Short-sighted, in my opinion. Less likely to be surprised or taken advantage of if you can spot some of their normalization techniques and other "tells." But it's up to you, of course.
I should not have read this before getting on a plane with no wifi, cause it is insane that this really does seem to be what they want.
On a less serious but related issue, Holly I understand your stance on, as you put it here, consensual violence. But it does feel like the definition of such could also catch things like contact sports and other things, personally I have always had in interest in HEME (Historical European Martial Arts) which does involve a level of injury when sparing. Is this just me over thinking things or reading to much into what you said?
On a lighter note I hope you had an amazing Christmas season and a happy new year to come.
Ah OK I see what you are saying here as far as the actual intended end result, BDSM, and not just something that might occur during a joint physical activity, Ala sports and sparing. That's my bad.
Well, the ignorant tools of the Revolutionary leaders want this, but this particular dystopia will never be a reality. This is actually conditioning to formulate a society that will comply blindly with any ridiculous demand the new Regime will make. That is why we have to stand up and say, "No. We're not doing this."
OMG! OMHF! Sorry, I could only get through a little more than half of this post. It was just too much, but thank you for telling me what's out there. I love your compare and contrast with the fundamentalist and patheticly simplistic Christian children's texts. Also, I see your issues with the woke book sounding so much like pedophilia, but to me it sounds like these characters, and probably the author, are just wishing they grew up in a traditional family with a loving father and mother.
The only question I have is, "Can't they just all love Big Brother?"
Every curriculum designer since the 1970s has created these dumb, simplistic morality lessons that completely lose the point of the values they are trying to teach. No wonder so many people were turned off to Christianity in the 1970s to the 1990s. The same morality play patterns are in Woke narratives and curriculum. That is why Disney is tanking. They're telling the Woke version of mystery plays and morality plays. Those traditions suck.
“Ace and I fixed this toaster with parts from an old airplane!” That is peak unintentional hilarity right there. “Ooh that’s nice, dear! How does it work?” It’s probably spraying 80 weight motor oil on the ceiling, overheating, and tripping the main circuit breaker if it’s like the old airplane parts I’m familiar with.
The women bake pies and the men cock up a simple appliance repair and then demand praise for it. I’m not sure that’s the sex role narrative the authors were going for.
From the excerpts you showed, this novel sounds painfully awful. If it has any value at all, it's to provide a glimpse into how these people view the world and understand how they think.
EXACTLY. So you understand why things like their special stupid pronouns are so important to them (and important to fight) and where the paradigm of viewing everything through power dynamics leads.
Holly, 500 points to you for going thru this and explaining the utterly ridiculous and awful world these creeps desire 😲🤢
I find the inclusion of Judaism in all of this mess, not surprising given the author’s bio, creepy. A civilization based on this garbage would either collapse due to self absorption or, more likely, get overwhelmed by the nearest nearby country with any gumption.
By getting through this 'woke work' you have performed a public service so the rest of us don't have to! I now understand the term 'basket of deplorables'. I just don't understand how this made it to publication. My late (proofreader / editor) mother would've thrown it across the room by page 2.
This was great, Holly! Yes, they want us to die and leave them with their sicko wokeness. It’s not going to happen, though. There are still more sane people in the world than the opposite. I asked my husband if my cooking dinner for him was a sign of submission..I prefaced it by saying, be careful how you answer that...LOL. The Christian School excerpts were equally disturbing. Happy New Year, Holly. Keep up the good work!
When Earnest was debating about cupcakes and thinking about all the ways he could offend Nora, I remembered my time as a child, thinking of all the ways I might offend a person who was watching over my brother and I while my mother was at work. I had to walk on eggshells to not offend her, but nothing I did would help. My guess is that whatever Earnest did, Nora probably got offended anyway, right? You can never win with the woke. They're always looking to be offended.
