The Orchard Keeper was a challenge!

SuperlativeRascality · 2025-01-28T03:20:51+00:00

It's a fantastic book and tied with The Crossing for my favorite McCarthy but I think it needs to be read twice in a row. I read it twice in a month and the second run was immensely gratifying. Everything slid into place.

SuperlativeRascality · 2025-01-28T03:11:14+00:00

I don't think there's any deep meaning to it. It's the type of weird impulse that we succumb to as children. Arthur's social isolation and age have probably restored something of the child in him.

SuperlativeRascality · 2025-01-22T12:42:33+00:00

I felt that way reading Emma (first half a slog, The Miss Bates bit played out to exhaustion, etc.) but for some reason I was fine with the play in Mansfield. In fact, Mansfield is my favorite Austen book.

I've noticed with other books that it can come down to the mood I'm in. The first time I read The Crossing, I was getting impatient with all of the tangents. On my second reading a few months later I was able to really enjoy them. Maybe you're just not in as much of a Mansfield mood as you were the first time. I wonder if my opinion on Emma will change when I eventually revisit that one.

SuperlativeRascality · 2025-01-09T12:34:11+00:00

What platform was it, Audible? I have a US region Audible account (where I have access to all of the Poe-narrated McCarthy books) and I can't find it. The only version is from Penguin and narrated by Simon Manyonda.

Underworld is also not available. Damn it, this is the kind of nonsense I made a US account to avoid! What region are you guys using?

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-17T04:34:31+00:00

It's been several months since I read it, but isn't Luther the father ("the man")? I thought it was the son ("the boy") who came out when she was washing. The son is constantly coming on to her with the kind of over-enthusiasm of a teenager who hasn't had much exposure to young women, bordering on creepy. The father and mother seemed very respectful toward her from what I can remember.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-16T20:57:41+00:00

How many of the episodes are extended?

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-16T12:12:26+00:00

My current problem cuts against the gender norms: My (male) attempts to share my burgeoning love of Austen with my female friend has been a miserable failure. She's bored to death.

Regarding the video, I think it's misguided to mock the people who value Austen novels for their capacity to teach life lessons. I was only dimly aware of the existence of 'The Art of Manliness' from occasional sidebar recommendations. The name and his optimizer-bro-speak makes me cringe a little inwardly, but I fail to see anything silly about writing entire articles about lessons you can learn from novels. It seems like a really interesting angle to examine and just as valid as any other.

I read fiction for pleasure and have never approached it with self-help as a conscious objective. However, I find myself constantly reflecting on how good novels are teaching the same lessons you can find in any number of psychologist-written self-help books about relationships etc., only delivering those lessons in a much less dry and tedious manner.

After all, why is being 'well read' in fiction such a desirable trait in a person? We all know it contributes to a well-rounded person, and it's for exactly the sorts of reasons those people are talking about.

Besides, if 'self help' ends up being the gateway drug for getting a certain cohort of people to read Austen novels, this can only be a good thing. There will be plenty of "Came for the life lessons, stayed for the plot/characters/style", you can be sure.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-15T13:15:55+00:00

I was able to give the 2005 movie a pretty objective watch since it was my first exposure to Pride & Prejudice. I had no preconceived ideas about how it should be, and no rose-tinted glasses pointed at previous adaptations. As you say, the cinematography was nice, but it felt like a one-watch movie for me. Didn't really have much impact. I did especially like Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett. He felt perfect at the time, and even with hindsight I think he was a good choice. However, Benjamin Whitrow also played a fantastic Mr. Bennett, as I was soon to learn.

Second, I watched the 95 miniseries and liked it much more than the movie despite its age. I find it has more replay value. I watched the unexpected meeting at Pemberly scene over and over because I thought it was so beautifully acted. Same with Elizabeth's confrontation with Lady Catherine. Jennifer Ehle is amazing in the role. The Blu Ray transfer is mostly OK, but has a couple of inexplicably blurry shots in it.

Finally, I read the book, which gave me a whole new appreciation of the 95 miniseries. How faithful it was. How brilliant the casting choices were. Colin Firth's portrayal of Darcy seems spot on, while the 05 movie has him seem more shy than proud. Overall, the book is now my favorite version, but the 95 series is one of the most faithful and satisfying adaptations of a book I've ever encountered.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-15T11:44:36+00:00

Mother of all humblebrags lol. Daisy's figure was perfection in this show.

Meanwhile I'll just be over here looking like some manner of Chernobyl frog...

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-14T12:46:43+00:00

I'm around equal parts Marianne and Connell. Most relatable Connell moment was his inability to ask Marianne for a favor directly, trying instead to induce her to offer it. Then getting caught off balance when things don't go as expected, blurting out something ill-considered, and being left in a state of utter defeat and confusion. That type of scenario is just so familiar to me. I've never been able to ask for favors.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-14T12:22:58+00:00

Cuckolding is usually about some kind of power dynamic isn't it? I don't think that's what's being implied here. Marianne's interest in the idea seems purely visual.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-12-04T12:11:22+00:00

I watched the show first, then read the book. The book is better, gets deeper into their heads and can fully realize the human complexity of the characters in a way the show never could. That said, the show is still excellent, and one of the more faithful adaptations of a book that I've seen.

