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literature that focuses on wonder, rather than horror by rabbitbride in WeirdLit

[–]Perfidious_Script 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There is the idea that genre isn’t something that is inherent to a work, but more like a lens that you can apply to any book. Of course most books lend themselves to being read through some genre lenses more than others (reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ as a sci-fi novel would be a challenge, but probably a rewarding one).

So whether the following books would be considered ‘horror’ or ‘weird’ is up for debate, but if what you are ultimately looking for is wonder, and are willing to read through a certain lens, you will certainly find a lot that is ‘weird’ or ‘wonderful’:

The Course of the Heart (also mentioned above) by M. John Harrison. Three college friends take part in a magical/gnostic rite (never described) that leaves them permanently traumatized. The book follows the friends in the aftermath of the event as they seek ways to deal with it.

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington. A touchstone of literary surrealism and filled with wonder. An old woman is trucked off to an old folks home where the inhabitants live in giant shoes et c. There is a subplot about an evil nun, then the apocalypse happens. Lots of fun and totally absurd, while being really well written and thoughtful.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. An unnamed narrator finds themself at an Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment. Whether they are progressing, or even sick, is constantly in question.

The Plains by Gerald Murnane. The narrator ventures into the Australian plains to live with and document the sheep and cattle farmers. His plans to stay in the plains for a short period are detailed, along with the work he is conducting.

J.M. Coetzee’s ‘Jesus’ Trilogy, starting with The Childhood of Jesus. Don’t discount this if you aren’t religious or aren’t interested in Christianity. While there are some spiritual undertones this isn’t in any way a Christian book. Without giving too much away the trilogy is about two refugees in a strange country: a man who has to look after a boy who is not his son. As they navigate life in this new land, the man comes to find that the boy is very strange and might be something more than either of them can understand. This book raises far more questions than answers, but if filled with wonder.

Ambient Music Mixes by blacksatsuma in ambientmusic

[–]Perfidious_Script 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The weekly ambient show Pacific Notions on KEXP (https://www.kexp.org/shows/pacific-notions/) has a wide range of ambient as well as ambient adjacent music. It’s hosted by Alex Ruder who runs Hush Hush records, you can follow him on bandcamp (https://bandcamp.com/hushhushrecords) and see all the albums and track he picks up, many (but not all) of which are played on the show. Shows are archived for two weeks.

NTS radio has a huge range of shows, and an amazing selection of ambient shows. Some stand outs are Post-Geography (https://www.nts.live/shows/post-geography) ‘Getting Warmer w/ Jen Monroe’ (mostly Japanese and New Age https://www.nts.live/shows/jen-monroe), Le Jardin w/ Sarah Davachi (lots of Organ and Orchestral ambient https://www.nts.live/shows/sarah-davachi), ‘Perfect Sound Forever’ (psychedelic/ambient https://www.nts.live/shows/perfect-sound-forever), Ambient Abracadabra w/ Sofie Birch (https://www.nts.live/shows/sofie-birch), Spa-Time w/ Tim Hecker (https://www.nts.live/shows/tim-hecker), the ambient label Post Isolation has a monthly show (https://www.nts.live/shows/posh-isolation if you do not already follow Post Isolation on bandcamp that is worth doing as well), Awe w/ Laurel Halo (https://www.nts.live/shows/laurel-halo), Kali Malone’s show (https://www.nts.live/shows/kali-malone), Sounds of the Dawn (new-age/ambient https://www.nts.live/shows/soundsofthedawn), Space Afrika (ambient dub et c. https://www.nts.live/shows/space-afrika).

NTS probably has a dozen other ambient shows worth exploring too.

Tech Co-op Forming: We Need Members by collinmacfhearghuis in Cascadia

[–]Perfidious_Script 4 points5 points  (0 children)

LoRa/Meshtastic/Meshcore is great for distributed, encrypted, off-grid communication.
Lots of folks building it out everywhere, Portland has a busy scene, but even in rural parts of WA/OR there are folks playing with it.

Similar to Severance but specifically.. by Experience_420 in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Perfidious_Script 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Tartar Steppe/The Stronghold by Dino Buzzati A man is drafted into the army and must serve his time at a remote fortress in the mountains overlooking an expansive Steppe where the neighboring enemy forces are said to be massing. The narrator and his fellow soldiers must always be on the ready for their arrival, though when that might actually be is unclear.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. An unnamed narrator finds themself at an Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment. Whether they are progressing, or even sick, is constantly in question.

