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Thank you so much for the kind words! I appreciate it.

Nothing beats a good book store. Amazon just can't compare.

Wow, thank you so much for the kind words. Once you've got your list I'd love to hear it!

It should be available through the link in the description. I'm not an affiliate or anything (I'll get nothing out of it if you buy), but would highly recommend giving it a read. It was a breath of fresh air reading something that tries to push the boundaries of modern fiction instead of a regurgitation of the same old stories and ideas. Let me know your thoughts if you end up reading it. I'd love to hear what you have to say on it.

Exactly. The idea that publishers exist to push literature forward is laughable. They're a business that exists solely to make money, which is why I'm firmly of the belief that creatives who aspire to write literary fiction that pushes the boundaries (whether they succeeded or not with this is irrelevant) should go independent and publish what they want without begging for corporate approval.

This is a largely pointless hypothetical, but I often wonder what the initial reading experience of his works would have been if he formatted them "correctly". Would it be better? Worse? Exactly the same? Impossible to know, obviously, but interesting to think about. I personally love his stylistic formatting, but it very well could be that I just love it because he's an incredible, once-in-a-generation writer. Maybe it's just as simple as anything a writer as talented as he does is, well, good.

@@theliterarynomad yeah I’m inclined to agree. I personally dont take too much stock in his stylistic choices wrt punctuation in itself. The gold comes from the mindset that led to those choices, and how those choices demand clarity of his authorial voice. If nothing else, they’re a fun dated postmodern aesthetic quirk.

Absolutely, I'd love to hear them. Any suggestions ae more than welcome.

Absolutely. It's always important to have an emergency get home and reset fund and an actionable backup plan ready to go.

There's a link on my channel page (it's a linktree). If you click the third option that says "Debut Novel (Just One Yes)" it should pop up. Otherwise, you can just Google "Nicholas Coursel Just One Yes" and it should appear.

I always thought exactly the same, then I started to get out into the world and realized everything is so much different than I'd been told my whole life. The people, places, and things I've done in the past year or so traveling will likely shape my writing for the rest of my life. One of my prime goals moving forward with future projects is to somehow try and translate all the things I've seen on my journey to the page in a way that does it justice. Much easier said than done, though. And yes, the cats are easily the best part of this incredible city. It takes us an hour to walk five blocks because we have to stop and pet them all.

Thank you for the kind words and the subscription. Comments like this are the best sources of inspiration.

@@theliterarynomad Of course, and I will be back... you see, there is something, an unspoken sensation, that makes it I recognise the consideration you show when speaking of your goals. I too have writing ambitions: I have managed to write some poems and a few short stories here and there, as well as lore and worldbuilding for a Nationstates RP and a couple of chapters, back in the day, of a never to be finished Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery fanfic on Wattpad - you have got to start somewhere hhahhah - thanks to which I found in the comments my writing partner and best friend... upon having bothered so thoroughly, together and alone, with a story, a setting, the realisation and discussion of an idea, it makes the consideration and thought you put in your goals familiar in a sense. Having been to Cambridge only ereyesterday, I have picked up two books at the University Press Bookstore, one on Creative Writing, and one of Travel Writing... once my planning is cleanst of upcoming affairs, I plan on putting those books to good use. That all aside it must be said that the considerate atmosphere of a small writing channel like this feels... like home. Anyhow, I hope you'll have a splendid day, and a happy new year - personally, I wouldn't say it's too late to utter the phrase, perhaps never. P.S. instead of "considerate", you could read "thoughtful" or anything of the like, it is the general idea of it that counts.

@@BenjaminJohannesSanchez I think we'd all be lying if we said we hadn't written at least some fan fiction at some point lol Is any of your work available on the Internet? I'd love to check it some of it out.

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it. These early sales mean everything to us new writers, as I'm sure you know. If you don't mind sharing, what's your novel about? I'd love to pick up a copy whenever it's ready.

