Kay > Recent Status Updates

Oh, I liked Oedipus at Colonus possibly even more than Antigone. It’s such a rich text and I feel like it’s a deeply vulnerable one too; I feel like I can see Sophocles asking questions at the end of his life that he hadn’t asked in the earlier plays. Also enjoy the Athenian identity-building.

I don’t know if it’s a translation issue, but Electra didn’t feel as powerful as the other Sophocles plays. I wonder if it’s just the plot? I felt similarly unmoved but Aeschylus’ The Libation Bearers.

I’m going to pause to read a couple modern renditions of “Antigone” but man. Man! I adored this one beyond measure. Everything fell together and Antigone and Creon were both so vivid on the page. So rich with so much to think about, in a lovely translation besides. I adored it.

The editors did a great job juxtaposing “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles agains “Prometheus Bound.” Sophocles’ style is drawn in sharp relief, and the play, structurally, is really, really stunning. In terms of theme, though, I’m not quite sure what Sophocles is really getting at. Nisetich’s translation sometimes feels a little labored.

“Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus was probably the least compelling of the Aeschylus (or dubiously attributed to Aeschylus) plays. Some of the dialogue is funny, but I think things feel too abstracted from human reality set in the realm of the gods.

I'm not sold on Greek tragedy as a vehicle of exploring the human condition, but "Eumenides" certainly has a lot to say about gender and Athenian government. I liked "Agamemnon" best of the Oresteia in terms of character drama, but I found "Eumenides" most enjoyable as a historical text. I think Ruden's translation felt smoother than in "Libation Bearers." Once more Aeschylus (contested) then on to Sophocles.

Is saying that "Libation Bearers" is a bit of a saggy middle book a fair thing to say about Greek tragedy? Or, since I've not yet read "Eumenides," it didn't hit nearly as hard as "Agamemnon"--maybe it's all downhill. Orestes is a lot less fun than Clytemnestra, though I suppose I can't blame him--he really doesn't want to be here, doing this. Ruden's translation felt awkward at times, beautiful at others.

Agamemnon: Clytemnestra is by far the most interesting character in the play--at times she seems aware of the structure of her story. Cassandra offers an interesting parallel with what we're told about Iphigenia; I've always been interested in silence & speaking concerning women in classics, and this play is fantastic in that regard. Ruden's translation is lovely, though sometimes her language lost me.

I think I'd need a better primer on the socio-political situation of Athens to truly appreciate Persians, but even without that there's some frankly fascinating anxieties about Athenian power and some very telling moments of Athenian identity. It also probably bears mention the odd way the Persians themselves are conceived--as an Asiatic Other but also as a decidedly similar people.

Yes thank you sorry Fitz I do want you plunged back into Buckkeep intrigue

After 25% of the book where nothing happens, Fool's Errand has finally hit its stride and thus become impossible to put down, so there's that. Glad the Fool is playing a larger role in the story because I think his interactions with Fitz make them both richer characters.

Okay this chapter on Sefer Reis is a blast

I am not sure Jordan has ever encountered a female friendship in his life. Meanwhile, Perrin's POV still proves to mostly serve no real point other than the conveyance of information

This is so well-organized and easy to read after some of my previous books.

Lanfear using her womanly wiles to make Rand a complete moron sure is...something.

Amazingly, I cannot tell if we are supposed to think Lanfear is using the one power to seduce Rand or if she's just that hot. I'm preferring to think the former; I don't think Jordan's gender politics are that messed up, but jesus.

Dunn is impressive at making an inherently interesting subject feel excruciating, and I don't know whether this is a me problem or a them problem but. Man was this a trial.

I forgot how much of this series involved me screaming "just talk to each other" at the book!

"It seemed to him like a weakness: this was his own land, and he would have walled it in if he could with steel until he had eradicated from it everything which reminded him of how it had once appeared to a miserable child. He wanted to destroy everything: to be alone without any memories at all. Life began five years ago."

I see we are at Shienar, where everyone suddenly turns into a hateful jerk for no apparent reason. I suspect I probably skimmed more of this than I thought I did when I was younger.

Feeling vindicated in my childhood recollections that Perrin is the Worst

I am still working on this, I promise, but I've found these middle chapters to be far more of a challenge than the beginning