Prose and Petticoats takes on the same topic right here (be sure to check it out!): kzfaq.info/get/bejne/abSapc2Cpq7PYqc.htmlsi=RgWk8YNZ0xO7ZwgF And here are the videos that have responded to the tag so far: From Book Chat with Pat: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/heCKisyL2ZubpoE.htmlsi=0fDVkJc_b6tz6xHR From Quaint and Curious Volumes: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ncphZdphmMualmw.htmlsi=QKUbMyOe576OOJAr From Genre Books: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pLKkerKBpt2xdH0.htmlsi=TY7uP-ZSlF3HB21P From Phillip Hall: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qcWBf7Oczb6RYo0.htmlsi=UXfUCxsN1EggpzRs From Micah S. Vernon: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/kMVjmbCDzdezlX0.htmlsi=IxdBA0oTX8XlgDFk From BookZealots: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aNakhbmnp9XUhWQ.htmlsi=tNEnEFMt74lIntJa From Monti Atkins Books: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ZtCGg9CBy93enIE.htmlsi=twHGaQnNWXcUall9 From Callosum Books: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hriXbK6ZutjQinU.htmlsi=2-vSjwJi_aMf0ldw From Stuart Griffin: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bLl-ntRnxq2amKc.htmlsi=_4QWAEWmmokQZ0s7 From Literary Layer: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nJiBi5x7rrbDpJc.htmlsi=xI5hclJZjDfWcT6- From Bryndis Daughterofgunnar: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jbGiqrV7y9G2qJc.htmlsi=kPkbDeBoUQQlhFav From SomeOkieDude: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Zqh2rbSFks-WeKM.htmlsi=Q6J8-Yp_m7ieAssD From TahliaNerdsOut: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ert1aZx4uMuXhGQ.htmlsi=4lMVzyFvkoWb3U-K From Big Hard Books & Classics: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jNd8o7CXsZvdpHk.htmlsi=urMJr1-bbnxPSJfP From Shelf Esteem: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q7pjlNuD3Z-VXYU.htmlsi=WtrgzS6WtZqHorpY From Maeve_Ever_Books: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fct7q7p8r9mXoqs.htmlsi=chdWLlJD41iV2RpG From Books Gurrs and Purrs: kzfaq.infoGzoLOplu5lU?si=2YWBI7959tOdjULq

This channel is more than we deserve.

30 minutes?! Haha, I can't wait to watch this. I'll be back, Ruben. I'll be back. 👀

I can concur that Antkind is on laugh-out-loud levels of funny if you like surreal and absurd humor. It does have deeper themes, but the humor is what really stands out.

Fantastic video!

As usual your insightful reflections are both informative and thought-provoking. Your explorations into various genres and styles has inspired me to be more open-minded in picking which books to read next.

Some great picks for articulate reasons. From these "simple" questions, it seems you extracted insightful purpose. You've absolutely sold me on "Life: A User's Manual". The premise sounds so interesting! Also, you've never laughed out loud at a book??! Read Catch-22 or Don Quijote. I would have said the same thing until I read these two books. My cheeks hurt so much from the constant grin on my face.

Hi Ruben. I really love this tag and your responses to these prompts. Thank you for tagging me. I will work on this one. I am toying with the idea of reading Proust, which I have never attempted. The fact that you tell me that Virginia Woolf loved Proust's writing makes me want to give him an attempt. (As I have been struggling with my third re-reading of Joyce's ULYSSES this summer, which is somehow not affecting me the way it did when I was a graduate student, I have taken great solace in reading Virginia Woolf on the subject of Ulysses. I feel vindicated somehow, not that I exactly need to have my reactions validated, but the fact that she really didn't like Ulysses has helped me somehow.) I have read Woolf's Writer's Diary, by the way, long ago, and I remember that I loved it. I am not sure that I could handle the books that you are listing under books that you look forward to for their emotional weight. Not at this point in my life. Thank you for another extraordinarily thoughtful video.

Great video and choices, many here that I am wanting to get to myself. Especially the Schmidt, which I may never get to, simply because getting his work is so hard over here in Australia (and in general). Maybe one day I'll pick up A School for Atheists, which isn't too unreasonably priced to get over here. I think currently the only one I have is Nobodaddy's Children. Didn't get notified that you'd tagged me but I'll definitely be making my own video with this tag, thanks!

The only problem with watching other book tubers is that it only increase the tbr. So many books and so little time. Happy reading to you.

