pretty enjoyable, quick read. not as good as her Neapolitan novels but still a good coming of age story. none of the characters were all that compelling though and I would've liked it if Ferrante stepped out of her comfort zone a bit more. wonder if she'll write a sequel to this one

7/10

Finished In the tall grass by Joe Hill a while ago. It's pretty creepy, in a delightful way, and short too.

Finished "economy of truth" by vizi andrei. I got that feeling of pretty-pretty instagram caption sometimes but it's actually a short and sweet collection of philosophical thoughts that can open your eyes on many things. Loved the creativity tips and how he constantly emphasized the difference between action and theory.

Finished up some books before the semester

The Diary of an Oxygen Thief: Meh

An Experiment with Time: my favorite book ever (?) but a lot of the subject matter is stuff I was initially interested in so I could be biased

Animal Farm: Really fun read with lots of relevant material

Haven't been as active as I wish, but managed to finish a short story by Machado de Assis, a Brazilian classic, called the fortune teller and I'm mindfucked by this plot and how the twist was carefully crafted, wow. @KurcoBane I recommend you to read this 5min masterpiece.

wish you wouldve posted this like 3 hours earlier i just orederd a bunch of books with a coupon code

or can i find it online somewhere if its a short story?

ive been mostly reading art theory and philosophy recently but i ordered all of the Oscar Wilde short stories and collections of poems and s*** they had by penguin with a coupon code today

cant wait to read one every night before falling asleep

oscar wilde might be my fav author, def top 3

Yes but I don't know if you can find it in English tho.

Feel free to recommend me some of those shorts by Wilde, the picture of Dorian is Avant-garde even in today's standards we should all deliberately succumb to beauty at least once in our lifetimes.

Ayo rec some of that art theory g

what are you interested in?

Idk about theory but on terms of types of art, im into the post-modern side of things, contemporary art, surrealism & dada.

And into street photography, graffiti, streetwear and avant garde/high fashion

I do fw impressionist works too tho

Just finished “In The Garden of Beasts” by Eric Larson

First book I’ve just decided to pick up and read in years and I couldn’t be happier. Incredible f***ing book and I recommend it to everyone.

True story taken from memoirs/diaries and s*** from the US ambassador to Germany (and others) in the early 30s. Incredible to have all these first hand accounts who witnessed the slow and steady rise of the nazis and how easy it was to be complacent during it

jsomers.net/DFW_TV.pdf
This isn’t so much about art as it is about media

good looks man. need to peep dfw's work as well.

so many books, so little time

Just finished Catch 22. 3.5 to 4 out of 5. Recommended to everyone who loves a war novel with some witty scenarios.

ive been reading about aesthetics (in the philosophical definition) and the philosophy of art / art history. if youre only interested in specific art movements I cant recommend you any book tbh but Dada is almost always mentioned because it changed art and our perception of what art is / could be so much.

idk how deep you wanna dig so ill just list all that i think are important.

if you wanna go really deep:

Hegel - Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics (kind of outdated by now, but its still groundwork)

Kant - Critique of Judgement (especially the chapter Critique of Aesthetic Judgement)

those are like the basics and laid the groundwork for most modern and contemporary art theory but theyre very dense and heavy philosophical books and tbh you dont really have to read them because the important parts are often referenced and explained in art theory. especially Hegel is a pain to read imo.

Otherwise some of the most notable books (doesnt necessarily mean my favorites, but these are the ones everyone whos into art history / theory has read or at least pretends to have read and all of them have at least some interesting points in them) are:

Adorno - Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics (still very philosophical and dense)

Walter Benjamin - The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (absolut classic, also mentions Dada)

If you enjoyed Walter Benjamins work you could also read: John Berger - Ways of Seeing (its heavily based on Walter Benjamins work and also kind of outdated but I believe its one of the most, if not the most sold book about art criticism, personally I didnt think it offers very much but since its so well known i thought it was worth mentioning)

Rudolf Arnheim - Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye (essentially Arnheim is trying to use science to give a better understanding of art). He later published the book: Visual Thinking, which I believe for the first time, challenged the notion that thinking comes before seeing. Its at least as much about psychology as it is about art but its still very interesting and changed how the way we think and percieve art today.

Robert Hughes - The Shock of the New (highly influential, Robert Hughes is probably the most well known art critic. He does NOT like contemporary art and can be a bit condescending tho, still some interesting points in this book)

The absolute MUST reads if youre interested in photography:

Roland Barthes - Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

Susan Sontag - On Photography

Both are fairly short and will change your perception on photography and how the invention of the camera not only changed art but our society forever. If i remember correctly Susan Sontag was hating on Surrealism in the book tho (surrealist photography) shouldnt stop you from reading it tho.
Im not even that interested in photography but both of these were mandatory reads for me in my first year of art school and i found both of them very fascinating.

Some art theory I've read recently that i found to be very interesting (all are concerned with modern and/or contemporary art):

Kirk Varnedoe - Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock
(Finally a book that fully embraces and makes a case for modern / contemporary art AFTER abstract expressionism (which for many was the "death" of art or the "beauty" in art). Its not too theoretical and a great read if you (like me) actually enjoy fine art after the 60s.)

