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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   4607 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 20, 2022

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So, what are you reading?

I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. Have never managed to get past the beginning.

I read The Picture of Dorian Gray maybe 15 years ago. I recall it being equal parts boring and pointless.

Edit: Below someone says it made a big impression on them. I guess it really shows different strokes for different folks. What a waste of paper and my time that book was.

Blood Meridian. Dorian Gray is on my shelf waiting to be read.

Just started Augustine's Confessions. Last book was Runaway Horses.

Two of my all time favorites. What did you think of runaway horses?

Amazing. Spring Snow was very good, but Runaway Horses was even better, perhaps because it draws so closely to the events of Mishima's life. I'm tempted to write an effortpost on my thoughts on it. I'm looking forward to reading Temple of Dawn, but I've heard that it and Decay of the Angel aren't as well-regarded.

Please do! I haven't read Mishima in years now and I'd love love love to think about it again.

Just found out yesterday that there's a new Mistborn book out, so I picked that up tonight. Really looking forward to it!

Still on Anne Rice's vampire novels. I'm on the fifth now and it's a noticeable drop in quality, I may stop on this one if it doesn't get better soon.

How did you find Flowers for Algernon? I remember it being very sad, particularly towards the end where Charlie goes to a lesson just like at the beginning of the book and his teacher runs out crying after realizing he had reverted to his old self. I also thought the author exaggerated or maybe found it hard to portray Charlie as being smart in a convincing way at his peak, especially implying he had learnt several languages during the experiment (which took less than a year iirc). This felt silly and the book would have been stronger without it.

Less intellectual or darkly funny than I hoped it would be, given the humour at the beginning. Played heavily on sentiment. Felt a lot like a myth. Can't say it stirred much sympathy in me, but the portrait of the less intelligent was memorable, so it might become a counterweight to careless thoughts about intelligence in the future.

It gets credit for making the smart Charlie genuinely fascinating in his prose and focus, though it took some time for the writer to prove that he could write such a character. I think I would have liked to see this character play a more independent role. He was inspiring if cynical when he was being himself, unpleasant when he was crazy, dull when he was letting his life be owned by others.

Charlie whisking away Algernon, the quiet parts with Fay and his work were the best parts. Overall, eh. Can see why it's a classic. Seems like a book that I'll likely return to when I'm more interested in its themes, but it felt a lot like those sentimental sci-fi movies that pop up every now and then. Maybe it set the example. Either way, it managed to reach some heights, so it was worth the time.

I encourage you to stick with that book, it made a huge impression on me as a young man.

I am currently reading The Living Reed by Pearl S. Buck. I have a nearly complete set of Pearl Buck novels, which were previously my mother's, which were previously her mother's. There's something kind of neat about being the third generation of my family to read Pearl S. Buck; there's nothing specific about us or our history that would push us to do this. I just like it. I really appreciate Buck's virtuous characters, wide dramas, and honest, deep exploration of other cultures.

By the way: has anyone reading this ever read the works of Edward Rutherfurd? If so - would you recommend them?

Personally I'm pretty open to his ideas (leaning somewhat conservative and low-key wishing someone could explain Christianity in a way where I can accept it), but I found his arguments baffling and nonsensical on closer inspection. I had much more luck with CS Lewis's Mere Christianity. I'm glad it worked for you though!

Chesterton's fiction is also great. The Man Who Was Thursday was a kind of masterpiece. His Father Brown was good, though I only read a few of the stories.

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