Again, I just don't see the connections you're making. Talent, success, what's that got to do with anything? That's not how depression works. Feeling insulted by Wallace killing himself after years of fighting his demons makes as much sense as feeling insulted by a cancer patient willingly forgoing that next round of…

It's pretty special to me, because I'm teaching double entry accounting. Couldn't quite finish it the first time around. Hit too close to close to home, I guess. But certainly one of those books I'm guaranteed to return to.

I kinda cheated by spoiling myself and reading chapter summaries and fan theories while still middway through the novel. But it's easier to read if you have at least a vague sense of what it might add up to in the end, and I also feel that it's not the kind of book that really could be spoiled anyway.

What I took away from it was mostly that Franzens feels Wallace cheated him out of his victory in their friendly competition by quitting while he was ahead. I guess it's kinda impressive to be so honest about being being so petty and could well imagine that Wallace himself might have appreciated the candor. (Then…

Yeah, I haven't read enough Pynchon to judge whether you might have a point here, but I'm pretty sure the suicide should be irrelevant. He was severely depressed; that's often a terminal ilness. Anyone else in his shoes might have killed themselves a lot sooner, so let's just be grateful he could hang on to life as…

Everything about the promo for this movie seemed to me entirely insufferable, but reading the review I can see how it might have redeeming qualities for viewers of certain dispositions. Good job, reviewer!

Again, fair enough. Granted, I said "this kind of book". I will gladly believe you that Roth writes other kinds of book as well.

It's the kind of book I would never read, no matter how many profound musings on age and decay it may contain. David Foster Wallace won my heart for ever for dissing Mailer, Updike and Roth. I read "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" and weep for humanity (that title is truly truth in advertising), but at least I…

Especially since the idea with bisexual guys seems to be that they're bound to "end up" with a men eventually, while bisexual women are expected to "end up" with men as well, because dick apparently trumps everything or something and the whole bisexuality thing is just a stage of denial on the way to this ultimate…

Fair enough.

It's the one thing of him that stuck with me. Not much of a transcendentialist otherwise.

On the one hand:

I think it doesn't have to be a moral thing necessarily (provided both sides are sufficiently casual about it; agree with everyone pointing out that significant age differences tend to make for a messed up dynamic for committed longterm relationships), but I get why people would be wary. Young people are more likely…

I suppose her reasons might be fairly similiar to those of gay men who like dick but not the scene. Sexual preferences can be one thing, the associated lifestyle quite another. Although it can also be a sign of internalized something-phobia to take the popular stereotypes about it at face value without at least giving…

I dimly remember reading this at 17 and for some reason not hating it entirely. This is a great mystery to me now, since everything I've seen from Coelho ever since has seemed fairly groan-inducing to me. I guess I was just somewhat pleased with myself for reading it in French (because I had bought it in a French…

Oh, absolutely, he might well end up doing more damage than good. But I do think he has good intentions.

Oh please. He wants to keep secrecy because he doesn't want the affair to end, because he knows that he would have to immediately end it, if there was any risk of John finding out, because he's scared of losing John. There's no other reason why not keeping secrecy would mean that the affair would have to end. "I don't…

It's the narcissism of small differences. I could very well imagine that Kevin's friends and family would perceive a relationship with Patrick as a downgrade after John.

I can't see it. Why on earth would Richie go for Agustin of all people? It would totally go against his characters as established at this point. I think Agustin is set up for a thing with the bear.

Nothing's worse than the wolf in sheep's clothing. And I say that as someone who hasn't come by her sheep skin entirely honestly herself. Call it projection, if you like; I call it reasonable extrapolation.