It's such a preachy paragon, just like the comics. The dialogue is very much along the lines of "I wouldn't want to offend you by implying I'm in charge of your food choices, Nora, so I carefully chose a sampler for you to make up your own mind with what to do about your diabetes." "Why thank you, Ernest. Your attention to the intersection of fatphobia and misogyny is very much appreciated...." (I'm exaggerating...but not by much.)
Ah, so basically an example of how we "should" be... always walking on eggshells is the "correct" thing to do. The author may not realize that that won't work out in the real world because they're trying to hard to make this a thing that we all will do someday.
It's all as ridiculous as the comic with the six-year-old worrying that she's showing too much skin because she can see her own knees in the mirror, only not quite as sick. Yes.
I... I just... I don't... WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ???
Further to your point about the book being shot through with vague pedophilia, it starts with the cover. It's illustrated in the exact style of a specific children's book series that I can't seem to quite place or remember; I thought at first maybe Magic School Bus or Arthur, but I'm still not sure. It's clearly intended to appeal to children though, from the font to the way the characters are drawn all the way down to the cupcakes in the case. I'd guess the author & publisher are aiming to get this into school libraries to gin up publicity for it by intentionally setting it up to become the manufactured target of a RIGHT-WING BOOK BANNING!!1!!!1!!!!eleven!! attempt.
If you're Xan West, though, how do you top this in your next book? Did xe not juxt completely xhoot xir wad?
Really? Wow. I know “woke” in its current form has been around since at least Ferguson, but the parts of that book that Holly quoted make it sound like it was published last week, rather than in April 2019 (which I just found out after looking it up). Four and a half years is an eternity in woke time, so West must have been on the absolute bleeding edge of “ “ “social justice.” “ “
BTW, I clicked Like on your reply because I always appreciate when people engage with my comments, not because I liked finding out that West is no longer living. I oppose everything West was in favor of, but I don’t want to be that ghoulish. Maybe naive on my part since a lot of the woke seem to want me dead for not accepting their premises, but I have to live with myself and being like them in that way would make it harder.
Agreed. But actions have consequences. If you refuse to take care of yourself, that's your choice, but no one can be surprised when your poor decisions catch up with you. 🤷♀️ I don't wish anyone ill, but I also don't feel bad for her in the least. As for the content of this book...the kind of language and ideology employed here (what we now call "woke") has long been a common feature in the lesbian/queer BDSM community. I remember this kind of stuff going on way back to the 90's.
It was probably going on before that, but I wasn't old enough to get into lesbian bars before then. It was just as obnoxious, dogmatic, and off-putting then as is it now. The only difference is that what used to belong to private, fringe, sexually deviant communities had now been mainstreamed and shoved down everyone's throats. Consider that for a moment: I had to be an adult before I could legally be allowed into these spaces where I would be exposed to this kind of behavior, but this is literally what's being taught to children in elementary schools now. We're screwed and it's in no small part due to people like this author, who in her bios is also listed as an "educator". No, I don't feel bad for her at all.
And to be clear: when I say "sexually deviant", I don't mean it as a judgment and I'm not speaking about lesbians just being lesbians. I'm specifically referring to the queer and BDSM communities.
My alma mater is emailing asking for money. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Paging John Mulaney
I won’t read this, Holly because I don’t care at all, what they want.
I know they want a world without me. They want a world, without you.
Short-sighted, in my opinion. Less likely to be surprised or taken advantage of if you can spot some of their normalization techniques and other "tells." But it's up to you, of course.
I will choose whomever I wish to respect. “pronouns” be damned.
Dude, if you pass on this one you are missing a big ol’ bag of comedy gold.
I should not have read this before getting on a plane with no wifi, cause it is insane that this really does seem to be what they want.
On a less serious but related issue, Holly I understand your stance on, as you put it here, consensual violence. But it does feel like the definition of such could also catch things like contact sports and other things, personally I have always had in interest in HEME (Historical European Martial Arts) which does involve a level of injury when sparing. Is this just me over thinking things or reading to much into what you said?
