I am holding you gently. Please read this book. This book is so so good.
I love Chuck Tingle. I love horror. I almost cried when I read the blurb on the back that says, “We are all lucky for the statistically infinitesimal chance to be alive while Chuck Tingle is writing books.” I feel that deeply.
Horror has always been my favorite genre of anything. But there is something so special and so unique in the way Tingle writes. He mixes terror and hope in a way that claws right through me. There is intrigue, there are scares, there is a monkey dressed as Shakespeare. Everyone is queer. In my mind Denver looks like Sigourney Weaver in Holes.
I thought nothing would be better than the salacious religious trauma in Camp Damascus; I thought nothing would be more physically, viscerally terrifying than a man being slowly sledgehammer-tortured to death.
I was wrong. There are parts of this book that genuinely scared me and made my heart rate rise. There are parts that made me laugh and parts that made me tear up. And yet, at the end of it, hope.
Okay, new flat earth terraforming strategem is funny, but I’m curious about the smooth earth terraforming-
If the earth was completely smooth (like a marble), how far underwater would everyone be? I’m sure this is a science/math problem that is easily solvable by someone.
In my experience as a third culture kid who travels a lot the best indicator that you as a non-x is appreciating x culture is if the locals actively invite you to participate in it with them
Yes, you are allowed to buy those handmade Inuit winter clothes if an Inuk is literally selling them to you. They would not be offering you a price point if they didnt want you to buy and wear them. And you might discover that theyre the best winter clothes youve ever worn because of COURSE they would be if theyve kept this culture warm in harsh winters for thousands of years.
Yes, you are allowed to join those Cambodians in that local holiday theyre celebrating during your visit if they literally invited you to it. They would not have invited you if they didnt want you to participate. And in the process you might learn a lot about a culture you never wouldve interacted with and you can all have a laugh together about your clumsy but genuine attempts at getting your footwork right in one of their traditional dances.
Yes, you are also allowed to ask if you can participate in something from the local culture you are visiting. Sometimes you will get “sorry, thats a closed practice” but in my experience most of the time you’ll get “of course, let me show you how to do this!” And in my experience people tend to appreciate when others make an active effort in sharing their culture and wont stone you to death if youre clumsy about it while youre learning. I guarantee that the local children doing all of this for the first time too make the same mistakes you do and they can tell if youre being disrespectful or genuine.
So much “cultural appropriation” discourse really starts to sound like “you cant participate or visit any other cultures if youre from a Colonial Culture and have to stay in your little box and never relate to other people”
You actually sound like more of a racist dickhead when your response to being offered something is to say “no im not allowed to do that, Im white”
ALT
