Only Q and A i have ever watched with such delight and curiosity.

I took 3 years of Latin and got proficient enough that I could struggle through some of the greats like Caesar and Livy. I wish I had kept up with it

I recently found your channel and I'm very happy I did. Don't remember how I found it, might have been through another Booktuber, but happy to be here!

It's always a pleasure listening to you!

Another amazing video! Enjoyed this one a lot. Loved your answer to my question (03:30)! Absolutely agree with you, by the way.

Such a cool vid thank you

i love ur videos, keep going:)

Great video Chris, as always! Cheers from Brazil

Very cool man! I enjoyed this, you did get great questions

I just discovered your channel and I gotta say you’re already one of my favorite book themed youtubers. Your thoughts on each book come across as genuinely well thought through, and this Q and A was a great insight as well, thanks and much love from Austria.

Holy Moly I need to get that Shanameh book. I'm so glad I asked!

youre the man man, wish you the best

I just discovered your channel, and I love it. Your literary tastes are quite close to mine in many ways, but I've already discovered some new books and writers binge-watching your videos. I've already proposed to the Meetup reading group I run that we pair The Lover with Lolita, which we'd previously already had on the docket.

Haha PaperBird. Such an awesome channel, he gives a lot of great suggestions. And yea his more recent videos are a total trip

Just found out your channel and really enjoying it. Nice to know you're an IT professional. I'm a computer engineering student from Brazil and I love seeing people like you who inspire me to seek knowledge in areas other than the one I've chosen as profession.

I am so all over Ketchum ... been on my radar for a while and you just sealed it. 3 Body Problem trilogy is amazing ... not super literary in term of prose and characterization but the ideas in it blew me away. Dune is great too. I recognized all the Faulkners right away even on a tiny iPhone lol. Absalomx2 my favorite of his. And kudos for actually getting through Hegel ... something I couldn’t do even as a philosophy major.

It's interesting that you mention Paperbird because I found both your channels the same way: through Anna Kavan. After finishing Ice I was desperate to read/listen to other people talk about the book and the author, so I searched KZfaq and found both his brilliant and crazy video about Ice and your video about Machines in the Head, and have been following both channels since (there's really not that many people talking about Anna Kavan around here).

I completely get that feeling you described: the gut feeling of “it’s time to read this”. I think we can trust it and continue to educate it with experience. Nice video!

Great video, man! Your humility is refreshing and appreciated. Here I thought I read a lot, and I only do two to three hours per day. You're a reading machine, my friend. PS: I look forward to your McElroy series!

I'll second the Better Than Food channel. Cliff is a great host and has excellent taste. You might also want to check out the Bookchemist.

Hi Chris, I'm so glad I finally made it over to check out your channel! (As you said, there are many channels to watch.) What a treat to hear about you and your reading tastes. Everything you talked about reading sounds interesting. Your subscribers are so curious! How wonderful. I love the community here, too. Also, your setup is really nice! Simple can be good! I just checked out your portfolio and it made me curious- how did you get into book reviewing? And finally, I had to mention Brandon Sanderson. His prose is very commercial, but he's quite the worldsmith. His cosmere universe is built using platonic theory and he interacts with religion in really interesting ways, too. That's the mega draw, for me. I hope you don't mind long winded comments 😆 Take care, Christy

You might consider The Red Book, with the gorgeous illustrations of his journal and the visionary experiences he endured and documented. And of course, Dune! The series of the Dune books are well worth it, but I have never read outside the Original series by Herbert, but could be convinced to continue the journey, possibly. Thanks for your thoughts and openness about your explorations in literature.

About The Girl Next Door: Ketchum’s writing is so beautiful and flowing, I couldn’t help but finish it in a day; you are completely right though, that is one I read once and put way back in the corner of a shelf and rarely tell anyone about. One of the best horror novels I’ve ever read but haunting all the same

Hey man ~ thanks for your unscripted thoughts. Their very refreshing in the KZfaq-verse. I get a great deal of inspiration from your videos to enrich my reading life. One question for you, have you ever read any of John Boyne’s novels (A History of Loneliness, The Absolutist). I’m ankle deep into his beefy book The Hearts Invisible Furies and really enjoy his dialogue. Totally dig your shelves. Keith

