I am 20 minutes in and already having to pause the video from laughing. All I can say is, I’m so glad I’ve found your gem of a channel. This mixture of humor, props, and serious and insightful discussion is somehow what I’ve always looked for in a Booktube channel. Please, never stop posting! This became my favorite TH-cam channel so fast!
This comment legit made me emotional. Jeremy, I’m so happy you found this channel, too! Your support and kind words are what keep me motivated. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate comments of this kind. ❤️
Finally, a video including a work of Marquis de Sade. I have no idea why other videos never talk about his works, considering that some of his books are included in a bunch of lists about classic literature
I believe it’s because most people can’t bring themselves to read his work. It’s certainly a chore! I find his books quite repetitive and hard to keep up with, but him as a figure, as a symbol for what literature can do, definitely merits wider discussion!
I see you being the largest booktube channel soon. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your work. The best part is that you understand the subjects you discuss. You know what you’re talking about, no matter what type of writing you’re presenting. You can definitely tell that you’re comfortable with your brand of creativity. As a viewer I appreciate your hard work. Keep up the top shelf work! (Pun most certainly intended.)
Holy crap. This is genuinely one of the nicest comments I’ve ever received. I’m at a loss for words! I thank you deeply. I’m happy you’ve enjoyed the content and found it insightful! This is what keeps me going. I’m just so happy that people connect with what I’m making. My most sincere gratitude!
Love your recommendations and in-depth explanation of books. I'm so glad you offer book titles that are not mainstream. Keep them coming. Awesome channel and one of a kind!!!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you for your supportive words! I’m so happy over all the positive reception this silly little video has gotten. :)
i know this vid is old but i just found your channel and subscribed, going through your uploads 💖 i love your scholarly lens of these works and literary analysis beyond just landing at “it’s gross” and the way you actually delve into context, subtext, and nuance in these works.
Your channel got me into reading! I love dark and absurd genres, especially when it comes to books. Your creativity in this video alongside the occasional jokes really made this an enjoyable watching experience. Appreciate your channel man!
Thank you so much! 🥺 I always try to sprinkle in some clownery to assure you all that I’m really just vibing out here. 😂 Thank you so much for the support!
By some WONDERFUL miracle this video got recommended to me and I am so glad. Your video was so engaging and entertaining with your fantastic descriptions, jokes and extra creativity. I'm not into book reviews or books much in general but you might just change my mind. I am instantly subbed either way :)! Thanks!
This is exactly why I do this: To bring the joy (or in this case, displeasure) of reading to people who might think it’s unapproachable or uninteresting. I am also glad you found my channel, and I hope you decide to give some reading a try! Thank YOU!
I feel like you could do a list like this just on Dennis Cooper's books (and Poppy Z. Brite's "Exquisite Corpse," which is sort of their spiritual cousin). Cooper's "Try" literally turned my stomach... not with the violence, but with his almost synesthesiac descriptions of grime and odor.
Exquisite Corpse never really struck me as “disgusting” the way these other books did. Maybe it’s due to the prose style. Dennis Cooper definitely wants that grime and odor! Thank you so much for watching and commenting! 🥴
Less Than Zero is also a great movie with Robert Downey Jr and a couple other excellent actors. I really like it because it tricks the viewer by introducing a seemingly exciting 80s party setting. It is not a realistic depiction of "fun" and partying form the 80s. It is stylized and romanticized the same way today some really clueless people have "80's nostalgia" when they have never lived in that era. Then the movie punches you in the stomach with a heavy reality check which I think feels very sobering and profound.
I actually was not a big fan of the film myself, but it’s definitely due for a rewatch! I think this countercultural, satirical “pulling of the rug” of society is precisely where BEE thrives haha.
This was INCREDIBLE! You really nailed the “disgusting” prompt in the head! 😂😂 Some titles i need to read for sure, some i wouldn’t dare 😱 personally i’m adding less than zero and filth to my tbr. Your style of presentation is so entertaining i could watch you for hours. In fact, i have 😅 keep em coming!!! 😍😍
Thank you so much again, Caleb! Hope you “enjoy” those new picks you got from this video! You have no idea how much I appreciate your unending support! ❤️
I really have to give you credit for your creativity, this was a very entertaining watch just from your production value, you obviously put a lot of thought and care into this video despite the weird subject matter.
A video suggestion that could be fun if you haven't done something like this already: The most disturbing children's books (or books *ostensibly* aimed at children that made you go "How the hell is this for kids?")
Also, funny story about Naked Lunch. I read this back in high school for pleasure reading and I would read parts of it out loud to my friends, that toilet-plunger open heart surgery scene and "piece of ass" joke being my two favorites to do this with, just to see how they would react to it. I was not disappointed and Naked Lunch is among my all time favorite novels.
My friend! This was my exact same experience with Bataille’s Story of the Eye. I passed it around to so many friends and loved seeing the varied responses.
There has been a book, whose title and author I forgot, that I read in my late teens that I am now fairly sure was a Dennis Cooper novel; perhaps Closer. Now I am apprehensive! Do I want to walk that path again? If it isn't the book in my memory, could it be even more depraved? Thank you so much for this list! Even if my forgotten book isn't Dennis Cooper I can absolutely commiserate with the questioning of life choices after (or during) reading some of these squelchy titles :) I do love that Hogg is kind of haunting you. Trash perfection (!) your setting and this whole video, Juan! "This book's gone bad!"
Thank you so much for watching and your words, Lydia! As always. I feel like Dennis Cooper may well be the author of the book you’re talking about. Even if you didn’t go into specifics about it, I have that feeling simply because his writing has that quality of ensnaring itself in your thoughts. Something about it feels like it goes directly to the backmost recesses of your brain to fester. I find that what I’ve read is going to “plague my visions” at the most inopportune times in the future. Hogg is precisely that: A haunting read. Although I couldn’t stand it, I can always appreciate that quality in literature. Again, thank you for being here! 🖤
I am 2 years late but this is the first video I’ve seen of you and I just had to write this comment ! Your personality is amazing , I really love how intelligent your vocabulary is and you have a talent of explaining the details of the disgusting books so articulately while at the same time having a humorous skit throughout the video of the trash / etc . Really enjoyable video I had to subscribe ! ☺️
Man I'm reading Hogg atm. I thought I had a high ceiling on digust but I've only gotten 3 or 4 sections into Hogg and taken a break of a few days. It's so unremittingly nasty, I respect Delany for going that far it's really in a league of its own but damn. Filth by Irvine Welsh is one of my favourite novels ever it's so funny but also so tragic. Some interesting titles you mentioned here that I'll have to investigate. Great video dood.
Thank you so much! Always happy to reel in more lovers of filth to this channel! Lol. Hogg is definitely a trial. It's an experiment, and quite a successful one, of the boundaries of humanity and depravity. See my video titled "Books I Cannot Read" for more of my thoughts on him! I agree, Filth is highly humorous, and somehow, that's what makes it the more tragic. Welsh's books are always unforgettable! Thank you for this wonderful comment!
@@PlaguedbyVisions Hey Juan I checked out your earlier video and I have to say my inital reaction lined up a lot with yours in relation to Hogg. I finished the book a few days ago and wrote a review for Goodreads. While it's the most disgusting book I've ever read I do believe it's of some literary value although I'd never reccomend it to anyone to read (even as seasoned a disturbing novel reader as yourself). I'll link my review here as it's more simple than typing my thoughts in a TH-cam comment. Not trying to convince you to read it at all but just want to show where I ended up after pushing through. For a funny but disgusting book you should check out "Mother Maggot" by Simon McHardy. Its grotesque but it at least had a sense of humour unlike Hogg. www.goodreads.com/review/show/4146428608?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 Have to say Welsh is one of my favourite authors and I've read 9 of his 16 published novels/collections. Only weak things of those books is the final third of "Crime" and most of the "If You Liked School You'll Love Work" collection. The former is so forced in its reveal and wrap up and the latter is molasses slow throughout which is not what I'd want or expect from him tbh. Watched a few of your older vids as well and you've come on so well in your style man it's awesome to see. Congrats on 2k! I'm glad to be one of those 2k and may it continue to climb.
