Sam M > Recent Status Updates

love it so far! now after the letters, we are “listening” to Frankenstein’s story. i love how compassionate and gentle the people in Frankenstein’s (and Walton’s) life are; either choosing their companions carefully or by the grace of “God”. the passage about grief after his mother, Caroline, dies is incredible and nearly made me cry!

finally!!! i finished the letters, which already mafr me fall in love with the book due to Shelley’s ineffably eloquent prose. there’s a femininity present in Walton’s letters that is seemingly explained by him being raised by his sister (Margaret). i love the vibe of the crew too, much more affectionate than a typical rough-n-rowdy crew of seamen

the best thing about burroughs’ style is how lively death feels, even in the full extent of its decay, and how dead life feels. reading his fellow junkies recount tales of murder and violence with giggles isn’t quite upsetting in the superficial sense (i.e. simply hearing them say tragedy occurred) but more-so because it’s really sad to see these men, who weren’t like this at one point succumb to it

WOW. book22.

they did it? that was one of the most disturbing and violent fight scenes i’ve read, mainly because of the genuineness of the writing. horrifying, which in turn makes it one of my favorite chapters. THIS is the Odysseus that fought in Troy, mutilated a cyclops, wrestled a shapeshifter… hell yeah

book21!!

I AM HE

amazing chapter… this is THE moment. the sequence with the bow had me smiling harddd

book20! prophecies of the suitors dying are becoming more and more palpably serious and outwardly noticeable. theres a bit where Ody asks the cowherd to stay and watch him killing the suitors. i cant wait to see antinoos die!!!

book19! mostly just Penelope and Odysseus talking, which is mainly interesting since he can’t reveal himself still even as she weeps for him. there’s a moment where one of the maids recognizes Odysseus (scar) and it’s incredible

book 18! basically just tramp-Odysseus asserting his power (without pushing it too far). the suitors have finally gone home! my favorite part was when Odysseus called Penelope’s maid a bitch and threatened her that his son would kill her, because wtf Ody??

book17! it’s crazy how close i am to the end finally, and the tensions are definitely high. Odysseus (as a tramp) enters the city with Eumaios and now Odysseus isn’t just on the same island, but now inside the same palace. Antinoös is a major shittalker and fights with Odysseus briefly, preceded by the tragic and notorious Argos, the dog, scene… the description hit harder than i expected. gr8!

“But if it comes from the gods, there is no escaping it.”

book 16!!! officially 3/4 done!!

i was wrong about Telemachos never being able to reunite with his dad and it honestly made me tear up. it was a little hard to read as someone who has lost his father; it’s something every person in mourning wishes could happen—reunion of lost souls and so on. Telemachos’ steadfast denial at first is all too real.

book15!! the frequency between the perspective changes (Odysseus + Telemachos +occasionally a 3rd like Pallas Athene) is increasing, making it a bit more tense. finally, after literal years, a whole decade in fact, Odysseus, his son, and his wife are all on the same land. right now Telemachos is on his way to the pig guy (where his dad is) but i don’t think he’ll recognize him at all. pig guy’s story is tragic!

dipping my toes in the book with the first chapter; ‘middlesex’ isn’t just already well written but also a good companion piece to ‘the odyssey’. ‘middlesex’ feels quietly mythological, as if the gods above still tamper with the mortals’ conflicts. visions, magic, curses, incest; it’s all there! not to mention, tiresias and homer both get mentioned. nice!

my favorite transfenestrator is back! i loved reading this originally and i’m excited to reread it (thx bubba!)

i think it’s interesting how effortless it felt for me to fall in love with the book because (at least, i think this is why) it’s my first pynchon. i know before vineland, he was a little more cynical and serious but this marks his silly phase. i definitely wanna check his other stuff out!

