Craft Notes
i may be old but i can still read
Alec’s post got me thinking. See: in a couple months, I’ll be a decade older than Alec. A decade! Whereas those of you already past your twenties will kick me for saying it: I’m already mourning the loss of my youth. I’ve been mourning it since I turned 24! (And to be fair, I didn’t really start writing until then…)
But why? Why are people so revved up about Alec’s post? Why is age such a sensitive issue?
One day, I’ll probably look like this:
Well, ok, maybe I won’t be wearing the hat & I won’t be missing teeth, but my point is that one day, I’ll be old & you’ll be old & Ryan Call hopes he’ll still be blogging here when he’s in his 50’s.
I’m getting off point though.
There are virtues in being young, sure. Virginia Woolf thought the best “season” for reading was between 18 and 24. I’m way past my reading prime! And the truth of it is, I care a lot more about my “reading prime” than my “writing prime.” Writers can write whenever. There’s no cap, no time limit. If anything, when I’m as old as the woman in the picture, I’ll look back on the all books I published in my 20s and be appalled. Or at least I hope that happens.
Alec’s post was really great though. I think about guys like Alec & Ken, etc., and I’m impressed that they’re reading & writing what they are. When I was 19-20, I was still reading shit. My idea of “innovative” was Saramago, Anne Carson, Jeanette Winterson (not that I’m dissing on any of these writers!). These guys are reading much more broadly & doing much cooler things than I was at their age.
But basically, I’d like to ignore Alec’s question about what it means to be a young writer and instead focus on what it means to be a young reader. Last year, I suddenly realized that I’m not very well read. I’d always fancied myself as a broad reader, but when it comes down to it, I haven’t read that much, and being an academic & in a relationship limit reading time. So I decided to try to play catch up. I read a bunch. I started with some Frankfurt school. That took me back to Foucault, that took me back to Nietzsche, that took me back to, that took me back to, that took me back to… until I was reading the Greeks. And then, I realized I’ll never catch up. I took notes. Lots of notes. Filled up maybe 8-10 notebooks, maybe more, worth of notes. (I read library books so I couldn’t write marginalia.) Read a book a day. But alas! It really did feel like I’d passed my reading season, back when I could absorb rather than struggle.
Or maybe Woolf’s quote made me think I’d passed my prime & it became prophecy.
But I’ll leave you with this: (1) I’m still reading, whether I’m past my season or not, & I’m reading a lot; and (2) Woolf says, “For the true reader is essentially young. He is a man of intense curiosity; of ideas; open-minded and communicative, to whom reading is more of the nature of brisk exercise in the open air than of sheltered study.”
What is reading to you?
I turn 27 tomorrow. I find it best to read and/or write for at least an hour in the morning immediately after waking up. Otherwise thoughts get pulled thin too early.
I am one of the very last people NOT to be a digital native. Almost everyone younger than me is a digital native. It’s disconcerting.
I think I would be a very different reader if I had been born five years later.
I turn 27 tomorrow. I find it best to read and/or write for at least an hour in the morning immediately after waking up. Otherwise thoughts get pulled thin too early.
I am one of the very last people NOT to be a digital native. Almost everyone younger than me is a digital native. It’s disconcerting.
I think I would be a very different reader if I had been born five years later.
Yes. & happy birthday tomorrow! 27 was a really good year for me. I hope it’s a good year for you too.
Yes. & happy birthday tomorrow! 27 was a really good year for me. I hope it’s a good year for you too.
i’m 21. according to woolf i’m in my reading prime, and maybe she is right, but when it comes to writers like nietzsche or foucault or derrida it’s still a struggle. maybe more of one, considering i don’t have the extra education you have had.
but sometimes hanging around here, i feel the same way you did/do, that i need to ‘catch up’ somehow. so i go into a reading frenzy and consume consume consume and i don’t feel like that gets me anywhere.
i guess my point is there shouldn’t be a ‘catch up’ feeling at all. it’s useless, maybe even counterproductive because it promotes fast reading which can lead to lazy reading.
i’m 21. according to woolf i’m in my reading prime, and maybe she is right, but when it comes to writers like nietzsche or foucault or derrida it’s still a struggle. maybe more of one, considering i don’t have the extra education you have had.
but sometimes hanging around here, i feel the same way you did/do, that i need to ‘catch up’ somehow. so i go into a reading frenzy and consume consume consume and i don’t feel like that gets me anywhere.
i guess my point is there shouldn’t be a ‘catch up’ feeling at all. it’s useless, maybe even counterproductive because it promotes fast reading which can lead to lazy reading.
