#260

Yes, it’s great. I love the visual style so it’s easy to take ages looking through and I flick back through it from time to time just looking at the illustrations. The words are also quite good.

1 Like
#261

Finally finished A Confederacy of Dunces, it wasn’t unenjoyable per se, it just didn’t grip me. I like films where nothing happens but less so books. Jones was v well written

2 Likes
#262

I didn’t really like it either.

#263

I’ve just ordered three more Ursula K. Le Guin books.

I think that I may have something of an addiction…

7 Likes
#264

Has anyone read Ducks, Newburyport? Is it as “difficult” as it seems?

#265

Welcome! We have a support group:

Which ones did you get?

1 Like
#266

Tales from Earthsea, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Dispossessed.

2 Likes
#267

finally finished this (i’m a slow reader). i really loved it. it just feels very real imo. related to them both quite a lot at times, particularly Connell at his most awkward and self sabotaging.

i’m gonna watch the TV adaptation but can’t imagine it fully capturing what’s on the page really, the magic lies more in their inner thoughts and feelings than the narrative/events and i’m not sure how they’ll translate that.

3 Likes
#268

I got about 50% of the way through Milkman and had to park it. I feel like you have to read it with a certain rhythm and almost get hypnotised into it to be able to focus properly? Otherwise I found it too hard

1 Like
#269

Reading another Iain Reid book (I think he’s only done 2) called Foe and it’s v black mirror-ish and I’m very much into it

#270

Also his other book I’m Thinking Of Ending Things is being made into a film by Charlie Kaufman and has that guy from black mirror in (the uss calister episode)
Ohh that is gonna be good!!

1 Like
#272

reading Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
also trying to read more non fiction so started this thing about Chomsky vs Foucault, I don’t understand anything Foucault says though which is a shame

#273

Yeah I haven’t had time to read it over the weekend so resumed this morning on the bus and was just “Oh god wtf mate” - only 80 pages left so will carry on but its a slog!

1 Like
#274

Yeah I’ll probably read that at some point. I’ve read her Mr Salary short story which was decent.

Apparently Connell and Marianne originate from a short story called At the Clinic which I’d like to find

1 Like
#275

This is a very good primer on Foucault, as most Very Short Introductions are:

https://www.veryshortintroductions.com/view/10.1093/actrade/9780192805577.001.0001/actrade-9780192805577

Although it’s written by someone who’s clearly a Foucault devotee, which is pretty jarring (many aren’t).

1 Like
#276

ah I’ve read a couple of those, will try get my hands on this one

1 Like
#278

Finished reading ‘Whipping Girl’ and thought it was excellent not only as an introduction and summary to aspects of queer theory but also as a fairly critical account of many of the issues that plagued early attempts to understand gender dysphoria (particularly wrt to people like Ray Blanchard).

One of the most interesting takeaways I thought was probably the term oppositional sexism which she describes as the belief that men and women are too strictly defined opposites and she see’s this as the driving force behind not only transphobia, but also homophobia and misogyny more broadly.

Probably going to read Alex Niven’s New Model Island next :thinking:

#279

I had to do that when I read The Shipping News because of the particular way she constructs her sentences. It’s not necessarily a bad thing and often makes for a more memorable experience imho, but does mean that it takes a lot more effort to commit yourself to picking it back up each time.

#280

Decided to clear through books I’ve half finished on my Goodreads Currently Reading bit.

That includes this book

I found the following short passage interesting. May also interest @guntrip I suppose as I feel like land ownership stuff is something he’s talked about before

IMG_20200128_140330
IMG_20200128_1403301000×1000 282 KB

It’s really horrific to read how many contemporary British people in authority absolutely understood they were stealing land from the aboriginal people and guessed the consequences of those actions but didn’t make any effort.

I felt like it was better when I at least could assume these people were of an absolute racist mindset that simply couldn’t conceive of what they were doing but nope. Straight up evil.

Obviously there’s no real difference in the end, I just think I prefer to imagine horrible acts committed from a position of ignorance and negligence rather than from actively willing them to occur.

3 Likes
#281

Finished (finally) - picked up in the last third but overall I was really exhausted by it.

Now onto book 7 - Find Me by André Acima - so far, so boring.