I think every sentence in which I've ever used the word _epiphany_ has, in retrospect, proved to be dull, stupid, or both.
In honor of the holiday, such as it is:
America I've given you all and now I'm nothing.
America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956.
I can't stand my own mind.
America when will we end the human war?
Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb.
I don't feel good don't bother me.
I won't write my poem till I'm in my right...
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America I've given you all and now I'm nothing.
America two dollars and twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956.
I can't stand my own mind.
America when will we end the human war?
Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb.
I don't feel good don't bother me.
I won't write my poem till I'm in my right...
Read More
nopantsdave:
Hey, you do still exist!
How's the GRE coming? How mucb longer until we read Tolstoy?
How's the GRE coming? How mucb longer until we read Tolstoy?
My life is a shambles. Again.
I really thought I'd passed through the last of these things, at least for some time.
Anyway, I haven't really been here for weeks, and I imagine it will be more of the same for the foreseeable future.
I really thought I'd passed through the last of these things, at least for some time.
Anyway, I haven't really been here for weeks, and I imagine it will be more of the same for the foreseeable future.
No post in a week, so I should write something. I'm not really any farther along in my reading that I was at my last post. It's been seven days of sickness (first the girl, then me) and other sorts of suck.
That's pretty much it for the moment. Back to the word mines.
That's pretty much it for the moment. Back to the word mines.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
nopantsdave:
Great, now I am going to imagine Tristram as Dudley Do-Right when I get back to Malory. I think you're pretty spot on with the idea, though. There really aren't very many redeeming qualities for Marke.
nopantsdave:
Yo, what are you reading these days?
Finished Malory -- finally. Brief thoughts: on the whole (this was my first reading of the work entire), I was exceedingly enamored of the book, which I had not expected. I thought it was mostly about the Sangreal and the war with Mordred (as those are the excerpts everyone is forced to read in sophomore surveys). These incidents always seemed a little dull to me,...
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nopantsdave:
Which Malory did you read? The book I have is the Complete Works and I'm working my way through all of it. The Sankgreal and Le Morte are both near the end, so it will be awhile before I even get to them. This book is over 700 pages, if you've really made it through all of Malory's works in this short of time.....wow, I'm impressed. It's taking me a long while. Right now I am working on The Book of Sir Tristram de Lyones.
nopantsdave:
My Malory is based on the Winchester manuscript. It does inculde Caxton's preface, though. I have Tristram's Madness and Exile up next, but I am taking a break to read Marmion by Sir Walter Scott. I don't know how you made it through all of Malory in so short of time. After about 40 or 50 pages, I just need to take a break.
The store I went to had a couple of translations of Piers and only abridgements of Richardson's novels, so I held off on those.
By the way....have fun with Spenser. I read Faerie Queene last summer. I'm glad he died. Apparently he was intending it to be over twice as long as it ended up being. I really enjoyed Book 1, but after that it just went downhill for me.
The store I went to had a couple of translations of Piers and only abridgements of Richardson's novels, so I held off on those.
By the way....have fun with Spenser. I read Faerie Queene last summer. I'm glad he died. Apparently he was intending it to be over twice as long as it ended up being. I really enjoyed Book 1, but after that it just went downhill for me.
nopantsdave:
Bleak House and Old Curiousity Shop were the two I was thinking of. Bleak House is that good, eh? I never hear it classed with Oliver Twist, David Copperfield or Tale of Two Cities.
By the way.....what are you planning on concentrating on for Grad school? Are you doing a specific period or style of literature or anything?
As for Piers....I'll have to dig up a sample online or something and see if the language is beyond me. I've read Spenser, Chaucer and Malory (well, working on Malory), but Piers is older than all of those. I suppose with a good dictionary/glossary/footnotes I could get it done.
I look forward to Pilgrim's Progress. I absolutely loved The Scarlet Letter. The heavy-handed morality is entertaining to me. I imagine I'll enjoy Bunyan.
How can you eat Spam and Ramen? And, come on, Reduced Fat peanut butter? If you're going to eat peanut butter, you may as well do it right!
By the way.....what are you planning on concentrating on for Grad school? Are you doing a specific period or style of literature or anything?
As for Piers....I'll have to dig up a sample online or something and see if the language is beyond me. I've read Spenser, Chaucer and Malory (well, working on Malory), but Piers is older than all of those. I suppose with a good dictionary/glossary/footnotes I could get it done.