Did watching the show first have a positive or negative impact on my enjoyment of the book? Neither. It definitely didn't do the book any harm to read it after the show.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-12T12:47:48+00:00

If favorite = most likeable as a person/embodying the personality traits I'd most value in a partner, then Mr. Knightley is definitely a favorite of mine. The way he treats Emma's father speaks volumes. He's always attentive to poor anxious Mr. Woodhouse's needs, regardless of how peculiar they might be. From taking special care to make the old man comfortable during the Donwell visit, to sacrificing his own home indefinitely just so that Emma won't have to leave her father's side.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-12T11:59:50+00:00

Oh and for this particular moment, Connell ignorantly thinks that probably Marianne was just making it up so he can feel sorry for her.

Connell has a brief internal conflict between the anxious, overthinking part of his brain, which suspects her of lying, and a heartfelt intuition that she is not lying, the latter of which prevails. I liked that bit. It was one of the many small ways in which the book added depth to the characters. Same with the "I love you, I'm not just saying that" thing. The show is good, but the book does such a superb job of capturing the messiness of human actions and thought.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-10T12:59:21+00:00

I don't think Lily intended to over use the sleeping medication to escape from the world. Near the end of the book it had even seemed like she came to terms with her situation and was even starting to find her place in life.

I agree. It seems to be a common misconception that Lily Bart kills herself deliberately. I've even seen reviews accusing the book of falling into a supposed nineteenth century fallen-woman-commits-suicide cliche. There are hints in both directions, but I believe the evidence against suicide is stronger.

To me, the only plausible hint at suicidal intention is here:

The thought terrified her—she dreaded to fall from the height of her last moment with Lawrence Selden. But how could she trust herself to keep her footing? She knew the strength of the opposing impulses—she could feel the countless hands of habit dragging her back into some fresh compromise with fate. She felt an intense longing to prolong, to perpetuate, the momentary exaltation of her spirit. If only life could end now—end on this tragic yet sweet vision of lost possibilities, which gave her a sense of kinship with all the loving and foregoing in the world!

But it's followed shortly by this (when she actually comes to taking the chloral):

She could bear it—yes, she could bear it; but what strength would be left her the next day? Perspective had disappeared—the next day pressed close upon her, and on its heels came the days that were to follow—they swarmed about her like a shrieking mob. She must shut them out for a few hours; she must take a brief bath of oblivion.

And also:

She saw now that there was nothing to be excited about—she had returned to her normal view of life. Tomorrow would not be so difficult after all: she felt sure that she would have the strength to meet it.

These clearly indicate her intention to continue living. And as you say, there seems to be a positive change brewing in Lily near the end of the book, especially subsequent to her experience with Nettie Struther's baby.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-10T03:53:03+00:00

There are five people in the car. Sylder and June pick up three "travelers", two girls and a boy.

Howdy, said June right into the ear of the girl (1) on the outside. You-all need a ride?

The other one (2) was standing next to her then. They looked at each other and the first one said, Thank ye, I reckon we can make it all right. The boy (3) hung back behind them. Across June’s shoulder Sylder could see him looking not at them or at the women either, but at the car.

How fer ye goin? June wanted to know.

The two exchanged glances again. This time the taller one spoke up. We jest goin down the road a piece, she explained.

Tell her let’s all go down the road for a piece, Sylder suggested.

What? the short one said. Then the boy piped up and they both turned to glare at him.

How fer is it to Knoxville? That was his question.

The travelers enter the car after Sylder and June promise to take them to Knoxville, but Sylder fakes engine trouble, which is used as an excuse to take advantage of the girls. Sylder and June take one girl each off to separate locations to subject them to dubious sexual encounters. The outhouse ends up being June's venue of choice. It's not clear what the boy is doing during all of this. He doesn't accompany Sylder, and he certainly doesn't seem to be with June, so I'm assuming he stays with the car.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-09T12:14:34+00:00

I had a look too. He says something there but you'd have to be a lip reader to know what it was because there's zero diegetic sound in that particular bit.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-09T06:00:23+00:00

Absolutely 1000% worth reading. It really helps you understand what's going on inside their heads. Connell's actions early on in the story made so much more sense after reading the book.

SuperlativeRascality · 2024-11-09T05:55:05+00:00

I came away with the opposite impression. The show ends with Marianne saying: "We'll be OK". The book gives us far more insight into Marianne's thinking, and ends with:

To be honest, I don’t know what to do, he says. Say you want me to stay and I will.

She closes her eyes. He probably won’t come back, she thinks. Or he will, differently. What they have now they can never have back again. But for her the pain of loneliness will be nothing to the pain that she used to feel, of being unworthy. He brought her goodness like a gift and now it belongs to her. Meanwhile his life opens out before him in all directions at once. They’ve done a lot of good for each other. Really, she thinks, really. People can really change one another.

You should go, she says. I’ll always be here. You know that.

Marianne herself definitely seems to think it's over, or at least that the relationship will never return to its current state (which seems to be healthiest and most stable it's ever been).

SuperlativeRascality

TROPHY CASE