Yarb: Around late August/early September, around the news of Wallace's demise, I requested Infinite Jest from the library. Well, it just came in, so I will try to tackle that while you're waiting for your delivery. The reading population of Indianapolis is waiting with baited breath for me to finish, so I plan on starting tonight.
Considering it is such a long book, I may be a little longer than your delivery, but I'll keep you posted.
Have you ever seen the old black and white footage of teenage girls in the audience of an Elvis or Beatles concert? That would be me if VN joined Wordie.
You hit upon part of the problem John, the Republican base has been disillusioned for sometime. The wheels nearly fell off when McCain won the nomination and I think he would have faired worse without Palin.
There will be a civil war in the Republican party between the centrist and right-wing, and who will win I can't say.
But I do take solace (shocking admission coming), that the Senate race in Georgia, if memory serves, would be done and over with if the Libertarian candidate hadn't done so well. The Libertarian platform may be just the right mix of solid conservative economics and liberal social policy to revive the Republicans.
Also, I'd argue that America is probably the most conservative developed nation in the world, so I really don't see a long exodus for Republicans. Brits are just more liberal than Yanks.
For instance, look at the hubbub about Prop. 8 in California. Obama trounced McCain in California, but they gay marriage ban passed, due in no small part to the votes of Obama supporters. It seems even many hard core Democrats are not as socially liberal as they Henry Cabot Lodge, "cross of gold" type progressives.
Truthfully, I can't say how I come down on the book. Part of me was really impressed, but it seems to lack a certain sincerity - which the author alludes to - so I'm not really sure of my verdict just yet.
But, it has set me to thinking about the mechanics of writing, the fiction/nonfiction dichotomy in literature, the role we have with our parents and siblings and friends, etc, etc... so Eggers certainly had something on the ball.
True, women do out live men, but I doubt seriously that the American electorate is going to choose its first female president when she will be nearly 70 by the time she's takes the oath.
As far as Bush succeeding Reagan, I think there were a lot of peculiarities to that. Reagan was, and remains to be, hugely popular with the right. I'd venture to say he was the most ensconced president since FDR in that regard. That helped Bush. Plus, Bush 41 was a different animal all together than Reagan, and that helped him garner more votes than someone who was a carbon copy of Reagan. Prior to that you'd have to go back to the FDR/Truman era to find one party in office for so long.
I also feel that if the Republicans can come back from Watergate, and in less that eight years hold the presidency again, then things don't look so bleak. It sucks to be a Republican now, but there is an ebb and flow to politics. Two years ago Republicans controlled Congress and the White House.
And I don't mean to sound so cynical about Hilary. While I don't doubt ego and legacy have something to do with her taking the office - assuming it is offered - I also think she has selfless motivations for the job. I just don't see a person being as dedicated to the political game as she has been for as long as she has been unless that person has real convictions about matters of politics and policy.
The whole Secretary of State to POTUS career path has long since been closed. Personally, I think Hilary sees this office as being as high as she can go, her best chance to solidify her legacy, and that is why she'll take it.
Obama is a lock for the Democratic nomination in 2012, and by 2016 she will be nearly the age of McCain in 2008. Add to that the fact that the American public seems hesitant to give any one party the presidency for more than eight years in recent history, and it doesn't look very good for her.
This may seem like a tangent, but stick with me. We need a way to bifurcate "gay" and "effete/undesirable." The whole constellation of words surrounding gay people seems to have taken on both connotations, and we need to separate them somehow. Yes, we can rewrite the language, Wordie is that powerful.
So, I thought that for 2009 I'd tackle Remembrance of Things Past, also known as In Search of Lost Time. It is, by all accounts, an amazing book that is also incredibly long. Anybody feel like joining me in this resolution?
While reading it I kept thinking "wow, this guy has the most troubled, creative inner life ever" and "don't take stuff so seriously Franz, it's only life after all."
Schizophrenic of me, but he's a an evocative writer. And yes, Kafka loves a good Indigo Girls reference.
