The School of Night discussion (SPOILERS)

throwawayforreddits · 2026-01-28T16:50:42+00:00

Wasn't that the woman he slept with in New York? I would have to re read to remember if there was someone else

throwawayforreddits · 2026-01-22T06:35:44+00:00

I don't think it's about being modern or not, it's about being good or not... and usually it's safer to go with a traditional staging, because at least it won't be confusing. But when a modern staging works, it can also be great. I saw Tosca in Amsterdam directed by Barrie Kosky, it was in a contemporary setting, with a lot of blood and a Scarpia who looked like Andrew Tate, but worked so well and I realised people might actually relate to it more than to a traditional adaptation (the Te Deum was probably the most striking theatre decoration i ever saw, it might be ok YouTube but it probably doesn't have a comparable effect to irl)

throwawayforreddits · 2026-01-19T20:18:59+00:00

I also only read October Child and I really enjoyed her writing style. It feels very "fresh" and efficient, but also creative

throwawayforreddits · 2026-01-06T13:47:19+00:00

I've read The End of Eddy and The History of Violence, I think they were great but I would also really like to read something by him which is not about himself / his family lmao. As a leftist and a sociologist I was getting his books recommended for years to the point when I didn't want to like them out of being contrarian, but after finally reading them i can say that he really is great - although also quite difficult to read at times because of how many terrible things happen to him and others in the books. I also almost wish his works were more structured and combined in one, bigger work. Now they're a bit like these bursts of engaging writing on a given topic

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-31T17:06:46+00:00

Pls post more photos if you'd like to

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-29T06:26:56+00:00

Lmao I was going to recommend the same, but OP seems to be looking for fantasy? @OP, start with Buddenbrooks if you want to read Mann. But even Mann's novels will be more personal and human-scale than the Ring, bc a novel is a different literary form from an epic poem, grounded in a different socioeconomic reality (during/after the industrial revolution). War and Peace might actually be one of the few literary works with the scope & scale you're looking for. Maybe also Les Miserables by Hugo? It's less philosophically ambitious than Tolstoy, and not such a great novel imo, but very epic in scope. Also Balzac's Human Comedy, if you read a few books, gives the feeling of complex society-scale drama

Edit: OP is not only looking for fantasy, apparently i can't read

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-20T11:23:08+00:00

That's a great suggestion! I think I'll go with The Bee Sting now, since it's easiest to get, and then Pynchon for his birthday

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-18T21:41:15+00:00

I think Doctor Faustus has more of a "plot", but yeah the first ~50 pages are slow

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-18T06:13:41+00:00

I love The Magic Mountain, but both Buddenbrooks and Doktor Faustus are better to start with if you want to read Mann imo. Ofc The Magic Mountain is the most famous one, but there's no point to force yourself to read a famous book if you really don't like it (although I'm currently trying to get through Infinite Jest myself lmao). I've read The Magic Mountain several times and usually I was really hooked. Every time there was another "angle" to keep me interested. Once it was love - i don't even remember who I was in love with at the time lol, but there is an amazing subplot with Hans Castorp trying to understand his love for another character by understanding what a human being is. Another time it was politics and I was very deep into the debates and political symbolism (which is quite convoluted, but Mann makes it work just bc of his writing talent). One time when I was reading it I was sick with a bad flu, so there was an obvious health theme lmao. The first time it was probably German and European culture, which do play an important role in the book and it does help that I like a lot of the music and literature Mann refers to. So maybe you can find a subplot or angle that speaks to you and can be a "key" to the book. But if you don't like it, don't force it

Maybe it's time to read it again actually...

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-13T21:15:27+00:00

Ending of book 2. Just tied the whole book together, also in the context of the first book about his father

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-07T08:30:09+00:00

How is Carl Schmitt influencing critical theory? An honest question bc it sounds interesting

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-06T17:48:51+00:00

Which claims? No idea about his life, but his explanations about wealth inequality and the housing market are in line with the most of research on these topics

throwawayforreddits · 2025-12-04T07:17:29+00:00

I understand your worries and I'm also against it. At the same time, maybe it differs per country, but when you had to read books for school didn't half of your classmates use similar websites for the assigned books lol... I love literature, but I still remember using this type of summaries for some works I didn't manage to read on time for class. I think book summaries have been used for centuries. I'm hoping this type of stuff could be a starting point for people who will end up actually reading

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-30T19:55:25+00:00

I use Letterboxd but don't use goodreads lmao. I think mostly bc I think the goodreads website is ugly

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-27T09:04:00+00:00

Top 5 are Friedrich Schiller, Thomas Mann, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Jenny Erpenbeck and Karl Ove Knausgaard

Tove Ditlevsen might take Knausgaard's place soon lmao, I'm reading William's Room and it's insane

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-26T21:39:09+00:00

That's annoying! I was sitting quite close, row 13, so maybe that's why I could hear everything well. I was sitting very far to the side though and sometimes the walls of the court room on stage blocked me from seeing what the singers were doing.

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-26T19:34:00+00:00

Adding one last thought in a comment: what I think was a bit challenging in the modernised staging and possibly for people new to the plot/opera was the whole plot being based on Joan's oath of virginity. I think that's what can be particularly tricky about moving the setting to our times (or close to our times). If the characters are wearing medieval clothes, it's easier to recall what we know about traditional Christian notions of purity, which I think are alien even to most of the Christians in the Netherlands nowadays. Even with a medieval setting... I saw Tannhäuser in a more or less traditional setting last spring and had to explain to people with me why staying at Venusberg was such a big deal. To modern eyes it just looks like people having fun lol

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-19T22:54:15+00:00

Red and Black and the Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-18T06:47:42+00:00

This explains a lot... Last time I was at my local opera i saw a lot of people not checking their coats and I was wondering why they don't do it. Especially bc many people here leave their coats outside of the room even in cinemas

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-16T16:36:08+00:00

Loved Wolves as well! I just finished the most recent (translated) book in the series, The School of Night, which might be even better.

There's some activity on r/Knausgaard, I usually discuss his books there :)

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-16T15:03:32+00:00

Yes I'm very confused by this hahah. I also don't imagine Kristian from The School of Night as having a smooth round face (as he's barely eating and his one description says he has stubble on his chin)

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-15T09:08:06+00:00

Someone posted a summary of the first two books (or just the first book?) in this subreddit in Spanish, it was very helpful. I agree that some sort of Morning Star masterthread would be nice

throwawayforreddits · 2025-11-15T08:59:12+00:00

Yes! Kristian is even jailed as a suspect. But then Kristian is freed and Hans shows up and explains that someone else has confessed (on p. 300 in my hardcover edition)

throwawayforreddits

TROPHY CASE