/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.10714371]

Why don't you like him?

[Anonymous No.10714430]

Dumb jew

[Anonymous No.10714439]

>>10714371

He sperged out at Karl Pilkington

could have just respectfully disagreed but no act like a spaz

[Anonymous No.10714461]

>>10714439
Karl has an IQ of like 95 and was being a complete lazy tit wasting his time.

[Anonymous No.10714463]

>>10714430
Looks like a dumb Anglo desu

[Anonymous No.10714475]

>>10714439
I think he was just taking the piss
>>10714461
Eh, in some ways I find someone like Karl far wiser than a yappy Oxbridge goon like Will Self.

[Anonymous No.10714499]

He seems ok even though I'm not a lefty. But I dropped one of his books after ten pages. It was unreadable

[Anonymous No.10714626]

>>10714371
I love the man because he is a very useful person to have in sight. Will Self is basically the archetype of what most /lit/ 18-25yo guys want to be. He's an Oxford graduate, well-read in continental philosophy and canonical literature as well as experimental fiction, he's up on modernist classical composers, has published numerous respected novels, and is praised by Harold Bloom along with many prestigious modern critics as a great (and well-paid) writer.

And yet when you hear him speak he's dull, not particularly insightful or witty, and his books are extremely 'meh' and miles from the masterpieces you'd expect them to be. He's a helpful reminder that the accolades and pseud badges that so many on this board secretly lust after really don't count for much at all, in terms of creativity or the quality of the man himself.

[Anonymous No.10714684]

How has he become so well known? As other posters have said, he's not exactly known for his charisma and his books aren't great either. Yet he's one of these faces you see in the media every once in a while.

[Anonymous No.10714689]

>>10714371
>Will Self
His name is too Schopenhauerian.

[Anonymous No.10714715]

>>10714684
Good agent

[Anonymous No.10714722]

>>10714371
Had a meltdown after brexit.

[Anonymous No.10714724]

He btfo of zizek

[Anonymous No.10714726]

>>10714475
Is Self the epitomy of the gentrified left intellectuals that Orwell warned us actually despise people like Karl Pilkington and the "unwashed masses."

[Anonymous No.10714731]

>>10714626
Absolutely pristine demolition.

[Anonymous No.10714735]

>>10714626
Good post

[Anonymous No.10714754]

>>10714722
everybody did.

[Anonymous No.10714755]

>>10714371
buttowned by peter hitchens on question time, he was so right he had to start screaming like an idiot.

[Anonymous No.10714764]

>>10714726
I have no idea kek. All I see is that Self is a man very reliant and comfortable with posturing whilst Karl is not so much bothered about that kind of thing, yet only the latter is widely considered an idiot. Fairly apolitical to my mind, but maybe you know more about this than I do.

[Anonymous No.10714765]

>>10714755
Link pls

[Anonymous No.10714766]

>>10714755

[Anonymous No.10714793]

>>10714764
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9tcVBsxK30

[Anonymous No.10714794]

>>10714765
>>10714766
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc3aIyF5mS8&t=128s
this it's somewhere in this clip

[Anonymous No.10714923]

>>10714794
Makes me wanna do a virgin Will chad Peter meme.
>boldly goes out and says whatever bullshit comes to him
>stammers because he genuinely thinks before speaking

[Anonymous No.10714987]

>>10714626
>extremely 'meh'
Can you even read?

[Anonymous No.10714992]

>>10714923
do it

[Anonymous No.10715024]

>>10714371
I don't find most fiction writers from the past twenty or thirty years compelling, particularly those writing in English. Is Will Self really worth reading?

Who else from the past 20-30 is particularly good? I like some of Jane Smiley's books, and Geoff Dyer's nonfiction can be nice. I liked God of Small Things a lot, and outside of English, I think Houellebecq's early novels are quite good, as is Victor Pelevin's work from before the 2000s. I also love Ludmilla Petrushevskaya and Bolano.

I'm certainly a formalist by temperament, so I'm frequently disappointed by the limpid and frequently turgid realism of contemporary Anglophone fiction. Plenty of great poetry out there, though (especially Merwin and Ruefle).

[Anonymous No.10715158]

hahaha m8 just hustlin’ it trying to get by as an common oxbridge jewish man

[Anonymous No.10715172]

>>10715024
>Who else from the past 20-30 is particularly good?

W.G. Sebald

[Anonymous No.10715179]

>>10714626
Good post desu

[Anonymous No.10715185]

>>10714689
Kek

[Anonymous No.10715229]

>>10714626
>And yet when you hear him speak he's dull, not particularly insightful or witty

I've always considered that to be the reason he tries to deliberately say outlandish things as a means to provoke.

He is simply not engaging, so resorts to troll-like tactics that are out of step with his character, which is extremely dull.

[Anonymous No.10715253]

>>10714794
>same sex marriage is ontologically impossible
KEK
I had forgotten about this

[Anonymous No.10715289]

>>10715172
Yeah, thanks. Forgot to mention Sebald, I've read all his novels. One of my favorites.

He's right on the edge of the period I'm talking about, but Bernhard is great, too, and very much of a sort with Sebald. He's more misanthropic and less pensive/saturnine (lol) though.

If you like Sebald, you should really check Petrushevskaya's book The Time: Night out. I read it very recently and loved it. It's Sebald with a protagonist who suffers from something closer to borderline than depression. Also, the protag is extraverted rather than introverted (in the Jungian sense). She's also a woman. Interesting counterpoint to Sebald's work. Couldn't stop thinking of Sebald and Bernhard while reading it.

[Anonymous No.10715323]

>>10714794
the absolute madman, thanks anon. I think regardless of your political views it's impossible not to respect the fortitude and dogged independence of Peter. The most enjoyable thing about that was seeing him absolutely rip apart Cameron and that babbling hack of an MP, Justine. Holy shit she is the epitome of a politician who stands for nothing but to get re-elected.

[Anonymous No.10715333]

>>10715289
>Petrushevskaya
good taste anon

[Anonymous No.10715373]

>>10715024
John Lanchester is one of the better contemporary English realists. Check out Mr Phillips

[Anonymous No.10715566]

>>10715333
Checked, and thank you, anon.

>>10715373
Thanks, I'll read this soon and make a thread. Hope to see you there!

[Anonymous No.10715591]

>>10715289
Having had a borderline gf I think I'll pass. I still get flashbacks ten years on. Hateful creatures.

[Anonymous No.10715595]

>>10715591
Yeah, it's a real intense book. My mom has borderline and my childhood was super fucked in a lot of ways, it definitely hit me really hard.

[Anonymous No.10715600]

>>10714371
i never read him, I am too dumb to learn french

[Anonymous No.10715620]

>>10715595
Well if you've crawled from that car crash unscathed, godspeed. You're likely suffering c-ptsd or borderline yourself. Pray it's the former, and read Pete Walker to sort that out.

[Anonymous No.10715640]

>>10715620
I coped through dissociation. I used to have a lot of issues with dissociative disorder, but I got treated very effectively three years ago.

[Anonymous No.10715691]

>>10714439
>>10714461
>>10714475
>>10714726
That was a bit that they were both in on. Probably even written by karl and ricky gervais.

[Anonymous No.10715698]

>>10715691
Gervais is a good example of how you can be genuinely funny and talented comedian but a total hack when it comes to politics/religion.

[Anonymous No.10715722]

>>10715024
Tough Tough Toys For Tough Tough Boys is fantastic, the Umbrella, Shark (particularly) and Phone triptych is good but gets to be a bit full of itself.

His shorter works are great, and some articles he's written are very good but his overall novels are lacking in some regard