Chained Bear: Goldberg takes pains to try not to make his case too damning, and he ends the book with an analysis on fascistic trends on the Right. But, he made two points (each of which I agree with) that made it more than just a "do as I say, not as I do" type of thing. First, he argued that the idea that communism is the far Left, and on the opposite end is fascism on the far Right does not hold water. The heavy amount of government regulation of life and business that is part of fascism makes it much closer to communism than the minimalist state of classical liberals, a.k.a. Libertarians, that the Right (at least as viewed by Goldberg) espouses. Secondly, in the past eight years we've had no end of the "Bush = Hitler" business, but not much in the opposite direction. That's not to say it can't come from the Right, (he cites Falwell and Robinson as rightwingers who are knocking on the door of fascism) but that people on the Right tend to get pegged with the name more often.
And yes, it's a very detailed, meticulously footnoted book. For a work directed at the general populace, it's rather discursive.
P.S. You should get some of the old footage of Buckley and Chomsky debating. I'm nerdy enough (I know you're shocked) that I actually find it kind of fun to see two very intellectual people on the far ends of the spectrum debate like civilized humans.
Whichbe: Agreed. I hesitate saying this because I know I'm biased, but I recently read American Fascist, about the threat of the Christian Right, and it was not nearly as academic. We need more books, from all points of view, that rely less on preaching to the choir and more towards reasoned debate.
He actually takes the title Liberal Fascist from a speech H.G. Wells gave where he said Hitler and Mussilini (sp) had the wrong ideology but the right methods.
I think it delivered on what it promised. Goldberg goes to great lengths to say that liberals are nowhere near Nazis or Brown Shirts, but he shows how they have the same philosophical parentage and how they espouse some of the same ideas.
Essentially, he wanted to counter the "get out of rational debate free" card that certain liberals use by calling any one right of center a Nazi or fascist. His contention was the Left has at least, if not more, in common with fascism than the Right, and I think he proved his point.
John, I don't recall off hand what he used "yeasty" to describe, but I think it had something to do with the philippic he had against Buchanan.
Thanks for the list. I now remember reading the words bearbait and bullbait in a book about dogs, and all the awful things they were forced to do in Tudor/Victorian England.
Hmmm... I guess we could all propose a book, narrow the list down to three and four, then vote. Or, we could make some sort of line up and everybody gets to pick a book in turn.
I agree, and there is no reason that couldn't still go on while also having a forum.
But, I also think that it would be easier for a random browser to find a conversation if it is indexed in a forum as a opposed to finding a conversation by chance. That means more participants.
Also, the current format pretty much limits conversation to words. A forum would facillitate a greater range of topics. We can find out what we share with fellow wordies aside from logophilia.
Is there any way we could get a forum? There seems to be a lot of avenues for discussion that this site brings about which could be pursued in a forum or message board.
Comments by taciturnyetprolix
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
Yarb: So, I finished IJ and am just about to jump into Proust. Let me know what you think so far.
January 26, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word schadenfreude
Those Germans have a word for everything.
January 20, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word mayhi
That mayed me laugh until I mayed an accident.
January 14, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word mayhi
Apparently not to DFW.
January 14, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word mayhi
Used as a plural to mayhem.
January 14, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the user yarb
Glad you're enjoying it. I might try them straight through too. 2009 is shaping up to be the year of the really long book for me.
January 13, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the user yarb
Sorry about the delay in getting started. Bad timing on my part.
January 11, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word map
Billifer beat me to it, but I find the word "map" as a slang term for a person's face in Infinite Jest to be perversely pleasing.
January 11, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word !
I've always had a visceral disdain for exclamation marks.
January 5, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word nemo me impune lacesset
The motto of the nation of Scotland.
January 5, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
I hope you've calloused your thumb and index finger; you have a long haul ahead of you.
January 3, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the user taciturnyetprolix
Much appreciated Yarb.I look forward to tackling Proust with you.
