More bad book discussion on the SBU discord! discord.gg/RSuU5CeDSU This book was suggested by a channel member! Channel members get access to our writing community, Empress Theresa emojis, early access to uploads, and more! Join here: www.youtube.com/@sbu_englishclub/join
A sugar house is where maple sap is gathered and boiled down into syrup. The group of trees from which the sap is gathered is called a sugar bush, in case that ever comes up. "Sugar bush" is also a terrible pick-up line. Don't ask me how I know.
He returns to his small town after several years and all the same establishments are open and they're owned by the same people?? I live in a rural town and we don't even have the same things that were open five years ago. (But somehow the restaurant that no one with tastebuds enters is still open?)
I wonder what the "rules" are for setting a story in a real world town. Tons of small towns have murder mystery series, though they always come off as pleasant places to visit despite the semi-annual homicide rate.
I hate how nonbinary people needing to use a bathroom (or just existing in general) is always such a low-hanging cheap easy stab for the sake of meanness. Regardless of whether it's porody, it doesn't have anything to do with the actual plot it's just a fun free potshot that people love to make. Also love the misuse of the word TERF, because that implies that the character is a feminist as a prerequisite for being a radical exclusionary one...and somehow I doubt that
if I have to hear about bathrooms one more time I’m gonna flip out. It’s such a needless distraction and like you said it can ONLY be brought up in a mean way. And yeah, I really don’t think gender should be a “debate”, but if you’re determined to make it one could they at least learn the basic terms and concepts before we make up imaginary nonbinary people to be mad at?
"rant review" is this gonna be like. A dark corrupted magical girl english club episode? Wether or not it is, excited to finish this video and see where it goes!
Hi guys! I’m back! And already I the first five is minutes , I have a new take on Death Of The Author! Edit 2: an Internet cafe is a public place like a cafe with good internet. Edit 3: in my opinion, golf is pretentious Edit 4: hey my edits are back! Of course it’s OuO foreigners from New York. Also, I think a non-binary person would just use the bathroom that’s closest how they’re presenting. Edit: none of this is how anything works. Eff it. :/ Lol undertale
My guess about the lack of a church presence comes from a similar place as yours, with it coming from the western genre. I'm guessing that there's a certain preacher/priest character archetype that Johnstone uses when it comes to that (in the way that, to use the book's own language, there seems to usually be a token black character to prove the main character/narration isn't racist, just tradition-bound), and there was no room for that archetype here- it probably comes down to Gus being so independently morally righteous that he wouldn't have a need to bounce off of someone meant to sell him on being a good guy (as I'd expect from a morally ambiguous gunslinging anti-hero). I'm villainy is also just... so hilarious in here. It's all cheesy action movie dialogue that's never actually threatening. And it's SO afraid of making its main characters look bad that it completely refuses to make named villains look anything aside from spineless or theatrically evil, though the vast nameless mobs aren't exactly better. Like, you don't HAVE to make your villains all that nuanced in an action-packed thriller, but it's straight up not fun to have your super cool protagonist's main foe be uninteresting, or already massively losing. There's a reason that spineless henchmen generally become more interesting threats after they get fed up with being pushed around- making your villain a POV character and using it just to show that, guess what, he sucks exactly in the way you expected him to, is a complete waste of the POV. There is maybe no better way to illustrate that you're just writing a dumb little power fantasy where all your enemies are emasculated idiots who can't think for themselves. Which... I mean, it is a power fantasy, but it's a really pathetic one. You'd think you'd aim a little higher than inventing a guy you can punch down at. (Maybe it's my own villainy poking out, but you can just punch down in real life.) Ashley is also such a sad character to me, just in a more general sense. I've seen characters written exactly like her in stories that are supposed to be, uh... not misogynistic? Women that get centered around men and have extremely intense trauma happen to them, which in turn is projected into being a massive trauma for the man. Which, having a story that explores how an extremely traumatic event would affect not only the victim but also their partner is a perfectly realistic premise (in which no one even has to act perfectly reasonably or do everything "right"), but so often it's just... steeped in this very weird possessiveness or as an excuse to write excessive violence. It's this weird, silent insistence that women take on pain, but it's men that actually suffer from it (which is a whole other bag of shit to wade through). That is, in stories like these, until they destroy the Pain Source and fix everything forever, because Real Men don't dwell on trauma, or whatever (I'm reminded of the extremely mishandled mention of Audie Murphy from Trigger Warning, saying that his/a man's "safe space" is behind a massive weapon). Overall? The Johnstone books bleed with insecurity. The villains are never actually more powerful than the heroes, because of some pathetic flaw of theirs which gets constantly contrasted against the hero's main strength. But there's also unseen masses of people waiting around every corner to destroy someone. The only way to assert one's place is to destroy everything else, to never let anything come close enough to threaten you. There is a constant need to prove one's ability to destroy all these threats, that at a moment's notice they will know exactly how to manage a crisis. But it's not confidence, or capability, it's just fear. In any other story these characters would be remarkably paranoid- they just happen to be in a fictional world where this constant fear and assertion is rewarded. But they're definitely not victims, or anything. Because there's some degree of perceived defeat and shame in being a "victim." It makes sense, though. Insecurity, fear, and extremism tend to all go hand in hand. That cohesion is maybe what scares me most- even if this particular piece or author aren't serious, I think the work is incredibly reflective of genuine mentalities that exist, just presented here in an inspiringly awful and two-dimensional plot.
