culture is dead & i need to stop smelling like my crush

[@nathansnook]

do you think bret easton ellis would approve of my tamagotchi

[@ameliareads589]

@@nathansnook absolutely not 😂

[@bibliosophie]

yes and no in equal measure

[@00hms]

i loved hearing u talk about how literature has been there for u through dark times. i feel the same

[@nathansnook]

glad we're int he same boat! would like to know: what literature has saved you?

[@bibliosophie]

re culture : agreed. we digest too quickly, and consume a huge percentage of pre-digested culture. there's always been some element of this, but the percentages and speeds are out of control for most of us you sell glamorama well :)

[@nathansnook]

incredibly out of control and i wonder if we'll have any control of it at all? perhaps not. culture is, i think, a ravenous ever-excited animal, always hungry. re bret: always thinking back to when you read The Shards and the man still, and always will need, an editor... 😭

[@thelefthandedreader6632]

It’s not a Sunday unless I get to watch a Nathan vlog, truly. I totally agree with culture taking time to create, to be, compared to present day.

[@nathansnook]

and i hope in no ways will it affect the publishing world! i'm a bit scared about how fast books are being produced now as i have a growing fear that books aren't being edited as finely as they used to be!

[@lakvii]

love this. yes I bet so many of us can relate to being saved by books. books were (and still are) there for us when people aren't or when we can't bear to be received by them

[@nathansnook]

they're always there for us! and even when we leave them, we can always go right back to them. i hope a book is keeping you good company!

[@fleurmeneve5780]

What a deeply moving video from you, Nathan. As always. You are not afraid to go deep, to be fragile in your declaration of love for literature. I felt this. Thank you.

[@nathansnook]

thank you so much for this wonderful comment! books mean a great deal to all of us here on booktube. so glad the video resonated with you 💗

[@alexvann9124]

not the sippy cup I'm obsessed

[@nathansnook]

i m literal child 👼🏼

[@alexvann9124]

@@nathansnook adorable babes only

[@johnoliver595]

Love the vulnerability in this one ❤

[@nathansnook]

at this point i think y'all are my therapist 🫠

[@blue---monday]

omg i totally had the same exact experience with glamorama. the only difference is that i enjoyed the shards a bit more! i also thought it was in serious need of EDITING omg.... it was one of the few times i genuinely believed that 70% of the book didn't contribute much to the story nor the style! like half of it could be cut out and it would produce pretty much the same effect on the reader. also, the book is objectively really messy. on the one hand, i felt like bret had sooo many ideas that i appreciated, and u could really tell he was excited to try out new and interesting ways to write. and this experimentalism was my favorite part about the book i think. but on the flipside, unfortunately i dont think his experimentation entirely worked...?? it felt disjointed and inelegant. i could sense his exasperation and that he kinda lost the plot by the end? but still despite all that, i couldnt help but have so much FUN reading it! i had the most amusing time, its so unhinged. also, do u happen to know whats the deal with the numbers placed in random order before each paragraph??? i never figured out whats that all about. i thought it might be an order to reread the book (hopscotch style) but i tried it and it didnt work lmao? also nathan, u might want to read less than zero if u havent! bret went on quite a bit in the shards of how intentional he was in practicing writing sentences in the style of didion. and i think his prose was the most didion-like in less than zero. it was very detached, and cool, but in less than zero's case, his writing style turned out as genuinely really cold and cutting.. quite surpassing didion and becoming his own thing. that's the first BEE book i read and i was blown away. his other books never managed to quite impress me like that one did!

[@nathansnook]

ahh thank you for sharing your experience with Glamorama! it’s one most people have much hesitation towards or less enthusiasm for. again, i find all the experimentation and excitement of it all really interesting in conjunction to a decade span of writing it ?? there’s something organic about it all that i think i also enjoy! the experimentation of it all but also what it means for culture now. i feel if i read this a few years ago, i wouldn’t be so enthused, but it’s doing something in reflection to culture now. i think for the rando chapter numbers, i also tried reading them in order but it did not make sense 😭😭😭 so i just saw it as a ways of progressing plot points like a countdown. it’s such a fun book regardless but it definitely makes me want to pick up The Shards again ! and thank you for the note about Less Than Zero! i think it’ll be my next Bret!

