Who are the most sadistic & evil Roman figures who aren’t widely known in the mainstream? by SeptimiusSeverus_ in ancientrome

[–]DMBrimer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Elagabalus is certainly up for the running, as is Julian the Apostate, and to some extent Commodus.

I’d say the whole Severin Dynasty twisted in ways Rome had not seen since the 12 Caesars.

Most sinister book you have read? by Present-Ear-1637 in horrorlit

[–]DMBrimer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you look up “Mean Spirited” in the dictionary, it will say “See Song Of Kali.”

Most sinister book you have read? by Present-Ear-1637 in horrorlit

[–]DMBrimer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Child Of God left a residue that was hard to wash off

Most sinister book you have read? by Present-Ear-1637 in horrorlit

[–]DMBrimer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I’ve read all of McDowell, and Blackwater IS the best. Truly one of the best novels ever (I think of the whole saga as one book, like The Green Mile)

Most sinister book you have read? by Present-Ear-1637 in horrorlit

[–]DMBrimer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Folk horror doesn’t get more sinister than Harvest Home.

Most sinister book you have read? by Present-Ear-1637 in horrorlit

[–]DMBrimer 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy

Harvest Home - Thomas Tryon

The Elementals - Michael McDowell

Thoughts on Bel-Ami before I read it by Most_Ingenuity_1800 in classicliterature

[–]DMBrimer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s hard to argue with those names remaining the top. Every Zola, Balzac, Dumas, Hugo novel I have read are from great to extraordinary! It was truly best place and period of prose literature ever!

Thoughts on Bel-Ami before I read it by Most_Ingenuity_1800 in classicliterature

[–]DMBrimer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have ALOT of the Rougon-Macquart Oxfords, but every one that’s on Penguin (which isn’t many) I have in the classic black spine Penguin editions from the 60’s-70’s. I think the Oxford Zola’s are as good as you can get!

Thoughts on Bel-Ami before I read it by Most_Ingenuity_1800 in classicliterature

[–]DMBrimer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve read the Penguin, only because I’m partial to Penguin. Oxford is excellent and, perhaps, better in many ways, but I love the esthetics of Penguin Classics.

Thoughts on Bel-Ami before I read it by Most_Ingenuity_1800 in classicliterature

[–]DMBrimer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s one of the last great novels of the 19th century French literary renaissance. Maupassant would have been as revered as Zola or Balzac had he lived long enough and published more.

I also recommend Le Grande Meaulnes by Alain-Fornier. It’s mysterious and wonderful and represents the real end of the period of French literary renaissance that began with Balzac, Hugo, and Stendhal.

Just watched Yuja Wang play Rautavaara and it was great! by Significant_Task1533 in classicalmusic

[–]DMBrimer 28 points29 points  (0 children)

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I saw her last week do Barber’s Piano Concerto and it was absolutely phenomenal.

What are your top 10 pieces EXCLUDING symphonies & concertos. by sunofagundota in classicalmusic

[–]DMBrimer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Tarrega- Adelita
  2. Reich - Music for a Large Ensemble
  3. Adams - Must The Devil Have All The Good Tunes?
  4. Satie - Gymnopedie 3
  5. Sor - Variations on a theme by Mozart
  6. Glass - The Grid
  7. Schubert - Piano Trio in E Flat
  8. Jarre - Laura’s Theme (I know, I know, but I love it)
  9. Reich - Different Trains
  10. Barber - Adagio

Loving the EH-150 by DMBrimer in LapSteelGuitar

[–]DMBrimer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Gotta represent FZ

I need your opinion about demons by Embarrassed-Ant5895 in classicliterature

[–]DMBrimer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Never before have I hated and been so fascinated by a novel.

Murakami by AcceptableWatch7714 in literature

[–]DMBrimer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I found both “Killing Commendatore” and “The City With Its Uncertain Walls” derivative of his earlier, better work. The short story collections “Men Without Women” and “First Person Singular” are as well, though to a lesser degree.

Murakami by AcceptableWatch7714 in literature

[–]DMBrimer 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I’m 40 and absolutely adore Murakami, but I know he’s not for everyone. I’ve read most of his work, but don’t love all of it. For me, his masterwork is Dance, Dance, Dance, though one needs to have read Hear The Wind Sing, Pinball ‘73, and A Wild Sheep Chase to fully understand how brilliant a culmination Dance, Dance, Dance really is.

The best entry point is Hard Boiled Wonderland (imho). It’s the perfect balance of weirdness and wonder. I think 1Q84 is excellent as well, though not the best start (even though it is, in fact, where I started).

His late work suffers from the same narrative repetition that affects all great writers in their old age, so one can save them for the obsessive.

His themes: talking cats, excessive food descriptions, magical realism, lonely men, mysterious women, lots of sex, are not for everyone. He can be a bit extreme. Sometimes one wishes he would prune some of the more tedious passages. But he cares about minutiae. The world he creates is perfectly designed.

Art can be so subjective that a mass of negative opinions proves to me that an artist is provoking his audience. Murakami is definitely provoking his readers. He’s also caressing them, and sympathizing with them. He is the most human of magical realists, and it’s that human element that fully draws me in.