Thanks for the review, ARX. I tried reading Pegas's Black Album, but this was one I wasn't able to get very far into... My issue was fundamentally one of narrative tone: he reminds me of Bronze Age Pervert, where there's a psychic disconnect where I felt what they write isn't "on the level." It seemed to me like a too-clever-by-half will-to-power gimmick with strong homosexual undertones (yes, he claims to be straight, although I saw that Pegas's other novel "Dragon Day" opens with a homosexual rape -- huh). Skimming it, I saw many references to Leo Strauss and Bloom's Closing of the American Mind (a deceptive "conservative" book with an underlying message of homosexuality), along with Pegas's mention of his former neoconservatism, which are also warning signs...If he's gay that's fine, Brett Easton Ellis is gay and American Psycho was a fantastic book, it's the manner in which the author's message is being transmitted...
With that said, I really enjoyed NUTCRANKR (I understand Dan Baltic is Pegas's podcast partner) and mostly enjoyed Mixtape Hyperborea. No one is going to agree on all books or recommendations, so pretty good batting average from my perspective so far.
Lastly, if you ever decide to revisit your mainstream Androcentric Literature diagram to flesh it out it would be interesting to see. This one:
I'll admit that I'm not knowledgable about the will-to-power stuff beyond just skimming articles about the topic (haven't read Nietzsche with any depth yet, unfortunately). Matt had some interesting comments on the symbolism of that traumatic scene you referenced in his novel and we talked about it in a New Write episode that we just recorded.
Generally, I think we're in an optimistic moment right now where a lot of niche stuff is coming out that does meaningfully tackle topics like masculinity and identity and while of course the execution varies, many of these books are suprisingly good given the lack of professional editorial polishing, etc.
I liked his sentence-by-sentence prose style in 10:04 quite a bit.
Haven't read his first novel but even Topeka School did have a couple of passages I thought were very well written. But of course the latter didn't cohere into anything substantive. The whole thing felt like more autofictional repetition about his life story, which just isn't interesting enough to carry three novels.
Would you say the world of Concert Europe was worth ending in the trenches?
If all societies die, is it better for them to burn brightly and then burn out horrifically or for them to regularly mutilate themselves until they gracelessly expire?
It seems to me that intentionally crippling your civilization and selling it to foreigners (who else is going to insert control rods into the White Memeplex?) out of fear of its inevitable human failings is anti-life. A Death Cult wearing a humanist face.
Thanks for the review, ARX. I tried reading Pegas's Black Album, but this was one I wasn't able to get very far into... My issue was fundamentally one of narrative tone: he reminds me of Bronze Age Pervert, where there's a psychic disconnect where I felt what they write isn't "on the level." It seemed to me like a too-clever-by-half will-to-power gimmick with strong homosexual undertones (yes, he claims to be straight, although I saw that Pegas's other novel "Dragon Day" opens with a homosexual rape -- huh). Skimming it, I saw many references to Leo Strauss and Bloom's Closing of the American Mind (a deceptive "conservative" book with an underlying message of homosexuality), along with Pegas's mention of his former neoconservatism, which are also warning signs...If he's gay that's fine, Brett Easton Ellis is gay and American Psycho was a fantastic book, it's the manner in which the author's message is being transmitted...
With that said, I really enjoyed NUTCRANKR (I understand Dan Baltic is Pegas's podcast partner) and mostly enjoyed Mixtape Hyperborea. No one is going to agree on all books or recommendations, so pretty good batting average from my perspective so far.
Lastly, if you ever decide to revisit your mainstream Androcentric Literature diagram to flesh it out it would be interesting to see. This one:
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa91d445e-e07e-4d1b-aa0a-565b4876bd3a_816x1056.png
Glad you enjoyed the review!
I'll admit that I'm not knowledgable about the will-to-power stuff beyond just skimming articles about the topic (haven't read Nietzsche with any depth yet, unfortunately). Matt had some interesting comments on the symbolism of that traumatic scene you referenced in his novel and we talked about it in a New Write episode that we just recorded.
Generally, I think we're in an optimistic moment right now where a lot of niche stuff is coming out that does meaningfully tackle topics like masculinity and identity and while of course the execution varies, many of these books are suprisingly good given the lack of professional editorial polishing, etc.
Indeed. The margins, the perimeter, the liminal place always offers the sharpest view
How on earth could you enjoy Ben Lerner??
I liked his sentence-by-sentence prose style in 10:04 quite a bit.
Haven't read his first novel but even Topeka School did have a couple of passages I thought were very well written. But of course the latter didn't cohere into anything substantive. The whole thing felt like more autofictional repetition about his life story, which just isn't interesting enough to carry three novels.
Would you say the world of Concert Europe was worth ending in the trenches?
If all societies die, is it better for them to burn brightly and then burn out horrifically or for them to regularly mutilate themselves until they gracelessly expire?
It seems to me that intentionally crippling your civilization and selling it to foreigners (who else is going to insert control rods into the White Memeplex?) out of fear of its inevitable human failings is anti-life. A Death Cult wearing a humanist face.