Books that will induce a MindF**k

damien

http://www.everything2.org/?node_id=1016251

Here is the list of books that will officially induce mind****s, sorted alphabetically by author

Comments ?

RE*AC*TOR

Comments - they're not exactly clear as to what a minF*ck is, and the list is a bit too expansive to take any real shape. Although I probably agree with Finnegan's wake - trying to read it would be like being sodomized by a broom through your ear. Anyway some of the choices seem particularily innappropriate - the bible? nelson madela's long walk to freedom, kerouac - on the road. Do these seem like books that would f*ck with your mind? I think Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo probably would mess with your mind (not included here).

carpocrates

try 'Justine' or '120 days of Sodom' by the Marquis de sade

dangerman

Looks like a good list to me, recognised a lot of books I rate quite highly on it.

Glad to see Vurt by Jeff Noon made the list.

Mindf*ck
Noun. A situation or person who gives one an mentally overwhelming and disorientating experience.
Verb. To mentally confuse and overwhelm.

From http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/m.htm

fragile

Where is David Zindell

OfflerCrocGod

I don't think Douglas Adams deserves to be there; incredibly funny is not a Mind ****

RE*AC*TOR

OfflerCrocGod wrote:

I don't think Douglas Adams deserves to be there; incredibly funny is not a Mind ****

My thoughts exactly

gogo

Watership Down inducing a mind****- ????

remember kids, drugs are bad , mmmmkay

Fenian

Where was "fear and loathing in las vegas"? one of the funniest books ever written. Myself and my mates were raking out brains thinking of good excuses we good use in the chemist to get our hands on some ether. IF anyone knows what it's legitimate use is, a reply would be welcome

Zaph

Surely someone jests? It seems that merely being a science fiction writer will get you on that list. If Greg Bear was to be included, something like Eon or Eternity would be more accurate examples, certainly not Blood Music. And what the hell is Microserfs by Douglas Coupland doing on that list??? Again there are much better examples such as Hey Nostrodamus or Girlfriend in a Coma. As for the inclusion of Good Omens by Neil gaiman and Terry Pratchett, well that's just risible. It's one of the funniest books ever written and certainly does not f*ck with your mind. Personally I think that's just a list of all the books that guy's ever read.

simu

A mind fvck is like a body fvck - different texts work in different ways for different people plus you also have to let yourself engage with and become truly absorbed by the text for that exhiliration to happen.

Number 2

Isn't this mindf*ck thing just another way of saying "Hey look at all these, vaguely hip and anti-authoritarian books I've read! Aren't I cool? Aren't I boho? Hey man, read some Burroughs! That'll really freak out the Squares!".

It's basically a list of books some bloke (and, by God, it's almost certainly a bloke) read in college, and is hawking around like he's erudite or something. Dude! Palahniuk is like TOTALLY the new Kerouac! Check him out. He's got SOMETHING TO SAY!

It's about as big a mindf*ck as "The Karate Kid".

Interestingly (or, rather, not very interestingly) the site in question defines mindf*ck as:

The process of creating major disturbances in the targets conceptions of reality, generally through guerrila-ontology and the mixing of levels

Jesus. I'd say this bloke likes ALL the Matrix films. He problems quotes liberally from "Revolutions" too. "guerilla-ontology" me brown!

simu

Number 2 wrote:

Isn't this mindf*ck thing just another way of saying "Hey look at all these, vaguely hip and anti-authoritarian books I've read! Aren't I cool? Aren't I boho? Hey man, read some Burroughs! That'll really freak out the Squares!".

Yes, that's what it means in most magazines although I'd prefer the definition of a text that leaves a genuinely deep imprint on the mind of the reader - gives them deeper understanding of humanity, some piercing insight etc. I would also consider this to be a largely subjective experience and thus, impossible to fit into a "top-10" format.

You're spot-on with what you say above though. Very few people stray away from the books they see on these top-whatever lists or hear of through media hype. (I watch out for people reading unusual stuff on buses etc but it's very rare I see any).

dangerman

People who read strange books aren't cooler than people who don't.

Number 2 I'd say your reaction is a bit pretentious to be honest; those books *are* cool, *are* interesting...I agree the term mindph*ck is a bit trite, but so what.

I think anything that encourages people to read more books is great, and I noticed a lot of great books on that list. Popular? So what?

