Ligotti Entering the Mainstream

[Liam Barden]

Quote Originally Posted by Nirvana In Karma

Quote Originally Posted by Prince James Zaleski I don't think reading horror fiction is a mainstream activity. I don't think reading is a mainstream activity. It appears James is, unfortunately, on the verge of being correct. Book consumption per capita in the U.S. 2014 | Statistic

I honestly don't know anyone who reads novels or short stories for entertainment, IRL. Maybe it's because of my age - 27 - but when I tell people I'm interested in reading and writing they routinely assume I'm some kind of atavistic, stick in the mud, intellectual/eccentric. Even all the hipster kooks I know only read Kafka's Metamorphosis to impress girls, the general consensus is – it's boring.

Quote Originally Posted by Liam Barden

Even all the hipster kooks I know only read Kafka's Metamorphosis to impress girls, the general consensus is – it's boring.

"We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't #### them."
-- John Waters

I feel you, Liam. Even my junior year Modern Literature class was populated with people that didn't particularly like to read, let alone anything particularly literary. The teacher teased us with a couple of Bradbury and Agatha Christie stories, then devoted the remainder of the semester feeding us YA trash. And she dropped one of these books because a student complained a car crash scene was graphic, even though the previous book had rape and suicide in it and he didn't pipe up.

I swear she doesn't even know what Modernism is.

[Liam Barden]

We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't f••k them.
– John Waters

Hahaha, Cliff Sargent uses that John Waters quote at the end of his Better than Food: Book reviews . . . I'd be doing a lot less f••king if I took his advice . . .

Marquis de Sade - 120 Days of Sodom - YouTube

Quote Originally Posted by Liam Barden

We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't f••k them. – John Waters Hahaha, Cliff Sargent uses that John Waters quote at the end of his Better than Food: Book reviews . . . I'd be doing a lot less f••king if I took his advice . . . Marquis de Sade - 120 Days of Sodom - YouTube

Congratulations, you have found my favorite YT channel.

[ToALonelyPeace]

Quote Originally Posted by Nirvana In Karma

And she dropped one of these books because a student complained a car crash scene was graphic, even though the previous book had rape and suicide in it and he didn't pipe up.

When I visited my English teacher, she told me her class was offended there were hints of incest in Hamlet and refused to read it.
I also heard of complaints about the books being too depressing, the vocabulary too difficult, nothing makes sense..etc.

Quote Originally Posted by ToALonelyPeace

Quote Originally Posted by Nirvana In Karma And she dropped one of these books because a student complained a car crash scene was graphic, even though the previous book had rape and suicide in it and he didn't pipe up. When I visited my English teacher, she told me her class was offended there were hints of incest in Hamlet and refused to read it. I also heard of complaints about the books being too depressing, the vocabulary too difficult, nothing makes sense..etc.

Curious how, in my case at least, the majority of the class considers the Bible sacred, yet protests synonymous content in other works.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I think it might be an excuse they think they can get away with to not read difficult books.

[paeng]

I used to assign the following for one intro to fiction class in uni:

Dubliners by Joyce
Metamorphosis by Kafka
Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky
Heart of Darkness by Conrad
Death in Venice by Mann
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy
Lolita by Nabokov
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez

[Alarm Agent]

Quote Originally Posted by Liam Barden

Marquis de Sade - 120 Days of Sodom - YouTube

Just dropping by innocently and then saw this. I admittedly watched the cinematic romantic comedy version by Pasolini before reading the book long ago when i became 18.
As for Ligotti entering the mainstream : I doubt that cosmicism ever becomes a widely accepted wordview and stripped bare of that Ligotti's (or Lovecraft's) stories remain just weird little anecdotes that pose no threat to the human security system (Land) with it's imaginary values.

[Zaharoff]

Quote Originally Posted by miguel1984

I do not think he will be fully accepted by the mainstream, or at least not for years. In my view, the mainstream (if it can be considered as an entity) will regard him with contempt and categorize him as a crazy antinatalist nihilist and move on to the next superhero movie . . .

Quote Originally Posted by Prince James Zaleski

I think Ligotti is still far off from becoming mainstream. It's hard to imagine him reaching Rowling or Meyer levels of success. Surreal horror isn't something I could see escaping niche appeal any time soon. He'll be as popular as something like Eraserhead is unless society become a lot more open minded very soon. . .

I doubt Ligotti will enjoy a fraction of the acceptance Lovecraft has.
To be blunt, I don't think HPL is accepted - Cthulhu is.
I have seen numerous folk wearing t-shirts with tentacles, bumper stickers CTHULHU FOR PRESIDENT, or Cthulhu tattoos.
Ask them their favorite Lovecraft stories and you receive a glassy eyed "Do-what?"
Ligotti is even more challenging, especially with a population that is losing the capability to read.
Moreover, TL has no sexy monster for the mob to gibber about.
Ligotti = fringe.