Hi Chris, I couldn't find a video in which this question would be pertinent to to subject at hand so the best I could do is use the question video. I'm curious about which novels you found most difficult to finish because the subject was so disturbing yet brilliantly presented. This is just off the top of my head but some that jump off the top of my head are Naked Lunch, 2666, Blood Meridian, portions of Gravity's Rainbow (particularly the Dodo bird section and the Herero section) and a novel that may not be as well known called The Kindly One by Jonathan Littell ( about an SS officer during Operation Barbarosa that takes part in slaughtering untold numbers of Jews and Russians without much regret yet is being investigated back in Germany for the murdered of one German woman). I highly recommend it but like 2666 in particular the carnage is almost excruciating to read. And one novel that I barely finished was American Psycho. This said, I'd love the hear your list of novels in that category.

Than you for another informative video. Very well done. I cannot resist talking about sci-fi when someone asks for recommendations. Condensing my suggestions down to the deepest, most meaningful and elegant S-f: Peake's Gormanghast trilogy, Vance's Lyoness trilogy, Gene Wolfe's Peace, Delany's Dhalghren.

I thought I was a fairly serious reader for getting in an hour or 90 minutes of reading a day, very impressive! I guess I must have more time somewhere to devote to it.

Awesome answers! Have you ever considered auditioning for the Do’s Sequis “most interesting man on booktube” commercial?

Speaking to your statement about to having reading goals I very much have stuck to the personal rule of very vague and generalized goals with the only real rule being quality of quantity. For example the only real rule I have had this entire year is that because its the 2020 I am mainly sticking to sci-fi novels simply just because. I don't honestly read much sci-fi but because I simply felt like this should be my goal for the year I've had a blast discovering things I never knew I would like. As of last week I completed all 6 of the Frank Herbert Dune novels and am just blown away. God Emperor of Dune might be one of the most thought provoking novels I have ever touched and never would have expected it.

Nascent book reader here! My favorite author and series has become the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons I think it's a very rewarding Sci-fi story that builds it's world through characters and killer prose. I can't recommend it enough and would love to hear your take on it and where you think it stands among the books you've read.

I've been watching a lot of your videos recently. I discovered you in a comments section of a Better Than Food video. Reading Cliff's favorite book "Story of An Eye" really took me through a good habit of reading. As a result, I've read a lot of his recommendations. What's one book that is super special to YOU that you think I should read? To give you a sense of my taste, here are some books I've enjoyed recently: A Episode in the Life of a Landscape Artist by Cesar Aira, Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe, My Struggle Vol 1 by ove knausgaard, Stoner by John Williams, Judas by Amos Oz, Loitering by Charles D'Ambrosio, Chronology of Water by Lydia Yuknavitch, The Dead by Christian Kracht. Thanks for the recs!

I love sci-fi, so if you haven't read it I absolutely recommend "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents" by Octavia E. Butler. They're near-future science fiction, and I feel like they are very relevant to current events. Also "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clark. That one is great too.

that was back in the day when you emulated He-Man hairwise! (It's pure envy on my part, I wish I had such a lane)!!!

House of leaves was the hardest book I’ve ever read. A very fulfilling read though. I’ve tried gravity’s rainbow a few times, but I’ve not completed it yet. A sense of impending doom perhaps. Thanks for your videos

Ballard---Atrocity Exhibition. The book I have is very oversized and has a ton of illustration. 60'ish pop culture meets depopulated urban landscape. Crime fiction--off the top of my head David Peace, Eoin McNamee, Leif G.W. Persson, Ricardo Piglia's--Money to burn, Dominique Manotti, Leonardo Sciascia. Oulipo? I think I heard you mention Jim Gauer. I'm working my way through Novel Explosives now.

For sci-fi recs: virtually all of the mind bendingly prolific work of Samuel R. Delany (from his pulp novels, to memoir, to criticism, to pornographic novels, to sword & sorcery fantasy, to comics, to realist fiction) is some of the best in all American letters, and dare I say that he is the best living American writer. He's the closest the USA has ever come to having its own Borges. I'm sure being a fan of the big postwar novels that Dhalgren is on your radar, but the rest of his work post-Dhalgren is for me where the real gold is.

The most confounding, opaque, and elliptical book I have ever encountered is Joyce Carol Oates's novel "Childwold". Someday sit down with this and try to make heads or tails out of it. It is tough going.

