My problem is I’m in my late 30s and feel so behind even on the basic classics so I always feel like I missed out and now overwhelmed but excited as well. I read about 30 books plus poetry this years and that’s the most I’ve ever read in my life. Has me so excited for this year but it does have me feeling a bit “rushed” like I need to catch up. I’m reading some big classics this year like Anna Karelian and chrome and punishment, brothers karamozov…I want to read more Faulkner and 100 years of solitude and more…but I don’t just want to “consume” it…so I’m trying to relax haha 😂
Don't feel like you have to "catch up". Read what interests you and enjoy yourself. I have also felt the urge to blitz through books I feel like I should've read but ended up with surface-level understanding. Reading should be fun.
13:35 You see this especially with Heidegger. Sartre can support Pol Pot and is still read, whereas every lecture on Heidegger has the obligatory 10 minute long denunciation.
You have to live life to write about it. The way out of the "Lit Bro" trap is to realize lived experienced provides content for your writing. Saul Bellows talked about how a lot of the wonderful dialogue in his novels came from his recollection of actual conversations, late at night, in coffee shops or bars, he had carousing around in NY. I what say Charles Bukowski is the antithesis of the "Lit Bro."
Baraka's poem "An Agony, as Now" is one of the best I've ever read. Cool to see him get a shoutout for once, no one ever talks about him. Also, Peirce rules. If you haven't read him i think you'd appreciate Alfred North Whitehead. Peirce had a big influence on him and he was a bona fide genius in his own right. Whitehead is the perfect weapon against your "logic bros" because he fights their fire with fire. If you want a rigorous, elegant, logical case for the divine, well then voila there you go.
My favorites of 2024: -Aesthetics of Resistance by Peter Weiss (part III English translation finally being released this year) - Black Sun, The Brief Transit and Violent Eclipse of Harry Crosby by Geoffrey Wolff - The Tin Drum by Günter Grass - The Royal Family by William T Vollmann - The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer New releases for 2025 I’m looking forward to (including being translated to English for the first time): - The Deserters by Mathias Énard - Aesthetics of Resistance Pt III by Peter Weiss - The Damp and the Dry: A Brief Incursion into Fascist Territory by Jonathan Littell -Attila by Aliocha Coll - Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz - The Suicides by Antonio Di Benedetto
I loved "The City and its Uncertain Walls" so much! First Murakami novel with a thoroughly well-rounded, full thematic arch-achieved ending in my view. Sometimes Murakami is "about the journey not the destination". With City the destination is there and its gorgeous. 👏
My favorites of 2024 1 agua viva by Clarice Lispector (the GOAT) 2 no longer human by Osamu dazai (reread) 3 the setting sun by Osamu dazai 4 auguries of innocence by William Blake 5 crime and punishment Dostoyevski (I read it too fast) 6 stream of thought by William James 7 how to do things with words by Austin (I don't remember very well but I enjoyed it lol)
Ian, been reading the Odyssey. Almost done. What is it that makes the Odyssey so great compared to some modern literature? I get that it's old but it's also outdated, right.
I like how you point the weakness of going on a strictly rational-logical basis. Humans are not just brains and we need to integrate feeling, intuition and sensation apart from being cold rationalists. Pure logical thinking ends up with horrific and "pragmatic" nonsense like politics of killing those who are not worth spending money for like the sick, elderly, minorities or the poor. Lit-bros who refuse any knowledge that doesn't come from logic are blinding themselves while thinking they're enlightened.
