What are you currently reading?

[epilogue]

I'm very conflicted about Beauty is a Wound.

Go on.

There is some lovely writing. But then there is some clunky writing, too. But that might just be the translation. I can't tell. There are some interesting themes and I love the folklore/mythological elements. Those are the strongest parts of the book, to be sure. It goes beyong magical realism and into full-on mythology and myth-building. And that stuff is so lovely.

But he seems to devalue women. Maybe? Again, I can't tell. And I can't tell if he's trying to show how a culture and/or set of characters devalues women or if he himself, as a writer and a person, shares these views. And becaus there is a cultural divide (he's Indonesian and I'm obviously American) he's very cavalier about things that I have a really difficult time being cavalier about.

The book could use about 86% less rape. And it rambles quite a bit. He gets lost in his own words a lot. And at times the writing is poetic and disarming or laugh out loud funny but then it just turns into 13 year old male fantasy. Old, horrible, violent, damaged men get to have perfect, submissive, mythically gorgeous woman serve them and treat them like gods, all the time in this thing.

But maybe that's part of the commentary of the book? Maybe that's one of the things he's trying to point out and deconstruct? There are times when the characters (usually the women; a man once in a while) makes a direct comment about this behavior and how unfair/terrible it is. So maybe he's exploring these things in a frank and honest way and I'm misinterpreting my own feelings and projecting.

I'm not sure. I have to think about it. But my gut instinct is that it's just an okay book with some wonderful parts and some really immature writing and far too much rape.

[Bob Loblaw]

I'm very conflicted about Beauty is a Wound.

Go on.

There is some lovely writing. But then there is some clunky writing, too. But that might just be the translation. I can't tell. There are some interesting themes and I love the folklore/mythological elements. Those are the strongest parts of the book, to be sure. It goes beyong magical realism and into full-on mythology and myth-building. And that stuff is so lovely.

But he seems to devalue women. Maybe? Again, I can't tell. And I can't tell if he's trying to show how a culture and/or set of characters devalues women or if he himself, as a writer and a person, shares these views. And becaus there is a cultural divide (he's Indonesian and I'm obviously American) he's very cavalier about things that I have a really difficult time being cavalier about.

The book could use about 86% less rape. And it rambles quite a bit. He gets lost in his own words a lot. And at times the writing is poetic and disarming or laugh out loud funny but then it just turns into 13 year old male fantasy. Old, horrible, violent, damaged men get to have perfect, submissive, mythically gorgeous woman serve them and treat them like gods, all the time in this thing.

But maybe that's part of the commentary of the book? Maybe that's one of the things he's trying to point out and deconstruct? There are times when the characters (usually the women; a man once in a while) makes a direct comment about this behavior and how unfair/terrible it is. So maybe he's exploring these things in a frank and honest way and I'm misinterpreting my own feelings and projecting.

I'm not sure. I have to think about it. But my gut instinct is that it's just an okay book with some wonderful parts and some really immature writing and far too much rape.

Yeah, sometimes it's hard to decide whether what you're reading is exactly what the author thinks or feels regarding a given subject, or whether he's just exposing that point of view, without necessarily endorsing it or subscribing to it. In those cases, assuming there's no more information available, I default to the second option, and find education value in the material just by the virtue that it's giving me a glimpse of what other people think and feel, no matter how wrong it may seem to me.

Then again, if the thing becomes too rotten or repetitive, it's probably best to move in, especially if there's no other redeeming qualities in the material. That doesn't seem to be the case here, though.

[epilogue]

Very good point and well said. I finished the book. I didn't want to put it down, even when I felt the most worn out. So, there is value to the book and the story. I'm glad I read the whole thing. But I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to people. It's definitely a case by case book.

[Dscans]

Tribe by Sebastian Junger.

[epilogue]

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was fun. Nowhere near as good as JK's proper novels. But I loved being back in the world. And it made me want to read the books again. I adore that world she created. So rich and full of wonder and imagination (and good food ).

Anyway, I hope this makes its way to Broadway. I'd love to see it staged. There's a lot of spectacle written into the the script and it would be magical to see how they pull it off live.

[Bob Loblaw]

You're a gigantic nerd, Joey.

[epilogue]

[bune]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was fun. Nowhere near as good as JK's proper novels. But I loved being back in the world. And it made me want to read the books again. I adore that world she created. So rich and full of wonder and imagination (and good food ).

Anyway, I hope this makes its way to Broadway. I'd love to see it staged. There's a lot of spectacle written into the the script and it would be magical to see how they pull it off live.

Hell, it'd be nice if they did the "film it live and show it in theaters" thing. WB/JK/Whomever would make bank off that easy.

Speaking of books: Do you like Cthulu? Do you like ghosts? Do you like magic? How about racism? If you answered yes to all of these things you'd love "Lovecraft Country".



I saw that cover in the library and had to read it. The book did not disappoint.

[bada]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was fun. Nowhere near as good as JK's proper novels. But I loved being back in the world. And it made me want to read the books again. I adore that world she created. So rich and full of wonder and imagination (and good food ).

Anyway, I hope this makes its way to Broadway. I'd love to see it staged. There's a lot of spectacle written into the the script and it would be magical to see how they pull it off live.

Hell, it'd be nice if they did the "film it live and show it in theaters" thing. WB/JK/Whomever would make bank off that easy.

Speaking of books: Do you like Cthulu? Do you like ghosts? Do you like magic? How about racism? If you answered yes to all of these things you'd love "Lovecraft Country".



I saw that cover in the library and had to read it. The book did not disappoint.

Gonna look for it and read it next.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

A Cure for Suicide by Jesse Ball

[lennytheweedwhacker]

the big sleep by raymond chandler

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[epilogue]

The cure is simple:

Don't kill yourself.

The end.

[Kaius]

[epilogue]

I keep picking that up.

[Dscans]

Sometimes I think Chomsky is just a more articulate Alex Jones.

[bune]

Started The Cursed Child this morning. So far it's OK, I guess. Hard to keep people in my head when I don't know what they look like.