august 7 2024
winter of artifice by anais nin
“there are beings who come to one to the tune of music”
this short story collection is deeply self reflective and moody, drawing inspiration from nin’s own life and relationships. i found the father/daughter subject to overwhelm most of the stories but nin’s beautiful and haunting prose made up for that. there are so many passages that linger…
"there is nothing clearer than the mark of a wound in believing eyes. it shows clear and sharp, the eyes are lacerated, they seem about to dissolve with pain. the soft faith was gone."
august 13 2024
slow days, fast company: the world, the flesh, and la by eve babitz
eve’s world glitters with california heat. this feels like chatting with a friend, someone you can sit for hours with because their charm and energy radiate - making even the mundane seem fun. i loved seeing life through eve’s eyes. also… i completely understood her fear of driving on the freeway, no thank you.
"i was a difficult, mean bitch, whose cat, it was rumored, bit men. (and whose cat did.) i lived on a street in the middle of hollywood with an abundance of palm trees and my orange sunsets over the jacaranda branches.”
august 18 2024
a room of one’s own by virginia woolf
“no need to hurry. no need to sparkle. no need to be anybody but oneself.”
i definitely can see why this is regarded as an important feminist text, though it does feel like a specific form of feminism and there are some questionable moments that feel very dated. i also didn’t appreciate how much time she spent critiquing another woman writer towards the end and thought it was in poor taste. that being said, there were still some great parts and i’m glad i read this.
august 30 2024
the beautiful and the damned by f. scott fitzgerald
“-it’s had utterly no effect on me. But you’d remember and let memories haunt you and worry you.”
the prose in this book is so incredibly beautiful. the words feel effortlessly strung together, every sentence feels intentional and poetic. we watch anthony and gloria’s descent into chaos, as their relationship spirals, as they hurt each other and themselves. they’re broken people and not very likable, but even in their darkest moments one might relate; the world feels cold, the future bleak, beauty fades, and dreams aren’t always realized.
tell me what you read last month!
shelly