I do wish we’d talked about that insecurity you mentioned because that’s such a good point. If you have to constantly call out how big and strong and noble you are, it’s a pretty good indication that you spend a lot of time thinking the opposite. I just wish I knew the why the Johnstone brand has come to this and how
30:11 Let me make sure I'm correctly understanding what you just said: Randall, acting solely on Ashley's word that a particular bar patron was the one who assaulted her, beat the guy up, then attempted to do something that UA-cam would definitely censor this comment for if I repeated it... and the other guy got arrested?
@@JimmySmith692 my opinion is yes-this is TOO much to be unintentional. Someone-JA herself or some other saboteur-is intentionally shitting out these ridiculous stories
Ill be honest i think ots resentment she resents her uncle and how she is forced to write for his work and never got to write her own work. And is taking it out of the book and the audience she has to write for
@@sbu_englishclub most likely that also, there's so much to this then we realize but i think its she wanted to write her own stuff but her family is making her, and at this point she wants to take it out on the stories, cause its not really what she wants to write.
More bad book discussion on the SBU discord! discord.gg/RSuU5CeDSU
This book was suggested by a channel member! Channel members get access to our writing community, Empress Theresa emojis, early access to uploads, and more! Join here: www.youtube.com/@sbu_englishclub/join
I imagine country music starts playing as you start reading a Johnstone book and gets louder the further into it you read.
That’s actually a really great metaphor-by the time the bikers get into the school it’s just deafening
Yeah and it's Try That In a Small Town on a loop!
A sugar house is where maple sap is gathered and boiled down into syrup.
The group of trees from which the sap is gathered is called a sugar bush, in case that ever comes up.
"Sugar bush" is also a terrible pick-up line. Don't ask me how I know.
Truly a lost art of true americans. And yeah I’d take “sugar bush” as an insult 😂😂
He returns to his small town after several years and all the same establishments are open and they're owned by the same people?? I live in a rural town and we don't even have the same things that were open five years ago. (But somehow the restaurant that no one with tastebuds enters is still open?)
LITERALLY it’s always the same gross ass restaurant I stg
I wonder what the "rules" are for setting a story in a real world town. Tons of small towns have murder mystery series, though they always come off as pleasant places to visit despite the semi-annual homicide rate.
As long as you have your quirky archetypes and sense of quaint little community, anything goes
I hate how nonbinary people needing to use a bathroom (or just existing in general) is always such a low-hanging cheap easy stab for the sake of meanness. Regardless of whether it's porody, it doesn't have anything to do with the actual plot it's just a fun free potshot that people love to make.
Also love the misuse of the word TERF, because that implies that the character is a feminist as a prerequisite for being a radical exclusionary one...and somehow I doubt that
if I have to hear about bathrooms one more time I’m gonna flip out. It’s such a needless distraction and like you said it can ONLY be brought up in a mean way. And yeah, I really don’t think gender should be a “debate”, but if you’re determined to make it one could they at least learn the basic terms and concepts before we make up imaginary nonbinary people to be mad at?
"rant review" is this gonna be like. A dark corrupted magical girl english club episode? Wether or not it is, excited to finish this video and see where it goes!
Putting corrupted magical girl episode on the to do list
This story escalated quickly one second they're doing a parade now we have people shooting on the streets
And then the next second there’s that whole horrible thing at the school
Hi guys! I’m back! And already I the first five is minutes , I have a new take on Death Of The Author!
Edit 2: an Internet cafe is a public place like a cafe with good internet.
Edit 3: in my opinion, golf is pretentious
Edit 4: hey my edits are back! Of course it’s OuO foreigners from New York. Also, I think a non-binary person would just use the bathroom that’s closest how they’re presenting.
Edit: none of this is how anything works. Eff it. :/
Lol undertale
I'd be interested to hear about a comparable Will Johnstone book from prior to his death.
Oh believe me that is so in the works because same I have to know what Will was like
Wait Racism is real? My day has just been ruined 😢
Our job as content creators is to reveal hidden truths that may not be comfortable
@@sbu_englishclub Impossible. I as a white person have never suffered anti-black bigotry so explain that.
@@AnEnemySpy456 you just wait til Braden Stranger comes to your town
Maybe I'm insane; but isnt this story just about colonialism?
100% Which is ironic for a bunch of reasons but yes at its core it’s an irredentist/colonial story
First time listener and new sub, but have you covered any of Ben Shapiro's "novels"? If not i feel you guys would have a field day!
