Very excited for the return of a stronger Bokkforum. Proud to be a subscriber.

#bookforum #writing #literature #literarycriticism

Caveat: A commodified pseudo-art

#Poetry #AI #Chatbots #Claude2 #LiteraryCriticism

I asked one of the current generation of AI Chatbots, "Claude 2" (by Anthropic) to write a review of my most recent book of poetry. These "Large Language Models" have been quite adept and navigating the linguistic wilds of the internet and spewing out painfully plausible BS. This is the infinite monkeys on typewriters, given oracles through...

https://caveatdumptruck.com/index.php/2023/07/18/caveat-a-review/

Finished. I’m a bit obsessed now, but luckily, I bought another book of his to start tomorrow.

“But I hear voices in everything and dialogic relations among them. I also perceive the principle of augmentation dialogically. High evaluations of structuralism. The problem of "precision" and "depth."

He ends with this sentence: “The problem of great time.” ~M.M. Bakhtin

#literarycriticism #bookstodon #book #reading

#reading #morning #coffee #literarycriticism #writers

“Two juxtaposed utterances belonging to different people who know nothing about one another if they only slightly converge on one and the same subject (idea), inevitably enter into dialogic relations with one another. They come into contact with one another on the territory of a common theme, a common idea.” ~M.M. Bakhtin

Proust examines the relationship between desire and fulfillment.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

“…in the communal life that is led by our ideas in the enclosure of our minds, there is a single one of those that makes us most happy which has not first sought, like a real parasite, and won from an alien but neighboring idea the greater part of the strength that it originally lacked” - Proust

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

Proust isn’t offering a solution or a philosophy but exploring the ideas of both. The point, though, is that our actions and words might have effects that reach farther than we can predict.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

John le Carré did not appreciate Clive James' reviews. (from "A Private Spy. The letters of John le Carré", edited by Tim Cornwell). #Books #Bookshelf #Reader #JohnLeCarre #Bookclub #literarycriticism #bookstodon

It is almost like desire creates a reality but also makes that reality impossible to exist until the desire itself is discarded.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

A person is not themselves alone but a combination of their self and the self in the mind of the person thinking about them.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

Proust certainly felt strongly about his work, but there is a reverence for the past that feels so unusual and fresh. Proust isn’t saying that innovation in terminology is right or wrong. I think he’s just showing that he understands that point of view.

It’s not about being right or wrong. It’s about exploring different points of view as an avenue for creating interesting characters.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

https://archive.org/details/pan-african-ideal

The Pan African Ideal in Literatures of the Black World by Kofi Anyidoho

Topics
#Blackliterature, #PanAfricanism, #Africandiasporicliterature, #Africanliterature, #politicsofliterature, #literarystudies, #literarytheory, #literarycriticism

"An Inter-Faculty Lecture delivered at the University of Ghana, Legon on January 21, 1988"

It has been a could of years since I read Rob Nixon's Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, but it must be stated for a text that appears to be a #climate, #humanrights and #IncomeInequality text, it is just as much #LiteraryCriticism, which is fine, if only it would be billed as centralizing that fact. Ideally, if you are going to write a book that explicates several works of fiction, it should promoted exclusively on those grounds despite scientific inclusion.
#Books #bookstodon

The comedy in Proust is often missed, but there can be no doubt that Proust is making fun of himself here. Proust’s reputation is snobbish and serious, but it’s hard to see where that reputation came from when you are actually reading his work.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

Whether it is seeing a view from Horsetooth Reservoir with a new love, or watching a favorite comedy with a group of friends. It’s almost as if art can’t truly be appreciated without sharing it. Art and literature is not meant to be enjoyed in isolation. Sharing them further reveals their depths.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

Proust is not afraid to judge his characters when necessary, but he is always fair. He does not see it as wrong or bad to have interests other than his own. Norpois is not being judged here for getting pleasure out of a discussion about stocks. In fact, Norpois’ pleasure is felt by Marcel. He is able to connect with Norpois’ passion.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

The following should fall into improper #LiteraryCriticism rather than in #BookReview.

"Improper" because I haven't read the book in question, but I used to be passionate enough about its subject to write a careful opinion on it.

Also, my new editing job over at 'Art, Strike!' gave me more confidence in my capacity to formulate constructive opinions on literary works.

We do need financial help over at 'Art, Strike!', and all the revenue from our distro and support pages will go to our collaborators.

You don't have to buy anything, but you'll still have to click to read the rest of the "review". 😇 (you're absolutely not missing anything if you don't)

'Artaud: Terminal Curses'
by Stephen Barber

These notebooks were written during the years when 'Van Gogh le suicidé de la société' was published. As the title suggests, and undoubtedly relating to his incarceration in a bedlam, Artaud argued about a deadlock between the aesthetic and the societal. Precisely that the reason that artists like Van Gogh, and Artaud himself, were labeled as 'mad' was because of the inability of the audience to process the truth delivered by their creations.

https://www.artcommastrike.com/distro/

#AmReading #Bookstodon

The crowd, however, finds something worth celebrating and applauds enthusiastically when they are supposed to. Marcel tries to feel what they feel: “I greedily imbibed the rough wine of this popular enthusiasm. Nevertheless, when the curtain had fallen for the last time, I was disappointed that the pleasure for which I had so longed had not been greater”(29).

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

“But what I demanded from this performance… was something quite different from pleasure: verities pertaining to a world more real than that in which I lived, which, once acquired, could never be taken from me again by any trivial incident”(17).

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism #thesearchforlosttime

This closes on the central struggle in the novel: Will Marcel become the writer he desires to be? There are others, of course, but this is the central question that the entire series rests upon.

His father encourages him to write something to show Norpois, who might show it to “the editor of the Deux-Mondes”, so Marcel tries to write something worthy.

#withingabuddinggrove #proust #Literature #literary #marcelproust #literarycriticism#thesearchforlosttime