Jackson Compton > Recent Status Updates

Sarah and I are both reading this. We read the first chapter out loud like a cute couple. Baby’s first prenatal Agatha Christie novel.

At the Mountains of Madness

Sign me up for that Starkweather-Moore Expedition! It is humans great flaw to always wish to explore over the next hill, delve deeper, and seek answers we would be happier not knowing the answer to. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style, the adventurous spirit of exploration, and the references to a greater depth of mythology behind it all. This story left me wanting to know more.

John's death was so devastating. It felt so unfair especially after making him out to be such a great young man. That closure with Mary did not feel like enough at all.

Rimer Van Sickler is a funny character.

Adam Helmer’s run and the burning at Ft Herkimer were the highlights for me.

I very much enjoyed John Wolff’s escape. Kept me reading through the whole series of events. I hope he finds Ally but it does not look hopeful. I enjoy how they are telling stories from both sides of the battles here.

“‘What was that flag he was talking about, Mark? Did you see it?‘…
‘Yes. It’s got 13 stripes, red and white ones, and a blue box in the upper corner, with 13 white stars in a ring. They made it out of ammunition shirts, and a blue cloak, and a woman’s red petticoat.’ …
Tygert looked solemn.
‘I hadn’t heard of it before. It sounds like a fancy pattern for a flag, though.’” (pg. 233)

I found the battle very interesting. Edmonds has some pretty disgustingly vivid descriptions of the horrors of the battle. Happy to have Gil still alive. I’m really wondering where this is going to go following such a terrible defeat.

So far, a sad and unforgiving story. I think Gil treated Lana wrong. He has not seemed sympathetic towards her once. That’s probably the way it was back then, but the way he treats her seems unjustified to me. Some of the story has been a bit difficult to follow so far (numerous characters not fleshed out, old language, unfamiliar tasks/events) but I am overall enjoying the read.

So we begin! I’ve basically been in Gil’s shoes having traveled through the same area many times in my life! Only difference is I fly along a highway at 80 mph while Gil and Lana here travel with horse and cow along a dusty road at maybe 3 mph. I’m already fascinated about the differences of the times. We complain about the housing market while Gil here treks hundreds of miles to build his own home and farm!

More and more I’m thinking this book just ends in tragedy. Can Adam possibly have the luck to survive this again? I’m not sure, but there’s also a lot of book left to lose the main character.

This is almost too horrible, sad, and depressing. But real I’m sure. I couldn’t read too many WWI books back to back. Seaton’s death was especially sad and unexpected. I thought even up until the last moment that he was going to survive for sure. Also Rawdon is still such a great interesting character considering his arch.

I wonder how the U.S. today would react to a draft.

Based on the title of the next part, the story is about to take a twist. I hope we still get more Miriam, Brice, Ernest, Rawdon, and Seaton but I wonder how they will all fit in this next part.

Excellent story so far. I’m trying to figure out the ties to J.R.R. Tolkien’s life story. So far there is of course the death of both his parents, and the priest/parson as a second fatherly figure. There’s also the potential of a similar love story. Adam’s educational pursuits could be another but that’s about all that has come to mind so far.

Excellent and emotional writing already.

Second time reading that one. Overall, I enjoy it in the sense that it gives a lot of insight into Tolkien’s mind and his obsession with creating languages. If you really want to understand Tolkien more, this is a must read. I’ll just add, there is now a separate publication of this with much more context and information which this published version lacks.

I was not very interested in this one. Note 33 that mentions The Lord of the Rings was really one of my only takeaways. I’m always fascinated by Tolkien’s insistence on linguistic predilections and taste. I don’t doubt that he found Welsh beautiful but does anyone else really think this deeply about it.

This may have been my third time reading this and I’m definitely understanding more. To me it feels like a love letter to the fantasy genre. The parts I get lost on are when Tolkien references other sources that I have never heard of.

Very thankful I’m reading this directly after reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I actually followed very closely and enjoyed Tolkien’s essay on that poem but I’m sure I would have been completely lost without having just read Tolkien’s translation.

“The effort to translate, or to improve a translation, is valuable, not so much for the version it produces, as for the understanding of the original which it awakes.” (pg. 53) An example of Tolkien’s mastery of the English language. He has a deep understanding of the images conjured in readers minds by every word as well as the poetical qualities of each. You must be a master of synonyms to translate poetry.

Didn’t understand a lick of that. Had to skip over the last sections because they were so dense. Moving on.

I’m hooked. Reading this by the Lakehouse fire on a rainy, windy day absolutely sets the vibe. This book shows how great storytelling doesn’t need the most extraordinary, colorful artwork to be wonderful and capture your imagination.

Sir Orfeo was probably my favorite.
- Short
- Rhyming meter and language were easy to follow
- Plot is interesting to follow with some disturbingly interesting parts
- Has a happy ending!

I read Pearl but I sure didn’t understand it. Checked that off the list and probably not going back. I’m sure some scholars found something of merit here but it was definitely lost on me.

Thankfully the plot picked up a bit at the end. Felt like there was a lot of descriptive filler but then the story started falling into place. I found it interesting in the sense that it is a very old story

I’m probably going to forget most of this background I just read. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight seems to have more potential to be entertaining than Pearl.

“Without something approaching to an objective belief in the old gods we definitely lose something of the magic of all old tales…it is no good saying that the sea is still poetically boundless, for to the very people who can appreciate the poetry of the sea the roundness of the earth and the unfortunate existence of America on the other side…is most constantly and vividly present in the imagination”(pg. 113)

Pretty uninterested in this now. The story was dull and insignificant to me so the notes and details after are even less interesting.

Wow that was hard to follow. Not even sure what style this is based on but it was not easy to read. I was not able to enjoy this but maybe the discussion afterwards will help explain the confusing writing style.