If you like horror and want to try sci fi, "the killing star" by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski - is an amazing psychological horror/sci-fi piece. One of my favorite books.

Hey man, new to your channel, but based on everything I’ve seen, you really have got to check out Gene Wolfe. I cannot recommend him enough. He’s a literary fiction giant who just happens to write sci fi and fantasy. I would recommend The Fifth Head of Cerberus as a great introduction, and then for you to jump into his Solar Cycle with Book of the New Sun, which is lovingly described as Sci Fi’s Ulysses. Really enjoying your content and approach to reviews, especially your video on The Recognitions.

All this…and Bud Powell. 👍

I've published two of Jack Ketchum (Dallas Mayr) books in my publishing career. He is an amazing guy and I miss him dearly.

Well, it’s been a bit since you posted this, but I would recommend China Mieville’s The City & The City as a completely surprising and unconventional detective story. If you are at all interested in semiotics I think you would enjoy it. Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy is another one of my favorites. Borges and the Eternal Orangutans by Luis Fernando Verissimo, a locked room mystery in the tradition of Borges himself, who is a character in the book. Last one is a historical mystery by Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost, which takes place just after Charles II is restored to the throne in 17th century England.

New to your channel. A great find. I didn't know if you see comments on two-year-old videos get your attention, but I would support the other comments that recommend Phillip K Dick. Not always the most artful writer but always worth reading. And Atrocity Exhibition by J.G Ballard. Nobody else seems to have mentioned Ursula K Le Guin. Highly recommend. Especially The Left Hand Of Darkness. Coincidentally she went to High School with Phillip K Dick but didn't know each other. She was a huge supporter of his work and they corresponded but never met in person.

I’ve just discovered your channel, and at the same time I have just discovered my love for reading. Those around me don’t quite share my interest in fiction and philosophy, so your channel has been a real treat!

"...Social disorder plus bibliomania" hahaha don't know why but that tickled me.

This was delightful! Very much looking forward to part 2. I can't say that I'm a big science fiction reader, but here are some that I would recommend: Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin, I Still Dream by James Smythe, Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer, and Shadowbahn by Steve Erickson.

You’re a fucking legend man

I couldn't restrain my sick mind and ended up reading The Girl Next Door. I should've listened to you.

I've only started reading properly over the past year but I would suggest James Ellroy's LA Quartet as a detective story. The drama and build up of the story is amazing and the murders are disturbingly beautiful. Also, if you watch interviews with Ellroy it is clear he is a man to be admired.

I'm afraid I recommend all of Philip Kindred Dick's writing, which the filmmaker Heinz Emigholz has also read all of.

Recommended Sci-Fi: The Crystal World - J.G. Ballard Norstrilia - Cordwainer Smith The Fifth Head of Cerberus - Gene Wolfe All of these are short books, to dip your toe in. Love your videos, keep up the good work.

Just wanted to comment and say that you are my favorite channel and I find your commentary and recommendations to be so incredibly insightful. I have just one question, have you read Boswell's Life of Johnson? If you have I would love to know what your thoughts are on it. I myself am getting quite interested with literary criticism and it was only a matter of time before I discovered Dr. Johnson. I'm reading Boswell's biography of him right now and thoroughly enjoying it.

Cows is like a top grossest novel out there

Scott Bradfield’d channel is great- shamelessly low production, funny, tasteful. Reading Good Books in the Bathtub

Here to stay.

I recommend Connie Willis for your science fiction reading.

Highly recommend Philip K Dick. I'm not much of a sci-fi reader but his books definitely hit the spot. Normally I read the same books you cover here.

Totinos! I ate those every day in grad school.

JG Ballard, yes. Dune, no. Jung's memoir (Dreams & Memories maybe?) is excellent. A great portal into literature and other art forms

Yay, a Dreiser shout out. Ever read any Frank Norris?

Marginalia... Just can't do it (except junk books). I take notes separately and when done, I transcribe it, and then print them out and keep them with the book.

Hey man. I was wondering about a mathematicians apology. Is the main focus of the book on maths or hardy's life ? Thanks for showing me that book. im a math major and didnt evan know about it!

Hey! Great video. Do you mind dropping the ISBN for your Shahnameh copy?

