Vampyrique

Distant relatives seems the theme: I just finished The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu, a distant relative to the Countess. I enjoyed this novel. Two narratives entwined, including a retelling of the Bathory affair. Dracula the Un-dead by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. At times it was alright, at times it was dreadful. Hardly a worthy sequel to the original masterwork. Questionable character changes, cheap tie-ins and cliches, even a cringey Darth Vader moment. Not quite, I'm no John Dee. Quite the opposite. I tried turning some hefty tomes into audiobook form via Enochian magic, but I'm afraid nothing will be audible if my ears are cut off like Edward Kelley's. I'll be sure to pick up Cryptonomicon if I see it. He seems like an author that I would like. Alas, my to-read list is quite lengthy so I'm not sure when I'll even get around to The Baroque Cycle.

That's all fake noose, but that's old news to me. Indeed, you're on fire with those arms of yours, but I'm afraid you're the one about to be roasted! Now, any nous is good nous, and you'd be better off producing some so you can keep your wits about you. Otherwise, you'll be dusted off like tiny pieces heaped into a work of motes-art and swept up by a brume of bad punnery, no (dead)pan required. Best you stay bach, or my wolves, with their fur-elise, will keep you at bay-thoven, sonata thing you can do about it! Okay, that last one was dreadful, near suicidal. Best we talk like Victorian gentlemen over tea and crumpets and discuss Anglo imperialism or some such matter?

@the_thrashing Sounds like you need a cure for your ails, perhaps The Cure. The goth scene is mostly about fashion and makeup. O the shallow vanity of identity!

I've actually not read any of Neal's books. I picked up the trilogy at a used bookstore because of my interest in alchemy and philosophy, and because they were pretty cheap and in hardcover format. Later I found a couple of his other novels including Anathem, but not Cryptonomicon. I know it has a great reputation, what do you think of it?

Paradise regained, I think not. But let's not make the mistake of raising the stakes. Rest assured, grave concern should be undertaken when challenging the likes of me. After all, what good is a silent requiem...

I have the Baroque Cycle (and Anathem) but have yet to read any of them. As I vaguely understand, the trilogy consists of different threads that are divided amongst the three books - is this accurate?

Vinyl sounds better to my ears. CDs could sound better than they do but typically suffer from loathsome hyper-compressed mixes.

Nothing at all, actually.

I'm afraid Paradise Lost is what they call England these days.

Hast thou not, O my brother, convened with Quetzalcoatl himself and sought permission to appropriate said culture of He? Perhaps a humble token who, extant, represents the whole of the people can grant thee dispensation in accordance with the politica rectitudo of our current sinistral trend in time before it ceases to be? How my ironic superiority complex doubly strikes me with pangs of guilt when Nile's music floods my headphones. Rather, it is a vile river of shame that is needlessly bled to their name. How dare it be that such fools can exist without Ra's eternal blessing!

Religious belief will always prevail, whatever the form. And groups of people need to believe in something, don't they? There's a phenomenon that occurs in occult circles: the more abstruse, obscure and esoteric, the more impressive it appears to be, since it will seem that only the true initiate will grasp its true arcane wisdom and make use of it. It also adds to the psychodrama of the ritual. Which of Crowley's books have you got?

The mental makeup of a serial killer makes for a fascinating study. I think it's common that when one sees another person's side of the story, sympathy ensues, even a sense of identity or affinity. Everyone feels misunderstood or struggles in life, so it's easier for most to relate to a 'misunderstood' outsider. People are more likely to be turned off by those who are successful, or those praised for being beautiful and seemingly 'perfect'. But rebellious attitudes and a collective sense of nihilism and cynicism towards humanity are probably a huge part of it as well. And perhaps some mental issues.... Interesting to note that one of Richard Ramirez' faithful admirers was deathrocker Eva O.

This is true, but I think this only reflects the surface level. You're talking about persuasion but do not forget about the more insidious programming known as 'pre-suasion'. In other words, you set up the framework that guides people to the conclusion that you want them to reach; only, these people are convinced that they arrived at said conclusion by their own judgement. Thus, the emotional power in one's own belief takes hold. Whether it be organized religion, science and academia, or any standard cult, a hierarchical structure involving levels and compartmentalization is vital to controlling the management and flow of information. If each person only has a small piece of the puzzle, then nobody can actually put together the entire picture or even has the authority to question the veracity of another who is seemingly more qualified in a particular field outside of your own. There are examples of this everywhere. Cults are everywhere.

Crowley is fascinating. He has certainly left his imprint on today's culture in both good and bad ways. Hardly the 'wickedest man in the world', yet it seems The Great Beast fathered much of today's degeneracy and hedonism. Nevertheless, his legacy has endured the dull tedium of the modern mind; that mundanity of materialism that robs us of our imagination. Perhaps that's something worth praising. Most notably, how many bands have paid tribute to Crowley and put magic to music? Too many to name. Crowley was criticized relentlessly by the media so I can't blame him for firing back. I think he somewhat enjoyed the infamy even though that wasn't was he was striving for. I think he was an eccentric genius, but also a bit of charlatan. I rather like Crowley. Moonchild is an excellent novel, and his non-fiction is at least interesting to read though. Scientology is interesting as far as cults go. Incidentally, Hubbard knew Crowley and Jack Parsons. Parsons was a Thelemite/occultist too who worked with NASA developing rocket propulsion technology. Amazing that NASA was spearheaded by Nazis and occultists. But why am I not surprised...

This is somewhat similar to the What Are You Listening To? thread; only here you must provide a rating and, hopefully, a brief description why. Or comment on the issue of rating an album. I often read that reviewers dislike rating albums because it detracts from the content of the written review. However, I disagree, and I've always found ratings to be of interest. I find that adjectives are so liberally tossed around that they're of such little value; trust me, I would know. I would go as far as to say that a rating reveals the true impression of the listener within the context of their own unique music tastes. It's also a snapshot in time. And like a picture, a rating is worth a thousand words; to those who take offense at too high or low a rating, sometimes a thousand swords. And that's where things get interesting. Upon hearing it one more time, I'll post my rating for Tiamat's Judas Christ.