Lars Iyer's new novel "My Weil" is hilarious medicine for any (former/current) Higher Ed admin/student/dropout
Dopamine shot seeking/doomscrolling passengers on the train to the burbs look at me reading Lars' book and as I LOL & they ponder: why is this dude having a grand ol' time with a BOOK?
Lars Iyer hits the sweet spot with “My Weil” in which a gaggle of PhD students of the humanities (I was adjacent to them for one semester 35 years ago until I dropped out of Sociology/American Studies to pursue Music, and also because I was convinced I knew everything there is to know about life and the world, as one does as a 21 y/o…) wallow in self doubt, drink, procrastinate, and regret that they are always just a tad inconsistent when claiming proletarian/working class bona fides (coz, you know, going to uni is de facto what only a class traitor would do …)
Lars will be on the Second Life Book Club Wednesday, July 10th, at 12pm SLT, in-world and on YouTube to discuss his multifaceted novel: a satire of higher ed, a precise analysis of the pain and dilemma of student-dom the world over …
… and of course a loveletter to the great and principled philosopher and activist Simone Weil and her truly altruistic work!
Will “My Weil” make people more interested in philosophy, will they ask more questions about the nature/existence/absence of God, will it cause folks to drink more while reading, suffer more while staring into the abyss, will it - in other words - motivate them to finally pursue with more serious panache a bit of Mark Fisherian-style depressive hedonism, or will everyone just keep staring into their phones? Or is that the same thing?
Personally, I can only say that these past two years have offered me very satisfying reading experiences, in hindsight many of them orbiting around a “new sincerity”-ish realm, these books appearing seemingly out of nowhere … well, to tell you the truth: they have either been in my shelf, or the store, or with a friend, or on eBay, including PKD’s “Valis” trilogy - his reckoning with his strange otherworldly encounter in early ‘74 - which arguably , at least temporarily, changed me from identifying as agnostic to becoming an actual Gnostic.
Then of course - as I won’t get tired of reminding folks - I re-read “Infinite Jest” and that made me - again - appreciate Mario Incandenza and his wonderfully sincere (some call that “naive”) empathy and love for just about every single human being.
And now, half way through Lars’ new book I feel I might renew my deep admiration for the father of the coolest Commie that ever lived (yes, I’m talking about Jesus H. Christ!).
Have I found God? Is he with me now?
So I hope to see you tomorrow and you better not be late (ohhh the pressure !!) coz last time Lars visited us on the Second Life Book Club some may recall a totally packed hang out.
Mr Iyer was in SL previously with his excellent “Nietzsche and the Burbs” where a bunch of High School grads (the British variety) dread suburban life and their (probably) downwardly mobile futures, but find temporary solace in music (maybe metal, maybe punk, maybe some weird doom alt rock, the novel is vague as life itself can be … ), featuring a frontman/lyricist who resembles the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.
Above: the avatar version of the fictional band performing a tune by the actual (German semi Krautrock) band CAN on site (island #2, inside Lot 49).
So again, July 10th, 12pm SLT. And the book: do read it and LOL like I did and cry a little like I did (and then onward to the Hebrew Bible, specifically the Book of Job and then of course bingewatching “The Tree of Life” + Tarkovsky’s “The Sacrifice” but why you ask, well you gotta read Lars’ book)
Oh and side note: as I prep the show rundown + venue in SL, catching up on right-wing madness in and around my sphere of habitat, I get an ad from Munich based university LMU for a Masters in Philosophy, Politics and Economics … too much googling Simone Weil, higher ed and Lars Iyer? The character of “Business Studies Guy” in “My Weil” is smiling somewhere … on the page … or in a boardroom near on the outskirts of Manchester …
See you in-world!
because we all should
have a grand ol time with a good book.