (in the German translation). I liked it, but it also kept me somehow at a distance, which I didn't expect. I think I liked the concept more than the execution. If you ever read it, I'm definitely interested in what you think.
Not many women could pull your new style off, but this feels so you, and so sexy. My hair has been falling out for years due to end stage renal disease, and I can’t pull it off so I’ve been wearing a wig. I wish I had the courage to just shave it all off so I didn’t need to keep dealing with the horror of pulling off clumps. And I’d love to give up on the wig, which never looks right (so is a reminder of how much my life has changed), but I’m quite sure I could never pull it off. Have you read The Collected Stories of Lydia Davies? I thought they were extraordinary, and I’m looking forward to trying her essays. I’m currently reading The Empusium. Imagine a whole book filled with passages like the Pessoa quote you read (although in Tokarczuk’s case it’s completely purposeful.) I recommend it, although I may put it on hold till after the election, because the mysogeny is hard to stomach after having watched too many disgusting rallies. Wishing you continued strength on your journey. It’s so hard feeling like your body is failing you, but as you’ve seen it can bring so many blessings, and this forced pause in my life is teaching me so many things about myself and my love for the world that most people my age haven’t had the opportunity yet to see.
when i got my diagnosis, i had the advantage of knowing that i could “pull off” a shaved head bc i had one 2 years ago. in the grand scheme of treatment, hair shouldn’t matter, but of course it matters a lot, too. i’m thankful that at least this part is something i don’t care about. i’m currently very opposed to wearing a wig bc i’m afraid it’ll make me feel i’ve lost control, but perhaps that will change as the months go on. i’m sorry you know such difficult times being a body, and i wish you ongoing strength, too - you write about this beautifully at the end of your comment
re books: i’m very curious about the empusium, although i do think i’ll need to be in the right headspace. tokarczuk’s worlds are difficult to spend time in, and now may not be the time for me. i’ve read almost none of davis’ stories! i have a collection, but have never been very drawn to them, despite really liking her essays ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i sometimes feel like maybe loneliness is our natural condition. but then I don't always think that. solitariness is different from loneliness. solitude is being alone with yourself whilst not feeling this is how you will always be or wanting to always be. loneliness is despair, feels like a despair without end. it can be assuaged though. even when alone. after all, would a lonely person watch youtube videos on books or whatever? watching them makes me feel less alone
being alone, loneliness and solitude are definitely different, and blurrily overlap sometimes. i agree that loneliness is a sort of unbounded despair. in my case - and in others’, like for instance ellison’s invisible man - loneliness also feels adjacent to not existing. that’s usually how i differentiate being alone (i exist, just not in the presence of others at the moment) vs being lonely (i am waiting to exist again) for myself. i started this channel in part because i was so lonely
@@bibliosophie i'm glad you started it and glad to have discovered it. in a way people who read books and feel this compulsion to read may have a natural tendency to melancholy sometimes, which is somehow related to loneliness, and may engender it or be a by-product of it. keep reading, keep sharing x
@@zoobee yes, i think there’s a lot of overlap between melancholy, loneliness and the sort of pondering that might lead to being an avid reader. plus, reading can fill a void when you’re lonely! (i’m also an insomniac who usually takes a lot of public transportation, so that rounds out my readerly qualifications)
A lovely comment that perfectly articulates a sentiment I’ve had held for some time
You rock. You’re tough and have the heart of a champion.
thank you!!
@ Hope you’re doing well!!! You’re strong, heart and soul. It’s evident in just a few minutes of video. You’re a pugilist.
@ 💥🥊
@@bibliosophie Exactly 💪💫🫡
Cela fait plaisir de t’entendre parler de livres. Tu es belle, forte et aimée. Tu traverseras cette journey avec grâce j’en suis certaine. Merci pour tes recommandations. Loneliness et Scaffolding ont l’air intéressants.
@@NathouLeseine7 merci!! 🤍🤍
dis-moi si tu les lis!