I rarely comment on youtube, but this was so enjoyable. I was looking for something to watch after writing on my current project that is very emotionally taxing since it's very personal. Remembered that I've been enjoying your videos, and gave this one a try. The trash bit was so creative and genuinely hilarious, although that banana peel sometimes really hypnotised me. In all seriousness though, you create such smart, insightful videos with a great calm sense of humour and a voice I can listen to for hours (literally). It also warms my heart how genuinely you react to positive comments on your content. Thanks for putting yourself out here, you make the Internet better than it would be without you.
This is quite frankly one of the nicest comments I’ve ever received. I don’t even know what to say! Thank you so much for such overwhelmingly kind words! 😭 I’m just happy you got something out of this.
Another great list and great performance! Really love these characters you’ve been playing... adds another whole level of great entertainment to already really engaging videos! I don’t need to read Necrophiliac now... your discussion of it was enough to make me gag a little. I really need to pick up Haunted again... I read a little years ago, put it down, and never picked it up again. Though I did read Guts (used to have the original magazine it first appeared in, but lent it out and never got it back)... I think I’ll do that pretty soon. Regarding what you mentioned about Palahniuk taking real facts and building a story around it: did you know he actually published a book of nonfiction stories? Called Stranger than Fiction (self explanatory).
Thank you so much, Dave! You definitely DON’T need to read Wittkop’s novella. I honestly don’t know who does. But I did, so... Haunted’s a solid book! Like I said, some stories are a miss, but overall, there’s no way for Palahniuk to NOT entertain, given the plethora of disgusting subject matter he covers in a single book. I had no idea he wrote a nonfiction book! But it makes sense. So much of his writing is informed by real-life bizarre factoids. I think he really understands there’s just no way to compete with real life when it comes to grossing out.
6:17 I physically laughed alout at the breakfast table, god I’m such a juvenile but it really took me off guard and now my family are all looking at me weird.
Oh my God thats a pungent beast. Jajaj loved that line. Valencia this video is impressive. The humor is good but the selection is awesome. You invaded my reading list with this interesting titles. The hour went fast. Youre one talented cat. Love all the videos by now. Love the tone and the sly humor in this. I read Gravitys Rainbow, couldnt finish the Naked Lunch the imagery was too dirty, cant wait to read Cows and Frisk. I read Closer and it was an intriguing read and Frisk offers to be more. I own Child of God and im very excited on reading it too. Great video. Stay great. Much respect from PR.
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed the video! Child of God is a great book to have, but understandably a hard book to get to. I would definitely say Frisk makes Closer seem like a walk through the park. The repulsiveness really amped up. Still taking a break from the George Miles Cycle, although I’ve heard the next installments are nowhere near as extreme as Frisk was. Thanks so much again for the support and lovely words! I really appreciate it.
Am I the only one who caught the "wrought" (rot) pun at 49:32 during Juan's description of Necrophiliac? I don't know if it was intentional, but I found it clever.
This is a great video. It's got all the stuff I want, stuff I've read, stuff I own but haven't read, and stuff I haven't even heard of. Great recommendations! Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for watching! I’m so happy you enjoyed the video. I’m glad I was able to please those lovers of gore and filth. It was my intention! 😄
I ordered “The Hogg.” I finished reading “Cows,” lol, & sickly enjoyed it. The worst part of the story (out of all its weirdness, ya know, the cows talking, cow fuc*ing etc.. ) was the abortion scene she inflicted on herself. That chapter was horrid.
It is definitely a comedy of excess! An overwrought Aristocrats joke. I think Stokoe really balances that line well between pushing readers' limits and also thoroughly entertaining them. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I'm impressed with both your creativity in this video and that you managed to make me feel squeamish. This is definitely my most favourite video you have made so far. I've added The Melancholy of Anatomy and The Necrophiliac to my Goodreads want to read list. All the other books mentioned that I haven't read are already on the list.
Thank you so much! I think this video is definitely my masterpiece. 😂 What can I say, the disgusting really inspires me. Hope you are as wowed by Wittkop and Jackson as I was!
I think Stephen King's Gerald's Game should get a dishonorable mention. I've read a LOT of "extreme horror," and I wouldn't count Gerald's Game as an "extreme horror" book... but that climactic escape scene seriously grossed me out more than anything else I've read. It's just one scene in an otherwise-not-extreme book, but, lordy lord that one scene will almost make ya grey out. Nothing Edward Lee or any of the other splatfreaks have done that. Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door and J. F. Gonzalez's Survivor are both disturbing because, unlike most extreme horror, they're very well-written and make you invest a lot in the characters and what's happening. Most extreme horror can't get beyond "hey look at my chewed-up food," and that's why most of it is crap.
Thank you so much! So many comments saying they like this style of presentation. That makes me so happy to share my vision of book discussions with you all! The banana look is good, but also it started to stink. I had no idea banana peels got so smelly! Now I know...
I just discovered your channel and before your list begins I want to pose one guess of a title I would expect to see here: Birdman. Cant remember the lady who wrote it. Truly revolting, uniquely colorful and descriptive scenes of decrepit perversions and decomposition. Here's hoping! Oh cool I see you mention Gravity's Rainbow; at a rehab this summer I hoped to borrow that from a dude who was reading it but it was too much of a slog for him to finish in time.
Mo Hader's detective novels suck you in and before you know it you are knee deep in psychosis and putrid gore. The main character's complexity and clinical detachment dulls the nastiness.
I read Less Than Zero & watched the movie, too, when I was in high school. My best friend showed both to me. We were sneaky and read & watched lots of things we shouldn't have.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Less the Zero the book is FAAAR more nihilistic and depressing than the watered-down movie. But the casting was pretty perfect. Robert Downey Jr. during this era definitely embodied the debauched ennui of the characters in the book.
Funny, I finished Filth today, and it was a shockingly emotional read. Yeah, it's absolutely disgusting and really not for everyone, but goddamn, does it assault your emotions at every opportunity it has, especially in that final quartet of chapters. It made me laugh, cry and it's definitely a book that will not leave you for a long time. Plus, you know you have a good book on your hands when a damn TAPEWORM is the most likable character in the book.
I definitely agree, there’s a poignancy to Frisk that doesn’t really tower over the disgust, but kind of melds into it. The overall experience is unforgettable and quite off-putting, but in such a human and sorrowful way. Filth is fantastic! Yes, I was rooting for the tapeworm. 😂
Damn, mate! Your commitment and passion for literature (in this case, the disgusting side) is just what I needed on TH-cam! Since I discovered you only a few weeks ago, you're now one of my favourite channels! And as with the other comments, I also broke out laughing! The scenario was hilarious and right as hell XD XD XD!! I know many of these books and, indeed, I completely share the concept of disturbing and disgusting. "Child of God" got me depressed for about a week, it's tough. Also, I think you're the only person I've ever seen on youtube that talked about "A Feast of Snakes"! What an experience that was... pfff! Also!!! Good to know another fan of Salò, it is actually one of my personal greatest movies of all time. The movie is a rebellious act against the torturers of humanity, while the books itself is an act against humanity, what a twist O.o isn't it? Congratulations again for this impeccable insights and disposition, mate! ^^
Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this video! Always good to hear from fellow lovers of filth. Harry Crews is criminally underrated. I also spoke of him briefly in my “southern gothic” video. I hope I can bring a little more awareness to his amazing writing! That’s a great insight on the 120 Days of Sodom. That’s what always rubs me the wrong way about all the reception that Pasolini’s film gets. It’s mostly viewed as just a sick film, which just ignores the incredibly scalding and recalcitrant political commentary behind his work. His film, Teorema, is also fantastic. Again, thank you so much for the support and your lovely words!
