What do you think?
http://www.scaruffi.com/fiction/best100.html
THE FACT
>>7838990
Pretty good
>>7838990
Wat more Patrician than the /lit/ 100 2015
>>7838990
Predeccttible. I was expecting something like his top of Rock, obscure and experimental....
Hell, it's a good list.
>>7838990
>http://www.scaruffi.com/fiction/best100.html
Its a great list T B H F A M
Of course I don't agree with some stuff, but seeing Gombrowicz, Canetti and Pavese on the top 30 is nice
Dunno about his motives for this top 100, but its a great top 100
>>7839064
>Predeccttible.
I guess you mean predictable? If so, how Witkiewicz, The Golden Bowl, Wuthering Heights and V made top 10?
Some of his choises are really different from what you see in other top 100 (this is a top 52, but whatever), chosing The Idiot over C&P or BK, Krasznahorkai and Saramago on top 30? Even Solaris is there
Also his top books for each language is really different from this one
>>7839398
>limit 1 novel per author
>pynchon
>V.
>mfw
>>7839412
i know right!
it may be a typo, i think he just forgot to finish the title..
>>7839700
tbqh if there's someone who would try to argue for Vineland being Pinecone's best, it's Scruffy
Fuck off /mu/
Good list, but has he read any of them? Somehow, I doubt it.
>>7838990
All of his opinions outside of music are pretty atypical.
Scruffy doesn't read and he doesn't listen to most of the stuff he namrdrops. He's the definition of a hack.
>>7840522
And watches movies and gives lectures and follows current political events and writes essays about them and travels the world.
>>7840732
He's truly the master patrician
>>7840452
>outside of music are pretty atypical.
Its the other way around dumbo
any, be movies, films or books, his recommendations are actually pretty good, he being a hack or not anyone that cosumes those indications will build a decent view on those medias
>>7839412
V. is his most famous novel, after Crying of Lot 49. browsing /lit/ has deluded you into thinking Gravity's Rainbow is a worthwhile book. honestly V. does almost everything better. especially since most of V. is about shit Pinecone actually experienced and can therefore write about passionately. GR sucks.
>>7838990
He can't even keep his own opinion straight. His best of the Russian language and best of the English language contradict his main list.
The other lists probably do too, but I'm not about to go look through all that.
His site was made in like the 50s. He obviously doesn't give a shit about it if he hasn't taken 10 minutes to sort out the discrepancies.
The real question is why were they there in the first place. The answer is probably that he didn't really read them or just skimmed through them.
>>7840932
>He can't even keep his own opinion straight. His best of the Russian language and best of the English language contradict his main list.
>first line literaly says: "(The lists by language are more reliable ==>) "
good list but I seriously doubt that he has read all of those books. He has like 50 books for every language
>>7840986
Why is it like that in the first place? If I asked you to write a list of favorite books then a list of favorite Russian books, would it vary so much that on list your favorite Dostoevsky book is The Idiot and then on the other there are 3 Dostoevsky books you like better than The Idiot?
Maybe you could excuse it if he wrote it in a hurry or whatever, but that has been there for a long. His site is super basic. Changing text is so easy. Either he doesn't care at all or is full of shit.
This guy is a hack and anyone who praises him is a fool. He name drops some relevant Portuguese writers, but seldom does have on his list relevant books. Anon, you don't even need to check the books on the Portuguese list. Go read the 23rd book on his list. Yes it is a from a celebrated Portuguese nobel prize winner, but can you tell me the relevance of the book? It's literally Fernando Pessoa and Saramago on the same book, thus two birds with one stone. But this book is far from relevant or from being beautifully written. It astonishes me how you're failing to realize of much of a liar he is.
>>7838990
Why do people always think this is a good list? Who the fuck seriously thinks V and Wuthering Heights are among the top greatest works ever?
