didn't she ask for an erotics of reading? am i misquoting? it's in "against interpretation", go check it out. anyway--- your egghead teachers are not nurturers of sontags i'm afraid.

ha! it's ONLINE!!!!

http://www.cis.vt.edu/modernworld/d/sontag.html

"In place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art."

---

i adore sontag.

more:

Today is such a time, when the project of interpretation is largely reactionary, stifling. Like the fumes of the automobile and of heavy industry which befoul the urban atmosphere, the effusion of interpretations of art today poisons our sensibilities. In a culture whose already classical dilemma is the hypertrophy of the intellect at the expense of energy and sensual capability, interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.

Even more. It is the revenge of the intellect upon the world, To interpret is to impoverish, to deplete the world--in order to set up a shadow world of "meanings." It is to turn the world into this world. ("This world"! As if there were any other.)

The world, our world, is depleted, impoverished enough. Away with all duplicates of it, until we again experience more immediately what we have.

breakfast of champions for the second time and an old boris vian, wich is fucking awesome, its a short book in french called ...trouble dans les andains,,, its a pretty wicked short story about an object that does not exist... you would have to read it to know what i mean...

OK kids, how many of you have had to the pleasure of reading this?






Ah, I think I'm in love.

I'd really be interested in hearing what someone thinks of this book, or any other title by Bolaño. Specifically in its original Spanish text.

no i havent! hm.... i had heard of him, obscurely but... never read him.

apparently he's become a post-mortem celebrity...

ps - hot damn he's being compared to some fucking extraordinary people-- lezama, cortazar, borges. MUST... ORDER... NOW!!!

This is what I gather as well.

I've got the this current fascination with Latin American literature, and his name pops a lot. Among other terrific Chilean authors. Sort of disheartening because the lot of the them (Chilean authors) were ex pats living in Europe or America and all have this same longing for a lost Chile. One that no longer exists?

PEDRO LEMEBEL stayed during pinochet & still causing much ruckus. he's amazing.

the expats, it's the fault of that pinochet cunt. the lost chile i don't know but they have a socialist president now which is quite the revenge-- check out a bit on her. about life there, new board member ybag_girl (spelling?) is conspicuously chilean. could ask her.

Oh! I know all about Michelle Bachelet. Such contrast to the other Latin American leaders (Morales, Chavez, Lula, that idiot in Argentina) Chile is a very intriguing country at the present time.

"Women Travel: First Hand Accounts From More Than 60 Countries" by Rough Guide Specials (various authors)

I'm betting on that being a very fulfilling read.

why idiot? cos he didn't take it up the ass from the IMF? i dont get it.

and lula? cos he's got social programs? likes workers? im not up to day on every detail of his administration but overall he's a lot more decent than every fucking president brazil has had since-- ever.

This guy knew his shit.

bump--

got a meeting in a little bit so likely i won't be able to respond right away but this is for 56 aka Пятхъдесят Шест -- please see post 773

Lula is not bad guy, and I never said he was, I happen to like him actually. I was simply saying he is vastly different from Mrs. Bachelet for all the wrong reasons. Lula's story is an inspiring one, growing up in poverty, etc. rags to riches, and so on. But his social endeavors are far from being fulfilled to its potential, especially for a country eager to better its self. Brazil's economy has been slow to rise in his six years as President. And I haven't even mentioned his "great" relationship with George W.

As for the Argentine idiot (so maybe that's a little harsh)...
Either way, I think Néstor Kirchner is taking Argentina backwards. Corruption and Argentina are nearly synonymous, but this guy seems to relish in it! Blaming the IMF on Argentina's sever decline is valid, but to make a hero of Kirchner because he gave them the middle finger is ridiculous! His hands are just as dirty. And he handled the situation in a way the prompted nationalism rather than rational thinking or any sort of problem solving. He's like Latin Americans Bush; changing the constitution as he sees fit, meddling with checks and balances. Same sad Argentine story. Peronism reigns.

Never expected to get into a discussion of Latin American politics! Thank you for that !@#$%.

Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womak

i think lula is doing as well as a latin american persident can do within the circumstances. he's made efforts to combat hunger for which i applaud him. as for bush, please expand, i don't know what you mean by "great". 2 things though, a) brazil wants to establish itself as an independent power in the region b) any latin american country that does not want to become a pariah needs to keep some sort of ties with the u.s. this obviously creates tension. but i don't see what you mean though...


well i love kirschner for prosecuting those murderous motherfuckers, and i don't care if he had to lift an amnesty to do it. purging the armed forces = good. removing corrupt judges = good. peronism is shit and thank god that that gangster menem withdrew from the election. kirschner is a lot more decent guy but if you realize in what kind of hellhole argentina was before him you'll see he's done a pretty good job.

and getting from under the IMF IS a nationalist issue because the IMF likes to go in & boss people around & remove any kind of sovereignty countries have. sort of if like your credit card companies came into your house and told you you have to reduce your children's meals from 3 to 1 a day so you can pay them. no sir, no! the IMF is a disgrace and they are HATED across the world.

oh this is fun. thanks for knowing about this shit, frankly it's a rare opportunity fo rme as well...

To be honest, poking fun being friend with Bush is just too easy of a target! Perhaps a little unfair, as their relationship is timid at best. However, its interesting to read some of the things that Lula has said about the United States that has basically gone unnoticed by most publications. I'm referencing the outstanding Foreign Affairs periodical for this, but Lula has been known to refer to America as an 'imperialistic empire', the usual spiel.

You bring up a fascinating topic about power in Latin America being channeled through having a good relationship with the United States. Its important, without a doubt. But I don't think its nearly as important as it was in the past. Just look at Hugo Chaves, probably the best example of this. He's made every attempt to agitate and mock the United States. Almost weekly! In doing so, he has legitimized Venezuela on the world stage, and made more friends than enemies. Evo Morales is running Bolivia into the ground, but he experiences immense popularity through out Latin America, not just with his indigenous core anymore. Chile has icy relations at best with America, but has seen the most sustainable growth in all of Latin America, even without dialog with America.

I think the United States has been burning its bridges with Latin America for the better part of the last twenty years, and its starting to show!

Make sure you know, I am no friend of the IMF or World Bank!! I only think Kirschner should be held accountable for his part in Argentina's decline. Granted it's not nearly as bad as it was, which he deserves credit for. But when it was happening, he was left out of any discussion. Just like similar IMF induced debacles in Africa, corruption at the national level contributes to the IMF's notoriously failed policies.

I rarely get to have these discussions as well! Imagine me brining up Venezuela's flailed labor and land reform policies in South Omaha bar. Ah. Even the Venezuelan ex pats here could give a shit less.

Read some of Bukowski's letters vol 3 today, that sits on my shelf and I randomly read when feeling necessary.