Bryn Foreman > Recent Status Updates

The main character reminds me so much of both my grandmother and my mother. She’s a complicated character to sit with, and I feel a lot of frustration and a lot of empathy. I identify most with her adult daughter, who has been functionally abandoned and must find maternal care elsewhere.

I resent Tolstoy for reading every monohet argument for filth

it probably shouldn’t have surprised anyone when Sylvia Plath stuck her head in an oven. I appreciate the poetry of Esther’s seething hatred for everything around her, conveyed without ever actually saying she hates everything around her. Not helping my issues with men though.

Had to return it but I’ll be back. Inspired me to write to my nana.

The hype around this book is pretty well-warranted so far. It’s a poignant portrait of a flawed and relatable old court clerk, and her relationships through the lens of her letters. It reminds me of my Nana, and honestly, a little bit of myself. The audiobook has unique voices for the different letters, it’s a lot of fun.

Using this as a bookmark because the fascists at the library are making me give back the audiobook because “someone else is waiting”

I’ll be back.

Levin continues to disappoint me, and he was my favorite. This story has made me very grateful for modern divorce laws and also access to firearms. Tolstoy is extremely funny.

I love that Levin is a class conscious volcel

Omg they are messyyyyy

Levin is my favorite, and it haunts me that Anna is probably around my age. I would cheat on Alexei Karenin too tbh

I love that this is a book about losers

Some thoughts:
- it’s weird that all these billionaire types love McDonald’s
- its weird that they’re all so insecure and pathetic
- Sarah Wynn Williams’ husband pisses me off

I am taking a star off of my final rating because so much of this book reads like a psych 101 textbook

This actually reminds me a lot of Julia Fox’s memoir

he’s a shockingly funny man tbh

astute observations of humanity that make his own self-revelations seem unintentional

If you can look past the sensationalism and asinine commentary, there’s actually a ton to be learned. What Grillo lacks in critical thinking, he more than makes up for with research and solid writing.

So far I really like it! It’s kinda dry and pretty academic, but builds off of the work of other contemporary authors like Greg Grandin. I think this book could very easily be synthesized into a freshman course. I’m looking forward to getting into the meat of the book.