the catcher in the rye is horrible, the writing feels as a call for attention from a child, but a grown man writes it. It blows my mind that schools push this subpar book and demand kids read it. I have no idea why people consider this a classic
I promised not to judge, so I won't. I can see where you're coming from though
Come join me on twitch for some more Left Behind!
It's a terrible book and watching me suffer is fun!
Tiktok is obsessed with trying to create their own Goncharov. I've seen several attempts at it, and they all fall flat. It's one of those things where it's so pathetic it's funny.
Also, the inherent failure comes from the fact that it's always someone trying to make money off it.
Meanwhile, a bunch of people are making videos about fake discourse as though they're in the omegaverse, and that's amazing. I love that.
The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, was recommended to me by one of my English teachers, who was also at one point my theater teacher. She said it was a feminist retelling of the myths involving Moran and King Arthur. So, I am so sorry to say that it is just…rubbish.
Okay, some of the cultural and fantasy elements are interesting. There is genuinely cool world building done tying everything together, whether that be Avalon itself or Camelot.
But...the characters.
Morgan, or Morgaine, at first acts as a blank slate of sorts. She's interested in the culture that surrounds her, and it's through her eyes that we get to learn about the world. That said, she takes a face-heel turn which is just...bizzare. It's like the plot is going "oh wait, we forgot to make Morgan EVIL so she does things people would consider EVIL" even though the plot doesn't necessarily demand it??? There's this one point where she basically goes "actually you know what doing incest with my brother is fine actually. I should have acted like a girlfriend to him after that and manipulated him to do my bidding" and. girl????? And it feels like the whole way the book is trying to justify it? Like, yeah in the original myth there's a sense of betrayal. But not like this?
And Gwen. Gwenhwyfar. Ohhhh my god. Her introduction is kinda neat, since it gives some perspective on how mentally ill women would have been treated back then. It quickly becomes annoying though. She's a religious fanatic. A Christian religious fanatic. Also she threatens to cheat on Arthur in order to bear a child. Also she's having an affair with Galahad. Gwen just...always has something to complain about. And it's not a good experience to read.
Arthur. Hmmm. He's portrayed as somewhat wishy-washy, constantly being pulled back and forth between the opinions of Gwen and Morgaine. Like...this is such a bad thing for a king to be. But he's honestly somewhat chill?
Plus there are just...so. many. unnecessary. sex. scenes. I would have given the author a bag of caramels for half of them to be fade to black moments.
The author is very clearly pro-pagan and anti-christian. I fall somewhat in line with that, not anti-christian but I can understand why someone would be. That said. The author kind of rubs the faults of christianity in the reader's face. Repeatedly. It's not subtle.
Overall, I have read a lot of retellings of different myths. This might just be my least favourite retelling of a myth ever.
Oh god The Mists of Avalon.....
I read this in middle school. It was a mistake. This book is so far up its own ass. I've read a lot of pretentious books, but this one nearly gets the top spot (nothing could beat out The Dream of Perpetual Motion or literally anything by Donna Tartt).
Morgaine becoming evil definitely felt like Bradley suddenly remembered that she was a villain in the legend and hastily shoved it in. She could have easily not made her evil, and just gone with the idea that history twisted the facts. That would have suited the character better, as well as playing into the "feminist" themes since history does often villianize women who don't deserve it.
And I put "feminist" in quotes because this book is like the definition of White Feminism.
Also, Marion Zimmer Bradley was a horrific person. Not joking or exaggerating here, she was pure evil. Epstein levels of evil. Humbert Humbert evil. Look it up if you want to, but be warned that it is genuinely awful and reading about it is pretty harrowing. There's a reason I chose those specific comparisons.
Sorry, no stream tonight.
Twitch and OBS are both being absolute dicks and I've spent the last hour trying to fix it to no avail.
I'm really sorry everyone
I am heading out of town for a few days and will have very limited internet access.
So this will be my last stream until at least Monday.
Please join me for Diablo III, a.k.a. The Easiest Game Ever
I am going through all of the wonderful book rants that I received. I love all of them and everyone who sent them.
Even the person who trashed one of my favorite books - but don't worry, as I promised, I am not judging or arguing. I accept your rage as my own all the same.
I haven't been able to answer all of them yet, but I will.
And feel free to send in more if you want to. I am always open to them
every time i listen to “you’re a mean one mr. grinch” i can’t help but sit there and think “what did the grinch do to hurt you?” because dude just stands there for 2 minutes and 58 seconds and drags the grinch into the dirt
I decided to switch from using the twitch studio app to using obs for streaming.
I have most of it set up alright. Struggling a bit with the webcam not showing if the game is showing, but I’ll hopefully have it figured out soon.
I’ll be using obs to stream Final Fantasy XV tonight. If there are hiccups with the stream, it will be down to me using a program I’m new to, so please be patient with me
Messy bi who dresses like a four-year-old despite being in my 30s
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