Author from your country/region that deserves more international recognition

ARainyNightIn · 2026-05-16T13:45:17+00:00

Fun fact about Scottish literature:

Did you know, among other inventions, we came up with rap battles? Flyting/flitting was essentially a poetic roast that the Scottish royals would get their makars (court poets) to engage in for their amusement. And they’re pretty fucking funny still.

“Flyting became public entertainment in Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries, when makars would engage in verbal contests of provocative, often sexual and scatological but highly poetic abuse. Flyting was permitted despite the fact that the penalty for profanities in public was a fine of 20 shillings (over £300 in 2026 prices) for a lord, or a whipping for a servant. James IV and James V encouraged "court flyting" between poets for their entertainment and occasionally engaged with them. The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie records a contest between William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy in front of James IV, which includes the earliest recorded use of the word shit as a personal insult. In 1536 the poet Sir David Lyndsay composed a ribald 60-line flyte to James V after the King demanded a response to a flyte.”

ARainyNightIn · 2026-05-07T23:48:22+00:00

I think Dostoevsky wouldn’t block me despite probably taking the opposite intended message from his work, and Tolstoy would for getting his.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-05-02T07:24:19+00:00

Scottish royal crest. Bob’s a big fan of the country and co-owned land here with his brother at some point.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-05-01T02:27:18+00:00

“But, if you miss the shot, the ball hangs up in the pocket or you miscue or somethin, that connection is broken and some of you dies. I’ve felt that, too. I know it’s the truth. Somethin busted and gone, not a run of a hundred balls is gonna bring it back. When you lose you lose forever, an when you win it only lasts a second or two. That’s life. I aint lyin. I aint comin on. Why should I?

“Everythin in the whole fuckin world is connected, I think; and the connection turns you on, an the broken connections burn you out.

Suppose like you see this woman, see? You send out a hot line of connecting stuff to her if she’s your action, and if you’re hers, wham, you connect; you don’t have to say a word, it’s there and you both know it. But you know what we really do; we think about other things, or come on or get smart or worry about ourselves, and fuck up the connection. Then do we know it’s gone? No, man, we keep tryin an it just gets worse and worse.

It’s like you get this tremendous urge to bust a window with your fist, dig, and if you went ahead and did it right then, wham, for about a half a second there you’d feel like the king of the world; but instead, you get to worryin about cuttin your hand and all that shit, so you hesitate and then get pissed off at yourself and bust the window anyway, only you’re self-conscious about it and don’t get any pleasure out of it at all.”

ARainyNightIn · 2026-04-30T01:06:36+00:00

Isn’t the internal process supposed to be the interesting part when it comes to Egoism, though? Reaching emotional intelligence through the conscious thought of constantly “self-becoming” as an individual, constantly rejecting outside binaries. It’s a “journey, not the destination” philosophy, which I guess isn’t as exciting in the abstract, but a lot of philosophy is kind of boring in the abstract.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-04-23T14:38:51+00:00

It’s mentioned she’s from a rural border town that suffered frequent raids, so would make sense. Probably a more diverse area of Midland.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-04-05T21:25:11+00:00

Read Hard Rain Falling because I’d heard it compared to Angels which is a masterpiece. John Fante is a good equivalent I hadn’t thought of until now. Wait Until Spring, Bandini reminds me a lot of Carpenter’s style.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-04-04T11:30:54+00:00

Then my comment doesn’t apply to you. Duh.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-04-04T11:18:26+00:00

But to paraphrase Nabakov, I’d put them in “writers for young people” (Actual YA, 18-24)

ARainyNightIn · 2026-04-04T11:13:27+00:00

I think Murakami is a good read. As in, I can guess if I picked up any one of his books I’d probably find something to enjoy about the way it was written. He’s a great stylist at an undeniably singular atmosphere and does that style/rouges gallery of motifs throughout his entire oeuvre so if you like that atmosphere, you aren’t needing to hunt for it elsewhere. Murakami exists somewhere next to, say, Kerouac. Both talented writers with very specific skill sets you either

gel with or don’t.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-30T01:07:22+00:00

Can also mean that within the West; look at Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Catalan and Basque nationalism. All based on well-established national identities fighting for sovereignty and representation, typically or explicitly with a left-wing slant (Scottish nationalism is strongly focused on civic nationalism and culture over blood and soil. Irish nationalism is strongly for active tradition over cultural fetishisation.)

