#rebecca's clarice has my whole heart

[sncwonthebeach]

Clarice + Text Posts I Had in My Pinterest Board

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[gghostwriter]

Pau’s Library

I’ve always liked to talk about books so I might as well keep an open logbook here. The list is a mixture of rereads, top favorites, and books read this 2025.

I won’t give a definite rating as it’s not conducive to getting anyone to read any of these. Instead I’ll be leaving a favorite quote of mine from the book, one that I wrote thoughts about in my reading journal and hope that entices you to check it out. Personal favorites will have 🌸 as its mark.

My ask box is open to any recommendations or any conversations about my list and your list too!

Yearly Re-reads

East of Eden by John Steinbeck 🌸 ↳ “It would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them.” Breast & Eggs by Mieko Kawakami 🌸 ↳ “My monolithic expectation of what a woman’s body was supposed to look like had no bearing on what actually happened to my body. The two things were wholly unrelated. I never became the woman I imagined. And what was I expecting?” Chess Story by Stefan Zweig 🌸 ↳ “People and events don't disappoint us, our models of reality do. It is my model of reality that determines my happiness or disappointments.”

2025 in books

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan ↳ “You know what is at the heart of misogyny? When it comes down to it?’ ‘So I’m a misogynist now?’ ‘It’s simply about not giving.” Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan ↳ “What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things.” The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector ↳ “She had no idea how to cope with life and she was only vaguely aware of her own inner emptiness.” The Lottery & Other Stories by Shirley Jackson ↳ “No one even noticed me, she thought with reassurance, everyone who saw me has gone by long ago.” [Pillar of Salt] Flush by Virginia Woolf 🌸 ↳ “She was too just not to realise that it was for her that he had sacrificed his courage, as it was for her that he had sacrificed the sun and the air.” The Eye by Vladimir Nabokov [tw: su*cid*] ↳ “After all, in order to live happily, a man must know now and then a few moments of blankness. Yet I was always exposed, always wide-eyed; even in sleep I did not cease to watch over myself, understanding nothing of my existence, growing crazy at the thought of of not being able to stop being aware of myself.” The Six Death of the Saint by Alix E Harrow 🌸 ↳ “But in the end, there was no saint, just a lonely girl telling secrets to herself in a dark mirror.” Journey Into The Past by Stefan Zweig 🌸 ↳ “Madness,” he exclaimed to himself, in astonishment, faltering. “Madness! What do they want? Once again, once again!” War once again, war that had so recently shattered his whole life?” Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky ↳ “Man only likes counting his grief, he doesn’t count his happiness. But if he were to count properly, he’d see that there’s enough of both lots for him.” The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky ↳ “Sorrow is concealed in gilded palaces, and there’s no escaping it.” Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross ↳ “I don’t want to wake up when I’m seventy-four only to realize I haven’t lived.” The Door by Magda Szabó ↳ "When the sands run out for someone, don't stop them from going." ↳ "You can't give them anything to replace life. Do you think I didn't love Polett? That it it meant nothing to me when she'd had enough and wanted out? It's just that , as well as love, you also have to know how to kill. It won't do you any harm to remember that." Human Acts by Han Kang ↳ “Is it true that human beings are fundamentally cruel? Is the experience of cruelty the only thing we share as a species? Is the dignity that we cling to nothing but self-delusion, masking from ourselves the single truth: that each one of us is capable of being reduced to an insect, a ravening beast, a lump of meat? To be degraded, slaughtered—is this the essential of humankind, one which history has confirmed inevitable?”

2025 in essays

Verdigris: The Color of Oxidation, Statues, and Impermanence by Katy Kelleher Notes on “Taste” by Brie Wolfson Why Are We Tormented by the Future? By Joshua Rothman Writing As Transformation by Louise Gluck What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men? By Claire Dederer 🌸 What’s A Fact, Anyway? By Fergus McIntosh The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone by David J Morris Womanhood is the Process of Understanding Your Mother by Caitlyn 🌸 In Defense of Pretension by Ayan Artan 🌸 I Want to Look Like I’ve Lived by Amelia 🌸 The End of Our Extremely Online Era by Tommy Dixon oh so you’re a thought daughter now? Should I call Joan Didion? by Sarah Cucchiara Stop trying to make Melania happen by Sarah Cucchiara Facing My Own Mediocrity by Brock Covington Women hate women who go for what they want by Ali Kriegsman I want to everything, so I do nothing by Luisa The Art of Reading like a translator by Lily Meyer

[haroldgross]

New Post has been published on Harold Gross: The 5a.m. Critic

New Post has been published on http://literaryends.com/hgblog/a-pastiche-of-pixelated-drama-aka-more-tv/

A Pastiche of Pixelated Drama (aka more TV)

So here’s that next round of TV this winter that I promised. Actually, some of them were worth the wait, though none are a runaway must-see.