January 3, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
Yarb: Around late August/early September, around the news of Wallace's demise, I requested Infinite Jest from the library. Well, it just came in, so I will try to tackle that while you're waiting for your delivery. The reading population of Indianapolis is waiting with baited breath for me to finish, so I plan on starting tonight.
Considering it is such a long book, I may be a little longer than your delivery, but I'll keep you posted.
January 3, 2009
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list loan-words-from-french
Is it fair to call them "loan" words? Is the anglophone world going to have to give these words back to the French, with interest?
December 24, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list common-english-words-that-are-also-first-names
T-Rex thinks of everything.
December 24, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list pale-fire
Have you ever seen the old black and white footage of teenage girls in the audience of an Elvis or Beatles concert? That would be me if VN joined Wordie.
December 24, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list pale-fire
He does. English wasn't even his native tongue and he still out-wrote 99% of other English language novelists
December 23, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
Yarb:Translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff. I know nothing of the man, but his namely certainly sounds erudite, and that should count for something.
Eliotvb: Quod erat demonstrandum? Now I'm intrigued.
December 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
I found a nice hard cover volume of Swann's Way at a used bookstore for $4.00 today. I'm ready for the new year.
December 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list the-innocents-abroad
Thanks Pinckney.
December 8, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word duck genitalia psychosis
More than one way to like duck vagina I suppose.
December 5, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word pillory
Let's legalize the use of the pillory then start to sell rotten tomatoes. It's a sure fire money maker.
December 3, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word secretary of state
You hit upon part of the problem John, the Republican base has been disillusioned for sometime. The wheels nearly fell off when McCain won the nomination and I think he would have faired worse without Palin.
There will be a civil war in the Republican party between the centrist and right-wing, and who will win I can't say.
But I do take solace (shocking admission coming), that the Senate race in Georgia, if memory serves, would be done and over with if the Libertarian candidate hadn't done so well. The Libertarian platform may be just the right mix of solid conservative economics and liberal social policy to revive the Republicans.
Also, I'd argue that America is probably the most conservative developed nation in the world, so I really don't see a long exodus for Republicans. Brits are just more liberal than Yanks.
For instance, look at the hubbub about Prop. 8 in California. Obama trounced McCain in California, but they gay marriage ban passed, due in no small part to the votes of Obama supporters. It seems even many hard core Democrats are not as socially liberal as they Henry Cabot Lodge, "cross of gold" type progressives.
November 16, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list a-heartbreaking-work-of-staggering-genius
I don't have a stomach for such things either.
Truthfully, I can't say how I come down on the book. Part of me was really impressed, but it seems to lack a certain sincerity - which the author alludes to - so I'm not really sure of my verdict just yet.
But, it has set me to thinking about the mechanics of writing, the fiction/nonfiction dichotomy in literature, the role we have with our parents and siblings and friends, etc, etc... so Eggers certainly had something on the ball.
November 16, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word secretary of state
True, women do out live men, but I doubt seriously that the American electorate is going to choose its first female president when she will be nearly 70 by the time she's takes the oath.
As far as Bush succeeding Reagan, I think there were a lot of peculiarities to that. Reagan was, and remains to be, hugely popular with the right. I'd venture to say he was the most ensconced president since FDR in that regard. That helped Bush. Plus, Bush 41 was a different animal all together than Reagan, and that helped him garner more votes than someone who was a carbon copy of Reagan. Prior to that you'd have to go back to the FDR/Truman era to find one party in office for so long.
I also feel that if the Republicans can come back from Watergate, and in less that eight years hold the presidency again, then things don't look so bleak. It sucks to be a Republican now, but there is an ebb and flow to politics. Two years ago Republicans controlled Congress and the White House.
And I don't mean to sound so cynical about Hilary. While I don't doubt ego and legacy have something to do with her taking the office - assuming it is offered - I also think she has selfless motivations for the job. I just don't see a person being as dedicated to the political game as she has been for as long as she has been unless that person has real convictions about matters of politics and policy.
November 16, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word secretary of state
The whole Secretary of State to POTUS career path has long since been closed. Personally, I think Hilary sees this office as being as high as she can go, her best chance to solidify her legacy, and that is why she'll take it.
