What are you reading?

[trentk]

Rereading the 3rd issue of collapse, concept horror.

A passage from Reza Negarestani's "necrophilic investigation into the idea of ontology as a system of metaphysical cruelty which reveals vitalism to be a ‘farce’ played out among the remains of the already-dead":

a living man or woman was tied to a rotting corpse, face to face, mouth to mouth, limb to limb, with an obsessive exactitude in which each part of the body corresponded with its matching putrefying counterpart. Shackled to their rotting double, the man or woman was left to decay. To avoid the starvation of the victim and to ensure the rotting bonds between the living and the dead were fully established, the Etruscan robbers continued to feed the victim appropriately. Only once the superficial difference between the corpse and the living body started to rot away through the agency of worms, which bridged the two bodies, establishing a differential continuity between them, did the Etruscans stop feeding the living. Once both the living and the dead had turned black through putrefaction, the Etruscans deemed it appropriate to unshackle the bodies, by now combined together, albeit on an infinitesimal, vermicular level.

edit:should've posted this 6 days ago

[xmattyx]

I don't know, Beckett does a great job of translating "Zone," as do a few others. There is a pretty excellent translation of Alcools, although, for the life of me, I cannot remember who did it. Revell, maybe? I'm too lazy to stand up and check.

Right now I'm reading
Charles Patterson - Eternal Treblinka
Peter Weiss - The Aesthetics of Resistance
and a galley proof of a book about the relationship between Alzheimer's Disease and nutrition.

[Faust]

re: mayakovsky/apollinaire. funny, i feel the same way about mayakovsky. i have a paperback with some of his poems/bedbug, and bits and pieces of it are really arresting, but the whole has never grabbed me, probably because something is lacking in the translation.

thanks.

It could also be about knowing the zeitgeist of the young Soviet Russia. It's very reflective in Myakovsky. But anyway, who knows how much of his poetry was genuine enthusiasm and how much was mere lies. Bedbug, I uploaded a performance on youtube for mr.merz - alas, you must know Russian to see it.

[trentk]

thanks.

A little note about Negarestani, since I take it you're reading his essay.

I'm not sure that he exists. I won't say too much, because:
1. This is only a suspicion.
2. Too much commentary on his possible inexistence would spoil his book, Cyclonopedia. The scene of action in his book, isn't properly confined to the book. Its more about blurring your distinction between fact and reality and sending you on a paranoid search to find whether or not Negarestani exists. Instead of describing fictional situations and generating affects based on the readers reaction to these situations, he generates real situations, such that one suspects parallels in the text. For example, you'll read about something like ()hole complex (with an evaporative "w"), and you can't quite tell whether its a real theory, or whether he's just screwing with your suspicions as to his inexistence. I guess I would say this its borderline-ficticious philosophy as opposed to philosophical fiction. Its philosophy that allows you to experience the concepts while, or sometimes before they're explicitly created. Its equal parts Deleuze, Nick Land, Necronomican, and morbid biology textbook.

Maybe this will clear things up... or further confuse you.


edit: paging viv1984viv: does Negarestani exist? Is he as fake as the root of his last name indicates? Is he Nick Land? Is he a group of people associated with the CCRU?

[Czx]

Just finished Bukowski's Hollywood. Highly entertaining lecture presenting an interesting "behind the scene" look into the Hollywood society which doesn't escape from controversional scenes. Watching Barfly afterwise was especially fun, would highly recommend to do so if anyone picks up the book.
Currently on Maurice Blanchot's Death Sentence. Amazing book to be honest. Such an overwhelming style and content, I feel embraced.

By the way, could anyone recommend me some less known books which have an interesting take on the topic of loneliness? I will need to build up and bibilography for my speaking presentation and I would definietly have more fun presenting more obscure lectures as to avoid using what everone else who chose the topic will (which I assume will be school lectures, as many of them touch the subject, or well known books).

[Faust]

/\ Roman s Kokainom by Ageyev (whose title was unfortunately translated into English)

Herzog by Saul Bellow

Malina by Ingeborg Bachmann

Austerlitz by W.G.Sebald (not exactly about loneliness, but could fit)

[Czx]

Thanks, was counting on you actually :)
Seems like an interesting list, and I meant to read Herzog after I'm done with Blanchot anyway so that's good news.

[FOREVER]

Currently reading:

The Chronology Of Water - Lidia Yuknavitch
(a book Chuck Palahniuk gave me when I met him.. one of his favourites of this year. The first autobiography I'm enjoying)

Choke - Chuck Palahniuk (I felt guilty not finishing Choke after I spoke Palahniuk so I am re-reading it now)

Gimmick! - Joost Zwagerman (bought it for 2 euros yesterday, I remember this being my half-brother's favourite book in his childhood)

[xmattyx]

Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet and Yi Sang's story The Wings immediately jump to my mind as good evocations of loneliness.

[Mail-Moth]

^ And Rilke's Malte Laurids Brigge.

[luke]

recently finished...
"of mice and men" john steinbeck
"mother, brother, lover" jarvis cocker

starting now...
"the secret history" donna tartt

[Czx]

Big thanks for all the propositions. If anyone haves any else suggestions please do post them :)

[Atom]

Most of Mr. Murakami's books are about loneliness as well.

(sorry, couldn't resist)

[Faust]

/\ haha, it's quite true!

[Faust]

recently finished...
"of mice and men" john steinbeck
"mother, brother, lover" jarvis cocker

starting now...
"the secret history" donna tartt

You should read The Grapes of Wrath, if you haven't already. Makes you want to go out and kill some Republicans.