This was honestly SO validating. I’ve never heard an avid reader talk about how they struggle to read classics and it’s honestly made me doubt myself. I’ve seen these at bookstores but never bought one bc I thought I couldn’t read classics.

@colorlesswonderland

Жыл бұрын

You are and always have been able to read classics; they can be scary but I promise you are a good reader and will crush them!

Wow the number of times I’ve read one paragraph and not felt like a good enough reader 😂 glad someone else has felt the same

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah joining Booktube was the best thing for my reading mental health because I found videos where people were going through the same reading struggles that I was! So I always want to be as transparent as possible on this! Thank you for the comment!

@alb0zfinest

2 жыл бұрын

@@colorlesswonderland I’m sure you get enough recommendations, but let me add to it anyway 😛. Germinal by Emile Zola. It’s about a coalminers strike in France in the 1860s. Even though written in 1885, it reads very modern and is probably one of the best classics I have ever read (and I’ve read many English classics, American classics, Russian classics and Latin American classics).

Just as a side note - NYR Books always have the most stunning/mesmerizing book covers. Whoever works within the art department needs several kisses.

This is exactly how I feel about all of my nyrb books, I was lucky enough to find Stoner at a used bookstore and it's the next book to read! Naked Earth is such a banger!

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

Naked Earth is absolutely riveting right now I am so excited to talk about it

@chriss3625

2 жыл бұрын

I keep seeing Stoner come up… ok, adding to tbr list now… 😀

I’ve noticed that 19th century books for “young readers” are some of the best classics I’ve read. Florence Kingsley, Emma Leslie, and EDEN Southworth come to mind.

@BadgerOfTheSea

Жыл бұрын

They were written at a time that people didn't talk down to young people. They wrote about things young people like that adults may feel not sophisticated enough, but its in a similar tone. Basically saying "sure kids like different things to what adults like but they are not dumb".

@patrickking9600

Жыл бұрын

@@BadgerOfTheSea yeah that’s a good point, before they had childhood classified as its own “science” to be studied, kids were just treated like little adults.

Your self critical commentary on “reader imposture syndrome” was elucidating. Thank you for it ✨

NYRB is literally the 'Criterion Collection' for books, great vid! Subbed and cheers from India :)

I love NYRB Classics, especially the new copy of The Anatomy of Melancholy, which is ridiculously cheap. It’s frankly amazing to me that we can own this book for so cheap, I mean for centuries it wasn’t at all accessible, it’s just so amazing to have such a great book for so cheap, when that book was ridiculously expensive for centuries.

@samhammond7575

2 жыл бұрын

you said it’s cheap five times!

@blakeray9856

Ай бұрын

I discovered this book not long before the NYRB edition became available, and up to that time, it was very hard to find. I used a library, and scoured all the used book stores I could. I bought the Anatomy of Melancholy in the NYRB edition as soon as it was available. It is my number 1 favorite book of all time. More recently, it has been published in a new Penguin edition, which is excellent and I got it in an ebook version. The NYRB edition is a reprint of an older three-volume Everyman edition. But it is great and I would never part with it!

I agree on the nyrb and criterion comparison! They both highlight such underrated gems in their respective mediums. If you’re up for it, a tour of your nyrb collection would be sweet!

Im loving this alternative booktube content. I discovered your channel 2 days ago and already bought a book recommended by you. I'm loving it, man. Keep going :)

Dude thank you so much! What a passionate "manifesto" for reading and ESPECIALLY when you do NOT understand everything. The joy: going into something unprepared, intuitive, going with the flow of the words and then being transformed about it, getting outside your comfort zone etc etc etc! As the host of the Second Life Book Club I KNOW how you feel in re self-confidence ;) every week a new author and I feel I need to project an aura of KNOWLEDGE about literature and context etc while the point is DISCOVERY and JOY and being ABSORBED by worlds that may be intimidating and DESTABILIZING you even, at least temporarily. Anyhow = great stuff man!

When I started seriously reading again in my early twenties, I devoured everything from classics to contemporaries, and just like you, it seems like it's that middle ground of "contemporary classics" (late 40s to early 90s) that really ended up doing it for me. Very few can beat authors like Gombrowicz and Kawabata, and not to mention Williams. Always nice to hear your thoughts, looking forward to following you along the lovely road of reading!

