Oliver > Recent Status Updates

Someone told me that Anne loses her whimsy when she grows up, but I find that hard to believe. She hasn’t changed at all between the first and second books

It hasn’t directly said it, but it’s definitely implying that the mother sexually abuses the child. I might have to take breaks from reading this book 😕

“Eden closed her eyes, but she looked dead when she slept.”

Foreshadowing???

There seems to be a weird sexual element to the killings. I hope I’m wrong

“I tried to imagine the tree as human technology, and suddenly I was standing in the presence of an impossible work of science fiction, a solar powered, self-replicating, carbon-fixing automaton producing oxygen and building materials on a planetary scale.”

What an incredible way to put the wonders of nature in perspective

Perfection

I’m so glad to be done with this book. All of the stories made me not want to pick the book up again

Music

I’m starting to think most of his stories are just boring. Well written, just boring

Jewelweed might be my favorite chapter in the book. I read it at a point in my life when I really needed a reminder

The Wood-Sprite

The impact of industrialism on creativity

First Love

This one was really cute. It almost feels out of place with the other stories. I expected something bad to happen.

Razor

I liked this one

The Seaport

Maybe I’m just tired, but I have no idea what just happened.

A Forgotten Poet

These stories all seem to fizzle out at the end.

Revenge

Why that ending? Is it a warning against superstition?

The Dragon

An ancient dragon would rather die than deal with industrialization/capitalism

Easter Rain

I’m definitely missing some Russian history for context.

A Nursery Tale

I was waiting for something horrible to happen to the incel and it didn’t :(

“If you escaped a burning building, would you help fight the fire or argue that the unchecked blaze builds character? Would you worry the lack of choking smoke could encourage excessive laziness?”

I like the discussion of hunger as a virtue in our culture rather than as it exists naturally for survival

The Thunderstorm

I didn’t care for the second short story. I just didn’t find it that interesting.

Details of a Sunset

I liked the first short story. I figured toward the beginning that he was an unreliable narrator. Not sure how much of the story was unreliable

“Meanwhile, Toad, gay and irresponsible…”

“…Mole, Mr. Rat’s particular friend…”

Gay

“our dear old hole on the river”

No way Rat and Mole aren’t gay

“I was raised among parades celebrating combat veterans. Not teachers. Not scientists. Not caregivers. Not poets.”

This, along with the fact that you can buy firearms at Walmart, says a lot about our culture.

So whimsical

I didn’t realize sexism was such a problem among the Black Panthers

How did I not make the connection that rich white europeans pitted poor white settlers against indigenous people the same way plantation owners pitted poor whites against black people