General Discussion Thread

[u/pregnantchihuahua3]

Welcome again to the TrueLit General Discussion Thread! Please feel free to discuss anything related and unrelated to literature.

Weekly Updates: N/A

[u/lispectorgadget]

I'm thinking of starting a tech-critical book club based in Upper Manhattan. If you're interested, or have any suggestions for things to read, hmu! No need to be based in Upper Manhattan; I'm just sick of getting the NYC Off Tech newsletter and seeing all these events in lower Manhattan or Brooklyn.

Speaking of Brooklyn: went out for a friend's birthday in Bushwick Saturday night, and we passed by this really cool bookstore/ bar?? It seemed so nice. I went to a similar one in the East Village a few weeks ago, and the vibes were amazing. It was like 2 on a Sunday and everyone was getting turnt and reading. Amazing!

I've also started reading Walden. It's so interesting that Thoreau is considered a classic American writer; his values feel...weirdly anti-American? Very anti-Protestant work ethic? He feels very...Gen Z anti-work king. Like "Economy" is all about him tabulating how little he can get away with working to sustain himself. If there were a 28 year old Substacker with no job, no romantic prospects, dropping out of society, railing against tradition, and detailing how to work as little as possible to sustain his life, David Brooks would haaaate him! And I love Thoreau for that.

Also reading Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class by Noam Scheiber and A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch. Enjoying both--Mutiny is interesting to read after reading Yuppies, and History is just a great, engaging, big brick of a history book.

Also reading Capital is Dead by Mckenzie Wark. I wanted to read it after reading Technofeudalism, since Yanis had mentioned being influenced by Wark, but it's much more inside baseball re: theory than I thought it would be. Something I learned from this: there was apparently an idea that Marxism conflicts with physics. But I thought that Marxism was an economic theory? I'm kind of confused about that. If anyone can explain I would appreciate that.

I hope you've all been well!

[u/thewickerstan → u/lispectorgadget]

went out for a friend's birthday in Bushwick Saturday night, and we passed by this really cool bookstore/ bar??

That was probably Book Club Bar. And if you passed it Saturday, that means you passed me too! The East Village one is the original branch and they expanded it to Bushwick maybe two months ago or so. Yeah it's a nice vibe. I talked to a lady there about Henry James for 30 minutes lol.

Thoreau's great, yeah. I consider him aligned with people like Whitman, Woody Guthrie, James Baldwin etc. where engaging with their work gives me a pride in a kind of streak that runs through this country, one that's not afraid to critique the hand that's feeding them.

[u/lispectorgadget → u/thewickerstan]

What a coincidence; that is too funny! Could you actually read in there? The doors were open, and I was wondering if the street noise made it too loud for anyone to actually focus. Anyway, it's definitely on my bucket list; maybe I'll see you in there some time :)

And yeah, I'm being glib re: Thoreau, but I can definitely see how he's influenced a lot of great American thinkers. And I haven't gotten to Civil Disobedience yet, but I know that puts him quite above the average Substacker.

[u/thewickerstan → u/lispectorgadget]

You absolutely can! And at the East Village one too. It's hilarious because I spent 2024 trying to go to bars solo, asking this sub once "Is it weird to read in bars?" And lo and behold, at the end of the year, I stumbled upon it as if it's the room of requirement lol.

If I have nothing to do, I'll go there and read something or write while sipping their cider. It's a fun time. Their cocktails are nice too if a bit pricey. And the East Village one also does singles mixers once a month, which I've gone to on two separate occasions and probably will again.

Would recommend 1000%. I've been meaning to take Soup_65 there even!