>>7840994
He's 60 years old, I could see him having read them all
>>7838990
Scaruffi is irredeemable trash, and hasn't read 99% of the novels and philosophical works he claims he has. Just listen to this shit:
" Full disclosure: the first time i read Nietzsche i felt that his books were just a ridiculous collection of nonsense, written in poor German, and largely based on an embarrassing degree of ignorance about anthropology, sociology, art and science; and i haven't changed my mind since then. I still have to understand why he became so famous. I am not sure that he also became influential because i think the century that followed had little use for his philosophy and/or his method (assuming he had one). "
>>7841229
He's right tho lol
There are some howlers on top 40 in English. AS Byatt's Possession at 15? Suttree at 32 (Tarmac McCarthy's overall weakest book)?
His specialty is music from the 60s-90s. Other than that you don't have to take him too seriously
>>7841235
That's just like his opinion man
>>7839797
this. /lit/ is a classical board not some circlejerk over who finds the most obscure hipster band
the funniest part is if you look at scaruffi's academic "affiliations" he lists and do some digging you'll find almost all of them are not at the actual insitutions he purports to have lectured at, but at low tier extension school or pay-to-speak events kek.
>>7841239
Scaruffi has good taste in real music too
http://www.scaruffi.com/music/classic.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/music/class700.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/music/class800.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/music/class900.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/music/class930.html
http://www.scaruffi.com/music/class950.html
>>7841244
his opinions on western classical music are even more laughable but less people care/follow them so they dont call him out on it.
>>7841262
What's wrong with them? And where does he even post them? I have only found lists of things on his site
>>7841234
He is completely wrong, especially when he says Nietzsche, who is widely recognized as one of the greatest german stylists to ever live, was a bad writer.
>>7840914
>GR sucks
come on now
>>7841271
ok completely wrong/laughable might be hyperbolic but it's obvious he doesn't have strong personal opinions - and likely experiences - with the stuff he mentions. if you look through his music lists you see there's no rhyme or reason to how he organizes it, he simply namedrops celebrity conductors and orchestras, and just chases trends.
the actual pieces lists are whatever - the canon is fairly well defined, but when you see his recommended recordings you can see he obviously has very little experience. it's more obvious if you are really into classical, esp. in comparing diff recordings of the same work.
>>7841382
I figured that's what you might be talking about. What's a better list of recordings? Is this one any good?: http://www.listology.com/rdegnan/list/1001-classical-recordings-you-must-hear-you-die
>>7841450
it seems fine but it's obviously more geared towards covering more pieces as opposed to fixation on recordings.
if you're really interested in this i think it's better to find a handful of classical pieces you really like and listen to a bunch of different recordings to form your own opinions. and then use your preferred performers to find other pieces, cycling back and forth as necessary.
lol he has twilight in his best english language novels
>>7841454
Well if you're going to say people should form their own opinions, then why shit on Scaruffi's list? He might have listened to multiple recordings of each of those compositions and then chose those he did as his favorites.
>>7841471
It's right where it belongs next to Life of Pi, White Teeth and Harry Potter
>>7841475
it's fairly obvious to me that's not what he did.
>>7841488
For several of them he recommends 2-5 different recordings. Do you think he just includes everything he listens to, or what?
He has a great understanding of rock music, perhaps the best of anyone in the world who writes. He has a mediocre understanding of jazz, and a poor understanding of classical.
I'm kind of afraid to look at this.
>only 19th and 20th centuries
seems legit
>>7841561
That's when almost all the best novels are from. There are maybe 15 or so novels from the 18th century and earlier that anyone still reads. It'd be a good idea to include seminal works like Don Quixote and Tristram Shandy though of course
>>7841592
yeah if you're a modernist
>>7841598
What novels from the 18th century and earlier would you recommend? Only things that really come to mind for me:
Don Quixote
Robinson Crusoe
Gulliver's Travels
Tom Jones
Clarissa
Tristram Shandy
Candide
Dangerous Liaisons
The Sorrows of Young Werther
and maybe a few others, but that's it, mainly.
>>7841625
why stop at the 18th?
i'm just saying the merits of the novels are based on our own current condition (modernity) rather than some objective standard of greatness. i can't buy into these lists or lists in general really
>>7841636
The novel didn't really exist before the 18th century.