[@jameskatie]

the culture thing definitely hit a note with me. i think this is maybe one of the reasons i read mostly backlisted fiction rather than new releases? there are only a few recent books that i feel have something more solid to them, that move something deeper than just catching onto 'the moment'.

[@nathansnook]

now that you mention it, you do read quite a lot of backlist! which i appreciate. i think i do the same for films as i feel like there’s such a rich pool from what came before us. it also is quite comforting knowing the anxieties and worries of the past still speak to what we feel today !

[@amandamarinhoaz]

found your channel yesterday and i'm now completely obsessed. have not read any bret but i'm now very curious about it. loved loved this video.

[@nathansnook]

Thanks for being here! Your presence means a lot 💫 i have yet to figure out where to start when it comes to Bret, but i have always found him fascinating, life and writing !

[@monsteratreehouse]

You’ll love all his videos he’s a good fun lively vibe

[@maybeselina]

i seriously love how u edit ur intros!! great video as always

[@nathansnook]

ahhh ty! this one was a bit rough, but thank you always for watching! ^^

[@seattlepunkdawg]

I just happened to stumble across this video/ your channel and i’m so glad I did. The way you talk about literature is so inspiring and reminded me how powerful it really can be. Great Video!

[@nathansnook]

thank you for watching! your presence matters 💫 literature really is a beautiful thing :)

[@litwithkat]

10:41 i want this to be me this weekend - reading outside and eating a sweet treat. also your friend scaring the shit out of you lmao i was so stressed when he pushed you but that’s also some shit i would do to my friend 😂

[@nathansnook]

it’s the activity of the summer !!! go out there with a book and a sweet treat! LOL it was literally an espresso shot for me i honestly need to be scared more 💥☕️

[@alsopato]

cologne just to go read is me every day lately haha

[@coconutmilch2351]

You make having a tamagotchi look fun. I didn’t know the screens were colorful !

[@nathansnook]

it was fun until it was not! it is currently, once again, out of battery...haha and yes! this is the tamagotchi on series where the screen is backlit!

[@SavidgeReads]

Another fab vlog, always enjoy spending time with you. From the Sade, to your friend making you almost 💩 yourself, to all the Glamorama thoughts. I think I need a sippy cup for adults too. Oh and ps. I’m so f**king jealous you have a Challengers book mark!

[@nathansnook]

i think it's key now that i will always try to have Sade in my vlogs! she is my kween!!! please do get a sippy cup! with a straw! it makes them lips puckered and ready for action! [and by action i mean book talk ;) ]

[@SavidgeReads]

@@nathansnookhmmmm sure you do 👄

[@MicahRion]

When you said (something along the lines of) What if we halved our screen time and spent it out in the world with each other it's like, yeah. Thinking about that a lot too. I'm reading "How to do Nothing" right now and it's all about that.

[@nathansnook]

ahhh i read Odell’s second book after this one and it changed my relationship with my phone ! i still fail with managing screen time, but this just reminded me that time away is good. hope you’re being wholesome wherever you are in the world ✨🌎

[@wubaduckie]

Switch out crush for someone I wanted to be friends with. That's what Tocca Colette is to me (it's like a sweeter Gypsy Water). If we're talking scents bringing up mildly nauseating and bittersweet feelings, mine's a jasmine candle. I have strong associations with jasmine to my childhood but the combination of jasmine in hot wax brings back a scent memory of death. I didn't realise it until I bought myself a jasmine candle, but it also explained why I had the same kind of reaction to a tuberose candle (a gift) back a couple of years ago.

[@nathansnook]

a sweet gypsy water! i can smell it! scent has such a strong relation to memory. it's incredible what it can conjure and create for us. also a fan of jasmine

[@jessdekkerreads8792]

“Literature saved” yes. You’ll have to pick up Committed on Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon. She was institutionalized for a part of her life and she often talks about how writing and reading saved her, got her through her grief and darkest moments.

[@nathansnook]

oh gosh this sounds wonderful! immediately adding this to my tbr, thank you so much!

