ੈ✩‧₊˚ana ੈ✩‧₊˚ > Recent Status Updates

Interesting information, but not sold on the delivery so far.

This is the first nonfiction novel I’ve read that was written in the 2010’s in idk how long (I usually stick with classic lit and philosophy), but I’m very much enjoying it so far🥰💕💕

LOVING this so far!!😍😍

So far, this is a more enjoyable read than the works of Goethe, Thomas Mann, Kafka, or any other German classic lit authors I’ve experienced. WOW.!! I’m so impressed! Definitely one for the philosophy lovers💕💕 I can see why Hesse was awarded the Nobel prize in literature.

How I wish I had read this YEARS ago.😭😭 So far this has to be one of the best feminist theory/philosophy primers I’ve ever picked up and I’m only on chapter 3!🩷

I just finished the first chapter and OOOOOOMG I am HOOKED.!! 😍😍🔥 a FAR more enjoyable read than Huck Finn lol wow

I love when classic lit references other works of classic lit within them. Voltaire just name dropped Cicero and Homer, with one character saying that some of the Odyssey was a masterpiece, but the rest, completely boring. The same character also said he didn’t like Cicero because Cicero questioned everything (he was a skeptic) and that if he was going to live in ignorance, he didn’t need Cicero’s help haha

This is my first time reading a full Voltaire book! 🥰 I love how fast paced and short the chapters are, and the writing is super engaging, minus the gender based violence :,(

Now our MC has gone to the barber and the barber has put him though all kinds of treatments to make him look younger. Then MC concocts the “perfect plan” to finally be able to interact with and touch the boy he’s been watching. He’s going to approach the boy and his mom, and tell the mom that it’s too dangerous to stay here with the plague any longer, and touch the boy on the shoulder—but he never does it

A plague has broken out but the local government is trying to keep it quiet/cover it up. Aschenbach continues to follow around this MINOR and yearn for him. This has not been a fun read for me. I’m looking forward to it being over (thankfully, I’m almost at the end).

Chapter 3 Update: Aquinas opens in illustrating that this summary is especially directed to the unlearned, and that the 3 keys of the this text are faith, love, and hope. He the lays his case to prove the existence of god, especially on the premise that any ball in motion had to be pushed by *someone/something*. He believes in relation to the beginning of the world/universe, that someone is god

Wow, what a breath of fresh air after reading The Stranger and A Death in Venice. Cicero has a very positive view on aging, and this is a very enjoyable read so far. :)

Our man character is now at his hotel in Venice and has become infatuated with „noble Greek statue“ looking teenage boy with long curly hair. He watches him play with his best friend on the beach, and can tell that he’s popular amongst all the kids there.

Up to Chapter 3 Part 2 Update: The book opens in the early 1900s and centers on man named Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful writer who lives in Munich, and is now getting on in years. We learned that his childhood wasn’t particularly happy, and that he experienced much loneliness. As of now he has embarked on a trip to Italy. We’ll see how this goes haha (This is my first Thomas Mann book! Woohoo!🥳)

Update: We have just finished the first Cossack battle in the book and been informed that the Tartars have raided the Sech, so half of the army turns back to help the Cossacks that were captured by the Tartars, and the other half stays to free the Cossacks that were captured by the Poles in the battle. Taras was also told that his son has defected to the Poles‘ side because of his love for the governor‘s daughter

Up to Chapter 7 Update: WOW.!! The first 3 chapters are a bit slow to get through (not a lot of action, primarily world building and character descriptions) but I’m SO GLAD I stuck with it! The real meat of the story starts at chapter 6 and I’m SO EXCITED to see where this continues on to! Right now, the narrative is centered on two star-crossed lovers, a Cossack solider and the daughter of an enemy governor.

Part 2 Chapter 3 Update: While visiting Raymond’s friend’s beach house, Arthur (our narrator) has shot and killed an Arab man (who had initially followed Arthur, Raymond, and Marie the beach to avenge his sister’s mistreatment) on the beach, despite the man only having a knife. Then he spent 5 months in prison (in which his biggest yearn was for women & cigs) for murder and now his actual trail has just begun.

Honestly, seeing that after writing this book its author was put on trail for obscenity, I was expecting a much more scandalous book, but so far it’s really just harping on how unfulfilled Mrs. Bovary is and how her husband yearns for her. The most major development since my last update is that now they have a baby together

Chapters one and two were pretty slow to get through, but the book has picked up beautifully since then.

At long last, I’m finally reading a full Susan Sontag book. After having only completed the first chapter, I can already see why she has the acclaim she does :)

Part 2 Chapter 1 Update: Now we’ve learned that Madame Bovary is completely miserable living in the country, she says that she wishes for death, but also wishes to live in Paris. She has lost interest in her drawing and music practice because she doesn’t see the point in developing skills if she has no one to show them to. She’s also very lonely, even being tempted to converse with her servants but she refrains

I‘m now around chapter 7 and the narrative has shifted to following the life of the Bovary son‘s new wife. He adores her, but she resents him and the happiness she brings him, especially since he has no knowledge of shooting, fencing, or any other such areas that she values in a man. Where I‘ve left off, she has just finished a rather „thrilling“ dance with another man at a public dance hall. 👀😂

I have only finished the introduction and part of chapter one, but already we have touched on how there are many instances of female dominance within the animal kingdom, the feminist views of John Stuart Mill, and the sexist beliefs held by Aristotle, Plato, and St. Thomas Aquinas (Aquinas being one of the most famous catholic theologians in history). I‘m greatly enjoying this read so far!

Just finished chapter one- it was largely a description of the Bovary son‘s calm upbringing and how he lost interest in his work as a young adult and dropped out of school (studying medicine) in favor of playing cards & gallivanting around town (to no particular end other than enjoying his freedom).

*SPOILERS* Update: at this point in the story, Lolita’s mom is dead, and the narrator (Humbert Humbert) is the sole guardian of Lolita. He picks Lolita up from summer camp, tells her her mom is dead and then they drive around the U.S. exploring different states for over a year. While on this trip, Humbert claims that Lolita seduced him first and the sexual interactions between them only continued from there.

I’m very much looking forward to finishing The Stranger, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Bell Jar asap so I can move on to equally impactful, but more optimistic/upbeat titles💀💀😂 omg

Any recommendations are welcomed 💕

On chapter 15 now—Esther is in the metal hospital after attempting to unalive herself. I was grateful to read that her mom came to visit.

Halfway through chapter 12 — I know this book is largely autobiographical, and I just want to give Sylvia Plath a hug.