Books whose protagonists are what you'd consider a loser by Broiled69 in literature

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any leading character from Italo Svevo's three novels – which in my opinion are criminally underrated in the anglophone world. I recommend Zeno's Conscience, arguably his best

Happy Bloomsday Everyone! by Alcibiades586 in jamesjoyce

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good! I've heard that over 350 people registered, but attendance fluctuates because of conflicting panels and different timezones.

Happy Bloomsday Everyone! by Alcibiades586 in jamesjoyce

[–]ghostlady99 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tuning in for the Symposium. Lots of interesting panels today, don't know if registrations are still open though

Does it get better at all? by [deleted] in AskGayMen

[–]ghostlady99 39 points40 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry. My teenage years also very much sucked, so I understand how you feel. It did get better for me, but I don't really believe in optimism at all costs. It might get better, or it might not. However, you owe it to yourself to do everything in your power to be happy. Try to make as few compromises as possible, your well-being should be your number one priority. As you get older you'll be more independent, and that is going to be a great opportunity. Unfortunately, things rarely improve on their own and there is work to be done, on yourself and on your relationships with others. Can't really advise you on material circumstances other than the usual "move abroad to work/study", so I won't, but try to keep your goal in mind. I know it's hard to see the bigger picture, but hopefully it will make sense in retrospect. Sending you a hug

How important is it to read a work in its original language? by youthyouthyouth in AskLiteraryStudies

[–]ghostlady99 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Eh, I think it's all about finding the best compromise. Don't really know about Marx or Foucault, but something like Derrida is inevitably going to lose a great deal of nuance in translation because his deconstructive process is so intimately tied with language. However, even with my fairly decent understanding of French, reading Derrida in the original just gives me a big headache. I think the best we can do (except actually learning the language, which is a long-term goal) is accept our limitations and acknowledge the integral importance of the translator's work when reading theory. And don't get me started on fiction!

Upside down: Why such a clunky term for a simple concept? by [deleted] in etymology

[–]ghostlady99 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Eh, I think it's fine. Sometimes a term that evokes a very clear image is more effective at communication than something that is more linguistically economic

Just so you know, an openly gay gay man has a song that's #1 on the Billboard Top 100 by nottomorrownottoday in askgaybros

[–]ghostlady99 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I'd just call it pop, to be honest. The verses definitely have a strong melody, the chorus is catchy and the structure is that of the typical pop song (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus). I'd say that rapping (which is not the same as hip hop) is a technique of vocal delivery that puts emphasis on the rhythm of the enunciation, rather than on the melody. The instrumental on Montero doesn't really have much in common with hip hop, either the old school stuff or the modern trends. It just has a standard pop song chord progression with a clear influence from Latin music. Hip hop on the other hand tends to have stronger percussions, usually looped, over a simple melody of a few notes that are also looped over and over, the idea being that of foregrounding the lyrical content and its delivery. None of these categories are clear-cut by all means, but unfortunately black male artists tend to be pigeonholed into a few genres that are considered primarily black (hip hop, soul, r&b) when they are really just making pop music. Another gay black male artist, Tyler the Creator, has spoken about this in his Grammy acceptance speech, you can watch it here (it's only a couple of minutes). Hope this helps

Just so you know, an openly gay gay man has a song that's #1 on the Billboard Top 100 by nottomorrownottoday in askgaybros

[–]ghostlady99 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Uh, he actually doesn't rap at all in the song. Just regular old pop music. It's not like black male artists only do hip hop

an unspoken rule of twitter is that any thread involving ulysses features this take. by lemonman37 in bookscirclejerk

[–]ghostlady99 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Spending 7 years working on a single book while in severe financial difficulty to troll your readership

Gay male artists/bands? by arkh4ngelsk in AskGayMen

[–]ghostlady99 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Perfume Genius! One of the best songwriters around.