Screw it, here's just a ranking of everything I read in 2024: Great: 1. A Maggot (J. Fowles) 2. Acting Class (Graphic Novel) (N. Drnaso) 3. Our Wives Under the Sea (J. Armfield) 4. Satan In Goray (I.B. Singer) 5. Geek Love (K. Dunn) 6. Life For Sale (Y. Mishima) 7. Death in Midsummer (Y. Mishima) Good: 8. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (H. Murakami) 9. after the quake (H. Murakami) 10. The Decagon House Murders (Y. Ayatsuji) 11. Heads Will Roll (J. Winning) 12. Horror Movie (P. Tremblay) 13. Hangsaman (S. Jackson) 14. The Ice Palace (T. Vesaas) 15. Pastoralia (G. Saunders) 16. Exhalation (T. Chiang) 17. Nemesis (P. Roth) 18. The Ghost Writer (P. Roth) Alright: 19. The Humbling (P. Roth) 20. Exit Ghost (P. Roth) 21. All Quiet On The Western Front (E. M. Remarque) Meh: 22. My Friend Hitler and Other Plays (Y. Mishima) 23. After Dark (H. Murakami)
I’m probably someone you would refer to as “lit-logic philosophy bro” I guess, but yeah, I DNF The City and Its Uncertain Walls. For me the book is just the same naïve Jungian-Campbellian trope written, as you said, over and over again; there’s a gatekeeper (threshold guardian), a “journey” between consciousness and unconsciousness, etc. I found it to be ironic that you’ve mentioned Heidegger in your review of the book too (all though I’m not so sure about your dasein x dasein thing?), since that is the reason I abandoned the book lol, on pg.46 (UK version): “Once we actually met, those unlimited possibilities inevitably were replaced by a single reality […] possibilities are just that, possibilities and nothing else.” If you read Heidegger you’ve probably agree that this is a completely naïve view of possibilities (as you know, dasein is its own possibilities, and so on). Idk, didn’t finish it, maybe it gets better later on. Your review sparks a small motivation to get back to it though, but I’m not sure Iol
2024 Top 5: 1. Berzerk - Kentaro Miura 2. Beasts, Men and Gods - Ferdinand Ossendowski 3. The Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons 4. Stoner - John Williams 5. Hitler, Born at Versailles - Leon DeGrelle
The script ain't giving the Lions a Superbowl. Unless the NFL literary fiction team wants to hit a contrast with the Swifties arc and hit a Flint 2014 meets 1967 Detriot riots with a peaceful redistribution of wealth Superbowl parade on the streets of Detroit when they win 😂
Read Confederacy of Dunces and Runaway Horses years ago, love the mention of those. 👍 That aside I have to say your videos are kind of a slog to get through because you go off on so many tangents, many of them having nothing to do with the material at hand. You just ramble on and on about whatever. I hate to in any way tell someone how they should run their channel, but someone has to say your videos would be so much better if you learned to edit down and stick to the content of the novel at hand. Maybe you could start a second channel and save your philosophical ruminations for that.
I don't think Vuong's the kind of poet you benefit from reading out of context, and I hate hating stuff so I'm biased always in a way, but he really doesn't reek to me the same way some otherrrrr best sellinggggg poEtssss doooo eeeeee. edit: not a great argument tho rip withdrawn
Big Like for being an English teacher. Passionate high school teachers are so necessary. I just found your page. 😊
My problem is I’m in my late 30s and feel so behind even on the basic classics so I always feel like I missed out and now overwhelmed but excited as well. I read about 30 books plus poetry this years and that’s the most I’ve ever read in my life. Has me so excited for this year but it does have me feeling a bit “rushed” like I need to catch up. I’m reading some big classics this year like Anna Karelian and chrome and punishment, brothers karamozov…I want to read more Faulkner and 100 years of solitude and more…but I don’t just want to “consume” it…so I’m trying to relax haha 😂
Good approach, better to read few books than to consume many
Don't feel like you have to "catch up". Read what interests you and enjoy yourself. I have also felt the urge to blitz through books I feel like I should've read but ended up with surface-level understanding. Reading should be fun.
I’m in the same boat! I just want to focus on quality over quantity and deep understanding
See, I told you you had some BookTube in you!
13:35 You see this especially with Heidegger. Sartre can support Pol Pot and is still read, whereas every lecture on Heidegger has the obligatory 10 minute long denunciation.
I dig your passion for the written word, friend.
been really enjoying ur vids, would love some stuff on gary snyder and especially the practice of the wild. a lot in there that is forgotten today
You have to live life to write about it. The way out of the "Lit Bro" trap is to realize lived experienced provides content for your writing. Saul Bellows talked about how a lot of the wonderful dialogue in his novels came from his recollection of actual conversations, late at night, in coffee shops or bars, he had carousing around in NY. I what say Charles Bukowski is the antithesis of the "Lit Bro."
