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/lit/ - Literature

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4598639 No.4598639[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Where should I start with Tao Lin? Is he worth reading?

>> No.4598649

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/when-i-moved-online.html
http://thoughtcatalog.com/tao-lin/2011/04/how-to-give-a-reading-on-mushrooms/
http://thoughtcatalog.com/tao-lin/2011/02/koko-the-talking-gorilla/

^ read these three essays, then read Taipei

>> No.4598657

>>4598649
Thanks a ton. Have you read "Shoplifting from American Apparel" (if that's the correct title)? I've read mixed reviews about it.

>> No.4598663

EeeeEEEeeEEE, then Shoplifting or Richard Yates, then Taipei
At any point, all of his tweets. Those are his crowning achievement.

>> No.4598667

start and end with taipei

maybe also read his review of almost transparent blue

ee eee ee and shoplifting are shit

>> No.4598673

>>4598657

I have. It's a very interesting work but for me, I never really enjoyed it. Taipei and Richard Yates are his two books I actually liked. I think most people will agree Taipei is his best book so far.

>> No.4598708

Tao pls

>> No.4598713

tao is my favorite writer
he is so avant-garde

>> No.4598715

Why is /lit/ so obsessed with this guy? There have been multiple threads about him every day for months, if not at least two years now. Is this seriously viral marketing for books or something?

>> No.4598729

I think even people who hate Taipei see that it's original, if not also admirable. >>4598649 Is good advice. I think his films are worth watching, too.

>> No.4598737

>>4598715
I only heard about him today from an external source. I didn't know lit liked him sorry.

>> No.4598740

>>4598715
he's the only e/lit/ist with any talent

>> No.4598743

>>4598737
he posts on /lit/ daily from his bed and convinces us to sell him drugs then tells the whole world about it

>> No.4598742

>>4598715

People bring him up often because he mentions 4chan in Taipei. Which makes him "one of us" or some bullshit like that.

>> No.4598746

>>4598743
Seriously? Does he have a tripcode?

>> No.4598753

Tao pls go

>> No.4598766

>>4598729

his twitter's also worth reading

https://twitter.com/tao_lin

>>4598746

he's posted from time to time. He has a section in Taipei where he talks about coming on here to a thread already about him like this one asking for drugs.

>> No.4598779

http://rhizome.org/editorial/2012/mar/27/tao-lin/

if you guys are interested in tao lin's relationship with /lit/ this article is pretty cool

I'm not even sure if Tao's come on here anytime recently.

>> No.4598780

>>4598713
>>4598729
>>4598740
>>4598742
TIDF reported

>> No.4598864

>>4598742
The Tao 4chan threads started at least two or three years before Taipei.
It was definitely viral marketing from Tao himself at the beginning. Like it or not, we made him what he is, /lit/.

>> No.4598873
File: 527 KB, 1019x876, good writing vs bad writing.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4598873

>> No.4599596

Taipei

>> No.4599628

>>4598715
>>4598742
Believe it or not, /lit/ likes DFW and Tao Lin because it's a forum of young men who are interested in the talented, young, male writers of the past few decades

>> No.4599643

>>4599628
>DFW
>young

>> No.4599651

>>4598639
Read Taipei first.

I'm reading through his other stuff, but it is not good. Taipei is great.

His other stuff is actually fair to call "hipster" - I realize that word is an insta-flame war, but in this case it's true. They are almost feminine, as though a 14 year old girl wrote them in some cases. They are normal stories, with that element of "lol so randumb XD".
His other books i've read, really do seem like you are reading a book written by hipsters, for hipsters. For proof see the right side of this pic:
>>4598873

Taipei is about a "hipster" but well written, and very good imp

>> No.4599808

>>4598873
the excerpt on the right is very poignant.

>> No.4599933

Don't waste your time, OP. The guy is just awful. There's a reason why no one really respects him outside of like two people here.

