Welcome welcome, friends! It’s another Wednesday with roundup #2 on the table. If you all enjoyed the last roundup, which housed some of my curent loves, like Young Living essential oils, Brandon Sanderson’s books, and an exercise skirt which I wear all the time now, check out the last one here!
Without further chatting, here are some recents!
Books
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
I DNFd this book first try. Contrary to many classics readers, I don’t enjoy Hemingway. I have tried two of his books, and DNFd the first one (Islands in the Stream) and TSAR almost followed suit. However, after laying it aside for several months, I picked it up again, only to find out that I had almost neared the end when I quit which made me roll my eyes at myself so hard—I judge other readers hard when they do that. I am planning on reading The Old Man and the Sea at some point this year to give him another go, but I have low expectations.
TSAR really disappointed me. In general, there is a cast of disillusionment in many 20th century literature pieces. I remember reading The Great Gatsby and genuinely feeling confused by the experience of hope dying in me while I read, because I’d never encountered literature like that before. I haven’t read much of Steinbeck, but I remember having to read it Of Mice and Men in high school and absolutely hating it for the same reason; there is just something that says “Hi, I’m a realist and have been disenchanted by the world, and I’m here to write about that disenchantment.”
I think it depends on what you’re wanting to read and why, but I don’t like reading simply to learn about how someone else saw the world, although I do think that is an essential part of living inside a book. Being fully invested in a book means to envelope yourself in the author’s feelings, recollections, and agonies. With that said, I don’t particularly like the depression that settles on me when I read Hemingway. With my love of older European reads, the sparseness, ‘realistic’, and darker shade of Hemingway’s worlds and characters is not something I can see myself indulging in frequently.
With all of that said, TSAR was useful for the exact reason that I disliked it: it was real. I haven’t read anything about World War I expats and for that, I can’t say I enjoyed the book, but I gained from it, cetainly. The chasing after the next exciting high, constant competition between men for one woman, the abusive treatment of the bulls and steers, drunken brawls, Spanish dancing, was all enlivening to me in the sense that I felt a palpable disorientation while I read dialogue between characters all suffering from severe identity crises. It was rather heartbreaking to end the novel and feel that none of these people had purpose, love, or meaning behind any of their actions or words, yet in their own small ways they were trying. And that is human, to try and try again.
"Oh, darling," Brett said, "I'm so miserable." I had that feeling of going through something that has already happened before. "You were happy a minute ago." The drummer shouted: "You can't two time----" "It's all gone." "What's the matter?" "I don't know. I just feel terribly." "......" the drummer chanted. Then turned to his sticks. "Want to go?" I had the feeling as in a nightmare of it all being something repeated, something I had been through and that now I must go through again.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexendre Dumas
By the time this newsletter releases, I will probably be a quarter into this mammoth. Although you may think I’m jumping the gun on it since I won’t be finished, I have to say that I am literally in love with this novel. At over 1,000 pages, it is a hefty one. But the speed at which the action takes place surprised me, especially for a classic.
I was introduced to an abridged version of The Count in my teenage years and I didn’t really appreciate it. French classical literature was the least of my concerns, but a friend has recommended it to me so I picked it up anyway. Reading it again (unabridged) I feel like I am on this sassy epic revenge quest with Edmund Dantès. Alexandre Dumas was a quippy man, full of sarcasm and psychological insight.
Looking back at some intro notes I wrote to refer back to as I continued reading, I am devastatingly fascinated by the Count’s vengeful attitude toward those who put him into the Chateau d’If (his prison). Heartbreaking as it is to watch this once innocent young man go completely off the rails, descending deeper and deeper into his vindictive bitterness, goes to show how similar he is to those enemies that envied him at the beginning of the tale.
I’m excited to see how this one ends, and there may be an update in the next Roundup of what I think.
The heart breaks when it has swelled too much in the warm breath of hope, then finds itself enclosed in cold reality.
The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft
Wonderful. Wonderful. 5 star, hands down. Can we leave it at that? Probably not, for the sake of me loving this one so much.
Admittedly, it took me a year and a half to finish this one, because I took a big break from reading it—I can’t recall the reason. However, I picked it up the other day to conclude reading it, and it was a beautiful finish to a non-fiction book. Peter Kreeft is a very gifted writer and he knows how to explain difficult concepts in layman’s terms. I am by no means a philosophy nerd or ardent studier although we are all philosophers in one way or another.
Even if you are not a lover of Tolkien or Lewis, this 225 page book works like a textbook, albeit, much more enjoyable than one, to talk about each branch of philosophy: metaphysics, philosophy of theology, angelology, cosmology, anthropology, epistemology, philosophy of history, aesthetics, philosophy of language, political philosophy, and ethics. Much of the book is composed of quotations taken from Tolkien’s Letters, C.S. Lewis’ work ranging from Mere Christianity to The Magician’s Nephew. I enjoyed the numerous quotes because it solidified, backed up, and brought to life what Kreeft proposed Tolkien’s beliefs were behind writing The Lord of the Rings.