Arthur C. Danto - After the End of Art: (Contemporary Art and the Pale of History)
(this is one of my favorites. very interesting. The title is a bit misleading because what he calls the "End of Art" is not actually the end of art, as in no one will do art anymore, or that there are no good artists anymore, but the end of art in a way philosophers like Hegel defined art (mimesis) and goes on to explain how modern art fulfilled its self purpose (which is why there are no art movements anymore, but only contemporary art as a whole) thats what he defines as the end of art and goes on to think about where we can go from here. Danto, in contrast to most other well known art critics, isnt dismissive about postmodern or contemporary art, at least not completely. He later released another book called "what art is" that i think digs deeper into the last part but i havent read it yet but i def will very soon.)

Lambert Wiesing - The Visibility of the Image: History and Perspectives of Formal Aesthetics (this one isnt as well known as the other listed here, but I got it as a gift and thought it was very interesting. its essentially a summary and interpretation of different philosophers and art critics who where concerned with the abstract painting. Talking about questions like: if a painting only references itself, then how can it distinguish itself from an ornament? Its also a good starting point if you havent read any art theory so far because it sums up quite a few different theories from notable critics and philosophers, from early attempts to find objective ways to define a painting (Heinrich Wöllflin) to the opposing ideas of formalism vs idealism, etc.)

If you do art yourself I would also recommend:

Josef Albers - Interaction of Color
Must read for every art or graphic design student. I guess the title is kind of self-explanatory

Johannes Itten - The Elements of Color . Another great book about color theory

There is a very short book (an essay rather) by Samuel Beckett, I cant find the english translation, one of my professors recommended it to me. In german its called "Das Gleiche nochmal Anders (Texte zur bildenden Kunst)" it literally translates to "The same again (but) different (essays on fine arts)". short and fun read hardly can be described as art theory tho i guess but its interesting if youre an artist yourself or aspiring to be.

otherwise id stay away from all the hyped up books "for artists" that are supposed to be some sort of self help type book for artists, like "Art and Fear" or "Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative" its mostly very obvious things and a lot of bullshit mixed in.

there are many more books i couldve mentioned and i probably forgot a few important ones but this is like my longest post in KTT history so ill leave it at that. feel free to ask any questions tho i love art history and art theory

oh and one more since youve said youre interested in surrealism:

Michel Foucault - This Is Not a Pipe
Its like a love letter from Michel Foucault to surrealist painter Rene Magritte, specifically going in depth about the painting of a pipe with the sentence "this is not a pipe" painted below it. As everything Foucault its very hard to understand what he is trying to say sometimes but this is actually so different form every other book that you will find about Surrealism (which will always the same topics, biographies, notable works, influneces, etc. which is why i find them mostly boring) that its worth reading

damn bro i appreciate you taking the time out to give me such in depth rec's.

and yea i was gonna say i was interested in aesthetics too but i thought that was the all encompassing philosophy of art. ive tried reading hegel (:jordanlaff:) read some adorno and i never read but watched the bbc miniseries of ways of seeing. i liked it alot probably got its points across better than the book. the only book on here that ive read was art and visual perception. it was actually the book that got me into visual arts in general and kinda changed my perception on things.

im gonna get on those photography books asap, i read this texbook called the art of photography and it blew my mind. been meaning to get into those

but whats really f***in me up at the moment is the contemporary art scene so thank you for all those, after the end of art seems like its exactly what im looking for.

i do draw but wouldnt call myself much of a visual artist, but ill still check those color theory books out since im into fashion and been meaning to add more color into my s***.

and i love foucault, but havent checked that book out yet didnt even know he wrote books on art tbh. man you just gave me months of reading material. thank you so much

and do you have any visual art? no way you reading all this, going to art school and aint fire. seems like we have similar tastes too

No problem I love talking about art and art theory and it was kind of helpful for myself too to write all this down.

if you liked ways of seeing you maybe wanna give the Walter Benjamin one a try too, i thought he made similar points but a lot more convincing and thought out. Haven't seen the documentary tho so idk if its any better. Walter Benjamin is also very highly regarded by all my art theory professors, Adorno too mostly.

And yea reading Hegel is a pain in the ass lmao. Tried several times to get into Hegel not only because he laid some of the groundwork for art theory but because I love Zizek and hes a Hegelian too.

And def read the end of art! i already ordered what art is by Danto (the follow up to the end of art) and will update if its as good but i got high hopes

William S. Burroughs - Junky
2.5/5

Finally got around reading this, as it was recommended to me to read this first before reading Naked Lunch. I didnt dislike it but I'm kind of disappointed. It just reads like the memoirs of an opiate addict in the 50s, which I guess it is. Nothing special about his prose, nothing outrageous or really controversial either. Also there are so many supporting characters, who all have kind of similar names and characteristics that its kind of hard to keep track of who is who, but it doesnt really matter anyway since they're mostly just other junkies, dealers or cops who come and go without leaving an impression.

still looking forward to reading naked lunch tho

Just finished Animal Farm for the first time and novel is really short, effective and timeless.

All animals are equals, but some animals are more equals than others

Capitalism!

Just finished The Autobiography of Malcolm X

figured it was time for a reread as I first read this book when I was like 14 years old. still just as powerful and sadly as relevant as it was when it was written. I especially found interesting the parallels between the movements going on now vs. in the 60s as well as the liberal vs. conservative stance that Malcolm X dissected. it's a really important book that I think should be required reading in high schools as it does an amazing job explaining the effects of racism and the roots of hate while ending on a positive note of unity in the fight for equality. so sad that both Malcolm X and Dr. King were assassinated right when they were starting to refine their messages.

10/10

Just finished Hustle Harder Hustle Smarter by 50. OAne of the fastest reads I've ever experienced despite being 270 pages, literally could not put it down. Highly recommend!