Відео

I haven’t read Jesus’s Son for 10 years or so. It was gifted to me by a poet friend who was getting his MFA at the time, so perhaps there’s something where Johnson’s prose resonates with poets. Thank you for the excuse to go back to it though - I paused the video halfway through and reread Dirty Wedding. I don’t blame you for framing it this way but I guess I rarely consider the morality or immorality of a character and instead see what makes them human, or how I can relate to them. Perhaps the capacity for destruction (of self and others) is an instinct I understand, so there’s less distance between myself and the character. He’s a drifter and a loner and someone who clearly needs help, and you’re right to point out his hypocrisy in criticizing crowded low income housing when he himself navigates those circles. Almost reminds me of the film Taxi Driver. I always found Johnson’s ability to capture what’s often thought but rarely uttered or acted upon, like following someone off a train out of curiosity or watching a family through a window like in the final story Beverly Home. It’s too perverse an instinct to say aloud and yet I can’t say I’ve never had the thought. Beverly Home is still my favorite in the collection, because perhaps we find some redemption for the first time, a reprieve from the emotional and physical destruction in a community or a “place for people like us.” Again, great video. Really insightful, and thanks for giving me a reason to pick up my dusty copy of Jesus’s Son.

I love seeing the work of Dyson! He's very authentycal! Very good! Thank you, Akex and Dyson! ❤❤

next time we'll just do shapero and shoot for sub 30 minutes <3

I loved this video. Dyson is super insightful and thoughtful. I’m going to pick up modern poetry now! Alex obviously the videos with just you are great too but I’m really enjoying these guests and dynamic conversations

i guess this is the new Dead Poets Society and once again I just wanna be a part of it

Love this! keep it up with poetry videos, i would love to hear more about your views on other poets as well

These types of videos Are really good Keep up the good work alex

Honestly a perfect video to wake up to, glad it’s long video🥳

Ooh a long video to have my breakfast with! As someone who can't for the life me understand poetry, I hope I pick up some things from this video hahaha 😅

I love how passionate Dyson is about Diane Seuss. Now I gotta read her poems.

I'm very much looking forward to the interviews with both Dyson and Ricky. When you spoke about Ricky's support and how he remembers details of your stories I almost got a little emotional because those are the types of people who can really have an impact on your life and propel you forward. We all deserve someone like that, so I'm really glad you've had him :) and will definitely check out his short stories in the meantime! I hope everything works out with the research project - that sounds so interesting! If you ever get time to share bits about what you learn or how it's going, I'd be keen to hear about it. I've got my first Baldwin (Another Country) waiting on my shelf for this year, so I'm looking forward to reading that. Enjoy New York! And a belated happy new year! I hope it's a wonderful one for you. Thank you, as always, for these videos and for this channel. It's definitely kept me motivated when it comes to reading and writing, so I appreciate that. And I think it's just kept me thinking, as well. I am much more motivated to analyse a piece of work when someone else is also sharing their thoughts, so it's brought back the joy for me of digging deeper into literature, and then having a place to spill all of my (unqualified) thoughts.

I haven't read either Barth or Wallace, but again, I love hearing your thoughts to give me idea of their work. Wallace definitely sounds like he has a good sense of humour - I really enjoyed those quotes you read out! And goodness, to write long sentences like that you really have to have your wits about you to make them make sense (and as you said, to read them aloud is a breath workout). Also very interesting to think about the "secret sadness" in educated Americans (or Americans in general). Definitely food for thought there. It often makes me think of when people talk about how certain countries might be first-world and function efficiently, but then have an imbalance with drinking problems or depression. And then you get some poverty-stricken cultures who seem to have deep-rooted peace or joy in the little things. Obviously that's a generalisation, but it's interesting to think about in terms of what seems to be a better life or society versus our inherent needs for contentment and such. Sorry if that is a bit jumbled, my thoughts are running. Anyway, thanks for the video! :)

Fun times ahead!

I love these videos with your dad. They’re gentle but insightful. I got martyr for Christmas so I hope you do that soon! Love the mix of classic and modern literature you cover on your channel

good luck with everything!

Good luck brother ❤

I just finished Giovanni’s Room which is excellent. I want to get more into Baldwin’s other stuff.

New York! I assume you're planning a budget-busting visit to the Strand?

