Status Updates From In Memoriam to Identity

'Perhaps it's men who dream of love, and women who dream of survival.'

The more Acker I read, the more I see for her it is all about how the parts fit together. The first bit on Rimbaud grew tiresome in its rut of R&V's torrid affair, but now its pieces I found lacking are starting to work in ways I wasn't anticipating...

...to the edge of a ruined temple. Religion is dead. At this edge he sees two men who might not be real, fighting. The men have been battling for seven years. 'The universe is limitless; love is eternal; love conquers the world,' the new tax collector informs the bloody men. The older boxer tells the new tax collector to seek his love in a brothel. 'Your love won't save you here. Kid.' All around them are ruins.

I judged a book by it's cover and decided I needed to read this. A mistake, I think. This is the most depressing thing I've read in ages. Everything is confusing, bleak and violent. I'm sure it's supposed to say insightful things about humanity or something.

Sometimes I love post-modern pretentious bullshit. This is not one of those times.

My thought for the last 100 pages: I'd rather be reading Rimbaud.

I'm definitely not Acker's type of postmodern thinker. This book is visceral, graphic, and totally impossible. But, I'm latched. This is not for the faint of heart.