Ava Morgan > Recent Status Updates

Exhibit A in: why wasn’t I allowed to read The Hunger Games but I read Wicked for the first time at 9?

So it’s all downhill from here, isn’t it?

I’m hooked :)

I’m only through the introduction, and I already want to cry. June charts her development of what she calls “the phenomena of androgynism, passive sexual inversion, and psychical infantilism,” the point being to “delineate” (ie mark or differentiate) them. A doctor gave her these terms, only saw her as sick. How many queer or trans people have been hurt by these medical terms?

Aw hell yeah

Reading this again is reminding me of the 10 year old girl who survived her own abuse. Katniss’s numbing herself is what’s getting to me. I’m thinking of a night at soccer practice where I kept repeating to myself “Older sisters don’t cry” because no matter what I did, I was going to get screamed at on the ride home, and I was copying her, shutting off, in order to just get through it

Bunny works well as a stand-alone novel, but I’m happy to be back, even if I’m annoyed that Bunny is now a book that Samantha wrote, not just her narrated experience

Ishmael, you little shit (I’ve missed you)

“I want a life with you”

You guys have known each other for 2 months…

Heeheehee

Oh my god, yes! It’s gay! I fucking knew it!

Hello old friend :)

Oh, ok: this is gonna make me physically unwell

“It seemed that trumpets must play when that voice spoke. Constantine shuddered with pleasure, the tears still falling. ‘Only never leave me, Lord,’ he said” (168).

God, the sexual references are just so thick. Faith replaces bodily pleasure. When Konstantin believes he is talking to God, his body shudders, a release as well as a pleasure. I have a hard time not reading this as orgasmic.

There was a cool moment that echoed one in Mr. Fortune’s Maggot, reinforcing my idea that Christianity, by condemning sexuality, creates more violent/predatory forms. When Vasya confronts Konstantin’s for staying in the north, his desire for her blends in a mixed desire to kiss/hurt her (166), a desire that mirrors Mr. Fortune’s wish to smite/ravish Lueli.

It’s telling that both priests are colonizers.

Out of context quotes are fun. When they’re discussing the differences between English/German religious administration, von Hess explains how “God gave the [English] priests the power to keep Him away from them” (136) and now all I can think about is Ron Swanson using April to keep the public away.

We’re starting out strong with Mary Wollstonecraft :)

My “currently reading” is more like “currently shelved.” Here’s a new book I’m adding to the list

I’m a sucker for a stupid narrator, but really? This guy?

This book is so gay. I love it :)

“(I had green eyes, reader; but you must excuse the mistake: for him they were new-dyed, I suppose)” (298)

Unfortunately, I, too, have had to convince a guy that I have green eyes.

Crying in: I’m reading this at the same time for two separate classes who want me to have two separate versions of this book

“If they were ever to undertake such a journey, 1989 seemed the time. They’d begun to notice that summer more and more synchronicities, coincidences they called ‘Kashmir’ moments, curious alignments that pitched them to a heightened awareness. Kjiirt’s father turned 75, Mike would soon be 50…” (104).

That’s all you noticed in 1989? Nothing about Eastern Europe grabbed your attention?

Sass master Gimli

I’m borrowing this book from the library, so I’ll highlight the lines I like here.

Here’s one:

“Ivan must have some history behind him, must have been in a cyclone, and he thinks I have my own story as well, the usual one, containing at least one man and an appropriate disappointment…” (184)

I can’t tell if she’s been hard-pressed to speak (she’s been avoiding her mail—she’s treating her narrative like a letter she can open up in/is intimidated to answer) or if she’s been quiet for too long.

Oh, god, she’s making all the same mistakes I do.

“Do you like jazz?”

One hour of reading = six pages and only ten searches on Google.

I’ve made a mistake in picking my favorite writer based on his easier books.