My first NYRB Classic was Skylark by Dezső Kosztolányi, and it kickstarted a pretty strong obsession for me too. I wasn't even really much of a reader at the time, but it was short and I liked the cover so I rented it from my local library. I loved it, and when I returned it and looked through the shelves I started seeing more and more of those familiar spines all over the shelves. That kind of uniformity of design is really striking to the eye so it makes it really easy to spot the books on shelves; the first few experiences I had with their publications were really positive so it inspired trust in the quality of the material, and those two qualities (in addition to everything you said in the video, which I didn't even really think about until now) are what caused me to actually be able to turn recreational reading into a hobby that I do consistently. Not sure which books you've already read, but the aforementioned Skylark, Qiu Miaojin's Notes of a Crocodile, and Elliott Chaze's Black Wings Has My Angel stick out to me as especially high quality.

This was such an interesting video. I’ve never seen any other of your videos, this was randomly recommended to me, but I stayed because you made me intrigued right off the start. I’ve never heard anyone talk about such unique topics and It’s always interesting to listen to people like you.

Ooh, yeah, nice editions! Thanks for introducing them to me.

An educator wearing that shirt gives me hope for our future. Thank you.

Really fascinated by this, honestly have no idea if I’ve come across NYRBs or not but I’m gonna pay attention now. This reminded me of when I was 12 and started reading a tale of two cities and loved it but felt like I didn’t fully understand what it was about so waited a few years to read it fully and really felt like that was the right call. I grew as a reader between time. I also pace myself with classics, they do wear you out! I usually cycle through a easier read, a classic, And a non fiction so I’m never fully burnt out on something haha

Stoner was (and still is) my first NYRB copy too!!

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

It's truly an incredible book that the more I think about the more it's a shame I haven't read it 100 times already

First time watching your channel and I loved this video! Been looking for these books everywhere, I know the covers but didn’t know from where. I am excited and thankful and my wallet is now in tears.

omg i’ve never seen these editions before! they’re so pretty wow!!

the way I relate to this is uncanny thanks for making me realise how i feel about classics

I'm really excited to have my first NYRB arrive in the next week and it's also Stoner! I too loved their website and I have no less than about 20 of their books that I'm eyeing to buy over the next few years. I mostly read the classics and so finding out about all of these under read and previously out of print books has been like discovering a treasure trove. I'm so excited to see what they are like and slowly grow my collection.

thank you so much for introducing me to this!!! I'm in love with the editions and I'll probably read one of their books this month!!!!

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

I cant wait for you to check them out! Let me know which ones you get and what you end up thinking about them!

Wow, everything you described about nyrb books sounds so very up my alley - I am a Criterion enthusiast as well lol - and browsing their collection now has me so excited to check some out!! Very contagious enthusiasm, thank you for sharing 🙌

Yess!! Love the nyrb editions!! They are gorgeous

The books just feel so damn good too! Something about the paper and size, just great hand feel. So far Victor Serge has been my favorite NYRB discovery!

I totally relate to the feeling of going through phases of confidence with reading! Sometimes I pick up a book and get intimidated by the language or the sentence structure, even though I've been a voracious reader my whole life. I have a copy of Eve Babitz's "Slow Days, Fast Company" and I'm reading it next because of this recc!

This is such a fun video, you're so darn articulate! Love to see it.

Great video as always, and congrats on the 12k! I'm also from a small town in MA! I can only imagine how surreal the amount of support feels, even though it's well deserved.

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah we love our small town Massachusetts people here!

Yes!! Introductions are so important! I recently read a Marilyn French intro to Edith Wharton’s Summer and it really enriched the way I look at her work and how it evolved, how radical it was for it’s time and other things.

omg your catcher in the rye poster is the most beautiful thing i've seen

NYRB and New Directions are always putting out bangers!

@beauritten9112

2 жыл бұрын

For New Directions I highly recommend Mrs. Caliban, His Name Was Death, and Miss Lonelyhearts & The Day of the Locust (they're all fairly short) as starters if you want to stick with contemporary classics.

First time stumbling onto your video. This video, your personal story and most of all the way you talk about things are amazing! I subscribed 8mins into watching, it was a no-brainer.