100% with you on loneliness, and in fact all “negative” feelings, which often need to be explored and wallowed in, within reason, but which we have been taught to help others to snap out of and ‘gain perspective’. But they are stubborn feelings! And they are not without purpose! The perspective we need is not that they will pass, but where they come from and what they tell us we need in our lives.
Love your thoughts as always 👏
Stay strong! ♥️ u look great with the buzz cut btw
yes! beautifully put!
@@sausana2501 thank you!
i love that you consider your mental state or preferences in the reviews of books such as the age of loneliness. i have read/watched many book reviews in which they have reflected their review merely on if they were entertained in the moment. i wish that more people my age/in my generation understood their taste in books and knew that they might not like some aspects of a book with a different preface or genre than they're used to and were more critical in their reviews especially with modern literature. when an author has a heightened sense of intellect, not a lot of people will truly understand their work. when readers misunderstand their work and make a bad review merely because they didn't get it, that's when it hurts the author in an unfair way. i mainly just want modern authors to get the recognition and respect that they deserve.
your outfit in 20:51 was so well put together. (it even matched the book)
i must consider my biases and mental state! this is a channel very much about my reading experience, and i could never pretend to have objective tastes!
and thank you!
I don't think I had ever heard sing before, you're incredible, I would love to hear you sing Verdi! Thanks for the shoutout and I think Binet is just what I was looking for lately. "20th century virgin..." lol
Courage, ma belle, tu es forte et tu vas y arriver!
thank you 🤗
i’d be curious to know what you make of binet if you get to him!
Sophie, your thoughts on loneliness were so spot on. We need essays from YOU! I like to feel lonely sometimes, sometimes more than sometimes. Ha. I think it is an important space. As are pockets of love and I’m thrilled that you’re receiving them in abundance. As you should be. Giving Granny & giving raver boy… iconic. Ps. Just ordered Vivienne.
🖤 i do really like to write essays… very slowly and infrequently 😁🐢
will be curious to hear your thoughts on vivienne!
@ spookily Vivienne arrived today. And I’ll be starting it today.
oho! perfect!
Thank you for introducing me to books that I may never have encountered! Added a couple more to my TBR:) P.S. You totally pull off the shaved look! I did not use wigs, when I lost my hair from chemo, but loved playing with the artistry of scarves:) My hair had been wavy before, but grew back to shoulder length in about a year and was VERY curly. Got a new beginning and a fun new look as well 😉
i’m glad i could add to you tbr! currently i don’t plan to use wigs, but who knows if that’ll change. thank you! (i’m also very curious about how my hair will grow back)
You will get through this! I love your channel Sophie. You encourage me to stretch myself in the content I read and think about. I love hearing you speak, your thoughts are so inspiring. Thank you Sophie, you are about the same age as my now grown children, from this Mamma 's heart to yours ..... a big hug and healing light ❤️
thank you so much! i love to read that i encourage you to stretch yourself! and thank you for your encouragement 💖
I just found your channel yesterday, and I am really taken by the way you present the books, the synopses, your reaction and analysis. And we have similar tastes in books. I'm looking forward to catching up with your older videos and anticipating the ones to come.
that’s wonderful to hear! welcome to the channel :)
age of loneliness is going on my tbr, sounds challenging but also necessary right now. the shaved head looks so good on you!! loved hearing your thoughts on scaffolding, that was a really enjoyable one to me. much love to you sophie
i’ll look forward to your thoughts on age of loneliness if you get to it!
and thank you! 🤗💖
Beautiful Sophie, such a joy to watch this vlog 💗 everything you said about Scaffolding made me want to pick it up. Vivienne also sounds wild. They both have such gorgeous covers too!
