#i love love talking about literature

[its-tortle]

octoberconstellation asked:

(It’s time for bookish Questions with Julie!) What is your favorite classic book? What is your favorite modern book? What makes a book a classic? What was the first book that made you fall in love with reading? Are you currently reading anything?

hello m'dear!

i really like emma by jane austen!! and if we're going slightly more modern classics, have dandelion wine by ray bradbury and the secret life of bees by sue monk kidd.

have three: the book thief by markus zusak, eleanor oliphant is completley fine by gail honeyman, and extremely loud and incredibly close by jonathan safran foer

i think a classic is a novel that, especially retrospectively, well represents the cultural moment of the time when it was written and is able to relay that to readers even outside of that cultural context. obviously bonus if it's also a critique of the culture and has something novel to say.

i can't point to a single book that made me first fall in love because i grew up with a bookish mom who read to me every night for over a decade and was really raised into it. i lost touch with it for a short while but then we read the secret life of bees in freshman english class and it brought me back to literature. thank you mr felt <3

always! i just finished a book of short stories by heinrich böll in german and am starting a hundred years of solitude by gabriel garcìa màrquez!

[bixels]

I'm not getting into The Giving Tree discourse...

[cryptid-muffin]

literary nerds <3

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from coffin heart? bury me.

[text id: if your teeth do not graze my bones, i do not wish for you to kiss me.]

[usefulquotes7]

I want to talk about what happened without mentioning how much it hurt. There has to be a way. To care for the wounds without reopening them. To name the pain without inviting it back into me. Lora Mathis, If There’s A Way Out I’ll Take It

[labyrinthhofmymind]

the ‘normalise naming your kid after something you love’ trend on tiktok but it’s me naming my kid every single character and relationship and scene in tcoptp, especially the one where remus and sirius try and come out to lily and james, and also every single time remus and regulus have to teach the kids how to play instruments, and also remus calling marlene cherry, and also tomny at the train station with remus and his friends, and also tomny threatening sirius, and also remus and sirius hiding out at remus’ place in the summer, and also james asking remus and sirius what it’s like to kiss a bloke, and also regulus having a crush on james and kissing him, and also their last day of school together, and also remus mooning majority of his classmates, and also every single time remus and sirius kiss, and also all the pranks the marauders come up with at school, and also the time regulus ran away from home and spent time with sirius and remus, and also time remus and sirius went on a holiday together, and also lily telling everyone at school that remus is engaged to some french girl, and also everyone wanting to bang remus cause he is indeed the gryffindor casanova with a slutty waist, and also remus just in general being a chaotic and hilarious mess and and and and and

[thebirdandhersong]

MY DEARS did I tell you I'm presenting a paper at my department's annual conference!!!!!!

[cerise-on-top]

Hank with an Eldritch Horror Reader

Here's another thing I wrote two years back! It was an interesting concept which I really liked, so I actually really enjoyed writing this request!

Hank J Wimbleton was a grunt of many things, but not one to be scared unless he had a good reason to be. There were many things in this world he did not understand, you were one of them. Upon meeting you, his first instinct would have been to either fight or run away - who could blame him, it was all he knew. No matter how many times you reassured him that the very last thing you wanted to do was to harm him, he’d draw his weapon, uncertain of whether or not he should believe your words.

Once you show no resistance towards him whatsoever and simply restrain him using your powers or other methods, that’s when, thrashing around as much as he could, he would start listening. You may or may not have seen a grunt up close, but this was your chance to finally examine one. As you scrutinise him from every possible angle Hank realises that you were simply curious about his being and finally lowers weapon.

Your voice would likely hurt his head and freeze the blood in his veins, so you might have to resort to telepathy or speak through a marionette, if you can find one. Though, once Hank’s interest in you has been piqued, he’d be more than happy to find you one. A lot of people in Nevada seem to be redundant in the first place. Regarding telepathy: You will be able to have a two-way conversation with Hank like that, but, for the most part, he doesn’t think in words. Still, he can do so, if needed.

If you’re on the rather small side, he will make an effort to pick you up, or hold you, and bring you back to base. Depending on whether you can float or not, this might be rather difficult, but he’ll try. If you’re large, however, then he will simply “tell” you to follow him. As an eldritch being you could likely either change your form or scare away anyone in your path in the first place, so he doesn’t particularly worry about anyone being stupid enough to attack you.

Spend time with him, he’ll get used to you more and more and, eventually, grow a bond with you. Proud, he’ll show you to Doc so he can figure out what you are, but do not be fooled. Hank wants to know what you are to some degree too. Once comfortable with you and certain you won’t harm him, he’ll start observing you, touching you to some degree. See how you react, how you feel, how you are.

Despite your conversations being, for the most part, one-sided, Hank will ask you directly what you are and if you’re some form of eldritch deity. Since you’re an amicable creature he can’t exactly wrap his head around, it’s worth a try.