Just finished this first video, and loved listening to you, looking forward to the next ones :)

This is the first vid from you I came across and I like how you talk about them and I checked out the other videos you made and they're all very interesting topics! Immediately subscribed!

Wow that’s how I realized I loved penguin too when I was enjoying the long intros they provided when I read The Count of Monte Cristo!

I had no idea NYRB existed! The editions look great. I need to start paying more attention to publications and presses

THANK YOU for introducing me to NYRBs! Every book is a new favorite!

This exactly the content I didn't know I needed !!

This is the first video of yours that I’ve watched, and (perhaps because I don’t live in North America) I haven’t come across NYRB books before, so I’ll definitely have to look into these! Persephone Books in the UK is another publisher that publishes books that were out of print, and I’ve had a good time with some of their books, so I’m excited!

This video was in my recommendations and I feel lucky! You have a nice voice and cool way of speaking, and I feel happy that you talk about what you love the most! Thank you so much for the content! New subscriber here!

O my gosh i love the way you talk about books. So passionately. The vibe you have is amazing, a subscribe from me

Absolutely agree with you and your love of NYRBC because honestly me too. I was able to find Notes of a Crocodile through them a saphic Taiwanese story. Just the struggles you could see the author Qiu Miaojin reflect on her character, I am forever glad they are republishing these stories.

Sounds like when I’m in the mood for a classic, but also not in the mood for a classic, I’ll pick up those editions.

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

That is exactly my mindset with these!

You're audio quality sounds so great!

i love your channel, you motivate me to keep reading!!!🫶

Pretty good reads, that's for sure ... Nice shirt too btw

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you :)

I honestly think that you have just now inspired me more than I already was to start reading fiction. I typically read fantasy and sci-fi novels and am getting into history and philosophy but I’ve always been a bit cautious with fiction just because I believe that I will get bored with it very very quickly so the way you talk about it makes me want to give it a better shot than what I was giving it before

This video spoke to my soul. I also discovered NYRB through Stoner (which may actually be my favourite book of all time) and subsequently fell down a rabbit hole. I've now read 5 books from them and have loved them all. They really said all bangers all the time. The Criterion Collection comparison is spot on! I'm also obsessed with them.

@SkiingPwnsYou

2 жыл бұрын

@Kev S I think if you're okay with somewhat slow pacing and dense (but beautiful) prose then definitely give it a read. The book is beautiful because of the mundanity of Stoner. There's something that was so comforting about reading about a character who isn't extraordinary. He really just tried his best. The last 20 pages were so heart-achingly beautiful, I was caught off guard by how emotional I got. I've never cried so much over a book.

felt the need to mention how great the audio quality of this video is, damn

If you haven’t, definitely give some books from New Directions publishing a shot, too! Some of my favorites from them have been The Hole, by Hiroko Oyamada, Unclay, by T.F. Powys and The Houseguest, by Amparo Dávila.

@jessicawang6558

2 жыл бұрын

Seconded! New directions publishing is my NYRB : )

I really appreciated and related to this video! I read my first nyrb a month ago and loved it so much that i went and bought ten more (including Stoner!). Already have plans to buy more. Love them!!

I’m currently reading The Recognitions. Don’t be intimidated and just jump in whenever you’re ready. It’s going to take a long time but mostly because most of the passages are so amazing you’ll find yourself wanting to read them over and over. I have had some of the best reading experiences of my life so I’m extremely thankful of NYRB for these Gaddis reprintings.

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

I cant wait to read it then! Both Mark and Matt have heavily recommended it so many times so I will have to tackle that soon 👀

@chrollolucilfer3513

2 жыл бұрын

@@colorlesswonderland day 61 to tell you to pls read demon slayer at least 10 chapters

This is such a cool video!! ✨😊

I love NYRBs. I always look for them every time I visit a bookstore. In the beginning it was just because of how they looked but now I just love the content they put out.

NYRB books deserve more attention! What introduced me to the collection is this magnificent bildungsroman classic NOTES OF A CROCODILE by Qiu Miaojin (Translated from the Chinese by Bonnie Huie) and it still remains one of my favourite books of all time. If you're into historical fiction and bildungsroman, I highly, highly recommend it!

@leftiesmudge

6 ай бұрын

one of my favorite books of all time!!!! a special place in my heart fr

@nateskii

6 ай бұрын

@@leftiesmudge the aesthetic!!