What about people who started reading late? It’s only been the last three years (since I was 18) that I’ve been reading more than a handful of books a year. . . it would be disappointing if my reading “prime” was also basically my infancy. . . .
What about people who started reading late? It’s only been the last three years (since I was 18) that I’ve been reading more than a handful of books a year. . . it would be disappointing if my reading “prime” was also basically my infancy. . . .
I’m 24, so this makes me want to drop everything I’m doing and start reading before I pass my “prime.”
Even back in high school I had the overwhelming feeling that I would never “catch up,” and be able to read everything I wanted to (or felt obligated to). But even if you were able to read everything, you would ultimately have no life for those readings to benefit, so what would be the point? I guess that’s why I like the last quote you used by Woolf. Reading as exercise, beneficial to mind and body, instead of hunched-over, sheltered study.
I’m 24, so this makes me want to drop everything I’m doing and start reading before I pass my “prime.”
Even back in high school I had the overwhelming feeling that I would never “catch up,” and be able to read everything I wanted to (or felt obligated to). But even if you were able to read everything, you would ultimately have no life for those readings to benefit, so what would be the point? I guess that’s why I like the last quote you used by Woolf. Reading as exercise, beneficial to mind and body, instead of hunched-over, sheltered study.
Agreed. Morning reading is the most satisfying. Also hard to find time to do, if you are a 9-5er, unfortunately. That schedule tends to relegate reading to on-the-bus (yuck) or late at night. Also, happy birthday!
Agreed. Morning reading is the most satisfying. Also hard to find time to do, if you are a 9-5er, unfortunately. That schedule tends to relegate reading to on-the-bus (yuck) or late at night. Also, happy birthday!
I too know I’ll never be able to catch up on all the reading I want and feel obligated to read (good point on that, Jessica Y). I have kind of given up though on reading the things I’m “supposed” to read; I’ll get someone to give me the cliff’s if I have an enormous hole in my knowledge. I’ve finally started digging in and being honest about what I like to read. It’s our own time: we should do what we want to do, right?
I too know I’ll never be able to catch up on all the reading I want and feel obligated to read (good point on that, Jessica Y). I have kind of given up though on reading the things I’m “supposed” to read; I’ll get someone to give me the cliff’s if I have an enormous hole in my knowledge. I’ve finally started digging in and being honest about what I like to read. It’s our own time: we should do what we want to do, right?
Another question: there are many “types” of readers. Does the type of reader you are (one book at a time, many books at a time, reading as fast as possible, taking notes leisurely) make a difference as to when your reading prime is?
Another question: there are many “types” of readers. Does the type of reader you are (one book at a time, many books at a time, reading as fast as possible, taking notes leisurely) make a difference as to when your reading prime is?
What do you mean digital native?
What do you mean digital native?
(by) digital native?
(by) digital native?
Put the Derrida down. Read Woolf’s own The Waves. Your life will be better.
Put the Derrida down. Read Woolf’s own The Waves. Your life will be better.
good question. i read many books at a time, take many notes, quickly. even though i wrote this post, i don’t really believe Woolf. or at least, i don’t want to believe i’ve passed my reading prime!
good question. i read many books at a time, take many notes, quickly. even though i wrote this post, i don’t really believe Woolf. or at least, i don’t want to believe i’ve passed my reading prime!
i’ll second that. the waves is my favorite woolf. good call, justin.
i’ll second that. the waves is my favorite woolf. good call, justin.
“I think about guys like Alec & Ken, etc., and I’m impressed that they’re reading & writing what they are. My idea of “innovative” was Saramago, Anne Carson, Jeanette Winterson (not that I’m dissing on any of these writers!). These guys are reading much more broadly & doing much cooler things than I was at their age.”
