@hemlockcookie Ah! That is brilliant. And looking back, I should have worked that out. Tak - this is my new favourite thing.

@hemlockcookie @tokeriis I'm failing a translation test here. A despairing gesticulating figure; unhappy; going to hang a hammock from two poles to relax in while reading a book by a human writer. Maybe.

@Quasit Not a novel or film, but is so immersive that it feels like one: the Lost Terminal podcast drama series. It's a genuinely original hopepunk and solarpunk journey. A beautifully written, beautifully voice-acted work of reality-based post-collapse fiction. Funny, moving, gripping. Full of lovely insights and hope-ridden examples of solarpunk life & human community.

https://lostterminal.com/

@dutypo Morgen

@RalphBassfeld Thanks - have a good week!

Glædelig mandag. Just sending you a postcard from #Aarhus, just to say that I hope this week treats you calmly and kindly.

@MThaastrup Det er dejligt med så kærlig opbakning fra dine forældre og din datter og din kæreste Det bliver en travl uge, men spændende - enjoy!

@MThaastrup You've got this Det bliver dog en travl uge — god uge-ønsker herfra ️

@tokeriis At de satser på, at AI-tekster virker 'upåfaldende blandt alt det andet ral de sælger ud over bøger' virker sandsynligt, men jeg kan lide at lege med tanken om, at Bog og Idé i al hemmelighed er avantgarde nihilister.

@Gaolaitch @Michigander That's a great comparison. That's exactly how I feel about short stories. They are both intense and sparse at the same time, with no room for wasted words. In writing and in art, as you say, that requires a rare level of skill. Including the skill to know when unwritten words and undrawn lines are an integral part of the artwork.

@Michigander That's a really interesting thought.

"I wonder if short stories rely more on direct common human instincts and understandings between author and reader to deliver meaning?"

Good insight. Yes, I think they do.

Now I'm thinking about this comment Judith Hermann made at a talk.

"Short stories are often sad and often open-ended. They draw you in, and when they end, it’s like you’re left standing in the rain."

AI-created text isn't subtle enough to make you feel left in the rain.

@Michigander I was genuinely chuffed when I saw afterwards what she'd written, that she'd referred to our actual conversation about the short story form. We'd agreed that it is the single most absolutely supreme and absolutely magical literary form. Because it is, of course.

@Nickiquote @tokeriis The bare-faced brass cheek of him. Of all of them. Pure contempt for the people they're grifting, while openly acknowledging that they wouldn't touch their own slop.

Thank Odin for independent bookshops like Kristian Møller and for authors like Lucy Caldwell and all the other authors who are so generous with their time when they meet readers. Thank Odin for LiteratureXchange and for Book Talks Aarhus and for all the book festivals and library events that bring real readers and real writers and real writing together.

I was reminded of those readerly pleasures after @tokeriis shared this. An IT consultant boasting on national TV about his ‘AI book factory’. Each AI 'book' takes 30-60 minutes to make. He's published 35 so far.

“It’s still art and creativity, just in a different way than we’re used to. Making the prompt, the system instruction that gets the AI to do this, is creative too."

The bit that makes me want to cry: the biggest chain of bookshops in Denmark is stocking them.

https://helvede.net/@tokeriis/116741432343112495

At any literary event I’ve been to, the author has been happy to sign books. Even old worn ones. The writers don’t just sign them mechanically, but chat with each reader. Often, they personalise the inscription. The queue never gets restless. People happily chat about books as they wait their turn. I fangirl-gushed at Lucy Caldwell and instead of calling security, she chatted with me about our mutual love of short stories, then wrote this generous inscription.

#Books
#Bookstodon
#AICouldNever

The staff at our local independent bookshop make a display with tiny hand-crafted editions of each book that has been included in their monthly Bookpack subscription.

They hand-pack each month’s books in a box with handmade labels and staff-drawn decorations. Your name is handwritten on it in nice gold lettering.

Inside, there’s always some little extra that makes you smile, like this month's scroll – a home-made treasure map of their bookshelves.

#Books
#Bookstodon
#AICouldNever

@kas Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse: 'One.More.Book'. Jøsses. Det er både ærligt og hånende på én og samme tid.

@Pepijn @folfdk @infonauten @tokeriis

@tokeriis Det er ægte deprimerende. At Bog og Idé sælger dem er endnu værre end at han laver dem, synes jeg. Endnu en grund til at handle hos de uafhængige små boghandlere.

@mjj Det er super og sigende analogi.

@simonjust @tokeriis