Never gets old. I've been listening to Alice:

I get that, and agree for some. One recurring theme is a female character that's always cronically physically ill and fatalistic in attitude; it happens in Now Wait and The Divine Invasion, and some others I believe that I can't remember. Those characters tend to depress me, although The Divine Invasion has probably one of his more hopeful endings, weirdly.

@Jamal

To me some are, some aren't. Ubik is fun, yes, but Now Wait For Last Year which I just read was pretty depressing. Addiction is a huge theme and the main character and his wife absolutely hate each other. So it depends on the novel.

Fuck!

I picked up Libra by Don DeLillo from one of those little free libraries.

Quarky — T Clark

I approve.

I get that. For me there's nothing quite like walking down the smelly trash-strewn streets of lower Manhattan on a sweltering sunny afternoon with two greasy slices on a paper plate. It's not for everyone though.

magical talking crow — Italy

I'm going to start referring to @T Clark in this way.

This is the feeling of "Saturated beauty", when beauty becomes noise and enjoyment of art becomes chore, the feeling that every librarian probably had in small doses; The silly feeling that I wished to share with you, as I find it pretty cool. — Italy

Yes, the art (no pun intended) of sitting with a work of art without distractions for an extended period of time is, well, a lost art. But museums and concerts and performances still exist, and perhaps are even more valuable in the internet age. In the past, they were the only way to experience art, but now they're the way we can experience art in it's most immediate form.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, visit an art museum if you can. Find something that grabs your attention, preferably not even something you necessarily "like" or find beautiful, and sit with it for at least 20 minutes. Just make yourself do it. You will not regret it. If you don't have access to an art museum, just find an object, whether in nature or something man made, and do the same thing. Observe it for at least 20 minutes.

That's a great idea; I might try that.

I had zero expectations for the new Sigur Ros album, but this slapped:

Ok, I'm now re-reading UBIK, but at a snails pace because I'm taking copious notes. :grin:

I only ask because to whatever extent the Russian people are duped or not duped by state propaganda, I assume they know this whole thing happened. That seems significant.

Also an excellent discussion point. I’m feeling motivated to get this thread going.

Has this at all penetrated Russia’s native propaganda front? There seem to be cracks that aren’t easily painted over.

It's been years since I read it though, and often can't convince myself to reread things just for class. — Srap Tasmaner

Haha, that's fair enough. There's no requirements, I just personally feel responsible for re-reading it in order to make a quality OP.

Just wait for the forthcoming thread, then!

I'm not super well read on him. I've read a few I didn't care for, like Eden. I do like the recurring theme in some of his work of alien life being incomprehensible to us and resistant to our anthropomorphization, something the Strugatsky Brothers also explored.

I was thinking more about the 1960s I guess? Like Jack Vance, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, etc — frank

Ah, those I would consider Hard Sci-Fi. PKD began trying to write normal, everyday non-Sci-Fi novels and was not successful, so he pivoted to harder Sci-Fi and found some success. It was a job, yes. He gradually became more successful, and then pivoted away into more philosophical novels.

someone showing up to PKD's door with Christian fish necklace and it caused some epiphany in Dick? Was he struggling with mental health issues? — frank

Yes to both. There's a fascinating mythology surrounding him, his work, and his life. It's part of why I want to start the UBIK thread. The philosophical merit of the thread would go beyond the novel itself.

Well, now that I say that, I should clarify since I might have misspoken. I think and write too quickly at times. His later novels are not Hard Sci-Fi involving mutant aliens races and complex future technologies. Some of these things make appearances in earlier works, but they are essentially non-existent in later works. By "old school" are you referring to the truly old school like Wells? I might have misinterpreted. The Sci-Fi qualities of some laters works are nearly subsumed by an obsession with philosophy, mysticism and religious symbols.

I haven't read that, but I've read pretty much all of Philip K. Dick's short stories. He's old school science fiction. — frank

His later novels are anything but old school Sci-Fi. I plan on starting a serious thread about UBIK. I need recruits.

There are good images, yes, despite his terse prose. I was going to go into more detail but want to save it for the mythical thread that shall one day appear.

If you've ever seen the Russian version of Solaris, it captures that old school vibe pretty well. — frank

Yes, Tarkovsky's take on Lem's novel. I enjoyed the film a lot and need to re-watch it. With Tarkovsky I'm a bigger fan of Stalker and Mirror, but this is a reading thread. I absolutely loved Lem's Solaris novel, so seeing the film second was a let down because it's so different. But that's Tarkovsky. I saw Stalker first and then read the Strugatsky Brother's Roadside Picnic. It seems whichever you experience first is your preference, at least with me.

Another great Lem novel is Memoirs Found in a Bathtub. "Kafkaesque"...

Good point.

There's a silver casing to every thug...?

Oh sure, I'm just asking questions in part to better understand the situation.

Isn't he also a member of the Oligarch class he's talking about?

Could there be an inkling of truth in some of what he's describing?

Interesting to read your thoughts. I still plan on making a thread, so I'll wait to respond. I need to read it again to respond to some of your points anyway.

I’m unsure what to read next, so I’ve been combing through sections of The Nag Hammadi Library again. If nothing else it’s good for falling asleep. The fiction kick I’ve been on for awhile isn’t always good for that.

Pizza is for all seasons, whether weather or life.

:fire:

I'm a notoriously non-visual person; I don't remember anything about what stuff looks like. I have a hard time understanding visual art, whether paintings or dance or whatever. I've been a huge fan of the below piece since I was in college. This is a version recorded in studio by one dude; he replaced some of the instruments he doesn't play (strings, bass clarinet etc) with keyboards. It sounds like a gimmicky idea, but it's actually an excellent performance of the piece.

For some reason, despite everything, at around 2:35, the first time I heard this piece a very stark image came into my mind: of people (dancers maybe?) dramatically turning their heads and seeing a somehow unexpected sunrise, and then irresistibly moving their bodies towards it with joy. I ugly-cried the first time I had this experience. I'm over sharing, but felt the need for whatever reason. Enjoy, hopefully.



Edit: I forgot to mention that one reason I really love this version of the piece is that Erik's instrumentation and mix brought out elements of the piece that I had never noticed before, which I think is what triggered this whole spiritual experience for me.

I find politics unattractive for the most part. — Tom Storm

So do I. It’s nice to hear the same from an intelligent person I respect.

Keep clowning until you see them face to face, ya bitter crank.

If you take him at face value, the reason he claims to have evidence without sighting it is because of what he describes as "black budget illegal programs". He details them more if you get past 10 minutes. I'm not saying it's worth your time.

There's been a bit of a sea change in media about UFOs/UAPs in the past few years. This New Yorker article is possibly an example, from 2021. Ironically, Today (the 12th), the Dr. Steven Greer mentioned at the top of that article gave another National Press Club conference, which you can watch here. (edit: it starts around 50 minutes in since it was a live stream). I'm currently watching it. I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it's interesting that the dude in the OP video would come forward days before this Press Club event. He seemed full of shit to me, if I'm being frank. For full disclosure, I don't think it's absurd to posit that other intelligent life exists in the universe; on the other hand, I've followed this Steven Greer a bit, and can't decide if he's a total kook or not. He may be, but if so he's fooling himself, I think. He seems sincere.

Atheist dogmatist confirmed.

Well said as always.

This is a great post.