>look in "Best poetry of all time" section
>Piero Scaruffi (1955): "Dialogo degli Amanti"
this guy
>>7841840
Can anyone who can read Italian tell us if this is any good:
http://www.scaruffi.com/poetry/dda.html
>>7841840
based scruffy
In case anyone missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16gT0lnSoew
>>7841845
>http://www.scaruffi.com/poetry/dda.html
It's pretty bad. I'm not a super-expert on poetry, but I know enough to tell you that it has a very basic language with random word associations and similes in order to sound more poetic, and formally it goes nowhere (enjambements for no reason etc.). It reads like something written to sound as poetic as possible, a mockery of poetry more than poetry. Plus there's the whole "read the cantos in any order" thing that is equally bad.
OTOH Scaruffi is a literally who, never heard of him before this thread.
>>7842075
Interesting, thanks.
>>7841625
What about Tobias Smollett? Roderick Random, Humphrey Clinker, and Peregrine Pickle. In terms of subject matter, Smollett is really kind of a 4chan guy.
>>7841497
probably. i just doubt he is very invested in classical music to have strong/insightful opinions, and he either doesnt listen to anything and just namedrops or he does very cursory listenings as background music or something.
>>7841625
Check out Thomas Nashe's The Unfortunate Traveller for politically incorrect word-drunk Elizabethan hijinks.
>>7838990
ALT! Scaruffi è un amico
>>7842499
Good point.
>>7838990
I feel sorry for anyone who takes Scaruffi seriously. His website is filled with contradictions, rushed judgments, naive arrogance and just overall shit writing. That's basically every single page of it too.
>>7844248
Perfect example of this here: http://www.scaruffi.com/quotes.html
Laughable page he's posted of quotes of himself. Reminder, this man said Nietzsche, author of The Gay Science, had "nothing to say."
"I do not envy God"
- Piero Scaruffi
>>7844274
"Fear of the world created the gods that created the world that we fear"
Wow so deep
>>7844274
That's some prime content for /r/im14andthisisdeep
>>7844274
>The first step to finding a solution is to admit that there is a problem
Wait now he's just plagiarizing common expressions
>>7844248
I find that I share some of his tastes so I go to him to find new stuff. No one is going to have the same opinions as you but it helps to find someone with similar ones if you want to discover new stuff
>>7844274
>"We keep changing the question but the answer remains the same" (Translated into Spanish by N. Senada: "Seguimos cambiando las preguntas pero la respuesta sigue siendo la misma")
That's the only one that was translated lmao
He's right about the Beatles.
>>7845372
No he isn't
He's wrong about Donald Trump http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/usa16.html
>>7844274
He's the king of pseudo intellectual word vomit. Very dedicated, though. I'll give him that.
>>7845372
His criticism of the Beatles is actually historically inaccurate. See Piriczki's comment here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Albums/Archive_46#Piero_Scaruffi_-_Final_Verdict_on_using_him_as_a_source_in_reviews
>>7845471
>wikipedia
>we are legion we never forgot xD
>>7845471
I'm not reading that.
>>7845471
(not true, by the way)
the internet's favorite contrarian
>>7840862
Nope, only his music tastes are unique. That doesn't mean that it's good, it's simply different. His recommendations in other mediums are by far and large in line with critical consensus.
FUCK OFF SCRUFFY
>>7845471
I trust Scruffy over wikipedia. you don't have to be a genius to see through the appeal of the "beat less"
Scaruffi is basically a 21st century Des Esseintes, isn't he?
>>7840732
He doesn't work. He only works when he needs money to buy a car or something. He's just great at using his time.
The Bloom of /mu/. He has generally good opinions
>>7840994
Theres people on GoodReads(.com) that claim to read more 500-1000 books.
>>7839051
JUST
>>7841454
He did a good job of going for recordings that sound the most pike they were meant to. Ones that weren't "touched up" by idiots like Bernstein. Although personally, I think he should've gone with Bergman's recording of the Magic Flute, he tried to do it as the piece was originally meant to be heard.
Did I overlook it, or is there no Beckett on that list?