AMEN, honey.
27 was a great year for me, too. Happy birthday, Nick!
27 now, can’t find anything I want to read; just bought “zarathustra” on my kindle but its formatted weird
“I think about guys like Alec & Ken, etc., and I’m impressed that they’re reading & writing what they are. My idea of “innovative” was Saramago, Anne Carson, Jeanette Winterson (not that I’m dissing on any of these writers!). These guys are reading much more broadly & doing much cooler things than I was at their age.”
AMEN, honey.
27 was a great year for me, too. Happy birthday, Nick!
27 now, can’t find anything I want to read; just bought “zarathustra” on my kindle but its formatted weird
This right here–Drew’s comment, Justin’s response, and Lily’s seconding–is exactly Sean Lovelace’s point from the other post. The Internet has done young writers a tremendous service. This site, the contributors, their provocative questions, etc., are a wealth. And not just to young writers (or young readers), but the middle-aged and elderly among us, too, I’m sure.
This right here–Drew’s comment, Justin’s response, and Lily’s seconding–is exactly Sean Lovelace’s point from the other post. The Internet has done young writers a tremendous service. This site, the contributors, their provocative questions, etc., are a wealth. And not just to young writers (or young readers), but the middle-aged and elderly among us, too, I’m sure.
happy birthday!
happy birthday!
This is a great post, Lily. I guess I’m probably in my reading prime right now if I take Woolf’s word, though it seems like I read pretty slowly and not all that much. And I feel like I’ll eventually reread–either by necessity or by choice–most of what I’m encountered the past two years. But I’m getting progressively lazier so maybe I won’t.
But I’m not sure that the ideal reader is young. Maybe youth invites a different reading style. A more entitled, all-consumptive one. Which is why young reading often has to be repeated maybe.
This is a great post, Lily. I guess I’m probably in my reading prime right now if I take Woolf’s word, though it seems like I read pretty slowly and not all that much. And I feel like I’ll eventually reread–either by necessity or by choice–most of what I’m encountered the past two years. But I’m getting progressively lazier so maybe I won’t.
But I’m not sure that the ideal reader is young. Maybe youth invites a different reading style. A more entitled, all-consumptive one. Which is why young reading often has to be repeated maybe.
I don’t know, that’s a pretty broad and impressive reading list. I’m ashamed not to have read a word of Dostoevsky. I mean, there’s the drive to “catch up,” and then there’s that.
I don’t know, that’s a pretty broad and impressive reading list. I’m ashamed not to have read a word of Dostoevsky. I mean, there’s the drive to “catch up,” and then there’s that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native
But I’ve heard the term generally applied today to refer to people who grew up with cell phones and the internet as we now know it (that is, facebook/blogs/infinite access to porn).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native
But I’ve heard the term generally applied today to refer to people who grew up with cell phones and the internet as we now know it (that is, facebook/blogs/infinite access to porn).
thanks justin, i’m not really reading derrida, well not currently. just making a point.
i will read the waves though. i read jacob’s room and loved it. another book added to the list.
i need to catch up.
thanks justin, i’m not really reading derrida, well not currently. just making a point.
i will read the waves though. i read jacob’s room and loved it. another book added to the list.
i need to catch up.
thanks, alec. nabokov says you can only re-read books. (god, i quote him all the time. i’ll have to start getting new quotes…) so whether you’re young or not, lazy or carefully tedious, re-reading is good, yeah? i read Crime & Punishment for the first time last year. blew me away. (part of my catching up.) so don’t feel bad. ever. live up 19! and i’ll live up 28…
thanks, alec. nabokov says you can only re-read books. (god, i quote him all the time. i’ll have to start getting new quotes…) so whether you’re young or not, lazy or carefully tedious, re-reading is good, yeah? i read Crime & Punishment for the first time last year. blew me away. (part of my catching up.) so don’t feel bad. ever. live up 19! and i’ll live up 28…
us young people have more mold-able minds.
we’re not old and set in our ways yet. old and crusted-over with literature.
us young people have more mold-able minds.
we’re not old and set in our ways yet. old and crusted-over with literature.