@@theliterarynomad It would be an honor! Hopefully I can finish in the near future and i'll let you know! It's about a make-believe world that juxtaposes the real world. It explores themes about mankind's never-ending battle between good and evil.

​@@willynick Now you've got me intnerested. Don't forget to come back when it's done and let us all know. We'll be waiting!

A Brief History of Time has always sounded interesting to me, yet I've never got around to it. How was it? Would you recommend it?

@@theliterarynomad I love the sciences so I really enjoyed it! If you want a shorter read & learn a little more about physics I would recommend it. Hawking talked more about religion than I anticipated making it more of that philosophical angle that I wasn't initially expecting as a heads up. It is extremely dense - I had to read it in small chunks - 10 to 20 pages at a time, sometimes even less. Otherwise, I'd get confused with all the information! 😅

@@cozy_amble That's interesting that it's pretty philosophical. I wouldn't have guessed that, either. I'll definitely be adding it to my long (and ever-growing) list of books to read in 2024.

Those silly and embarrassing annotations are precisely why it's such a cool and priceless item to pass down generation to generation. I wish more people did stuff like this. Thank you for such a thoughtful comment!

Thank you for the kind words. I look forward to the next decade when us creatives begin taking back these systems that no longer serve us. 100% independent (books, film, everything) is the future. The big budget corporate projects aren't even interesting for the spectacle anymore. It's all far too played out.

Agree with this 100%. While I understand the objective value of keeping old books pristine and untouched, nothing makes me happier on a personal level than finding an old, heavily battered used book with little notes, inscriptions, and annotations scribbled throughout. As you say perfectly, they're one of the greatest anthropological vessels we currently have. Thank you for the kind words and thoughtful comment. This is exactly why I made this video.

True in many (nearly all) cases, but I would say the Chernobyl disaster (and its fallout) is one of the few exceptions. Of course, people do have a degree of choice on how they react to these hardships, but circumstance does play a role (although not the only determining factor).

Was Oppenheimer worth the watch? I've been putting it off for some reason.

Thank you so much for the kind words! I think that if this novel was written by anyone other than Mishima it wouldn't be nearly as heavily criticized, but because he has the reputation of being one of Japan's greatest ever, he gets judged the harshest. Either way, I really enjoyed the book as well and will 100% be doing more Mishima books on the channel at some point.

Thank you! I'll definitely have to check out the source material.

@@theliterarynomad my nitpick with the Killer is his inner monologue works perfectly in a comic book form, but it is difficult to adapt to a screenplay. I have no idea what I would have done to make that work but I felt that the pacing of the movie was slightly hindered because of those monologues. It kept breaking the flow for me. I loved the comic when it first came out.

@@jonathanbowling2904 I really enjoyed how he set the scene in a literary way, but as the film progressed the monologues got much weaker imo. By the end, it felt like just another thriller, which was disappointing, as the opening 20-30 minutes were so promising.

Couldn't agree more. That opening monologue = some of the best filmmaking I've ever seen Everything else = 4/10

Do you think he's always been incompetent and just has a massive unrealistic ego, or has recently become incompetent due to a newfound sense of morality? I personally think it's the latter, as he wouldn't have been able to get such a nice house and all that money had he truly been bad at his job throughout his career.

​@@theliterarynomadthe later

That's one I've definitely got on the must-read list. How did you like it? Would you recommend it over any other Dostoevsky works? I'm strongly considering starting "The Idiot" soon.

That's a fair criticism about not being super clear about the "rule-breaking" part of the film--I agree with you there. My main point was that starting a film with a 20 min. monologue that does nothing other than set the mood and introduce one character would be considered "bad" by most people in screenwriting following conventions set by things like "Save the Cat" and whatnot. Fincher got away with it, of course, because he's Fincher. I think more filmmakers should be adventurous in this way though tbh. Art would be much better for it. Still, I definitely could've communicated that better in the video. Thank you for your comment and for watching the video!

Shoutout to my lovely girlfriend for putting me onto him.