ladyofshallot

[ladyofshallot]

You have probably read those stories of how people in Iraq and Afghanistan were tortured by having American pop music blasted at them day and night. And you have probably read or heard many of the jokes made as a consequence of these stories-people writing in to newspapers to say that if you have a teenager who listens to 50 Cent or Slipknot all day then you know how those Iraqi prisoners feel, etc. and so on. (Even the Guardian made lots of musical torture jokes for a while.) Ronson floats the intriguing notion that the jokes were an integral part of the strategy: in other words, if you can induce your citizens to laugh at torture, then outrage will be much harder to muster. Stupidity is, despite all appearances to the contrary, a complicated state of mind. Who's stupid, in the end-them or us?

[ladyofshallot]

they’re in a book club

[ladyofshallot]

"I propose that those intending to write a biography should first go to the National Biography Office to get a permit which tells you the number of pages you get. (There will be no right of appeal.)"

~ Nick Hornby, Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books

[ladyofshallot]

[ladyofshallot]

its about a third or so through the year now so i thought i’d do a little reading check in! the covers above are all the books i’ve so far this year (for fun! i’ve read 8 or so books for school this semester, mostly poetry collections and some young adult novels for an education course, but i dont really care enough about them to talk about lol!)  

here’s a little run down, not really in any order:

her body and other parties by carmen maria machado — read probably two thirds of this last fall, but took a break from reading when the semester got too crazy. finishing this was so great!!! i think machado’s writing is phenomenal and her stories are so moving. it makes me want to read more short story collections, because i dont really seek them out! 

persuasion by jane austen — reread! i listened to the cynthia erivo audiobook from spotify over the weekend before valentines day and it was very lovely 🥰

my name will grow wide like a tree by yi lei — i’m so glad yi lei’s work has been translated so that i got an opportunity to experience her brilliant poetry. i read and reread the lines like 🤯🤯🤯! tracy k. smith has also done something really cool with the translation here. she talks in depth about her process in the introduction, which was excerpted in lithub if youre curious! 

deerskin by robin mckinley — one of my new favorite books! strange, propulsive, essential!! 

phantom of the opera by gaston leroux — this was fine lol the musical is definitely more fun

pachinko by min jin lee — didnt have this on my list of books to read this spring but i got so excited by trailer for the tv show adaptation and the opening title sequence (!!!!!) that i just had to :) it was amazing! if you’re intimidated by the length, honestly dont be! i flew through it 

trouble the saints by alaya dawn johnson — another one i picked up again after dropping it last fall. this was so lush and atmospheric, but i found it hard to follow all the threads of this one, partly because of the way it’s plotted, partly because the fantasy elements are so nebulous

the moonstone by wilkie collins — randomly a new favorite! i love detective novels, so it shouldnt be a surprise, but i guess i wasnt expecting The Literal First One to be so compelling and fun! it felt like sinking into a hot bath every time i opened the book 

the low low woods by carmen maria machado — i must be a machado completist!!! this rocked! as a PA native, i was especially tickled by the fact that she’s writing what she calls “pennsylvania horror” here :) centralia is such juicy inspo for a creepy graphic novel like this one.

2022 has been a good year for books so far! it doesn't really feel like it, because i haven’t been reading super regularly. but looking back, i found some new favorites and havent really disliked anything!

[ladyofshallot]

LOVE’S DANCE

Yi Lei, trans. Tracy K. Smith

[ladyofshallot]

I envied Yi Lei's ability to claim the fact of that love, and to embrace the joy and upheaval it led to without apologizing for it or turning against it as is sometimes the case when one looks back at the many detours of one's own youth. 'Love is innocent,' she said. And with that simple phrase, I believe she explained parts of myself to me, which is, of course, what great poets do.

Tracy K. Smith

[ladyofshallot]

GREEN TREES GREET THE RAINSTORM

Yi Lei, translated by Tracy K. Smith

[ladyofshallot]

update! just couldnt make it through frankenstein in baghdad :// it just didnt work for me even though the premise made me feel 🤯🤯🤯

but i finished my name will grow wide like a tree it rocked :))))

also im not done reading would love to finish frankenstein in baghdad and my name will grow wide like a tree before the new yearrrrrrr but also i dont wanna do anything 😎we’ll see

[ladyofshallot]

Brueghel’s “The Fall of Icarus” 

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus — William Carlos Williams

Musée des Beaux Arts — WH Auden

[ladyofshallot]

also im not done reading would love to finish frankenstein in baghdad and my name will grow wide like a tree before the new yearrrrrrr but also i dont wanna do anything 😎we’ll see

[ladyofshallot]

really cant pick a fav book out of the top 10! i do have some general insights re my favorites:

84 charing cross road came at the darkest points of winter/quarantine and warmed me right up! 🥰

reading toni morrisons novels for the first time this year was life changing

rose by li-young lee now my favorite poetry collection of all time

there there full cast audio book 🤗🤗🤗🤗

ive been trying to finish the count of monte cristo for like 4 years so it was probably my most satisfying read! such high drama i think it would make an awesome seasons long tv show 

discovering rachel ingalls,,,, also a paradigm shift

cant wait to watch picnic at hanging rock movie also unpopular opinion i think the secret at hanging rock is actually an essential companion to the og book sorry i wanted answers lol

17776 must read / shows just how brilliant and warm digital literature can be / charmed even a sports-apathetic luddite like me

[ladyofshallot]

10 fav books of 2021 🥰🥰 in no particular order

84, charing cross road — helene hanff

sula — toni morrison

there, there — tommy orange

mrs. caliban — rachel ingalls

the count of monte cristo — alexandre dumas

picnic at hanging rock — joan lindsay

17776: an american football story — jon bois

in the dream house — carmen maria machado

rose — li-young lee

beloved — toni morrison

[ladyofshallot]

Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than his experiencing. Was it always going to be like that? When he spent evenings alone, handling Dickie's possessions, simply looking at his rings on his own fingers, or his woolen ties, or his black alligator wallet, was that experiencing or anticipation?

Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley

[ladyofshallot]

They were not friends. They didn't even know each other. It struck Tom like a horrible truth, true for all time, true for the people he had known in the past and for those he would know in the future: each had stood and would stand before him, and he would know time and time again that he would never know them, and the worst was that there would always be the illusion, for a time, that he did know them, and that he and they were completely in harmony and alike.

Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley

[ladyofshallot]

a page from one of the early transcripts of abelard and heloise’s letters! so cool!

[ladyofshallot]

chen chen, “race to the tree”