Things to share this weekend (10/19/24)
more book lists, literary scene, college kids, dystopian novels + notes on reading/watching/listening
114 books reviewed in about one paragraph each (Mark Manson)
Just a list of books, mostly non-fiction
You may recognize Mark’s name from a certain explicitly named bestseller (did I read it? or just the article? can’t remember)
But Mark reads a lot of shall-we-say “popular” type nonfiction so if you want a quick overview, this is a good list
I may do a similar list, seems like a good idea
Best Dystopian Novels (5 Books)
There are more than 5 books on this list
I like reading dystopian in the fall more so than horror
I don’t really know what dystopian means, I’m not going to Google it right now, something like “bleak alternate reality/maybe actually reality”
If that’s the case, I’d add Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel to this list, one of my faves of the past few years
Semi-related, if you want a sophisticated zombie fiction, my wife is reading Severance by Ling Ma which is supposed to be about zombies, but is really about living in New York City and then I’d also recommend Zone One by Colson Whitehead, which tbh is my fave Colson Whitehead novel and no one ever mentions it, it may be the only one I’ve read, I should probably change that
College kids don’t read long books (by me)
Enjoyed writing this!
And apparently kids don’t read long books anymore
What does it take to make a successful literary scene? (Decentralized Fiction)
Thinking about writing more about this…
This piece isn’t as much of an overview as I would like and there are some odd somewhat political rabbit holes that you may/may not want to venture down, but this overall point is very compelling to me:
Chaos is the thing that’s missing from modern literature and its professionalization, over-credentialism, sensitivity readers, and pastel-covered pablum.
In this regard, aesthetic diversity is only useful insofar as it reproduces the turbulent chaos of a wave, a never-ending combinatorial explosion of generative aesthetic possibilities, landing with the greatest possible force imaginable.
The Twenty-Something Tweens (Cafe Hysteria)
Linked in the article above and a few years old, but generational stagnation seems to be growing more acute.
I was in a group recently and the topic was about the “crisis of men” and part of it was just the idea of infantilization being extended
This is more about 20-somethings liking music that was once reserved for teens, even though the music is usually made my 20-somethings?
Good last point:
Where possible, in the face of the challenges of our modern world and with an awareness of our own very real softness and personal challenges, I think we would benefit from pushing back against a world that reaps the returns of our infantilization. A life free of responsibility - as mind-numbing as it may feel - isn’t necessarily a better one.
Notes on reading/watching/listening:
Bit the bullet and started A Little Life which isn’t sad…yet
Grabbed this autofiction compilation while at Powerhouse Arena Books, published by their in-house publisher
Started Disclaimer on AppleTV after hearing about it on a podcast. Kind of intense, and it feels like one of those older prestige TV shows — it has Cate Blanchett and was directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Took the girls to see The Wild Robot in theaters, in 3-D! They loved it
NBA RANDOM-ness: I also have an NBA newsletter (very small) and we started a fantasy league so you can sign up for that if you’re interested
Keep going-
Josh Spilker
Opposite of utopian. :-)