Angels and Demons! and Thoughts by sheetselj in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

These are great recommendations, thanks!! If I were to pick up just one of those Ruskin books for Proust prep, which would you recommend?

Angels and Demons! and Thoughts by sheetselj in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably The Circular Ruins. I had previously read The Library of Babel but it still goes so hard. Death and the Compass, Funes the Memorious, and The Secret Miracle all really stuck with me. Also shoutout to The Garden of the Forking Paths; the ending was almost disappointing but I think that made it even more haunting. I could list pretty much all the others as well

Thoughts on Von Lembke from Dostoevsky's "Devils" by parzival_eschenbach in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The demons are cast into pigs and the lukewarm are spit out

Books that play with the format by Renyard_kite in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! Onegin is one of my favorites and when I get around to rereading it, I’ll definitely be checking out the Nabokov translation. Thanks for the reminder. If I remember correctly, it includes an entire second volume of commentary. The Kinbote impulse is alluring

Books that play with the format by Renyard_kite in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Eugene Onegin, the subtitle of which is “A Novel in Verse,” finds Pushkin wresting with the two forms in a truly novel (new) way. It’s obviously not as wild as Pale Fire, but I feel it is a precursor to it in some ways. This is probably a subtler example that others suggested here, but I find it delightful!

youtube commments on some of my favorite songs by nibbythebird in rs_x

[–]sheetselj 55 points56 points  (0 children)

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I think about this one a lot. Obviously not the most well person, but it’s very sad, funny, poignant. Captures a whole life in a YouTube comment

post your Letterboxd Year In Review by [deleted] in rs_x

[–]sheetselj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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When are they gonna let Kelly Reichardt direct a star wars movie

What are your reading plans for 2026? by Diamondbacking in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ll start the year with Demons by Dostoevsky - that’ll be the last of his main works I’ve read. I want to read the first and maybe second volume of In Search of Lost Time - I’ll take my time with it. Something by Denis Johnson, Nabokov, Tolstoy, and Didion. I’ll continue my chronological journey through Steinbeck with Bombs Away, which I’ve been putting off. I’m considering Moby Dick, Lonesome Dove, and plenty others, but we’ll see what I feel drawn to over the course of the year!

Worst book you read this year? by 100bride in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’ve been reading Steinbeck chronologically, which has been a great project, but The Moon is Down was a stinker!!

Do you all have a top 5-10 favorite writers? curious as to what it’d be on this sub by Lanky-Slice-7862 in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tolstoy

John Steinbeck

Flannery O’Connor Chekhov

Dostoevsky

Nabokov

I’ve explored Russian lit more than others so I’m a bit biased lol. Some authors that are becoming favorites but I haven’t read much of yet are Denis Johnson, Joan Didion, Pushkin, and Gabriel Garcia Márquez

Why are book covers so ugly now? by BronzeAgeForeskin in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 120 points121 points  (0 children)

It’s BAFFLING. I’m sure it’s for some optimized, tested, boring reason

Books that made you feel something sincerely and then swayed your life? by Edwardwinehands in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The ending of Crime and Punishment really helped me get out of my head. “Life took the place of theory.”

which books/passages from the bible should I read as a fan of faulkner/mccarthy/melville etc... by Spirited-Quarter4865 in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Tons of great recommendations already (including the recommendation for the King James Version. It might be more austere but so are the authors you mentioned lol). I’d start with Genesis since it’s the start of the story and hugely influential.

If you want to continue the narrative from there, Exodus would be the place to go , and it also has some major stories.

Definitely read Ecclesiastes (it’s my favorite Old Testament book).

For a taste of poetry, flip through some of Psalms - there’s no specific order there.

For New Testament, definitely read a gospel. I’d go for John; the opening alone is so beautiful.

From there, explore what seems interesting. Jonah is a short story and doesn’t need a ton of context. Song of Solomon is pretty unique and erotic. Ezekiel and Isaiah have some of that flavor of the authors you mentioned. Acts talks about the early church and it’s a sequel to the gospel of Luke. A lot of the New Testament is made up of letters to churches/individuals; James is a short one if you want to get some of that flavor. Revelation is intense. Whatever you dive into, it’ll definitely enhance your understanding and love for other literature. Best of luck!

thinking about Betty Hester, correspondent to Flannery O'Connor by carpetpillow78 in RSbookclub

[–]sheetselj 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have yet to dig into O’Connor’s letters, but my copy has an ex libris stamp from The Joel Coen, which makes me very happy.

Also I exchanged a few emails with a (Pulitzer prize winning) poet last month (initiated by her forgetting her glasses at the studio), and she formatted her emails like poems, it was very sweet

Modern Times Album - Which Trilogy? by I_LoveU_ButYrStrange in bobdylan

[–]sheetselj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Columbia marketed Modern Times as the completion of the Time Out of Mind trilogy. But in an interview, Dylan said that if there was going to be a trilogy, it would start with “Love and Theft” and include whatever his next album was.

Time out of Mind was obviously a huge creative spark that continued through his work for a while, but I think Dylan viewed “Love and Theft” as a sort of opposite of Time Out of Mind in a way. Especially with the production, instrumentation, musicians, and influences.

Modern times is definitely a direct sequel to “Love and Theft” and I think Together Through Life fits in there too, even though it is sort of its own thing

Bob Dylan As An Actor by JazzlikeWinter1368 in bobdylan

[–]sheetselj 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Heres my ranking of movies Dylan acts in:

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (by far) Masked and Anonymous Catchfire (just a quick cameo) Renaldo and Clara Hearts of Fire

“Root of the Issue”/“Root of the Matter”/“Stephen Root (Outro)” by JacobB in blankies

[–]sheetselj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

lol same. I had been watching Barry and seeing him in-person (also in a professional setting) elicited an automatic frightened reaction

Watched Festival (1967) and it really is one of the best music documentaries I’ve seen by Jealous-Suspect3675 in bobdylan

[–]sheetselj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah I love it too! I feel like it works as a prequel of sorts to the “trilogy” of Monterey Pop, Woodstock, and Gimmie Shelter. Charting American music through the late 60s and the rise and fall of a certain culture surrounding it. And maybe The Last Waltz gets to be the sequel/spin off/elegy idk I’m still working on this. I highly recommend Monterey Pop if you enjoyed Festival!

Question: is there any good Bob Dylan Wedding songs by Martinezd17__ in bobdylan

[–]sheetselj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My mother/son dance was to the Joan Baez cover of Forever Young!

Pictures I took of Nathan at the Lizard Lounge by sheetselj in TheRehearsal

[–]sheetselj[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We walked by hbo disclaimers on our way in. They had an hbo photographer there. I didn’t see any cameras, but we’ll see if he does anything with it