Late comment but I agree with the people recommending Gene Wolfe. I took about three months and read almost all of his work from last December to this February. I recommend: Fifth Head of Cerberus: great little three-part weird sci-fi novel that unravels masterfully Solar Cycle: massive mythical saga focused on personal spiritual revelation Latro in the Mist: great, fun Herodotus fanfiction but ESPECIALLY... Peace: his most literary work, beautiful, sad, surreal, scary; somewhere between Proust and Poe

Not sure if you're interested in books about books/reading, but Alberto Manguel is worth a look: The Library at Night; A History of Reading; A Reading Diary

I love your videos. My first experience with you was that long video on "Gravity's Rainbow" which inspired me to dig out and dust off my copy that's been sitting in a pile of outbound books for about ten years after reading only 100 pages or so. But your passion and commentary inspired me to re-visit that strange, dense world. So far, I'm very much enjoying my second attempt. I LOVE Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly" is what made me a lifer for his books. Scanner is both sad and hilarious, a combination that draws me into a lot of books I've loved including DFW's "Infinite Jest". Favorite Ballard novels: "Crash" and "High Rise". I love Ballard's dry, clinical language he uses to build these dream-like atmospheres of sex and violence. Most disturbing book I've ever read is Marquis de Sade's "The 120 Days of Sodom". That was a book where I would have to pause in mid-sentence and just look away for a while. Take a deep breath and resume reading. Not something you want to take with you on public transit--or have co-workers or casual acquaintances ask you about. Anyway, keep up the great work!

Video response in the works

For a disturbing read from a top notch writer, try Eva’s Man by Gayl Jones. She is a phenomenal black writer that Toni Morrison looked up to. I couldn’t put it down.

I would choose Latin too and it’s funny because like you I would have chosen Greek too because I prefer the Greek works but Latin is so formative. I’ve watched this video before. I wonder if what you say entered my brain and hibernated finally reappearing as an original thought but which I’ve actually stolen from you hahaha Who knows. But I really feel like I’ve come to this conclusion on my own 😂

Some genre recommends that I feel would fit well with you. Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. Thomas Ligotti for horror. Peter Watts' Blindsight. Greg Egan's Diaspora. China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Embassytown. Steven Erikson's The Malazan Book Of The Fallen. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy. M. John Harrison's Viriconium.

Since you asked about Sci-fi writers Chris, I really can't resist: You have to read Dietmar Dath's “The Abolition of Species”. Why? Well, because one has to read Dath and it's the only English translation so far. But why so adamant on reading this voraciously theory ruminating writer, who has a similar output in size and speed as a Vollmann (which I finally read again after a 5 year break thanks to you and your videos on his oeuvre), who's literary idol is maybe the German modernist writer par excellence Alfred Döblin (which seems also like a guy for you) and who lots of people find too hard or complicated to enjoy? Don't you already think that this sounds perfect for a Leaf by Leaf author? The comparison to Vollmann isn't too far off in terms of productivity and demonstration of their research and general education (just recently published another 2000 pages in form of a novel and a Sci-fi poetics). By all his language sensibilities and eagerness for narrative experimentation (of course I can only hope that the English translation does justice to this dimension) in most of his Sci-fi work he manages also to be rather spot on the science. Dath is handling the hard sciences with the same ease and fun as he does his literary, philosophical and Marxist deliberations. His non-fiction work demonstrates that even better and is for some arguably even a bigger joy to read. Sadly, in English one has to work with only one book so far. But it's a good one. “The Abolition of Species” is probably his most famous work - nominated for the short list of the German Book Prize - and compared to his recent output a rather slim book, with maybe 400 pages in English - but hey, maybe that motivates you even more to give him a thorough read. Much like PKD I appreciate his whole oeuvre more than an individual piece, but I'm sure you would not regret your time spent with this one! Also: Love your channel, love your presentation, love your interests, love your voice and of course I love-hate you for “shame-seducing” me to read even more. Bless you!

Knausgaard in the back.

I was absolutely horrified by the idea of writing in books right up until I was 26ish and at university. I only wish my marginalia was more... Profound. I remember one of the first books I wrote in was Jane Eyre and one of the biggest that I wrote was just having a go about Jane leaving Rochester XD

You are my new discovery

If I were ever to set a reading goal, it would be for hours spent reading and not for number of books or pages or whatever. I guarantee my reading is more substantial than someone reading a hundred books per year.

