🔥 Post Your Hot Takes... Even the Oddly Specific Ones

[marine77]

I do carnivore mostly with sporadic carb boluses a couple times a week. I like it

[EmilyQ]

I haven’t used it, but am not planning to do keto. I’ll add some sensible carbs back in after the weekend, I think. I just wanted to stop the madness of the holidays by doing a low carb week. I’ve eaten fruit, though, so it’s really just grains and snacks I’ve cut.

Man, it’s hard to not eat yummy food.

[jshaving]

@The_Myth - I’ll echo what others have said:

@EmilyQ

I wonder if you’re okay and sort of think you may not be.

@SkyzykS

I was getting a bad vibe too.

I’m aware of your battles. I follow your log and have noticed a change in tone there and in other threads.

I’m living with a loved one who is about 7-8 months into a relapse of their addiction following the only real stretch of sobriety they’ve ever had. Despite legal troubles and damage to reputation and relationships, there’s no end seemingly in sight. I saw the warning signs that this was coming. The most telling was a change in attitude, or outlook. It reminds me of what I’ve been seeing in your recent posts.

I’m not accusing you of anything, nor do I have any hard feelings, despite our apparent disagreement of…lifestyles. I’ve always liked you as a poster, even when you dismissed my enjoyment of SE Hinton novels, haha. Maybe I should just mind my own business, but I just know firsthand what these things look like, so I feel like I should address it.

I sincerely hope you are doing okay.

[EmilyQ]

@jshaving

when you dismissed my enjoyment of SE Hinton novels,

What?! Have I forgotten about this? Blocked it, maybe??

It takes a lot to shock me, but this does. I found That Was Then, This Is Now in my brother’s room and loved it. I still remember a lot of it vividly. It was my favorite, but of course tore through them all.

I mean, NOT like Hinton? Crazy.

[jshaving]

I did a quick search and found it.

@The_Myth

I’m a cynic by nature, a misanthrope by training. I was pretty young when I read The Outsiders and never went on to read other Hinton books. Upon maturation, I found The Outsiders simplistic and trite. I was somewhat ashamed of my original adoration of the novel.

I was somewhat wrong - he didn’t dismiss my enjoyment of it, but made me wonder if I simply wasn’t mature enough to come to the same conclusions.

[EmilyQ]

Haha, I’m sure it was trite! I think That Was Then was less so, but that may have just been my goofy impression.

I reread Catcher in the Rye as an adult and found it very funny. When I read it at 12 or so I found it dark and frightening.

When you’re young, trite things feel deep. Would The Secret Garden move me as an adult? Two asshole kids becoming nice because of a garden?

I identify Shogun, which I read at 16, as my all-time favorite book, but who knows what I’d find if I read it now for the first time. I’d probably find it silly.

I mean, was The Mouse and the Motorcycle really fine writing? I sure thought so.

[anna_5588]

On the topic of literature, I thought I’d post a hot take

The only thing that separates the works of authors like Jane Austen, Tolstoy and the Brontës from chick flicks/airport trash romance is that they were written a long time ago

My favourite book is “one day in the life of Ivan denisovich” and “fathers and sons”
Because I find them historically interesting and neither rely on frivolous romance to drive the plots

A tale of two cities is the first “hard” novel I read (I was in third grade) and up until I graduated HS, I read it every summer. The story is pretty cool, but the characters are rather flat and the more I read it, the more I hated the protagonists

[The_Myth]

A few things. First of all, thanks for the concern. I am fine. I am working through some things but am still sober.

Secondly, the experiences of @EmilyQ and @jshaving actually support my position. While you have lived somewhere for a long term you both have worldly experiences - which was my point.

Finally, I loved The Outsiders despite its simplicity, and very much enjoyed teaching it to my students. The same holds true for The Fault in Our Stars and The Art of Racing in the Rain, among many others.

Cheers.

[EmilyQ]

I’m very glad you’re okay.

[zecarlo]

@EmilyQ

In closing:

Two men look out
through the same bars,
One sees the mud,
and one sees the stars

One man looks in
And sees two men paying
The wages of sin

[zecarlo]

@anna_5588

The only thing that separates the works of authors like Jane Austen, Tolstoy and the Brontës

I really don’t think Tolstoy belongs on a list with those others.

@anna_5588

they were written a long time ago

Not that long ago.

[anna_5588]

@zecarlo

I really don’t think Tolstoy belongs on a list with those others.

Why not? Most of what he wrote was rich people doing dumb things and the equally dumb love lives of said rich people

[zecarlo]

You’d rather read about dumb poor people?

Anyway, to compare War and Peace to a modern romance novel is just a weak attempt at edginess.

[Silyak]

@anna_5588

The only thing that separates the works of authors like Jane Austen, Tolstoy and the Brontës from chick flicks/airport trash romance is that they were written a long time ago

Not sure how you can lump Tolstoy into that group. His writing is full of deep social and political commentary and satire with very interesting historical context. While there is romance, it is neither the focus nor is it particularly titillating to me.

[anna_5588]

@zecarlo

You’d rather read about dumb poor people?

Yes

The abject shittiness (and political rants about said shittiness) is what made Dostoyevsky and dickens great for me

[anna_5588]

@Silyak

interesting historical context.

This is the saving grace

[zecarlo]

If it makes you feel better, Tolstoy wrote that kings were history’s slaves.

[anna_5588]

I don’t have a “eat the rich” worldview.

I just find “problems of rich people” themed content frivolous and uninteresting if not done as irony/comedy. I don’t care what century or country.

[zecarlo]

One of the points Tolstoy was making is that war affects everyone, not just the wealthy. The so called great men can’t do anything without the participation of the masses. In effect, we all impact history.

[jshaving]

@zecarlo - what’s your favorite book? Or if you don’t have one ultimate answer, what are some contenders?