Although he would like to do so to some degree, he won’t take you with him on missions. It’s his way of saying “I care a great deal about you, I don’t want you to die or worse even if you are capable of defending yourself.” If you really insist on aiding him, he will let you, begrudgingly. But beware that he will have your back. In fact, having you around will give him a greater reason to fight and improve his overall performance. Though, it will also be a major stress factor to him if something were to happen to you, so choose wisely.

[littlefankingdom]

Everyone always talks about Bruce's short time in med school, but nobody ever talks about when he went to law school, aka when he tortured all of Gotham U with Brucie Wayne.

Bruce needed to study law, criminology, forensics, psychology, sociology, penology, to improve Gotham, so he enrolled in Gotham U again. However, he was going to play the role of the annoying rich brat, aka introducing Brucie Wayne to the world. HE PAID PEOPLE TO BE HIS FRIENDS. They tried to expel him, he just paid the administration to keep him. But also, he would disguise himself to ask questions to the teachers. And illegally enter the building to go through his professors' belongings to learn more advanced stuffs... You know he showed up "drunk" or "hangover" to class and was loud af about it.

100% Bruce has a degree in law because of his time there, but he bought it (and everyone know he bought it) instead of actually earning it, which he was 100% capable of. (Gotham is corrupted af, he can easily do that)

Yeah, he is the worst thing that ever happened to Gotham U and everyone hates him there. (Yes, worse than criminals. Every college has a couple of graduates that commit crimes later on. How many of them have a rich brat bringing a LAND PHONE, because Bruce was in college before mobile phones existed, so he can loudly gossip on the phone during class, and cannot be expelled because he is the one founding the new library???)

Also, funny to imagine this is when he met Harvey and, for some reason, he was his only real friend. (Maybe they had to work together on a project, and Bruce felt too bad about ruining someone else grade by being a dick, so he did show up to work with Harvey. And even tho he did his best to keep the mask on while not ruining Harvey's grade, he let out how much he actually cares about Gotham and wants to improve it. They bonded over that and now, Harvey is the only one to know that Bruce Wayne isn't a rich brat, but someone who cares about others.)

Btw, him saying that "It wouldn't have done for playboy Bruce Wayne to criticize the entire penology system" means that Bruce disagrees with the penology system in the USA, which is a punitive system, and also the death penalty, as penology modern studies are against it for being immoral and unethical. His education in the subject means that Bruce could actually use researches and works to explain why he is against killing, and I think it would be so funny to have him quoting Rousseau, Voltaire and Montesquieu to Jason.

[okaywhatabouthades]

If they ask me if I ever loved someone

I'll say no.

I once had a crush on someone, even now when I look at him I am reminded of that time and what I felt for him.

I have many friends that I don't talk to anymore, simply because with time we stopped talking. But whenever I think of them I can't help but dwelve on the passage of time and find myself missing what we had.

These feelings are not the same as loving someone and yet they do not fade away, not completely anyway.

I love you and when you love someone your love does not dwindle, if there's one attribute of love that must be the same for everyone, it is that despite being able to, you do not walk out of love. You choose to stay. Day after day, whether they wed someone else, whether they make a family that does not include you or die.

So there is no past tense for love.

I have never loved someone before but I love you.

And I'll never have "loved" you.

My love for you will never be a past tense.

I choose that.

[arabellas]

when bastille said when it feels like the world's gone mad and there's nothing you can do about it and when bastille said when I watch the world burn all I think about is you and when bastille said you make me laugh until I die, can you think of any better way to choke? and when bastille said days like these you wanna get away, close our eyes, pretend we're miles away and when bastille said cross my heart and hope to die, I'll see you with your laughter lines and when bastille said bring me some hope by wandering into my mind, something to hold onto morning, or day, or night and when bastille said those nights when your friends are gone, when you're holding on for someone to leave with and when bastille said when you go home everything looks different and you're scared of being left behind

[whocaresaboutyourlonelysoul]

talking to my grandfather today about and subtly trying to talk about les amis and marius' character in book vs musical without seeming incredibly obsessed with them: impossible edition

[vypridae]

natsuki ~

[rapha-reads]

To those of you wondering (aka no one), I finished both The Vampire Armand and Merrick and I have a lot of thoughts and feels. I'm skipping Blood and Gold for now to go directly to Blackwood Farm (I'll read B&G later), but first I'm going to read something else, just to take a break.