I cherish booktubers like you. Such eloquent reviews and musings on books that are classics, literary challenges, post-modern, etc. I get so many recommendations! Keep it up.

Please do a bookshelf vlog :)))))))

There are some great recommendations here! I've also been counting the days for 2666 and Hopscotch.

Thank you for tagging me! I see this tag as a cue to buy more books since I currently don't have an answer for prompt 8. Looking forward to filming this one.

Awesome stuff

Hi there, really have been enjoying your content but mostly have been inspired to read. Great work recommendations by the way. TC.

This is a great idea for a tag! I'm also very intrigued by 2666, although my edition's cover art isn't quite as interesting as yours.

thanks for the tag!! funny coincidence, i was at a used bookstore today and actually picked up 2666 haha. and those virginia woolf books seem interesting, i may have to look out for them. and you were able to articulate your thoughts on proust much more eloquently than i did 😅 i’ll give this some thought and upload something soon!

These tags are dangerous for my wallet. Interested in Life A User’s Manual and his writing with limitations. Thanks for the tag and yes, this was a good range of selections.

Thanks for the tag! I haven't even heard about most of these!

Such great prompts, and such great books. Proust and Joyce author the books I am most intimidated by...but I know the struggle will be worth my time 🤓

Great video as always! I would suggest a book for you to review: The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef. I think it's a book that could be of great use in our search for truth (it's not the usual "watchout for logical fallacies" book. It offers a different perspective and it's pretty original in that sense).

It's always a treat to learn about some of these lesser-known books you feature on this channel. I for one am intrigued by "I You We Them". A related book I read recently covered Adolf Eichmann and how evil doesn't have to be passionate, it can be purely ordinary. (See Hannah Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil) Thank you for the tag as well. I'm on a bit of a hiatus due to travel and multiple housing moves, but I look forward to filming this one in the next couple months. 😎

I almost bought that very boxset of Marcel Proust's work, but I'm actually glad I didn't. Instead, I got myself volume 1 of the Penguin Classics, just to see if I would like it. I don't think I will continue - the stream of consciousness style isn't my thing. :) Amazing video! Thank you for the lovely collabs.

I literally bought "Life: A User's Manual" this week! It sounds so fascinating and so outside of what I normally read. I hope we both really enjoy it! I own the 5000+ page Kindle version of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and I have been putting it off too long. I think I just need to dedicate myself to reading one chapter at a time because I've heard it referenced about six TRILLION times in my life. I own the Gulag Archipelago but I'll admit - this is likely not the year I'll be able to read it. Thanks for the reminder of the Rape of Nanking, I've put it on my wishlist and have always meant to read it. Great video!

Great idea for a tag! That 2666 edition looks hefty indeed. In a very fitting way. And oh man your edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall is magisterial! Which of these books do you think you will read first? I’m also curious whether you have a copy of Bottom’s Dream? That tome looks incredibly dense and daunting! I’d love to see a video in which you discuss your experience with reading huge books-I know you have read so much of the likes of DFW and Vollman. Finishing a huge book is such a satisfying (but sometimes painful) feeling! I look forward to your next video! Thank you for tagging me and for the ever fascinating content!

For humor, try Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Right-Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, and Moby Dick by Herman Melville (seriously, it's very funny).

Ah yes, book covers (especially most contemporary ones) work so well as artworks in miniature. There's nothing like a really good book cover. I also adore Virginia Woolf. I've actually just written a verse-essay on Woolf (interwoven with George Eliot/Baruch Spinoza & Iris Murdoch) as a chapter in my forthcoming book ('Hounded'). I love the way you range over such disparate terrain capturing such considered & readerly enthusiasm - a terrific tone to maintain.

bolaño's 2666 is so excellent, i read it this year and loved it - would be really interested to hear you talk about it more once you read it, i think you will seriously enjoy it

Aah, those are some good ones. I've read at least SOME of all of those but they're realllly long.

Never having laughed while reading is something I would wish on no one! I think I spy JR by William Gaddis on your shelf and that made me burst out laughing in the middle of the night, that type of laughter that you have to stifle with a pillow...

Chris Vai of Leaf by Leaf has a video of Antkind.

Marcel Proust would have to be my favourite author.I have read through In Search of Lost Time twice and will undoubtedly return for more at some point, it's beautiful in every way imaginable. I recently bought Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts based on the cover more than anything and the fact that he is Australian like me. I am loving the book, such a unique insight into Indian life and culture. Truly Wonderful. Quite a few on this list I would love to tackle thank you Ruben.

