Matt Brandel > Recent Status Updates

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Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 146 of 628 of Finnegans Wake
We begin again, I hope. finnegan beginnagen.
Apr 22, 2026 04:35PM Add a comment
Finnegans Wake

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 328 of 336 of Augustus
Looking forward to finally hearing Augustus' perspective after only reading letters from others surrounding him.
Mar 24, 2026 12:06AM Add a comment
Augustus

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 151 of 336 of Augustus
Reading this ahead of my Italy trip. Crazy these were just real people 2,000 years ago and they left real things behind that we can touch. This is my adulthood version of Rick Riordan.
Mar 22, 2026 07:55PM Add a comment
Augustus

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 721 of 887 of James Joyce
Nearing the end now. I can’t believe he finished Finnegans Wake, with all his eye troubles and caring for his daughter. He truly lived for his work.
Feb 24, 2026 10:08PM Add a comment
James Joyce

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 48 of 276 of Re Joyce
My latest subway book. Unsure of the intelligence of reading two books about Joyce at once.
Feb 22, 2026 09:56AM Add a comment
Re Joyce

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 429 of 887 of James Joyce
It took Joyce 9 years to publish Dubliners. Have faith, young people.
Feb 21, 2026 06:02PM Add a comment
James Joyce

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 374 of 887 of James Joyce
finally, we’re into the creation of Ulysses. I like the image of artist as squid, whose ink (art) comes from their own body (life). echoes of Pollock there.
Feb 18, 2026 09:20PM Add a comment
James Joyce

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 163 of 209 of To the Lighthouse
this is such a joy to read. it follows me around all day and opens me up to Life.
Feb 15, 2026 06:17PM Add a comment
To the Lighthouse

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 217 of 292 of Stoner
Goddamn, can this guy's life get any worse?
Jan 16, 2026 10:28AM Add a comment
Stoner

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 148 of 292 of Stoner
Jan 08, 2026 12:54PM Add a comment
Stoner

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 294 of 887 of James Joyce
My reading resolution this year is to finish this book, the Shobogenzo, and (finally) Finnegans Wake. They’ve been on my currently reading far too long.
Jan 04, 2026 09:26PM Add a comment
James Joyce

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 181 of 328 of Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo
“When we make this very place our own, our practice becomes the actualization of reality. When we make this path our own, our activity naturally becomes actualized reality.”
Dec 27, 2025 10:12PM Add a comment
Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 73 of 328 of Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo
“Conveying one-self toward all things to carry out practice-enlightenment is delusion. All things coming and carrying out practice-enlightenment through the self is realization.”
Dec 23, 2025 11:20PM Add a comment
Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 375 of 496 of Patriot: A Memoir
I’m enjoying his prison diary more than the earlier chapters. I just can’t get into politics; hearing about people is much more interesting. Especially the little everyday things he does to pass time in prison and what he chooses to note. I can’t imagine having his attitude when there’s obviously no valid case against him.
Dec 20, 2025 10:44PM Add a comment
Patriot: A Memoir

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 223 of 496 of Patriot: A Memoir
Knocked some of this out on the plane today. I’m stepping into unfamiliar exciting territory here, with very minimal knowledge of Russia and the Soviet Union. Not loving his writing honestly. He’s kept it pretty surface-level without much physical description.

So begins book club #2.
Dec 18, 2025 10:21PM Add a comment
Patriot: A Memoir

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 103 of 292 of Stoner
Dec 18, 2025 01:40PM Add a comment
Stoner

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 450 of 1280 of Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo
I'm not sure if it's actually helpful to read something without understanding the specifics. I tend to go through books without much dissection.
Dec 14, 2025 07:30PM Add a comment
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 106 of 177 of The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin: A Translation of the Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Shambhala Classics)
“With his three hundred and sixty joints lathered up, throwing deadly milk wildly in all directions and showers of blood and sweat steaming violently up through his eighty-four thousand pores, he stomped the trichilocosmic universe into dust…”
Dec 03, 2025 09:56PM Add a comment
The Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin: A Translation of the Sokko-roku Kaien-fusetsu (Shambhala Classics)

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 25 of 292 of Stoner
So begins the book club.
Dec 02, 2025 05:27PM 1 comment
Stoner

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel added a status update
Hi Hannah’s Friends,

Hannah wants to read books for the first time so we need some book recs. She’s looking for some light fiction, possibly fantasy or romance. In the past, she’s enjoyed Harry Potter; Red, White, and Royal Blue; Evelyn Hugo; Daisy Jones and the Six.

Thank you! Anything will help. Maybe we’ll see her on Goodreads soon🤞.
Dec 01, 2025 07:35PM 1 comment

Matt Brandel
Matt Brandel is on page 397 of 1280 of Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo
This book is so hard to read, it’s basically incomprehensible. I’m just hoping some of it seeps in and opens my mind.
Nov 30, 2025 08:41PM Add a comment
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo

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