Omg I remember Borders books! That takes me back to being a kid in that book wonderland. Anyway, great video.

Your comment about NYRB Classics being like the Criterion Collection is perfect. I completely agree!

I've enjoyed many Penguin classics and adore the NYRBs. LOVED Stoner. Stefan Zweig's writing is also wonderful. Go you!

Thanks for introducing me to this awesome website. Would love to watch a beginners guide of what nyrb books to start with!

I have literally described NYRB to my mother as the Criterion Collection of books! Great video.

I started scrolling through NYRB and there is already a few that got me curious. So different and love it.

i've seen a few of your videos but your shirt made me a subscriber today

I have the big Allen Ginsberg NYRB and it's great. I never see them in my bookstore so I don't ever think about checking their library out. I really need to....

my boyfriend introduced me to nyrb and i haven’t gone back. Currently I have Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham and That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana by Carlo Emilio Gada. But I’m hoping to build out a collection!

we love an ally !! btw you should check out the penguin english library and oxford world classics edition, they would absolutely make a great collection. also noticed the tabs on your books and maybe take us on how you do annotations ??

@LuluST-nc6us

2 жыл бұрын

Great idea! I would live a video on annotation.

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

I have had a couple people ask me about annotations before and as much as I would love to say that I have a very intricate method of annotating my books, I really just mark passages that are well written/engaging/interesting/etc

Having a dark shelf full of worn out penguin classics is the highest mark of intellect a person can flex.

Very interesting video and different point of view, which was great help for me. Thanks you.

just found your channel & I love it here 🙂

Thank you very much for sharing, I've never heard about NYRB books but I'll definitely check them out! Interestingly I feel exactly the same for the books of an editor that we have here in Italy called "Sellerio" 📚

Life and Fate was my gateway to nyrb. Love going to someone’s house for the first time and seeing nyrb on the shelf. I think “Yay, the conversation isn’t going to suck.”

Love this! Felt the same way about NYRB

I think NYRB published a few of Eve Babitz’s books. Her writing is incredible!! Highly recommend

Pretty sure The Goshawk is included in these, and it's one of my favorite books of all time. I can't wait to look more into this!

You hit the nail on the head ! NYRBs are definitely taking me places I didn't think possible ! It's an expertly curated selection of books I have never ever heard of, but completely need in my life ! Just found "Black Wings Has My Angel" for $5 at an awesome shop here in San Diego.

I miss reading books in high school English class when we would learn about the author, time period and the context of books. Because now when I try to read a classic it’s harder since I have to actively learn any context of a book by myself 😂

We need that criterion showcase!

Great vid - and love the T-Shirt :))

Yes!!! Finally someone mentions NYRB!! Have been collecting these editions since I first found them :)

I love NYRB editions I have a little collection :) They're hard to find in my city so I look for them traveling or secondhand.

penguin introductions and extras are really great for tackling a classic text headon. only downside is that if you havent read the text by itself, the introductions can be real spoilery!

I’ve always had trouble with the Classics, and only recently tried to read them. Only beginning to enjoy them by taking them really slow. Good to see a book tuber admitting that Classics can be difficult. The NYRB s sound like a really good middle ground. Oh and congrats on your subscriber count. I’m watching from Ireland. 😊📚

Stoner was my first gateway NYRB drug, so to speak lol. I just found your channel and am loving it! Saw you're currently reading one of my favs: The Idiot by Batuman, hope you end up loving it!

