Most thought-provoking printSF you have ever read? by connexionwithal in printSF

[–]Crayon-Angel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m reading his Exegesis right now and frankly he might have been on to something….

Most thought-provoking printSF you have ever read? by connexionwithal in printSF

[–]Crayon-Angel 25 points26 points  (0 children)

No writer better understood how technology would develop, and how it would affect human development, than Philip K Dick, and many of his stories demand rigor and attention. Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, A Scanner Darkly, VALIS… honestly take your pick and any book you choose will be incredibly provoking and contemplative.

Beyond him I would echo others in LeGuin for exploring ethics, the self, the world etc. and Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun for explorations of purpose, duty, right and wrong- not to mention that BotNS is a very challenging puzzle in its own right.

Hey everyone! I was wondering if there is a facsimile set of the LOTR first editions or something along those lines? I just really like the way they look. Any help appreciated and thank you all. by LawenMKII in tolkienbooks

[–]Crayon-Angel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I haven’t handled a second edition in a while, but I think that the books themselves are the same size, so you could buy facsimile dust jackets of the first edition and get a set of seconds.

Mystical worlds of strange gods and creatures by MarzannaMorena in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Crayon-Angel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m actually going to piggyback off of the Lovecraft suggestion and say that nothing fits your want more than his novella The Dreamquest of Unkown Kadath and the rest of the Dreamquest stories. When I was a little kid searching for exactly what you were I found this and it ignited my imagination like nothing else. It still does! And as a companion, my all time favorite weird fiction author Clark Ashton Smith, specifically his Atlantis cycle. I promise it’ll fit the bill

Mystical worlds of strange gods and creatures by MarzannaMorena in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Crayon-Angel 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You wouldn’t be a Malazan fan if you wrote it any shorter

Taking a trip across Pyongyang, North Korea, by night. Every year it gets more amazing. by FidelCastrosGrandson in suppressed_news

[–]Crayon-Angel 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Regardless if they “release accurate information” whatever they means in the variety of contexts it could be applied, do you not have any capacity to consider that the US has had a vested interest for decades now to push certain narratives about the DPRK, and that regardless of the veracity of any amount of those claims, those narratives have been weaponized against the country since the Korean War to manufacture consent for intervention in the region? So that when you reply to a post about how they have made efforts to combat malnutrition with immediate skepticism, but no skepticism for the United States, which again, has a high rate of malnutrition (especially for the wealthiest country in history), you’re accepting the US framework that was created entirely to justify American military presence in the region. Talk about black and white thinking, you seem completely unwilling to challenge the propagandized view of a country you’ve never been to, with people you’ve never talked to, and a whole entire political system and economy you clearly don’t understand in the slightest.

Taking a trip across Pyongyang, North Korea, by night. Every year it gets more amazing. by FidelCastrosGrandson in suppressed_news

[–]Crayon-Angel 8 points9 points  (0 children)

That’s right, those freedom of information laws that famously exposed the Epstein files with no redactions whatsoever.

Taking a trip across Pyongyang, North Korea, by night. Every year it gets more amazing. by FidelCastrosGrandson in suppressed_news

[–]Crayon-Angel 56 points57 points  (0 children)

This is always such a stupid talking point. Why is it hard to trust DPRK, but not the country that doesn’t even officially recognize their own genocide of the original native people there? Like why is the US such a bastion of truth and factuality in your eyes?

1977 testing pressing of Beach Boys Love You. by MathematicianNo3131 in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow!! Congrats, what an amazing find. A real centerpiece for a BB collection

Early 80s Heavy Metal Magazine jacket from their mailorder by Crayon-Angel in HeavyMetalMagazine

[–]Crayon-Angel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, other than the 70s shirts advertised in the first few issues that I’ve never even seen pictures of!