On a lighter note I hope you had an amazing Christmas season and a happy new year to come.
Yes, you're reading too much into it. Sports are sports. The point of a sport isn't to inflict pain and injury, which is very much the point of BDSM.
Happy New Year to you as well!
Ah OK I see what you are saying here as far as the actual intended end result, BDSM, and not just something that might occur during a joint physical activity, Ala sports and sparing. That's my bad.
NP, I overthink 17,811 times a day. Before breakfast.
Well, the ignorant tools of the Revolutionary leaders want this, but this particular dystopia will never be a reality. This is actually conditioning to formulate a society that will comply blindly with any ridiculous demand the new Regime will make. That is why we have to stand up and say, "No. We're not doing this."
OMG! OMHF! Sorry, I could only get through a little more than half of this post. It was just too much, but thank you for telling me what's out there. I love your compare and contrast with the fundamentalist and patheticly simplistic Christian children's texts. Also, I see your issues with the woke book sounding so much like pedophilia, but to me it sounds like these characters, and probably the author, are just wishing they grew up in a traditional family with a loving father and mother.
The only question I have is, "Can't they just all love Big Brother?"
Every curriculum designer since the 1970s has created these dumb, simplistic morality lessons that completely lose the point of the values they are trying to teach. No wonder so many people were turned off to Christianity in the 1970s to the 1990s. The same morality play patterns are in Woke narratives and curriculum. That is why Disney is tanking. They're telling the Woke version of mystery plays and morality plays. Those traditions suck.
BTW, it occurs to me that all of us who feel sorry for ourselves and our wounded-ness, should read Becoming Superman https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Superman-Journey-Poverty-Hollywood/dp/006285786X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3AXUQN60DDRDR&keywords=becoming+superman+book&qid=1703799452&sprefix=becoming+superman%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-1.
I reviewed it here: https://frank-hood.com/2023/11/13/growing-up-in-the-lair-of-supervillains/.
“Ace and I fixed this toaster with parts from an old airplane!” That is peak unintentional hilarity right there. “Ooh that’s nice, dear! How does it work?” It’s probably spraying 80 weight motor oil on the ceiling, overheating, and tripping the main circuit breaker if it’s like the old airplane parts I’m familiar with.
The women bake pies and the men cock up a simple appliance repair and then demand praise for it. I’m not sure that’s the sex role narrative the authors were going for.
From the excerpts you showed, this novel sounds painfully awful. If it has any value at all, it's to provide a glimpse into how these people view the world and understand how they think.
EXACTLY. So you understand why things like their special stupid pronouns are so important to them (and important to fight) and where the paradigm of viewing everything through power dynamics leads.
Holly, 500 points to you for going thru this and explaining the utterly ridiculous and awful world these creeps desire 😲🤢
I find the inclusion of Judaism in all of this mess, not surprising given the author’s bio, creepy. A civilization based on this garbage would either collapse due to self absorption or, more likely, get overwhelmed by the nearest nearby country with any gumption.
By getting through this 'woke work' you have performed a public service so the rest of us don't have to! I now understand the term 'basket of deplorables'. I just don't understand how this made it to publication. My late (proofreader / editor) mother would've thrown it across the room by page 2.
Indeed she would have! And should have. :)
This was great, Holly! Yes, they want us to die and leave them with their sicko wokeness. It’s not going to happen, though. There are still more sane people in the world than the opposite. I asked my husband if my cooking dinner for him was a sign of submission..I prefaced it by saying, be careful how you answer that...LOL. The Christian School excerpts were equally disturbing. Happy New Year, Holly. Keep up the good work!
Holly,
Thanks for taking one for the team here. This is a book I am happy to skip.
Based on the author's bio I suspect this book is either partly autobiographical or partly wish fulfillment or both..
I note that at the Amazon page for it the top positive reviews mostly seem to like the things that you (and I) hate.