For me, the thing that makes a book disturbing is how it translates real life horror into a book. I have always found serial killer documentaries and stuff fascinating because I really want to understand how a human being could become so incredibly twisted. A book like hellbound heart, isn’t hard to read for me because cenobites aren’t real, so it is easy to remind myself. However, A book like the girl next door, makes this pit form in my stomach because I know countless girls have suffered similar fates. It’s probably happening right this very second in my city somewhere, and I’m powerless to do anything about it. It’s disturbing because the whole time I want to murder Ruth and go save her, but I know I can’t. Edit: awesome costume! 👌
Thank you for the compliments on the costume! 😂 Agree with all of this, and it’s also why so much extreme fiction and splatterpunk doesn’t register as disturbing to me. Sure, the violence and gore are grounded in reality, but they’re so over the top, almost carnivalesque that I lose sight of seeing it as “realistic.” You’ve also described why I’m not the biggest fan of true crime. Real life disturbs me. I work as a paralegal in the field of criminal defense. We don’t often get murder cases, but when we do, it’s such a sobering reality, and going through discovery and police reports is the most disturbing reading I’ve ever undertaken.
Thank you so much! I had to wear a banana peel for hours, so I’m happy the end product was enjoyable! I had no idea banana peels could get so smelly. 🤢
Another highly entertaining - and informative - video, Juan! Made me think of David Bowie's Future Legend intro track on his Diamond Dogs album: th-cam.com/video/Zndiq-Ch5oo/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much, Seamus! Just listened to that opening monologue. Mine pales in comparison, but I feel honored to have reminded you of the great Bowie!
William S. Burroughs is amazing! The beat generation is amazing. Have you read the non-fiction book Paradoxia: A Predator's Diary by Lydia Lunch? It is deeply perverted, filthy, disturbing, and even some scenes are disgusting. It's non-fiction. You sold me at assholes blown apart. Also, I feel in love with the movie Salo before even knowing about the book. Then I dated an English professor who saw my DVD and said he wouldn't touch De Sade with a 10 ft pole. I said elborate on De Sade. After that, I snagged a couple of his books. (Salo and Justine) Love this video, your humor is on point.
I’ve never read this book, but the Beat Generation most definitely fascinates me for their irreverence! And I hope that you end up enjoying Frisk. 😂 I personally don’t like De Sade’s writing (very bland), but I love the concept of his literary merits!
Am two for two re your (dis)honorable mentions: I couldn't get very far into "Naked Lunch" (halfway? a hundred or 150 pages?) and stopped early when trying "Gravity's Rainbow." Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" was great though. What's weird is that while Burroughs grossed me out, "Juliette" and "120 Days..." by de Sade are two of my all-time favs, any genre. Perhaps it's because I wasn't thrilled with Burroughs' prose. Whatever. Just started commenting before fast forwarding. Wrote the above, then skipped ahead through your top ten, and BOOM You also mention de Sade!!!!!!!! You're one of the only ones ever to mention him. "Justine" had to have been written by someone else, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. I read maybe 30 or 50 pages of "Justine" then quit. Just not the same stuff. "Philosophy of the Bedroom" also wasn't my cup of tea. But anyway, to those who question de Sade, question his abilities, question his brilliance, I say this: there's a reason why it's classical lit.
I just found your channel and after one video I am hooked. I have read some of these books (Less than Zero, Maked Lunch) or titles from the same authors (Delaney, Ellis, Palnichuck. ) I guess I am more disgusting than I thought! My recommendation may not be that disgusting but is certainly disturbing. Borderlands by Thomas Monteleone is a set short stories in five books quite a few of which made my skin crawl.
Naked lunch is just awesome. It’s a bit funny when academics mess with Boroughs. It was certainly an OG work of transgressive fiction. Always wanted to get around to reading Gravity’s Rainbow but it just seems an impossible task
Ah, at last a free hour to read X-Men...and then you pop up on my phone dressed in a garbage bag with a banana 🍌 peel on your head! And about disturbing fiction! Awesome!
Oh man, I just ordered, “Filth.” Makes me feel better I’m not the only one with a curiosity & propensity for darker, mentally depraved themes lol. Can’t help myself, I need a plot to be controversial & taboo I guess. I should probably explore that in therapy, lol.
You are in good company, my friend! That’s pretty much all we read around here! I do think there’s something cathartic and even therapeutic about the subject matter. I know it certainly helps me sublimate a lot of fears regarding the real-life horrors that make fiction pale in comparison.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Just subbed to you! I enjoy your personality & articulation. 🍌 (lol.) I’m very proud of myself I’ve picked up reading again. Can’t wait to hear more recent fucked up reads, lol.
When I was an innocent, wide-eyed college student, I went to a Chuck Palahniuk live reading knowing only Fight Club. He read a chapter from Fight Club, and then Guts - all of it (as far as I'm aware). I was so close to throwing up and wanted to walk out but was afraid to call attention to myself. And I was sitting behind a man who had his 2 small children with him! One looked about 7 and the other maybe 9. The little girl was covering her ears and shaking her head and clearly traumatized. The little boy looked pretty horrified as well. The dad was laughing his ass off. I was like "dude..." I got to meet Palahniuk after and he signed my copy of Choke that I bought before the reading started. I tried 3 times to get through Choke but it was too gross for me and I gave it away 😂
The best way to approach Cows is to realize there’s a purposeful humor to it. It’s gruesome to an exaggerated degree, but if you learn to laugh with it, you’ll have a good time.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Will keep that in mind. Thanks! We shall see how it goes, lol. I also am trying to figure out the best edition to buy, “The Metamorphosis.” There are so many on Amazon..
@@PlaguedbyVisions Yes. I found one translation by that one you said but it’s combined with other stories (and I just want the one story ) & the Amazon reviews complained about the print for that version. I found another translation by Susan Bernofsky, that seems to be better? Maybe you can link me to what you suggest. Sorry to bother!
I just read the Oxford Edition by Joyce Crick, or Penguin Edition or Joachim are good translations too on Reddit, but they’re all combined with his other stories or something. New reader here and on a mission to find just the one story of “The Metamorphosis “in good translation. There was also a lady from India that recommended one but I guess I’d have to order it off India Amazon, lol. Idk
I read The Troop by Nick Cutter (pen name of Craig Davidson) around 2018. Definitely not as bad as any of the books talked about here, but I’m not used to reading body horror (even though I love it). The descriptions of the bodily changes and descriptions of things in general made my stomach churn, and the implications at the end of the book scared me. The fact that it happened to young boys in a Boy Scout troop (hence the name) makes it that much scarier and bleak with the events that happened in the book. The style in which the book is written may not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
I read this one on July of last year, and it was definitely a trip! I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, but the chimpanzee sequences made me… very itchy, for starters. 😂
FEAST OF SNAKES is one of my favorite novels. I was a huge Samuel Delany reader until HOGG; I managed to get through THE MAD MAN, which is almost as gross, but HOGG had me saying, "I'm out."
@@PlaguedbyVisions The story of THE MAD MAN isn't as completely bonkers as HOGG, but it has a great deal of sex involving, uh, waste. He has great skill--his early SF novels are still great, and his memoir THE MOTION OF LIGHT IN WATER, is especially fine (he writes mostly about his writing career and his mental health issues). His novel DARK REFLECTIONS is a very good, focused novel about an aging writer who is barely scraping by. But when he writes about sex, I'm out.
Deleney went to my high school and has a place of pride among us alumni. I was today years old when I found out about HOGG. I will promptly forget it and read Babel-17 again.