Hopscotch sounds like an interesting read. I remember my daughter reading a book like that in . . . I think it was third of fourth grade. (i.e. ages ago). Have you read Hermione Lee's biography on Virginia Woolf? I do not like V. Woolf, but the biography was very good. So many interesting books. I'm really interested to hear about your reviews when you get to them. How many of your books behind you/on your shelves are read vs unread? Sorry if this is a well known fact to your older viewers, but I had to ask. =)

Try Flann O'brien for absurd humour particularly The Third Policeman. All the pseudo science is too funny.

YES! The Modernists* are completely in my wheel house & I have quite a number of the books you mentioned either on my shelf or wish list. Since it seems you are a stream of consciousness fan I would also recommend Edouard du Jardin's We'll to the Woods no More. The second would be Knut Hamsun's Mysteries. Both wonderful examples. I feel your pain on Schmidt's Bottom's Dream. I actually found a copy in a used book store in MPLS & the owner let me flip through it briefly, but the price tag--Youch. But a man's reach should exceed his grasp, so maybe one day. I really enjoy & get a lot out of your videos. Keep up the great work & I look forward to upcoming videos. *While I think that Modernism is the high-water mark for the novel, I fear it is the only field of artistic endeavor that did achieve a rise in their particular field: Modernist art is just a let down (with the exception of the Surrealists), & the atonal movement in classical music was/is tragic; but especially modernist architecture is nothing but a grotesquery that still plagues us to this day & has made so many cities unlivable.

Iris Chang unalived herself due to the trauma of researching the book about Nanking.

Flew back into Houston last night, and you popped up this morning on my YT feed (much better than waiting to see if Beryl will hit home Monday). I won't spoil the plots for you, but I've already read 2666 (yes, it's rough but worth it), HOPSCOTCH (very interesting), LIFE: A USER'S MANUAL (clever, but I've grown less interested over time in "clever" writing for the sake of being clever). Finished reading IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME earlier this year - I felt the protagonist needed a good shaking or perhaps a whack on the back of the head in order to get his life together. The final volume, TIME REGAINED, gets into some surprising S&M but was finished by Proust's brother. Apparently Proust and Joyce shared a cab ride in Paris at one point and had nothing to say to each other. For a funny book (I'm not enamoured by Kaufmann, or Christopher Nolan for that matter, but that's just me), try the Grossmith Brothers' DIARY OF A NOBODY (1892). It's short and has never been out of print - and truly laugh out loud. WOMEN AND MEN has long been on my tbr list, but I don't know if I'll ever get around to it. For some reason, I haven't read much Woolf, although I believe I've read something by everyone else in her circle, including Vita Sackville-West. Gibbon? Yes, he's dated but still is a standard resource for everyone to follow, such as Mary Beard. As so many of the works discussed today are in English translation, I thought I'd suggest for you a provocative study I just finished, John Barton's THE WORD: ON THE TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. The central focus is on the translator's task/art - is it more important to produce a translation that is formal-equivalent (sticks closer to the original words) or functional-equivalent (sticks closer to the author's intent). You can see the difference comparing translations of Proust, for example - the functional-equivalent translators may not translate word for word, but the reading audience get the true "feeling" of the text. Anyway, back from buying too many books in London, but finally found Kurkov's THE PRESIDENT'S LAST LOVE and now will start JIMI HENDRIX LIVE IN LVIV. But that brings up a topic for a future video: How much time should we devote to the "classics" vs newer writers? Do you find yourself reading more writers such as Arno Schmidt to the detriment of say George Eliot or Balzac? Or does it matter? Is it necessary and/or helpful to have read TRISTRAM SHANDY before more recent experimental writers?

Charlotte Turner Smith (1749-1806) recently reached out of the grave to grab my throat. She won't let go until I have captured, read and agonized over all her antiquarian novels and poetry. Am looking for pity to pass on to her for the agony she endured to produce her work. She is currently making me feel the terror of the Paris mob calling themselves Patriots. What's her point?

2666 is an absolutely terrible book. I hated it so much.

The cover of the first version of the penguin modern classic edition of Things Fall Apart attracted me to wanting to get and read it. Was wanting to expand my reading range to African literature, saw that cover without knowing who the author was and decided 'yep, I'm reading it!'. A video I think would be an interesting one, is talking about books that could have benefited from being longer or shorter. And ones that could benefit from a well-done abridgment.