For some reason, the people I dislike the most are the ones that, superficially, seem the most like me.
For example, do you love #books? Me too! Problem is, you love the wrong books and you even have the wrong opinions about them. Being a fan of glorified fanfiction does not make you a bibliophile. If you like #movies or #music, GOTO 10.
Are you a #leftist? Really? Me too! Except you're not really a leftist, but a liberal at most. You enjoy capitalism and even take advantage of it. You probably vote Democrat (or your country's equivalent) and still wear a mask. You're a sellout and a fake.
“No, no, no. I really _hate_ the capitalist system. Seriously.” Yeah, I bet you do, but something tells me capitalism rejected you first the minute it saw you (and/or smelled you). You must be one of those idiots that think that being gay counts as a legitimate anti-establishment position. Also, Ucranian flag.
tl; dr: I have no friends.
And don't even get me started on Linux ‘users’ who chose Debian-based distributions. Fucking idiots.
“What about those who use desktop-oriented distros, like Mint and that other one whose name you can't remember right now?” I have only one word for you: POSER.
“BTW, I use Arch.” I can't hear you. You're muted.
“I don't use Linux. I use *BSD/Plan9/TempleOS, etc.” You think you're better than me? Fuck you!
@dieulast I don't know how to respond to that, because my favourite books in that regard most likely just reinforced the worldview I already had. _Crime and Punishment_ would probably be a fitting answer, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately, so maybe that's why it came to mind now.
I prefer to speak of books whose authors sparked a sense of kinship in me. Among those would be Sei Shonagon's _The Pillow Book_, Pío Baroja's _El Árbol de la Ciencia_, Juan Rulfo's _Pedro Páramo_, F. Scott Fitzgerald's _The Great Gatsby_ or Ernesto Sabato's _Sobre héroes y tumbas_.
As for non-fiction, mostly anything by Nietzsche and Cioran.
>I don't know how to respond to that
>proceeds to respond perfectly
Heh.
Works of writing doesn't have to be worldshattering or shattering for it to be impactful.
>doesn't have > don't have
Anyway, I haven't read "The Pillow Book" yet, but I did thoroughly enjoy reading J.L Borges who helped with its translation.
I am unfamiliar with those Spanish works you've listed, it seems that their authors are woefully underappreciated as I have difficulties finding their English translations on libgen. But I do recall that Baroja had a palpable influence on Hemingway, and considering that Fitzgerald was also mentioned I assume that you prefer writings that are most commonly associated with the lost generation. (With a hint of rational doomer "realism")
I thoroughly appreciate authors that provide me with a fresh perspective on things both old and new, or an additional framework which I can use to more thoroughly comprehend things, especially in matters that pertain to choice and responsibility (which, in hindsight, can be applied in a incredibly broad manner). For fiction, that would be Dino Buzzati's "The Tartar Steppe" and Miguel's "Don Quixote"; for non-fiction, that would be Kaczynski's "Technological Slavery" and Burton Watson's translation of "The Complete Works of Zhuangzi".
@dieulast
> I assume that you prefer writings that are most commonly associated with the lost generation.
I had never thought about that, but it may be true. Two of my favourite (female) writers are Dorothy Parker and Jean Rhys. I'm also a fan of Stefan Zweig.
> I haven't read "The Pillow Book" yet, but I did thoroughly enjoy reading J.L Borges who helped with its translation.
If you can't read Heian-era Japanese, I highly recommend Meredith McKinney's English translation for _The Pillow Book_. And if you enjoyed Borges, I think you will love Roberto Bolaño's novels, especially _2666_, if you haven't read it yet.
> I thoroughly appreciate authors that provide me with a fresh perspective on things both old and new, or an additional framework which I can use to more thoroughly comprehend things, especially in matters that pertain to choice and responsibility
That's pretty interesting. I'm usually drawn to storytellers, and that includes non-fiction writers, too. Hence my love for Nietzsche and the old Greek philosophers.