This has been suggested to me many times before. I think I’ll eventually have to read it. I am lightly familiar with the history, and seen the film, Men Behind the Sun.
I will admit that I've read more disgusting fanfics than actual books. Dipper Goes To Taco Bell is probably the grossest work of fiction I've ever read, but maybe I can change that I got a kindle for Christmas and I'm waiting for it to arrive to start reading again. When this happens I'm planning to download some of the books you recommended and read them on my kindle Are you familiar with the disturbing book iceberg meme? I watched a video about it recently and it made me feel excited to read again
Oh my, fanfic seems to be an untapped transgressive market I should be paying more attention to! Wishing you nothing but great reading with your new Kindle. And funny you should mention a disturbing books iceberg-I think you’ll really enjoy the new video I’m working on. 😉
@@PlaguedbyVisions If you're interested in the subject I recommend looking up the disturbing fanfiction iceberg. Many of the fanfics kinda left a bad taste in my mouth to be honest but they definitely interested me in a morbid way. One of the fics was in the list because it told the story of an adult who was having a relationship with a child but the story portrays it in an extremely positive light, like the author supports the themes she's writing about it, and it's such a bizarre thing to read. It isn't enjoyable or fun to read but it raises questions about what is the right way to write about such dark topics It's like... how do I say it... I didn't like most of the fics but I like talking about them and discussing what did they do wrong (or what did they do right) as amateur writing. I'll be honest most of them are really bad lmao and most of them are extremely sexual in nature but I have a strange morbid fascination with these fics
I didn't know 120 days of sodom was a book. Well...that's another to add to the old Amazon wishlist and binge it in a week. I always love your videos and actually take upon your recommendations.
Just new Hogg would be here, I read a few pages but couldn’t be compelled to continue even though I wanted to know how it ends. I’d recommend the end of Alice by A.M homes
Hogg could honestly be on all the lists of my channel. And I just recently read End of Alice! I didn’t really see much to it, but I guess I’m only happy to be able to say I’ve read it.
Justine and Juliette, I think, are much more competently written than 120 Days. They also have a clearer intent, and actually read like books, so I prefer them too!
Several titles piqued my interest, here. In particular The Melancholy Of Anotomy and Feast of Snakes. Haunted is a classic and I've long heard of the Less Than Zero movie but never knew the book was as extreme. Great video and I'm glad I stumbled across your channel. It's clear you put a SHITLOAD of work into your videos. Keep up the great work.
Hell yeah, thanks again! Sorry, I’m way behind on answering comments. 😓 Less Than Zero the novel is way worse than the film. It’s pretty deranged, in an unfiltered kind of way. Thank you so much for such kind and encouraging words! Always happy to hear from people who also appreciate off-putting things like these.
I am really amped to read Child of God. I am still so fascinated by Blood Meriden, years after reading. Btw I have a signed copy of Haunted by Chuck Palunuk and I’ve never read it lol
I don't care how old I get. The James Joyce letters will always make me laugh. I'm not even judging, I don't care what he or his partner were into, it's just written so well that it's hilarious.
Ok that Melancholy of Anatomy sounds interesting to me. Most of the time I just want to hear about this stuff but not to actually read it but that actually sounds like Junji Ito type stories.
That is an interesting comparison! Jackson is not as in-your-face grotesque as Ito, but definitely, both have similar tastes of cosmic dread and the terrible philosophies behind the body and its… liquids.
Can I just say, this is a truly remarkable experience watching you engage in your typical serious discussion, with a banana peel on your head 😉
You never know what you’re going to get on this channel! 🍌
@@PlaguedbyVisions big head is like if infant annihilator,carcass and vxpxoxaxaxwxaxmxc werent bands but instead one single book writer
I am 20 minutes in and already having to pause the video from laughing. All I can say is, I’m so glad I’ve found your gem of a channel. This mixture of humor, props, and serious and insightful discussion is somehow what I’ve always looked for in a Booktube channel. Please, never stop posting! This became my favorite TH-cam channel so fast!
This comment legit made me emotional. Jeremy, I’m so happy you found this channel, too! Your support and kind words are what keep me motivated. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate comments of this kind. ❤️
The commitment to the bit is unparalleled.
Method acting by not cleaning my room. Thank you so much for watching!
Finally, a video including a work of Marquis de Sade. I have no idea why other videos never talk about his works, considering that some of his books are included in a bunch of lists about classic literature
I believe it’s because most people can’t bring themselves to read his work. It’s certainly a chore! I find his books quite repetitive and hard to keep up with, but him as a figure, as a symbol for what literature can do, definitely merits wider discussion!
@@PlaguedbyVisions have you seen the movie Quill? It’s about Marquis de Sade.
OMFG THIS SET DESIGN AND COSTUME 😂 another instant classic!!! 🚽
Set design? Homie, that’s just my room.
JK thank you so much, Caleb! 😂
@@PlaguedbyVisions 🤣
I see you being the largest booktube channel soon. I really appreciate the time and effort you put into your work. The best part is that you understand the subjects you discuss. You know what you’re talking about, no matter what type of writing you’re presenting. You can definitely tell that you’re comfortable with your brand of creativity. As a viewer I appreciate your hard work. Keep up the top shelf work! (Pun most certainly intended.)
Holy crap. This is genuinely one of the nicest comments I’ve ever received. I’m at a loss for words! I thank you deeply. I’m happy you’ve enjoyed the content and found it insightful! This is what keeps me going. I’m just so happy that people connect with what I’m making. My most sincere gratitude!
Love your recommendations and in-depth explanation of books. I'm so glad you offer book titles that are not mainstream. Keep them coming. Awesome channel and one of a kind!!!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you for your supportive words! I’m so happy over all the positive reception this silly little video has gotten. :)
i know this vid is old but i just found your channel and subscribed, going through your uploads 💖 i love your scholarly lens of these works and literary analysis beyond just landing at “it’s gross” and the way you actually delve into context, subtext, and nuance in these works.
Your channel got me into reading! I love dark and absurd genres, especially when it comes to books. Your creativity in this video alongside the occasional jokes really made this an enjoyable watching experience. Appreciate your channel man!
Thank you so much! 🥺 I always try to sprinkle in some clownery to assure you all that I’m really just vibing out here. 😂 Thank you so much for the support!
By some WONDERFUL miracle this video got recommended to me and I am so glad. Your video was so engaging and entertaining with your fantastic descriptions, jokes and extra creativity. I'm not into book reviews or books much in general but you might just change my mind. I am instantly subbed either way :)! Thanks!
This is exactly why I do this: To bring the joy (or in this case, displeasure) of reading to people who might think it’s unapproachable or uninteresting. I am also glad you found my channel, and I hope you decide to give some reading a try! Thank YOU!
I feel like you could do a list like this just on Dennis Cooper's books (and Poppy Z. Brite's "Exquisite Corpse," which is sort of their spiritual cousin). Cooper's "Try" literally turned my stomach... not with the violence, but with his almost synesthesiac descriptions of grime and odor.
Exquisite Corpse never really struck me as “disgusting” the way these other books did. Maybe it’s due to the prose style. Dennis Cooper definitely wants that grime and odor!
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! 🥴
I watched this at like 3am and felt like a fever dream, i had to make sure it was real when i woke up 😂 great vid as always!
That’s exactly the vibe I want to put out, so thank you! Very “homeless person behind the dumpster in Mulholland Drive.”
@@PlaguedbyVisions oh god, i had that scene erased from memory and you brought it back 😂
Less Than Zero is also a great movie with Robert Downey Jr and a couple other excellent actors. I really like it because it tricks the viewer by introducing a seemingly exciting 80s party setting. It is not a realistic depiction of "fun" and partying form the 80s. It is stylized and romanticized the same way today some really clueless people have "80's nostalgia" when they have never lived in that era. Then the movie punches you in the stomach with a heavy reality check which I think feels very sobering and profound.