@@robzs8388 To each his own. I love his books.
Baraka's poem "An Agony, as Now" is one of the best I've ever read. Cool to see him get a shoutout for once, no one ever talks about him. Also, Peirce rules. If you haven't read him i think you'd appreciate Alfred North Whitehead. Peirce had a big influence on him and he was a bona fide genius in his own right. Whitehead is the perfect weapon against your "logic bros" because he fights their fire with fire. If you want a rigorous, elegant, logical case for the divine, well then voila there you go.
Gonna check these out, thanks for the suggestions
Love Pynchon ❤️
But I've tried twice to read Gravity's Rainbow and could not get into it. 😑
I think Walker Percy assisted in getting "Dunces" published.
Percy's "The Moviegoer" is one novel I've read many times over many years.
My favorites of 2024:
-Aesthetics of Resistance by Peter Weiss (part III English translation finally being released this year)
- Black Sun, The Brief Transit and Violent Eclipse of Harry Crosby by Geoffrey Wolff
- The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
- The Royal Family by William T Vollmann
- The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
New releases for 2025 I’m looking forward to (including being translated to English for the first time):
- The Deserters by Mathias Énard
- Aesthetics of Resistance Pt III by Peter Weiss
- The Damp and the Dry: A Brief Incursion into Fascist Territory by Jonathan Littell
-Attila by Aliocha Coll
- Schattenfroh by Michael Lentz
- The Suicides by Antonio Di Benedetto
Saw the movie version of The Tin Drum years ago. Definitely some memorable scenes in there.
You should read Vladimir Nabokov's whole bibliography. I have read most of his books and they're all excellent.
I plan on doing that. Currently reading Pale Fire, hope to read short stories soon.
@@Eneias-q9m
His short stories are great. If I recall correctly, Sounds was my favorite short story that he wrote
I'm sure he's read nabakovs oeuvre
Speaking of Japnaese liuterature, I'd loveto see a review or even just your thoughts on Musashi by Yoshikawa.
Do you have a top 10 list for beginners who want to start reading fiction?
I loved "The City and its Uncertain Walls" so much! First Murakami novel with a thoroughly well-rounded, full thematic arch-achieved ending in my view. Sometimes Murakami is "about the journey not the destination". With City the destination is there and its gorgeous. 👏
My favorites of 2024
1 agua viva by Clarice Lispector (the GOAT)
2 no longer human by Osamu dazai (reread)
3 the setting sun by Osamu dazai
4 auguries of innocence by William Blake
5 crime and punishment Dostoyevski (I read it too fast)
6 stream of thought by William James
7 how to do things with words by Austin (I don't remember very well but I enjoyed it lol)
I need to reread most of them, 2024 was a crazy year for me
Ian, been reading the Odyssey. Almost done. What is it that makes the Odyssey so great compared to some modern literature? I get that it's old but it's also outdated, right.
Looks like some interesting reading you did. ;)
6:30 thats some dark humor if i ever heard some
nice video. im going to see if i can read over 100 books this year but im kinda regarded
Do you use an ereader at all? Or only physical books?
Always reading and Lit-maxxing.
What books do you recommend that go over maximalism?
when you say you read 150 books last year, are you counting listening too?
I listened to less than five books. I can't listen to fiction audiobooks. Only history ones. I read four hours a day. Sometimes more!
12:33 I've never seen that title for Runaway Horses.