Just discovered your channel yesterday (mason and dixon) very impressed!, how about Journey To The End Of The Night.....Celine

The bibliomania I totally get. The color coded notation system, wow. Do you know your MBTI type? An NT of some type?

Do u read one book at a time, or jump between several? I have a hard time keeping interest in one, but if I switch to others I lose my train of thought for the first book. Any advice?

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series is a love letter to literary fiction, philosophy, varying genres of fiction and even nonfiction, along with music and film. Even his autobiographical text “On Writing” ties in fantastically. They are fast reads. The first 2 books are usually recommended to be read as a single unit: “The Gunslinger” and “The Drawing of the Three”. I am doing a more extended read-through of King books with my father-in-law, but none of the tie-ins are necessary for the primary novels. But the main series opens much of his bibliography with new eyes. It has been a huge joy to have a shared experience with him.

I knew you were going say the girl next door ...i have heard bout it but will never read it. Enjoy the video though.

You reminded me of Manuel DeLanda. Have you read any of his works? I've read his "A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History" a long time ago, and just recently I bought his "A New Philosophy of Society". Btw have you read any Fernand Braudel, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari? I would like to know what do you think about Jared Diamond, Daniel Dennett, Robert Trivers and Steven Pinker? About Sci-Fi. I've read Herbert in high school, probably all Dune series novels, but when I see all those great novels behind you I would say just skip it! I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy reading them, but that was in high school. Rereading them today I would be probably disappointed and spoil nice memories. I was watching "Dune" movie recently, and I remember that I did like it, but today omg! Brothers Strugatsky are not bad. Isaac Asimov, Ursula Le Guin ( The Left Hand of Darkness is great, The Word for World Is Forest, The Dispossessed), A. Clarke... Oh, I recently read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but that was just because I was watching Blade Runner.

Neologism is pronounced neolojism (soft g). As a non-native speaker and big reader, that kind of stuff happens to me all the time. :)

What are your thoughts on Paul Theroux's short fiction?

Most difficult book for me to get through: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The accented dialogue makes this almost unreadable.

Well Chris, I'm really flattered I got a mention. Swearengen, like the dude from Deadwood. I used to use my real surname in comments, but was kinda scared off by Tim/Tom types who scour the net looking for i.d signifyers to 'scam yo ass!' I'm sure you dig. Ok, Crime/detective novels. I'm asking you to check out James Ellroy. Seriously. But be careful! For a sense of the author, do NOT search on youtube his bookshop appearances - why? - well, he doesn't come across that well, and I'm being kind! DO check out White Jazz. Ignore those who say start with The Black Dahlia - you can always catch up with that. * Sorry, lots to say * I got my copy of Laura Warholic through the post. I paid £15, 2nd hand, but DANG! No dustcover! Sheeeet! Can't wait to share your thoughts as I read it, hopefully in time for your vid on it. * Listen. Great video! I opened a bottle of scotch to sit back and enjoy this whilst my family are sleeping. Keep up the good work. Long Live The Literati.

Sure, you clearly had a goal of reading Faulkner.

IT guys. Tech workers are commonly big readers.

Who was the scandinavian booktuber? Couldn’t make out her name (celiu?)

Have u read about satanism and luciferianism if yes then pls make a video on this

Are you familiar with the channels of RC Waldun and Better Than Food? I feel they have similar taste to you! I bet they would collaborate with you if you are ever looking to expand your youtube reach a little. Love this channel!! 🤠 (Edit: I immediately now see that you mention better than food in the video, my bad)

You write in your books????😭😭 I thought you were Neurotic about your books. I couldn't even write on my Text Books at University!! I don't do this because I may read the book again at a different time and my thoughts may change and don't want my scribbles in it .

hOW IS jIM gOWER SPELLED? DIDNT FIND HIM ON GOODREADS

#Bibliomaniac

Anathem

Not relevant. But you have gorgeous hair

Enema?

Great podcast but it’s R-eee-vers! 😊

Read dune

instead of reading 6 hours / 4 hours everyday why dont you go to the gym 2 hours and read 2 hours, im sure it would be more beneficial or idk do something else ? I dont see how reading so much can benefit your life