Caroline > Recent Status Updates

Rough read—Burroughs is like 1950s Hieronymus Bosch. What fresh horrors await?

There's a section in Book I, Canto II where a knight turned into a tree describes getting tricked into abandoning his lady love for a witch who later, of course, tree-ifies him. Two incredible lines from it:

"So doubly lou'd of Ladies vnlike faire,
...
[multiple stanzas that are excellent between]
...
So left her, where she now is turnd to treen mould."

Our protagonist is so self centered, cruel, and unpleasant to hear from, I think his negativity is leaching into my real life. Bring back Maureen, idc about this asshole's family history

There's something about the way Lamb writes about Connecticut that raises my hackles, even though I know for a fact he's from Norwich. I've got my eyes on you, Wally.

Clearing out 2015 additions my to-read list yet again--mixing in this book about school shootings and PTSD as a palate cleanser for Naked Lunch.

You can tell this was serialized originally because they re-explain the plot every 20 pages. Rosine should start tattooing plot points on herself Memento-style to keep track of them.

"Toute salle à manger est une prison temporaire où la civilité enchaîne les convives à la table servie." page 106

I laughed out loud at the reveal that Orlac's hands were mangled less than 12 hours before his scheduled appointment to get them insured. It's always like that, isn't it?

how many of his exes was Dracula living with in Transylvania? no wonder he wanted to move

"Having attained puberty, the boys seemed to do nothing but always think immoderately about women, exude pimples, ... write sugary verses", eat hot chip, and lie

Mishima is king of ominous ellipses. . . .

Unfortunately the essays in this are very uneven. I guess that's what you get when you write by committee. "Fuck Off, Google" has been the best by far.

First chapter: discrete crises (natural disasters, severe economic collapse, etc.) create moments of rupture capable of unearthing issues with the structure of society. But we are now fed a narrative of constant, low-level crisis so that crisis instead becomes a vehicle to restructure whatever those in power want to change. Crisis as government

Bro, why can't I put down this book about rabbit war? How is it possible this is the only book of note Adams wrote? 8-year-old me was right, this is a banger

The ideas get very provocative towards the end of this book, once he stops imagining a world in which everybody has a sex robot or artists are paid not to make work. (To be clear, I enjoyed those reviews as well, but Lem is at his best when he's agonizing about existence)

"Thus the State never intentionally confronts a man's sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was not born to be forced."

This whole essay goes so hard, I can't believe I hadn't read it before