Spinoza's ethics is a great read tho
I like how you point the weakness of going on a strictly rational-logical basis. Humans are not just brains and we need to integrate feeling, intuition and sensation apart from being cold rationalists. Pure logical thinking ends up with horrific and "pragmatic" nonsense like politics of killing those who are not worth spending money for like the sick, elderly, minorities or the poor. Lit-bros who refuse any knowledge that doesn't come from logic are blinding themselves while thinking they're enlightened.
fAcTs DoNt CaRe AbOuT yOuR fEeLiNgS
Screw it, here's just a ranking of everything I read in 2024:
Great:
1. A Maggot (J. Fowles)
2. Acting Class (Graphic Novel) (N. Drnaso)
3. Our Wives Under the Sea (J. Armfield)
4. Satan In Goray (I.B. Singer)
5. Geek Love (K. Dunn)
6. Life For Sale (Y. Mishima)
7. Death in Midsummer (Y. Mishima)
Good:
8. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (H. Murakami)
9. after the quake (H. Murakami)
10. The Decagon House Murders (Y. Ayatsuji)
11. Heads Will Roll (J. Winning)
12. Horror Movie (P. Tremblay)
13. Hangsaman (S. Jackson)
14. The Ice Palace (T. Vesaas)
15. Pastoralia (G. Saunders)
16. Exhalation (T. Chiang)
17. Nemesis (P. Roth)
18. The Ghost Writer (P. Roth)
Alright:
19. The Humbling (P. Roth)
20. Exit Ghost (P. Roth)
21. All Quiet On The Western Front (E. M. Remarque)
Meh:
22. My Friend Hitler and Other Plays (Y. Mishima)
23. After Dark (H. Murakami)
no student of poetry can afford to ignore the poems and cahiers of Paul Valery...or Cesar Vallejo
I’m probably someone you would refer to as “lit-logic philosophy bro” I guess, but yeah, I DNF The City and Its Uncertain Walls. For me the book is just the same naïve Jungian-Campbellian trope written, as you said, over and over again; there’s a gatekeeper (threshold guardian), a “journey” between consciousness and unconsciousness, etc.
I found it to be ironic that you’ve mentioned Heidegger in your review of the book too (all though I’m not so sure about your dasein x dasein thing?), since that is the reason I abandoned the book lol, on pg.46 (UK version):
“Once we actually met, those unlimited possibilities inevitably were replaced by a single reality […] possibilities are just that, possibilities and nothing else.”
If you read Heidegger you’ve probably agree that this is a completely naïve view of possibilities (as you know, dasein is its own possibilities, and so on). Idk, didn’t finish it, maybe it gets better later on. Your review sparks a small motivation to get back to it though, but I’m not sure Iol
My destiny is to be the king of lit bros and lead them to paradise
@@WriteConscious You are our Virgil leading us out of the soy-fi and logic Inferno.
Hi Mr. Cattanach
2024 Top 5:
1. Berzerk - Kentaro Miura
2. Beasts, Men and Gods - Ferdinand Ossendowski
3. The Fall of Hyperion - Dan Simmons
4. Stoner - John Williams
5. Hitler, Born at Versailles - Leon DeGrelle
Berserkkkkk
Good taste 🥰😘
I love Mishima
GO LIONS 🦁
The script ain't giving the Lions a Superbowl. Unless the NFL literary fiction team wants to hit a contrast with the Swifties arc and hit a Flint 2014 meets 1967 Detriot riots with a peaceful redistribution of wealth Superbowl parade on the streets of Detroit when they win 😂
vikes redemption and beat yo ass in the nfc championship and then fumble the superbowl
Nice. Clicked real fast
Read Confederacy of Dunces and Runaway Horses years ago, love the mention of those. 👍
That aside I have to say your videos are kind of a slog to get through because you go off on so many tangents, many of them having nothing to do with the material at hand. You just ramble on and on about whatever. I hate to in any way tell someone how they should run their channel, but someone has to say your videos would be so much better if you learned to edit down and stick to the content of the novel at hand. Maybe you could start a second channel and save your philosophical ruminations for that.
I don't think Vuong's the kind of poet you benefit from reading out of context, and I hate hating stuff so I'm biased always in a way, but he really doesn't reek to me the same way some otherrrrr best sellinggggg poEtssss doooo eeeeee. edit: not a great argument tho rip withdrawn
I’m a strong reader and can’t find any value in the P&V translations of The Idiot and Demons. Both horrible.
I read their translation of Demons my freshman year of college. It really turned me off from the book for a couple years until I did reread.
@ is there another translation that you can recommend?
13:02 Sounds like CNN fear mongering lol