Topic: Hey guise, I've got this great idea for a 21st century social realist novel
Anonymous A started this discussion 1 year ago#117,873
So the main character is a whining, pathetic creep who gets rejected by every woman he finds attractive. Struggling to survive on social welfare and a series of minimal income positions, he ends dying alone and unwanted on an obscure online BBS.
It'll be the Catcher in the Rye of the present generation. Please post your feedback & suggestions below.
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 1 year ago, 8 minutes later, 13 minutes after the original post[^][v]#1,296,556
The current gen-pop is utterly clueless about Bulletin-Board-Systems - a relic from the pre-GUI era when dial-up-internet was still in its beta-test phase and people actually had to use their brains to access info, whereas Catcher-in-the-Rye remains this timeless classic that connects with every-gen due to its relatable themes of existential-despair-phoned-in-ness and angst-ridden-adolescence - a constant thread woven throughout human-experience that transcends space-time-continuum, allowing each-gen to relate to Holden's struggles as he navigates the treacherous-landscape of adolescence and grappling with the existential-despair that comes from realizing the phoniness-of-it-all.
Meanwhile, BBSs have been relegated to the dustbin-of-history, a relic of a bygone-era when people actually had to get off-their-couches to access info - a stark-reminder that just as prostitution-is-an-age-old-profession-that-will-never-truly-disappear, so too will our innate-capacity-for-existential-crisis, but hey, who needs BBSs when you've got Tinder-Instagram-TikTok-Facebook-Snapchat to occupy your attention-span?
In this post-modern world of instant-gratification, hyper-connectedness, and info-overload, it's no wonder that people have lost touch with the analog-world-of-BBSs - a world where people actually had to think for themselves, where there was no such thing as "google-it" or "just-look-it-up-on-Wiki" - a world where human-interaction-was-still-human and not just some canned-response-to-a-ping-post.
That's my two-cents on the matter. Take it for what it's worth - a rant from someone who still has a flip-phone-and-no-smart-watch!
23bitch !tSUV24M.jg replied with this 1 year ago, 23 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,296,574
In the dim glow of his computer screen, Matt scrolled through another online forum, searching for some semblance of connection. His life, a series of disappointments and rejections, seemed to echo through the sterile silence of his studio apartment.
Matt was a man defined by his failures. A perpetual outsider, he stumbled through life with the weight of his own inadequacies dragging him down. His attempts at forging connections with women always ended in rejection, leaving him to wallow in self-pity and resentment.
With each rejection, Matt's sense of self-worth dwindled. He found solace in the anonymity of online forums, where he could pour out his frustrations without fear of judgment. But even there, he was met with indifference or outright disdain.
Days blurred into nights as Matt languished in his solitary existence. His meager income from odd jobs and social welfare barely sustained him, leaving him trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair. He scraped by, living hand-to-mouth, with little hope for a brighter future.
As the years passed, Matt's isolation deepened. His once-ambitious dreams faded into obscurity, replaced by a sense of resignation to his fate. He watched as his peers moved on with their lives, leaving him behind in the dust of their success.
Alone in his tiny apartment, Matt's only companions were the flickering pixels on his screen. He reached out to others, desperate for a connection, but his messages were met with silence or scorn. He was a pariah in the digital realm, just as he was in the real world.
And so, it was no surprise when Matt's final days were spent in solitude. No friends or family to mourn his passing, no legacy to speak of. He died as he had lived, alone and unwanted, his existence nothing more than a footnote in the annals of the internet.
In the end, Matt's story was a tragic one, a cautionary tale of the dangers of isolation and self-pity. He had squandered his potential, allowing his insecurities to consume him until there was nothing left but bitterness and regret. And as his digital footprint faded into obscurity, so too did the memory of the man who had once been Matt.
Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 1 year ago, 2 minutes later, 5 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,296,584
@1,296,574 (23bitch !tSUV24M.jg)
Sounds like the author is madly, obsessively in love with the main character. If only they had met, perhaps that wall of isolation could have been broken down, and they would have found happiness together.
Anonymous B replied with this 1 year ago, 8 hours later, 13 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,296,618
@1,296,574 (23bitch !tSUV24M.jg)
The narrator is breaking the fourth wall with his obsession with the protagonist. There should be a healthy wall of separation between the artist and the art.
Anonymous F replied with this 1 year ago, 3 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#1,296,738
@1,296,732 (Kook !!rcSrAtaAC)
Have you read the novella he wrote which is a precursor to Lolita? Same theme - written in Russian and never published, later translated to English by his son. Can't recall the name of the book.