Oh yeah, I love re-reading. The new sense of clarity, carefulness… it’s serene. But okay, I promise to live up/in 19 if you promise to do the same with 28.
Oh yeah, I love re-reading. The new sense of clarity, carefulness… it’s serene. But okay, I promise to live up/in 19 if you promise to do the same with 28.
I feel old. My back hurts almost constantly.
I feel old. My back hurts almost constantly.
Ima be honest and say that this post has had me thinking all morning, in a kind of panic-attacky way about how many books I want to read. Not even ones I feel I’m “supposed” to read, but the ones I genuinely want to. SHEEZ.
Ima be honest and say that this post has had me thinking all morning, in a kind of panic-attacky way about how many books I want to read. Not even ones I feel I’m “supposed” to read, but the ones I genuinely want to. SHEEZ.
Really? Mine too.
Really? Mine too.
When I turned 30 and starting really thinking about mortality and realized I had maybe 40 more non-senile or blind years, tops, I had a total panic attack looking at my ‘to read’ list. It was like for the first time I realized I wasn’t going to be able to read EVERYTHING I wanted to in my lifetime. But it was also kind of liberating. I thought, you know what? I’m probably never going to read Middlemarch, which has been on my list for a hundred years. Or the Decameron. And that’s okay. Kind of.
Which is to say, I share your pain. ;)
When I turned 30 and starting really thinking about mortality and realized I had maybe 40 more non-senile or blind years, tops, I had a total panic attack looking at my ‘to read’ list. It was like for the first time I realized I wasn’t going to be able to read EVERYTHING I wanted to in my lifetime. But it was also kind of liberating. I thought, you know what? I’m probably never going to read Middlemarch, which has been on my list for a hundred years. Or the Decameron. And that’s okay. Kind of.
Which is to say, I share your pain. ;)
i get lots of train reading/writing done at 5 or 6 a.m….we have “quiet cars” (no cell phones/loud talking allowed) so as long as i can ignore the occasional snore i’m good to go.
i get lots of train reading/writing done at 5 or 6 a.m….we have “quiet cars” (no cell phones/loud talking allowed) so as long as i can ignore the occasional snore i’m good to go.
wait, but don’t read too fast, drew!
wait, but don’t read too fast, drew!
i’m in one of those reading frenzies too, man, and i do need to be careful about going too quickly
i’m in one of those reading frenzies too, man, and i do need to be careful about going too quickly
just read your annalemma piece, nice job. i keep forgetting you’re in dc. go to any lit events there? i live b/w bmore and dc but work here and sort of associate this place only with work so i get home as soon as i can.
just read your annalemma piece, nice job. i keep forgetting you’re in dc. go to any lit events there? i live b/w bmore and dc but work here and sort of associate this place only with work so i get home as soon as i can.
sorry about the “here” and “there” – my boss would rightly say i’m being unclear. do you go to any lit events in dc? i work in dc but sort of head out as soon as i can, which isn’t always good but the kids the kids the kids must be picked up, etc
sorry about the “here” and “there” – my boss would rightly say i’m being unclear. do you go to any lit events in dc? i work in dc but sort of head out as soon as i can, which isn’t always good but the kids the kids the kids must be picked up, etc
Hey, not for nothing, I think authors like Derrida and Nietzsche etc. are hard for everyone (or, okay, most of us) regardless of age. And some of their works are more accessible than others. Don’t be discouraged.
Hey, not for nothing, I think authors like Derrida and Nietzsche etc. are hard for everyone (or, okay, most of us) regardless of age. And some of their works are more accessible than others. Don’t be discouraged.
Hi Nick,
As someone around your age, I think that there’s a certain advantage to growing up as a “transition native”–someone who remembers a time before the (contemporary) internet, but was mostly growing up during the internet’s rise. Not only did we learn to use the internet, we have some idea of what a non-internet world is like, and therefore, I’d argue, a better understanding of what the internet actually is. I think of it as like learning a second language later in life–you’re never going to be as fluent as a native speaker, but, because you had to struggle to learn the language, you understand it in ways that native speakers do not.
