What are you currently reading?

[washing machine]

Continued from the podcast thread

Currently listening to a 2019 episode of a pod called Weird Studies about William Gibson's novel Pattern Recognition. Really interesting how prescient that novel was.

https://www.weirdstudies.com/53

never read it. Is that the one about the psychic marketing wizard? Such a cool premise. But I've struggled to connect with Gibson's writing.

What is it exactly about his writing? I find that it's a strange, almost robotic mix of computer jargon, philosophy and poetry and can get why it's sometimes the worst of all three, but somehow that voice works so well with his subject matter for me that I end up not caring too much. The reward of living in his world is worth it when I read his novels.

Here's a classic example, from Pattern Recognition:

She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise that is London, that Damien's theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can't move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage.

Or this, from Virtual Light:

Physically transporting bits of information about a grid that consisted of little else, she provided a degree of absolute security in the fluid universe of data. With your memo in the girl’s bag, you knew precisely where it was; otherwise, your memo was nowhere, perhaps everywhere, in that instant of transit.

You got at this with your description, but it really reminds me of an instruction manual or feasibility report. He seems to make a great effort to make a convoluted idea fit into a single sentence, and it never flows. It always feels stilted and kind of herky jerky. I can’t ever settle into a groove; my brain actually has to work to pull together the significance of a passage, but not in a good or enjoyable kind of way.

You know, I said that living in his world is rewarding, but that's not true at all. His worlds are horrifying dystopias that are all the more terrifying considering he's become sort of a prophet for the near-future.

The more I think about why I like the way he writes about it, I can say that his approach has a way of making his worlds feel like sci-fi, an escape. I don't think I love his writing style, but I'm utterly fascinated by it. The poetry is there, buried deep in the detritus.

[BurtReynolds]

Exciting!

[BurtReynolds]

Tiny little pamphlet but technically a book

[Simple Torture]

I came across this quote today and got the itch; it's been 3 years...too soon?

"Do you know what the worst thing about literature is? said Don Pancracio. I knew, but I pretended I didn't. What? I said. That you end up being friends with writers."

[lennytheweedwhacker]

[bart]

I came across this quote today and got the itch; it's been 3 years...too soon?

"Do you know what the worst thing about literature is? said Don Pancracio. I knew, but I pretended I didn't. What? I said. That you end up being friends with writers."

That’s Robert Ludlum right?

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I came across this quote today and got the itch; it's been 3 years...too soon?

"Do you know what the worst thing about literature is? said Don Pancracio. I knew, but I pretended I didn't. What? I said. That you end up being friends with writers."

That’s Robert Ludlum right?

Michael Crichton.

[Simple Torture]

I came across this quote today and got the itch; it's been 3 years...too soon?

"Do you know what the worst thing about literature is? said Don Pancracio. I knew, but I pretended I didn't. What? I said. That you end up being friends with writers."

That’s Robert Ludlum right?

Michael Crichton.

Dan Brown.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I came across this quote today and got the itch; it's been 3 years...too soon?

"Do you know what the worst thing about literature is? said Don Pancracio. I knew, but I pretended I didn't. What? I said. That you end up being friends with writers."

That’s Robert Ludlum right?

Michael Crichton.

Dan Brown.

Desert Places.

[Simple Torture]

I came across this quote today and got the itch; it's been 3 years...too soon?

"Do you know what the worst thing about literature is? said Don Pancracio. I knew, but I pretended I didn't. What? I said. That you end up being friends with writers."

That’s Robert Ludlum right?

Michael Crichton.

Dan Brown.

Desert Places.

Full circle.

[Biff Pocoroba]

Spoiler: show

Never mind

Last edited by Biff Pocoroba on Wed May 18, 2022 2:05 am, edited 2 times in total.

[dad]

the TV
she reads to me
breaking news and network shows

[lennytheweedwhacker]

Spoiler: show

Never mind

Will do.

[epilogue]

Finished Popisho. Really loved it.

Now I'm on:

[dad]

just started this today.

[washing machine]

just started this today.

A truly influential read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I and several others on RM have. I knew you'd start reading it soon and that might have inspired me to go on a botched minimalist run this morning.

A personal anecdote: I traveled to the Copper Canyons by train with my parents, sister, grandparents, and some of their friends in the early 90s when it was still safe enough to do it. I remember buying a pair of those same tire sandals described in the book, strapping them on, and literally hopping across rocks and crags with a Tarahumara kid about my age who hung around one of the lodges where we were staying. It's one of the best memories from my childhood that I hope I never lose. I also hope to god I get a chance to introduce my son to those types of experiences.

[epilogue]

Finished Popisho. Really loved it.

Now I'm on:

This was a lot of fun.

[BurtReynolds]

[BurtReynolds]

[epilogue]

Started Secret History.