A Philosophy Student's Favorite Works of Fiction

[@troygaspard6732]

Non fiction gives you the facts, while fiction gives you the truth. Novels put us in touch with humanity.

[@marcher.arrant]

I already loved you but the fact that you mentioned Tropic of Cancer as a philosophical noval makes me love you even more. I love the Tropic books for that reason. They are like philosophical/artistic manifestos for the love of life! To me it's a shame people always talk about his eroticism and how he said such crazy things in his writing.

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@marcher.arrant It was really hard to choose between the two for this video! I love them both so very much

[@henrymiller3663]

Would love to hear your thoughts on Tropic of Capricorn..... and Kafka.

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@ I’ve done a lecture on Tropic of Capricorn!

[@conorknapp6764]

Was turned onto Henry Miller by Deleuze in college, quickly became one of my favourite writers alongside Camus, Dostoevsky. The documentary on Miller is quite good, talks about how he was always disappointed that people mostly saw him as an ‘obscene’ writer. A very thoughtful and sensitive man who wasn’t afraid to explore the unconscious

[@LittleMakwa]

Great list! I'm very excited to dive into Nietzsche and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, I've already been moved by many passages I've heard through lectures and can't wait to start dissecting the work on my own. I just recently started reading and diving into Cormac McCarthy with All the Pretty Horses, I'm only about half way though but I've been enrolled with the beauty of McCarthy's writing and already have pages filled with underlines, I've heard his philosophy is very Nietzsche inspired so I'm also very excited to see and make my own connections between them in the future :)

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@LittleMakwa I’m so excited for you! Keep me posted on McCarthy, as I’ve never read him and I’d love to hear your thoughts on him :)

[@victoralfonssteuck]

I'm definitely going to read Gravity's Rainbow and Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon now. Both seem awesome. I don’t know how I had never heard of this author before. His work seems really deep. From this entire list, I only knew Ulysses, and the only one I've read so far is Thus Spoke Zarathustra. That book had a huge impact on me and made me hate Christianity for a long time. By the way, if you’ll allow me a recommendation, I’d suggest Candide by Voltaire. It’s a short book, but it had a big impact on me when I read it. It’s been many years since then, but I remember finding it quite philosophical. Also, great video, Gavin. Excellent recommendations!

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@victoralfonssteuck Ah yes, Pynchon is most certainly the most brilliant living American author! And you’re totally right that I need to read Candide! I’ve heard so much about it but still have yet to give it a read. I most certainly will now :)

[@belacqua4435]

Some recommendations from my favorite fiction: Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin - on a surface level look this might be the German cousin of Joyce's Ulysses: both taking place in the capital of their country, the main protagonist being an everyday man and using the stream-of-consciousness as major tool of narration. But Döblin's narration is closer to a cut-up movie since he mixes news segments, advertisements, manuals, scientific observations and descriptions, historic legends, myths and apocalyptical pictures from the Bible in an unpredictable manner, describing the horrific conditions that the working class had to live in post-WW1 Germany. The protagonist was a petty criminal and after serving his sentence he tries to find foot as an honest citizen, only to fail miserably and get beaten down by the city several times. The Man without Qualities by Robert Musil - It is a massive novel fragment and takes place in Austria-Hungary shortly before WW1. Musil describes the stagnation and and creeping loss of meaning in Western Societies and anticipated some of the problems which Postmodernism is concerned about. The novel is unique in the sense that it is more of a multiplicity of essays hidden in a novel-jacket than novel itself. Also Musil left a literary workshop: there are various unfinished and re-written chapters, concepts which indicates he was in development hell till his sudden death. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño - another giagantic, post-humously published novel, depicting the nightmarish world of Globalism, Neo-Liberalism and late-stage Capitalism. Especially gruesome is one chapter in which the countless sadistic murders of Mexican women are described. Georges Perec - A Void. It is quite the experience to read a novel that doesn't contain the letter 'e', and it's interesting to see how drastic the changes of expression and the flow of sentences become through one censoring element, as well as the power of language. The Beckett Trilogy - but you've already mentioned that you will undertake this work in the future, so be amazed, amused and terrified by Beckett's amputation of the narrative subject. Kafka's short fiction as well as his three novel fragments and Proust's In Search of Lost Time are mandatory for the Deleuze/Guattari Scholar ;) (I still have to read the last four Proust books)

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@belacqua4435 This is a fantastic list! I’m familiar with some (especially 2666 which I’m getting for Christmas 😋) but plenty of these I’ve never heard of! I will most definitely add these to the top of my list, as you clearly know the kinds of things I like.

[@user-xq9ki7sz3f]

That’s a great list! By the way, have you read any of Bataille and Blanchot’s fiction? I’m curious to know your thoughts.

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

I’ve read the smallest of Bataille (he’s pretty cool) but still no Blanchot! I see them both cited so often tho that I read need to read them.

[@user-xq9ki7sz3f]

@@gavinyoung-philosophy Even Pierre Klossowski is intriguing. Whenever you have the time, consider creating a video about them.

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@ Will do!

[@24hourcoffee]

I would like to recommend you the writer Tom Robbins, particularly Jitterbug Perfume, you may really enjoy it

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@24hourcoffee I’ll take a look!

[@harshalbhanarkar]

Have you read Maurice Blanchot , one of my favorite authors, his work is blend of philosophy, absurdism, psychology, you might enjoy him if you haven't already read him

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@harshalbhanarkar You’re the second to recommend him in this comment section so I definitely ought to check him out!

[@ngdsmedia8189]

Have you ever read some Philip K dick or Sci-fi in general? If not I think you might enjoy reading some PKD,. He wrote some of the most philosophical interesting novels I've read. You might also like is 1972 address entitled The Android and The Human. Cheers for all the great content you post!

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

I haven’t read him, but I’ll most certainly add him to my tbr given your recommendation :)

[@RexWaymire]

It would be really cool if I could get your view on 'Ada or Ardor'

[@PhoenixMoggach]

Hey Gavin, have you read any DFW, i’m just now starting Infinite Jest

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@@PhoenixMoggach I’m reading Infinite Jest for a class next semester on postmodern American lit, so I’m excited to see what he’s like!

[@PhoenixMoggach]

@@gavinyoung-philosophyYou should check out some of his essays. Consider the Lobster is one of his best imo!

[@gavinyoung-philosophy]

@ I’ve read the essay from consider the lobster on the Adult Video Music Awards and it was fine. Recordings of him reading it helped me grasp his cadence more, but honestly he’s not as funny as people let him on to be (at least from that little exposure). I’m so ready to have my find changed w IJ tho!