Відео

Thanks so much! This was very helpful!

People. We are a species with many commonalities, specific characteristics and similar neurology. Duh, of course aesthetics has an objective aspect to it. Look into neuroaesthetics for example - still in its infancy but that's what it explores.

This video put to words the thoughts I’ve been having for a while! I think it’s incredible how Orwell managed to create a narrative so applicable to today’s society despite how long ago he wrote it. I loved your commentary and connecting Orwell’s themes and concepts from 1984 to present day :)

Williams Laura Martinez Amy Robinson Shirley

I did not have sex with that woman .

look at USA killing big time all over the world for Liberty

Alastair Reynolds is an astrophysicist, so yeah - he knows his stuff.

I read Shadow, Claw and Sword over the last five months or so and upon finishing the third I absolutely demolished Citadel in about 2.5 days. I am so mind melted and confused but weirdly fulfilled and I am just happy to listen to people talk about this wonderful piece of fiction.

Crichton's The Lost World would have been more difficult to adapt faithfully due to the fact most of the dialogue is about extinction theories, which is interesting but that would've been toned down to make it work for a movie.

A true individualist is not somebody that ignores the comunity. Is one that the comunity is a second or third or fourth priority. Ergo one has a comunity and does not need the state. If you enjoy a certain hobby does not mean you refuse the others ones you had up till now. And it is true one has to be a great deal of idependent and selfsecure to be an individualist. Is it posibke for everybody? Yes. Is it easy for everybody ? No. People are different

“Accidentally” drowned the city of Atlantis.

Just finished the book, may be hyperbolic but was honestly one of my favourite reading experiences - sometimes things just connect in ways the author may not have even intended Honestly I think your review of the first book enhanced this book A LOT more for me where a lot more of what Bakker did felt so much more intentional, and once you pick that up and trust the author you take away more meaning than from what he may not have even intended. For example when akka hears a prostitute "laugh like a man" and all that means of the world and of his own views on women by his flustered bothered reaction of a woman beliteling him. His use of light and darkness was incredibly well done tying in with "the darkness that comes before" The biggest one was Cnauir, as someone who used to be radicalised I also understand that the rebound from that can involve a fear and over suspicion of ever being influenced his screams of "LIES LIES LIES" very much were thoughts I had once experienced and his character really did touch a raw spot in a dark moment of my life and the prison you yourself can make of your own mind. Oddly enough in an amoral world Cnauir almost reads as heroic. I am religious but due to my past giving "faith" and full devotion is something that I always struggle with and just see as something that will go however it goes through the course of my life. But I do really appreciate the way Bakker writes characters such as Zin and Proyas as I felt their battles with their faith was incredibly well done. From people's reactions to some of my theories I am pretty certain I have a few things figured out in terms of what Bakker is going to be getting to both plot and theme wise, and I just feel a lot of things are coming together and a lot can be drawn from it. Also another point, while I honestly feel writing rape scenes involving children is going way too far, I do appreciate what I at least think he is doing with sex including sexual violence? It is intresting how sarcellus rapes esmi and that feeling more apparent vs what Kellhus does to her. As kellhus very much does the same thing to her. I also am facinated to think on what characters like Cnauir and Akka depend on sex for, as it's more of a reverberation for themselves where Cnauir uses Serwe as proof of both his sexuality and also uses her as his self hatred, every scene Akka couples with Esmi he wonders at how such a beautiful woman would ever lie with a man like him. Kellhus then talks on how couples are often two sides of a coin that make a whole and what I took away from it, is that relationships or sex for a lot of these characters is a way for characters to feel whole (okay it's 2am I trailed off at the end there and forgot what I was getting to in terms of Bakker's writing on sex my apologies) Going to give a pause due to how obsessed I was with that book, but prehaps I will read the next book whenever you pick it up :)

Just heard about this book on a show called Ms Davis on Max, so I don't know much but the first flaw must be that is too bloody long right?

Is she a Doctor or Doctor is her Surname ?

Thanks for the review. The plot seems to be quite basic, mostly thriller material. I would never have this dilemma, because I will never accept an offer like this. It's quite shallow human behavior even by teenage standards.

Amazing analysis! Watching in loop, I hope Big Brother doesn't hear me...😅

My favourite is "A Memory of Light". Wheel of Time is not even one of my favourite series, but I love that cover so much

I’m reading these books for the first time and I really appreciate y’all’s discussion. Looking forward to reading sword this week

There's one point where I disagree though. I do not think religion is necessarily only a safeguard against totalitarianism. Institutionalized relgion is equally a tool for totalitarianism, even across government systems. Some of the most bigoted an dangerous ideas, behaviours and even many wars are and have been prolifically propagated or caused by religious leaders or leaders bending the meaning of a religion.

