Clark Knowles > Recent Status Updates

Perhaps my favorite sentence ever: The figure seated on a large boulder at the foot of a round tower was that of a broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed frankeyed redhaired freely freckled shaggybearded wide-mouthed largenosed longheaded deepvoiced barekneed brawnyhanded hairylegged ruddyfaced sinewyarmed hero.

From the Cyclops episode

I’m about halfway through, and it’s devastating.

I guess I’m reading Ulysses.

Well, so far, it’s unrelentingly sad. I don’t shy away from sad books, but good lord.

Man this book is long.

So far, elegantly told but so fucking grim. Aside from the spry prose and unusual narrative form, there is little escape from lives that are nasty, brutish, and short.

I was skeptical that a book composed of shifting narratives that cover decades and often consist of meeting minutes or descriptions of economic systems could hold my attention, but halfway through and I’m finding it to be a thrilling reading experience, daunting at times, but done with a great deal of tension, intrigue, and world/idea spanning ideas. The author’s knowledge and imagination are astounding.