What are you reading

[UnwaveringTide]

Got about 20 pages left of The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, next on my docket is Seize the Day by Saul Bellow. I have been pretty unfocused with my reading this year but Kathy Acker's My Mother: Demonology was enrapturing and would highly, HIGHLY recommend for fans of Bataille and Henry Miller

[Commander15]

Currently i'm reading Eumeswil by Ernst Jünger, Kaputtby Curzio Malaparte and Ride the Tiger by Julius Evola.

Kaputt was good, but very strange.  Definitely an interesting combination of reporting, self-aggrandizement, and hyperbole!

I agree! At times it felt almost like a grotesque fever dream where you couldn't discern the fact from the fiction, i.e. hundreds of frozen horses on the Lake Ladoga, the Jassy pogrom or the Naples bombing scene at the end. There is an strong melancholic undercurrent present in this book that i interpret as an Malaparte's personal sorrow for Europe's state of decline and horrors of WWII.

[Balor/SS1535]

Currently i'm reading Eumeswil by Ernst Jünger, Kaputtby Curzio Malaparte and Ride the Tiger by Julius Evola.

Kaputt was good, but very strange.  Definitely an interesting combination of reporting, self-aggrandizement, and hyperbole!

I agree! At times it felt almost like a grotesque fever dream where you couldn't discern the fact from the fiction, i.e. hundreds of frozen horses on the Lake Ladoga, the Jassy pogrom or the Naples bombing scene at the end. There is an strong melancholic undercurrent present in this book that i interpret as an Malaparte's personal sorrow for Europe's state of decline and horrors of WWII.

There was the sorrow, definitely---but it felt, at times, like there was a bit of glee for himself as well?  Especially in some of the sections most directly dealing with Nazi genocide, where he tries to paint himself as a hero despite doing nothing in reality (as far as I understand, at least).  I would need to reread to be more specific, it's been a few years now.

He reminded me of Celine a bit too, now that I think of it more.

[BlackCavendish]

Just finished Wilhelm Reich e il segreto dei dischi volanti, which is about Reich's latest years and his "war" against UFOs.
Currently reading David Ulansey's The Origins of the Mithraic Mysteries: Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World (I'm halfway through and so far is good), next in line is the recently translated (at least in italian) Memoria de la Sangre, Miguel Serrano y la renovación del mito heroico, a book about Miguel Serrano written by his personal assistant Carlos Videla.

[lacross]

Exhibition by Kevin Cousins. I'm only a little less than half finished so far. I can't recommend it. It has plenty of errors and overall, it's not very well written.

[tisbor]

Just finished "Récit secret" by Drieu La Rochelle. Really gut wrenching (but relatable) descriptions of very early suicide impulses written in the most elegant way.

[Commander15]

"Volga virtaa nyt Moskovaan" by Olavi Paavolainen. Postume collection of Paavolainen's writings about Soviet Union.

[Phenol]

Unica Zürn - "Dark Spring". A young girl's fantasies about sex and death written in a very up-beat and diary like style. No chapters, just text in a constant flow with one thought replacing the other. A very quick read and pretty transgressive in its places. Recommended. Next up is "The Stepson" by Juan José Saer about a young boy onboard a ship that gets lost in the jungle and is overtaken by cannibals. As far as I understand the boy is uncertain whether or not the gruesome stuff he is witnessing is really happening or if he's dreaming and the whole thing is supposed to feel very surreal and mindbending. Looking forward to this one!

[John Cagefight]

The Cracking Tower - Jim DeKorne
Really excellent early internet-era psychedelia, though his style reads as distinctly grounded when compared to his more famous contemporary Terence McKenna. This book is less about chemicals and more focused on self-development within a Perennial Philosophy-styled context. Structure is broken up via ten chapters named for each sephiroth of the qabalah. Reads like warm oatmeal on a cold morning.

[Atrophist]

A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames

I struggle with author at times. Some of the thing he has written, like The Alcoholic and The Extra Man are some of my all-time favorites. But he has also written some deeply uninteresting stuff and also been involved in creating some pretty wretched television shows.

His Happy Doll series seems to fall somewhere in the middle. For unclear reasons, he seems to have decided to launch a classic LA detective noir series. While this isn't terrible, and it's a fun, quick read, it's also pretty forgettable. And the main character just isn't particularly interesting. Still, I'll probably pick up at least part #2 of the series, just to see where this goes.

[godstar]

just finished 'philosophy in the bedroom' by de sade, now reading 'storm of steel' by jünger. both really intense i tell you that

[Balor/SS1535]

just finished 'philosophy in the bedroom' by de sade, now reading 'storm of steel' by jünger. both really intense i tell you that

Fun combo!

[BlackCavendish]

The conspiracy against the human race - Thomas Ligotti

I had high expectations for this, maybe too much since I'm a fan of his fiction writings, but so far (I'm halfway through) is ups and downs...

[Balor/SS1535]

The conspiracy against the human race - Thomas Ligotti

I had high expectations for this, maybe too much since I'm a fan of his fiction writings, but so far (I'm halfway through) is ups and downs...

That's how I felt when I last read it a few years ago.  He's interesting, but I think his fiction and the sources are better than his experiment in philosophy.

[re:evolution]

For a different perspective, after reading 'Conspiracy...' I reread his collected fiction and consequently got more out of them than 'just' being short horror stories. Basically, his philosophical musings are heavily embedded within and underpin his fictional writings.