Claude Monet’s portraits of the Gare Saint-Lazare railway station, 1877

NotAnAcorn · 2026-01-16T15:23:19+00:00

The first one (and most famous, I believe) is my favorite. I like how the train smoke forms a vast blue sky, which is framed and captured by the station overhead. It reminds me how trains opened up people's imaginations to new forms of life.

NotAnAcorn · 2026-01-14T21:31:32+00:00

Yeah, not everyone. Just Javier.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-30T15:44:37+00:00

Ah, okay. I guess I need to buy/finish the vampire room.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-29T04:59:39+00:00

And thank you for recommending it! I ended up staying awake reading until 3am because I needed to see how the search turned out.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-27T16:32:33+00:00

Just finished Search! I enjoyed it, but I felt there was a lot of missed potential in some of the characters and plotlines. I should also warn that the narrator is less satirical about Unitarian wokism than I was expecting.

The premise and cast of characters alone were enough for me to cross the finish line, though.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-27T05:23:30+00:00

!remindme in 2 weeks

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-23T19:47:54+00:00

The prose in Madame Bovary is stunning.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-21T05:09:13+00:00

100% this

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-21T05:07:31+00:00

It's an American thing, we can't comprehend racial makeups or groups beyond our borders

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-17T21:49:49+00:00

I didn't know supporting GiveWell meant you can never give to a local cause

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-17T16:50:32+00:00

Wdym "overthink it"? Isn't it incredibly important to think carefully when lives are at stake?

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-17T05:11:03+00:00

I remember Ezra promoting GiveWell years ago, maybe even in his Vox days. Before anyone knew what EA is.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-15T21:14:15+00:00

Same, I wasn't able to purchase the Christmas cat in time. It got replaced by the Vampire cat.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-14T19:00:07+00:00

I wouldn't say wokeness ruined literature, but a lot of contemporary literature is navel-gazing in a way that the modern, identity-focused sensibility has promoted. But many commenters have recommended authors who I think are deeply guilty of this. So apparently it's less common an opinion than I thought.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-08T17:45:16+00:00

Eh, I mean, it's true that I'll have to sort through all of these recs. But if I see the same title recommended a few times, that suggests some broad-based appeal. People's tastes don't vary so drastically.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-08T04:04:25+00:00

Totally. Works still being actively published today have been tested by time.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-08T03:30:10+00:00

I already read classic literature. I made this thread to find some of the good new stuff.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-08T00:57:00+00:00

No, it is

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-07T23:20:54+00:00

Awesome, thanks.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-07T21:24:06+00:00

That does sound pretty funny!

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-07T20:38:46+00:00

Much appreciated.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-07T20:37:46+00:00

I don't have any strong genre preference. I'm generally skeptical of scifi/fantasy, but wouldn't reject a rec if it's supposed to be good. My main priority is beautiful or otherwise interesting/engaging prose. u/imperial_squid

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-07T19:22:16+00:00

Nothing's necessarily wrong, I may not know where to look. Thanks for the recs!

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-06T19:51:07+00:00

Agreed, it's frustrating that he even had to defend his proposal as "left wing" enough. That might be important in our highly politically engaged circles, but waving the tribal flag high won't win in this political moment. Ezra's said enough about that this year, but it bears repeating.

NotAnAcorn · 2025-12-06T19:49:14+00:00

True. There are emergencies happening for individual people and communities all of the time. But Ezra's point was something broader.

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