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Author Topic: Things that made you sad today thread.  (Read 9792971 times)

Realmfighter

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14610 on: October 15, 2010, 05:17:13 pm »
What
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We may not be as brave as Gryffindor, as willing to get our hands dirty as Hufflepuff, or as devious as Slytherin, but there is nothing, nothing more dangerous than a little too much knowledge and a conscience that is open to debate

Vector

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14611 on: October 15, 2010, 05:23:48 pm »
Quote from: Realmfighter on October 15, 2010, 05:17:13 pm
What

America: cheap sex, grittiness, cigarettes, what to do post-nihilism, fast food, guns, cheap lifestyles
England: politics, propriety, whether or not you should bother about in other people's business
France: sex, existentialism, the folly of youth, more sex, romance, religion, sex
Francophone Africa: how much being African sucks right now; the death of ancient traditions in wake of Westernization
Russia: fuck it's cold.  Pragmatism, the ubermensch, dying of metaphorical cold, getting thrown into jail, war, peace, how much the aristocracy sucks
Japan: let's put in some more ghosts.  How about a giant robot?  Okay, and some masturbation.  I think we need to be vaguer.  Can we get this vaguer and more surreal?  Maybe if we try really hard.  And I guess we could talk about WWII, as well as how weird our romances are.  More weirdness, STAT.
French Canada: bad women's lit briefly saved by the fact that it's in French
Canada: bad women's lit
« Last Edit: October 15, 2010, 05:29:26 pm by Vector »
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

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pronouns: prefer neutral ones, others are fine. height: 5'3".

Jackrabbit

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14612 on: October 15, 2010, 05:28:18 pm »
Australian literature: FUCK YEAR OUTBACK IS AWESOME EVERYTHING IS HOT LET'S GO EAT MEAT PIES.

But then once you get into books written for people over 18 it's mostly just: Our country is awesome, our government sucks, man the outback is romantic.
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Realmfighter

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14613 on: October 15, 2010, 05:28:40 pm »
Where is that even from?
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We may not be as brave as Gryffindor, as willing to get our hands dirty as Hufflepuff, or as devious as Slytherin, but there is nothing, nothing more dangerous than a little too much knowledge and a conscience that is open to debate

Vector

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14614 on: October 15, 2010, 05:29:52 pm »
Quote from: Realmfighter on October 15, 2010, 05:28:40 pm
Where is that even from?

What, my list?  Personal experience.
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

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pronouns: prefer neutral ones, others are fine. height: 5'3".

KaguroDraven

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14615 on: October 15, 2010, 05:30:35 pm »
Quote from: Jackrabbit on October 15, 2010, 05:28:18 pm
Australian literature: FUCK YEAR OUTBACK IS AWESOME EVERYTHING IS HOT LET'S GO EAT MEAT PIES.

But then once you get into books written for people over 18 it's mostly just: Our country is awesome, our government sucks, man the outback is romantic.
You forgot one thing. "HOLY FUCK, SPIDERS!" And something about dingos eating babies.
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"Those who guard their back encounter death from the front." - Drow Proverb.
Quote from: Phantom on October 05, 2010, 08:35:46 am
I will punch you in the soul if you do that again.
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Realmfighter

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14616 on: October 15, 2010, 05:30:54 pm »
Canadian wrote Neuromancer.

Canadian wrote some of the Forgotten realm books.
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We may not be as brave as Gryffindor, as willing to get our hands dirty as Hufflepuff, or as devious as Slytherin, but there is nothing, nothing more dangerous than a little too much knowledge and a conscience that is open to debate

Vector

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14617 on: October 15, 2010, 05:32:03 pm »
Quote from: Realmfighter on October 15, 2010, 05:30:54 pm
Canadian wrote Neuromancer.

Ah, I was talking about Literature.  Sci-fi is okay, but it's not what we're talking about.  We're talking about the Great Novels.
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

nonbinary/genderfluid/genderqueer renegade mathematician and mafia subforum limpet. please avoid quoting me.

pronouns: prefer neutral ones, others are fine. height: 5'3".

dragnar

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14618 on: October 15, 2010, 05:40:15 pm »
Quote from: Vector on October 15, 2010, 05:32:03 pm
Quote from: Realmfighter on October 15, 2010, 05:30:54 pm
Canadian wrote Neuromancer.
Ah, I was talking about Literature.  Sci-fi is okay, but it's not what we're talking about.  We're talking about the Great Novels.
...NO. Why is sci-fi not literature?
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Quote from: Aqizzar on July 17, 2010, 09:28:09 pm
From this thread, I learned that video cameras have a dangerosity of 60 kiloswords per second.  Thanks again, Mad Max.

