A stone cold super villain
On the joy of being a prick, poos from outer space, Nietzsche, and some recent excellent Australian novels
Dear all,
It is I, Eleanor, your trusty correspondent from the land of Capital-L-Lidderacha! You will be pleased to learn that I have had a productive couple of weeks on the Lidderacha front, getting more words down than I have in a while. I think the key to this progress is that I’m currently writing a few chapters from the perspective of a character who is a bit of a prick, and jeez it is fun to be a bit of a prick. It is, in fact, a little troubling how much I enjoy it—it’s making me question my whole identity as a nice person. Is this really my most authentic self? Is it time for me to explore my true calling as a stone cold super villain? Where does one begin? Should I start trolling people online? Should I become an arms dealer?? Undertake a little murder??? Get a job at Woodside Petroleum????? Should I join the Liberal party???????
When the novel is going well it gives me such a high, I become infused with a kind of manic energy. Like, yesterday I wrote a chapter of my novel before midday and started developing delusions of grandeur—for a few hours there I genuinely believed I was the kind of person who changes her sheets every week and folds her laundry immediately after taking it out of the dryer.
Anyway it’s obviously absurd, I am not a person who has her shit together; I am a natural born rat-girl, an agent of chaos, and my shit is constantly flying apart like a poo in outer space.* Still, sometimes it’s nice to pretend otherwise, even if only for an afternoon.
*PS I did some important academic research on outer space poos just now and while I’m still not 100% sure what poos get up to in outer space, I did find an article which included this horrifying tidbit:
…on Earth, gravity pulls your waste down and away from you….Without gravity, any loose drops or dribbles could float out of the toilet.
TV/MOVIES
I know I suggested in my last newsletter that I would write about some actually good TV this time but…look, you guys, I’ve been busy.
“BUSY? AREN’T YOU UNEMPLOYED?”
Actually I identify as ‘self-employed’
“I SEE. AND WHAT DID YOU EMPLOY YOURSELF TO DO THIS WEEK?”
I…employed myself to play online boggle make up a little story…about people who exist only in my head…having conversations…about imaginary events.
“WHAT A VERY NORMAL JOB. YOU’RE REALLY MAKING A BIG CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY.”
Thanks, yes, couldn’t agree more
“SO WHAT ELSE DID YOU DO THIS WEEK THAT KEPT YOU SO BUSY THAT YOU COULDN’T WATCH ANY QUALITY TV TO REPORT ON FOR YOUR BELOVED SUBSCRIBERS?”
I watered the garden
“AND?”
I had a good look at the Aldi catalogue
“AND?”
I looked up some French castles for sale on the internet that are somehow worth less than my ordinary house in suburban Preston and imagined myself moving there and also becoming very rich and beautiful and wearing incredible clothes and spending every weekend throwing parties for my large social circle of witty dilettantes, essentially like a latter day Marie Antoinette as portrayed by Kirsten Dunst in the Sofia Coppola movie of the same name.
“ANYTHING ELSE?”
I…look, I might have watched a little bit of Married at First Sight, but only because—
“HOW MANY EPISODES?”
Oh, not many
“HOW MANY EPISODES.”
…
“BE HONEST.”
…
“WAS IT ALL OF THE EPISODES?
yes
“UH HUH. AND DO YOU THINK THIS IS A MEANINGFUL WAY TO SPEND THE EVER DWINDLING HOURS OF YOUR ONE, PRECIOUS LIFE?”
As Nietzsche says: to live is to suffer; to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.
“GIRL, STOP PRETENDING YOU’VE READ NIETZSCHE.”
I have read Nietzsche!
“OH YEAH? WHAT NIETZSCHE HAVE YOU READ?”
I’ve read…the highlights
“AND WHERE DID YOU READ THESE HIGHLIGHTS?”
“WOW, YOU’RE A REAL SCHOLAR. SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU.”
Well you know who loves reading Nietzsche? NAZIS! Nazis love reading Nietzsche!
“NOT SURE WHAT YOUR POINT IS.”
…me neither.
Anyway, friends, what I’m trying to tell you is that I haven’t watched any good shows and so have nothing to report. Sorry.
Books
I have read some good books! In particular, I recently read Emily Spurr’s Beatrix and Fred, which is a strange, funny, beautiful and profound book about a crabby middle aged woman who drinks too much (relatable) and who may or not be being stalked by an elderly lady who may not be entirely human (less relatable) (unless you count my mum) (JUST KIDDING, SORRY MUM).
The writing is wonderful—it’s very visceral, sometimes in a disgusting way (there is quite a bit of vomiting) and sometimes in a transcendentally beautiful way. It’s also full of excellent dialogue, particularly between the title characters, but also hilariously between Beatrix and her AI chat-bot therapist. I’ve never read anything quite like this book—it opens up so many questions about the nature of consciousness and selfhood, and I am very curious to find out how the concept came about. Hopefully Emily will be able to sate my curiousity in person tomorrow at the event she and I are doing tomorrow morning at 11am at Mornington Library! JOIN US!
Other books I have enjoyed lately include Shankari Chandran’s Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens and Melissa Luckashenko’s Edenglassie, both of which had somewhat slow starts for me but were absolutely worth persisting with. They each deal with different aspects of colonialism and racism in Australia (and also in Sri Lanka, in the case of the former). These are pretty heavy themes, but they’re dealt with in a super engaging and personable way, and the books are both, at times, surprisingly funny. Anyway, they are great and I can see why they are winning prizes!
Other Things
Some things I’ve been enjoying/admiring lately:
Simonne Howell’s excellent, reflective substack, old familiar places
The Louisiana Channel on youtube, which my mum put me onto and which features great weekly videos on art, literature, architecture and design.
This disturbing piece by Anna Krien in The Monthly on the influence of Andrew Tate in Australian schools
That’s all for now! Until next time,
Eleanor xx