Hi Nick,
As someone around your age, I think that there’s a certain advantage to growing up as a “transition native”–someone who remembers a time before the (contemporary) internet, but was mostly growing up during the internet’s rise. Not only did we learn to use the internet, we have some idea of what a non-internet world is like, and therefore, I’d argue, a better understanding of what the internet actually is. I think of it as like learning a second language later in life–you’re never going to be as fluent as a native speaker, but, because you had to struggle to learn the language, you understand it in ways that native speakers do not.
Crime & Punishment is SO GOOD. So good, in fact, I apparently needed to us caps. Eh-hm. Sorry about that.
Crime & Punishment is SO GOOD. So good, in fact, I apparently needed to us caps. Eh-hm. Sorry about that.
lily,
reading to me was always an escape.
i will not go into detail of my wayward childhood but i was always alone. i can tell you that much.
In class my reading level was always 3 or 4 grades higher than expected despite my early resignation towards authority and structure.
mostly i read stephen king, choose your own adventure, and some series of children’s books i cannot remember the title of but the protagonist was a boy child who lived sometime in the late 1800-early 1900s and was always swindling people for money. but his swindles were elaborate and usually based on trickery.
i did read some classic stuff which i didn’t like much. the only book i liked was the obvious: “catcher in the rye.”
at 15 my grandmother bought me a computer so i could do “school work”, something i found no purpose in because it was degrading and banal “busy work”.
i sort of dropped out of school here. well i just stopped going for the most part, except to my last period class of english. my english teacher was rad. he knew i hated class but liked to read and he would just tell me to read books and gave me an A because that’s what i did.
he introduced me to orwell and mallory. something i am very grateful for.
after that i dropped out of normal high school and went to “continuation” school where i could just shit out the busy work and be done with 3 years of school in 4 months.
i did that.
then i started hacking, like seriously, i was even in a “group” of hackers/phreakers.
a past time of the hacker was to sit in Internet Relay Chat on #hack and talk shit basically.
it was around the time bukowski died i first heard his name. some hacker named b_ was professing his brilliance.
i stopped reading everything but technical books after that.
shift 10 years later. i am in a broken marriage with a son and i am utterly depressed. my vision at this time was a little better than now and i was in a lot of pain.
so came the doctors with their opiates.
something that helped better with the mind pain than the eye pain.
but i knew it didn’t feel good really. so i wanted to escape again.
for some reason i picked up bukowski. i remembered his name from that day on IRC.
he made a lot of sense to me.
i stopped doing opiates.
then i came across 3am maagazine on the web which led me to Tao Lin.
his writing seemed new to me and i liked how he talked about emotions. people never wrote about emotions in books the way i thought about emotions but tao’s was a little close to how i felt.
then i found tao’s blog.
i immediately noticed tao’s intelligence and started looking at the books he said were “good”.
i couldn’t relate to any of them. most were by women. i remember that.
i found blake’s blog one day.
took immediate notice of his intelligence.
started paying attention to what he said was “good”.
i noticed that tao only pushed his agenda while blake, although he is the king of making flattery seem effortless and natural, was not simply talking shit about books on his blog.
he seemed genuine.
the books he recommended where different than his writing. vastly different and vastly similar depending on which book.
at this point i realized i had found some one who could mentor me in my reading by dictating what to read via his recommendations online. something i have had anxiety over because i am not that well read.
but the “am i reading the right stuff” thing doesn’t bother me much anymore. i have blake until he’s gone or his blog is gone.
i have always been reading. i’m just more in tune with it now.
nothing has changed.
that’s reading to me.
lily,
reading to me was always an escape.
i will not go into detail of my wayward childhood but i was always alone. i can tell you that much.