Jackrabbit

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14619 on: October 15, 2010, 05:43:41 pm »
It's literature, but not Literature. Dickens wrote Literature. It's a genre all on its own.
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Vector

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14620 on: October 15, 2010, 05:45:23 pm »
Quote from: dragnar on October 15, 2010, 05:40:15 pm
...NO. Why is sci-fi not literature?

Generally, because the characterization is flat and most portrayals are not so much about highlighting an element of the human condition, but showing how we might transcend it in the future via technology.

I'm not arguing that science fiction cannot be Literature by necessity, but by and large it is nowhere near literary.  I guess the entire Ender's Game series--yes, the quartet--is almost literature, but it's such a flaming train wreck in execution that I can't really condone it.  Similar things go for fantasy.  Tolkien is really, really good, but IIRC it really isn't Literature.
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

nonbinary/genderfluid/genderqueer renegade mathematician and mafia subforum limpet. please avoid quoting me.

pronouns: prefer neutral ones, others are fine. height: 5'3".

Leafsnail

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14621 on: October 15, 2010, 05:46:45 pm »
Under that definition, I'm not entirely sure anything qualifies in England at the moment.
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Vector

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14622 on: October 15, 2010, 05:48:19 pm »
Quote from: Leafsnail on October 15, 2010, 05:46:45 pm
Under that definition, I'm not entirely sure anything qualifies in England at the moment.

Yeah, I don't count most of the American stuff as literature, either... though John Irving is doing a pretty good job, as is Cormac McCarthy and some other blokes.

Weird about England, though.  I kind of wonder what's happening in France right now.
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

nonbinary/genderfluid/genderqueer renegade mathematician and mafia subforum limpet. please avoid quoting me.

pronouns: prefer neutral ones, others are fine. height: 5'3".

dragnar

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14623 on: October 15, 2010, 05:50:40 pm »
Quote from: Vector on October 15, 2010, 05:45:23 pm
Quote from: dragnar on October 15, 2010, 05:40:15 pm
...NO. Why is sci-fi not literature?

Generally, because the characterization is flat and most portrayals are not so much about highlighting an element of the human condition, but showing how we might transcend it in the future via technology.

I'm not arguing that science fiction cannot be Literature by necessity, but by and large it is nowhere near literary.  I guess the entire Ender's Game series--yes, the quartet--is almost literature, but it's such a flaming train wreck in execution that I can't really condone it.  Similar things go for fantasy.  Tolkien is really, really good, but IIRC it really isn't Literature.
If even Tolkien isn't literature, what is? I have seen VERY few books that could claim to be half as good as The Hobbit. Most "classics" are terribly dry and pointless in comparison.
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Quote from: Aqizzar on July 17, 2010, 09:28:09 pm
From this thread, I learned that video cameras have a dangerosity of 60 kiloswords per second.  Thanks again, Mad Max.

Vector

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Re: Things that made you sad today thread.
« Reply #14624 on: October 15, 2010, 05:55:04 pm »
Quote from: dragnar on October 15, 2010, 05:50:40 pm
If even Tolkien isn't literature, what is? I have seen VERY few books that could claim to be half as good as The Hobbit. Most "classics" are terribly dry and pointless in comparison.

That's a matter of opinion, particularly on the "pointless" count.  It's not about dryness or interest on your part.  It's about depth.  It's about exploration of the human condition, particularly in relation to the political, social, and economic status of the period.  It's about doing all that and being poetic at the same time, timeless and prismatic.

Try Madame Bovary?
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"The question of the usefulness of poetry arises only in periods of its decline, while in periods of its flowering, no one doubts its total uselessness." - Boris Pasternak

nonbinary/genderfluid/genderqueer renegade mathematician and mafia subforum limpet. please avoid quoting me.

pronouns: prefer neutral ones, others are fine. height: 5'3".
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