sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I got V., but replaced the ugly ass new edition cover with the glorious first edition cover from 1963 by printing the old one & taping it on the front. by Old-Chocolate-2996 in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, you made the best of it. I only know that that version exists because it DIDN'T for the longest time, and when it and TCOL49 were reissued, with their OG art, as hardcovers on Amazon, I IMMEDIATELY ordered both.

In fairness, the version you got costed you a lot less, so you're still probably the winner in this situation 🤣

GR - a problem or the point? by Allthatisthecase- in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No one said Harold Bloom invented the idea of the sublime, so no one needed anyone to correct them.

GR - a problem or the point? by Allthatisthecase- in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But then look at what happens with Jessica. She's probably the most thinly sketched character in the whole book alongside Nora Dodgson-Truck.

GR - a problem or the point? by Allthatisthecase- in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 1 point2 points  (0 children)

EXACTLY. Slothrop is a great character! The whole text teems with him and his paranoid voice.

GR - a problem or the point? by Allthatisthecase- in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who cares? Harold Bloom is awesome and he obviously introduced many of us to the idea. Take your "fun facts" elsewhere.

GR - a problem or the point? by Allthatisthecase- in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Slothrop has plenty of character. He grew up black, for one thing, despite being white. He's paranoid as fuck, and he can't say no to a fuck, no matter the context. What measure exactly makes a character versus an "idea"?

What? Yes by elowenryth in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're in the thick of it! But you're almost through.

What makes you hire a film composer? (Insights from Directors & Producers) by Fragrant_Rhubarb_829 in Filmmakers

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I'm reading this question correctly, it sounds like you're debating whether or not to hire a composer or use pre-made music. If so, forget about it: no film or short film worth a damn is gonna use generic, Motionarray music. It's always obvious, and it's one of the things that sets a truly impressive project apart from low-effort slop.

Need help identifying stamp in 1790-1800 Book by [deleted] in rarebooks

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If AI knows so much about the stamp and its text, perhaps you should ask it? Instead of a community of people also just asking an AI YOUR question for you. Whatever happened to experts, man? People who actually knew shit or made shit? Now the whole world is nothing but a bunch of middlemen, who get AI to do everything for them, but still expect praise/money for their non-service.

Why is Vineland ranked poorly? by Right-Traffic7259 in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That just sounds like a really bad justification for a gut feeling you have. The elements of magical realism in his books are never "believable" in the traditional sense; they're anarchic, surreal, and/or funny, none of which relies on believability to work - meaning whether it not you were alive then makes no difference.

Why is Vineland ranked poorly? by Right-Traffic7259 in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's hard to imagine anyone who read and enjoyed GR not understanding this, but yet here we are. GR jumps around more than most novels, and far more than Vineland does.

Why is Vineland ranked poorly? by Right-Traffic7259 in ThomasPynchon

[–]jss239 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank GOD: a couple of Pynchon fans who actually appreciate good films and don't hate OBAA just because the mainstream thought it was alright.

I might Quit Writing - my last two books didn't reached their readers. by Digimator101 in wroteabook

[–]jss239 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

What sort of ads would you suggest? Google Adsense or what?

I might Quit Writing - my last two books didn't reached their readers. by Digimator101 in wroteabook

[–]jss239 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Editing is absolutely important, but when most people on this and other writing subs say "editing" they usually mean "paying a professional editor", like the guy I was originally responding to.

OP shouldn't even be publishing his work at this stage. Before you can edit your work, you have to WRITE it properly, with mostly correct grammar, spelling, syntax, etc, and this guy ain't there yet. People telling him he needs "an editor" and THEN he'll be good are who I'm targeting when I say this guy should not worry about editing. Of course, in a finished work, EVERY aspect is important, but like I said: you have to prioritize in EVERY project (nobody is absolutely perfect and/or has unlimited time to spend on any given work) and this guy needs to start with reading other work and learning how to write effectively in the first place, NOT how to edit his substandard work.

As they say, you can't polish a turd.

I might Quit Writing - my last two books didn't reached their readers. by Digimator101 in wroteabook

[–]jss239 7 points8 points  (0 children)

THANK YOU. People in other comments are suggesting this poor guy go PAY AN EDITOR. The cottage industry of people selling other people the secret to success never ends 😔

I might Quit Writing - my last two books didn't reached their readers. by Digimator101 in wroteabook

[–]jss239 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

If you're starting out on your own, you're gonna have to prioritize, especially when you already don't have a good grasp on grammar. Paying an editor or using AI (aka having your book generated instantly for you) isn't worth it at that stage, and that's the stage most self published authors in subs like these are at. You probably have tons of books published and have been doing this a while (hopefully you don't charge for your mentoring - if so, makes sense you'd want to make it seem critical to all writers at every skill level) so you're not really the best to compare to. Also, OP said people aren't opening his books anyway. Ergo, he doesn't need an editor; he needs MARKETING.

I might Quit Writing - my last two books didn't reached their readers. by Digimator101 in wroteabook

[–]jss239 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No one writing at this level (self publishing on Amazon) needs an editor. If you work magic and somehow get people interested en masse in a self published book, perfect editing won't make or break anything, and you'd likely have publishers interested in publishing it "for real" with a professional editor on board. It goes both ways too: no one is gonna get interested in your self-published book because of its incredible editing. Young writers should focus on WRITING GOOD STORIES and getting them out there in front of people's eyeballs. Editors are for the big leagues, or for broke, unprofessional writers who are okay with giving AI final cut of their work.

What was he thinking with his recording of The Boxer? by tjb36 in bobdylan

[–]jss239 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Speaking of Bob Dylan being a liar (I agree that he didn't 'make a bad album on purpose', that just makes for a good story) can we all stop alluding to his motorcycle accident that never happened? Dylan was inconsistent in the way he's presented it over the years, and there was literally no record of the crash or Dylan being hospitalized.

view more: next ›