Peter > Recent Status Updates

Les Miserables got me interested right at the beginning, which was a nice surprise. Senator Nought's speech in Chapter XIII was AWESOME. "Wither will suffering lead me? To nothingness; but I shall have suffered. Wither will enjoyment lead me? To nothingness; but I shall have enjoyed myself. My choice is made. One must eat or be eaten. I shall eat."

I really have no idea what page I'm on, since I've only been listening so far. I just finished Chapter XII of Book First. Where are we stopping at again?

Ugh. Working double shifts keeps thwarting my opportunities to spend time with this. I am determined to get a decent start.

Off to a MUCH faster start than Vol. 1. Everyone is going crazy over Flashpoint from the get-go, so it's pretty exciting.

Okay, holy shit. A murder mystery novel by Carol de Chellis Hill called "Henry James' Midnight Song." Here's the first line of the summary: "Edith Wharton is trying to save Henry James from Sigmund Freud ... [when] Mrs. Wharton inadvertently finds herself in the middle of a serial killer's rampage. The father of psychoanalysis, the formidable Mrs. Wharton and the faltering Henry James all become suspects." Amazing

Colm Toibin is really great at channeling James's writing voice. I'm slightly worried, though, because I find myself wanting to forget that it's fiction. The interweaving of autobiography makes things tricky.

I'm just going to try finishing this tonight because it's hilarious and awesome.

I finally tried to add a book that isn't on Goodreads. Is there any kind of workaround?

I started this last night and had a hard time putting it down. Why don't more people write fictional accounts of famous author's lives? Oh, right, because they tried it with Jane Austen and it was horrible.

Finished The Golden Bowl. Ah, so good. I want to let it sink in for a couple of days, but I have to read Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Things are not looking good for you, Anne Tyler.

Suddenly I'm seeing copies of "The Hunger Games" everywhere, and hearing people talk about it all the time. Is it new? I thought it'd been around for a while. Have any of you guys read them?

Can't sleep now. Must... keep... going...

Coming-of-age novel about a single mother and her three very different children. I think it's a good novel, but it's so far away from what I'm in the mood for right now. I wish I could give it a fair go outside of class!

Finally had time to get back to this today. Hoping to finish it by the end of the night. It's only getting better!

I think after this semester ends I'm going to start an F. Scott Fitzgerald reading marathon. This Side of Paradise through The Last Tycoon. Plus Babylon Revisited. Can't reread Fitzgerald? Why of course you can!

"what perhaps most stands out for me is the still marked inveteracy of a certain indirect and oblique view of my presented action; unless indeed I make up my mind to call this mode of treatment, on the contrary, any superficial appearance notwithstanding, the very straightest and closest possible." This cracks me up. James recognizes how vague his writing is only to wonder if it isn't actually completely direct.

The crowning achievement of Henry James. Nothing else compares. I'm sad that there is only half of the book left to read. The psychological depths of these characters, the chilling atmospheres, and impossibly complex ethical situations are just fascinating. I love the "Henry James" syntax of completely vauge, winding sentences. It's totally addictive and rewarding to dissect them.

Quickly shaping up to be my favorite Henry James novel. There are basically only four characters, but he does so much with them. Can't put it down.

Bummed that the nearest theater showing "Jane Eyre" is in Columbus. Did anyone find something closer?

Kingsolver got a little crazy by the end of the book. I think living on the farm addled her brain.

Okay, I think I'm ready to end my stay on the Kingsolver estate. I think she is making a lot of good points, but the book is really meandering. Plus, it's for class and I'm just ready to be done with it.

I think that Kohler tries a little too hard to give gravitas to video games, but that is nit-picky. I wish there were more books about video games, especially books as good as this one.

I really like that Shakespeare used a villain as his main character, but this play was still hard to follow. I need more practice with the Histories.

Reading this again with a better sense of Henry James as an author makes it even better than it was before! Why don't more realist authors write horror stories? The genres fit together PERFECTLY.

Thought I had a decent grasp on Shakespeare, but this play is rough. Watching Al Pacino's documentary "Looking for Richard" was awesome, though.

I read this almost two years ago with absolutely no knowledge of Henry James. Now I'm re-reading it for class and it feels like a totally different story! So good! (I still think this would fit perfectly into the Silent Hill universe.)

Re-reading this before lending it to a friend. Super easy to read, but I'm starting to notice all of the tangents Kohler goes off on in the book. Maybe if I rewrite his book, I can take his job. Mwahahaha

Henry James brainstormed character names in a notebook entry before arriving at "Marcher" for "The Beast in the Jungle." Names that didn't make the cut: "Assingham -- Padwick -- Lutch -- Marfle -- Bross -- Crapp -- Didcock -- Wichells -- Putchin -- Brind -- Coxeter ... Coxster ... Dickwinter ... Jakes ... Marcher--" (Notebook, 1901)