#2082

Also just picked it up, but it’s low in my pile right now. I think my partner is going to read it first.

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#2083

I’m a little over halfway through it right now and agree with your assessment. I’m surprised by how thorough it is. It’s giving me a much clearer idea of Russell’s personality as well as his creative/formal approach to music… If I have anything else to add when I’m done I’ll definitely post about it :slight_smile:

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#2084

He was an antisemitic nazi-sympathiser, there’s not much controversy about that…

#2085

Controversial in the sense of that question that we too often have to ask ourselves, can we separate the artist from their art?

Can we enjoy the art of Picasso, the compositions of Wagner, or the movies of Woody Allen ? They all seem like pretty terrible people…

I’m not denying that he was an awful person, an antisemite and a nazi.

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#2086

can i dare to say it is a bit too simplistic? have you read some of his works?
of course there was a time in which he’s been sucked in into the whole antisemitic stuff (but as always you have to keep in mind the context, which isn’t justifiyng him but put things a bit more in perspective).
i think céline was many things in his life, among them a contradictory vichy sympathizer and the writer of an antisemitic pamphlet, but also one of the greatest writers of last century and a medical doctor devoted to curing the poor (and poor as fuck himself).
that said , if we have to ban him from the history of literature, well, be my guest, but i suggest you first read some of his books if you haven’t already.

i’m currently reading the Upanisads by the way (the italian translation curated by Pio Filippani Ronconi)

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#2087

I’m wondering if anyone has any recommended academic texts regarding Skeuomorphism? I’m in the middle of writing an essay for a book on modular synthesis, and several of the manufacturers I’m interviewing have mentioned that concept in relationship to the simulation of analog media in eurorack, and I’d like to discuss it intelligently.

Been on an Alan Moore kick lately, read most of his stuff as a teenager, but never read Lost Girls, Promethea, or Miracleman. Finished Miracleman (book 1), and I’m about half way through Lost Girls. Over the last few years I’ve been revisiting my favorite authors/composer/filmmakers from high school and early college, and had recently read Moore’s Providence, which I liked. I think he’s overly didactic at times (which as a young person reading these was probably nice, but as some one a bit more familiar with the allusions, I’d prefer less hand-holding). Miracleman was interesting, although there was this one-off story included in the collection that reminded me of all the confusing superhereo dreck I was exposed to in the 90s. Lost Girls is, to my mind, mostly sad. I guess it’s controversial, but I didn’t find it pornographic as much as I found frank examinations of sexuality and the trauma surrounding it in some instances. I’m not finished with it, so I will reserve judgment.

Just began Musimathics, which seems promising, although I wish he (and all of electrical engineering literature as well) would dispense with the water metaphors. I don’t find them helpful at all.

I’m just finishing a monograph on David Lynch, The Unified Field, which, as expected, is mostly interesting for the images. Also pick up Twisted Visions, The Art of Junji Ito, which is nice, but probably skippable. Really curious when we’re finally going to get Daijiro Morohoshi in english. I’d really like to get a version of The Dark Myth that’s not an anime with unending expository narration.

Finally, I’ve gotten fairly deep into Clark Ashton Smith lately, particularly the Averoigne stories. I still prefer his poetry, but I can finally see why he’s help up along with H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard as a horror/fantasy writer.

#2088

I’m French, I’ve talked about that guy far too much over the years :slight_smile:

And no, I haven’t read his books because I can’t fully dissociate the person and the books. And I have many other things to read.

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#2089

I’m 100 pages into The Revisionaries, and while it’s a cool premise written by someone who writes excellent tweets–that talent isn’t scaling up. I want to like this book, but I think it’s just bad writing. It feels like really green Vonnegut.

#2090

i feel that way sometimes about Neil Gaiman’s writing: he writes well, but i think as he got famous, he got used to writing metaphysically about what it’s like to be a successful author(“view from the cheap seats” was astoundingly boring to me(i think you need to be a fanboi or something…), and then i read “smoke and mirrors” and there’s all these intros as to why he wrote any of the stories, i find them pretty boring too…) after reading all this, i got tired of Neil writing about himself all the time, and it starts to affect how i see his actual ‘fiction’. but he’s a great author, no doubt, at some point, i’ll try again with his work for sure… but it can hurt our perception of the writing, sometimes, to see authors writing in different contexts other than the ones where their voice sounds most authentic(i’m a reader who reads for personality, just as much as for story).

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#2091

It’s so funny that you mention Neil! I’ve been on a tear listening to a bunch of his talks and interviews online. I like hearing him speak (his cadence, tone, etc. / While disliking the canned answers, which are only apparently if you listen to a lot of interviews) but his writing is just too…sweet. I’m not into adjectives that communicate British quaintness.
Though lately, precisely because I’ve been listening to him speak about his writing, I’ve had the impulse to pull Good Omens off the shelf. It’s like a craving.

