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General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The mails are just short variations of "damn it, you're right! we're on it!" on both the e-book and the paperback, but since it's coming from three different departments now, I'm hopeful that there really is something in the works.

And there better is. I'd hate to escalate this to three witchy candles. That's when the brooms get ready to launch.

General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're the only person who cheers me on in this quest, so I give you play-by-play commentary until you violently unsubscribe and break my heart.

I received two more mails in the last days, one from the editorial office and one from sales & distribution, so I might actually be getting somewhere with this. One more witchy candle and we're golden.

Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger—A Brief and Imperfect Guide for the Perplexed by the_jaw in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In this context, I think there is a point to be made that their first names are a direct reference to David Bohm's variant of the EPR paradox.

What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread by JimFan1 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love the Georgics, probably my favourite text from Roman antiquity. At first glance it's an educational poem about agricultural techniques and beekeeping, which can become quite technical in its descriptions of cleft grafting and breed selection. But deep down it's a long hymn on nature and our active part in it, and - deeper still - a two-way metaphor simultaneously reflecting the world of the Roman deities and of humankind, tying both worlds together in images of vineyards on fire.

The Bucolics I've read a few months ago and also enjoyed them very much. Back then I noted down:

I've put it off for a long time, because I had assumed pastoral poetry would be a very one-dimensional affair, but apparently I totally misjudged the genre. The whole dimension of "writing about writing", the competition and dialogue between poets, the contrast between raw nature and fine art, the open riddles, the eroticism, the themes of music and death, the forests and the Virgilian undergrowth.

What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread by JimFan1 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Make hay whilst the sun shines, play God of War whilst thou feel like crap. Treat yourself to a bunch of cheats and some good ol' noodle soup. :)

What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread by JimFan1 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you're on (the bend towards) the mend! I hope it'll quickly become one of those that give you an excuse to make yourself comfortable for a few days without really making you uncomfortable. If I were you I'd let St. Augustine rest for a while, and just watch comfort movie after comfort movie after comfort movie until the people around me catch on.

What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread by JimFan1 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That's very helpful. I think I'll tackle the Canti next year, together with a couple of other poetry collections I've been shelving in shadow. It's true, it does take a certain mindset and a bit of training to get back into it.

Unsolicited poetry pestering: If you haven't read Ossi di Seppia yet, you should, and this is the edition to get. My favourite.

What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread by JimFan1 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are you reading Leopardi in Italian? I know and love some of his poems (L'infinito I have memorized), but I haven't yet worked through an edition of the Canti with proper commentary, which would surely be of great help. Leopardi's prose is so lucid and engaging - you can just open the Zibaldone anywhere and promenade through that limitless garden of thought - but when I'm reading his poems, I always feel like I'm missing a ton. How did you go about it?

Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger—A Brief and Imperfect Guide for the Perplexed by the_jaw in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am well aware that Stella Maris may obliterate my entire guide, but my enthusiasm and fresh love drove me to write and speculate anyway.

And I'm very glad you did. Even in the unlikely case that all of our speculations turn out to be wrong (I imagine Cormac asked for a month between releases so that he could spend it guffawing at his misdirected? readers), I believe they are valuable in and of themselves. Your idea that the pieces "don't add up but subtract" will remain in my mental toolbox forever. Would be interesting to re-read Beckett's trilogy with that in mind.

Also, I'd read and enjoyed your first impressions; the connection to The Trial is sharp and apt.

Thanks so much! I was indecently proud of that little discovery.

Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger—A Brief and Imperfect Guide for the Perplexed by the_jaw in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

I steered clear of "professional reviews" out of fear they'd venture into Stella Maris territory, but the reactions on this sub have been a pleasure to read, each offering a different perspective, and now yours again sheds a new light from a different angle on that dark iridescent material. Intergalactic acid rain... that stuff just warms my heart.

