This is refreshing to read. As someone who reads and writes, I tend to share your optimism. Whenever, in popular culture, stupidity became fashionable, intelligence roared back bigger than ever. More and more, the bar is set ever so low. If you have a general sense of history, are actually literate, and have the patience to think for yourself, you are practically a god at this point.
“The world I want: Ideally, engaging seriously with literature would be a mundane activity, not an exotic hobby that warrants creep shots. I would like to move toward that world. To that end, we have to create a culture in which reading is not a moral statement at all.”
I love this piece so much -- thank you for writing it!!!
For reasons I still don't understand but I think are deeply funny, I had a post about The Brothers Karamazov go semi-viral on this website a week ago, and at least half of the dozens of comments were "dude, so performative" ... What is wrong with people?
been missing Twitter and always wanted to believe it was a far freer space than the one you more accurately describe here…I’m the saltiest of pillars lol
What a beautiful contemplation. As a historian whose job it is to read and consider and construct narrative out of the entangled memories and desires of the past, something in me dies a little when people bemoan performative reading. We are nothing without stories and, as you say, we must reorient ourselves to a new Truth North. Writing and reading are integral to our being and situating ourselves within the interlocking crises of our time. I pray we keep doing them.
If it makes you, or anyone else reading this, feel any better, I think this concept is mainly a thing in the US. Add maybe a few other countries. In a lot of other regions of the world, reading is still just reading (it might still be an exotic hobby, but it is rarely thought to be performative).
This is not to say that it is not an issue, or an invalid problem, but I hope I can inspire some sort of hope that this is not entirely widespread🥰
This is refreshing to read. As someone who reads and writes, I tend to share your optimism. Whenever, in popular culture, stupidity became fashionable, intelligence roared back bigger than ever. More and more, the bar is set ever so low. If you have a general sense of history, are actually literate, and have the patience to think for yourself, you are practically a god at this point.
Holy shit. As a long, long time reader of yours... this might be my favorite piece of yours ever. Holy shit!!
“The world I want: Ideally, engaging seriously with literature would be a mundane activity, not an exotic hobby that warrants creep shots. I would like to move toward that world. To that end, we have to create a culture in which reading is not a moral statement at all.”
I love this piece so much -- thank you for writing it!!!
For reasons I still don't understand but I think are deeply funny, I had a post about The Brothers Karamazov go semi-viral on this website a week ago, and at least half of the dozens of comments were "dude, so performative" ... What is wrong with people?
I came across this and decided to give it a read. This is very good. I now have to check out more of your work.
been missing Twitter and always wanted to believe it was a far freer space than the one you more accurately describe here…I’m the saltiest of pillars lol
This is absolutely incredible work. Your writing is so rich, fascinating, and refreshing. The time with the grimoire is paying off
What a beautiful contemplation. As a historian whose job it is to read and consider and construct narrative out of the entangled memories and desires of the past, something in me dies a little when people bemoan performative reading. We are nothing without stories and, as you say, we must reorient ourselves to a new Truth North. Writing and reading are integral to our being and situating ourselves within the interlocking crises of our time. I pray we keep doing them.
If it makes you, or anyone else reading this, feel any better, I think this concept is mainly a thing in the US. Add maybe a few other countries. In a lot of other regions of the world, reading is still just reading (it might still be an exotic hobby, but it is rarely thought to be performative).
This is not to say that it is not an issue, or an invalid problem, but I hope I can inspire some sort of hope that this is not entirely widespread🥰
"Look at bro seeking occultic wisdom in the grimoire" should be the epigraph to my actual grimoire, to keep me humble.
Check out fellow Substacker Stephen Bradford Long's recent post on attention as a spell, in the context of p0rn:
https://substack.com/home/post/p-204941439