I actually was not a big fan of the film myself, but it’s definitely due for a rewatch! I think this countercultural, satirical “pulling of the rug” of society is precisely where BEE thrives haha.
@@PlaguedbyVisionsI won’t think of Bee Movie the same way ever again.
@@PlaguedbyVisionsI agree, I think the movie wasn’t that well received.
The dedication to your craft - from your banana peel beret to the sound effects - is breathtaking. As are the fumes coming through my screen.
Thank you so much! This definitely was one of my most ambitious videos. Believe me: The stench of that banana peel was UNBEARABLE.
How do you only have 5k subscribers??? The quality of your content deserves so much more!! keep doing what you're doing, you're good at it!!!
Haha, I’m honestly baffled that I have so many! Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. 🥲
This was INCREDIBLE! You really nailed the “disgusting” prompt in the head! 😂😂 Some titles i need to read for sure, some i wouldn’t dare 😱 personally i’m adding less than zero and filth to my tbr. Your style of presentation is so entertaining i could watch you for hours. In fact, i have 😅 keep em coming!!! 😍😍
Thank you so much again, Caleb! Hope you “enjoy” those new picks you got from this video! You have no idea how much I appreciate your unending support! ❤️
@@PlaguedbyVisions ❤️❤️❤️
Your reviews have to be the best on TH-cam. Gonna pick up every single one of these books! And you definitely got a new subscriber in me.
In ALL of TH-cam?! 😱 This is too much responsibility haha. Thank you so much for supporting this lil channel! ❤️
I really have to give you credit for your creativity, this was a very entertaining watch just from your production value, you obviously put a lot of thought and care into this video despite the weird subject matter.
A video suggestion that could be fun if you haven't done something like this already: The most disturbing children's books (or books *ostensibly* aimed at children that made you go "How the hell is this for kids?")
Also, funny story about Naked Lunch. I read this back in high school for pleasure reading and I would read parts of it out loud to my friends, that toilet-plunger open heart surgery scene and "piece of ass" joke being my two favorites to do this with, just to see how they would react to it. I was not disappointed and Naked Lunch is among my all time favorite novels.
My friend! This was my exact same experience with Bataille’s Story of the Eye. I passed it around to so many friends and loved seeing the varied responses.
For 1959!!?!?
When one of the adorable young teens I was impromptu-speaking coaching told me she was into Bukowski and Burroughs I nearly choked on my coffee.
There has been a book, whose title and author I forgot, that I read in my late teens that I am now fairly sure was a Dennis Cooper novel; perhaps Closer. Now I am apprehensive! Do I want to walk that path again? If it isn't the book in my memory, could it be even more depraved? Thank you so much for this list! Even if my forgotten book isn't Dennis Cooper I can absolutely commiserate with the questioning of life choices after (or during) reading some of these squelchy titles :) I do love that Hogg is kind of haunting you. Trash perfection (!) your setting and this whole video, Juan! "This book's gone bad!"
Thank you so much for watching and your words, Lydia! As always. I feel like Dennis Cooper may well be the author of the book you’re talking about. Even if you didn’t go into specifics about it, I have that feeling simply because his writing has that quality of ensnaring itself in your thoughts. Something about it feels like it goes directly to the backmost recesses of your brain to fester. I find that what I’ve read is going to “plague my visions” at the most inopportune times in the future.
Hogg is precisely that: A haunting read. Although I couldn’t stand it, I can always appreciate that quality in literature.
Again, thank you for being here! 🖤
I am 2 years late but this is the first video I’ve seen of you and I just had to write this comment ! Your personality is amazing , I really love how intelligent your vocabulary is and you have a talent of explaining the details of the disgusting books so articulately while at the same time having a humorous skit throughout the video of the trash / etc . Really enjoyable video I had to subscribe ! ☺️
And English isn’t even his first language! It’s so impressive!
@@mek0626 what? Wow ! 🥰
Man I'm reading Hogg atm. I thought I had a high ceiling on digust but I've only gotten 3 or 4 sections into Hogg and taken a break of a few days. It's so unremittingly nasty, I respect Delany for going that far it's really in a league of its own but damn. Filth by Irvine Welsh is one of my favourite novels ever it's so funny but also so tragic. Some interesting titles you mentioned here that I'll have to investigate. Great video dood.
Thank you so much! Always happy to reel in more lovers of filth to this channel! Lol. Hogg is definitely a trial. It's an experiment, and quite a successful one, of the boundaries of humanity and depravity. See my video titled "Books I Cannot Read" for more of my thoughts on him!
I agree, Filth is highly humorous, and somehow, that's what makes it the more tragic. Welsh's books are always unforgettable!
Thank you for this wonderful comment!
@@PlaguedbyVisions Hey Juan I checked out your earlier video and I have to say my inital reaction lined up a lot with yours in relation to Hogg. I finished the book a few days ago and wrote a review for Goodreads. While it's the most disgusting book I've ever read I do believe it's of some literary value although I'd never reccomend it to anyone to read (even as seasoned a disturbing novel reader as yourself). I'll link my review here as it's more simple than typing my thoughts in a TH-cam comment. Not trying to convince you to read it at all but just want to show where I ended up after pushing through. For a funny but disgusting book you should check out "Mother Maggot" by Simon McHardy. Its grotesque but it at least had a sense of humour unlike Hogg.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/4146428608?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Have to say Welsh is one of my favourite authors and I've read 9 of his 16 published novels/collections. Only weak things of those books is the final third of "Crime" and most of the "If You Liked School You'll Love Work" collection. The former is so forced in its reveal and wrap up and the latter is molasses slow throughout which is not what I'd want or expect from him tbh.
Watched a few of your older vids as well and you've come on so well in your style man it's awesome to see. Congrats on 2k! I'm glad to be one of those 2k and may it continue to climb.
I rarely comment on youtube, but this was so enjoyable.
I was looking for something to watch after writing on my current project that is very emotionally taxing since it's very personal. Remembered that I've been enjoying your videos, and gave this one a try. The trash bit was so creative and genuinely hilarious, although that banana peel sometimes really hypnotised me.
In all seriousness though, you create such smart, insightful videos with a great calm sense of humour and a voice I can listen to for hours (literally). It also warms my heart how genuinely you react to positive comments on your content. Thanks for putting yourself out here, you make the Internet better than it would be without you.
This is quite frankly one of the nicest comments I’ve ever received. I don’t even know what to say! Thank you so much for such overwhelmingly kind words! 😭 I’m just happy you got something out of this.
The man wore a banana peel for almost an hour for our entertainment.
Such an underrated youtuber, you keep doing you.
😭🤘🏽 Thank you so much for such kind words! I’m happy to suffer for art. I’m glad you enjoyed this!
Another great list and great performance! Really love these characters you’ve been playing... adds another whole level of great entertainment to already really engaging videos!
I don’t need to read Necrophiliac now... your discussion of it was enough to make me gag a little.
I really need to pick up Haunted again... I read a little years ago, put it down, and never picked it up again. Though I did read Guts (used to have the original magazine it first appeared in, but lent it out and never got it back)... I think I’ll do that pretty soon. Regarding what you mentioned about Palahniuk taking real facts and building a story around it: did you know he actually published a book of nonfiction stories? Called Stranger than Fiction (self explanatory).
Thank you so much, Dave!
You definitely DON’T need to read Wittkop’s novella. I honestly don’t know who does. But I did, so...
Haunted’s a solid book! Like I said, some stories are a miss, but overall, there’s no way for Palahniuk to NOT entertain, given the plethora of disgusting subject matter he covers in a single book.
