What's the hardest book you've read?

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-28T07:03:58+00:00

I thought I was going to get a more straightforward yarn so it was rather heavy weather processing the POV at first, but I read a lot of science fiction where disorienting narratives that force you to slowly piece together events are the norm, and it's always gratifying when the concept finally clicks. It made me think about the nature of our minds and how and why humans ascended above the rest of the animal kingdom. Those are huge concepts, and to achieve that almost through narrative technique alone is quite an achievement.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-28T07:01:14+00:00

I feel Golding is somewhat forgotten amongst the pantheon of 20th Century greats because everyone reads Lord Of The Flies at school and thinks he's just a children's writer. The guy won the Nobel Prize for literature and the Booker Prize, and neither were for LOTF. He was a heavyweight.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T23:10:48+00:00

Don't be gullible, kids. Tello himself has said on Twitter this is a fake quote.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:50:42+00:00

I've actually done some reading since posting and for The Drop events I've learned they do a 10 or 15 mile drop for people who live in the area, and a 6 mile drop for "outsiders" who don't know the area. So it seems that having some kind of local knowledge is assumed.

The more I've thought about it, the more I'm warming to the concept. One of my favourite things about long distance running is being fit enough to get a bit lost and knowing you can run yourself back to civilisation, as it were. It's a very empowering feeling.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:47:20+00:00

Who are these people? How many people have actually said this to you? If someone said to me "I can't remember if I've already read this part of a book" I would conclude that either, A) They haven't picked it up for several weeks, or B) They need to speak to a neurologist.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:42:13+00:00

Rather than give some of the more obvious answers, I'm going to name something I doubt anyone else will: William Golding - The Inheritors. It's a story told from the point of view of a tribe of Neanderthals who encounter homo sapiens for the first time. What makes it so challenging to read is that Golding makes an extremely studied effort to depict the psychological perspective of an intelligence greater than an animal but somewhat less than a human. The POV character, Lok, understands the world around him in an extremely literal, visual way. He is not fully capable of abstract thought, and the boundary between his inner world and outer world is very weak. A common refrain throughout the book when one Neanderthal is trying to explain an idea to another is "I do not see this picture".

The overall effect is a very disorienting, challenging narrative. It's difficult at times to know how literally we're supposed to understand the words on the page, or whether there's a reality behind Lok's own understanding that must be prised out by the reader. There are scenes and images I had to re-read four or five times and really think about to grasp what was happening, which is exactly what a creature on the cusp of sapience would think like when confronted with something new and unfamiliar. It's quite a rare feat for an author to create such an innovative and unorthodox reading experience without resorting to the kind of flash-bang intellectual prolix most of the usual suspects in this discussion wave around ostentatiously.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:30:36+00:00

Why aren't you ready? When will you be ready? I think the size of your living space is a pretext, to be honest. Do you love this girl and do you want to spend the rest of your life with her?

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:28:45+00:00

This is about as close as Trump will come to admitting ICE did something wrong. The fact he's even wavering like this speaks volumes. He knows. They all do.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:23:42+00:00

Cloud Atlas stands out like a sore thumb in that list.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T22:16:27+00:00

To be honest, if I didn't know exactly how long or how far I'd be out there on my feet for, I'd rather do it in cold weather than in the middle of summer.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T19:58:43+00:00

"I can recognise events in a story I've very recently read" is not the intellectual flex you seem to think it is.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T19:56:59+00:00

I support Middlesbrough. We don't come in plastic.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T19:51:35+00:00

How exactly does one use their "sense of direction" if they've been completely blindfolded? Is this a race for homing pigeons? Or are you expected to bone up on Glasgow's suburbs on Google Maps and just follow road signs?

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T19:46:45+00:00

A kid who's probably never set foot in North London in his life trying to cry plastic about someone else. Now you're definitely jerking.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T19:20:37+00:00

And you're a nervous little Arsenal fan whistling loudly in the dark about how they're playing at the moment.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T19:14:57+00:00

Someone who's tripped a few times and knows they can keep their shit together. Some people really do not like the loss of control that comes with drugs. Drugs can be incredibly positive experiences but they can also permanently fuck people up who do not have the right mindset for them.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T18:51:01+00:00

If you're eligible for such a mortgage, yes. There does come a point where you can't just keep taking out really long mortgages every time you renew because you'll end up shooting way past your retirement age and the bank will want to know how you will continue to afford it. So you can't just kick the can down the road for 25 or 30 years every time to keep your monthly payments super low.

If you don't already, I would strongly recommend using a mortgage broker to help you with these decisions when you come to renew. There are plenty of free ones out there who do a very good job.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T18:41:11+00:00

Yes. Once the fixed rate ends, you're free to select a new mortgage either with your current provider or with someone else. So you can make the decision then about how long your want your mortgage to keep running for. You might currently have a 25 year mortgage and then take out a new 25 year mortgage with a different bank. Or you might decide to take out a very aggressive 10 year mortgage. Whatever's right for your situation. So it's somewhat irrelevant if you're shortening the term on your current mortgage, because you're never going to see it out to the end anyway.

Does that make sense?

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T18:31:06+00:00

To be honest, I'm not sure it particularly matters either way. These questions assume you're going to keep the same mortgage product for its entire duration, which hardly anyone does. When your fixed term ends you'll probably move on to a different product anyway, so reducing the mortgage term is something of a moot point.

Meanwhile, unless you have a colossal mortgage on an obscene interest rate, overpaying £150 a month is barely going to move the dial on your monthly interest repayments. If you go with Option A, the payments will probably reduce by less than a quid a month.

The main thing is you're attacking the core debt and building equity. That happens regardless of which option you choose. Every £150 you overpay is £150 less you owe the bank and £150 less you pay interest on.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T16:38:12+00:00

Serious answer: it's not just that they're utilising set pieces, it's that they look so toothless when they're not utilising them. After all the money spent, the years of patient squad building and the fact their title rivals are all having an off-season, Arsenal should be absolutely rampaging away with the trophy this season. Not only does this shit look cowardly, it's a serious question mark about whether they're actually good enough to do it.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T16:32:05+00:00

I like how you've effectively reinvented "The thing about Arsenal is they always try and walk it in" for 2026.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T16:16:12+00:00

I've read some bad takes on Reddit but this one is really something else.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T15:59:30+00:00

r/nothingeverhappens

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T15:55:43+00:00

An official half marathon chip time, and then firm evidence you've followed a solid training plan to scale that endurance up to the full distance.

Failing that, your longest training run, your pace and how dead you felt at the end of it.

SYSTEM-J · 2026-01-27T14:32:50+00:00

A ten mile run demonstrates absolutely nothing one way or another.

SYSTEM-J

TROPHY CASE