This is something no one asked me to do but myself, and since blogs are fundamentally narcissistic [by very nature, I am conceited enough to think my words are worth sharing] — and because Mark Fisher opened his blog K-Punk with something similar, I think it’s nice to set a bookmark. Get it?
How many books do you own?
Too many, especially given the fact that I have insufficient shelving space for them. Humble Brag: My office contains several cardboard boxes filled with books. and then Sarah has her books mixed in there a little bit. But the ones all over our floor are almost exclusively mine. Guess I know what I’m doing tonight!
What was the last book you bought?
Babel: Or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution
[email cover photo, ft. our melanistic tabby Mina]
I had been waiting for this to come out [of course I was immediately seduced by the title; ima sucker for language] but then of course, when not immediately able to purchase the book, it fell out of the front of my mind. I hope to begin this one soon — I have some other fiction I’m trying to wrap up first — because I want to give it my full attention, and I have a feeling I will be unable to put it down once I open it. The cover looks so good too. The silvery sparkles beckon to me as I try to distract myself with Dragon Quest. Will keep updated about this one.
What was the last book you read?
The last (fiction) book I finished was Alex Aster’s Lightlark. Gotta say… wasn’t really it? Just not a really deep and dynamic world. Some cool moments, with fun twists at the end, but just a mid fiction book. I’m currently reading Joyce’s Dubliners, which is really fun. Episodic structure suits his quicksilver prose; self contained vignettes which present individual perspectives apropos of context, comment, or condemnation, in the hope of creating an understanding of as many possible ontologies as possible? Sounds almost too postmodern to be modernist literature, but then again Joyce can do no wrong. Yes, I am endorsing his sex letters as perfect pieces of writing.
[Don’t Google them. Please. For your own sake.]
Nonfiction-wise, I re-read Caliban and the Witch in preparing for teaching post Black Death Europe and how labor and production shaped the development of that society.
And of course I’m reading One Piece :)
Five books that mean a lot to me:
“Treasure Island,” by Robert Lewis Stevenson:
This — besides countless Magic Treehouse and Encyclopedia Brown books that I voraciously consumed as a sniveling runt — was the formative text of my transition into adolescence from childhood: along with Jim
Hawkins I realized the cruelty and danger the real world posed, and what mad lads would do for some
bootyloot.I can’t be certain what triggered my love for pirates [Orlando Bloom?] but it’s certain that Treasure Island fanned those flames. I consider “pirates” to be the pinnacle of story archetypes, so reading about this tale of adventure in language that feels authentic was so important for me. I think this book really sparked my love for older literature that carried me into my academic pursuit of British literature. Plus there’s pirates!
“Capitalist Realism” by Mark Fisher
My first introduction to Fisher’s words was the potent polemic Capitalist Realism, an 82-page-long debrief that cuts the current culture to its core, perfectly diagnosing, analyzing, and prescribing the problems with the left and its reaction to the current moment, and how it should act. Fisher is a master of his craft, shedding the pretenses of academic language when necessary and arming himself with Deleuze or Hegel when necessary, all while conducting a comprehensive and compelling argument that defined what is basically accepted as a given today: capitalist realism prevents us from imagining anything other than our current society.
While I think now that his blog writing may have been more important, Fisher’s impact through his first book cannot be overstated. There’s an entire segment of the online left that idolizes him (sincerely or otherwise), and his concepts such as “the weird and the eerie” (an expansion of Freud’s unheimlich), “hauntology” (nostalgia that haunts culture, creating and influencing it, and importantly, is commodified), and work with cybernetics and theory-fiction etc. at Ccru are all significant to English departments and philosophy alike. It is truly tragic that Mark did not finish the book he was working on, Acid Communism, simply because the title sounds so fucking sick.
“The Awakening” by Kate Chopin
I encountered this book in 11th grade, I believe, and I fell in love with Chopin’s style. Lyrical yet somber, thrilling and enchanting, Edna’s searches are depicted with great care. Chopin distills an early feminist urge for ultimate freedom from the oppressive structures that bind them, resulting in transcendence only achieved through ritual suicide. Even though I really had no reason to, I connected strongly to her: her urge for freedom and her willingness to reject conventional norms in favor of her own fulfillment. I am fascinated with characters that actively (?) choose (?) self-destruction and ruin instead of suffering, oppressed, under systems of domination. This novel Awakened something in my consciousness: at first, it was liberal feminism and the understanding of systemic gender-based oppression; now, it highlights my belief that the struggle against domination cannot be won without everyone involved.
“Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman
Poetry par excellence. Braver bar none, a bardic bombast breaks barriers and layers of perception/ontology with precision and preternatural power. Leaves of Grass changed my brain chemistry. Could not recommend it enough for both those unsure of themselves and those wholly sure of themselves, for Whitman reminds us that although we know more about ourselves than anyone else, what a “self” is always fluctuates and transcends discrete binaries or taxonomies. Obviously, I am fascinated with the romantic era of American literature, so Moby-Dick and Benito Cereno were up there for this slot as well. It was a truly tough one, but in terms of long-term effects on my life and development, it was really Whitman for me.
“Berserk” by Miura Kentaro
I did not get into Berserk until quite recently, but the text has truly done a lot for me. Manga was naturally going to be represented on this list (which is not TOP 5 ALL TIME BOOKS) and the most impactful to me and my conception of art and tragedy is the gory story of Guts and Casca’s struggle to survive in a more brutal world than we can imagine. Guts as a figure strikes the brain in a very interesting spot; he’s got a pseudo version of “tenacious shonen MC” personality type that was warped due to circumstances of his birth and material conditions. It really makes a great case for the argument that social conditions contribute more to the development of a person’s worldview than anything predestined or genetic. I, like Guts and everyone else, will continue to struggle against Fate. I hope we all can continue to bravely face our reality like Guts.
Okay that’s pretty much all I got today. Lmk what you think about any of these books and what your favorite books are!
-H