Otto Peyer > Recent Status Updates

Still rocking! Some incredible sections in the past few "jests", but also a few slogs. The slogs are still really good, though, just the kind of thing that takes a few days to crawl through. I think this is the year I finish this finally.

Okay, I'm back on my B.S. again. Really enjoying how Dot Com Boom this book is. Let's see how far I advance this time...

Can't tell if Houellebecq or the translator is the problem, but some of this prose is kind of terrible. The sexist attitude is also obnoxious and I am not sure if I'm just reading an immature incel ranting or a depiction of an immature incel ranting. Regardless, this has been a pretty fun and light read in comparison to everything else on my plate, so I'm at the very least appreciating it for that.

Pt. 2 done. At this point, I think I'm locked in 'til the end.

Really excited to reread this. I loved my old copy so much that I once tore pages out to make a cover for my windows, but I have regretted it ever since! Why'd I ruin my copy of Watchmen? I'm an idiot! Anyway, now I'm reading this library copy that's a little nicer and I'm pretty stoked to dig into it.

Let's see where this goes...

I am sinking in. Starting to find myself having to look up "what the hell did I just read" less and less, and when I go back to stuff I read earlier, it all clicks now. I'm in the zone...

After a little bit of waffling around, I'm back in and the book is finally hitting for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it prior but now that the paranoia is setting in, I am SUPER intrigued by this. Once you get past the first section which serves to set everything up, this book makes a LOT more sense. Have gone back and reread earlier confusing sections with now total clarity. Love it!

Also progressed a bit here, though I've kind of stalled out on this first section with Madame Psychosis. I intend to keep trucking, but I'm gonna let myself read some bits of other books for a minute and come back later.

Had a random desire to come back and advance a little bit in this. Starting to feel a little gripped by the narrative. I really want to see what this turns into. Charmed by how the book is so aggressively trying to be offensive, but also manages to implement enough that even attempts to provoke still have interesting concepts and meaning behind them.

This guide has been so, tremendously useful. Sometimes I'll be reading a chapter and be totally baffled as to what's going on, and then I'll pause and read some of this to orient myself and then go back and everything is crystal clear. Could probably manage without it, but I'm glad I'm using it.

Having a great time for the most part, though the chapter that slowed me down previously (11) was just as slow this time, but now I'm truckin' again. The common transphobia and ebonics chapters have really not aged well, but it was 1996 and the cultural conversation was somewhat behind compared to where it is now, so I'll give DFW a little bit of a pass there. Overall, still very impressed.

Stalled for now, but I know I'll be back at it eventually. I moved through this at a snail's pace, but there was so much to admire every time I came back.

Using this because I found it insightful previously during an older attempt at the book. It's still pretty useful. There are quite a few things it points out here and there that I definitely wouldn't have noticed, but it has managed to not spoil anything either, other than pointing out when I should remember something because it will matter later. Cool companion.

Attempt 4. This seems easy after spending a while reading Pynchon. Breezing right along, but I'm also pretty familiar with everything up to this point, so that's nothing. I think this time will be The Time. This is exactly what I'm in the mood for/need.

Enthralled by this final part, though I have to be in the mood for it whereas the last section was so "my kind of thing" that I couldn't put it down. I really appreciate that this novel has moved through so many totally different vibes. What a great book.

Absolutely blown away. This is definitely one of the best books I've ever read.

Made BIG progress in this over the past few weeks. Now that The Part About the Crimes has stated, I'm somewhat surprised at how much I'm enjoying it, given that people said the book became really hard to get through. Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but this is probably the most compelling section thus far, and I really liked 1 and 3.

Knocking on wood, but thus far this isn't nearly as hard to parse as people made it out to be. Pynchon's thick prose reminds me of how I naturally write, and makes me feel better about how some of my sentences are inclined to come out somewhat labyrinthine and tangential. I don't know if this reading will stick, but I'm glad I'm finally starting to familiarize myself with this book.

A third interesting, a third whining about progressives in a way that doesn't feel right, and a third kind of uncomfortably sat between the two. I put this off because I expected it to be "old man yells at cloud", and that's mostly true, though I think that it's a bit more rooted in something worth complaining about than I expected. I still kind of don't like it. This book is rich person perspective to the max.

An interesting start! People told me this book was really hard to read and shouldn't be my first Pynchon, but it's probably the one that has immediately taken off with me the most. I read the first chapter or two without any issue. I mean, yes, the writing style requires a little bit more attention to catch all the little turns of phrases and references hidden within, but you get used to it quickly.

Introduction finished. Let's DO this.

I am REALLY loving this now. Was pretty happy to see some decent trans representation, when that's something I never would have thought I'd see from Cormac McCarthy of all people. It kind of frustrates me that I'm going to finish this and then have to wait a month to read the sequel.

Very promising first two scenes. I'm excited to reread this someday with a nice set of notes that I'm sure someone will prepare to explain all the little references to things, because, my God, there are a *lot*.

Intriguing though mostly because I'm curious what in the world is in here that made Isaac Brock so mad about it being published.

Still pretty majorly stalled, but I'm still going to check in with it from time to time and hopefully I'll eventually pick it back up rather than it only being something I read a page or two of every few weeks.

Ch. 1 - Already feeling like this is the best thing I've read from McCarthy. The segues from moment to moment are out of this world, and I can't believe how much happened in so few pages.

Pt. 2 wasn't as neat as Pt. 1 was for me, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. This new part seems more my kinda thing. Excited to see what happens next...

Stalled in the middle of the event. This will likely be stalled for a while, but I do want to finish it at some point. I wasn't super into it until the event happened, and now I'm starting to find it engaging, I just find 2666 to be a bigger priority.