philogyny, cancellations and rain (book rant)

in spite of the sunny weather, yesterday was undoubtedly the cloudiest day of my summer vacation thus far, and i found myself experiencing a certain inexplicable ennui that can only be likened to the alphabetic algebraic loneliness of Lacan's objet petit a.

but this is beside the point.

the point is that it's raining today, my sole scheduled obligation has been cancelled, and i received an email from my sister this morning in response to my chance encounter with her former lover. this confluence of events allowed me to finish the second book on my summer reading list, which means that i am approximately two weeks behind schedule. and so, without further ado:

Jacques Lacan's The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis

first off, let me state that i have never taken a course in psychology, and furthermore i read only the first half of this book (which most closely pertain to my field of inquiry); but, even if i had taken Freud for Jungians, or Reich for Freudians, or Jung for Dummians – i do not think it would have prepared me in the slightest.

Lacan is a maniac, a wordy, convoluted maniac who, when the mood strikes him, as it does me, now – at this particular moment – will go on, and on, with incredibly long sentences that, if one were forced to describe them in what might be described in layman's terms (by layman, i do not mean, literally, the laying of man, but rather the man who is not, by either choice or chance of birth, a clergyman; this term, of course, applies equally to woman, and the expression itself is little more than a vestigial appendage of the misogyny – as opposed to philogyny – of our language) as confusing.

he literally writes like this.

really.

confusion notwithstanding, the man is a genius, and my only qualm with this book is that it appears to consist of verbatim transcriptions of lectures given by Lacan back in the 1960s. (yes, i know the subtitle on the cover conveys this). it seems to me that many of the commas and hyphens and asides could have been lost without affecting the meaning of the text, and the difficulty of decoding his arguments from his tangents made for onerous reading.

(sound familiar?)

i am certain i will have to return to the book in the fall, but for the time being i take pleasure in having retained at least this much, which may, or may not, speak to the condition of my condition:

"You never look at me from the place from which I see you."

- from "The Line and Light"

Long

Live

Lacan

next up is a toss-up, either Silverman or Zizek – two (living) Lacanians that i hope might help me make sense of what i just read.