Freddie, your NFL pick and general interest in fitness makes me wonder if you've ever come across Taylor Heineke's hilarious personal trainer, Joel Seedman
I'm sorry the book club is dying, if it is. I was gratefully enraptured by Demian, which I wouldn't have read if not for the club, and disappointed when the discussion of A Christmas Carol was cancelled. I just haven't been moved to read any of the other selections since then. The discussion of Confederacy of Dunces looked like one of the more engaging ones, but that book was not for me -- merely a matter of taste. Please don't give up!
ChatGPT is pretty good with literary analysis now. I think it's an area where the next generation of models will produce some pretty astounding results. Have you tried it yet?
Basic statistical analysis of text is very neat, but I'm guessing it'll be totally superseded very soon.
I hope the book club isn’t dying - I really enjoy it, and it’s bringing me to books I wouldn’t have otherwise read.
Maybe tie it closer to your regular posts? I missed a bunch of posts at the beginning of the club because I didn’t know where to find them.
I’m not sure what the alternative could be, but trying to avoid spoilers when discussing the early sections of books can be difficult. Maybe keep the structure - discussing books in chapters - but assume that everyone has finished the book from the start?
I really enjoyed the Demian book club but did not come back. I think it's just really tough to do it in the Substack model. It's really difficult to facilitate a discussion with people's Substack habits. As a friend who also subscribes here pointed out to me, it's really difficult to get involved in the book club if you have to wait until after work to post. I know I really wanted to read and think about people's comments on it, and I put a lot of thought into mine, and it meant I was completely out of sync with the way most people use Substack (where most comments are early and it dies out).
I don't think there's a way beyond that. It's easy with the regular posts because you can bang out a quick comment or joke or reply, but I'm not going to read a book club post then comment "lol, yeah, Emil is such a twerp." And it's really demoralizing to put thought into something and feel like you're sending it into the void. Unless Freddie is going to personally respond to every book club comment, I don't see a way around that. Maybe the chat feature? idk
I also don't read the Book Club posts anymore because it feels like if I'm not following along I won't get anything out of it. Maybe that's stupid? I'm not a big literary guy, I'm just a dumdum lawyer who struggles with fiction. But I really enjoy a lot of Freddie's book reviews (the Babysitter Club one is still the peak of Substack, by which I mean the entire platform) so maybe I'm just scared off because it feels like a commitment. Does anyone else feel this way?
Either way I feel guilty and if there's another book club I will try my best to get involved.
Freddie is on a roll with NFL picks, but so am I. This week I love Bengals -3.5 vs. TB. Brady is too old for this shit. Burrow is good, and Chase is one of the best. They roll easily here.
Good choice on the song. Mark Knopfler was what made me ever want to pick up a guitar as a kid. At least the first couple 2-3 of dire straits albums, before they sort of went off the rails. I managed to see him play right before covid locked everything down, and the guy has still got it. I don’t like everything he does nowadays, but good god can he make a guitar sing.
For what it’s worth, I very much enjoy passively consuming book club content even if I rarely comment. I do read along every week and expect there are many others like me. Very much hope it sticks around and I will take it as a challenge to myself to participate more actively.
Freddie, your NFL pick and general interest in fitness makes me wonder if you've ever come across Taylor Heineke's hilarious personal trainer, Joel Seedman
I'm sorry the book club is dying, if it is. I was gratefully enraptured by Demian, which I wouldn't have read if not for the club, and disappointed when the discussion of A Christmas Carol was cancelled. I just haven't been moved to read any of the other selections since then. The discussion of Confederacy of Dunces looked like one of the more engaging ones, but that book was not for me -- merely a matter of taste. Please don't give up!
ChatGPT is pretty good with literary analysis now. I think it's an area where the next generation of models will produce some pretty astounding results. Have you tried it yet?
Basic statistical analysis of text is very neat, but I'm guessing it'll be totally superseded very soon.
I hope the book club isn’t dying - I really enjoy it, and it’s bringing me to books I wouldn’t have otherwise read.
Maybe tie it closer to your regular posts? I missed a bunch of posts at the beginning of the club because I didn’t know where to find them.
I’m not sure what the alternative could be, but trying to avoid spoilers when discussing the early sections of books can be difficult. Maybe keep the structure - discussing books in chapters - but assume that everyone has finished the book from the start?
The dice was loaded? Is this a reference to something? Isn't it - the die was loaded, or the dice were loaded?
Especially choice Comment of the Week!
I really enjoyed the Demian book club but did not come back. I think it's just really tough to do it in the Substack model. It's really difficult to facilitate a discussion with people's Substack habits. As a friend who also subscribes here pointed out to me, it's really difficult to get involved in the book club if you have to wait until after work to post. I know I really wanted to read and think about people's comments on it, and I put a lot of thought into mine, and it meant I was completely out of sync with the way most people use Substack (where most comments are early and it dies out).
I don't think there's a way beyond that. It's easy with the regular posts because you can bang out a quick comment or joke or reply, but I'm not going to read a book club post then comment "lol, yeah, Emil is such a twerp." And it's really demoralizing to put thought into something and feel like you're sending it into the void. Unless Freddie is going to personally respond to every book club comment, I don't see a way around that. Maybe the chat feature? idk
I also don't read the Book Club posts anymore because it feels like if I'm not following along I won't get anything out of it. Maybe that's stupid? I'm not a big literary guy, I'm just a dumdum lawyer who struggles with fiction. But I really enjoy a lot of Freddie's book reviews (the Babysitter Club one is still the peak of Substack, by which I mean the entire platform) so maybe I'm just scared off because it feels like a commitment. Does anyone else feel this way?
Either way I feel guilty and if there's another book club I will try my best to get involved.
Freddie is on a roll with NFL picks, but so am I. This week I love Bengals -3.5 vs. TB. Brady is too old for this shit. Burrow is good, and Chase is one of the best. They roll easily here.
Good choice on the song. Mark Knopfler was what made me ever want to pick up a guitar as a kid. At least the first couple 2-3 of dire straits albums, before they sort of went off the rails. I managed to see him play right before covid locked everything down, and the guy has still got it. I don’t like everything he does nowadays, but good god can he make a guitar sing.
For what it’s worth, I very much enjoy passively consuming book club content even if I rarely comment. I do read along every week and expect there are many others like me. Very much hope it sticks around and I will take it as a challenge to myself to participate more actively.