tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post9052453332136116871..comments2023-10-20T16:03:03.157+01:00Comments on Devouring Texts: "His impressions were fresh in a way he would either remember all his life or instantly forget."Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-55290494780636087292013-11-04T02:10:13.561+00:002013-11-04T02:10:13.561+00:00Wait, HOW have you not see the Grinch? Or read it?...Wait, HOW have you not see the Grinch? Or read it? This is...you need to fix that. Redhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456600806188531803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-18304653040382438602013-11-03T02:50:47.742+00:002013-11-03T02:50:47.742+00:00Franzen got to you too?? I'm ashamed to admit...Franzen got to you too?? I'm ashamed to admit that the part where Denise found out Alfred quit to protect her made me tear up a little. <br /><br />And UGH GARY IS THE WORST. That was the real twist ending -- that Gary turns out to be even worse than Chip in the end. <br /><br />Maybe Franzen will write a sequel about Jonah and his struggle to find decency among the horde of sociopaths he was born into. I would readalong the shit out of that.Raynahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536910555459674118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-66230019260669313042013-11-03T02:47:54.159+00:002013-11-03T02:47:54.159+00:00Woah, woah, woah now... For someone who professes...Woah, woah, woah now... For someone who professes to love Christmas, how have you never seen or read The Grinch? It's so wonderful.Raynahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536910555459674118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-53830769238839464212013-11-02T12:53:04.937+00:002013-11-02T12:53:04.937+00:00Hahaha, I know, right? I'm a sucker for a slig...Hahaha, I know, right? I'm a sucker for a slightly-less-terrible ending.<br /><br />Yeah, I don't... I find the fact that she hit Robin suuuuuper problematic, but at the same time I'm like ROBIN YOU ARE SO ANNOYING AND PASSIVE AND ARGH. But that doesn't mean she deserves to get hit, OBVIOUSLY. So yeah. Bad bad bad Denise. (ALTHOUGH- if a guy hit a woman ONCE and then was trying to be a better person, I would have less of a problem than I do with, say, Chris Brown. Just saying.)<br /><br />Yeah, that whole situation is just NOPE. Staying way out of that. I understand how being mean to Al now would make Enid feel better, but I personally can't understand how she could do that, you know? <br /><br />My rage definitely dissolved somewhat in this last part. Yeahhhh... I'm very forgiving, apparently.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-49154980888122928982013-11-02T12:48:58.673+00:002013-11-02T12:48:58.673+00:00I HATE GARY SO MUCH. I just can't stand it whe...I HATE GARY SO MUCH. I just can't stand it when people don't, like, challenge preconceived ideas and just think everyone should be the same as them even though they're so not happy and really they just want everyone else to be miserable and ARGH.<br /><br />I completely understand why Enid was 'correcting' Al, and I can't fully be like 'YOU EVIL BITCH', but I just don't think that in the long run it's the right way to go, and just from a personal viewpoint, I'd feel really horrible taking out my anger on a person with dementia. But then, I wouldn't be married to someone for like 50 years who was a complete asshole, so I don't even know what motivates Enid. Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-9756912535333806242013-11-02T12:45:50.883+00:002013-11-02T12:45:50.883+00:00I mean... everyone IS terrible and I definitely do...I mean... everyone IS terrible and I definitely don't care anymore, but Franzen did get to me a little bit. :) I fully support your not reading this, especially because it's totally been spoilered now! All of it! Spoiled!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-33126757370491136422013-11-02T12:44:58.158+00:002013-11-02T12:44:58.158+00:00I have not seen/read The Grinch Who Stole Christma...I have not seen/read The Grinch Who Stole Christmas! But he turns out good in the end, huh? That's cool :)Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-67568675682512681822013-11-01T15:33:19.037+00:002013-11-01T15:33:19.037+00:00Awww, Chip is your version of the Grinch. Awww, Chip is your version of the Grinch. Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196903315080725315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-66640130813204642132013-11-01T15:30:58.051+00:002013-11-01T15:30:58.051+00:00Ohhhh, Laura. You're such a nice person that y...Ohhhh, Laura. You're such a nice person that you were sucked into Franzen's bullcrap :-)<br /><br />I just... HOW are people still defending Denise??? SHE HIT ROBIN. I feel like ya'll are going easy on her because she's a female - if it was a guy, he would be universally hated and the fact that he's "trying" to be a better person wouldn't matter so much. (I'm also not convinced she was really trying to be a better person... it was almost as if she decided to just stop fighting her bad decisions and just embrace them.)<br /><br />Enid and Al are both so messed up. Al was a racist dick his whole life, so I don't feel TOO bad for him, but at the same time she seems to take way too much joy in torturing him. She could have left him during all those years, and she didn't, so she shouldn't take it out on him now that he can't defend himself. Oy.