What a wonderful analysis. I knew the movie, but read the book earlier this year for the first time and your thoughts are very recognizable. Also note how the thou art is actually very much embedded in our society. I believe that ever since the 50s succesful governements (whether they are a so-called democracies or have another form) have been engineering identity rather than behaviour at the level of staying in power and controlling the narrative. And to be clear, I do not mean in order to gain votes within the democratic process. Each government in the end is about controlling a population and power and is serving a significant minority more than the overall population (Hence the rich getting continuously getting richer in western countries). Then again, this is not some conspiracy thing. I'm sincerely unsure there could be any other kind of government, given human nature.

These people are picking religions as if they are some sort of a shirt design.

Am on chapter three of audiobook, and finding plot is extremely complex, and maybe too convoluted; missed the ending here. Would someone tell me, thanks! 😊

I think people dont give objectivity of art any real consideration. It goes something like "different people have different opinions duuuh" which actually misses the point entirely. People's opinions vary, yes but there is an objective element. The human brain is evolved to like some things and dislike somethings. People tend to like harmonious notes and dislike discordant notes. But there are too many variables introduced by the complexity of the human brain that we couldn't possibly pin down those qualities perfectly. People can develop preferences, or aquire biases, have genetic predispositions, etc. So its like yes, there is variety of opinions. But the difference between liking mint ice-cream and Rocky Road isnt subjectivity exactly. They're both objective. And if it wasn't true you could just as soon write a great musical piece as a monkey at a drum set. But I think it goes deeper than that. Im inclined to believe there is transcendent truth beyond human perception. When we measure the weight of a thing we control the variables and use precise instruments to determine it. So why is it that when it comes to beauty or morality we use an imprecise instrument like the human brain? And just because we cant measure it doesnt make it not true. And when did we decide that beauty was only the product of sentient perception? And just a spur of the moment thought but the world is organized with natural laws and patterns. Would we not evolve to interpret and match those patters -a la the human eye captures and interprets electromagnetic waves and paints them in the consciousness. So maybe the question itself doesnt make sense. Like Nature vs Nurture its kinda both. And what about psychology. We can identify trends of behavior but this isnt made untrue by excpetions and variety. I have no fucking clue 😂 No idea if I believe any of that. Just spitting ideas

👏👏👏👏👏

Watching from England. Lots of changes going on over the last forty years for sure. Seems that the Democrats in the US and Labour in England have moved their support base from working class people to University graduates and recent arrivals. Good luck to our great countries and best wishes.

This is really well said, Jordan. Saw some satire last week, where a comedian said so something along the lines of, ... look how much better things are getting! Way better than 1984.

Glad to see you covering this book, and you’re completely right on the money with most of your points. While I don’t think we’re in Orwell’s future, there are certain things that are awfully reminiscent of what he described. When I see people mobbing up on Twitter, I always think of the Two Minutes Hate. I’m often bothered by how sides of the political spectrum try to use this book for their own ends. I complained about this in my review so I’ll keep it brief. People who say ‘oh, we’re in 1984’ when their political opponents do something they don’t like are missing the point of the book. Orwell isn’t complaining about a particular party, he’s giving us a warning about totalitarianism and how authoritarian governments take control of the people. Great art transcends party politics. Great video Jordan, keep up the good work.

Just finished this one a few weeks ago. More valid today than ever and it's a bit scary. Awesome video man.

The real issue is, probably, that you cant have subtle and nuanced discussions about the limit of inherent characteristics without people automatically thinking it is all or nothing. Both those sharing and those disagreeing. On the other side, certain groups, which would like to claim they are embracing obvious facts about human nature and reality, happen to overlap considerably with absolute nutters. And I wonder a lot about the extent to which we revert to timeless truths or timeless falsehoods. Actually, this is a pretty religious point..

* version not erosion, sorry

I saw an article recently contrasting Orwell’s 1984 erosion of the future with Huxley’s Brave New World (controlling the people by with trivial information dulling their critical thinking … thoughts?