@@rebareads thank you! i think you’d enjoy both of those novels! let me know if you want to borrow my copy of vivienne 😋
The age of loneliness sounds very intriguing! Clinging on to my solitude is definitely something I have been "guilty" of as well... I think there is a lot of value in solitude spent in contemplation, thought, discovery etc. Of course, isolation is different. But aren't we all inherently a little bit lonely? at least, in our minds... lots to think about! Honestly some people would probably benefit from spending a little time alone... Vivienne has been on my radar and I haven't seen anyone talk about it so I am glad to hear that you enjoyed it :) Sad to see the purple hair go but honestly you are rocking the shaved hair look !! Sending lots of courage and endurance for your treatment 🤍🤍
thank you! 💜
i think solitary contemplation and creation are utterly necessary - at least they are for me even as a social person - but loneliness isn’t the same as solitude, of course. as you say, i think we’re all a bit lonely, or capable of being lonely, but it doesn’t make the condition any easier, unfortunately
I had a feeling you would look great with a shaved head and you proved me right. You have one of those Audrey Hepburn/Natalie Portman type faces that really suits short hair. I also appreciate the fact that you took time out to call out Pessoa's pseudo superiority lol. Keep on keeping on Sophie.
@@BillStarkwell thank you! i’ve had a shaved before, so at least i knew what i was getting into
oyyy the moral/intellectual superiority really is a bit thick sometimes, but i admit it’s also probably a component of what i do like about him
Love your personality and your videos ❤❤
I enjoyed your opinions on The Book of Disquiet! I just started reading it. I had similar thoughts to yours but about Rilke's "Letters To A Young Poet" when I read that. I tried to just read around/through the Solitary Artiste sentiment, as you mentioned in Pessoa's work. I truly loathe that super solitary ideal hahhah -
Sending love from Queens!!
ah yes, i can see that from letters to a young poet, too. i don’t remember too much of the isolated artist thread, but frankly i don’t remember the book super well in total, and have been curious about rereading it for a while
Right off the bat the thumbnail pic is too cute.
It’s good to hear you discuss the setting in Scaffolding, I think much of the ‘Paris as a character’ details went over my head so it’s helpful to have you give a bit more context. I enjoyed it nonetheless and was surprised how quickly I got through it.
Also the grandma/raver boy hat scarf combo is a vibe!
@@r.enee.morris eee thank you 🥰🤗
@@r.enee.morris scaffolding is quite a quick read, ya! glad i could add a little context :)
Fernando Pessoa in the form of Bernardo Soares is a hard read, but it's a very good bed table book and open it up occasionally and read a bit. He's a national teasure here in my country. And I'd love to one day make a not so artistic movie based on him and his heteronyms. I have to say, love your new look, but it's totally parcial. In my early movies I always tried to totally cut my actresses hair. Not always sucessful, I have to say :) P.S.: Great video, great editing.
yes, pessoa’s shadow looms very large! i think even if you like his work a lot, like i do, it’s impossible not to be annoyed or exhausted by some of his things. there’s something so self-contained and peculiar about him, all while he is obviously part of and responding to various cultural movements of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century
and thank you!!
Going to look at Scaffolding, The Age Loneliness, and Vivienne. Funny, I saw two Sophie's won the goodreads giveaway for Ali Smith's upcoming book. I hope one of them is bibliosophie :)
very nice! i was not one of those sophies, but i will be curious to read smith’s new book!
You really suit the buzz cut
thank you!
Listening to you talk about loneliness reminded me of Beauty and Sadness, by Yasunari Kawabata. I read it in a moment a felt really lonely, very distanced from people and the world in general, and it impacted me in such a way. There's this silence on Kawabata's writing that allows you to contemplate the grandeur of life and death with time and tranquility, idk. I felt really taken by the book. It discusses art a lot, I feel that you'll really like it. And it might be a good moment for you to read it.
Oh, and I've read La septième fonction du langage years ago!!!! Can't believe another person has read this book! I don't remember much, but I enjoyed!! Happy to listen you talk about it! Keep coming with the niche books, babe!!