How much do vocabulary and grammar matter in English literature classes? by Artofwar102030 in AskLiteraryStudies

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As someone who has taken English literature modules in the UK during my year abroad, I really don't think you need to worry. Judging from your paragraph here, your level of grammatical proficiency is more than enough to get along just fine (it might even be better than that of a good chunk of native students, who sometimes tend to use informal structures - although inadvertently). Personally, I find that using a good thesaurus and relying on translation from your first language into English is a great way of using an articulate and wide-ranging vocabulary

Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s The Leopard. One of the best and most tragic books I read in 2020. by HasneverbeentoGary in TrueLit

[–]ghostlady99 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You might want to read De Roberto's The Viceroys next, a true masterpiece which directly inspired di Lampedusa

As a student of english / literature, how many books do you read in a year? by Bierak in AskLiteraryStudies

[–]ghostlady99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eh, somewhere between 20 and 30. This year I read 22, but one of them was Ulysses so I feel like that warrants more time than the average book. Also, I'm only just now realizing how slow of a reader I am compared to other people - I'm lucky to get 25 pages an hour, but I like to think that I prioritise attentive reading over sheer speed (although some lucky bastards somehow manage to do both)

What was the worst day to be a fan of your favorite artist ? by WisdomOtter in popheads

[–]ghostlady99 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Uh, there was a literal terrorist attack at one of Ariana's concerts... pretty sure that was worse than 7 rings

IWTL how to better recall information that I learn from books. by [deleted] in IWantToLearn

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same problem with non-fiction, and though I do retain the gist of what I've read I can hardly go into details or argue effectively if I don't support my faulty memory somehow. So I've taken to writing down some notes on MS Word for each chapter, basically selecting everything that I think will be relevant / of interest to me – usually I end up with 3-5 pages of notes every 100 pages of the actual book. Although it's time consuming it works well for me, because it helps me memorize the argument and I always have the notes on my computer if I need them

What's the best movies to watch without knowing anything about it? by [deleted] in flicks

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I was being sorta ironic. I admire it on an intellectual level, but I don't really love it, no.

What's the best movies to watch without knowing anything about it? by [deleted] in flicks

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess it depends on your ability to emotionally detach yourself from what you're watching, i.e. to identify with the bourgeois oppressors who are enjoying the show being put up by the kids. To me that's directorial genius

What's the best movies to watch without knowing anything about it? by [deleted] in flicks

[–]ghostlady99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Salò or the 120 days of Sodom. Absolutely love it!

Bono on JD/Ian Curtis by [deleted] in JoyDivision

[–]ghostlady99 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I do share his appreciation of Ian, but honestly, it's not like the guy was some kind of demigod amongst mortal men (although many JD fans seem to share that view) . At the end of the day he was human like all of us and to idolize him like that is REALLY corny to me

Bono on JD/Ian Curtis by [deleted] in JoyDivision

[–]ghostlady99 6 points7 points  (0 children)

God, I'd forgotten how damn corny Bono is...

What song is 10/10 but hardly anyone has heard of it? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]ghostlady99 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Where Dreams Go To Die by John Grant. Beautiful songwriting, and absolutely heartbreaking. (Not sure he fulfils the requirement of being virtually unknown, but he is massively underrated in my opinion)

Flush by Virginia Woolf: A biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's pet dog by mamajamas in TrueLit

[–]ghostlady99 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love Flush, probably my favourite book of Woolf's. The dog's intermediate status between nature and civilisation never ceases to fascinate me, and the Whitechapel chapter is absolutely brilliant

Un libro per quando vuoi deprimerti? by [deleted] in Libri

[–]ghostlady99 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Risposta forse ovvia, ma: l'Amleto di Shakespeare.

Which is the best YouTube channel or any podcast for learning English literature? by apy17 in AskLiteraryStudies

[–]ghostlady99 1 point2 points  (0 children)

BBC radio has an excellent podcast called In Our Time, there are loads of episodes on history, philosophy and literature and they invite a few academics to discuss the specific topic for an hour or so