What are you reading?

[yay]

just started norwegian wood, first murakami for me. only at chapter 5 so far, and it reminds me alot of homo faber somehow. although i haven't read that one in maybe 7 years, so my mind might be distorted. have to say, i'm already really taken by his writing. he might just become on of my favorites real soon

[Faust]

You are lucky, you are starting with the best one. I couldn't care less for other Murakami books. Solipsistic, self-indulgent bullshit.

Starting The Wanderers by Richard Price. My third Price book, after Clockers and Lush Life. I love how his ability to elevate crime fiction to the level of literature. Some of you might have noticed that he was a co-writer for some of the episodes of the Wire.

[GucciAmen]

/\ So true, Faust. After looking into his other works, found out they don't really appeal to me like Norwegian Wood does.

Almost finished with Light in August by William Faulkner, first novel I've read of his; I highly recommend it. Very passionate writer, he conveys the complexity of emotions quite well, making each event in the novel incredibly intricate in depth.

I think I may read Confessions of a Mask by Mishima next... I ought to get to my hulking copy of Don Quixote soon but I want to finish the rest of my novels on the nightstand before I give it all my devotion.

[Faust]

Ok, I obviously was too critical. :-) You can disregard the "bullshit" part.

[bukka]

I think I may read Confessions of a Mask by Mishima next... I ought to get to my hulking copy of Don Quixote soon but I want to finish the rest of my novels on the nightstand before I give it all my devotion.

Go for it, excellente reading.

Read First tragedy then farce by Zizek. It's been a long time since I read something that bad. What the fuck seriously. He has absolutely no cohesion, jumping from Israel to Spiderman to whatever crosses his mind. I admit there are some very eloquent phrases, but that efficiency in style goes to waste because of all the subjacent hate against whatever that doesn't fit into his definition of communism.
I know people here like it, FMC, Fuuma, etc. So please, let me know what I should read from him before I completely give up.

Didn't read much novels lately, Modianos'Rue des Boutiques Obscures and Kobo Abe'sThe Woman in the Dunes, both very pleasant readings.

[shisou]

(and perhaps cocaine) seem to have damaged his capacity to produce anything readable.

this is the first i have heard of such murmurings. is it just rumour or are you privy to some inside info?

i can only recall him making any reference to drug use once, in an essay i forget the title of, when discussing how his european friend wasn't allowed to smoke at a party somewhere in california.

[Faust]

this is the first i have heard of such murmurings. is it just rumour or are you privy to some inside info?

i can only recall him making any reference to drug use once, in an essay i forget the title of, when discussing how his european friend wasn't allowed to smoke at a party somewhere in california.

I am guessing, FMC refers to the multiple videos where Zizek behaves like a total coke addict.

[blackfedora]

Yep. Is even worse when you meet him in person. Nobody I've talked to seems to know for sure, though. Might just be a misreading of his hyperactivity and a few odd mannerisms.

If his nose is constantly running/dripping then it's the blow. If he smells reminiscent of burnt plastic, crack.

[shisou]

Yep. Is even worse when you meet him in person. Nobody I've talked to seems to know for sure, though. Might just be a misreading of his hyperactivity and a few odd mannerisms.

I've always tried to avoid Žižek on film/vid because of that behaviour and those mannerisms described above. I, naively perhaps, always just put it down to him having a "condition" or "disorder" or whatever the polite term for such a thing is these days.
(e.g. he is apparently popping Xanax during this 1998 interview: http://www.robertboynton.com/article...?article_id=43)
Furthermore, i regarded his "eccentricity" and "schizoidishness" as part of a deliberately Kynical performance--a veritable praxis of Sloterdijk that has turned out to be highly profitable and rewarding for Z.

But now i may have to reevaluate his position in "Theory":
Benjamin = hashish; (a young) Derrida = amphetamines; Žižek = coke.
if it is true, maybe it is just a case of him doing his part (through careful sourcing of product) to support and help fund leftist revolutionary groups in Latin America.


i managed to find the article where he mentions drug use (not his own, of course)-- i can't quite picture it though: senior academics at a dinner party smoking crack?/heroin?/meth? then again, there is the recent case of Prof Douglas McWilliams...........

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/21/prix-pictet-photography-prize-consumption-slavoj-zizek

[bukka]

If his nose is constantly running/dripping then it's the blow. If he smells reminiscent of burnt plastic, crack.

I don't think the smell is really necessary to spot a crack addict...

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To anyone interested in Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy, Thierry Melchior's Créer le réel is one of the best theoretical books I've ever read. Hell, everyone should read it and get a better understand of what Ericksonian hypnosis is. This is the most fascinating reading I had in the last 12 month (next to Beckett).

[bukka]

Tonight, a huge piece of literature that I've been missing for ages will finally unveil its secrets: Lo - li - ta.
I'll be back in a week or so.

[Faust]

YES!!!

[rickandjulius]

I started Lolita but never finished. I should really read more. Balancing school and work sucks.

[GucciAmen]

Tonight, a huge piece of literature that I've been missing for ages will finally unveil its secrets: Lo - li - ta.
I'll be back in a week or so.

I still have not read a work by Nabokov yet... I think I'm going to hit up Lolita after my next five books on the nightstand are read.

Finished Confessions of a Mask today--wow, such a beautiful novel. The traumatic exploration of Kochan into the metaphysics of desire and purpose in a society-which perpetuates heteronormativity-was unlike anything else I have ever read. Thank you for urging me to give it a chance.

Up next is a collection of writings by Oscar Wilde; notably: De Profundis (as recommended by Faust ).

[yay]

just finished "pereira maintains" a small historical novel about a journalist in portugal during salazars dictatorship. it's pretty good, can recommend it.

started reading "blindness" by saramago, wanted to stay in portugal. not a huge fan so far, but we will see.