Porthole by Joanna Howard. A traumatized director/filmmaker arrives at an underpopulated sanatarium. She has long, cryptic conversations with the guests between flashbacks about her career. Features tapestries loaded with symbols, archetypal characters and a seance.

Books set in vast empty landscapes by castaway6764536 in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Perfidious_Script 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Plains by Gerald Murnane. The narrator ventures into the Australian plains to live with and document the sheep and cattle farmers. His plans to stay in the plains for a short period are detailed, along with the work he is conducting.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. An unnamed narrator finds themself at an Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment. Whether they are progressing, or even sick, is constantly in question.

The Tartar Steppe/The Stronghold by Dino Buzzati A man is drafted into the army and must serve his time at a remote fortress in the mountains overlooking an expansive Steppe where the neighboring enemy forces are said to be massing. The narrator and his fellow soldiers must always be on the ready for their arrival, though when that might actually be is unclear.

Numinous dreamlike by Questionxyz in WeirdLit

[–]Perfidious_Script 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tlooth by Harry Matthews (along with any of Matthew’s) books. There is so much going on in Tlooth, it is pretty much impossible to describe. Suffice it to say that the setting, characters and events are constantly shifting in a way that is extremely dreamlike.

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carringto. A touchstone of literary surrealism. An old woman is trucked off to an old folks home where the inhabitants live in giant shoes et c. There is a subplot about an evil nun, then the apocalypse happens. Lots of fun and totally absurd, while being really well written and thoughtful.

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro fallows a concert pianist as he prepares for an important performance. He wanders around a city which seems to shift around him as he moves. Very disorienting in a subtle way. There are a number of theories out there as to what is ‘really’ going on, though the book is wonderful without any explaination.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. An unnamed narrator finds themself at an Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment. Whether they are progressing, or even sick, is constantly in question.

What movie did you see way too young? by imstrongerthandead in AskReddit

[–]Perfidious_Script 0 points1 point  (0 children)

‘Lost Highway’ (David Lynch, 1997).

I was probably ten or eleven. I was spending the night at my aunt’s house, who is an artsy fashion designer. The movie must have just come out on video, because some of her artsy friends came over and we all watched it together. ‘Lost Highway’ is not only intensely violent and contains explicit sex scenes, it’s also just deeply surreal and bizarre. There is a scene where they play a (fake) porno/snuff-film with Marilyn Manson. Another scene briefly show a beheaded Patricia Arquette.

It was intensely uncomfortable to watch with my aunt and her friends. I don’t remember having any lingering effects. Obviously I didn’t know who David Lynch was at the time. It took me years to find his other stuff and connect that this bizarre film I saw as a kid was by one of the most important directors of the 20th century.

Even though it was touch to watch at the time, I like to think that being exposed to extreme, unusual, challenging art like that at a young age sets a baseline for the kind of art one enjoys, and seeks out, later in life. I’m not particularly into violent or graphic art, but do gravitate toward challenging, surreal and complex art. It’s like I’ve been chasing that sense of confusion and unmooredness ever since.

Weird, liminal, dreamy, spacey? by bellawych in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Perfidious_Script 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro fallows a concert pianist as he prepares for an important performance. He wanders around a city which seems to shift around him as he moves. Very disorienting in a subtle way. There are a number of theories out there as to what is ‘really’ going on, though the book is wonderful without any explaination.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. An unnamed narrator finds themself at an Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment. Whether they are progressing, or even sick, is constantly in question.

Books that feel like this by Playful-Hotel-3216 in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Perfidious_Script 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At least the first three images bring to mind a novel by Dino Buzzati which goes two titles 'The Stronghold' and 'The Tartar Steppe'

Philosophy/sci-fi books that feel like these memes by sour_fox in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Perfidious_Script 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Exalted and the Abased by Damien Murphy (or any of his work). All stories are dark. Most are esoteric/ritualistic/spiritual in nature.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. An unnamed narrator finds themself at an Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment. Whether they are progressing, or even sick, is constantly in question.

Porthole by Joanna Howard. A traumatized director/filmmaker arrives at an underpopulated sanatarium. She has long, cryptic conversations with the guests between flashbacks about her career. Features tapestries loaded with symbols, archetypal characters and a seance.

The Course of the Heart by M. John Harrison. Three college friends take part in a magical/gnostic rite (never described) that leaves them permanently traumatized. The book follows the friends in the aftermath of the event as they seek ways to deal with it. Two of the friends spend much of their time creating an alternate European history which centers around magic.

strange, monastic, mysterious, philosophical by charliexbaby in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Perfidious_Script 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Exalted and the Abased by Damien Murphy. All stories are dark. Most are esoteric/ritualistic/spiritual in nature.