By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this for a while: have you ever read any Simone de Beauvoir's fiction? I kinda fell on this rabbit hole - since about a year, I guess? - and Une mort très douce reminded me of you when I was reading a couple of months ago! idk but the way she describes her relation with her mom and her death made me curious of what you'd think about it. Although I do not recommend reading it during your treatment. Beauvoir has the typical french distant prose (that's a compliment, I love it) but it might be too much. It's a book about her mom dying of stomach cancer. And I know that every cancer is different and it all varies a lot, but I also know it might be too emotional right now. I also loved All Men Are Mortal, and I feel like she got the idea of it after the death of her mother, but idk this one didn't made me particularly curious about your opinion as much as the other. It's also Very French!! I laughed out loud when the main character said nothing ever mattered after the french revolution.
Anyway, I hope the treatment is going well
just checked out beauty and sadness from the library as an ebook -- who knows when i'll actually get to it, but yr description absolutely sounds like a book for me
re beauvoir fiction: i've only read la femme rompue (the woman destroyed), but been meaning to get to her longer novels for a while. une mort très douce has also been on my tbr for ages. i have the full collection of her memoirs and plan to get to it chronologically, so i've got some time to recover. i have read some of her writings about death (sartre's, her mother's), so i know the rational distance you describe.
have you read any other books by binet ?
@@bibliosophie Oh, keep me posted on this one! This book really got me when I read it. I was living in the middle of the rainforest at the time and thinking a lot about ways of translating something so incommunicable to words. So I'm interested in how it is to read this one while on a big city and all.
I really hope you enjoy it!
@@bibliosophie oh, nice! Please, make a vlog of this journey!!
I just purchased a few of her novels now (we have this university book fair with everything with 50% discount at least, so I took the opportunity) and started Inseparable.
Haven't read any other Binet. Tbh, I'm not that into reading a lot of the same author. I get bored easily. This is changing now, with Beauvoir and Duras, but it's still an effort.
@@claaaaaara i hope i do get myself organized to read beauty and sadness! i start so many book oyyyy
i have/had the hopes of reading la force de l’âge before the end of the year. we’ll see if i get to THAT 🙄
you give me a good idea about doing a full recap of beauvoir’s memoirs if i ever go through them. would be good to weave in her other works, too, bc there’s definitely overlap. from what i know of les inséparables, it seems to me heavily inspired by her childhood friendship
❤
@@tanyam6197 🥰
Ah Vivienne. I have it on hold from the library to see if I can give it a 2nd chance outside of the slumpy period. I’m interested in the book of essays on Loneliness. I do find I like a collection of essays around a theme better than not?
ya, i really like a themed essay collection. sometimes they can get a bit redundant, but it’s still worth the usually greater focus (from me as well as the author). i do suggest a second try of vivienne. it’s a very fast read once you get into it!
I just finished Art Monsters and really enjoyed it. Curious to see how Elkin crafts a novel. Couldn't agree more with your thoughts on loneliness.
Btw, if you have never done a video of art/artist-themed book recommendations, consider doing one!
i’ve considered doing an art book video before but been overwhelmed by the prospect. however, yr comment made me reconsider - i started listing some ideas… 👀
@@TheQuietMidden i’d love to know what you think of scaffolding if you get to it!
i too was aggravated when people told me my loneliness would pass, but in actuality, i preferred it to most things! i just didn't know how. to grapple with it at the time. wha to do with all the blue, but when it's involved in art, and sharing that art, something explosive occurs. it's so strange, to create in solitude, but then to share it for the world.
i've never been fond of collaborative work, but am now curious if you ever experienced loneliness or strong solitary moments when working in collaboration with other artists. if something is actually shared or if it's two to three solitary souls working together at something to expunge said states of solitude.
i do find that actual collaboration really helps with the loneliness, at least while it’s happening. and also the exchange i can feel as a student or as a teacher, and a lot with audiences. that’s also why there can be a tremendous loneliness after the high energy of performance
Cancer made a free man out of me. Keep it up! Going to peruse your book recommendations, thank you! And speaking of Pessoa - check The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by Jose Saromago 😊
thank you! i've read a few saramago, but never the year of the death of ricardo reis -- good idea!
