Western Lit Survival Kit: An Irreverent Guide to the Classics, from Homer to Faulkner | 
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Took me a while with this one, but it was a lot of fun for literary nonfiction. Easily read in short chunks between other reads.
Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2487268427
(Been busy with the fam this week, but gonna try to catch up a bit during the readathon. Bear with me.)
"Nowadays we would say that Ezra Pound has a personality disorder, which is what modern clinicians have come up with to avoid saying the patient's an asshole."
"Pound obviously missed his historical moment. If he had lived long enough, he could have become a crippling embarrassment to the Tea Party Movement."
?I'm guessing he would have also voted for trump and donated to the wall Gofundme.
"[Kafka] was one of many writers who asked to have his works burned, specifically directing his friend Max Brod to do so. Instead, Brod published them all. Really makes you wonder if we've lost a score of masterpieces because their authors had friends who believed in keeping a promise."
"Nothing sets the pulses racing like an ellipsis ... then an exclamation point!"
"But, as the twentieth century begins, people start intentionally writing books you need a computer chip in your brain to understand, then patting themselves on the back when no one gets it. "
"You probably know the plot of A Christmas Carol. If you don't, you are a priceless resource and should not be tampered with."
Bah Humbug
"Browning's most cited poem is 'Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,' a favorite not only of modernist poets, but also of fantasy and science fiction writers; it's inspired work by both Stephen King and Neil Gaiman."
This, I did not know. I mean, I haven't read either author (yet), but I think I can guess which of their works this refers to. I just didn't know this poem was their inspiration. Fascinating.
"On the whole, Tennyson decides: 'It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have at all.' Yes, that line was about friendship. It really isn't better to have loved and lost romantically, in case you hadn't noticed."
"Oh and 'Goethe' is pronounced by groaning like a mummy then making a sound like spitting out gum."
Han Solo gets very snuggly when the weather gets cold. #dogsoflitsy
Plugging away on this book, which I previously had set aside, but I'm going to try to finish before the new year.
Wanted to start my final book for #readharder, but it is conveniently no longer available on Overdrive. So it's back to my placeholder read while I wait for one of my holds to come in. (I also have Becoming on hold.) I have a lot of stuff to get done this weekend, so while contemplating staying up really late to get a jump on stuff, I'm gonna read a little.
Sounds familiar.
If there's a line at the polls, take a book to read while you wait. I suggest this one.
#vote #bluewave #redscare #SaveTheUSA #RealPatriots 💙🇱🇷💙🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊💙🇱🇷💙
"Most writers say that the novel originated in the medieval romance, gradually evolving into its current form over centuries, flourishing for a time, then petering out with Jonathan Franzen.
Unfortunately for this theory, there were novels in ancient Rome."
"Ovid is the rarest of gems: an ancient author whose jokes are funny."
"Pastoral poetry, as exemplified by Virgil's Eclogues, takes place in a world in which shepherds sing songs about their loves, the gods of the wood sometimes come out and sing along, and no one ever has to herd sheep."
"Possibly natural selection has weeded out humans who connect sheep with romance."
"On the other hand, they, like us, bankrupted their government with foreign wars fought by mercenaries, while the citizens moved heaven and earth to evade the draft, taxes, and telltale signs of aging."
"Unlike contemporary drama, Greek tragedy is about suffering, not story. Therefore a remarkable percentage of it consists of characters bitching and moaning about their problems rather than doing anything to entertain the audience. It is like dating a writer."
"If you get a chance to see a Greek tragedy performed, by all means go, and bring a book."
"At one time, the 'Iliad' must have combined the joys of an action film with those of a slasher pic. For some readers, it still does. For others, it's uncannily like reading the same paragraph over and over and over and over."
" 'Fun' does not mean 'Quality.' "
This explains the #GAR list. Lol
"Literature is a pleasure. It should be emotionally satisfying, intellectually thrilling, and just plain fun. And if it isn't, you shouldn't feel bad about not reading it."
"[The Great Books programs and imprints like Everyman's Library] was an ambitious crusade to bring literature to the people, and was phenomenally successful in achieving one thing. From then on, not just English majors, but everyone else could feel guilty about not reading the Great Books. Meanwhile, universal education gave young people the opportunity to associate literature with suffering as early as high school."
I finished Nimona, first on my #MakeMeReadIt stack. Next is The Japanese Lover, but I can't start bc someone beat me to the copy on Overdrive. I don't want to jump ahead, so until my hold comes in, I will read the tagged, which is easily set aside. Though I've had a headache the last few days, and unable to read much anyway. Meanwhile, there's a giant inflatable whale in my living room, because my kids won it at the library's SRP raffle. Yay.