[@leraandflow]

love your vlogs💚

[@nathansnook]

thanks for being here! your presence matters 💫

[@ChanelChapters]

Spill proof sippy cups are underrated

[@nathansnook]

forreaaaaal changed the way I take coffee to work 😭

[@yenlyn_g]

omg gypsy water!! i like how fresh it is too although im not inspired by any crushes hah. good to know manifestation doesn’t work through smelling like our crushes lol 😅 i also love byredo’s mojave ghost but do not love its longevity and sillage for its price point 😬

[@nathansnook]

LOL do not recommend manifestation by way of perfume. i love mojave ghost too!!! i just haven't found one that entirely sticks on me. always have to be price point conscious when looking for the prefect scent. still looking for something that will best suit me for summer! what's your summer scent?

[@yenlyn_g]

@@nathansnook i tend to change up my summer scent, usually opting for a body mist or a lighter fragrance. lately i’ve been obsessed with Sol de Janeiro’s Cheirosa '40. love its vanilla and woodsy notes as someone leaning toward gourmand fragrances… think Maison Margiela’s Coffee Break!! ☕️ also, your spraying perfume to go out and read reminds me of Astrid in Perfume & Pain, who spritzes Iso e Super before hopping on a zoom meeting with sapphic scribes lol. im enjoying the book already at just 30+ pages in!

[@elisazouza]

i love love

[@nathansnook]

💗💗💗

[@alice-si5kp]

the entire culture is ded segment had me Olivia nodding along for all of it's length. In a strange way I feel as though culturally where somewhere close to where creatives post WW1 were, dadaism and all. There's disgust for the culture, rejecting and participation all at the same time. it's all very confusing.

[@nathansnook]

this is such an interesting take! i wonder if we'll shift into something like dadaism to make sense or reject or create a newness from this very confusing time. though i say that and yet we exist in time where we have knowledge of all movements of art that anything is possible and everything is probable!

[@yenasung]

Oof the crisp white shirt with a perfect bocket. The segggsy restaurant with the chrome ceiling that you absolutely belong in ❤ seething with envy from the Pokémon popup store!!! Books ARE ppl just prob ppl who are “better” than the ones you know irl lol ppl who you are unlucky to have never met due to time geography class etc. Alex is also my booktube dd who birthed my channel lol he is seriously the grand sire of many of the existing channels

[@nathansnook]

Alex really doin a number on us ALL! and lmao on books as people. reminds me of The Pagemaster and i am sensing a rewatch maybe...

[@monsteratreehouse]

Hi Nate!!!! Hope your tama is doing well, i love the ninja lol. Mine is doing fine he’s got a family rn (he married his bandmate)!! I’m currently reading the vanishing half and 11/22/63. I picked up the latter cause when else would you read about a president being assassinated after someone tries to assassinate a president? Both are good, hope you’re doing well and have a great week :)

[@nathansnook]

ooh! i've always seen 11/22/63 around and have always wanted to read it. how timely now because of a bloody eat !!! 😭 so glad you're enjoying it! i want to get to it! and eep!!! your tama!!! so happy that y'all got a family now i'll eventually get to ur lvl!!!

[@adriana410]

Was that smoking PSA at the park real or did you edit that in???

[@nathansnook]

it’s real! lol

[@adriana410]

@@nathansnook Woah! Very Orwellian but socially positive. Had no idea Korean parks did that.

[@nathansnook]

@@adriana410 i think it’s bc this park was just renovated so they’re just trying to keep it in pristine condition ! and it’s a big family park too that’s why :)

[@ameliareads589]

I've read Imperial Bedrooms, Less than Zero and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and I'm actually currently listen to White.

[@nathansnook]

have you liked any of these? i remember reading American Psycho ages ago and my teen self loved it, but i have a feeling if i reread it, i would find it a chore haha

[@ameliareads589]

@@nathansnook Same. Back then I liked Less than Zero the most. I am not squeamish at all, but American Psycho made me feeling physically sick, but I liked it still. Not sure I would nowadays though. It has actually been on an index for youth protection in Germany and before 2001 you couldn't buy or borrow it, if you were under the age of eighteen.

[@AndrewWebster]

Ah thanks for the shout out :)

[@nathansnook]

your vlogs always bring so much joy! ✨🫶🏻

[@jameskatie]

i used to wear gypsy water in my hair x

[@nathansnook]

omg i can imagine it on u perfectly 💛💛💛

[@00hms]

omg i had to give up on my tamagotchi # too much commitment for me

[@nathansnook]

i don’t blame you life got to be too much and i had to say bye bye 😭