Cole > Recent Status Updates

Got through the 70s, which was interesting enough despite not being familiar with any of the cultural references.

Covered so far: Jungle, Tricky, the haunted sound of Arctic Monkeys and atemporality of an Adele or Amy whinehouse, and a really good essay on Joy Division, their representation of the undead Will and objectless depression and melancholia reflecting the utter absence of possible new futures — beyond the pleasure principle.

Music, culture and philosophy. This should be my kind of book.

Making slow ass progress but this is turning into one of the most memorable books I’ve read.

This is taking quite a bit. Not much time to read for extended periods of time unfortunately. But Cormac's writing style is that tuning fork DFW was talking about.

I’m starting to get it. Gangasrorogati. Philosophy can be done in a stream of consciousness, not in a fussy Kantian way.

Already some of the most insane stuff I’ve ever read. Exhilarating stuff after getting hung up on the apparently infinite different words that can be used to describe the things of the desert.

Some parts are normal to understand and I get into it and then it goes back to gibberish again. There’s not enough context to even try to piece anything together, and nothing before it that would make trying to feel worth it.

But when I get it, it’s good.

Precession of Simulacra:
Disneyland, Watergate, Reality TV, Nuclear Warfare
Simulacra: events or spectacles that hide the fact that behind them, there is no real. All working towards a social order with no discernible source of power. “Illegible violence.”

It’s tough to get through but exhilarating writing all the same. Just trying to swim through it.

Quiteee a bit more gay sex than I expected in here. Pretty violent gay sex too.

If they make books more disturbing than this I’m good.

I don’t know what any of these words mean and when I do they are not very pleasant to read while eating. Not a breakfast book.

Just want to finish this before break ends. I wish you could adjust the page count on here if your editing is different.

Sometimes I’ll read a page and it’s shocking how relatable it is of those cold and lonely feelings that I’ve never been able to put into words.

Finished Twilight of the Idols. Since Nietzsche pulls from pretty much all of philosophy and of 19th century German culture, a lot goes over my head. But there is also a lot of gems here. I can also see why he’s known as “edgy”: this is basically a drive-by on the Greeks and Christianity and all our values stemming from them

Twilight of the Idols: A lot is going over my head. I see why people recommend a background in Greek philosophy and Christianity especially. But I do understand enough to see how Nietzsche presents the opposite of these, how these ideologies have suppressed the human spirit.

Almost done, reading a letter at a time. A reductive philosophy, but most people would be better off if they adopted at least some of these principles.

Slow going. This guy's diary is filled with disquiet and abdication. I do like the idea of giving up everything to dream. Removing yourself from life. Stoicism in that everything real should be looked at with indifference. Becoming so internal, so sensitive that real life becomes too much to bear.

Reading this a bit again, but I’m getting a bit tired of stoicism. Time for Nietzsche finally?

A lot of this in reading and rereading unable to discern any meaning. This is made up for by the passages that have had a choke hold on my psyche the last week.