Brett Linsley > Recent Status Updates

All I can say is this has the best dog storyline I’ve ever read. Houellebecq, with his typical cynicism, mocks the shallowness that underlies dogs replacing children in our culture - and yet, it is a dog who teaches the post-human protagonist what love means. In short, Houellebecq shows with remarkable compassion the weight dogs bare because of the decadence of the west. Creation groans for redemption.

Even as he offends and provokes, he evokes the deepest compassion. It’s almost impossible to know what to do with Houellebecq’s deep humanity. He is more transparent than any person you know - and what you see is deeply painful, perverse, and beautiful.

The most engaging introduction to a book I’ve read in ages. Caro paints a civilization portrait of New York City where Robert Moses should be considered alongside the Pharaohs or Caesars.

Rereading while listening to Aaron Renn’s work on Columbus. An amazing town with a fascinating history. The book is cursory but the best out there. Enjoying re-reading it!

Grabbed off my shelf at a whim and surprised to find Boll reminds me alot of a German Kurt Vonnegut. What a pleasant surprise!

Loving it. Sach’s style is very accessible to the lay person, much like Alex Ross. Without complicated technical jargon, he explains the historical significance and virtues of Schoenberg’s work. I have been looking for a book to help me “get” Schoenberg. This is doing the trick. Very enjoyable and interesting to listen to the works as they are mentioned in the book!

Shocking stuff even for Roth.

A far more sympathetic portrait than I anticipated. In some ways it’s the book’s success at humanizing Trump that makes the critiques of his seemingly aimless first term foreign policy all the more damning. Struck by Woodward’s depiction of Trump’s response to Assad’s chemical terrorism in Syria which depicts the president as completely inept due to a righteous rage for the Syrian people. Fascinating.

It’s quite simply the case that any serious student of sexuality or gender must contend with Houellebecq’s savage vision of western decadence if they wish to be credible.

There’s no one who understands western society more than Houellebecq. Savage and heartbreaking.

Hooked already. As magical and devastating as The Wasteland.

“It is in our relations with other people that we gain a sense of ourselves; it’s that, pretty much, that makes relations with other people unbearable.” Pp 63

Houellebecq is always shocking, and not only for his lucrid descriptions of sex. I don’t know anyone who can equally savage the critics of western society and not because he is uncritical but because he finds the critics to be so clear a symptom of the west’s shallowness and sentimentality. This book is an intellectual riot.

Michel Houellebecq is the squirrelly French pervert the world needs right now. Can’t get enough of his antics!

Reading a second time in 6 months - brilliant.

Like real life Harry Potter. Witnessing a young nobody enter into an awareness of his vital powers is spellbinding. I don’t want this book to end!

Why do I turn into a fawning schoolgirl every time I read a Philip Roth novel? Is he self-indulgent? Absolutely. Could I listen to him fall prey to his own obsessions for thousands of pages? Undeniably. This book is so damn good.

Roth is just a goddamn magician. I can’t believe the things he pulls off. No one knows this country like he does.

Barreled through first half of this book today. Was skeptical as I’ve seen this pop up on bestseller lists frequently. Pleasantly surprised to find this is one of the more helpful, practical guides on mindfulness I’ve perused. Unlike others, this book doesn’t belong to the market of commodified therapy. This isn’t about curing your pathologies - just about being present and aware.

A perfect fever dream. Like reading Schopenhauer or listening to Wagner.

The finest f**king novel I’ve read. Like a stab in the heart full of truthfulness.

A seemingly unstructured book that rewards rereaders once the “whole picture” has been observed. The nihilistic philosophy on display is both tenuous and humane, deserving admiring contestation. Kurt Vonnegut is like the brother you love because you suppose he gets things all wrong but for all the right reasons.