Connor, I have loved reading your newsletter and I look forward to it coming back. I hope your time away is fruitful. Good luck!! PS: I second the Saunders recommendation.
Good luck on the thesis; hopefully you find the time away fruitful. The mule deer have returned to graze on the few sun-stripped spots of grass amidst the snow and ice, and approach the kitchen door, hesitantly, to beg for salty crackers; it's time to step away from the internet.
I appreciate this post, in particular its abrupt end; there's no need to expand beyond outlining your enjoyment, sometimes. One small quibble: Wittgenstein (late Wittgenstein, at least) would agree that the best writing is that through which the inexpressible 'shows itself;' his great paradox is that the inexpressible, by our 'running up against the limits of language,' nevertheless finds itself expressed. I think that puts him close to the theory of good writing you're sketching out here.
Great description of the mule deer, and thanks! Your comments are always a pleasure to read. Hope you're enjoying your time out in the woods as it gets warmer. Looking forward to chatting on here again soon enough... (Also yeah, I'm being glib about Wittgenstein. He was a lot more nuanced than he gets credit for being.)
This is a very pleasant comments section, which is I think a testament to the high quality of vibes coming out of your newsletter; it's a pleasure to be able to contribute. I'll happily continue when you're back.
To be fair, if Wittgenstein wanted people to know his later, good philosophy better than his earlier, wrong stuff he should have written something as punchy, direct and memorably named as the Tractatus to sum it up. Abstruse gestures at the issue in books with titles like 'The Brown Book' and 'Philosophical Investigations' just isn't gonna get it done.
Thanks man! I'm very happy about the vibes we've managed to cultivate on here. It's one reason I plan to keep doing this. Just need to figure out what a sustainable relationship to it looks like. Take care
Have you read Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders? If you like ghosts and stories about them you might enjoy it, though it's a pretty strange book (personally I like it a lot, though I probably could have done without the pieces taken from contemporary sources). Given your apparent interests I think you're probably familiar with Saunders, but if not you should definitely check out his short stories as well, they are phenomenal (he's my favorite writer of short fiction by a pretty wide margin).
Good luck with the thesis, Connor! Yours is the newsletter I open most consistently out of all my miscellaneous subscriptions, so I'm already eagerly awaiting your return.
A) You’ll be missed, good luck on the thesis King. B) Love the poetry focus. The Stanford team me reminds me a little of the notion that the only real afterlife is how you are remembered and spoken of and thought of after you die. But also, just the lyricism and profundity that evades easy meaning and the emotional surprise of great art, yes, I feel that. C) Any particular Yeats collection you’d recommend?
1) Thanks for the kind words! 2) Yeah this newsletter is pulling me into reading more poetry. I think that'll be a bigger part of my life going forward, and a welcome one 3) Honestly I wouldn't worry about a specific collection with Yeats. His Collected Poems is neither huge nor expensive
Alex Pareene sent out a newsletter that mentioned the Discontents and saw your name on it and thought “he’s been secretly posting behind my back, that mother fucker”, but no you’re still hopefully working on that thesis. Otherwise you were in trouble. Good luck out there.
Connor, I have loved reading your newsletter and I look forward to it coming back. I hope your time away is fruitful. Good luck!! PS: I second the Saunders recommendation.
Thanks! The kind words are much appreciated
Good luck on the thesis; hopefully you find the time away fruitful. The mule deer have returned to graze on the few sun-stripped spots of grass amidst the snow and ice, and approach the kitchen door, hesitantly, to beg for salty crackers; it's time to step away from the internet.
I appreciate this post, in particular its abrupt end; there's no need to expand beyond outlining your enjoyment, sometimes. One small quibble: Wittgenstein (late Wittgenstein, at least) would agree that the best writing is that through which the inexpressible 'shows itself;' his great paradox is that the inexpressible, by our 'running up against the limits of language,' nevertheless finds itself expressed. I think that puts him close to the theory of good writing you're sketching out here.
Great description of the mule deer, and thanks! Your comments are always a pleasure to read. Hope you're enjoying your time out in the woods as it gets warmer. Looking forward to chatting on here again soon enough... (Also yeah, I'm being glib about Wittgenstein. He was a lot more nuanced than he gets credit for being.)
This is a very pleasant comments section, which is I think a testament to the high quality of vibes coming out of your newsletter; it's a pleasure to be able to contribute. I'll happily continue when you're back.
To be fair, if Wittgenstein wanted people to know his later, good philosophy better than his earlier, wrong stuff he should have written something as punchy, direct and memorably named as the Tractatus to sum it up. Abstruse gestures at the issue in books with titles like 'The Brown Book' and 'Philosophical Investigations' just isn't gonna get it done.
Again, good luck, and enjoy the break.
Thanks man! I'm very happy about the vibes we've managed to cultivate on here. It's one reason I plan to keep doing this. Just need to figure out what a sustainable relationship to it looks like. Take care
Have you read Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders? If you like ghosts and stories about them you might enjoy it, though it's a pretty strange book (personally I like it a lot, though I probably could have done without the pieces taken from contemporary sources). Given your apparent interests I think you're probably familiar with Saunders, but if not you should definitely check out his short stories as well, they are phenomenal (he's my favorite writer of short fiction by a pretty wide margin).
Haven't read it! Heard very mixed things. I'm not a big Saunders head, but if it has ghosts, I may have to check it out...
Good luck with the thesis, Connor! Yours is the newsletter I open most consistently out of all my miscellaneous subscriptions, so I'm already eagerly awaiting your return.
Thanks man, that means a lot. Your comments are always a joy to read. I'll be back...
A) You’ll be missed, good luck on the thesis King. B) Love the poetry focus. The Stanford team me reminds me a little of the notion that the only real afterlife is how you are remembered and spoken of and thought of after you die. But also, just the lyricism and profundity that evades easy meaning and the emotional surprise of great art, yes, I feel that. C) Any particular Yeats collection you’d recommend?
Er that should be “the Stanford one”
1) Thanks for the kind words! 2) Yeah this newsletter is pulling me into reading more poetry. I think that'll be a bigger part of my life going forward, and a welcome one 3) Honestly I wouldn't worry about a specific collection with Yeats. His Collected Poems is neither huge nor expensive
Alex Pareene sent out a newsletter that mentioned the Discontents and saw your name on it and thought “he’s been secretly posting behind my back, that mother fucker”, but no you’re still hopefully working on that thesis. Otherwise you were in trouble. Good luck out there.
Haha I'm still here! I do plan to resurrect the newsletter in some form soon. I appreciate that people are still paying attention
Awesome. Good luck with Cade