quotablebookquotes discussion

First impressions?

Last time I read this book I regrettably only got to page 86 before it was due back to the library.

I feel like I didn't give everyone enough warning about content matter.

Anyways, I really love this book. I feel it explores the troubles of growing old in a really real way. Having it as a journal is great. I really enjoyed the part where he stops himself from writing flowery and says things straight because no one else is going to read it so it doesn't matter.

I find that he really suppresses his emotions. His feelings for Lucy, and Land, particularly, but also for Tess and Anna. Lucy was lust, Tess was envy, Anna was depression, and Land was as close to something like love that LMS has gotten to.

I also enjoy how his relationship with his old school friends evolves. How it was there and then it slowly, over time, dissolves. I like how he has some friends that come and go and some that don't.

I find that LSM has an interesting relationship with authority and authority figures. He has a good relationship with H-M, but decided to dislikes his teacher at Oxford whose name I forget. Also, the incident with the labour strike showed this same dichotomy. Where he liked to befriend the constable, but found it terrifying to enforce the rules.

I really enjoy how Boyd writes in other famous authors; Joyce, Wolff, Hemingway, Fitzgerald. I think it really shows you how well connected everything is in the upper reaches of the British art world.

I'm excited to continue reading. The Oxford Journals were a little slow, I found. But it's starting to pick up.

At first the book was a little intimidating because it's pretty big and my print is smallish, and then the very beginning was slow, but once I got to LMS's challenges with Peter and Ben it wasn't off-putting.

I agree he suppresses his emotions a lot. He's not a confrontational guy, and that seems to hurt him a lot. I have a feeling it may hurt his relationships in the future.

His friendships are so real--we all have friends that come and go in our lives, close and distant like a pendulum. I got so nervous about his fling with Tessa and how he's still visiting with Anna (and jealous) while his relationship with Land is starting to get somewhere... I think. But I'm so happy he keeps in touch with Ben and Peter so far, it's sweet.

I noticed his thing with authority figures, but not the authority itself until you pointed it out. I remember at first he didn't like H-D but then liked him, and then (unless I misunderstood this) he liked LeMayne but then didn't. I wonder why he feels this way though, like does he just like to be in control of what he's doing rather than others deciding?

Seeing all the famous writers was so fun, and the notes on the bottom of the pages are useful to people like me who aren't knowledgeable about 20th century British culture.

Even though it's not a thrilling or suspenseful read, I'm enjoying it so far, and I'm interested in LMS's life enough to keep reading (usually journal-type books are a hit or miss for me).

I too find journal books hit and miss.

I think that he does like to be in control of what he's doing, which is why he has so many of these romantic interests in the first bit of the book. He doesn't want to let anyone get too close, but also wants them to be close, but not so close that they get a say in what he does, if that makes sense.

Yes, Boyd is very good about his footnotes. I don't always read footnotes, in some academic writing I find that they don't add as much as one would like to the text, but in this novel I found them particularly useful,