Obama is a lock for the Democratic nomination in 2012, and by 2016 she will be nearly the age of McCain in 2008. Add to that the fact that the American public seems hesitant to give any one party the presidency for more than eight years in recent history, and it doesn't look very good for her.
November 16, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word faggotry
This may seem like a tangent, but stick with me. We need a way to bifurcate "gay" and "effete/undesirable." The whole constellation of words surrounding gay people seems to have taken on both connotations, and we need to separate them somehow. Yes, we can rewrite the language, Wordie is that powerful.
November 12, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word peer pressure
Maybe we could peer pressure others into acting like sensible human beings. I mean, it's the coolest, all the kids are doing it.
November 1, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
Yarb: a book every two months sounds good to me. We can start Swann's Way just as soon as our New Years hang over wears off.
Bilby & Doncry: True friends you two are. *sheads single tear*
October 26, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
Yarb: Yep, English all the way. I couldn't read a novel in French if a ménage à trois awaited me at the end.
P.S. Ménage à trois sounds much better than a threesome, doesn't? God bless the French.
October 24, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word proust
So, I thought that for 2009 I'd tackle Remembrance of Things Past, also known as In Search of Lost Time. It is, by all accounts, an amazing book that is also incredibly long. Anybody feel like joining me in this resolution?
October 24, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word this is not my beautiful wife
What is that beautiful house?
October 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list the-basic-kafka
Dontcry, if you see your dad near apples, run.
October 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list the-basic-kafka
While reading it I kept thinking "wow, this guy has the most troubled, creative inner life ever" and "don't take stuff so seriously Franz, it's only life after all."
Schizophrenic of me, but he's a an evocative writer. And yes, Kafka loves a good Indigo Girls reference.
October 8, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word pimp in pimple
I need to remember this one the next time I see some scrawny, teenaged suburbanite who swears he is the reincarnation of Tupac.
September 18, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list liberal-fascism
Chained Bear: Goldberg takes pains to try not to make his case too damning, and he ends the book with an analysis on fascistic trends on the Right. But, he made two points (each of which I agree with) that made it more than just a "do as I say, not as I do" type of thing. First, he argued that the idea that communism is the far Left, and on the opposite end is fascism on the far Right does not hold water. The heavy amount of government regulation of life and business that is part of fascism makes it much closer to communism than the minimalist state of classical liberals, a.k.a. Libertarians, that the Right (at least as viewed by Goldberg) espouses. Secondly, in the past eight years we've had no end of the "Bush = Hitler" business, but not much in the opposite direction. That's not to say it can't come from the Right, (he cites Falwell and Robinson as rightwingers who are knocking on the door of fascism) but that people on the Right tend to get pegged with the name more often.
And yes, it's a very detailed, meticulously footnoted book. For a work directed at the general populace, it's rather discursive.
P.S. You should get some of the old footage of Buckley and Chomsky debating. I'm nerdy enough (I know you're shocked) that I actually find it kind of fun to see two very intellectual people on the far ends of the spectrum debate like civilized humans.
Whichbe: Agreed. I hesitate saying this because I know I'm biased, but I recently read American Fascist, about the threat of the Christian Right, and it was not nearly as academic. We need more books, from all points of view, that rely less on preaching to the choir and more towards reasoned debate.
He actually takes the title Liberal Fascist from a speech H.G. Wells gave where he said Hitler and Mussilini (sp) had the wrong ideology but the right methods.
August 28, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list liberal-fascism
I think it delivered on what it promised. Goldberg goes to great lengths to say that liberals are nowhere near Nazis or Brown Shirts, but he shows how they have the same philosophical parentage and how they espouse some of the same ideas.
Essentially, he wanted to counter the "get out of rational debate free" card that certain liberals use by calling any one right of center a Nazi or fascist. His contention was the Left has at least, if not more, in common with fascism than the Right, and I think he proved his point.
