Katrinka > Recent Status Updates

Reading this again after falling in love with it way back in the 9th grade. Does not disappoint so far!

Everything was going well until I snagged on the LONG, LONG excerpt from Karl Jaspers's Existenzphilosophie. I finally broke out in laughter yesterday at what seems like a manic parody of mid-20th-century European philosophers. The only way I'll get through this section is if I view it as unintentional comedy.

I'm entertaining alternate-world hopes that the blindingly red cover means we'll soon get zombies and/or vampires intruding into the landscape.

Loving this one so far—and it's got me thinking: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/lookin...

Oh, man; I think this is going to be more about Jesus than cherry blossoms.

Some thoughts on the poet and his work, as I make my slow way through this collection: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/a-body...

Really loving this one—which among other things, has helped me think through some mixed feelings about newsletters: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/wordy-...

Even the intro (by Susan Sontag) has me thinking: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/tsypki...

Might come back to this page by page over the next year or so, but my progress here has turned to inertia.

Oh, man; I'm only through the first (and probably most famous) essay, and I've already got such mixed feelings, I had to write about them: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/a-natu...

A quotation Toscano uses from Ernst Bloch (to describe Thomas Müntzer's failed revolution) fueled a whole essay: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/in-sea...

I've lost track of how many times Simone Weil has made her way into an essay, paper, or presentation of mine, but here's the latest:
https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/back-t...

Frank O'Hara's look at Jackson Pollock sparked an essay: https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/harebr...

The bland has inspired an essay! https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/shutti...

I'm really only a few pages in, and the book's already sparked an essay! https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/action...

Gotta admit I may not finish this one.

Heh heh: over at the blog, I'm doing a bit of, questioning, let's say, about reading challenges:

https://zwieblein.bearblog.dev/learni...

Hey, my new podcast, Plain Reading, is live! Our first interview is up—check it out at https://plainreading.libsyn.com!

Update: I can now add this volume to a list of legendary big books with a section where everyone gets stalled, along the lines of Moby Dick's "all about whales" chapter, and the section on almonds in Guns, Germs, and Steel (which I did find interesting). Here? Very lengthy analysis of a Paul Celan poem that's gone on for pages and pages, and which so far shows no sign of ending any time soon.

Addictive, as expected. Ca. 250 pages in, and it's already compelling me to write:
https://expositrix.wordpress.com/2023...

I get the feeling this one's going to take me a while to get through.

Reading this one for, what, the third or fourth time? Glad a friend wanted to me to join in; in spite of Civil War history not really being my thing, this one never gets old.

So far, this is somehow sounding like a combination of the Arabian Nights and a storytelling session crafted by the Jane Jacobs of Systems of Survival.

Man, if this one doesn't pick up soon, I don't know if I'll be able to make it...

Since I'm experimenting with moving from Twitter to Mastodon (@Zwieblein in both locations), I'm also checking out bookwyrm (Katrinka over there as well). I'm still unsure how "instances" work on the new platforms, but we'll see what happens. Say hey if you're on either of those (or LibraryThing, which I do enjoy, and where I'll definitely stay).