(prepare for a novel of a comment) Hey, I stumbled upon this video and I really appreciate the message you have sent with the books you are reading. I have 2 things to say. Firstly, something that I realized while I was listening to you speak was that I hadn't really been reading books like how I feel I should have been. My 12th grade literature teacher touched briefly upon this style of reading, that you learn about the world and find historical context to realize what is happening throughout the book, but only at the beginning. I realized that as I read books, I'd like to learn as I go through it, not just set the stage for reading. While reading Hamlet, we learned a bit about the Danish area which it would take place and the many allegories to religion that Shakespeare mentions throughout the play, but what I realized from hearing you talk about learning about the book set during the period of the reign of Mao Zedong is that it can be an on-going process. So thank you for awakening my eyes to that idea. Secondly, when I heard that you had been losing confidence to the absolute depth of knowledge that there is to find, and that there is such depth that you discover as you read, I think that that's really understandable, I feel the same way, that when I read something so complex I feel like a fool because I can only understand it to such a depth and that somebody much better than I could pick up on the things that fly over my head. However, I think that dismay at the realization that there is so much to learn and that you find more as you read is not unfounded, but not something that you should find as a negative. I think that the idea of building knowledge and confidence in your ability is great, they're probably really enjoyable, but that depth shows your awareness and care to the ideas being presented in these novels. I don't know, I just wrote this comment because I got a little sad when you said that you felt like you weren't at that level of "reader" as you put it. I think you're doing just fine, there is boundless depth you could never reach, but I think that tackling it as you are is fine, you are growing as you find yourself feeling like a fool. Maybe this comment was more for me than you lol. Thanks!

great video and love that shirt btw :)

absolutely love the shirt bestie : )

Love the Penguin Classics editions. Somehow never heard of NYRB but will explore now.

I do like the NYRB editions I've had, but I mostly am not into the modern lit they reprint. I got their books each month for a year or so and then didn't renew the subscription.

You already were such a comfort wat h to me. But the shirt had me. I’m sold.

just stumbled across this video and I already love the way you present your ideas/opinions. def a new subscriber :) also I love your shirt haha

Love this ❤

I love NYRB books, although I think I've gotten more gnarly paper cuts from their sharp covers and paper than from any other publishing line. If you're ever in Minneapolis, there's a store here (Magers & Quinn) that has several full shelves of remaindered NYRB books all around $9 a piece. Also, kudos to NYRB for republishing THE Great American Horror Novel: The Other by Thomas Tryon.

@aniqadam1847

Жыл бұрын

I love Magers and Quinn!! They basically are my go to for NYRB books. Incredible selection.

A wonderful book put out by NYRB is Uwe Johnson's Anniversary: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl

Eileen Chang! Great taste 👍 thank you for recommending NYRB, i’ve never heard of them but checking out their website now!

Damn you’re good at talking. Subscribed!

The first nyrb I bought was Notes On the Cinematograph by Bresson because I found it in a second hand shop. Fell in love with the editions!!

@faithgirard2070

2 жыл бұрын

Also given that it was a Bresson book it’s hard to separate the Criterion association in my head, lol

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

I have that one too! It's an amazing edition especially if you love his movies!

Hi everyone! A lot of NYRB's are on sale right now at the Harvard Bookstore Warehouse Sale (online) until 7/11! They ship in the United States.

@colorlesswonderland

2 жыл бұрын

Emma you are my hero I had no idea that sale was going on and I just bought 13 books. I also got my other friends to buy books to it was euphoric

These NYRB editions are great and much needed. Some of the best books I have ever read. I highly recommend some recent ones, if you like Russian literature: The Story of a Life, by Konstantin Paustovky, the first half of an extraordinary memoir of a man who was a young adult at the time of the Russian Revolution. Even this first half is very long (769 pages), but it is very interesting and not difficult or dull. The author is sane and sensitive, and writes vivid pictures of people, places, nature, and of what is now a lost world. NYRB estions of Leskov and Platonov, two lesser known writers (in the West, at least) are very rewarding. And don't miss Patrick Leigh Fermor's "A Time of Gifts," a memoir of his walk across Europe on foot, solo, in his youth from Rotterdam to Constantinople in the 1930s. Incredible! There are many others. NYRB selects titles of real literary merit. You almost can't go wrong.

Wasn't sure if I could get NYRB editions in the UK, but a visit to my nearest bookshop showed that indeed we can and at the back of "We Think the World of You" which was what I bought, is a super list of titles showing just what is available. On a different note, will you be reviewing "The Professor's House" which I know you were in the process of reading?

I deeply understand getting used to an author style. The first page of Judith Buttler felt like trying to run underwater. The second book thing is chinese novels which I adore, but there is so much to go through before you NEED to understand in order to actually read it and I felt so proud the first time I actually understand their chit chat about traditional poetry and I did understand. It was a refrence of a poet that talked how his wife was just the best and how he didn't felt the appeal of any other human like he did to his wife. He goes to say other lands may have beautiful skies, but none it's like that one place he belongs.