TVA thoughts: man, Armand is messed up. And extremely compelling. But so messed up. As always, the theme of faith crisis, which seriously reaches new heights with these bitchy vampires, is not something I can fully immerse myself in, but it was fascinating to see his numerous metamorphosis. I liked how he bridges Western and Eastern Christianisme, especially through art. Now I'm thinking that if Rolin Jones makes him originally Muslim in the show, that could expand even more the conversation on how faith, and especially Abrahamic faith, has been in conversation for thousands of years and could be such a rich, diverse and spiritual, intellectual and artistic theme. I can already imagine some fascinating discussions comparing (not in a superior way but in a complementary way) coming from Muslim faith to Roman Catholic faith, the way book!Armand talks about the richness of his life in Kiev Rus despite the poverty and ascetism, and the richness of his life in Venecia despite the luxury and abundance.

As for Benamin and Sybille... I don't have much thoughts about them. Sybille is one of those female characters AR seemingly favors, not so much human as a nymph or a dryad, "perfectly splendid". And Benji is a caricature of an Arab child. Nuance? 401 not found.

Merrick thoughts: David for the love if everything, shut. The. Fuck. Up. Holy moly. I like David, I do, but damn the entire recollection of his history with Merrick was looooooong. I'm here to see Louis haunted by Claudia and haunting Lestat's coma, not how hard you're pining for the kid you practically raised! Also. ALSO. You're just going to leave that whole thing with the Olmec or possibly another more ancient Mesoamerican civilisation without ever giving us more? That was the most interesting part of it all! The vodoo history, the connection between Louisiana and Caribbean vodoo and old Native South-American religions! More about this, less about Merrick's perfect breasts, I am begging you. (It is at this point that the reader of this post realises OP is 100% definitely ace and more interested in books and witchcraft than breasts and whether a 70yo man can still get it up - also, hey, Anne Rice's vampires are practically asexual and their lust and pleasure is mostly derivated from blood, with some notable exceptions like Armand and Marius, and a love relationship between two vampires is then based on romantic love and blood sharing, so can I hear a hell yeah for some ace representation or are we still conflating eroticism with sex)

Another thing I kept thinking about throughout the book is how Louis is perceived by his fellow vampires. Since basically the second book, since we've lost his own POV, everybody who's ever said anything about him (so Lestat, Armand and David) have insisted on two points: how very weak and meek Louis is, and also how irresistible, beautiful and charming. Granted, I've known Louis first through his portrayal on the show (hi Jacob you're so fiiiiiiine), and then through his own narration in the first book, but I've never had the impression that he was weak. Beautiful and seductive, yes. Weak? I see a human man going through tragedies and still enduring, going through vampiric transformation and then suffering for decades the loss of his humanity, struggling with reconciliating both sides of himself, but mostly I see a vampire who rebuilt himself after losing everything without sacrificing his sense of self. I see Louis as very strong actually (up to the point where resilience breaks, because resilience cannot be sustained on a long term, but that's another debate). He knows who he is, and don't you know how hard that is? He doesn't cling to faith or pride. He knows he's doomed, he knows he's monstrous, he knows there's nothing he can do to change that, and instead of railing against his fate, he goes on about his undead life. He gets his books and he reads them, he surrounds himself with literature and what little comforts he thinks in his shattered self-esteem he deserves (his ragged sweaters and soft trousers); let's not lie to ourselves tho, Louis doesn't like himself, or more exactly he doesn't care about his corporeal body - what matters to him is his mind, and once again, this author is extremely ace and also very aro and very nonbinary, so Louis to me is very much ace and agender coded, though really not aro, because his love for Lestat (and sometimes his fondness, shall we say, for Armand) is the only thing that can rouse him up from his literary slumber.

...

Oh, man, I have a lot to say about Louis, for how little he appears in the books so far. Still have BF, BC and the PL trilogy to devour. So I guess you can say, for as much as Lestat is occupying my entire brain, very much like him, my favorite is Louis? Yeah, that tracks. Melancholy, quiet, dark-haired green-eyed monster with more humanity than humans, preferring his solitude and the company of books to anyone else, hopelessly and helplessly devoted to one person, expert in brooding and grieving, literature specialist, not very attached to his physical self. Yeah. I'm not surprised.

[spite-of-the-grifter]

This podcast has been sad and all but the first time I actually teared up was 26: the Bedrock because holy shit the writing of this episode is absolutely perfect. Just, in every single aspect.

-Arthur's loss of humanity showing through the development with Yellow, and how because he was so unsympathetic and cold, that's why yellow was so stubborn and heartless. He can't see it, but his loss of humanity throughout the series bled into John and is starkly contrasted from the beginning of the series when he had more empathy, something that is GLOWINGLY obvious when John returns and highlighted with Faust.

-His miscommunication with John about the real reason he wanted to kill Larson. That if he'd just told him about the sacrifice at first, they wouldn't have been fighting the whole time and John wouldn't have had to play moral compass. He could've reassured him before everything went down and maybe even convinced him to help those people when they were still in the mines.

