#i at least liked solitaire better than the catcher in the rye

[doublemegative]

"I expected something pathological, but I did not expect the depth, the violence, and the almost intolerable beauty of the disease... She improvised around the music of the Pullman porter's son; went from liquid lyricism to rasping lechery to the shrill skittishness of a frightened child, to a heroin nightmare. Her glissandi spoke of heaven and hell and all that lay between. Such music from such a woman could only be a case of schizophrenia or demonic possession... 'My God--life! Who can understand even one little minute of it?' 'Don't try," he said. 'Just pretend you understand.'"

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle (Chapter 81: A White Bride for the Son of a Pullman Porter)

Spoilers for Solitaire by Alice Oseman and, to a degree, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut ahead.

Not posting this for any particular reason. It's just one of my favorite descriptions of music, like, ever. I was reminded of it because today I changed my Tumblr bio to include another Cat's Cradle quote: "a dazed addict of the xylophone", which is used to describe Mona. I wish I understood Vonnegut better, but maybe, as Michael Holden said, "it's better to read books than to study them." That's probably bull I tell myself to void the hard work of literary analysis, but it's comforting to enjoy a book even knowing you don't really get it. I finished Solitaire by Alice Oseman today. I was worried it'd be pretentious, but it was so amazing. Firstly, Alice Oseman is absolutely incredible at first-person narration. Radio Silence, Loveless, and Solitaire all have such distinct, fleshed-out, human voices. I know Tori and Michael's relationship is at least partially romantic by the end, but I appreciate the detail and care Oseman takes in describing the platonic love that it grows from more than I can explain. She writes friendship like nobody else. Solitaire's repetition of "it's funny because it's true" reminded me of how Vonnegut uses "so it goes" in Slaughterhouse-Five. Maybe it's weird to compare a YA novel to an American classic, but a lot of people compare Solitaire to The Catcher in the Rye, so I think I'm fine. I know she made edits to the novel in 2020, but I still can't believe she wrote it at 18. I'm still working on Distancia de Rescate by Samanta Schweblin and Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, but now I also want to reread The Catcher in the Rye and Cat's Cradle, so maybe I'll do those as well. I've got a plane flight coming up, so I'm glad there's no dearth of reading material!

[deathdiet]

favorite musician?

do you have a celebrity crush? if so, who?

~ favorite book?

*~ do you have a favorite food?

~ roller skating, biking, or hiking?

dream date?

fairs, museums, or concerts?

favorite card game, board game, or other non-electronic game?

do you have pets?

cat person or dog person?

I have literally so many, I don’t even think I can pick one.

Not really, I don’t care that much about celebrities.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (All of the teachers said I’d grow out of my love for it. They were very wrong because I’m very mentally I’ll and it wasn’t just an edgy phase.)

Sushi!

Lmao literally none. Arthritis would keep me from doing any of those. One fall and I’m down for the count for at least a week. Hiking is a maybe, but it’d have to be for a very short amount of time. A pleasant walk would be nice.

Dream date? Uhh I don’t even know really. I’m happy with most things as long as it’s with someone I actually like. But I guess maybe like a lil cafe date and maybe a walk after would be nice.

I love all of them, but I’ve definitely been to more concerts than anything. But I basically refuse to go to a concert that isn’t some sort of “rock” because wtf do you do at shows if you can’t jump around, crowd surf, and maybe get in a couple of pits

I used to play Gin Rummy a lot with my grandpa and I love that. I love most board games but never really had people to play with me. So Solitaire is the most obvious answer.

I have 5 cats that live in my apartment with me.

Cat person. I also like dogs, but I’m legitimately so much like a cat that they tend to just fit me better.

[aurumacadicus]

I was looking at the author of Heartstopper’s amazon page and saw they’d written a book series earlier on and I was like, huh, I wonder what it’s about.

The very first fucking review is a two-star “This book is not for fans of Heartstopper.” and just continued shitting all over this book for not being like Heartstopper.

I’m sorry. Do people just assume that authors write the same thing over and over again? Same story, different dust jacket? This is the stupidest fucking review I’ve ever seen. “I read this because I liked Heartstopper but it was not Heartstopper” literally from the summary on the back of the book can tell you that. The cover says “This is not a love story” so like, even if it is one (I have not read Solitaire and probably will not for quite a while so I’m not going to spoil it for myself), you can already tell it’s not going to be like Heartstopper.

Now, I AM interested in the book because the other reviews, even the lower-star ones, say it’s a better representation for sad teens than Catcher in the Rye (Full transparency: I apparently am one of the few who actually enjoyed that book, don’t come at me) and more representative of how people around you love you but you just can’t see it when you’re depressed. I just don’t think people understand what the review button is for? “I went into this with totally unrealistic expectations and was shocked when they weren’t met.” Like they can’t realize it was their fault that they had those expectations, not the fault of the author for not meeting them.

I don’t know. It put a bad taste in my mouth. It’s part of the reason I write my reviews on here instead of on a book site. At least I know most of the people who follow my reading blog and can have an open dialogue with them. Now I just have to stare at this review, seething impotently, at how strong and wrong they proclaimed this a two-star book simply because it wasn’t like the author’s previous.