I am reading Pale Fire now, and it is one of the books that I really want to read slow.

great writing, would love to see more from you

Welcome back to your dad! I love that he came in with all his notes this time haha. Goodness, what a book! Definitely one that is worthy of discussion - I love how you guys bounce ideas off each other and share different takeaways. I might sound like a stuck record, but that's one of the beauties of literature to me: realising that everyone is taking a slightly different view on it. Or even just imagining a description differently. The concept of the bird, the bear, and the fish sent me for a spin because at first I was like "wow, what a great concept", but then as the video progressed I realised how messy it got with which character was representing which egg. I was about to ask you which one you and your dad identify as, but when I was thinking about myself, I came to the conclusion that we're probably a little bit of each depending on the circumstances. I could be wrong, though. Let me know your thoughts if you view it otherwise. Also don't get me started on the bizarreness of a character living in a leaf haha. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. You guys really made me chuckle when you said "She's inside a leaf with her father" and your dad was like "Sorry, could you say that slower?" Yes, I completely agree about the absurdity of trying to colonise Mars when we could be cleaning up the Earth! That's honestly something I think about quite a lot because there's so much money that goes into Mars and the likes which could be going towards climate change mitigation and everything else. But when you related it to the effort it takes to write a second draft, then I had a little moment of "okay, fine, you got me" because I am terrible at going back and editing. But it's definitely food for thought - maybe it's worth putting in that effort to make things better (whether it's writing, the earth, or other things) than simply starting anew. There's probably more satisfaction and depth that comes in a Second Draft of something. Because you actually have to face the mistakes and understand them, and then you have a proper chance of improvement. Anyway, I'm rambling. Wonderful video! Thank you. So thought-provoking. I'll have to check out the book at some point.

aw yay! so happy to see a fellow english major focusing on russian lit (I minored in russian lit/lang several years back). it's truly a lifelong treasure trove! also some of those poetry recs are wonderful, hope you enjoyed. you've got yourself a follower on goodreads!

Wow I could listen to you talk all day, Alex. Congrats on the amazing channel

this is great BUT jimmy butler wants out of miamiiii

Would love to hear more about your writing progress as you continue! I'm also working on a first draft right now that has only about 10k words. Love hearing about where you get your inspiration from

Love this video!

11:14 This reminded me of the quote: "Only optimists commit suicide, optimists who no longer succeed at being optimists. The others, having no reason to live, why would they have any to die?" It's from _The Trouble with Being Born_ by the philosopher E.M. Cioran. However, that was published in '73, and so I guess it's not an influence. I'd recommend reading Cioran if you're interested in this kind of stuff-although it's very depressing at times-because he's very readable and writes poetically, and there's an underlying beauty and strange optimism in his ostensibly nihilistic writing.

I tried in get into Infinite Jest and couldn’t. Might try one of his shorter novels first.

thank you Alex for ur videos! Tried to text you on instagram, but i’ll repeat the same thing here: thank you for your videos about russian lit (as Russian i really enjoy watching it and listening to ur thoughts about it) and videos with your dad!

THANK YOU ALEX! Took you some time to bring him back but always a pleasure to see dad! couldn't be more excited for the video.!

It's so good to see someone share the same interest with their parent. Always great to see your videos! I'm a silent watcher but i really enjoy them:)

I did absolutely hate Penin ,too .

yes please. Share more about your writing process and about your novel progress if possible. That part was amazingly cool.

Thanks so much for sharing your writing and some of the process behind it! I love the idea of this being evidence of The Beginning, wherever it goes from here. I also really like what you said at the end about fostering a community of readers and writers - it's so nice to have a space to come to with like-minded people where we can share our thoughts and have discussions. I feel like I'm going to sound biased because my favourite kind of writing is sensation-based, but the piece you read out was gorgeous! It almost felt a bit hypnotic when you read it out. It reminds me of a previous video when you spoke of poetry readings and how hearing the author read their own poems gave them new life. I think each writer knows how they want a piece to sound and that really brings out the best of it. I also really like the atmosphere of questioning. I think you called it "a bit odd". That feeling of: did he see what he saw? What exactly is going on? For me, it keeps me on my toes. And yes, it's slightly unsettling, but in an intriguing way. And along that line, the minimal dialogue works really well because it adds bits of information here and there and keeps the characters alive in a sense, but doesn't drown anything or give anything away. I don't know if that makes sense. Anyway, yeah, thanks again! It was a treat to hear an excerpt and an inspiration for us fellow writers :)

Hell yeah, your dad has great taste. (Have to say this to every DeLillo fan)

did yall plan to wear the same colour or is it a happy coincidence? Either way, it’s surprisingly satisfying to see! I discovered your video yesterday and couldn’t stop binge-watching, your videos are so calming and I would love to see more videos on books from you!

