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(3/2) I finished "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" over the course of a couple days for my course in world literature. It had been on my shelf for a while now, as I am a great fan of Dostoevsky and have been intending to branch out to other Russian authors. To say that this novella is not an excellent commentary on death, vanity, self-isolation, and human connection would be wrong. I do not need to tell you that it was great. I think my biggest issue and the reason I have been sitting on this review for half a week now is that I wanted to enjoy it more than I really did. There are a few things that make me feel this way. Firstly, Tolstoy does a lot of critiquing of the middle and poor classes but he does so from a great position of power within the time. It makes some of his remarks come off as vain or self-righteous. Additionally, I felt like, even if it was remarkably well written, the ending in which Ivan's lesson is learnt through connecting with his son felt wholly predictable. This is not to say that the work is without its merits, because it is exceptional, even within a period of literature where a lot of exceptional writers sprung from. I do feel I came in with preconceived notions of greatness which may be the cause of my disappointment. Continuing my discussion on the final scene, the way in which Ivan's only true moment of "life" was only hours before his death was beautifully dark. I too enjoyed how the final sentence ends with a simple "he dies": the juxtaposition between these two elements definitely set the groundwork for existentialist literature to come. The part of this novella that resonated with me the most, however, was reading of Ivan as a hypochondriac. He spends the whole of his life facing psycho-somatic illness. In short: he is dying of his fear of death itself. I enjoy this reading because it reinforces the existentialist themes of the work. Definitely give this a try. It is very short and mostly worthwhile, even if I would point people to Dostoevsky's novellas first. I defintitely look forward to reading Tolstoy's longer works when I have the time. 7.5/10

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(6/2) I watched the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors film last night with my girlfriend and a friend. The film was a genuinely great modern Faustian tale that deconstructs the ideals of mid 20th century America. I believed it was a nearly perfect film: the songs were great, the humour landed nearly constantly, and the ending (specifically the "bad" ending) was spectacular. The only reason I lean more towards nine rather than ten is there were a few middling moments were I felt the plot could have gone a little faster. Favourite bits were everything to do with the dentist and the final scene where Audrey II destroys the world. 9/10

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(30/1) For my course in Gothic literature, I read today The Castle of Otranto. This work was chosen as the first novel that we read because it is commonly regarded as the first work of Gothic literature. Walpole wrote Castle of Otranto with the intention of combining the modern romance—in his eyes, but in actuality just being in reference to a modern novel format with references to natural and the natural order—with the medieval romances of old.

I will begin with first addressing a common sentiment I saw both online and within the classroom about this novel: that events transpire without ever being adequately explained. I believe this statement to be true as well, but I conversely believe that it was Walpole’s intention. Medieval romances utilized this approach often, and in the attempt of replicating that style and to inflict terror within his readers, Walpole does not use his pages to explain the supernatural events that take place. The early novels of Walpole’s time too use this style of storytelling. With this in mind, I do not believe this to be a very poignant criticism.

On to my own criticism, I will begin with the positive aspects. I believe that Walpole succeed quite well in bridging the gap between the genres of old and new romances. An additional source that found its way in to the novel that I was pleased with was Shakespeare. The prefaces to the edition that I read mention that the comic relief of the novel was intentionally Shakespearean, but in my opinion, the theatrics of the work as a whole were befitting of a C or B tier Shakespeare play. Additionally, the first and last chapters of the novel were engaging, especially the first. Conrad’s death as an absurd hook into this world works well even to this day. The atmosphere within castle Otranto and the surrounding area works quite well.

As for the negatives, the middle of the novel is paced in such a way that it leaves me with the sentiment that Walpole did not know how to arrive from point A (the hook) to point B (the resolution). Considering the story that the idea for this novel supposedly came to him in a dream, the underdeveloped nature of the work at the very least makes sense. I do not think the character of Frederic is utilized very well either. Lastly, the dialogue in this work was not always on point; sometimes, it felt on par with works of his time, and at others, stilted and, as my professor called it, amateurish.

None of these complaints were disappointing enough to take away from my overall enjoyment of The Caste of Otranto, but they were strong enough keep the work from being great. I would, however, recommend this novel to anyone curious in Gothic literature or interesting in seeing how far the genre has come since its infancy.

6.5/10

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Mandatory drawing of Alucard after finishing the second season of Castlevania Nocturne.

Drawing his hair is my favorite part, so stylish.

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(29/1) I will be starting with the first game that I finished this year, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

SotN is everything that I have heard about it. Prior to playing, I have not finished a single Metroidvania and it was not a genre that I really enjoyed playing. Additionally, my only knowledge of the Castlevania franchise was from the Netflix series, and I am aware that the story is only loosely similar.

Regardless, I was immediately having fun struggling to learn how to play the game in the mock fight against Dracula and in making my way to the first boss fight of the game.

The pixel art is gorgeous and holds up better than some more modern games I have played and the music immediately sets the tone of Alucard’s plight in returning to Dracula’s Castle.

And it was even a little challenging! After struggling with the first boss, the difficulty mostly disappeared for me, but the game was still challenging enough to be entertaining ‘til the end. The game’s greatest strength following the defeat of Slogra and Gaibon is how open ended the castle is for exploration. Many pathways branch forward from there, and none of them feel wasted: there were always secrets to find. My favourite portion of the castle was the lowest, where the Legion fight was.

The retrieval of the rings needed for the true ending and related dialogue between Maria and later Richter felt very Souls-adjacent to me. It is apparent to me that the Souls series—my favourite franchise in gaming—took a lot of inspiration from this game.

The Reserve Castle was a treat. It was very interesting to me how well the castle worked while being completely upside down. Alucard had become so powerful by that point that none of the bosses really spiked in difficultly for me—except the mess that was the Beelzebub fight, in which I reluctantly was forced to learn the Wing Smash spell—but exploring the Reverse Castle, collecting the Alucard set, and fighting dear old Dracula was just as engaging as my first adventure through. I am pleased that I somehow managed to struggle a tiny bit with the final boss and it left me feeling decently satisfied.

I will remember Symphony of the Night as one of the best gaming experiences that I have ever had and as one of the greatest games ever made. In my mind, it is greatly deserving the praise that it has received for the last 30 years. My only true complaint is that I wish it were longer, so that I did not have to move on to something else so soon.

9/10

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I find that I struggle deeply with feeling like I get anything done. While I hate viewing art as something to complete rather than simply enjoy, as a show to myself that I do indeed finish various pieces of art (games, books, films, etc.) a month, I will be posting on this Tumblr my thoughts on the various things I finish that I feel worthwhile rather it be for fun or for classes in college.