“Wine sets even a thoughtful man to singing, or sets him into softly laughing, sets him to dancing. Sometimes it tosses out a word that was better unspoken.”

book14 done! this is the moment where, for me, it clicks just how important hospitality was to the greeks (and still is to all humans in modern day). i love this fucking book!!! the swineherd was a great character too, and clearly very smart man.

book13 done!! the hospitable sea-faring Phaiakians delivered Odysseus to his homeland but unfortunately suffered a weighty demise at the hands of Poseidon. theres and exchange btwn Poseidon and Zeus that’s roughly a page or so long and it’s brilliant, it genuinely feels like being in the eye of the storm; a civilized calmness to the discussion whilst being surrounded by clapping thunder and rolling waves.

ch2 done! i prefer the format of this book over ‘strange pictures’ since this feels way more transcript-ish, it makes the dialogue much more fluid. it can feel like uketsu is rehashing moments from the first one but overall, still incredibly solid and secret neglected killer child is a great horror trope that i will always stand behind (‘phenomena’ 1985 comes to mind)

“This house has two faces.”(p.81)

book 12!!!! officially halfway!!!

this part was great, this was the iconic sirens sequence but my favorite part was afterwards, at helios’ island. there’s one bit where, as an ominous piece of foreshadowing clear even to odysseus and his men, the slain cattle started bellowing and making noises as it’s being roasted, and i can’t think of a better way to end odysseus’ retelling of his tale. (+ evlded vibes)

“The War God rages at all, and favors no man.”

book 11 was spooky as shit! loved when he passed over the iconic mythical punishments (sisyphos, tantalos, tityos)

the part with odysseus’ mother was genuinely tragic, this whole sequence was great especially with the antinöos interlude lol

book 10 donezo!! this one was mainly circe’s island and the pig stuff, really fun chapter with an embarassing death (dude who got drunk and fell off roof lookingfot his friends)

what i said before about each book geting better still stands… book 8 is a phenomenal chapter in ‘the odyssey’, the famous cyclops sequence and the true inciting incident for odysseus and his crew (since the cyclops is poseidon’s son and curses him and his voyage)

the bit where the cyclops first grabs two of odysseus’ men is genuinely horrifying, i cant wait to see nolan’s interpretation of the sequence

book7 was incredibly short, but still enjoyable. odysseus is in the city of the phaiakians asking for ship. nice little chapter with athena disguising odysseus. most interesting part to me was when odysseus started talking about how hungry he is by likening his stomach to another godlike being. this is recurring, anything of value or seemingly organic gets treated with the utmost respect and worship

book 6 is simply a reprieve from odysseus’ tiresome 20day journey across the ocean on a raft (and without one for the last two days(!!!!!!)), but the most interesting thing to me is how the supernatural elements are so natural. pallas athene transforming into the best friend of nausikaa and speaking to her while she is tired and asleep ends up with nausikaa believing she dreamt it up.

peele is one of my fav new school horror directors, and my sister got me this book last birthday so it seems right to finally read it. so far i’ve read act 1 (including deleted scenes + dialogue) and the intro essay, all extremely insightful and shows exactly how much thought peele puts into his work

book 5 was basically just detailing how odysseus escaped kalypso’s island, and it was thrilling! seeing him make such a strong raft after his woeful beach appearance was great, and it was genuinely pretty intense reading his sleepless journey. poseidons a dick!

spooky! kurihara’s daydream about the corpse-smuggling, bathroom-stabbing child was kinda funny in an incredibly macabre way

“A room with no windows, a double-door vestibule and its own toilet. . . . It’s almost like some kind of solitary confinement cell.”(p.15)

a solid start to the ‘strange pictures’ sequel, already scared at the concept of this locked away child.

god, each Book gets better and better… (bk4)

Telemachos talks to Menelaos, hero of ‘The Iliad’, husband to Zeus’ daughter, Helen of Troy. My favorite part was the Old Man being ambushed for the answers of how to reach home but also who survived and who did not. The shapeshifting was dope, and there’s a small sequence where Poseidon causes someone’s death and it’s so cool

book 3 feels like the true “beginning”, telemachos talked to the guy that was in troy and now he’s going to speak to menelaos who (i believe) is the protagonist in the iliad. i liked the bit in the end when athena transformed into a bird and spooked everyone