I had no idea he wrote a nonfiction book! But it makes sense. So much of his writing is informed by real-life bizarre factoids. I think he really understands there’s just no way to compete with real life when it comes to grossing out.
6:17 I physically laughed alout at the breakfast table, god I’m such a juvenile but it really took me off guard and now my family are all looking at me weird.
A true honor! 😁😁😁
Oh my God thats a pungent beast. Jajaj loved that line. Valencia this video is impressive. The humor is good but the selection is awesome. You invaded my reading list with this interesting titles. The hour went fast. Youre one talented cat. Love all the videos by now. Love the tone and the sly humor in this. I read Gravitys Rainbow, couldnt finish the Naked Lunch the imagery was too dirty, cant wait to read Cows and Frisk. I read Closer and it was an intriguing read and Frisk offers to be more. I own Child of God and im very excited on reading it too. Great video. Stay great. Much respect from PR.
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed the video! Child of God is a great book to have, but understandably a hard book to get to. I would definitely say Frisk makes Closer seem like a walk through the park. The repulsiveness really amped up. Still taking a break from the George Miles Cycle, although I’ve heard the next installments are nowhere near as extreme as Frisk was.
Thanks so much again for the support and lovely words! I really appreciate it.
Am I the only one who caught the "wrought" (rot) pun at 49:32 during Juan's description of Necrophiliac? I don't know if it was intentional, but I found it clever.
Hahaha! Erm, yeah, it was totally intentional! 🥸
This is a great video. It's got all the stuff I want, stuff I've read, stuff I own but haven't read, and stuff I haven't even heard of. Great recommendations! Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for watching! I’m so happy you enjoyed the video. I’m glad I was able to please those lovers of gore and filth. It was my intention! 😄
I ordered “The Hogg.” I finished reading “Cows,” lol, & sickly enjoyed it. The worst part of the story (out of all its weirdness, ya know, the cows talking, cow fuc*ing etc.. ) was the abortion scene she inflicted on herself. That chapter was horrid.
It is definitely a comedy of excess! An overwrought Aristocrats joke. I think Stokoe really balances that line well between pushing readers' limits and also thoroughly entertaining them. Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I'm impressed with both your creativity in this video and that you managed to make me feel squeamish. This is definitely my most favourite video you have made so far. I've added The Melancholy of Anatomy and The Necrophiliac to my Goodreads want to read list. All the other books mentioned that I haven't read are already on the list.
Thank you so much! I think this video is definitely my masterpiece. 😂 What can I say, the disgusting really inspires me. Hope you are as wowed by Wittkop and Jackson as I was!
I think Stephen King's Gerald's Game should get a dishonorable mention. I've read a LOT of "extreme horror," and I wouldn't count Gerald's Game as an "extreme horror" book... but that climactic escape scene seriously grossed me out more than anything else I've read. It's just one scene in an otherwise-not-extreme book, but, lordy lord that one scene will almost make ya grey out. Nothing Edward Lee or any of the other splatfreaks have done that.
Jack Ketchum's Girl Next Door and J. F. Gonzalez's Survivor are both disturbing because, unlike most extreme horror, they're very well-written and make you invest a lot in the characters and what's happening. Most extreme horror can't get beyond "hey look at my chewed-up food," and that's why most of it is crap.
Why am I so obsessed with watching that banana peel slowly turnin black on top of your head.
Also RIP my TBR. And my innocence.
I hadn’t even noticed that effect! Cool! That banana peel will forever be immortalized. Sorry about the TBR and the trauma!
Gotta say, the juxtaposition of the banana peel and the eloquent, insightful analysis has made my day.
It’s really an art form to be this fucking goofy and still try to sound dignified 🍌
You are so hilarious and well spoken, I absolutely adore your content! :)
Thank you!!! 🥲❤️❤️❤️
This is my favorite thing to happen to bookish videos. Also, you look good in banana! :)
Thank you so much! So many comments saying they like this style of presentation. That makes me so happy to share my vision of book discussions with you all!
The banana look is good, but also it started to stink. I had no idea banana peels got so smelly! Now I know...
The way Bateman microwaving the jellyfish he found on the beach is what stuck with me among all the carnage that book has to offer 😭💀
I just discovered your channel and before your list begins I want to pose one guess of a title I would expect to see here: Birdman. Cant remember the lady who wrote it. Truly revolting, uniquely colorful and descriptive scenes of decrepit perversions and decomposition. Here's hoping!
Oh cool I see you mention Gravity's Rainbow; at a rehab this summer I hoped to borrow that from a dude who was reading it but it was too much of a slog for him to finish in time.
Mo Hader's detective novels suck you in and before you know it you are knee deep in psychosis and putrid gore. The main character's complexity and clinical detachment dulls the nastiness.
I love your videos dude. It’s good to see you getting more comfortable on here. As always keep it up :)
Aw, thank you so much! 🥺
@@PlaguedbyVisions always man you make my day and you’re super well educated in literature. Just nice to see content that is quality.
Exquisite Corpse by pre transition Poppy Z Brite is pretty gross.
I read Less Than Zero & watched the movie, too, when I was in high school. My best friend showed both to me. We were sneaky and read & watched lots of things we shouldn't have.
Ah, those old days when literature felt dangerous and daring! I did the same for The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby in middle school. 😂 Not as extreme!
@@PlaguedbyVisions Less the Zero the book is FAAAR more nihilistic and depressing than the watered-down movie. But the casting was pretty perfect. Robert Downey Jr. during this era definitely embodied the debauched ennui of the characters in the book.
LOL at “scatalogical misadventures” such eloquence!
Of course, we must bring academic poise to discussions such as these. 💩 Thank you for watching! ❤️
I love gross reads oml. First time seeing this. Thank you!
You’re in the right place, homie. Any time you wanna talk gross books, I’m here. 😂
Funny, I finished Filth today, and it was a shockingly emotional read. Yeah, it's absolutely disgusting and really not for everyone, but goddamn, does it assault your emotions at every opportunity it has, especially in that final quartet of chapters. It made me laugh, cry and it's definitely a book that will not leave you for a long time.
Plus, you know you have a good book on your hands when a damn TAPEWORM is the most likable character in the book.
I definitely agree, there’s a poignancy to Frisk that doesn’t really tower over the disgust, but kind of melds into it. The overall experience is unforgettable and quite off-putting, but in such a human and sorrowful way.
Filth is fantastic! Yes, I was rooting for the tapeworm. 😂
thx , for the book recommendations. Lots of fun ! :)
Your content gets better every time and this was too funny!! You made me want to start reading again!!
And I haven't touched a book in years, this is a miracle!!
Yes! Promoting literacy is the goal, so I’m so happy to hear this! Happy reading! If you ever need recommendations of any kind, let me know!
This is just a fun enjoyable video. Love it! Thanks Juan!😁😁
Thank YOU so much for watching! 💚
Thoughtful, funny, and thorough as always!
Thank you so much! I appreciate you watching! I’m glad you could hang with the stink 😷
Damn, mate! Your commitment and passion for literature (in this case, the disgusting side) is just what I needed on TH-cam! Since I discovered you only a few weeks ago, you're now one of my favourite channels! And as with the other comments, I also broke out laughing! The scenario was hilarious and right as hell XD XD XD!! I know many of these books and, indeed, I completely share the concept of disturbing and disgusting. "Child of God" got me depressed for about a week, it's tough. Also, I think you're the only person I've ever seen on youtube that talked about "A Feast of Snakes"! What an experience that was... pfff! Also!!! Good to know another fan of Salò, it is actually one of my personal greatest movies of all time. The movie is a rebellious act against the torturers of humanity, while the books itself is an act against humanity, what a twist O.o isn't it? Congratulations again for this impeccable insights and disposition, mate! ^^
Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this video! Always good to hear from fellow lovers of filth.