>>7849020
He's really nothing like Harold Bloom. He's more like the guy who runs cosmoetica.com (random guy on the internet who's been running a rather voluminous but poorly-designed website for 15+ years where he posts often controversial opinions on works of art), who coincidentally did an interview with him: >>7841922
>>7849040
Do you mean Scaruffi's list or the 1001 Before You Die list? Because the latter was put together by multiple experts
>>7849030
Which is perfectly possible, considering people at Goodreads read only easy garbage. I read about two books a week on average, I don't have much time for more. That makes it to about 100 a year, by the time I'll be 60, it's perfectly possible to have gone all the way to four or five thousand. And I'm working class, I haven't more than an hour a day usually for reading, if I were a student or had a lifestyle in which I didn't work or dealt only in literature it's very easy to read a thousand books a year.
scruffy
scruffeh
hmm
>>7838990
Of fucking COURSE Ada is the top Nabokov novel.
I love Pierro, but he's a bit predictable.
>>7838990
>http://www.scaruffi.com/fiction/best100.html
Fucking decide to get of /mu/ for once and this is the top thread I see? Go away.
>>7852228
i would say condolences, but you deserve it for going on /mu/ in the first place
>>7852252
Ouch
"When i hold you in my arms,
i am everything i want to be.
Your smile is my heart.
They beat together.
Every time i think of you, i am."
>>7852302
more of his poetry
""It is not the light,
it is the darkness that blinds you."
"What needs our sorrow shall need our forgiveness."
"The last step is often the first one."
"We are mostly made of empty space."
"Most of the time we don't know what we are."
"Life may not be worth surviving,
but the surviving is worth living."
"Everybody is a sign for something."
"We'll never be never."
"There is always one more town
a little further towards the end."
"I dwell in the making of my future."
"There are several of us inside my body."
"I'll be forever here."
"At times I want to be found."
"There is no there,
only here".
"Nothing ever happens."
"Our purpose is to end."
"Nothing can be understood."
"Truth is the lie
and every lie is a truth".
I am always traveling .
I know less and less .
I see everything everywhere.
The essence is absence.
Only silence truly exists.
We have fear
when we have nothing at all.
Sometimes the what is the why.
Eternity is the poetry of amnesia.
I am You."
>>7852180
>>7852252
>>7852302
>there are people who are unironically defending this guy
Please leave /mu/ and never come back.
>>7852324
but a ton of the stuff he lists is basic /lit/ core
>>7852332
It's just the canon
>>7852320
Wew lad....
>>7852320
Eyes rolled so far back into my head I saw my neurons cringe
>>7852774
>John Barth (USA, 1930): "The Sotweed Factory" (1960) +
Good job, scruffy
>>7852774
>James Joyce (Ireland, 1882): "Finnegan's Wake" (1939) ++
Ah now we know he's a pleb
>>7852801
His film and jazz lists are the same way. I don't think there is much justification for it, but he at least explains himself here:
http://www.scaruffi.com/cinema/best100.html
>>7852320
"DUDEEEEEEEEE"
"YEAHH MAAANNNN"
"TOOTALLY CAME UP WITH THESEEE KILLLLER POEMS MAN"
"YOOOOO"
"YEAH DUDE"
"HIT ME MYAN"
"SO LIKE, DIG THIS DUDE, IT'S NOT THE LIGHT THAT BLINDS YOU, MAN WAIT FOR IT, IT'S ACTUALLY DARKNESS THAT BLINDS YOU"
"WOAH MAN, YOU'RE LIKE, A PHILOSOPHER OR SOMEFIN"
"TOTALLY DUDE, LISTEN UP"
"READY DUDE"
"MOST OF THE TIME WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE ARE"
"DUUUUUUUUDEEE, YOU JUST LIKE, TOTALLY CHANGED MY LIFE, I'M FIPPIN' OUT MAN"
"THERE ARE SEVERAL OF US INSIDE MY BODY"
"DUUUUUDE, I'M LIKE, TRANSCENDING REALITY, HOLY SHIT"
"DDDDDDDDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDE"
scuhroofy
>>7852862
>>7852320
"I AM YOU"