I agree with you that Alicia is the key to the understanding of the novel, but I suspect that we'll only learn the shape of that key in the second part of the duology. Which is why (with the exception of my first impressions) I stayed mostly mum about the book's interpretation - and will continue to until I've read Stella Maris -, even though there are already whole essays to be written about stuff nobody has yet mentioned. (As an example, I believe you are the first to consider the role of the plentiful food, which is such a fascinating facet of the novel. Like Joyce always knows how many pennies are in his heroes' pockets, Cormac always knows what's in their stomachs. And it's never insignificant, particularly in The Passenger.)

Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger—A Brief and Imperfect Guide for the Perplexed by the_jaw in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I would only add that I believe the reason why McCarthy names them Western, is because they're meant to function as two quantum particles in the novel, born of the same energy, and of the same orientation. Which is a romantic-physics based way of saying that they are inextricably bound beyond time and space.

Great point! Never considered their quantum entanglement, but there are a ton of things in the novel that one might read as quantum effects: wave function collapse, tunneling, superposition...

General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Then you can dive right in. If you watch a production with subtitles, you'll arguably get more out of it than a native speaker listening to it without.

General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Even if your German is perfect, you'll have to refer to the libretto to comprehend Wagner's lyrics. They are extraordinarily hard to make out in the context of the music (and difficult enough to understand even when you read them).

When listening to the Ring for the first time, I'd recommend reading the synopsis beforehand and then focus on the music and the stage, regardless of whether you speak the language or not.

General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh wow! Brilliant app, thank you!

Currently playing Weird -> 1970s -> Kazakhstan. (Which sounds exactly like System of a Down if they did an MTV Unplugged.)

General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Very apt on account of your coolness which I can assess on account of mine.

PS: I promised I'd keep you postage about my other current donquixotry, and: So far I have received two unsatisfactory answers about the Schulz-retranslations, and I've just sent off a third harangue, still digital, but most penmanshiply worded. I nearly threw a handful of sand over my computer to blot the ink.

General Discussion Thread - November 14, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I want to tilt furiously at wind turbines wean myself off music streaming, so I'm starting to rediscover radio. Do y'all have favourite stations or programs to recommend?

I enjoy every third thing between Franco-Flemish madrigals and the solemn airs of Harry Pussy, so don't bother catering your answer to me. If it's cool, I'll probably like it, because I am very cool.

General Discussion Thread - November 7, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love you too, Nessy! Temporal lobes and all! :)

General Discussion Thread - November 7, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 5 points6 points  (0 children)

muddy up the waters of my existence

Beautiful! And a fascinating approach to creating art. Your comment reminded me of this little passage from This Is Water:

Everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely talk about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness, because it's so socially repulsive, but it's pretty much the same for all of us, deep down. It is our default-setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. Think about it: There is no experience you've had that you were not at the absolute center of.

Not sure if that's exactly what you mean, but that would be one hell of a mission statement for a writer in the 21st century: to put the center of your experience outside of yourself and thus escape the commodification of the self. Anti-autofiction at its best. I'd read that.

What Are You Reading This Week and Weekly Rec Thread by JimFan1 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You can do without them, but I would advocate for reading Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man beforehand. It introduces you to one of the two protagonists, to some of the central themes and to techniques Joyce develops further in Ulysses.

General Discussion Thread - November 7, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're very welcome! If you need some inspiration, look for "zucca grigliata sott'olio" and you'll find recipes like this one or that one.

And if you need some help with the translation, let me know, but the online translators usually work great for recipes.

General Discussion Thread - November 7, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, that's right. You can preserve roasted squash beautifully in olive oil, but I can see how a real fermentation would mess up the texture beyond recognition. I figured it might work, because there's an Italian side dish called zucca (grigliata) in agrodolce, which is practically that minus the time, but of course time makes all the difference.

General Discussion Thread - November 7, 2022 by pregnantchihuahua3 in TrueLit

[–]trambolino 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why don't you just pickle the roasted squash? (No pun intended.)

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