nacholas > Recent Status Updates

finally got back into this after a week's separation, i do love the way augustine weaves classical history into his questions or answers. the role that plato played in his time and of the effects that came before and after. still tho, only up to 20 pages per seating as it can get overwhelming pretty quick.

i am ON A ROLL HERE!!! but in all seriousness, Day 6's stories were kinda (very) mid. looking forward to day 7.

got to read snippets throughout last week; Ivan Ivanovich was pretty good until it became odd; Nevsky Prospect... i actually loved the description of the area, until it spun some odd story about people, but the ending was pretty relevant (even tho it's more of a DUH moment)

20 pages of the introduction; pretty insightful as to how gogol operates best in short stories, but also sucks how he was so unsure whether they were good, that he even burnt a lot of his work away, short stories, plays and even the sequel to Dead Souls... i am endlessly fascinated by the minds of russian writers; given dostoyevsky's my fav, gogol won't disappoint

slowly but surely getting there. i realise that i can't go past 10 or 20 pages in a span of 2 days, then resting for a day or 2... but its pretty common, given theology requires a lot of brain energy to care of it, of which i kinda do. i just love how i feel almost at home with lengthier books these days

day 4 was pretty good in telling the macabre selections of tales, particularly of death. day 5 thus continues the more jovial vibe of days preceding day 4. i am still enjoying the variety, although the whole cheating and fucking is getting a little tedious.

really weird to admit but you know it's a good prose when it's poking fun at religion, is well-written smut, but also has an intention? like it's obviously pandering to the italian people, but also deeply connects with the dearest essence of what it's like to be a human being. and i for one, now understand why smut readers find smut, horny. and no i won't further elaborate.

midway of Book VI out of Book XXII; taking my time to read this as i'm not the biggest fan of theology, but, i absolutely love the style of refutation, augustine shines in almost every aspect, even though some parts (a lot actually) made me go "huh?", it somehow manages to bring forth answers to questions we still ponder today, after 1526 years later.

part 1 - he floats around families of miners, working class, slum areas, money spendings, types of characters amongst different types of people and all that, in a prose-style that not a lot can replicate. it's lyrical and elegant, but also gritty and grounded. i read on-here that part 2 isn't as good? but i believe it'll be a decent read nonetheless

was out so as usual, the form factor of his individual penguin editions are handy and i am actually surprised? like it's so unlike the orwell i know of, at least in writing style. its similar to the DAOIPAL, about poverty and decrepit living spaces, it also has an omnipresent feel? our protagonist mainly functions as a peep through into these people's lives. fascinating stuff.

maybe i'm stupid but the amount of terms or names flung around is just so overwhelming, with a narrative structure that assumes you'd know whoever is mentioned. gonna dnf for now but not because it's bad, i'll probably come back to this in a couple years time, if i had by then read up more on the crusades. sad thing is. i was so looking forward to read this and finishing it.

bro i'm literally at page 115 and it's STILL THE INTRODUCTION; albeit it is a good one but holy... i can foresee actually reading the actual work either on friday or sat ☹️

pg35 of the intro, when it's like ard 100ish???? insane length for introduction of the work but i can already feel the passion through them. insightful of the time period and boccaccio's trials of writing, struggles against friends and the world he lived in, damned if i am to just wanna experience a smidget of whatever they had in naples.

absolutely love the style of translation, the manner of questioning and then answering with such brevity, it's beautiful seeing augustine's dedication to the christian faith while also understanding its amongst the many religions of the world. i just got past the question about troy and it was a nice overlap, given the odyssey being released last week. taking 20 pages whenever i read as while good, it's exercise

i've had this book since i was 18, read a chapter, left it unread until now, 8 years later. it's also a nice overlap given the timeline of the odyssey releasing, having just finished The Histories by Herodotus, then making my way through City of God, and to add to the rotation, this. the first chapter runs us through a lot of the events rather quickly, but i hope here on out it'll slow down as i like the prose

not a daily update, but i absolutely love how dynamic the dialogues are, without trying too hard; with very vivid descriptions of places or feelings. the more unique thing is, i love how grounded it all feels? given that it's non-fiction, it has to be.

and i do hate it when orwell presents a pleasant moment for the characters, bc you know some shit is gonna hit the fan, if the book art isn't a sign (then what is?)

other than the appropriate but way too long title, early pages itself, as accustomed for orwell, sets the mood; i do like that it's not the conventional story but rather observation of actually living within poverty, while wording prose is as smooth as butter... plus, this was much lighter to bring out to read rather than city of god 💀

one more chapter, gaaaaahdaaaahm; that written, this was such a trip through the ancient world; a lot of names that blasts past (1st half is better than the 2nd half), the translation remains effortless. will probably finish it this week as there's only 40ish pages left 🫪

page xxiii of introduction and i'm already so pulled into the world of augustine, of the 5th century ad. having just watched Ben Hur, also reading about Histories (written during 5th century BC) and then this, the overlap is pretty nice... but i can also already foresee this being a pretty dense book to dive into due to the descriptions

30 pages of intro, i am already fond of the works within, while also learning how similarly he was, as a person to dostoyevsky. as always, pretty hyped when it comes to tolstoy's work

okay, actually blown away by how gradual it feels, i'm sure moby dick drew a lot from this, but it also feels more exciting? i like the language and prose, much more effective than mb; i can also see where the critiques for racism is, but given its the 17th century and the normalised aspect, it is nice to notice it being stated he comes from middle class and is well off to do 🤷🏻‍♀️

just finished Lois the Witch and it has got to be one of the better ones of the bunch in here. still taking my time to read because gaskell's pretty good when she locks in, can't say the same for the shorter ones

read the 25ish pages of intro, pretty insightful as to the conception of such stories and where she is inspired from; i had somewhat of a run-in with gaskell in Wives and Daughters (and it didn't hook-in, 50 pages in) and i hope this time it'll stick because the variety seems intriguing enough 🤪

making my way through it, 20 pages a day; the one section in Book 4 about the seas and all kinda bored me to death; but when it got back to the drama and of the people, it's pretty good

translator notes & intro to chapter 1; i again, as PER always, with the flips of intro, fell in love with the prose of dostoyevsky. really, no one does it like him 🙏

just reached book 4 of 9, which, this is such a delight to go through, minimum 20 pages a day, 40 at most. it is relatively densed as it has a lot lot lot of names and the structure is reminiscent of 'flow state', which, works well. the notes, maps and glossary index does come in super handy whenever references are needed.

most intriguing, how, although it's 5th century bc, we haven't really evolved since then.

decided to bring this out as Histories was way too big; The Empty House really sets the tone and now i get why blackwood served as one of the inspirations for lovecraft. words chosen to describe scenes or horror, incredible power when i can see it, when i read this on the train. can't wait to read the remaining 5 when i do get them.

translation facts and intro was 25 pages; pretty insightful for a person who has almost zero background... tbf, it's also of one from 5th century bc. i got this book since 2018 before my reading glow-up, i remember reading not even breaking 100 pages and it was left dormant since. but hey, im glad to be returning to this, during the reading glow up. i may be in the ancient history waters for awhile