I havent commented in a while, but l must say I love these types of videos. Your prose is also really nice!

Glad I found this channel today 😭 currently hiding away from the family Christmas party to listen to this

Man you could read for audible, Your voice is great for it.

like I siad on your last writing video "dude ya can write!" keep up with the story and just do whatever feels right, novel short story or turning it into a poem.. all works

Keep the good work

Hi Alex, I've been watching your videos for a few months now, but this is the first time I've really felt compelled to comment. This video was amazing, as always, but I think the vulnerability of exposing your work encouraged me to leave my (not so relevant) feedback. English is not my first language, and although I read books in English all the time, some of the more poetic prose like yours is a challenge for me. I had to go back through some of the passages to really understand what you were trying to say, it felt like I was reading David Foster Wallace in a way, I rarely have to reread the same passage that much. This is not a criticism in any way, I tend to write the same way, even when I try not to. Maybe it's a challenge for you too, not to describe everything so deeply, trying to put into words every act and feeling, or maybe that's your biggest goal, if so, know that the execution is excellent. I don't know your age, but I'm sure that if I heard this fragment of your story without associating it with your face, I would imagine that a much older person wrote it. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your next videos!!!

hi alex, been watching your videos for a while but wanted to say its really inspiring watching your writing process. i love reading, but never had the confidence in myself to write. its hard to get over the initial pain when you have this amazing idea in your head and then you write it down and you realize your skill isnt on the same level as your taste. anyway, this video has inspired me to keep trying. btw - have you read "stoner" by John Williams? would be curious to hear your thoughts on it. looking forward to your future vids.

Hi Alex, this is your first video I've seen and I became very interested in your journey since I'm also wanting to start writing stories. I'm in my junior year and all I'm doing right now is reading as much books I can; taking inspiration from the great minds of the past, hoping one day I can write my own novel. Sometimes I doubt myself on my ablility to write, but I guess that's a process every writers experience. I hope you don't give up on your journey, good luck!

Alex you are so beautiful it makes my heart ache 😔

this is my first video i’m seeing from your channel and i wanna tell you how awe-inspiring your ideas and writing samples are as a young writer myself. great work!! <3

hi alex, i think this is my first time commenting here, as an aspiring novelist myself i just felt the need to. i really like your prose, it sounds very poetic and it's all very descriptive. i've been writing more fragmented pieces and i believe that is because of what i've been reading recently, so maybe your style now is still a good reflection of what you've been reading and has impacted you. that's not bad at all, nothing's 100% original. just feel it in your bones. if you have an idea that you genuinely like, stick to it and work on it. everything else will come to you as you go. i appreciate your willingness to share a bit of the process here, it makes me feel motivated to go back to my writing. please keep going. i would definitely read anything you put out, i'm very intrigued by your thoughts

Boy sees a lot of what's wrong in the painting. Is there something special about this scene that gives him a strong feeling about how it should look? Does he habitually judge things harshly? Top knot violates the rules of the space and is ignored. This hangs over the scene as more important than what you move on to. The description of her clothing feels flat. Do her clothing choices say something about her; does his observation of them reveal something about him? Is this another opportunity to show him judging what he sees? It seems like you abandoned the plan to focus on sensation, and pivoted to thought, which is fine unless you really want to commit to the idea. Thanks for sharing!

There's nothing wrong with working with the elements of a story like you're doing. Sometimes, you work a sentence or paragraph or a few pages and you find something you couldn't have planned out. But, I noticed that you have a way of writing a sentence and then having a concluding phrase which you elaborate in three or four different phrases. Try to tighten this up. Those phases are good but they're pointing you back to the main sentence... you were trying to say something and each of those attempts are attempts to get at it. I suppose what I'm saying is: read more Hemingway. Very much enjoyed listening to this.

hi alex this is my first time ever commenting on one of your videos and before i get into this particular one i’d like to say ive been actively watching your channel for a while now and i really enjoy hearing your perspective on the many things you read so i always look forward to a new video from you! I was really hesitant to pick up any of Nabokov’s work but your video on ‘The Luzhin Defense’ really peaked my interest for that particular novel. As for the excerpt you shared, i really enjoyed it and would love to see what you do with it in the future and maybe even see the creative process behind the whole story if youd be open to share that to the channel.