John, I don't recall off hand what he used "yeasty" to describe, but I think it had something to do with the philippic he had against Buchanan.
August 28, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word bugs
Sorry, double post.
August 18, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word bugs
The 100 Wordiest list doesn't seem to be updating again.
August 18, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word bugs
Thanks John.
August 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word crowbait
Thanks for the list. I now remember reading the words bearbait and bullbait in a book about dogs, and all the awful things they were forced to do in Tudor/Victorian England.
August 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word bugs
I seem to be well above the threshold for making the list of 100 wordiest, but my user name is not listed. What gives?
August 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word crowbait
So jailbait isn't the only word that has -bait as a suffix.
August 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word codel
Short for Congressional delegation.
July 29, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word logocide
Self explanatory, and very cool. Work that one into conversation sometime.
July 7, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word love-bombing
The process of gaining a person's trust by showering him or her with praise and affection as a means toward the end of brainwashing said person.
July 7, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word jape
Well, I hear some of the furniture is naked, and that's always funny.
July 3, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-that-shouldn-t-be-used-on-a-first-date
I propose we all join Match.com, book a lot of first dates, then try these out. I'll have to ask the wife first though.
June 19, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list common-english-words-that-are-also-first-names
Bravo Yarb. I'm TaciturnYetProlix and I approve of that joke.
June 15, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the user taciturnyetprolix
Hmmm... I guess we could all propose a book, narrow the list down to three and four, then vote. Or, we could make some sort of line up and everybody gets to pick a book in turn.
June 14, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list common-english-words-that-are-also-first-names
Have at it my friend.
June 14, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word features
You drive a hard bargin my friend.
June 13, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word features
Wordie book club anyone? I'd imagine most of us are avid readers.
June 13, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-that-describe-themselves
I know "word" isn't an adjective, but "word" is a word, so I think it fits.
June 13, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list two-letter-scrabble-words-i-ve-used
I think proper nouns are only disallowed when that is the only form in which they are found.
June 12, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the user Prolagus
Thanks for participating on my lists.
June 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-that-describe-themselves
Unnecessary L. Thanks for the heads up.
June 10, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word pindar's flight
Maybe well get adjoining rooms in the sanitarium too. We can stay up all night making tin foil hats.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-that-describe-themselves
Holy hell Prolagus, you win. Good find.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word pindar's flight
I'm working that phrase into every conversation I have for the rest of the week.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-that-describe-themselves
Any word that has a consonant sandwhiched between two Ws is awkward in my book.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-you-ve-never-actually-heard-in-conversation
The "you've" in the title refers to the individual who posts the word.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word features
I agree, and there is no reason that couldn't still go on while also having a forum.
But, I also think that it would be easier for a random browser to find a conversation if it is indexed in a forum as a opposed to finding a conversation by chance. That means more participants.
Also, the current format pretty much limits conversation to words. A forum would facillitate a greater range of topics. We can find out what we share with fellow wordies aside from logophilia.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word features
Is there any way we could get a forum? There seems to be a lot of avenues for discussion that this site brings about which could be pursued in a forum or message board.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word ludic
playfully aimless
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word jouissance
Jollity; merriment.
June 9, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word pharmacopoeial
A stock of drugs.
June 2, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word tendresse
Tenderness
June 2, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word mcfate
Word coined in Lolita for the uniquely American brand of fate. Characterized by a certain amount of randomness.
June 2, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word bemaze
To bewilder
June 2, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the list words-that-describe-themselves
"English" is apparently from the Old English
May 31, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word voluptas
Goddess of sensual pleasure.
May 30, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word propos
A point of consideration.
May 30, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word bacchanalian
Why can I never remember this word while I'm actually at a bacchanalia?
May 28, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word accoutrement
That was what I was thinking, thanks.
May 28, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the word accoutrement
Does anyone else use this word in the sense of the smaller components of some larger, inclusive whole?
May 27, 2008
taciturnyetprolix commented on the user missanthropist
What sort of orthographic changes would you make to the word "sardonic"?
May 27, 2008