Did you enjoy it?
My thought of the day: Multi-hour interviews are surprisingly non-grueling.
Did you enjoy it?
My thought of the day: Multi-hour interviews are surprisingly non-grueling.
"If you are worthy of his affection, a cat will be your friend but never your slave. He keeps his free will though he loves, and will not do for you what he thinks unreasonable; but if he once gives himself to you, it is with absolute confidence and fidelity of affection." -Theophile Gautier
Getting hitched went without a hitch! 'twas a joyous day for everyone involved. Especially us the newlywed Swans.
A negative number was raised to a power that is not an integer.
Thinking about making a post on the remarkable book 'Wild Animus', in which the main character is a mountain goat therian (though not put in so many words). Definitely has earned a place in my permanent collection.
Apparently there is an associated album and painting series that was produced alongside the novel which I have yet to fully digest. Lots to keep me thinking about.
"One does not meet oneself until one catches the recollection from an eye other than human" - Loren Eiseley
Wild Animus cracks me the hell up. I haven't read the whole thing, but it is notorious. The guy who wrote it was very wealthy and went through absurd ends to craft up fake outrage and publicity for the book. He also paid to have tremendous amounts of copies published.
Seriously, look around in thrift stores. More often than not, I can find this book. Often I find more than one copy, sometimes up to four or more. The podcast "I Don't Even Own a Television" did a really great breakdown of this book.
I'm still interested in reading it for the obvious animal-identity theme, but from the chapters I've actually personally read and the details I've gotten from others who've finished it... Its odd reputation isn't undeserved.
Yeah, I've heard that story too.
I actually owned a copy. Read part of it, but I couldn't stand the guy and I found the book difficult to read. From what I've read about the protagonist of the book, I stopped reading before he got really weird--and I don't mean weird in a good way. What I've heard is that the protagonist starts a weird cult and deliberately gets himself killed.
I don't still have the book. Got rid of it years ago. If you see a copy in a Midwestern thrift store... it could totally have been mine. But given the reputation of the book, it could have changed hands many times by now and ended up someplace far away, like some sort of literary fruit cake.
"If you are worthy of his affection, a cat will be your friend but never your slave. He keeps his free will though he loves, and will not do for you what he thinks unreasonable; but if he once gives himself to you, it is with absolute confidence and fidelity of affection." -Theophile Gautier
I'm so confused by the idea of self-images and how some people actually have a picture in their head when trying to. I can't see in my head well. What I can see is either nothing at all or so fuzzy that it's not possible to tell the subject of what I'm seeing in my head. The only way it is possible for me to get a clear image is if I'm not even thinking of having a mental picture at all.
Brains are weird and mine is contradictory. Especially considering I don't think in words by default unless I have to. Lack of clarity may actually have to do with how I tend to be present-oriented with all senses generally outward directed, though.
Unrelated Edit: Name a better flavor than "chili lime". I will wait.
Last edited by Berlin; September 29th, 2019 at 04:54 AM.
That sounds like aphantasia, Berlin! Lack of a 'mind's eye' for want of a better term. I have the opposite - I'm hypervisual, and I have synasthesia overlaid, so scenes get preserved in detail and with sound-byte associated colours. My friend, who is a neuroscientist, recently talked to their mum, who has aphantasia, about how she dreams. Her dreams always feel vivid to her because she can see in them, unlike her mind's eye, where she sees fuzzily or not at all. Fascinating, two distinct processes at work!
I'm also the opposite. There's always visualizations in my mind. I can't make them stop! But I don't really want to, either.
Thrift store bit makes sense. I picked up my copy from Goodwill too!
Don't get me wrong the main character is terrible and is meant to be an exploration of the limits of his psyche as he leaves a trail of disaster in his wake; from his more cult-like ideas to the very clear abuse of his girlfriend. He mentions himself as the goat and his lover as a pack of wolves continually 'tearing him apart' in a literal predator / prey relationship - which is another motif for him (the real predator) trapping her in his fantasy and dragging her along for the ride.
He does die in the end. And its well written enough that everyone is a little bit mystified, no one seems surprised, and perhaps most importantly the characters go on with their lives. Like on some level the other characters were enthralled with him in the moment, but after he's gone reality settles once more.
The book is not written to damn any one of the characters - which is where I think it gets its dubious reputation. There are some pretty large missteps and taboos broken by the main character, but because so much of it is from his perspective, you as the reader are forced to make the decision of saying "this character is f***d up" at some point or another.
I would put it on a similar level as a true crime book written from the standpoint of a killer.
By no means a ray of sunshine as a book, but I really enjoyed the writing style and the therianthropic themes. But it should certainly be avoided if scenes of gore, domestic abuse, or drug use are triggering.
"One does not meet oneself until one catches the recollection from an eye other than human" - Loren Eiseley