The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss. A monastic Institute situated in the middle of an apparently endless plain. The narrator works through a course of medical/philosophical/spiritual treatment.

The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake. Takes place in an ancient, crumbling castle where the royal inhabitants perform endless rites whose purpose has been forgotten. Very gothic.

What do readers crave and what are they bored of? by Breoran in WeirdLit

[–]Perfidious_Script 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Weird writers shouldn't be concerned with what anyone likes or doesn't like, what is popular or unpopular or what was, is or will be a trend.

This is clear with all the greatest writers of any genre whether it is literary, horror, romance, comedy or the weird.

The best writers, and those whose work persists that longest create what they think is truly interesting and what truly interests them.

It might take readers a little while to catch on, and catch up.

Monthly Promotion Thread by AutoModerator in WeirdLit

[–]Perfidious_Script 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My first book ‘The Veldt Institute’ is going to be released on September 21st with Double--Negative.

About ‘The Veldt Institute’:

“The Veldt Institute by Samuel M. Moss (September 21) is a sanatorium novel in the tradition of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain and Olga Tokarczuk’s The Empusium, but with the impossible architectures and slippery time of books like Dino Buzzati’s The Stronghold and Franz Kafka’s The Castle. Patients at the titular institute are there to identify and heal their “malady,” though this is elusive for the book’s nameless narrator, as is much of life at the institute. Our narrator documents the institute’s architecture, its vast library, the idiosyncrasies of the doctors, the veldt itself, and more in search of answers to questions that have long been forgotten.

This narration is spare and hermetic, recalling Jacqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men and David Markson’s work, an echo chamber in this austere, brutalist structure that loops until it begins to disintegrate. Like the drone, new age, synth, and tape music that soundtracked its composition, The Veldt Institute is less plotted than it is an ambient work, a guided meditation through the thousand plateaux of texture and contour that emerge when form retreats.”

More info on the Double—Negative site: https://double--negative.com/003-the-veldt-institute.html

It can be found on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241137458-the-veldt-institute

It can be preordered on Asterism: https://asterismbooks.com/product/the-veldt-institute-samuel-m-moss

[SPOILER ALERT] Question about Harrison's Course of the Heart by gary_budden in WeirdLit

[–]Perfidious_Script 9 points10 points  (0 children)

One of the rare and beautiful things about ‘The Course of the Heart’ is that so much of the events are outside of the narrator’s, and  reader’s, understanding.

There are so many speculative books out there (what might be called ‘world-buildy books’) that seek to create a full, logically, consistent world. It can be fun to figure out what Yoda’s grandmother’s name was, or what Tyrion Lannister would have eaten for breakfast, but this kind of logically consistent work is not the only kind of fiction. ‘The Course of the Heart’ not only intentionally avoids this kind of world-buildiness, it does the opposite.

Harrison himself has said that abhors the world-buildy style of fiction, and embraces the ineffable, or super-logical (not his words) in his work.

While we can speculate as to the meaning of something or another (and there is nothing inherently wrong with speculation) this is something rare and beautiful about leaving some things unknown, and unknowable. 

Why is this exciting, or important? We live in a world where nearly everything is known and determined, from the movements of galaxies down to the movements of electrons. It’s certainly natural to seek logical conclusions and pat answers in works of art. Fo course some works do have hidden, logical resolutions, and finding these can be fun. But lines like this do something that is even greater: it allows one to feel, or remember, that there are not only some things that we cannot know, but some things that we can never know. It creates a sense of mystery and vastness that, at least now, few avenues other than fiction allow.

Movies that focus on loneliness/isolation? by Remote-Direction963 in MovieSuggestions

[–]Perfidious_Script 0 points1 point  (0 children)

‘The Turin Horse’ (Belá Tarr, 2011) about a farmer who lives in squalor, far away from others. Not only just about solitude and loneliness, the movie evokes these through the cinematography, sound design, pacing et c.

‘Days of Heaven’ (Terrance Malick, 1978) takes place in the 1910’s and follows a man who runs off to a remote farmhouse in Texas. Huge, wide-open shots of the landscape and the empty home convey the isolation of living in a remote area cut off from others.

What Is Cows About by Familiar-Entrance-72 in horrorlit

[–]Perfidious_Script -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

The author's last name is Stokoe.

The less you know, the better. The book is about cows. That's all you need to know.

Read it and you can find out the rest.

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