In class my reading level was always 3 or 4 grades higher than expected despite my early resignation towards authority and structure.
mostly i read stephen king, choose your own adventure, and some series of children’s books i cannot remember the title of but the protagonist was a boy child who lived sometime in the late 1800-early 1900s and was always swindling people for money. but his swindles were elaborate and usually based on trickery.
i did read some classic stuff which i didn’t like much. the only book i liked was the obvious: “catcher in the rye.”
at 15 my grandmother bought me a computer so i could do “school work”, something i found no purpose in because it was degrading and banal “busy work”.
i sort of dropped out of school here. well i just stopped going for the most part, except to my last period class of english. my english teacher was rad. he knew i hated class but liked to read and he would just tell me to read books and gave me an A because that’s what i did.
he introduced me to orwell and mallory. something i am very grateful for.
after that i dropped out of normal high school and went to “continuation” school where i could just shit out the busy work and be done with 3 years of school in 4 months.
i did that.
then i started hacking, like seriously, i was even in a “group” of hackers/phreakers.
a past time of the hacker was to sit in Internet Relay Chat on #hack and talk shit basically.
it was around the time bukowski died i first heard his name. some hacker named b_ was professing his brilliance.
i stopped reading everything but technical books after that.
shift 10 years later. i am in a broken marriage with a son and i am utterly depressed. my vision at this time was a little better than now and i was in a lot of pain.
so came the doctors with their opiates.
something that helped better with the mind pain than the eye pain.
but i knew it didn’t feel good really. so i wanted to escape again.
for some reason i picked up bukowski. i remembered his name from that day on IRC.
he made a lot of sense to me.
i stopped doing opiates.
then i came across 3am maagazine on the web which led me to Tao Lin.
his writing seemed new to me and i liked how he talked about emotions. people never wrote about emotions in books the way i thought about emotions but tao’s was a little close to how i felt.
then i found tao’s blog.
i immediately noticed tao’s intelligence and started looking at the books he said were “good”.
i couldn’t relate to any of them. most were by women. i remember that.
i found blake’s blog one day.
took immediate notice of his intelligence.
started paying attention to what he said was “good”.
i noticed that tao only pushed his agenda while blake, although he is the king of making flattery seem effortless and natural, was not simply talking shit about books on his blog.
he seemed genuine.
the books he recommended where different than his writing. vastly different and vastly similar depending on which book.
at this point i realized i had found some one who could mentor me in my reading by dictating what to read via his recommendations online. something i have had anxiety over because i am not that well read.
but the “am i reading the right stuff” thing doesn’t bother me much anymore. i have blake until he’s gone or his blog is gone.
i have always been reading. i’m just more in tune with it now.
nothing has changed.
that’s reading to me.
wow, thanks, jereme. & yes, i’ll agree blake butler makes his mark, yeah?
wow, thanks, jereme. & yes, i’ll agree blake butler makes his mark, yeah?
I have also found Blake Butler to be a sincere appraiser of books. That he reads so widely is also an inspiration. I am steadily reading through the things he has recommended… So far I have not been disappointed. All of the DFW talk used to annoy me at first but I see now that DFW is to Blake what Blake is to us.
Also, whenever I pick up a magazine now, or another book or piece of random criticism that mentions a book that sounds interesting, I am much more likely to go out and try and find that book rather than just put it in the back of my mind to eventually forget about it, which is what I used to do. I think it’s a state of mind more than an age thing. You just have to get in that mindset.
I have also found Blake Butler to be a sincere appraiser of books. That he reads so widely is also an inspiration. I am steadily reading through the things he has recommended… So far I have not been disappointed. All of the DFW talk used to annoy me at first but I see now that DFW is to Blake what Blake is to us.
Also, whenever I pick up a magazine now, or another book or piece of random criticism that mentions a book that sounds interesting, I am much more likely to go out and try and find that book rather than just put it in the back of my mind to eventually forget about it, which is what I used to do. I think it’s a state of mind more than an age thing. You just have to get in that mindset.
he is someone to take notice of, yes.
he is someone to take notice of, yes.
it’s a dangerous thing to deify/reify people, esp. our friends.
it’s a dangerous thing to deify/reify people, esp. our friends.
Thanks, David! I try to go to stuff when I can, but I travel all the time for my job so I’m rarely in town and tend to sort of hole up in my apartment with my husband or in friends’ apartments when I am here. I only emerge for concerts, booze and food. It’s super lame of me, I fully admit. And I don’t even have any kids, just cats. I suppose I need to do better.