I had a similar thought yesterday. Near where I live is a train station, 2 platforms, and the secone of which is entirely accessed via a steep staircase. Wheelchair users are entirely unable to access half the station without significant man power. Seeing something like that, a material weakness, makes so many of the word games around disability and able bodies etc meaningless. It all feels like a minor distraction. We dont materially deal with the issues in a way thay directly helps one a other, as some would rather talk about the vernacular surrounding the the issues in place of actually resolving solutions. It feels like an elaborate cultural filibuster. And I see this all over. Using language as an obstruction. Sometimes its used to prevent change, sometimes its people who want change being caught up in think thay correcting their syntax is actually a meaningful way to create societal change. And I think that, the idea that people will bicker over what is and is not an issue, through the use of language eventually just leads to little being done and the ability to create such a divisive culture. I think thats almost an element that Orwell hints at, but didn't realise how impactful that aspect of his philosophy would become.

1984 should be mandatory reading for everyone. Crazy world we're living in.

If the world is re enchanted the working class will do. The working class is doing everything twice

You can’t read. Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower was not in an AP English class. He was in ninth grade. That teacher did not put The Fountainhead on the curriculum. He was handing Charlie extra books to read. Charlie’s English teacher is an idiot. What’s The Fountainhead…1,100 pages long…in point 8 size font? No ninth grade student will ever get through that book. We know Charlie did not because to get through that novel he would not have been able to run around at all hours of the night-he’d be locked in his room reading every night. Doing nothing but reading for months. Besides that, The Fountainhead is a terrible book-especially to hand a ninth grader. Howard Roark rapes a woman in that novel and Rand writes this with the woman thinking later, “Well, maybe that’s what I wanted.” Great message to send a ninth grader. Face it, Ayn Rand needed psychotherapy instead of becoming a novelist. I understand where she was coming from. Her family was well off in Russia and then lost everything in the revolution. I understand that she was traumatized by this. But she went WAY overboard with her philosophy. That woman needed help. Years of therapy. I can’t believe you started this by saying you couldn’t understand why some people had issues with Rand’s novels. I’d think it would be fairly obvious. Didn’t you notice that every politician who is a douchebag just LOVES Ayn Rand’s novels? There is a reason. I could see being tricked into thinking these novels made sense as a 20-year-old college student, but by the time you are an adult you are supposed to realize Rand’s philosophy is garbage. You know, like Ayn Rand to Alan Greenspan to The Economy Crashes because of Deregulation garbage. However, I will give Ayn Rand a lot of credit for inventing the female combover.

I love your explanation. just subscribed. im not into reading the book. But i would like to have a full character analysis on gail wynand

I’m reading it.❤ Thank you for this! It’s clear. I needed this information.

This was a stimulating conversation. I enjoyed watch it and love seeing such an intelligent conversation.

I came to watch this after watching your Dear Dr. Fantasy talk with Philip. This is an insightful and inspirational video. Thanks for sharing your story.

Excellent review! Have you read any of the Mike Hammer books, by Mickey Spillane?

Thanks for the review. I’ve meant to read this for years! I’m a big fan of Andrew Klavan’s hard boiled crime novels (His Weiss and Bishop trilogy starting with Dynamite Road is brilliant) and he often references this as a formative book to him. There’s just something about that old noir style that I love so much. I also appreciate the analysis you brought to the characters in the story too.

Right?

Dude that paper you wrote sounds absolutely epic! Vasubandhu, I never hear anybody mention the V-man. I have devoured all of Vasubandhu's works and find this very interesting. This was a really great video and I was wondering if you could you recommend any other dark fantasy/fantasy horror books that incorporate more spiritual/philosophical aspects preferably enlightenment/moksha! I have been running a D&D Campaign for years that incorporates a lot of Buddhist/Eastern philosophy. Enlightened Machine races, Gods ripped out of Nirvana. Stages of imortal diamond bodies etc. This vid was write up my alley.

Sorry I'm a bit late here, but glad to see you dipping your toes into the noir genre. It is one I love dearly. I prefer more than the prim and proper English mysteries of someone like Agatha Christie (though I like some of the books of hers that I've read.) Noir is nasty, violent, sexy, and sometimes scary. It's how crime oughta be, and often is as far as I'm concerned. I am a bit embarrassed to admit I haven't read a lot of the classic noir authors like Chandler or Hammett, though I hope to rectify those sooner or later. Noir has had an odd reputation over the years, not quite genre but not quite literary either. I actually hope to make a video of my own at some point and discuss the genre. Anyway, I don't want to this to get too long. Great video as always. I have some recommendations if you're interested in a pointer. Dennis Lehane: I know you already saw my video about him, so I won't say much more. James Ellroy: LA Confidential Graham Greene: Brighton Rock Walter Mosley: Devil in a Blue Dress SA Cosby: Razorblade Tears, Blacktop Wasteland, My Darkest Prayer Richard Stark's Parker books Ed Brubaker: Criminal, The Fade Out, Kill or Be Killed Frank Miller: Batman: Year One, Sin City (The Hard Goodbye and That Yellow Bastard particularly, the rest are take or leave.)

