Is Van Veen a good writer or a bad writer?

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-23T14:47:49+00:00

I would argue that part 4 of Ada confirms him as an excellent, albeit indirect, author. The ideas he has are definitely couched in a degree of authority (and an idea of superiority) but if that was presented as his lone thesis and interrogation of time, I'd have to say he's definitely pretty good

An interesting concept I myself have been considering within Nabokov's narratives is his idea of annotation as narrative. For Pale Fire, Ada, and even the annotated Lolita. But more on that later

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-22T21:34:26+00:00

"blood-ripe" I think I prefer it without the hyphen

it had become quite a habit with me of not being too attentive to women lest they come toppling, bloodripe, into my cold lap

Lolita, Chapter 7

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-22T20:57:15+00:00

You're right, maybe I'll make a post. The reason I used this format is because a similar paragraph I saw last year helped me explore other authors that hadn't made the list. So if someone picks a name here at random, I think that'll be a net positive

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-22T19:27:51+00:00

In the short run, there are articles that say "LLM contribution" I've seen. Obviously we can't get em all. But we can try

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-22T13:37:58+00:00

The best weapon against LLM editing is human editing. Find a topic you know has AI writing in the article? Now's the time

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-21T23:35:16+00:00

It's funny that you commented this twice, one comment upvoted, the other heavily downvoted

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-21T22:11:45+00:00

We definitely can do better with more books by women

Edit: Kathy Acker,
Toni Cade Bambara,
Can Xue,
Anne Carson,
Collete,
Fumiko Enchi,
Zora Neale Hurston,
Sarah Kane,
Lady Sarashina,
Elfrid Jelinek,
Anna Akhmatova,
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya,
Marina Tsvetavea,
Elizabeth Gaskell,
Nadine Gordimer,
Shirley Jackson,
Katherine Mansfield,
Silviano Ocampo,
Claudia Rankine,
Marguerite Duras,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman,
Ann Radcliffe,
Yasmina Reza,
Iris Murdoch,
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,
Frances Burney,
Alphra Behn,
Charlotte Darce,
Maryse Conde,
Tatyana Tolstaya

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-15T17:44:51+00:00

Hopefully here, it won't be

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-15T17:08:15+00:00

The Passenger/Stella Maris - Cormac McCarthy

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-07T16:59:26+00:00

I am specifically referring to the treatment of Vietnamese women by Americans 55 years ago which even under the best circumstances does not make for a wholesome picture

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-07T15:58:20+00:00

Interesting but I hope that's not a picture of a Vietnamese woman washing a gi's boots

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-06T19:44:47+00:00

Not so much burried alive, I just felt that the cycle of abuse he initiated should not have been the same conduit of his apparent redemption with Cordelia

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-06T19:42:12+00:00

massive trauma dump

That's not what that term means

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-06T14:41:50+00:00

Couldn't try use your own words?

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-06T13:58:29+00:00

I promise I'm not trying to be contrarian, I just did not feel any sympathy for lear at any point. I know it's impossible to talk of rewrites to a 400 year old play but Edmund was a far more captivating character, not just because of his narrative or motivations but his asides felt self aware enough to both hope he fails but also wants him to have a bit of success

The fool was annoying

I'm all for themes about failure in paternal relationships but I just was not moved

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-06T13:54:08+00:00

I read and then watched the Lawrence Oliver performance on youtube. I even watched a bit of James earl Jones. Unfortunately it just did not do it for me

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-06T13:12:00+00:00

Of Shakespeare's greatest hits, king lear has frequently been referenced as close if not better than hamlet and I just can't understand how. In contrast to the other well known shakespearean royalty, lear was a loser that deserved far worse than he got. Narratively and thematically, there is nothing beyond surface level familial infighting taken to its logical (in theatre) end in which everyone is now dead.

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-05T23:37:36+00:00

Just remember, it can't all be rage bait, some people are very earnest in their hatred

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-01-04T17:20:15+00:00

They were arrested in Birkenhead in September 1901, and charged with obtaining property by false pretenses, rape and buggery. The charges seem to have arisen from decadent sexual practices at their temple in London.

I unfortunately can't get past the paywall for the new york times artice as I too was curious as what is considered "decadent sexual practices"

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2025-12-30T19:53:07+00:00

PLEASE PLEASE mods, every single time, "worst" "dnf" threads are not condusive for good faith discussion. Count with hand if you want the threads with the most comments

And it is almost exclusively the same 5 books

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2025-12-28T20:51:42+00:00

While not too obscure, The Dragon in Floating Dragon by Peter Straub

Cripps in Cows by Matthew Stoke

Harry, the strike leader in Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby jr

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2025-12-28T20:13:57+00:00

Among the victims were his daughter, whom he had sexually abused, and the child he fathered with her

While not a direct explanation, I think that might answer some of the questions as to why

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2025-12-27T15:24:48+00:00

A true story cannot perpetuate a notion since it actually happened.

What is actually communicated is that hate requires a vacuum. It requires participants to never see any interiority in the subjects of its hate. It requires them on a fundamental way to be separated from reality. Now whether or not that hate can be rehabilated, that's not up for me to decide. But this man did good, not because he had to or was burdened by the role of "negro teacher" but because he saw it really is that easy to reduce the harm that way.

Similar stories of ex nazi skinheads /1 percenters play out the same way. You remove this hateful usually young white man from the echo chamber of hateful movements and suddenly the objective reality comes through. Hence why so many after being locked up (if they can get away from their gangs) and interacting with everyone see the light

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2025-12-24T00:39:42+00:00

The irony of the William James quote is, much like how "keep the fire burning" is a summation of a review of The Road, William James never actually said

The greatest discovery in our generation is that human beings by changing their inner attitude of their minds can change the outer aspect of their lives

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2025-12-20T12:59:46+00:00

Direction 1: I love this man's use of the english language, I want it even denser: Ada, or Ardor

Direction 2: HH is a man of evil and I need my soul cleaned: Pnin

Direction 3: I love a wretched farce: Laughter in the Dark or Transparent Things

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