…”beauty is one of the more important forms of goodness: beauty is very good. And goodness is the highest form of beauty: the most beautiful thing in this world is a saint. Both goodness and beauty are eternal and essential attributes of Ultimate Reality, the One God, and therefore are ultimately one. Beauty is the one bloom on the rose of goodness and truth, the child conceived by their union; and thus it is not only good but Heavenly.”
Tales of Japan
I’ve been going through these, one tale a day, and it’s been very enjoyable. These wouldn’t necessarily be children’s tales, although perhaps some of them may be child-age appropriate.
Kotaro Chiba, the illustrator, did a fabulous job with creating visuals for this book. There are three major sections: journeys, ghosts and monsters, and justice. Tales of Japan are part of a series that was published by Chronicle Books. Celtic, India, Nordic, East Africa, and several more are explored through these story collections (there is one dedicated to tales about the sea from around the globe which I want to get my hands on particularly).
This morning, I just read The Happy Hunter and the Skillful Fisher from the first section. The tales are fanciful and full of Japanese culture, which I would love to envelope myself in, considering my dreams of visiting the island itself.
Long, long ago, in old Japan, the Kingdom of the Sea was governed by a wonderful King. He was called Ryn Jin, or the Dragon King of the Sea. His power was immense, for he was the ruler of all sea creatures both great and small, and in his keeping were the Jewels of the Ebb and Flow of the Tide. The Jewel of the Ebbing Tide when thrown into the ocean caused the sea to recede from the land, and the Jewel of the Flowing Tide made the waves to rise mountains high and to flow in upon the shore like a tidal wave.
Lifestyle
Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm has gone with me everywhere. Red Dahlia is my preferred color, with a darker sheen than their other colors. I have three of their various colors and absolutely love them all. They stay on my lips for awhile without me having to reuse it several times a day. The one downside is when replacing the cap, if there is any wax on the rim, it’ll get smushed down and leak outside of the cap, although it sounds worse than it actually is. I just make sure that I’ve wiped all excess product onto my lips before closing the lid. They also smell delicious but not in an unnatural way. I didn’t buy mine at Target, but found them discounted at a Marshall’s near me; however I did include a link to them from Target. You can probably find them directly on the Burt’s Bees website.
Paint by Sticker has been a go-to activity while I put on a movie or listen to a podcast. Currently, I’m working through their travel themed edition, and I just bought a famous paintings one from my friend at Barnes and Noble. I’ve seen them at indie bookstores as well and they may be at Target.
Anthropologie’s Chéri Ruffled Skirt does not disappoint. Gifted to me, it is a stunning piece of clothing. Although it’s pricey, it feels lovely on, giving a princess look but not so much that you couldn’t wear it out or dress it down with boots or a cute pair of sneakers. They also have it some fabulous prints and colors at the moment.
Substack articles
Food
These vegan Sunshine burgers from Gracious Vegan are delectable. With homemade vegan mayonnaise, fresh cut tomatoes, lettuce, and Grillo’s pickles, it makes for a wonderful dinner option. A side of tater tots doesn’t hurt either.
I tried a matcha latte with a new syrup combination: white chocolate! Curtesy of one of my friends, it was so so delicious. I ordered an iced matcha, light ice, almond milk (though I usually use oat) and a couple pumps of white chocolate syrup, mmm…scrumptious.
Rocky road ice cream? Sure. Rocky road cookies? What? My mom made these marshmellowy, goey, chocolate desserts and they are phenomenal, plus seriously gigantic.
I also found that putting small noodles into broccoli cheddar cheese soup is my new favorite way to eat a classic dish.
Inspiring images
(These photos are all my own work, a mix of film and digital.)
Media
September’s recent playlist
Literally everything Gracie Abrams
number one girl, ROSÉ — album ☞ rosie
hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but I have it, Lana Del Rey — album ☞ Norman F*****g Rockwell
Kintsugi, Lana Del Rey — album ☞ Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
The Impossible Dream, Josh Groban — album ☞ Harmony
The End of Love, Florence + the Machine — album ☞ Under Heaven Over Hell
Pods
The Symbolic World’s:
You can also find these podcasts on Apple Podcasts and probably Spotify
My work
Check out some of my earlier work — comment share, like, you know;)
let me see Your glory, LORD.
With the world as seemingly lackluster as it is these days, my heart felt the need to pray this. This is a prayer (with some modification for publishing and privacy concerns) I am promising to myself and to God every day of this year, as I seek to regain the walking with God in the Garden of Eden. I’m tired and worn by the utilitarian church and western…
read good books, kids!
To be fair, there are literally thousands of these types of articles, videos, podcasts, etc. out there. To be fair, I love books, so I’m going to forge ahead anyway. More than just suggest these books, I want to go down a couple rabbit holes explaining what about them is worth reading. That’s why we’re only going to go through three—otherwise, we could …
merciful suffering
Welcome, welcome back to Saturday Musings pt. 2. Check out my first SM post in this series, where I chat briefly about why I thought I’d like to start writing these every week.
Have a blessed week, my friends. Xxx.
Totally agree on both TSAR and count of monte cristo!! Have you watched the movie of count of monte cristo?? One of my all time faves!