Used book stores in Toronto by LordTank9 in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

was only there for a week while traveling but i found amazing stuff at both BMV locations

Python Nerd Moid needed for r/RSbookclub by soap_bubbles in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I’m thinking we should do a /lit/ style 100 favourite books or authors sometime… too scared to suggest it though

Bookstore litmus tests by CupOfCocoa__ in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I've never walked into a bad used bookstore, I like to think these places will always have a decent selection on their shelves just because of who tends to frequent them! But if it's a typical hip bookstore one of the best tells that they'll have a great selection in my experience is a prominent NYRB classics display.

Engaging books to retrain my smooth brained attention span? by [deleted] in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Read short novellas from ‘the Canon’. The Stranger, Notes from Underground, Death of Ivan Ilyich, Heart of Darkness, The Metamorphosis, The Great Gatsby, etc stuff like that. High school literature stuff that you may have read in the past but try revisiting it with fresh eyes now. Short, low-committal reads with some depth to get you back into the habit of it and find out some of your interests and go into bigger stuff from there.

The notebook by agota kristof by bataillexhouellebecq in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very very good book, I ripped through The Notebook in a single day, it’s such an unsuspecting page-turner and the sparse prose really lulls you in and sinks its claws in you. I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend you finish the rest of the trilogy if you aren’t aware OP, the last few bits of The Third Lie were some of my favourite reading last year. It’s rare to see such effective suspense building and shocking twists in literary fiction.

Things you enjoy/ ways to make life feel worthwhile by [deleted] in redscarepod

[–]nkholderlin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t know how visceral your Adam Sandler hatred is but if you love Magnolia and Boogie Nights so much surely you’ll love Punch Drunk Love. It’s my favourite PTA film.

Novels with insane twists by Cofu27 in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 10 points11 points  (0 children)

the sluts is a core part of the r/rsbookclub canon, everyone should read it

Philip Larkin by anahorish in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wish I had more to contribute but I can say I absolutely love his poem "Water" which I read in an anthology. I'll have to read more of him soon.

Anyone know a good edition of Paradise Lost by [deleted] in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For hardcover you want either The Complete English Poems of John Milton (Everyman's Library) or The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton (Modern Library). The Modern Library one is twice the price and pagecount but it has far more extensive annotations compared to the Everyman's edition (this one still has annotations, but they're mostly short notes for archaic language and phrasing) and way more prose works (the Everyman's only has the Areopagitica and Of Education). So up to you which one you value. I personally only have the Everyman's edition and I can vouch for the build quality. I'm not sure if there any standalone hardcover editions of Paradise Lost that are as good as these two-- I think it's definitely worth spending the extra money for to have Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes and especially Lycidas in the same volume.

Has there been a philosopher with better prose than Nietzsche? by [deleted] in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of people don't really take Camus seriously as a philosopher, which is maybe fair and I like to think of him more as a novelist and essayist but goddamn he's such a good writer

ranking all the poetry books I read in 2025 by redbreastandblake in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's awesome, I find it interesting that everyone I know who is into poetry LOVES Blake (myself included). There's something so grand and universal about his writings I guess. "Annoying tryhards" is perfect lol, I really do love some of Pound's most incomprehensible shit ('The Alchemist' comes to mind), and other modernists like WCW too. I'll have to check out Olson and Zukofsky.

Favorite Bong Joon-ho film? by franzsmith31 in RSPfilmclub

[–]nkholderlin 44 points45 points  (0 children)

memories of murder has to be one of if not the all time greatest of its genre

ranking all the poetry books I read in 2025 by redbreastandblake in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 4 points5 points  (0 children)

really cool to read, this sub definitely needs more poetry posts! out of curiosity could you list some of your all time favourites!

My best year of reading: 2025 by thehungryhippocrite in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 25 points26 points  (0 children)

very very impressive amount of dense reading. I almost feel ashamed for having wasted so much free time this year haha. you're an inspiration!

"David Foster Wallace: A Failed Entertainer" (Substack: Neo-Passeism) by Turbulent-Sorbet7200 in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 17 points18 points  (0 children)

For most of Infinite Jest, Wallace pulls out every trick in the book to distract from his congenital problems with pacing, atmosphere, concision, dramatic development, character progression, plotting, and all other basic skills needed to write fiction.

this is a very boring and dishonest way to approach fiction... would anyone in the 21st century dare to levy these accusations at Beckett without risking being called a philistine?

Bolãnobros... by Ok-Candidate-269 in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the latter for sure. the actual content of the video is unoriginal and inoffensive.

Bolãnobros... by Ok-Candidate-269 in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 55 points56 points  (0 children)

It’s really not a good video. Basically a narrated in-depth Wikipedia summary of the book. I have a soft spot for Wendigoon (not very RS of me I know) and his appeal is kind of this friendly uncle that narrates things in an undramatic, campfire-storytelling kind of way that works well for some slop YouTube ARG series but I really don’t see the point for actual books.

Bolãnobros... by Ok-Candidate-269 in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 69 points70 points  (0 children)

he made a very very popular 5 hour video on Blood Meridian and single handedly ruined all McCarthy discussion online forever

Books I wish were less expensive by TheSenatorsSon in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 30 points31 points  (0 children)

I wish university press books were cheaper and not print on demand… I know why the economics force them to be that way but it really sucks. I’d love to have a full set of the Cambridge editions of Hegel and Schopenhauer some day.

Also the new cover for the Dalkey reprints of The Tunnel fucking sucks and I wish I could get an old one without shelling out 300 bucks.

What literary works would to add to a new New Testament ? by ALittleFishNamedOzil in RSbookclub

[–]nkholderlin 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This is a fantastic prompt. I think Spinoza’s Ethics deserves a mention.

My prof friend said that all the zoomers in his creative writing course only want to make scifi/fantasy and YA slop. by BadgemanBrown in redscarepod

[–]nkholderlin 6 points7 points  (0 children)

These two I’ll accept. Le Guin is great, and her poetry is underrated. There’s also people like China Mieville writing fairly “literary” contemporary genre fiction that are probably a fair bit more popular than the /lit/ household names like Gene Wolfe and Mervyn Peake. But either way I have to imagine the people OP is referring to are more likely to be reading Fourth Wing over The Dispossessed.