Love your channel...And finally, someone able to put to words what I've always felt about reading King. Too much of Booktube seems to worship King without providing any real evidence for why save for all of the cliche things about character and world building. I have read over 20 of his novels before I gave up and realized I was never going to "get" it. The more you read King, Jordan, the more your feelings on his characters will be solidified. I don't understand what other people are seeing when they talk about how great he is about character. All of them have the same voice, the same crude and cliched sense of humor ( you put it brilliantly about the intellectual 9th grader, lol), the same 50's hipster slang...it is so tired and uninspired, in my opinion. I also agree with you though, in that many of his novels start with great and intriguing premises, which tends to always hook me in, but then eventually and inevitably fizzle out. There's always some kind of absurd aspect to his stories that take me right out again from what originally got me interested. I have not found Any of his novels to be scary at all, like you said as well, all "horror" aspects of his novels are also sort of cliche and absurd, and almost feel like a little kid's attempts at telling a scary story. Anyways, just wanted to thank you for your honest thoughts and for not giving in to the popular trend online!

My list on references and notes ready (Part 2 of 2) Apologies if I repeat myself from earlier comments!😅 Golgotterath: Golgotha (or Calvary, where Jesus was crucified) and Gorgoroth, “The Valley/Land of Terror/Horror/Dread/Fear”, a region of Mordor in “LOTR” and the Ered Gorgoroth range (“Mountains of Terror”) in Beleriand in “The Silmarillion”, as well as the Cthulhu Mythos Diety Gol-goroth created by “Conan the Cimmerian” creator Robert E. Howard Triamis the Great: Fusion of Alexander the Great (Conquest, deification, mutiny from soldiers), Augustus (First Roman Emperor, deification, long life), Marcus Aurelius (Both Warrior & Philosopher Emperor, written down a journal) & Constantine the Great (First Christian/Inrithi Emperor, unification under one emperor as “Gods steward on Earth/Earwa”) Eärwa: Earth + Eä (the created world/universe of Tolkien) + Eär (“sea” in Quenya) + Eärwen (“Sea-maiden”, daughter of Olwë, wife of Finarfin, mother of Finrod, Angrod, Aegnor & Galadriel) The Fanim called to prayer with drum: The Islamic Muezzin combined with Japanese Taiko Drums? Kyraneas: Mix of the Bronze Age Mycenaeans fighting the Trojan War and the Ancient Greeks fighting the Persian Empire (Lovecraftian “300”!) Ceneian Empire: The Roman Empire, with elements of Alexander the Great’s Hellenistic Empire Scylvendi: Scythians, Huns, Mongols, Conan’s Cimmerians Number Sticks: “Alea iacta est” (“The die is cast”, Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon) + I Ching, Chinese Divination, using numbered sticks Heresiarch: Heresy+Patriach? 😆 Sapatishah & Padirajah: Satrap (Persian Governor/Petty King) + Padishah (Persian Royal Title, also one of the titles of the Galactic Emperor in “Dune”) & Padishah + Raja (Royal Sanskrit Title, found around India and Southeast Asia) Cneiur: Attila/Conan the Cimmerian with a pinch of Achilles (a Great Leader of a Warband feeling wronged by his High King?) The Scylvendi view on war as a sacred act: Akin to the Ancient Assyrians, the Indo-European Koryos, the Huns under Attila and the Mongols, with elements of Gnosticism & Buddhism (“the World is a lie”) 9th Column: The Famous “Lost” 9th Roman Legion (and possibly the infamous 5th Column, an inner enemy?) Black Sun as the Symbol of Nansur: The Black Sun is an symbol of the SS at their “Spiritual Temple” at Wewelsburg Castle (later used by Neo-N@zis and the Azov Brigade in Ukraine), the “Sol Niger” is a symbol in Alchemy (the first step to creating a Philosopher’s Stone), Sol Invictus was a Roman Victory Cult Diety and it might also reference “Black Hole Sun” Black and red streamers with prayers in gold: Akin to the multicolour Tibetan Prayer Flags, here in a victory parade Animal sacrifice: Dogs (unusual animal: The Roman annual “Supplicia canum”, Norse Blot and Santeria Sacrifice), Lion (Venatio: Roman Exotic Animals killed in Amphitheaters) Tydonni Men of the Tusk raiding Pharixas on behalf of the King of Cironj to repay defaulting on their payment for being shipped, condemned by the Shriah: The Sacking of Zara during 4th Crusade, to repay the Venetians, who were excommunicated by the Pope. (Ironically the Nansur Emperor congratulating the cunning King of Cironj, is in contrast to the 4th Crusade, which later sacked Constantinople backing a Byzantine claimant, as to gain his support and further repay the Venetians) The Vulgar Holy War (an intentional ironic title from Bakker there I recon: Common/offensive! 