Dan > Recent Status Updates

"My own opinion is, that however this one-sided horn may really be used by the Narwhale—however that may be—it would certainly be very convenient to him for a folder in reading pamphlets."

I was dreading this chapter, but it's turning out to be my favorite one yet.

I’ve reached what appears to be one of your dreaded whaling chapters. Let’s see how this goes.

"Long usage had, for this Stubb, converted the jaws of death into an easy chair."

I am in love with this line.

I see I have some of the dreaded whaling infodump chapters coming up, but in the meantime, I'm getting through this far more quickly than I expected. The language isn't even that difficult; Melville just uses a lot of allusions I'm unfamiliar with and loves those old-fashioned page-long paragraphs.

So far this is going more quickly than I anticipated.

This has been on my to-read for literal years. Obviously I’m like 1% through the book, so who knows how my feelings will develop, but so far this writing is a lot easier than I expected, and Ishmael is a very fun guy to be in the head of.

Slow going, but I should have this finished before the month is out.

Same thing: I like the parts with the boys can’t understand half of what the dad is talking about.

Currently hindered by not knowing much about Catholicism.

I was right, the parts with the boys are a bit easier than Jim's dad, but it's still slow going. Keeping in mind I was glad to push through The Time of the Hero last year, and at least this one doesn't yet have multi-page paragraphs.

This book is not very good, but I suppose of course it isn’t.

I am really struggling to understand this so far. I’m hoping it gets easier one it switches to focusing on the boys.

Here comes the hardest part of the story to get through. Not in a bad way; it's just a lot.

:’(

This book is so cute

Peter and Jordan are treating the rubdown incident with a casualness that is unfathomable in the year 2026.

I always forget the meeting of the glee clubs comes so soon; I'm somehow always under the impression it takes place a little further on.

Oh no, I tried to pinpoint an exact year this takes place and noticed an error: the Hamlet performance is Friday, November 9, but 1962 was the only year in the ‘60s where that lines up. That doesn’t work because there’s a couple references to the Vietnam War. (Though not enough, IMO; I would have liked if that were looming over the seniors like WWII in A Separate Peace.)

Jordan is here :) I wish everyone I know would read this book and talk to me about it.

Peter’s final day before Jordan shows up :)

Every time I go to a thrift store, I try to find a sport coat like the one Peter describes. I've come close a couple times but have yet to find anything close to my size.

The first 10% of the book is good setup, but I really start having fun here, when Peter leaves for Gilford.

:)

I was looking forward to this, but it’s not really grasping me.

Wow, it’s been a long time since I read something this bad. I forgot how much I love a good hateread.

I knew this was a book about a kid convincing his parents to send him to camp, but if I’d know it was going to pivot to the camp itself, I’d have saved it to read outside, not when it’s 30 degrees out.