Harry Crews is criminally underrated. I also spoke of him briefly in my “southern gothic” video. I hope I can bring a little more awareness to his amazing writing!
That’s a great insight on the 120 Days of Sodom. That’s what always rubs me the wrong way about all the reception that Pasolini’s film gets. It’s mostly viewed as just a sick film, which just ignores the incredibly scalding and recalcitrant political commentary behind his work. His film, Teorema, is also fantastic.
Again, thank you so much for the support and your lovely words!
For me, the thing that makes a book disturbing is how it translates real life horror into a book. I have always found serial killer documentaries and stuff fascinating because I really want to understand how a human being could become so incredibly twisted. A book like hellbound heart, isn’t hard to read for me because cenobites aren’t real, so it is easy to remind myself. However, A book like the girl next door, makes this pit form in my stomach because I know countless girls have suffered similar fates. It’s probably happening right this very second in my city somewhere, and I’m powerless to do anything about it. It’s disturbing because the whole time I want to murder Ruth and go save her, but I know I can’t.
Edit: awesome costume! 👌
Thank you for the compliments on the costume! 😂
Agree with all of this, and it’s also why so much extreme fiction and splatterpunk doesn’t register as disturbing to me. Sure, the violence and gore are grounded in reality, but they’re so over the top, almost carnivalesque that I lose sight of seeing it as “realistic.”
You’ve also described why I’m not the biggest fan of true crime. Real life disturbs me. I work as a paralegal in the field of criminal defense. We don’t often get murder cases, but when we do, it’s such a sobering reality, and going through discovery and police reports is the most disturbing reading I’ve ever undertaken.
There is nothing better than having dinner listening to my favorite booktuber talking about disgusting books.
Provecho! 💩
Thank you so much! I’m happy you enjoyed this video!
THE DEDICATION? ON POINT. Thank you so much for another amazeballs video!
Thank you so much! I had to wear a banana peel for hours, so I’m happy the end product was enjoyable! I had no idea banana peels could get so smelly. 🤢
Another highly entertaining - and informative - video, Juan! Made me think of David Bowie's Future Legend intro track on his Diamond Dogs album: th-cam.com/video/Zndiq-Ch5oo/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much, Seamus! Just listened to that opening monologue. Mine pales in comparison, but I feel honored to have reminded you of the great Bowie!
William S. Burroughs is amazing! The beat generation is amazing. Have you read the non-fiction book Paradoxia: A Predator's Diary by Lydia Lunch? It is deeply perverted, filthy, disturbing, and even some scenes are disgusting. It's non-fiction.
You sold me at assholes blown apart.
Also, I feel in love with the movie Salo before even knowing about the book. Then I dated an English professor who saw my DVD and said he wouldn't touch De Sade with a 10 ft pole. I said elborate on De Sade. After that, I snagged a couple of his books. (Salo and Justine)
Love this video, your humor is on point.
I’ve never read this book, but the Beat Generation most definitely fascinates me for their irreverence! And I hope that you end up enjoying Frisk. 😂 I personally don’t like De Sade’s writing (very bland), but I love the concept of his literary merits!
Am two for two re your (dis)honorable mentions: I couldn't get very far into "Naked Lunch" (halfway? a hundred or 150 pages?) and stopped early when trying "Gravity's Rainbow." Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49" was great though. What's weird is that while Burroughs grossed me out, "Juliette" and "120 Days..." by de Sade are two of my all-time favs, any genre. Perhaps it's because I wasn't thrilled with Burroughs' prose. Whatever.
Just started commenting before fast forwarding. Wrote the above, then skipped ahead through your top ten, and
BOOM
You also mention de Sade!!!!!!!! You're one of the only ones ever to mention him. "Justine" had to have been written by someone else, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. I read maybe 30 or 50 pages of "Justine" then quit. Just not the same stuff. "Philosophy of the Bedroom" also wasn't my cup of tea.
But anyway, to those who question de Sade, question his abilities, question his brilliance, I say this: there's a reason why it's classical lit.
I just found your channel and after one video I am hooked. I have read some of these books (Less than Zero, Maked Lunch) or titles from the same authors (Delaney, Ellis, Palnichuck. ) I guess I am more disgusting than I thought! My recommendation may not be that disgusting but is certainly disturbing. Borderlands by Thomas Monteleone is a set short stories in five books quite a few of which made my skin crawl.
There is a nice film adaptation of Filth with James McAvoy that shows an interesting depiction of the tape dormir
Naked lunch is just awesome. It’s a bit funny when academics mess with Boroughs. It was certainly an OG work of transgressive fiction. Always wanted to get around to reading Gravity’s Rainbow but it just seems an impossible task
I read Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 42. After that I knew that I didn't have the fortitude to read Gravity's Rainbow.
Just found you, your descriptions. !!!!!!
Thank you for watching! Hope that’s a good thing! 😂
Love the set up. Straight out of a troma film
Same budget, too! 😂 Thank you! 💚
Awesome video. You rock.
Ah, at last a free hour to read X-Men...and then you pop up on my phone dressed in a garbage bag with a banana 🍌 peel on your head! And about disturbing fiction! Awesome!
I hope you got your reading done! It would’ve been time better spent than listening to me talk about poop. 💩
@@PlaguedbyVisions trust me, this video was well worth it!
Well, that just fills me with joy. Thank you for all the support, Michael. 🕵🏽
Can i just say the creativity on this video is TOP TIER!!!!!
Thank you! Thank you! 😭 I’m literally trying my hardest 😂
I read a lot of disgusting books but only Hogg gave me a headache. I swear, my head started to hurt and I had to stop.
Oh man, I just ordered, “Filth.” Makes me feel better I’m not the only one with a curiosity & propensity for darker, mentally depraved themes lol. Can’t help myself, I need a plot to be controversial & taboo I guess. I should probably explore that in therapy, lol.
You are in good company, my friend! That’s pretty much all we read around here! I do think there’s something cathartic and even therapeutic about the subject matter. I know it certainly helps me sublimate a lot of fears regarding the real-life horrors that make fiction pale in comparison.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Just subbed to you! I enjoy your personality & articulation. 🍌 (lol.) I’m very proud of myself I’ve picked up reading again. Can’t wait to hear more recent fucked up reads, lol.
I love the "dumpster dive"
🗑🪰💩🤮🚽
Just found your channel, keep it up!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 😁
Yay! You’re back!💕
Never left! 👊🏽😎
@@PlaguedbyVisions HAHA Yes I realized that after I added my comment. BLESSINGS, FRIEND!
Blessings to you, too!
When I was an innocent, wide-eyed college student, I went to a Chuck Palahniuk live reading knowing only Fight Club. He read a chapter from Fight Club, and then Guts - all of it (as far as I'm aware). I was so close to throwing up and wanted to walk out but was afraid to call attention to myself. And I was sitting behind a man who had his 2 small children with him! One looked about 7 and the other maybe 9. The little girl was covering her ears and shaking her head and clearly traumatized. The little boy looked pretty horrified as well. The dad was laughing his ass off. I was like "dude..." I got to meet Palahniuk after and he signed my copy of Choke that I bought before the reading started. I tried 3 times to get through Choke but it was too gross for me and I gave it away 😂
Hahaha, have you seen my video, “Can a Book Kill you”? I think you’ll enjoy my segment on “Guts” in it. :)
Oh ya, I also ordered Cows, too. I forgot to mention. I’m mentally preparing myself . :)
The best way to approach Cows is to realize there’s a purposeful humor to it. It’s gruesome to an exaggerated degree, but if you learn to laugh with it, you’ll have a good time.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Will keep that in mind. Thanks! We shall see how it goes, lol. I also am trying to figure out the best edition to buy, “The Metamorphosis.” There are so many on Amazon..
@@ANewKindaGuy you mean by Kafka? Look for the Schocken Kafka Library edition. Those are the best translations of his work.
