Do you remember Everything2? Well I didn’t. I’d forgotten about it.
What’s E2? Well E2 is a democratic version of Wikipedia. Anyone can create a node. A node can be about anything.
There’s a lot of shit floating around on E2. Inane, rambling, pointless, weird shit. That’s part of its charm.
There’s some awesome, random, strange tangents that are fantastic. This post is about one of those things. One of those things that make me glad that amongst all this rock, there are a few glittering gold nuggets.
Its about a list of books that will induce a mindfuck.
What’s a mindfuck? A mindfuck is a work of art which plays with the mind of the audience. It challenges their world view. It makes them question reality. A mindfuck forces the audience to think about the world in a different way.
With the good ones, things are never the same again. They alter the boundaries of your mind, and make you see things from a different perspective.
I haven’t read a book I’ve deeply enjoyed in a long time; nor come across one that could challenge me, yet channel my passionate love of the written word so that I wanted to persevere in the journey into strange territory, strange thoughts, strange ideas and strange people.
Looking through that list on E2, I I felt hopeful for the first time. So many of the books that have been memorable for me are there. Asimov. Heinlein. Herbert. Vonnegut. A few others. Loads I’d never heard of before.
Loads I’d never heard of before.
I’ve started at A, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll get to Z. I’m still pretty high up in the As though.
I’m reading The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende. I’ll write more about it later.
As United Airlines will tell you: the journey is so much more than the destination. It’s not about getting to Z. It’s about enjoying every single step of the way. I’m going to. I know it.
A Disorganised Mind 