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#2092

His short story anthologies, Song for the Unravelling of the World and A Collapse of Horses are both quite good.

#2093

i finished three books recently:

there were many elements of this book that i enjoyed but there were many that felt a bit contrived and stereotypical. the language is beautiful and many of the scenes are hauntingly gorgeous. the structure of the book was also enjoyable in terms of a collapsing sense of narrative lines and tension/rhythm. i also really enjoyed the elements of radio technologies that flowed throughout the author’s interest in telegraphy and communication. however, much of the characterization felt a bit too typical and predictable during WWII, despite one the main characters being a blind woman. i also was fairly unsatisfied with the ending. but, it was an enjoyable read overall, just didn’t knock my socks off.

speaking of knocking my socks off, this one left me bare footed. while it’s a brief read, i was entranced from the first page to the last. perfect balance of experimental storytelling, emotional humanization, and a more dramatic story arc than i was expecting. the ending left me with pangs of emotion and i truly missed the world that was built. highly recommend it. i actually want to re-read it again soon and literally map out the world on paper to better understand and visualize the intricacies of its architecture.

just finished this today and really enjoyed it. a great blend of space opera, political intrigue, and cyberpunk futurism. once it gets going, it’s hard to put down. the characters were very well written and impactful; i wanted to live in their world. very happy to see that more is to come in this series (next one comes out in march), i will be eager to see more work from arkady martine.

5 Likes
#2094

Currently reading, or trying to:

A lot of the math is beyond me. I think the book makes a heroic effort to introduce some of the more challenging concepts, with some decent analogies that aren’t too hard to follow at first… but I just am not going to absorb much about complex numbers and calculus at anything like a normal reading pace, and I don’t feel motivated enough to slow down and really learn it or take a course or something.

But still, I’ve had some moments where I realized “oh, that’s why that works!” So I’m just going to skim the densest of it and try to follow the general concepts.

In terms of subject matter, this book is probably a lot more relevant to synthesis and digital audio than the first, but I’d recommend both to anyone who’s curious about the math.

I have dipped my toes just a little bit into DSP in the past, with some REALLY simple IIR and FIR filters and some experiments with an FFT library without quite knowing what I was doing, and more on nonlinear waveshaping or just doing unusual things to buffers. I don’t think I’m going to wade any deeper into tool-making waters because I’d rather just make music, but I still find this stuff fun.

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#2095

I finally finished ‘Hold Onto Your Dreams’. One reoccurring theme throughout the book was Arthur Russell’s obsession with finding the perfect version of his songs. He had so many mixes and didn’t seem to be satisfied with most of them, and this obsessiveness continued into his final days when his brain was foggy from dementia and he could barely speak.

This particular aspect of his story left me with a complex feeling. In one sense, I was inspired to know that he was dedicated to his music to the very end, but I was also saddened with the idea that he never found relief or self-acceptance through his music. I’ve been reflecting on this a lot, thinking about my own mental habits and feelings of self-value as I continue on my “endless” creative journey, attempting (and often failing) to express what’s in my head.

edit:
On a less morose note, there’s plenty to be inspired by such as this excerpt:

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#2096

There was an article a few years ago, but this (Bullshit Jobs: A Thoery is the actual title) is a more recent and thorough treatment of the subject.

Chapter 7 (“What are the political effects of bullshit jobs, and is there anything that can be done about this situation?”) is particularly good IMHO, with some plausible views on present-day political divisions and the recommendation of UBI as a possible solution. (And a caveat that it’s not “a book about UBI”.)

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#2097

Reprint of Zimmermann’s Desert Plants, I think this was posted here by Tom Whitwell last year. It’s a wonderful book for so many reasons - least of which the verbatim transcripts which include ums, ahs and phones ringing.

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(excerpt from the Philip Corner interview)

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#2098

This is the second or third time I’ve read it. My current project though is an exploration of granular synthesis possibilities, so it seemed an appropriate choice of reading material :slight_smile:

I’m inclined to treat this stuff in a much less academic and deliberate manner, but a more casual approach to it is really only enabled by technology that the pioneers of granular synthesis could only dream about back in the day. The early experiments seem pretty primitive now, like sound one might want to avoid – but I find Horacio Vaggione’s work really engrossing so far.

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#2099

Ah that’s disappointing I’m maybe a third of the way in and finding it quite complicated and hard-going already. :slight_smile:

#2100

I read Gnomon last year and really liked it. It can be a bit convoluted sometimes but I think it really works in the end. I really enjoyed this book, I should get another one from him (but I already have too many unread books to read :wink: ).

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#2101

Just finished Transcendent Waves by Lavender Suarez

Great short read on listening and creativity. Has a nice mix of science and philosophy plus love the artwork and coloured paper.

Have it in my studio space as an inspritation starter.

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