😅): The People’s (Peasants’/Pauper’s/Popular) Crusade Battle of Mengedda: Battle of Civetot (name: (Josef) Mengele+Megiddo (Ancient Site of multiple battles: The Egyptians defeating Syrian City States in the 15th Century BC (first detailed battle ever in history!), the Egyptians defeating the Kingdom of Judea in the 6th Century AD and the British and the Arabs defeating the Ottoman Turks in WW1: Also the site of the Biblical Endtime Battle of Armageddon (Variant of “har məgiddô”, Mount Megiddo In Hebrew) in the Revelations of John the Apostle) The “Mystery” of “Esmenet, the Whore of Summa”: “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth”/“The Whore of Babylon” prophesied in Revelations before Armageddon Mog: Gog & Magog from Revelations? Temple Prostitutes: A know feature of several Mesopotamian Cultures, such as Shamhat from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Temple Quarters of Astarte/Ishtar Poor Inrau…Sarcellus: Team Consult! 😬 Esmenet saved from the villagers by a Shiral Knight: Yeay! The Knight turning out to be Sarcellus: Oh, no! (Esmenet & Sarcellus: Dark take on Esmeralda and Phoebus from Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”?) Akka’s dreams: Mix of collective PTSD with the ancestral genetic “Other Memory” of the Fremen Reverend Mothers in “Dune” Xinemus & Achamian discussing their tutelage of Proyas: “Heartbroken that a godlike child(…)has gone to such extremes”. The Indenture: The Oath by all the leaders of the “Princes’ Crusade” (with the exception of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, later the first Count of Tripoli), to Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos to let him gain control of the territory they conquered, which they upheld until the Seige of Antioch. Many notable difference between Xerius III and Alexios I, most notably that unlike Xerius, Alexios was 1) the first Emperor of his Dynasty, 2) a competent general on his own, & 3) the historical First Crusade started after Alexios had requested aid from Western Europe through Pope Urban II against the Seljuk Turks, and as a such he played a much more active role in the launch of that holy war. Galeoth Potato (definitely not something in the Old World during the Crusades!) Liquor: Akvavit, Vodka & Moonshine Double Oh-Oh: Sarcellus, not human…😬 Killing a wolf as a rite of passage: Apache Both “The Architect” of the Consult and Moenghus described as having eyes as the “Nail of Heaven” while manipulating people, hm… “Sentiments, like a son’s love for his father, simply deliver us to the darkness, make us slaves of custom and appetite…I don’t love my father, plainsman. I do not love. If his murder will allow my brethren to pursue their mission, then I will murder him!”: Yup, Kellhus is definitely psychotic! 😬 Serwë: Serve… Patridomos: Patriarch + Majordomo (head servant, “principal in the household”) The Bare-Handed Blade Block, Kellhus! Kellhus pretending to be a Prince of Atrithau, akin to the Myth of Prester John The Kidruhil: The Cataphracts of the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires (& Prince Imrahil & his Mounted Gondorian Knights?) Moënghus among the Cishaurim: Mallahet, the non-Kian Cishaurim, who also had eyes like the Nail of Heaven? The Scarlet Spire Spy Master being addicted to chanv: Similar to Baron Harkonnen’s Mentat Piter De Vries in “Dune” Thunyerus: Vikings/Varangians with Gothic features (the Thervingi, ancestors of the Visigoths settled the Lower Danube and the Dniester Rivers), headhunting as some Celtic tribes and the Samurai (captured heads shrunk as some Amazon tribes) Esmenet being named after the wife of a Prophet: Gomer, the prostitute wife of the prophet Hosea in the Old Testament Sarcellus and Skëos: Shapeshifting Skin Spies of the Consult! Nansur House of Congregates: Byzantine Senatorial Class. A priestly caste akin to the Hindu Brahmin Caste and Dumézil’s “Trifunctional Hypothesis” (of Indo-European Societies divided into three classes/castes: Priests, warriors-aristocrats & commoners)