-Arthur's monologue about Peter. Up until now, we barely knew anything about him, aside from the fact that he was his best friend. The revelation that he came into Arthur's life after Faroe's death somehow makes their friendship that more impactful. Sure, John killed him, he acknowledges and is remorseful for it, but he has also BECOME him. John didn't push him for answers about his past, just like Peter didn't! When Peter came along, he was at a VERY vulnerable place in life and from experience, prying that sorta personal thing from someone only makes them reluctant and resent you for it. Instead, he subtly manipulated Arthur into telling him. Now, John did sorta the same thing, but instead of manipulating it out of him - even though he's this all-powerful being that ABSOLUTELY could have - he waited. He waited until Arthur trusted him enough with that part of him. John has become a reflection of Peter. But Arthur can't stand that because he still, in a way, deeply resents John for his death and he can't stand the thought of someone who took that from him changing to be better. And who can even blame him for that?! He is absolutely justified in his perspective, but that doesn't change the fact that he cared for John as a friend - so much so he KILLED himself just to save him.

-the scene with Uncle where he was literally just sitting there with Faroe's music box. Uncle - as far as I've interpreted - isn't conscious about what Larson's doing. It's naive. It's curious. It's just as innocent as Addison was when Larson was using her. It's just as innocent as Faroe and using the music box to trigger that feeling of guilt and anger with Arthur is so. damn. haunting.

-just the parallels of everything that happened with Yellow is repeated with John, but instead of the bickering reflected in season one, it's just John being concerned about Arthur while he goes mad and blind with rage trying to kill this guy. And also maybe himself. ESPECIALLY on the ledge.

-"I've come so far.." when contextualized with Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, something that's already been thematically important in past arcs.

-The voice acting while he killed Larson ALONE was just so incredible. Let alone his self reflection and guilt over Faroe's death that he projected onto Larson as he kills him. Fully believing he deserves the same.

-This series is so good with exposition. The way he was so vague with John about it - only showing subtle hints through his dialogue until the very last second when all has been said and done and his emotions have come to a head.

-The way he genuinely sees himself - someone flawed who made an honest, tragic mistake - in Larson - someone who made the conscious decision to sacrifice his own daughter - and believes he deserves the same date as him. His guilt that flows into Larson's death like the blood that spills from his eye sockets onto his hands.

-How could they have won when we're not even finished? When we're not yet done fighting? AND THEN THE POEM. THE POEM. PROMISES. THEIR JOURNEY. THEIR PROMISES AND FRIENDSHIP AND THEIR RESPECTIVE JOURNEYS TOWARD HUMANITY/SELF FORGIVENESS.

-It's not a CLEAN slate.

-"We can't escape these things we've done."

"I'd rather greet a new day like an OLD FRIEND. With fondness and appreciation. My friend." I WILL DIE.

-Just the joy of him eating. The joy. The joy of eating with John. Fantasizing about dancing and dinner and drinking. He's slowly starting to forgive himself and let himself deserve the simple joys and he wants to enjoy them with John. With his friend.

"Sounds like we have plans, let's make sure we keep them" He has promises to keep!!

This podcast is amazing and this episode was the PINNACLE of the emotions that led up to it. I love it so much.

[dootznbootz]

To ME, The Iliad and The Odyssey are about the different reactions to trauma and "hate".

The Iliad is about how a man gets destroyed by hatred. Achilles is "destroyed" metaphorically because his hatred and grief caused him to lose his "humanity". Hector is killed by a man filled with so much hatred (Achilles). Both men are "gone".

The Odyssey, being what happens directly after, is about how a man can come BACK from such hatred. Menelaus and Nestor, while still in pain from the war (the time, friends, and family they lost), are still able to move forward and live normal lives. We watch this happen in real time through Odysseus.

Odysseus' name means to hate and be hated, something he's been probably doing since he left Ithaca to a degree. You could even see the slaughter of the suitors as being the "final fight" he has to go through before the "healing". He gains back his humanity, kingdom, and identity by loving and being loved. (Niko's post about Odysseus and his identity. It delves further into all that well!)

Some people are lost to war and some people CAN come back from it. While the ancients (of every culture as well!) didn't have the semi-universal term PTSD yet, they knew damn well people who have experienced trauma tend to be "different" afterward and had their own stories and even some "remedies"

Other ancient works, such as those by Hippocrates, describe soldiers who experienced frightening battle dreams. (Source, whole article gives more info on ancient PTSD too!)

Celsus, a Roman doctor described a condition named Insania sine fibre.

In Ancient Mesopotamia, “They described hearing and seeing ghosts talking to them, who would be the ghosts of people they’d killed in battle – and that’s exactly the experience of modern-day soldiers who’ve been involved in close hand-to-hand combat.” (Source)

This is my own interpretation, but in a way, I think the Epic Cycle is...showcasing that. The Iliad shows how trauma can "end" a person. And The Odyssey is kind of a way to give some hope to folks in a "Hey, you CAN get better. You CAN have your life back."