How did reading that synopsis not make you want to authenticate yourself? I had to look away, literally. How dare you do that to me :)
When Earnest was debating about cupcakes and thinking about all the ways he could offend Nora, I remembered my time as a child, thinking of all the ways I might offend a person who was watching over my brother and I while my mother was at work. I had to walk on eggshells to not offend her, but nothing I did would help. My guess is that whatever Earnest did, Nora probably got offended anyway, right? You can never win with the woke. They're always looking to be offended.
It's such a preachy paragon, just like the comics. The dialogue is very much along the lines of "I wouldn't want to offend you by implying I'm in charge of your food choices, Nora, so I carefully chose a sampler for you to make up your own mind with what to do about your diabetes." "Why thank you, Ernest. Your attention to the intersection of fatphobia and misogyny is very much appreciated...." (I'm exaggerating...but not by much.)
Ah, so basically an example of how we "should" be... always walking on eggshells is the "correct" thing to do. The author may not realize that that won't work out in the real world because they're trying to hard to make this a thing that we all will do someday.
It's all as ridiculous as the comic with the six-year-old worrying that she's showing too much skin because she can see her own knees in the mirror, only not quite as sick. Yes.
This would be Season 6 of "Sex Education" - the US version
Dang "metamour" was the only one i didn't know
I... I just... I don't... WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST READ???
Further to your point about the book being shot through with vague pedophilia, it starts with the cover. It's illustrated in the exact style of a specific children's book series that I can't seem to quite place or remember; I thought at first maybe Magic School Bus or Arthur, but I'm still not sure. It's clearly intended to appeal to children though, from the font to the way the characters are drawn all the way down to the cupcakes in the case. I'd guess the author & publisher are aiming to get this into school libraries to gin up publicity for it by intentionally setting it up to become the manufactured target of a RIGHT-WING BOOK BANNING!!1!!!1!!!!eleven!! attempt.
If you're Xan West, though, how do you top this in your next book? Did xe not juxt completely xhoot xir wad?
Xan West died in 2020, so thankfully the world won't have to suffer anymore of this garbage from her.
Really? Wow. I know “woke” in its current form has been around since at least Ferguson, but the parts of that book that Holly quoted make it sound like it was published last week, rather than in April 2019 (which I just found out after looking it up). Four and a half years is an eternity in woke time, so West must have been on the absolute bleeding edge of “ “ “social justice.” “ “
BTW, I clicked Like on your reply because I always appreciate when people engage with my comments, not because I liked finding out that West is no longer living. I oppose everything West was in favor of, but I don’t want to be that ghoulish. Maybe naive on my part since a lot of the woke seem to want me dead for not accepting their premises, but I have to live with myself and being like them in that way would make it harder.
Agreed. But actions have consequences. If you refuse to take care of yourself, that's your choice, but no one can be surprised when your poor decisions catch up with you. 🤷♀️ I don't wish anyone ill, but I also don't feel bad for her in the least. As for the content of this book...the kind of language and ideology employed here (what we now call "woke") has long been a common feature in the lesbian/queer BDSM community. I remember this kind of stuff going on way back to the 90's.
It was probably going on before that, but I wasn't old enough to get into lesbian bars before then. It was just as obnoxious, dogmatic, and off-putting then as is it now. The only difference is that what used to belong to private, fringe, sexually deviant communities had now been mainstreamed and shoved down everyone's throats. Consider that for a moment: I had to be an adult before I could legally be allowed into these spaces where I would be exposed to this kind of behavior, but this is literally what's being taught to children in elementary schools now. We're screwed and it's in no small part due to people like this author, who in her bios is also listed as an "educator". No, I don't feel bad for her at all.
And to be clear: when I say "sexually deviant", I don't mean it as a judgment and I'm not speaking about lesbians just being lesbians. I'm specifically referring to the queer and BDSM communities.