@@PlaguedbyVisions Yes. I found one translation by that one you said but it’s combined with other stories (and I just want the one story ) & the Amazon reviews complained about the print for that version. I found another translation by Susan Bernofsky, that seems to be better? Maybe you can link me to what you suggest. Sorry to bother!
I just read the Oxford Edition by Joyce Crick, or Penguin Edition or Joachim are good translations too on Reddit, but they’re all combined with his other stories or something. New reader here and on a mission to find just the one story of “The Metamorphosis “in good translation. There was also a lady from India that recommended one but I guess I’d have to order it off India Amazon, lol. Idk
I read The Troop by Nick Cutter (pen name of Craig Davidson) around 2018. Definitely not as bad as any of the books talked about here, but I’m not used to reading body horror (even though I love it). The descriptions of the bodily changes and descriptions of things in general made my stomach churn, and the implications at the end of the book scared me. The fact that it happened to young boys in a Boy Scout troop (hence the name) makes it that much scarier and bleak with the events that happened in the book. The style in which the book is written may not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
I read this one on July of last year, and it was definitely a trip! I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would, but the chimpanzee sequences made me… very itchy, for starters. 😂
@@PlaguedbyVisions yeah those animal trials were 😳
"Eat Them Alive" ? A crook raises an army of giant praying mantises. It's way under the radar, but totally disgusting.
Was sad to see, after reading this comment, that it’s been long out of print and pretty expensive. 😔 It sounds incredible!
FEAST OF SNAKES is one of my favorite novels. I was a huge Samuel Delany reader until HOGG; I managed to get through THE MAD MAN, which is almost as gross, but HOGG had me saying, "I'm out."
Hogg is the ultimate test for many! I’ll definitely have to check out The Mad Man. I have not heard of that one before!
@@PlaguedbyVisions The story of THE MAD MAN isn't as completely bonkers as HOGG, but it has a great deal of sex involving, uh, waste. He has great skill--his early SF novels are still great, and his memoir THE MOTION OF LIGHT IN WATER, is especially fine (he writes mostly about his writing career and his mental health issues). His novel DARK REFLECTIONS is a very good, focused novel about an aging writer who is barely scraping by. But when he writes about sex, I'm out.
Deleney went to my high school and has a place of pride among us alumni. I was today years old when I found out about HOGG. I will promptly forget it and read Babel-17 again.
The way you describe what happens in the books only piques my interests further.
This one is nonfiction: Ever read 'Rape of Nanking'? That will make you lose sleep. The cruelty of war is unimaginable.
This has been suggested to me many times before. I think I’ll eventually have to read it. I am lightly familiar with the history, and seen the film, Men Behind the Sun.
Of course, de Sade is where we get the word "sadism" from.
the farts in the title screens made me laugh every time 😭
This is a serious critic
How can you tell?
The banana.
(For real though. Greatly appreciate the knowledge and the prosaic form of your narration)
I read the Wikipedia page for Hogg. That's enough to sate my curiosity.
Smart fella! 😂 Maybe I should’ve done the same.
Thank you for mentioning that American Psycho didn't hit hard - I too found Less than Zero much more disturbing.
100%!!!
I will admit that I've read more disgusting fanfics than actual books. Dipper Goes To Taco Bell is probably the grossest work of fiction I've ever read, but maybe I can change that
I got a kindle for Christmas and I'm waiting for it to arrive to start reading again. When this happens I'm planning to download some of the books you recommended and read them on my kindle
Are you familiar with the disturbing book iceberg meme? I watched a video about it recently and it made me feel excited to read again
Oh my, fanfic seems to be an untapped transgressive market I should be paying more attention to! Wishing you nothing but great reading with your new Kindle. And funny you should mention a disturbing books iceberg-I think you’ll really enjoy the new video I’m working on. 😉
@@PlaguedbyVisions If you're interested in the subject I recommend looking up the disturbing fanfiction iceberg. Many of the fanfics kinda left a bad taste in my mouth to be honest but they definitely interested me in a morbid way. One of the fics was in the list because it told the story of an adult who was having a relationship with a child but the story portrays it in an extremely positive light, like the author supports the themes she's writing about it, and it's such a bizarre thing to read. It isn't enjoyable or fun to read but it raises questions about what is the right way to write about such dark topics
It's like... how do I say it... I didn't like most of the fics but I like talking about them and discussing what did they do wrong (or what did they do right) as amateur writing. I'll be honest most of them are really bad lmao and most of them are extremely sexual in nature but I have a strange morbid fascination with these fics
Currently reading Hogg, as problematic as it is I cannot stop turning the pages
I didn't know 120 days of sodom was a book. Well...that's another to add to the old Amazon wishlist and binge it in a week. I always love your videos and actually take upon your recommendations.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! I hope you... uhm... enjoy? De Sade’s work! What I will say is that it is strangely... readable.
Just new Hogg would be here, I read a few pages but couldn’t be compelled to continue even though I wanted to know how it ends. I’d recommend the end of Alice by A.M homes
Hogg could honestly be on all the lists of my channel. And I just recently read End of Alice! I didn’t really see much to it, but I guess I’m only happy to be able to say I’ve read it.
And just because of "120 Days..." I insta-subbed.
jesus what attention to detail. the first PRRT killed me xdd
Thank you! 🤗 Looking for copyright-free fart sounds was a highlight of my weekend!
love Salo so much but my fav book of all is his Justine
Justine and Juliette, I think, are much more competently written than 120 Days. They also have a clearer intent, and actually read like books, so I prefer them too!
This was a great video, thanks!
Thank you so much for watching!
Several titles piqued my interest, here. In particular The Melancholy Of Anotomy and Feast of Snakes. Haunted is a classic and I've long heard of the Less Than Zero movie but never knew the book was as extreme. Great video and I'm glad I stumbled across your channel. It's clear you put a SHITLOAD of work into your videos. Keep up the great work.
Hell yeah, thanks again! Sorry, I’m way behind on answering comments. 😓 Less Than Zero the novel is way worse than the film. It’s pretty deranged, in an unfiltered kind of way.
Thank you so much for such kind and encouraging words! Always happy to hear from people who also appreciate off-putting things like these.
estuve esperando este video, brillante!
Gracias, Martín! Qué bueno que te agradó, y que encontraste nuevo material para seguir explorando la literatura repugnante 🤮
The infamous Hogg!!!
Let this be the last f’ing time. 😔
I am really amped to read Child of God. I am still so fascinated by Blood Meriden, years after reading. Btw I have a signed copy of Haunted by Chuck Palunuk and I’ve never read it lol
I don't care how old I get. The James Joyce letters will always make me laugh. I'm not even judging, I don't care what he or his partner were into, it's just written so well that it's hilarious.
I love that they’d just fart on each other and were happy. Good for them!
Ok that Melancholy of Anatomy sounds interesting to me. Most of the time I just want to hear about this stuff but not to actually read it but that actually sounds like Junji Ito type stories.
That is an interesting comparison! Jackson is not as in-your-face grotesque as Ito, but definitely, both have similar tastes of cosmic dread and the terrible philosophies behind the body and its… liquids.
My favorite disgusting book ~ Wetlands by Charlotte Roche. It's like if "Blowfly Girl" was a novel. 💩🤎
Okay, I need to read this RIGHT NOW! I believe I heard of the film version through some buzz going around. I had no idea it was a novel!
why did the fart sound make me laugh every time
“ this book didn’t go bad, it’s always been bad 😂 “
😷
I got one for you: They wrote an anthology of fictional stories about GG Allin. It would fit right in here.
Haha, I talked about GG Allin briefly in a video I made on disturbing theater. What a guy!
Kept that banana peel on his head the whole time. That’s commitment.
The things I do for content!