Astral Codex Ten

The Pale King

5 min read

The Pale King

Article

The Pale King is a recurring book in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 4 times across 4 issues between June 17, 2024 and October 11, 2024. The archive places it in contexts such as “Book review contest finalists are: … The Pale King”; “I avoided reading The Pale King”; “which eventually came to be titled The Pale King”. It most often appears alongside Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, Dominion, Don Juan.

Metadata

  • Category: Books
  • Mention count: 4
  • Issue count: 4
  • First seen: June 17, 2024
  • Last seen: October 11, 2024

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Open Thread 334
June 17, 2024 · Original source
2: Book review contest finalists are: Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, Dominion, Don Juan, Family That Couldn't Sleep, How Language Began, How The War Was Won, Nine Lives, Real Raw News, Silver Age Marvel Comics, Sixth Day, Spirit of Rationalism, Complete Rhyming Dictionary, The Pale King, Two Arms and a Head, and Ballad of the White Horse. Honorable mention to at least Catkin, Road of the King, World Empire Lost, Piranesi, Meme Machine, and Determined. I might promote some honorable mentions to finalists depending on how tolerant you all are of book reviews, and some others to honorable mention after I read more reviews. First review goes up this Friday! Thanks to everyone who entered.
Your Book Review: The Pale King
September 06, 2024 · Original source
For the longest time, I avoided reading The Pale King. It wasn’t the style—in places thick with the author’s characteristic footnotes,1 sentences that run for pages, and spasms of dense technical language. Nor was it the subject matter—the book is set at an IRS Center and tussles with postmodernism. Nor the themes, one of which concerns the existential importance of boredom, which the book, at times, takes pains to exemplify.
Inline links: 1
No—I couldn’t read The Pale King because it was the book that killed him.
He believed contemporary fiction was stuck in two modes: cheap entertainment, or grim jeremiad. “Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is?” He aimed to inspire a vision of another way of living, both with others and within our own minds. His third novel, the “Long Thing,” which eventually came to be titled The Pale King, was meant to be an articulation of that vision.
Vote In The 2024 Book Review Contest
September 27, 2024 · Original source
1: Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa 2: Dominion 3: Don Juan 4: The Family That Couldn’t Sleep 5: How Language Began 6: Real Raw News 7: Two Arms And A Head 8: How The War Was Won 9: Silver Age Marvel Comics 10: The Complete Rhyming Dictionary And Poet’s Craft Book 11: The History Of The Rise And Influence Of The Spirit Of Rationalism In Europe 12: The Pale King 13: Nine Lives 14: The Ballad Of The White Horse
Inline links: Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, Dominion, Don Juan, The Family That Couldn’t Sleep, How Language Began, Real Raw News, Two Arms And A Head, How The War Was Won, Silver Age Marvel Comics, The Complete Rhyming Dictionary And Poet’s Craft Book, The History Of The Rise And Influence Of The Spirit Of Rationalism In Europe, The Pale King, Nine Lives, The Ballad Of The White Horse
Book Review Contest 2024 Winners
October 11, 2024 · Original source
The Pale King, reviewed by Arielle Friedman. Arielle likes fiction, light technopessimism, and the occasional political screed. She writes at analogfutures.substack.com and runs a co-writing group every weekday morning that you can join here.
Inline links: The Pale King, analogfutures.substack.com, here