I look forward to Pilgrim's Progress. I absolutely loved The Scarlet Letter. The heavy-handed morality is entertaining to me. I imagine I'll enjoy Bunyan.
How can you eat Spam and Ramen? And, come on, Reduced Fat peanut butter? If you're going to eat peanut butter, you may as well do it right!
nopantsdave:
For some reason I was thinking Piers was a century or two earlier than that. Any recommendations between the A, B, and C-texts? I was just looking on Amazon and there's a translation from Penguin Classics. There's also a Norton Critical. And I saw editions of each of the different texts. I like the Penguin books, but the Milton I have of theirs has endnotes with no notification within the text that there is an endnote. Norton tends to have too many footnotes for me, distractingly too many. But the scholarly essays that accompany the text are usually pretty good stuff. I'd be tempted to go with one of those. Which version are you reading?
I like Dickens' long works too. Oliver and Copperfield are my favorites so far. I'll have to hit up the used bookstore and see if I can fish out a copy of Bleak House.
I like Dickens' long works too. Oliver and Copperfield are my favorites so far. I'll have to hit up the used bookstore and see if I can fish out a copy of Bleak House.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
nopantsdave:
Let me know about Piers when it's all finished. I may take a crack at it. I need to finish Malory first. I picked up the Riverside Chaucer six months ago and have yet to crack it open. I need to re-read Canterbury and Troilus and Cressida. I'll probably just end up reading all off Chaucer. Maybe after all of that I won't even need the glosses for Piers.
I have a copy of Pilgrim's Progress mocking me from my shelf that I have been meaning to get to also. Have you read that one?
I have a copy of Pilgrim's Progress mocking me from my shelf that I have been meaning to get to also. Have you read that one?
nopantsdave:
This is the Malory I have. Fuckers seem to have put it on sale. I got it for $39.95.....it's going for only $7.99. At that price, you should probably jump on it. I've been pretty happy with it. The glossary isn't very in depth and that's probably my only real complaint.
I really need to write a new entry. Perhaps having this placeholder here will spur me on to write something real in the next couple of days.
A number of difficulties have arisen over the last little while that have made it difficult to carve out the time to write anything substantive. I've only logged onto the site recently to scan people's blogs that amuse...
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A number of difficulties have arisen over the last little while that have made it difficult to carve out the time to write anything substantive. I've only logged onto the site recently to scan people's blogs that amuse...
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Well, I'm back for another brief update.
I had a blast with Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon. They're all telling the exact same story (frequently copying each other, in fact), but it's a lot of fun to pick out each successive author's additions to the Arthurian legend and their shifting points of interest. I was somewhat surprised to find that I enjoyed the phased...
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I had a blast with Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon. They're all telling the exact same story (frequently copying each other, in fact), but it's a lot of fun to pick out each successive author's additions to the Arthurian legend and their shifting points of interest. I was somewhat surprised to find that I enjoyed the phased...
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I dearly, dearly love Beowulf. It's easy to forget just how much in the long intervals that usually elapse between my readings of it. I love it most of all for its digressions (which, if added together, would doubtless prove more substantial than its supposed primary matter). The boasts in the mead hall, the tales of foreshadowing and effective prophecy, the tangled skein of...
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morgan:
I ended up having to put up with reading on the computer, because at work I am not allowed to be obviously reading. If I'm looking at a computer screen, they don't care, but if I'm looking at a real book, I could get fired.
I should check out some Verne after I read through Wells, though I don't know if that's available for free in some kind of computer format. Unfortunately I already read through everything I wanted to read that's free on dailylit.com (mostly I re-read lots and lots of P.G. Wodehouse).
I LOVED Blood Meridian. Basically every McCarthy is my favorite in it's own way, though. He's such a poet.
I should check out some Verne after I read through Wells, though I don't know if that's available for free in some kind of computer format. Unfortunately I already read through everything I wanted to read that's free on dailylit.com (mostly I re-read lots and lots of P.G. Wodehouse).
I LOVED Blood Meridian. Basically every McCarthy is my favorite in it's own way, though. He's such a poet.
morgan:
I like that description of McCarthy.
I'd recommend "Right Ho, Jeeves" as a good first Wodehouse read. All of them are absolutely hilarious.
I'd recommend "Right Ho, Jeeves" as a good first Wodehouse read. All of them are absolutely hilarious.
Well said. Honestly, I'll have to keep that in mind when I'm feeling at my lowest, as a way to remind myself that good can come of this.