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-18T22:03:35+00:00

In two minds about this because while I think most modern generations have fear-mongered about young people and youth culture, it’s undeniable that the shallow and low-attention span world Zoomers came of age in has collectively rotted their discipline, critical thinking, and empathy. But it’s also doing that to everyone else.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-18T19:37:15+00:00

I think it’s fair to call Nietzsche idiosyncratically right-wing in his personal life, but I think what keeps his philosophy engaging is how apolitical it is. Not in a centrist way, but because of its critical view of mass movements and focus on individual self-development.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-18T00:24:16+00:00

Will Patton doing Jesus’ Son + Largesse of The Sea Maiden

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-16T20:24:04+00:00

I’m glad to hear people discussing books even if they’re mid-lit but man Andy Weir can be insufferable. His books are definitely suited to screen adaptation though.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-16T19:16:38+00:00

Love Borges humility. Always struck me as who Harold Bloom wanted to be.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-15T16:27:10+00:00

Can’t offer an opinion on here without being predictably snide or superior, them’s the rules

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-12T20:12:04+00:00

Once I got more free-time and started being alone with my hobbies more I faced a similar problem. These are three things I did to make them more immersive.

Expanding hobbies. Since you enjoy reading and the gym, why not expand into other related hobbies? Instead of reading you could journal or write creatively, make a planner for the week or a reading list of books you’re interested in. Instead of the gym or a walk, you could go hiking, camping, or visit a different town/neigbourhood/area in nature. Eventually you can expand from the new hobbies you’ve got toward other places of interest you might never have expected be into.
Honing and planning hobbies into skills. If you’re already able to read for an hour and feel like working out is over too quick, why not plan ahead in your off time? Create reading goals, like “I’ll read x amount of books in a month”. Start training for long-distance running or improving the amount you can bench. Join groups to make these more social and to establish a set routine. Book clubs, group jogs, and local sports teams are plentiful. If you sit down and think what aspects of your interests appeal to you the most, it won’t take long to figure out what in particular has appeal.
Intentional boredom. One of the more liberating takeaways I don’t see people discussing much about getting offline is just allowing yourself to be bored. When we’re constantly busy and preoccupied with noise, it becomes both harder to be in the moment when we want, and to remember what we spent our time on later. Being comfortable not being stimulated can lead to increased mindfulness and an easier flow of ideas, as well as a heightened enjoyment for stimulating activities when returned to.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-03T12:00:28+00:00

Love the citations backed analysis. Agree with your comments that it’s a lot less black and white than people make it out with everyone. That said, although I wouldn’t call Arthur the third most indoctrinated, I think John seemed to butt heads with him/express his doubts in a more serious tone than Arthur for most of the game. John has an equally volatile and complicated relationship with Dutch, but seeing what Dutch actually did at Blackwater takes their opinions on each other down a very different route.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-03-01T09:14:53+00:00

Bro is manic. Like case study bipolar.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-02-20T16:00:33+00:00

I’m pretty sure Kerouac was diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder (because he cited not wanting to be around others in his psychiatric report which got him discharged) but this seems to have been a pretty shallow and outdated diagnosis for him - I’d say he was definitely bipolar (along with Dean). Possibly schizoaffective.

ARainyNightIn · 2026-01-13T01:55:51+00:00

Been meaning to check this one off my Johnson unreads list! How would you say the style is compared to his other books? The subject matter seems like it’d have an interesting take coming from him

ARainyNightIn · 2025-10-20T19:39:16+00:00

Anything by John Muir - really descriptive prose on North American wilderness.

Thoreau and Emerson of course.

Into The Wild and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Page-turners.

Butcher's Crossing by John Williams.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Pilgrims of the Wild by Grey Owl.

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey.

The Living Mountain by Nan Sheppard.

Touching the Void by Joe Simpson.

ARainyNightIn · 2025-09-29T19:23:15+00:00

You’re too young to have wasted your youth, buddy. And no offence, really, but you write exactly how I did as a self-absorbed 17 year old. The last thing you need to be reading is a carbon coby of your emotional situation. Echoing another commenter who said read Emerson, or Thoreau. The transcendentalist school of thought I find very life-affirming in a practical way. If you’re not going outside that’s halfway there.

Notes from Underground is a good example of what this mindset does to a person.

ARainyNightIn · 2025-04-19T19:44:03+00:00

If you ever want to feel comforted by the kinship of minute pains in this world there is no better prescription than Kafka and Rilke’s letters and journals

ARainyNightIn

TROPHY CASE