>> No.4599937

>>4599933
I agree, he is an emo bitch and if you like his stuff then you are probably a beta fag

>> No.4599949

>>4599628
Believe it or not, /lit/ doesn't like Tao Lin. Also, whether or not /lit/ even likes DFW is kind of dependent on the month. It's like a cycle of worship, controversy, hatred, ambivalence, and then back to worship.

>> No.4599965
File: 485 KB, 1056x1080, le question pls.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4599965

>>4598873
>an image says tao lin is bad so he must be bad
>all authors should seek to emulate james joyce
>harold bloom's opinion

>> No.4599971

>>4598657
just fyi
you're on the internet
and we have search engines
and if you're not sure of something
but have enough of an idea of it to say something like
(if that's the correct title?)
you can just search it
and find out
and that would be it
you'd have the answer
no more doubt
no need to ask people
ask machines
use the automatons
they are helpful
#internetculture

>> No.4599994

OP I'm reading through Taipei now and it's certainly nothing exceptional. What it does is convey what it's like to spend life partying, drinking, taking mixes of drugs seemingly aimlessly. I'm only about 1/3rd of the way through the book, though. There are also parts that make me seriously suspect Tao is autistic.

I don't see myself reading another book of his and I bought this mainly because I heard it was about aimless drug abuse and internet/party living.

>> No.4600000

>>4599971
cool ur autism m8

>> No.4600067

>>4599994
>There are also parts that make me seriously suspect Tao is autistic.
I've said this before, but, despite how people feel about the lifestyle and characters in the book they are realistic characters.
Not "realistic" in the sense of "good person" but realistic in how they are portrayed.

I know a lot of people disagree because of how lifeless they all seem, but Ive lived like them for a while, and, most importantly, i've lived IN similar situations around people like Paul for a long time. You may not like that people like Paul exist, but it doesn't change the fact that they do.

People say that the drug use is in Taipei is unrealistic, and that makes sense logically, but it isn't true. People like Paul who take a lot of pills, a lot of the time, don't experience the same effects - especially when mixing things that would seemingly cancel out the effects of one another. They've built up a tolerance, and also, as I said, the mixture of chemicals causes unpredictable, yet usually tame results.
You may think "oh come on, who just pops a xanax after an adderall" but people do. I never did, because I know how to appreciate and intensify a high, not cancel it out.
The mind frame to the people in Taipei is to "not be sober" not to get high. Paul is obviously depressed and aimless, so he takes drugs, and of course, the drugs make him depressed and aimless.

I have to go to work so I can't "defend" myself, but really it's not an opinion.

>> No.4600101

>>4600000

no u
nice quints

>> No.4600128
File: 196 KB, 500x239, tao.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4600128

>>4600067
lol what are you even talking about man I have lived this life, hence why I said it's a very accurate portrayal. The way Tao conveys Paul's perceptions still comes across as sort of autistic. Especially when you factor in the things in the beginning like how he acted as a child and in school. Cool your jets breh.

>> No.4600151

>>4600128
I'd just say that the "autistic" minimalist tone conveys through prose what it feels like to be as depressed and aimless as Paul/Tao. The thing people like least about the book is how depressing it is and how alerting it can be to how mundane everyday life, looked at as series of unmediated facts, can be.

>> No.4600159

>>4600151
Fair enough and I agree but it's just his interactions with people, and repetition of things, mentioning grinning and repeating it to make sure the person understood he was joking. Stuff like that.

>> No.4600186

>>4600159
I agree that the way the autobiographical character behaves is really autistic (that gets even worse in the second half). The dull conversations are just depictions of the way that most people actually speak though, depressing and aggravating as it might be.

>> No.4600187

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you are a little bit happier than i am, Bed, Richard Yates, Taipei. In that order. You will develop a great understanding of his writing if you read it in that order. You really don't have to read SFAA or eeeee eee eeee.

Plz, follow my advice. Everyone else here is stupid.

>> No.4600255
File: 136 KB, 582x113, tao_internethate.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4600255

>> No.4600295

>>4598779
>his several published novels

Has Tao ever even self-published any of his novels? It seems shitty to start an article with that by saying he self-publishes shit.

>> No.4600580

>>4600255
preposterous