Arya Harsono > Recent Status Updates

"Just because what you told them was true does not erase your past. Words sound the same coming from the honest and the deceiving, the informed and the deceived. They matter. Never think otherwise. But most of the time, people need to be shown a truth before they will truly believe it."

Saving the last chapter for week of the winter solstice - December 21

Burned through most of this on the drive from D.C. to Maine

"We value the individual supremely, and nature values him not a whit."

What I'm enjoying about Kuang's work (Katabasis and Babel in particular) is that she creates fantasy rooted in reality, reminding us that magic does not need to be invented. It already exists. In the form of understanding the world around us: "And when you have complete mastery of these ideas, when you can hold them in your palm and twist and tease them at will—then you will have stepped closer to God." (p. 266)

Restarting after giving up a year ago, given renewed interest in the formation of empires and the role of resources in geopolitics (and also long overdue, as I have made this the main obstacle to completing Fressoz's book)

Forgot to update progress since May but behind schedule in any case; should pick up the pace and make it to the late summer chapters by the next two weeks. In June, we meditated on details and complexities, and in July, we were overwhelmed by a whole world in flood and growth (justifying my summer slump).