Equalizer This one really surprised me. The writing and chemistry are there right out of the gate. The rhythm needs some work, but the creative team is doing justice to the core of the original story while updating it for the current times. Queen Latifah (Ice Age: Collision Course) is a force to be reckoned with, but with the heart that made the first iteration of this story work so well. And it’s already been renewed for a second season.

Resident Alien Alan Tudyk (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is just fun to watch, even when the scripts aren’t entirely up to snuff. But though the show sort of stumbles out of the gate, it is quickly finding its feet with the help of Sara Tomko and Elizabeth Bowen (Upload). It may never be a classic, but it tackles some unexpected storylines and keeps it all fun, if improbable and, at times, predictable.

Clarice Rebecca Breeds nails Clarice at the early point in her career, just post Buffalo Bill. The show embraces the Silence of the Lambs plot (though closer to the movie than the book) and spins it out to show us Clarice in the years between that story and the follow-on Hannibal. It seems only fair as Harris wrote up Hannibal’s whole journey eventually. It’s time to see Clarice’s. Helping her along are Lucca De Oliveira and Caitlin Stryker, both of whom add nice emotional and occupational support to the struggling Clarice. To be fair, they’ve diminished Clarice more than a little for their own dramatic purpose, but the core of her is still there. If there is a weakness in this show it is down to the insufferable boss character created by Michael Cudlitz. That isn’t Cudlitz’s fault, but the show’s. Unless he becomes and remains a bit more competent and human, I’m out. That dynamic just isn’t interesting to me.

Debris A strong, if somewhat handwavy start to the series sets up an X-Files vibe with a bit more emotional touchpoints. It will remain to be seen if they maintain the interesting plots and overall arc without it getting either silly, stupid, or too outrageous to support. At least the production values are pretty good and Riann Steele (Crazyhead) and Jonathan Tucker (Charlie’s Angels) make for an interesting combination.

Young Rock There is little doubt what Dwayne Johnson (Jumanji: The Next Chapter) is attempting to do with this show; he tells you up front. But political ambitions aside, the question is whether it’s a good show. The answer is mixed. The story is amusing and touching, and it opens a world that the greatest majority of the audience will have no connection to, making it interesting. However, the structure is odd and I can’t quite see how it will sustained for more than a few episodes. That said, the cast is solid and it is certainly something different and new. I’m giving it a couple more episodes to see if it can find its legs and keep me interested.

Superman & Lois I’ll give them credit, they found a new story to tell rather than rehashing what we’ve seen before a million times. And the casting was done well too with Tyler Hoechlin (Palm Springs) and Elizabeth Tulloch (Grimm) in the title roles. But, like most DC and all CW shows, I can already see my boredom kicking in. The melodrama and the predictability, even with the new twists expanding on the set-ups from the tie-in shows, is beginning to weigh heavily from the 3rd episode. I suspect I’m out in one or two more unless I see something to really invest in. I know I’m going to be in the minority here, but I’ve struggled with the DCU TV shows for years now. Very few manage to tickle my fancy. But I’ll try to keep an open mind and give it at least a little more of a chance.

Snowpiercer (series 2) Well, damn them. At the end of season one I was ready to walk away, but I wanted to see where they would go. And, as it turns out, they managed to avoid the obvious and boring track they appeared to be on. By the second episode, everything shifts and new possibilities make it all much more interesting. And, it has to be noted, Sean Bean (Wolfwalkers) has created one of the creepiest characters I’ve seen in a long time. Jennifer Connelly (Alita: Battle Angel) continues to deliver a nicely shaded performance, and the addition of the very capable Rowan Blanchard (A Wrinkle in Time) adds some good tensions. Alison Wright (The Accountant) is also getting to do a lot more this round, deepening her character and bringing a sort of redemption to her story.

Pretty Hard Cases A Canadian comedy detective show in the vein of 911. If you enjoy The Baroness Von Sketch series, this one’s for you. If you are at all middling about broad comedy, it isn’t.