Hector > Recent Status Updates

Amalfitano part has my brain constantly engaged trying to unravel the web of its stories. There is just so many names, cultures, and events that are completely foreign to me and I am loosing sense of where reality and fiction meet. This I have to admit is fun and I am enjoying it a lot. One thing I am theorizing is that Amalfitano voice is actually telepathy he is having with Archimboldi. Also his wife did him dirty.

With the first part complete the search for Archimboldi continues, a love triangle ends in an unexpected twist, and the story slowly develops organically overtime. We are finally in the town of Santa Teresa; The main location and fictional town where all the murders are happening.

Good book but slow progress. Here is an example of just why this book is taking me so long to read:
"his novels and stories, that is, seemed completely foreign, a shapeless and mysterious verbal mass, something that appeared and disappeared capriciously, literally a pretext, a false door, a murderers alias, a hotel bathtub full of amniotic liquid in which he, would end up committing suicide for no reason"

Who the hell is this mystical writer that goes by the name of Benno Vo Archimboldi? KEKW this book is dense and a slow burn and that is currently the main interest to the plot. It is how the four critics found themselves and how their relationships blossom chasing after this mysterious writer. I can tell this is going to be a good story from the small sprinkle of literary genius found in some paragraphs.

Still, of everyone in all the world, this was the person to whom he was closest at that moment, for they at least were of the same species, brothers in the breed of Cain..

They got them and one of them cracked under interrogation. I guess what they say is true the louder the bark the weaker the bite. I know I am falling victim to my own emotions but the clutter family, as portrayed in the book, were the ideal American family. They were hard working and active members of society that would always be willing to help others around them.

Finished Secret Sharer, the final short story, and this one was odd. Even though it was supposed to be about two different characters sharing a strange secret It was written in a way that it could be inferred that he was talking about himself. Of the protagonist giving up his secret self and coming into his new role of the captain of this vessel. Like I said this story was odd and not really for me.

Finished Amy Foster short story and all I can say is dang Amy why you have to do my boy Yanko like that.

The case finally has a lead to go on and the multiple accounts are corroborating the original story. I cannot feel pity for the killers.. However their families are a different matter. It is saddening to see how parents will defend their children even though they can see what they have become. It sadly reminds me of my aunt and her two troubled boys. One is now resting in a cemetery and the other is prison.

Finished heart of darkness and the only thing I can say is that Conrad knows how write sensationalism. He took what would be normal human interaction and transformed it into something that seemed to be touched by the divine. Like some hidden truth of the universe had been discovered only to himself and everyone else was but ignorant sheep. He knows how to stir the imagination and deliver a novel idea.

It has differences from the show so far some better and vice versa. They are both good and I will treat them as separate universes.

Marlow adventure up the Congo river is a bleak one. Where he was expecting exploration and adventure he instead finds exploitation and treachery. He can not outright insult civilized man so he instead just states what he saw while mockingly praising his peers. He also notices that the so called primal man are in some ways more civilized than his peers.

It is hard to read this story. To know this is a real crime and to get to know the family, the criminals, and the events that led to the tragedy. It is honestly leaving a bitter feeling on my stomach. I just made it to when they first discover the bodies and I need to stop for today. It is one thing if it happens in fiction but a whole other when its real. They were such a good family they did not deserved their fate

Finished Youth, the first story, And If Conrad continues to write at this level I will enjoy the rest of the book. Youth is about the romance that every man aspires for. To go on an adventure and push themselves to the limit. To truly find the limitations of our bodies and to push beyond them. Whats that meme? Too late for the age of earth exploration and too early for space, but just in time for the office.

Read only what was necessary to get a general idea of the author and skipped most of the introduction since it just expanded further into the details of Conrad's life; Which if I am being honest I do not care about at the moment. Now that I have gotten my bearings. This book has four stories in the following order: Youth, Heart of Darkness, Amy Foster, and The Secret Sharer. Lets see why these stories are so loved

Okay this is good and very dense so it is going to take me longer to read than most books. Since this story is based on real events the "characters" have a rawness to them that very few writers could ever hope to write. I do find it interesting that such a detail account of the events leading to the tragedy could be acquired. They must have done some very in depth interviews and found a lot of evidence.