I can't stand it when people attach importance to the fact that what they're doing (in this case, reading a certain book) is unusual, unheard of etc. It's unfair to group people into this 'vaguely hip' stuff. I read a book, enjoy it or don't, and that's it. Media hype, whether everyone else in the world is reading it is completely irrelevant. There are always going to be types that pull out a book just to make a statement...but I don't count them among the many. This guy is just trying to be cool? By posting a book list on the internet?

It's a decent list, whether the author likes all the matrix films or not. [god love him if he does.] He's dressed it up in this mindph*ck rubbish, but I think it's still a worthy list and definately worth discussing, not attacking.

Number 2

dangerman wrote:

I can't stand it when people attach importance to the fact that what they're doing (in this case, reading a certain book) is unusual, unheard of etc. It's unfair to group people into this 'vaguely hip' stuff. I read a book, enjoy it or don't, and that's it. Media hype, whether everyone else in the world is reading it is completely irrelevant. There are always going to be types that pull out a book just to make a statement...but I don't count them among the many. This guy is just trying to be cool? By posting a book list on the internet?

That's all I was saying. I think this guy is attaching an importance to the fact that he's reading these books, exactly the kind of 'vaguely hip' cache you're talking about. The idea that reading a book about drugs, for example, is a subversive act in and of itself. I don't have a problem with the books on the list themselves. Well, some I like, some I don't, some I haven't read. There's a few there that I think are very overrated (Kerouac, Palahniuk,Siddhartha, Sexual Personae, American Psycho) and a few other writers where I don't think he'd picking the best books (Mark Twain, Flann O'Brien, David Foster Wallace, Irvine Welsh). But they're just personal opinions.

I agree with you on the 'read a book, enjoy it or don't' thing. And there's nothing wrong with putting up a list of books you like (or lists of books you recommend on particular topics or themes) on the internet. All I'm criticising with this guy is the fact that he's trying to crowbar a long list of books with nothing in common into this achingly hip mindf*ck box. That's all. I don't really see where we're disagreeing.

dangerman

I agree with the idea that mindph*ck is a bit crap, but apart from that I think the list does have a bit of meaning...as in I see where the guy is going. I think he's picked a list of books he believes will really impress people/get them thinking...and his way of expressing it was just calling it a mindf*ck - which while i wouldn't ever use such a dumb expression myself, it gets the point across + I don't really see the need to attack it.

But I definately see how it could be annoying so I see where your coming from.

On a side note, you're right about Siddhartha.

simu

dangerman wrote:

People who read strange books aren't cooler than people who don't.

I'm not interested in "coolness". I am interested in why people behave the way they do and on average, more thought and/or random happenings will have taken place to lead to a person reading an unusual book than will to lead them to reading whatever Waterstone's has as a three-for-two offer that month or a required text for LC English for that year. Curiosity really.

3-D Preacher

So: lets review, shall we?
How can The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy be considered to include a (to avoid overuse of '*'s and 'v's, I'm going to say mindfudge instead)? Hilarious Sci-fi satire, yes. Mindfudging idea/concept, no. And it only includes the first of his two Dirk Gently novel's- wheres the second? It's probably the most mindfudging book he's written!
Wheres Asimov's 'i,Robot'?
I agree, anybody who wants to experience a mindfudging/'whoa...' moment should read Jorge Luis Borges (there should be an entire thread devoted to discovering the correct way to pronounce his name).
'The Man Who Was Thursday' by G.K. Chesterton. Why this surreal book hasn't been listed here, I do not know.
Stephen King, yes, definitely. In fact, why not read all his novel's and short stories, then sit in shocked silence as you realise just how many of the 30/40 or so pieces are linked to each other.
And The Third policeman (Flann O'Brien). Oh yes. Not content with just fudging with your mind, it render's you so mentally stunned that you Inadvertently stumble right back into it
All in all, this list appears to be poorly-thought out. Its as if its compiler just randomly asked people for their opinions, mixed them in with some common misconceptions (The Bible? Mindfudge? What?!?) and put it on a website. Disappointing and infuriating.

simu

How about the ending of The Dead (from Dubliners) by James Joyce - I think that the last paragraph is pretty amazing. (You'd want to have read the whole story to get the full impact, though).

Hectorjelly

First post here so go easy one me

The list is a collection of several peoples ideas of suitable books, that probably explains it turning into a list of vaguely hip counter culture type works. But, I have read several novels that have at some level, given me such a shock that I think the term mind8ck is relevant; allthough not the term Id use myself.

Crash/High Rise:JG Ballard
The man in the high castle: Philip K Dick
Naked Lunch: William Burroughs

Regards

Daragh