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"He decided to take the plumbing out of his house and completely replace it with poetry, and so he did."
To read Brautigan is to take all that mental plumbing clogged up with shit and replace it with poetry!
Time Out of Joint is a dystopian novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, first …
Original The Truman Show, but horribly paced and with far less meaningful of a massage.
This fella sure loves solitude.
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer is a 1982 novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. …
The most human of Philip K. Dick's works, which is quite bizarre considering that a large portion of this work is philosophical speculation. While I do not think this novel works as a whole, I do believe that the theme of grief is particularly well explored, for it does not take the form of mere abstract conjecture, but also manages to gracefully stir up emotions that one seldom gets to experience in the ordinary everyday existence.
The Medium is the Message
Apparently (what can be ascertained by the means of eyesight), an empty (assessment of space by the means of eyesight) statement, vaguely gesturing (observation of movement by the means of eyesight) at some pseudo-visionary (the ability to imagine with originality or wisdom - to see the future) idea. However, it is anything but. Oral tradition privileges the ear and the written tradition the eye, but most crucially, the medium through which information is conveyed influences both how we think about that particular piece of information and all the other information. There exists a symbiotic relationship between the medium and ourselves. As the new medium emerges, we adapt to it, or maybe more accurately, it adapts us to itself, but we shape it further, for ultimately we are the creates of the medium in the first place. The oldest medium, language, is the foremost example …
The Medium is the Message
Apparently (what can be ascertained by the means of eyesight), an empty (assessment of space by the means of eyesight) statement, vaguely gesturing (observation of movement by the means of eyesight) at some pseudo-visionary (the ability to imagine with originality or wisdom - to see the future) idea. However, it is anything but. Oral tradition privileges the ear and the written tradition the eye, but most crucially, the medium through which information is conveyed influences both how we think about that particular piece of information and all the other information. There exists a symbiotic relationship between the medium and ourselves. As the new medium emerges, we adapt to it, or maybe more accurately, it adapts us to itself, but we shape it further, for ultimately we are the creates of the medium in the first place. The oldest medium, language, is the foremost example of this phenomenon. Today, we can even prove it scientifically. Well, what are different mediums, but different languages? This has reached its apex with the dawn of the internet, the medium we are still wandering through without the complete appreciation of how different it is from all of the mediums of the past. The global village has never been more global. It is fast and vast. This is reflected in the primary language of the internet, memes. Memes used to be more durable, as certain memes used to last for years, but as the newer generations which primarily grew up on the internet assumed primacy, the staying power of any particular meme has become null; unless, of course, it manages to evolve rapidly, and the longer the meme remains the center of attention, the less it must resemble the original.
The medium is the message and deep-fried, post-irony memes are the proof.
In The Divine Invasion, Philip K. Dick asks: What if God--or a being called Yah--were …
This work lacks everything that made VALIS fun, as we lost the chaos, creativity, and insanity of the VALIS.
If VALIS is pure schizo-posting, then The Divine Invasion is a sad, pulpy attempt at christology.
The Transmigration of Timothy Archer is a 1982 novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. …
This book is Foucault's Pendulum of theology and spiritualism.
Pure ssssssssssssschizo-posting!
Wow! I was genuinely astonished by this work. Before reading it, I looked at its length and thought that it will just be another book with an intriguing premise that the author did not know where to go with or how to end. I was wrong! The whole work is an exploration of different temperaments and different schools of thought existing in both the world of psychotherapy and the everyday. The ending, while no doubt will irk some, is perfect. This type of exploration necessities ambiguity, to encourage readers to explore further and hinder dogmatic sentiments. Yalom, this just might be one of your best.
Pastiche. An utter artistic failure.
I probably would not be so critical of this work if I were not such a fan of Neilan's other work. Then, again, I am pretty certain I would have never picked this one up if I were not such a fan of Apathy and Other Small Victories. Unfortunately, this work has no witticism nor playfulness of Apathy and Other Small Victories. The story, themes, and ideas are nothing new, which is fine, not everything has to be new, but the author chose to present them in such an uninspired way. Worst of all, this book is simply boring, and unless you need to make your work boring to send an intended message, do not make your work fucking boring.
