[quote]TheJonty wrote:
I thought it was scientifically proven that everyone is at least a little bit full of themselves? Something about an experiment where they digitally altered a photograph of your face several times to make you more or less attractive and people consistently chose an option that was altered favourably as a representation of their true self. I imagine it extends to perceptions of literary abilities as well.[/quote]
It is fairly apparent that the more ambiguous or subjective the criteria for judging becomes, the more likely people are to rate their various traits or abilities as “above average” (e.g., more people would rate themselves as having “above average” social intelligence as opposed to height).
[quote]TheJonty wrote:
I thought it was scientifically proven that everyone is at least a little bit full of themselves? Something about an experiment where they digitally altered a photograph of your face several times to make you more or less attractive and people consistently chose an option that was altered favourably as a representation of their true self. I imagine it extends to perceptions of literary abilities as well.[/quote]
It is fairly apparent that the more ambiguous or subjective the criteria for judging becomes, the more likely people are to rate their various traits or abilities as “above average” (e.g., more people would rate themselves as having “above average” social intelligence as opposed to height).[/quote]
That makes a lot of sense, I hadn’t thought about it along those lines. It is more difficult to spew bullshit about hard numbers (assuming all parties involved actually understand the numbers being thrown around).
[quote]theBeth wrote:
Wow. From T.S Eliot to Shakespeare to Candide…
Got my attention.
Do we have an Oedipus in the house?[/quote]
No.
But it might interest you to know that the original titel was oedipus tyrannos which turned into oedipus rex in Latin.
That was a problem however because a tyrant was more or less a neutral expression while mon-archos or king was far from being neutral to Romans.
However, since we no longer have these sensitivities by and large, oedipus rex, as a title, works again just as intended by the author.
You have missed the digital revolution, no longer are we held back by our clumsy, beefy hands, a curse since the day of Charlemagne, now we can read them books too!
I used to read alot about Plath and alot of her work. She was gifted and batshit insane made for very interesting reads. Her style is still one of the best.
Bukowski is still great in my books.
I mostly read dystopian type novel’s or things that weave science into fiction. I read most of vonnegut’s books as well, I want to check out some russian’s now anybody know of any good rusky author’s?
[quote]Jlabs wrote:
I used to read alot about Plath and alot of her work. She was gifted and batshit insane made for very interesting reads. Her style is still one of the best.
Bukowski is still great in my books.
I mostly read dystopian type novel’s or things that weave science into fiction. I read most of vonnegut’s books as well, I want to check out some russian’s now anybody know of any good rusky author’s?
[quote]Jlabs wrote:
I used to read alot about Plath and alot of her work. She was gifted and batshit insane made for very interesting reads. Her style is still one of the best.
Bukowski is still great in my books.
I mostly read dystopian type novel’s or things that weave science into fiction. I read most of vonnegut’s books as well, I want to check out some russian’s now anybody know of any good rusky author’s?
[/quote]
I was surprised at how accessible this book was; I enjoyed it very much.
I read the Burgin/O’Connor translation, I can’t speak for other translations.
I related more to the ex pats and stuff of that nature or American Author’s in general. Havn’t read many other countries famous Author’s besides roman history in which I read alot of Plutarch and Polybius.
Anthony Vigorito is a good Author I like ihis style/quirky and mixes"science" with fiction. I could go on about books I’ve enjoyed but I don’t want to get flamed buy the uber book nerds. David sedaris is dope as well. I hate overly descriptive writing and I know alot of people enjoy that style not my cup of tea. Nice to share with others who read none of my friends read much ahha, their mostly into trades or cars and beer.
By the way I used to really like Voltaire due to the fact that he was witty and not afraid to offend the hell out of people and he made money off of it and was famous during his life time.
He did say that the French and British were fighting for nothing but a few acres of snow in Canada. Asshole!
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Dr. Pangloss is a character in the book Candide by Voltaire. His philosophy, in a nutshell, is that everything happens for the best including his own suffering and the suffering of his friends. Candide was social satire and Pangloss represented Leibnizian Optimism (we live in the best possible world, all is for the best). At the end of the story Candide rejects Optimism, but the reader isn’t told what philosophy he chooses in it’s wake.
I chose it because I had revisited the book after 20 years and was feeling especially introspective when I registered at TN and never expected to post in the forums. I’ve used one user name at the dozen or so forums I’ve registered at over the years, not sure why I didn’t chose it for TN as well.
At the time, I liked it, now it seems pretentious to me and when I post in certain forums, I have to qualify my answer with “…but I’m not a doctor.”
Some time ago, there was a “Pangloss” on the site who was active in PWI and was quite erudite. I remember reading one of his posts thinking it was my own and feeling quite proud of myself. Then I realized it wasn’t me…lol.
<-------------------------- Not a Dr.
[/quote]
Oh shit I never knew that!
I’ve performed the Overture to Candide a number of times. It’s one of my favorite pieces. I’ve never performed the entire operetta though, and obviously I never read the novella by Voltaire on which it was based given that I had no idea Pangloss was a character in it lol.
Here it is btw; it’s not long. Conducted by Lenny himself:
My favorite work by T.S. Eliot. And it shocks me that a T-head would be familiar with his work.
[/quote]
You’re obviously new around here.[/quote]
I was going to say the same thing. I wouldn’t have hung around this website for the past ten years if it were filled with a bunch of imbeciles. [/quote]
Yes, I am new around here - to the forums anyway. I apologize for my narrow assumption that I would never come across a fine ass gentleman who digs T.S. Eliot. Especially on a manly forum such as this. I am intrigued to say the least.[/quote]
You’d be surprised at the depth and breadth of men who frequent these pages.[/quote]
I’m quite proud of my depth and breadth, but I think my girth is probably still my best feature.[/quote]
Silly boy.
So kawaiiii![/quote]
Haha super-kawaii! One day I’m going to learn Japanese, and then I shall have more humour to offer than J-Pop sayings and peen jokes. I should probably even integrate myself into more serious topics slightly outside of my comfort zone…but for now, peen jokes.[/quote]
“Super” = “choh,” so, “choh-kawaii” is what you want.
There, you just learned something new – you’re a step closer to fluency![/quote]
At this rate I’ll be there in no time, make way for the choh choh train!