edit: ha ha i see i already have it saved in my long list of ebooks. i remember someone else recommending it to me some months ago 😇
Your criticism of The Book of Disquiet (around the artist as a hermetic figure) made me think back to a brilliant Camus essay called "Create Dangerously" (it's part of one of the Penguin $2 pocket series). I'm paraphrasing, but his general thesis is that the artist walks between two precipices: flippancy (or, in the essay, excessive self-indulgence that results in detached, thematically aimless art) or propaganda (overly didactic and institutional art that lacks humanity). It was a sentiment that has proved very influential on how I view/critique art. I haven't read Disquiet, but I have read a short Penguin collection of his poems (perhaps from the same series) and loved some, but did find that others were almost dangerously reductive/unproductive with their extreme solipsism.
P.S. I'm not just saying this, but the new cut looks fresh. The shaved head look suits you!
ooh, i’ve not read that camus essay. i’ll seek it out - thank you!
and thank you for the buzz cut compliment!
"This feels like the work of a kind of tortured early 20th century virgin - which it is" ahahaha. I think that it is smart to critically analyse the material and be comfortable extracting valuable insights and dispensing with what one thinks of as incorrect, without putting the entire work in box a or box b. nice
there’s so much of the book i love, and i also know that some of the terminology/ideology is really reflective of when it was written, so it’s well worth pushing thru aspects i don’t like!
I've lately read a book by Brigitte Giraud and I'm curious I've you've ever read anything by her?
i got vivre vite (google tells me the english is live fast) when it came out 2 years ago, but i still haven’t read it. i’ve also been curious about avoir un corps, too. (the shorter answer to yr question is no 🤣) what did you read?
@bibliosophie I've read Vivre Vite (in the German translation). I liked it, but it also kept me somehow at a distance, which I didn't expect. I think I liked the concept more than the execution. If you ever read it, I'm definitely interested in what you think.
@ yes, i’ve heard the narrative is quite distant, and that’s part of what’s made me slow to actually read the book
Not many women could pull your new style off, but this feels so you, and so sexy. My hair has been falling out for years due to end stage renal disease, and I can’t pull it off so I’ve been wearing a wig. I wish I had the courage to just shave it all off so I didn’t need to keep dealing with the horror of pulling off clumps. And I’d love to give up on the wig, which never looks right (so is a reminder of how much my life has changed), but I’m quite sure I could never pull it off.
Have you read The Collected Stories of Lydia Davies? I thought they were extraordinary, and I’m looking forward to trying her essays. I’m currently reading The Empusium. Imagine a whole book filled with passages like the Pessoa quote you read (although in Tokarczuk’s case it’s completely purposeful.) I recommend it, although I may put it on hold till after the election, because the mysogeny is hard to stomach after having watched too many disgusting rallies.
Wishing you continued strength on your journey. It’s so hard feeling like your body is failing you, but as you’ve seen it can bring so many blessings, and this forced pause in my life is teaching me so many things about myself and my love for the world that most people my age haven’t had the opportunity yet to see.
when i got my diagnosis, i had the advantage of knowing that i could “pull off” a shaved head bc i had one 2 years ago. in the grand scheme of treatment, hair shouldn’t matter, but of course it matters a lot, too. i’m thankful that at least this part is something i don’t care about. i’m currently very opposed to wearing a wig bc i’m afraid it’ll make me feel i’ve lost control, but perhaps that will change as the months go on. i’m sorry you know such difficult times being a body, and i wish you ongoing strength, too - you write about this beautifully at the end of your comment
re books: i’m very curious about the empusium, although i do think i’ll need to be in the right headspace. tokarczuk’s worlds are difficult to spend time in, and now may not be the time for me. i’ve read almost none of davis’ stories! i have a collection, but have never been very drawn to them, despite really liking her essays ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You are the most beautiful sick woman I have ever seen. Your positive spirit will carry you through this process. Cheers and much respect.
thank you!
You're a pretty and smart woman.
thank you!