/lit/ - Literature

Recently finished pic related. Pretty good for what it is, some very cool ideas.
Could use an editor and gets a bit too much up its own ass towards the end, but overall good.

" An anti-meme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.”


This a very clever and strong premise, but not one that is easy to execute. In fact it just begs for paradoxes and potholes. And I am sure the cleverer people here (bakkerchads & Pringle worshippers) will have plenty to complain about. I however don’t, far from it. I was always pleasantly surprised at the direction the stories went. The second half of the book where stories focus on one big threat are not as fantastic as the beginning, but still very good. Overall it is a short book and it doesn’t focus on developing the characters. In fact, they are as barebones as you can get. Which is not bad, this kind of approach sacrifices potentials highs for pace and focus on the premise. This book is to literature what “The Outer Wilds” was to video games. Something that comes along and is so good that it makes me smile when thinking that after work I get to read/play some more. And just like that game it certainly is not for everyone, and I understand that. It doesn’t scratch a lot of itches. Luckily due to it being a collection of short stories available online for free it is incredibly easy to ascertain if you will like it. That is why I haven’t wasted time in describing the plot.

It’s these kinds of books that showcase the biggest advantage the written word has over all other media. The relative low cost and time investment of writing, allows the exploration of all kinds of weird and original ideas that would otherwise be hard to sell if millions were at stake. It’s why book have made almost all other media dull. Though ironically I think this could be easily made in to a television show.

In any case people that are interested can read the short stories here:
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/antimemetics-division-hub

You can also buy this and his other books here https://qntm.gumroad.com/
Anyway this discovery let me to discover exurb1a I am going to read one of his books next