People are narcissistic because they will believe in God for hope in personal tribulation, leave upon short-term gratification, perform good will to pat themselves on the back and deceive themselves that they are good when they lie, cheat, and steal along with twisting truths. I know, because I have a knack for active listening and probing. Religion, morals are weapons to defy the pecking order in a hypocritical or deceptive way, because you are damn if the shoe was on the other foot... Buddhism believes in an afterlife, but this ego dissolution comes close to assuming our true form.

Oh I hope you can one day review Murakami as well. You may have talked about one or two of his books just in passing before. I read his Kafka on the shore and norwegian wood and now reading "The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami" and getting so much philosophical references to this work in it.

Thank You>

Yo its me the last guy you reacted to since then i have left my family i live with a roommate and i now have a drivers licence but i havent sorted out the rest yet

It sounds better than The Rats by James Herbert. That didn't impress me much.

If nothingness were perceivable as something more than a termination point, an edge of a cliff, I might take Ligotti’s arguments seriously. But since by definition nothingness is imperceivable, and in any event we are condemned to being whether as a mechanism or free agency, then Ligotti is at best a case study in self avoidance. Also, I could do without the gesturing toward pop concepts like “narcissism” which has become so widespread- ie., thinned down - that it’s like a coat of grease on a pig, enabling a slick getaway from any argument.

taking a big break from book reviews or maybe reading war and peace?

Enjoying the review very much, very happy to see reviews on more East Asian literature. Mishima is such a fascinating writer and you summed him up so well.

As I'm off for a fortnight I'll come back with a double-header of a show in a couple weeks. Next on the book club: The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe & Rat by Andrzej Zaniewski I've already got my copies so if anyone wants them just drop me an email: [email protected] Cheers

How do you announce the next book you’re going to review live on this channel? Just through coming up live stream posting?

What a review! I just started reading the book

I heard this episode a third time today. As always mention of this book leaves me wondering why it’s called a conspiracy. So I was prompted to read it a second time. And there the explanation was on page 15 in the middle of the zombification section. Every word like a golden gem. I don’t know how I missed it the first time. Was I a zombie when I read it the first time?

I really want to read this book but i live in Iran and cannot get a hold of it (physically or even pdf) i was wondering if you could upload a video reading it?? like an audiobook.

Isn't that what the necrophiliac Dennis Nilson said? That it started with the sight of a dead boy and also seeing his dead Grandad when he was child, who had apparently fiddle with him at the age of six.

Sounded like a feckin warzone outside.

As a ‘leftover women’ in China, i am encouraged that the deadlock gender situations in China/Korea/Japan are gaining more worldwide attention with Han Kang’s prize. But there’s got to be a lot more great work by East Asian female writers that delve into this topic. Sadly not enough of them get translated or marketed internationally.

@turkfebruary6299 loves this channel. He's a total bookworm.

Even though I only caught the tail end of this, and had to re-watch the full thing later (I had just rolled in at 6AM here, as you were wrapping up)--this was one of your best book-streams yet (and a great book-choice, too). Good insights and humor, as always. I hope to more actively participate in the near future; keep up the good work.

"It's a good addition to [Salinger's]..." **pauses, takes exceedingly long sip from wineglass while clearly ransacking his brain for the term he wants to use** "...repertoire." I see what you did you there, and well played.

You should bite people on this channel

Where tf am i

49:54 He braces himself prior to Elliot’s jerk off talk

34:15 James has a point, the book does give a sense of comfort in that it shows the reader that their not alone. But it has a more important self-help type of message: there is absolutely nothing that can be done to improve the situation of your existence. This is paradoxical, since it doesn’t provide you with anything to do. But the realization that their is nothing that can be done is naturally freeing. I call it natural because you don’t need to “do” anything. An honest appraisal of existence is all it takes. That is, in my experience at least, it means that I can cease my striving for something that will help. I don’t need to endure chasing the carrot on the stick when it comes to philosophy, religion, spirituality, etc. I can existentially relax. Nothing will obliterate my suffering and I needn’t lift a finger to find something (a book, an ambition, a person, whatever) that will. I still study all that stuff but now i do it as play and with levity.

Highly recommend Flannery Oconnor’s ‘Mystery and Manners’ as a writing ‘lesson?’. It’s a compilation of her talks at writers’ events.

You've rinsed that copy out, got your monies worth.

Stoner’s parents really impress me by letting him ‘just do whatever he needs to do’…so he is blessed and fortunate in a way.

Stoner, L'Etranger, and The Tartar Steppe are all excellent and feel thematically confluent. I'd probably add Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich, and Beneath the Wheel & Gertrude, both by Hesse, as other greats in a similar vein to those mentioned in the video.

Let's play the G.C. Lit'ry Analysis Drinking Game! Rule #1: Take a drink each time G.C. utters something to the effect of, "I think I kind of lost my own point, there, a bit..." while, himself, taking a drink-- :P

I'd vote Clarice lispector-The Passion According to GH, Elfriede Jelinek- The Children of the Dead, Elizabeth Hardwick-Sleepless Nights, or Kathy Acker- Blood and guts in high school for the female voices you were going to include every 5th novel. I look forward to reading Stoner again, cheers!

People are more likely to leave a review for a book if they don't like it. And a negative review is also more likely to be long and detailed.

I could actually HEAR the audible creak of this IMR guy's whole world shifting, once the girl started acting differently--just brutal :P

GC what happened to your other vids? i remember you did a really good one on mark fisher/capitalist realism and one on transgressive fiction.

I remember listening to this as a creepy pasta when I was 12, and yes, me and my friends thought it was a masterpiece. Didn’t realise it was a novel

GC: the sexier James Lipton. Solid yarn playboi, thanks for having me on 🤌

Great content as always.You are a great interviewer , GC.

Really great thanks ❤

Really enjoying this series man

Interesting show. You are good interviewer.

1:17:01 I don't find it depressing, at all. Shows how deluded (or depressed) I am.

Are you attempting to assemble a Legion Of Doom?

Mum, I'm doing a KZbin interview. Will you iron my special shirt.

Awesome James Flynn was how I originally found your channel

I have my topic for my first (self-published) novel: young man writes a book and gets then sucked dry by these companies that promise good sales. story doesn't end well, the man falls into a depression and ends up in the gutter. It's a tale about capitalism, I think. Hereby I am claiming this story. so keep your hands off, you bitches.

Two amazing reviewers. Still gutted that GC deleted all his videos.

Good content GC mixing it up

hi, gareth. no hate here, and i appreciate you trying new things, but your inability to stick to a format gives me little hope for this new show idea. knowing you'll probably drop it after a few months or a few episodes makes it difficult to get invested. you barely make videos now, you don't put books out, and i honestly think your "trash heap dumpster fire" format was the best, because the new streams are the same thing, but with less enthusiasm and production value. it's a shame because your main channel has real potential, but segmenting things up into multiple channels and confusing your viewers will only hinder each channel. this is why your viewership has dropped since you've abandoned the blackpill videos and reaction streams that were really working for you in 2022. i understand the old oedipus podcast went to crap because of that one episode, but since then you've just wondered from idea to idea without really settling on something. if you're gonna try movie reviews again, maybe put your channel logo on the thumbnails for branding purposes. i'd also recommend putting everything on one channel and diversifying things, but you'd have to stick it out with videos and more consistent streams. video-wise, shorter, well-produced vids with high editing could allow you to make good content at a better output, which the algo loves. it sucks to see your channels stagnate after so much promise, so i figured i'd give this advise, just in case you're interested. good show, man

this is an interview where the one who is interviewing does most of the talking