t_a_c > Recent Status Updates

Suck it

I’m addicted!!! This is really sad though. Nothing good is happening other than regret and guilt.

I’m getting better

Just starting. Need to focusssssss

Okay rude I guess they added a character limit on these logs. I was just going to say that this book makes me feel like I could be one of those WWII people if I wanted to be. I’m also pleased that it doesn’t try to have a hands off view of these events. Shirer calls hitler a genius, but you can also feel his contempt for the man and those around him. They’re portrayed as quite pathetic a lot of the time.

This book is really freaking long, and I honestly doubt that I’m going to finish it. It’s been interesting beyond my expectations so far though. Shirer is a masterful writer, and he is making this history very easy to understand and be invested in. That’s not a hard sell obviously, there are so many people obsessed with WWII history. I had never been one of those people, and I’m kind of afraid of becoming one

Very interesting so far. It’s talked a lot about structures of pre-colonial indigenous societies in north and South America. Pretty sad to see what we took from them.

Sorry, Gavin. I told you I’d do Crime and Punishment next, but I ordered this from the library so I’m on a limited timeframe.

This book is really a freakish parade of horrors. This last twist has convinced me that Sinclair is really just trying to mess with the reader. I want to hear if this was based on something real.

This book is proving to be a bit difficult to penetrate. It’s just all very technical and most of what he talks about is internal policy stuff.

The preface from Edward Snowden is really fantastic and gave me pause at some parts. This book is mostly just “The Drone Papers”, a series of reports released by The Intercept in 2015, but I’m excited to see what additional details are added for this book.

It’s good. Great monologues. I would really love to see this performed live but I doubt it’ll be done anywhere anytime soon.

I had no idea what this actually was when I picked it up but I guess it’s a play. This should be interesting but I’m having some trouble keeping track of characters already.

I like how the story is progressing. The idea of Morse code communication is exciting although I kind of assumed he would just wither away and die.

The medal scene was fucking great. He has some interesting thoughts there. The story of Lazarus was hilarious.

Chapter 14, the one where he talks about Paris is probably the most incoherent part of this book yet. Maybe I was tired but it was just very hard to follow.

Continued again:

To follow the chapter about death with his most affirming chapter yet was beautiful. The sunrise chapter is brilliant in two parts. The first half of it is simple yet entertaining. It’s a very interesting challenge to have a character that can do nothing but think, and the process of him figuring out his situation is really cool. The sunrise itself was so captivating and amazing. I’m so happy.

Continued from my last update:

The story of his father’s garden and how that fails to make his father a success is one of the best back home passages yet.

Jesus almighty, the anti-war screed he goes on in the last chapter of the first book is amazing. I didn’t think I could be surprised by anti-war writing, but his words about death and wanting to cling to life no matter what really shook me.

Wow, what a trio of chapters. I just read the last two from the first book and the first from the second. They have cemented Trump as the best writer I have ever read. Three totally different experiences, all amazing and transformative.

Once again, the way he describes food and the art that people create in their lives is amazing. Every time the father is given more character, his death is made even more tragic.

Beautiful stuff. He hasn’t even woken up yet. This book makes me not want to use punctuation ever again.

I needed time to get used to this internal monologue type of writing, but after the first chapter I kind of fell in love with Trumbo’s style. I love the descriptions of Johnny’s small life in Colorado and his frantic pleas and desperate internal cries when he thinks his arm is gone. I feel like this is really a treat and I just can’t see it.

I forgot how much of a mess Trump’s general election campaign was. If this book does anything well, its to remind us how much of a shitheel coward Trump is for the way he has sucked the boots of the Republican establishment over his presidency. The only remotely good thing about him during the primary was that he promised to take money out of politics. He’s transformed into a typical hack, only more racist.

I don’t know if I like this book lol

It’s clear how removed the press has actually become from the events of the campaign. They are there at all of the speaking engagements, but rarely does Taibbi interact with anyone besides other members of the press. A great part of ‘72 was Thompson’s constant interactions with members of various campaigns. That isn’t possible anymore I guess. Taibbi mentions this in the intro, calling the press bus a prison.

Having just finished Fearing and Loathing ‘72,
a lot of my opinions about this book will probably amount to stacking it up against that one. So far, I’m feeling a much more formulaic pattern. Taibbi is a good writer, and he makes me laugh occasionally, but he can’t match the spirit of Thompson that makes a monthly article feel like a journal entry on the way to hell. Also, I hated all the footnotes in the intro

It’s really strange that, due to limited access to the Nixon campaign and HST’s general demeanor, this book about the ‘72 presidential campaign mentions Nixon way less than you would imagine. He just won, and because Hunter was at the McGovern campaign even on the night of the election, the narrative of this section is entirely focused on how McGovern fucked up the campaign, not how Nixon won the campaign.