Pardon me while i go throw up
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Thought Iâd cross-post this, as itâs not all that relevant to gardening.
(Well, maybe tangentially)
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I finally finished reading Elizabeth Sandiferâs Neoreactionary A Basilisk. I definitely recommend it, as it was originally published not long after Trump got elected the first time, and itâs clear that some people could very well see these connections between the alt-right, far right, TERFS, and the MAGA movement way back then.
Now Iâm reading thisâŠ
Which is absolutely excellent so far. It very much confirms a lot of what I think about Sisko as a character within the Trek universe. Itâs worth a read if your a Trekkie, and even if your just kind of a casual fan.
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Wow. Iâm seeing this review making the rounds, by people praising it and finding it funny, but it just strikes me as needlessly and wrongly cruel. I read Vuongâs furst book and thought it was beautifully and bravely poetic. Havenât read his second yet. Maybe he struck a nerve in such readers? 
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I heard Ocean Vuong on Fresh Air last week and it sounds like a lovely bookâŠ
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Right?
I just donât understand why that review is so vicious. Unless the writer is some far-right asshole.
I assume itâs this author:
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Looks like⊠not familiar with him or his work⊠Here is other reviewsâŠ
I dunno, maybe he had a bad interaction with Vuong, but maybe then he shouldnât be writing reviews of his books?
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Maybe Crewe is trying to stake out his own creative territory. I hate when creatives attack other creatives while doing that. Just do your own thing, dude.
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Just finished it up⊠yeah, strikes me that heâs doing that⊠writing scathing criticism of a popular work, and watch the mentions roll in⊠Honestly, it comes off as kind of classist and maybe even racist. It strikes me that Vuong, having grown up in a family that spoke one language and having to learn another was working to combine the two in expressing his experiences, which seem to be very subjective from the lines Crewes posted⊠like he keeps whinging about how bullies in these books are not âhumanizedâ but, thatâs the subjectivity of Vuongâs experiences as a 6 year old being bullied, it seems to me, and later of a worker trying to deal with unreasonable bosses in a fast food environment.
Anyway, makes me want to read these books all the more, not less.
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Exactly, thanks for that. I thought something similar about the rhetorical excess that Crewe finds so unbearable. Especially in the second novel, Vuong says (in a quote that Crewe provides) that he wrote the book as the character might write his own story; that could include poetic language that goes over the top sometimes as a reflection of the character â as a form of characterization.
Anyway, even if we were to attribute the rhetorical excess to Vuong, he IS a (great) poet, and I appreciate writers who work to make their language itself interesting as they tell stories. Sure, they can go too far sometimes, but thatâs better for me overall than the staid, boring, unadorned prose that so many writers use.
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Agreed on all points! Vuong is going on my to read list, and Crewes is going on my never to read list!
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Forgive me for just posting up a newspaper summer reading list without having read it but I often find these fascinating for themes that emerge as well as the great variety of recommendations from writers.
Of note the couple of people focused on Muriel Spark (including the great Ali Smith which reminds me she has a new book out â recommended on this list â which I must read because sheâs great), and a couple of people recommending Helen Garnerâs diaries which is not my normal kind of thing but really makes me want to read them. Zadie Smithâs recommendations look good right at the start, particularly the upcoming novel CĂ©cĂ©. William Dalrympleâs picks look like must reads too, but I make a rod to beat my back with there!
Back to things I actually am reading and apologies if Iâve said it before but The Odyssey in Emily Wilsonâs translation read by Claire Danes. If youâve been meaning to read this, I recommend this translation. I did read comparative passages from about 20 after reading an article by Daniel Mendelssohn on how he came to translate and how he believed you should revisit it in different stages of your life to get different meanings. This was the one for me, a clear winner, I had only read the Rhieu one before which was the default, Penguin Classics, when I was a kid. This is much better for me. Iâm going slowly because of syncing issues on my devices when Iâm out running and, happily, Iâm not on my own walking the dog these days (though I sometimes sneak him out for another walk to get some me and podcast/radio drama/audiobook time).
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