After 15 years, Neilan blesses us with a new book, just for it to be a curse.
What was Borges? First and foremost, an author, but what other title shall we crown him with? Philosopher? Theologian? Anthropologist? Mystic? Lunatic? No doubt, whichever one we decide on, it will belie. My friends, do not be mistaken, Borges was far greater than any of the aforementioned titles would suggest, as he was no less but the lover of infinity, poet of the impossible, dreamer of language, and a dutiful explorer of the soul - both of every living being and the universe itself. His genius cannot be questioned, yet not all of his works are alike. Although each and every one of the works is written in a style that can only be described as methodical and imaginative, the tales range from dreadfully dull to nearly managing to caress the transcendental. Curiously enough, I looked around, and it would seem that virtually all of the great tales of Borges …
What was Borges? First and foremost, an author, but what other title shall we crown him with? Philosopher? Theologian? Anthropologist? Mystic? Lunatic? No doubt, whichever one we decide on, it will belie. My friends, do not be mistaken, Borges was far greater than any of the aforementioned titles would suggest, as he was no less but the lover of infinity, poet of the impossible, dreamer of language, and a dutiful explorer of the soul - both of every living being and the universe itself. His genius cannot be questioned, yet not all of his works are alike. Although each and every one of the works is written in a style that can only be described as methodical and imaginative, the tales range from dreadfully dull to nearly managing to caress the transcendental. Curiously enough, I looked around, and it would seem that virtually all of the great tales of Borges can be found in a much smaller collection named Labyrinths.
A list of those great tales:
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
The Library of Babel
The Garden of Forking Paths
The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero
Three Versions of Judas
The Immortal
The Theologians
Deutsches Requiem
The Writing of the God
Toenails
Mutations
Brodie's Report
The Other
"Grappling with many of the themes Philip K. Dick is best known for--identity, altered reality, …
This story could almost be summarized as an exploration of the Hegelian dialectic of recognition. How is my reality, my self, impacted by the way people perceive me, or choose to not perceive, or are unable to perceive me because I seemingly do not exist. The work is neat, no doubt, but left me somewhat unsatisfied.
Blue of Noon (French: Le Bleu du Ciel) is an erotic novella by Georges Bataille. …
To love life yet hate death is but a folly. One loves life along with death or one does not love life at all. The essence of love itself is its potent prerogative to perish.
I told her very softly, ‘Don’t cry any more. I just had to have you act crazy. I needed it so as not to die.’
"But what sort of offense! I'll explain publicly what happened. If people are human they'll have to laugh."
"As you like. But you'll learn either that people aren't human or that you don't know what humans are like. They won't laugh."
A Scanner Darkly is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, published …
I have read a few books written by and about druggies and drugs, think William S. Burroughs and Irvine Welsh, and I have largely enjoyed them even when I did not believe them to be good works. The thing with A Scanner Darkly is that I found the writing neither authentic nor original and the story quite mediocre. Yet, I do not honestly dislike it, and although I would not say I enjoyed it in the sense that it is a book written by a druggie about druggies, there is a certain other atmosphere to it that makes it work - as much as I can say that it works. I would also note that I do not believe one really gets anything extra out of this book as compared to the movie based on it, and I would recommend the movie over the book.
Introduction by China MievilleLong acknowledged as a master of nightmarish visions, H. P. Lovecraft established …
This work is simply disappointing. I was willing to suffer through all those tedious, technical, and dry descriptions at the beginning, hoping that the latter half of the book will be mystical and worthy of madness, but it was not. It was rather uninspired. This story does not justify its length, especially since it felt like Lovecraft spent too much time describing certain things which did not warrant such emphasis, while completely neglecting others that indeed could have used a lot more focus.
