It's 2022. Most books I read are set in a world we have already lost.
I'm thinking about this and invite others to do the same.
Because mourning [0] is one of the things I find weirdly helpful. Because avoiding mourning seems to slow the work I want to do, must do.
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Most books I read are set in a world we have already lost [1].
Many books I've read and collected [3] are also dependent (for the book to "work") on the authors & editors not having had the information / perspective that we have now.
To state this more positively: our current knowledge and understanding cause them to be "not as good" any more, or they can only be read through a haze, with the sound of screaming in my brain.
(Who's we? Me and other [in some cases specifically White] "readers"? [5, 6])
[0] These rants on Medium are already sadly dated. Still, they're a record of what I was thinking at the time. These are friend links so you don't have to have a subscription.
[1] I was involved in Readercon from the time Margery Meadow told me about it (1990?) through 2003, after which I moved to Australia for awhile. One of the best parts (although there were many good parts) was coming up with panel ideas. One chunk of my brain hosts an ongoing "real year" panel, continuing the series originally sparked by a comment of John Clute's. "You're soaking in one now!"
Panel descriptions were beyond collaborative (although in that era Eric Van polished all the texts, so they had something of a consistent "almost too arch" tone [2]) but I do remember two discussions I'm proud of providing the initial spark for. One was eventually titled "Words as Magic" (in honor of GOH Lisa Tuttle) and the other one was sparked by my reading of a statement by Simone Weil. (My long time study of Weil has given special resonance to my friendship and sort-of-collaboration with Stephanie Strickland.)
Oh yes and who could forget "Weird Reading Strategies" (or some title like that). Tom Jackson was on that one and could likely remind me. His blogs are amazing and I'll link to them from here as soon as I write him to catch up and get the correct links out of his signature block.
[2] Eric's prose style can go to the edge and teeter there. Neurodiverse brains are more common that we once thought but I still cherish his. It helped that we had zero mutual sexual chemistry. Personal theory: "high dopamine people" [Eric told me I was one, based on my conversational style, and I didn't follow up to find out what he actually thought that meant] or at least I tend[ed, until I figured it out] to confuse "brains buzzing together" for actual sexual connection. To add here: links to Eric's work in multiple styles.
[3] I have one shelf of books - collected in a project extending over decades - that I'm confident is unique in North America. Unique only because WHY would anyone want to collect these together? ... and North America because likely some Widener-style library in the UK has all of them simply by being comprehensive ... but anyway, these books related to the core of my identity for a long time, and they still do, but now I realize they're also problematic [5].
Am I just being coy here to no purpose? No, I'm going to write about this project and then perhaps sell it to a colonialist sympathizer [4], or if I can't find same, donate them somewhere.
[4] And use the proceeds to buy more dark chocolate (sustainably harvested if possible).
[5] I haven't studied literature formally, except for one class with Paul Cantor in the 70s that I got a C in, and enjoyed the heck out of, so I use words in ways trained academics "would never." But if trained people are OK collaborating with me, I will bring something to the potluck. (Example: the Digital Arts & Culture conferences were fun because I could bring some digital!)
[6] Still here? This week I'm reading Lori Gottlieb's Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and Tema Okun's White Supremacy Culture website (2021 update of 1999 article). H/t to Shiny Flanary for mentioning it on a podcast (links coming).
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