Just True Allegiance so far! Kinda scared to see what else he’s got lmao
@@sbu_englishclub I heard that!
My guess about the lack of a church presence comes from a similar place as yours, with it coming from the western genre. I'm guessing that there's a certain preacher/priest character archetype that Johnstone uses when it comes to that (in the way that, to use the book's own language, there seems to usually be a token black character to prove the main character/narration isn't racist, just tradition-bound), and there was no room for that archetype here- it probably comes down to Gus being so independently morally righteous that he wouldn't have a need to bounce off of someone meant to sell him on being a good guy (as I'd expect from a morally ambiguous gunslinging anti-hero).
I'm villainy is also just... so hilarious in here. It's all cheesy action movie dialogue that's never actually threatening. And it's SO afraid of making its main characters look bad that it completely refuses to make named villains look anything aside from spineless or theatrically evil, though the vast nameless mobs aren't exactly better. Like, you don't HAVE to make your villains all that nuanced in an action-packed thriller, but it's straight up not fun to have your super cool protagonist's main foe be uninteresting, or already massively losing. There's a reason that spineless henchmen generally become more interesting threats after they get fed up with being pushed around- making your villain a POV character and using it just to show that, guess what, he sucks exactly in the way you expected him to, is a complete waste of the POV. There is maybe no better way to illustrate that you're just writing a dumb little power fantasy where all your enemies are emasculated idiots who can't think for themselves. Which... I mean, it is a power fantasy, but it's a really pathetic one. You'd think you'd aim a little higher than inventing a guy you can punch down at. (Maybe it's my own villainy poking out, but you can just punch down in real life.)
Ashley is also such a sad character to me, just in a more general sense. I've seen characters written exactly like her in stories that are supposed to be, uh... not misogynistic? Women that get centered around men and have extremely intense trauma happen to them, which in turn is projected into being a massive trauma for the man. Which, having a story that explores how an extremely traumatic event would affect not only the victim but also their partner is a perfectly realistic premise (in which no one even has to act perfectly reasonably or do everything "right"), but so often it's just... steeped in this very weird possessiveness or as an excuse to write excessive violence. It's this weird, silent insistence that women take on pain, but it's men that actually suffer from it (which is a whole other bag of shit to wade through). That is, in stories like these, until they destroy the Pain Source and fix everything forever, because Real Men don't dwell on trauma, or whatever (I'm reminded of the extremely mishandled mention of Audie Murphy from Trigger Warning, saying that his/a man's "safe space" is behind a massive weapon).
Overall? The Johnstone books bleed with insecurity. The villains are never actually more powerful than the heroes, because of some pathetic flaw of theirs which gets constantly contrasted against the hero's main strength. But there's also unseen masses of people waiting around every corner to destroy someone. The only way to assert one's place is to destroy everything else, to never let anything come close enough to threaten you. There is a constant need to prove one's ability to destroy all these threats, that at a moment's notice they will know exactly how to manage a crisis. But it's not confidence, or capability, it's just fear. In any other story these characters would be remarkably paranoid- they just happen to be in a fictional world where this constant fear and assertion is rewarded. But they're definitely not victims, or anything. Because there's some degree of perceived defeat and shame in being a "victim."
It makes sense, though. Insecurity, fear, and extremism tend to all go hand in hand. That cohesion is maybe what scares me most- even if this particular piece or author aren't serious, I think the work is incredibly reflective of genuine mentalities that exist, just presented here in an inspiringly awful and two-dimensional plot.
I do wish we’d talked about that insecurity you mentioned because that’s such a good point. If you have to constantly call out how big and strong and noble you are, it’s a pretty good indication that you spend a lot of time thinking the opposite. I just wish I knew the why the Johnstone brand has come to this and how
oh thank goodness!! im crunching at work this video came out at the perfect time
Get shit done but don’t forget to steal time as much as possible!
30:11 Let me make sure I'm correctly understanding what you just said: Randall, acting solely on Ashley's word that a particular bar patron was the one who assaulted her, beat the guy up, then attempted to do something that UA-cam would definitely censor this comment for if I repeated it... and the other guy got arrested?
Yes, no notes, this is exactly what happens
@sbu_englishclub Do you think J.A. Johnstone realizes that she's painting a very unflattering picture of small-town cops with that scene?
@@JimmySmith692 my opinion is yes-this is TOO much to be unintentional. Someone-JA herself or some other saboteur-is intentionally shitting out these ridiculous stories
Ill be honest i think ots resentment she resents her uncle and how she is forced to write for his work and never got to write her own work. And is taking it out of the book and the audience she has to write for
I agree with you, mostly because it’s either that or this dead guy’s legacy has been completely hijacked by ill-intentioned ghostwriters
@@sbu_englishclub most likely that also, there's so much to this then we realize but i think its she wanted to write her own stuff but her family is making her, and at this point she wants to take it out on the stories, cause its not really what she wants to write.