Thanks, David! I try to go to stuff when I can, but I travel all the time for my job so I’m rarely in town and tend to sort of hole up in my apartment with my husband or in friends’ apartments when I am here. I only emerge for concerts, booze and food. It’s super lame of me, I fully admit. And I don’t even have any kids, just cats. I suppose I need to do better.
my back hurts right now, but i think it’s shitty posture in this shitty office chair.
my back hurts right now, but i think it’s shitty posture in this shitty office chair.
I feel the same way about the “catching up,” this feeling of being well-read by most, and then realizing I hadn’t read shit.
Hell, until recently, all I had read of DFW was some excerpts in writing classes (I’ve always been something of an anti-hype person, and was unfortunately turned off to really checking out DFW due to that deification Lily mentioned). I’d been reading Carver, Bausch, Sandburg, cummings, etc. for the past 5 years, and suddenly, my world exploded about 4 months ago when I found HTML Giant and this community of writers and readers. I read Blake, Joseph Young, Christle, MoGa, poetry and fiction on PANK, Everyday Genius, Line Break, The Collagist; I learned what it was to love sentences again.
I feel the same way about the “catching up,” this feeling of being well-read by most, and then realizing I hadn’t read shit.
Hell, until recently, all I had read of DFW was some excerpts in writing classes (I’ve always been something of an anti-hype person, and was unfortunately turned off to really checking out DFW due to that deification Lily mentioned). I’d been reading Carver, Bausch, Sandburg, cummings, etc. for the past 5 years, and suddenly, my world exploded about 4 months ago when I found HTML Giant and this community of writers and readers. I read Blake, Joseph Young, Christle, MoGa, poetry and fiction on PANK, Everyday Genius, Line Break, The Collagist; I learned what it was to love sentences again.
He is a fount, this whole website is really, everyone gathered interested in literature–Zzzzipp doesn’t mean to make him seem like a god. It’s a mindset! His seriousness rubs off, a good example. He’s a teacher, even if he doesn’t mean to be. How it works: before Zzzipp might have thought “But who really does that???”
He is a fount, this whole website is really, everyone gathered interested in literature–Zzzzipp doesn’t mean to make him seem like a god. It’s a mindset! His seriousness rubs off, a good example. He’s a teacher, even if he doesn’t mean to be. How it works: before Zzzipp might have thought “But who really does that???”
I’m 33, same age Jesus died. And I was born on June 25, the traditional birth date of the Antichrist. Needless to say, I got a lot to do between now and summer.
I’m 33, same age Jesus died. And I was born on June 25, the traditional birth date of the Antichrist. Needless to say, I got a lot to do between now and summer.
The “catch up” displacement can generate excitement when tapped right. I’m 22 and reading hard into whatever I can get my hands on, and I think one of the more difficult lessons (still unlearned) is who you care about learning from, and why. “Catching up” starts with understanding your motives, I think. Or I sometimes think, and when I do, I feel more comfortable. Not understanding motives, or sometimes context, is my biggest influence on “lazy reading” or the “counterproductive” undertow.
The “catch up” displacement can generate excitement when tapped right. I’m 22 and reading hard into whatever I can get my hands on, and I think one of the more difficult lessons (still unlearned) is who you care about learning from, and why. “Catching up” starts with understanding your motives, I think. Or I sometimes think, and when I do, I feel more comfortable. Not understanding motives, or sometimes context, is my biggest influence on “lazy reading” or the “counterproductive” undertow.
JW, you rule
JW, you rule
This is all great comedy, uh, commentary by you underage bichons…
for me to poop on!
This is all great comedy, uh, commentary by you underage bichons…
for me to poop on!
OK, folks, be easy on young writers like Smart Alec, Kenny Boy and Zach the Knife.
They’ll stop giving poop a bad name after they’ve gone through puberty.
OK, folks, be easy on young writers like Smart Alec, Kenny Boy and Zach the Knife.
They’ll stop giving poop a bad name after they’ve gone through puberty.