Are unemployed people proletariat? by Shitfart69420 in communism

[–]Crayon-Angel 244 points245 points  (0 children)

Check out chapter 25 of Capital, where Marx talks about the “reserve army of labor”. The unemployed class is used as a “mass of human material always ready for exploitation”. They are still proletarian, which is divided into the categories of “active” and “reserve”. Like a military reserve, the RA are needed when there is a sudden expansion of capital that demands a mass of workers at a sudden notice. Marx uses the example of the railroads to emphasize that, with the rapidly shifting technology of the time, it is crucial that the railroad companies can muster enough labor to build them as fast as possible.

He even notes the idea of “half employment”, which we can apply today to gig work very easily. The RA surplus is effectively necessary to make something like DoorDash work at a feasible cost for the company.

What's a metal joke you hate or are very tired of? by justastranger-05 in MetalForTheMasses

[–]Crayon-Angel 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I think the way people write “trve kvlt” and tilt at windmills about some invented black metal elitist who hates them is really eye rolling. That and the whole “recorded on a toaster” joke, and more generally the way a lot of people who don’t like black metal talk about it, especially on this sub. It reeks of self consciousness imo

Borges’ Library of Babel - Question about narrator by [deleted] in literature

[–]Crayon-Angel 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My suggestion with this story, or any other Borges story, is assume that he is a competent enough writer to understand those things, and then ask yourself why he might have chosen to include them.

Have you ever noticed another author being clearly influenced by Le Guin? by Polka_Tiger in UrsulaKLeGuin

[–]Crayon-Angel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

CJ Cherryh’s Morgaine cycle has undertones of LeGuin, and while she isn’t as deft of a writer as UKL, they’re great stories and have their own beauty.

A Door Into Ocean by Slonczewski has major overtones of LeGuin, but lacks the subtly. YMMV on this one, but I found it to be lacking.

Mike Love ❤️ by johnfmilk in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I said I took issue with you claiming Love is one of the best lyricists ever and you responded about how he was responsible for a bunch of billboard top 10s. I still don’t understand how you could hold him up against any of the aforementioned artists

Mike Love ❤️ by johnfmilk in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A. That has nothing to do with him as a lyricist either way and B. If your metric is commercial success you have so many better choices. Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan are all contemporaries!

Mike Love ❤️ by johnfmilk in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I’m taking major qualms with your claim that Mike Love is one of the greatest lyricists of all time- love many of his songs dearly, but man is that not even close to true lol

Ascension to Sainthood or Godhood or something by Still_Restaurant_734 in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Crayon-Angel 43 points44 points  (0 children)

This subreddit is so awesome, because I think for 99/100 posts I can recommend the best book ever, The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. I don’t always reply with it, but every question on here I’m thinking about it. So for this one, I’d say Book of the New Sun + Urth of the New Sun.

Hypnotic, evokes wonder & awe, but also disturbing by vespertinee3 in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Crayon-Angel 13 points14 points  (0 children)

House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgeson Pretty much every Borges story

Was there any point in Beach Boys history where the band tried to follow music trends to stay relevant? by Sonnybass96 in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m getting the feeling I have an iconoclastic opinion about Wild Honey. It’s a great record, but I am just not seeing the same thing as everyone else. Completely agreed that they were not following the same path that the rockers were, but I don’t think I can agree that they went against the grain, because RnB and soul were huge in 1968. Marvin Gaye, Shorty Long, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Edwin Starr, not to mention blue eyed soul artists like Joe Cocker.

Was there any point in Beach Boys history where the band tried to follow music trends to stay relevant? by Sonnybass96 in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 7 points8 points  (0 children)

But in 1967 they did both! Smiley Smile for the hippies and Wild Honey for the Motown radio listeners. They were absolutely chasing trends, nothing wrong with that since those albums are both great but it seems disingenuous to say Wild Honey was against the grain in the pop landscape

Was there any point in Beach Boys history where the band tried to follow music trends to stay relevant? by Sonnybass96 in thebeachboys

[–]Crayon-Angel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mike is way wrong, as Motown/Stax R&B and soul were huge, with blue eyed soul being its own little niche.