<br /><br />I think it's great that you at least got something out of this book. Me... not so much. I was too rage-y to try to think too hard about any deep meanings.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196903315080725315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-76008454365139555572013-11-01T14:17:12.999+00:002013-11-01T14:17:12.999+00:00I hate Gary. I didn't hate Gary before this se...I hate Gary. I didn't hate Gary before this section. Now I do. I think he's so miserable and terrible and pissed about people being happy with their "unconventional" lives because he's doing EXACTLY what he was told to do to be happy. And he's not. Because he's terrible and he married a terrible woman and now Jonah is ruined and it's not fair.<br /><br />I didn't mind Enid "correcting" Al when he was in the hospital. Yes, she was taking out her frustrations on a sick person that wasn't even really her husband anymore. But she couldn't take out her frustrations on him before. If she could have, she would have been doing it. I sort of saw it as before, when Al was in full form, she couldn't go to him with any of this, so all her tension radiated out to everyone else. Once Al was gone (not dead but just not him) and in the hospital, it was like that frustration was burning out. Sure, it's petty but I didn't really fault her for it.<br />Redhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456600806188531803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-52117107007064261442013-11-01T12:21:24.303+00:002013-11-01T12:21:24.303+00:00I'm glad you came away from this book with mor...I'm glad you came away from this book with more than just an "EVERYONE IS TERRIBLE AND I JUST DON'T CARE." Still don't have any plans to read it myself, though. Katie Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12844778170761632779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-21021975055025342762013-11-01T12:11:42.674+00:002013-11-01T12:11:42.674+00:00I see your point. But, I mean, that doesn't me...I see your point. But, I mean, that doesn't mean it wasn't happening! But tbh, by the end of the book I wasn't like 'oh good, Denise and Gary are sorted', it's sort of just Chip who's doing ok/not being such a dick (and TWINS, Kayleigh! Twins! Sorry...)<br /><br />MR HANKEY WAS NOT NEEDED IN THIS.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-60178365178547060922013-11-01T11:44:33.719+00:002013-11-01T11:44:33.719+00:00See I feel like I'd be a lot more forgiving if...See I feel like I'd be a lot more forgiving if they mentioned they were working on fixing themselves instead of it magically happening because Al went to a nursing home. A mention of marriage counseling for Gary and Caroline or something more about Denise. It was just too clean an ending after hundreds of pages of disfunctions. <br /><br />And I would only have been ok with a Christmas miracle if Mr Hankey was involved. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09259549933849264277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-77274382587540138732013-11-01T11:17:15.823+00:002013-11-01T11:17:15.823+00:00Kayleigh, here's what I think it was: The char...Kayleigh, here's what I think it was: The characters were so awful and made me lose so much faith in human nature that I wanted to believe in Christmas miracles. ALTHOUGH- I would happily argue that a lot of Chip's self was just layers of overeducation that made him into a prick (which is not a prerequisite of a phD, OBVIOUSLY ily) and a combination of tiredness and christmas and being needed just kind of peeled the layers of awful off of him and made him, you know, less of a dick.<br /><br />imho.<br /><br />It's a tricky Al and Enid thing though, because it's like 'UGH, don't forget how terrible he was' but then it's also like 'but don't be so AWFUL to him, either' and it's like what do we dooooo? I mainly came out of it blaming Al for ruining 4 people (not including himself cause he was already ruined for some reason) but what if they can correct themselves now he's dead, Kayleigh? WHAT THEN?<br /><br />I am fairly glad it's over. Looking forward to donating the damn book too!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-18652201276261038292013-11-01T08:54:54.563+00:002013-11-01T08:54:54.563+00:00Nooooo Laura, how'd you get sucked into the &q...Nooooo Laura, how'd you get sucked into the "hey everyone's sorted and better even though nothing happened to change them" garbage? :(<br /><br />The Alfred stuff really annoyed me in this section. Al being sick is such a bullshit reason to just forget everything he did. Sure you can put it to the side and focus on helping him in his last days, but it annoyed the shit out of me that suddenly it was "oh he wasn't abusive, he just couldn't express love the normal way". But Enid's behaviour at the end also left a bad taste in my mouth. Abusing someone who abused you isn't getting even, it's just going to make you feel worse later on. So basically no one has "corrected" themselves at all, they've just discovered a new mask to cover their old rubbish souls with.<br /><br />*Sigh* I'm glad that's over.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09259549933849264277noreply@blogger.com