thoughtleast

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The Inverts

! ! POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD ! !

Author: Crystal Jeans

Personal Rating: ★★★★☆

Pages: 373

Year Published: 2021

Number: 2

Genres: Fiction, Historical, LGBT, Coming of Age

Method of consumption: Physical

Content Warnings: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Addiction

Personal Review:

I won’t lie, I read this a year ago, so this review is not as informed as it could be:

This work does an excellent job of introducing and maintaining complex and likable characters. I was personally not the biggest fan of the writing, but the story was compelling and I became so invested in the growth of Bettina and Bart that my style preferences didn’t faze me. One of my favorite tropes is the exploration of unconventional romance, specifically the relationships that end while still enriching the characters’ lives. This was present here and I think executed tastefully, allowing the characters to remain emotional and human while also representing the refined style of the work.

#book review #book #fiction #historical fiction #inverts

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It is a twisted sort of vanity that leads a person to crave applause for what they believe to be their worst creations.

#Rebecca Watts dissing Hollie McNich #poetry #I love academic criticisms

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Literary References: Abbey Theatre

The Following is the first entry in ‘Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory’ (Penguin Reference). I thought I’d add entries here to force myself to study them, and hopefully to share them with whoever may be interested.

I find the format of this particular entry confusing, but I’m not quite sure how to better share it.

Entry:

‘Abbey TheatreThe most famous of Irish theatres and one of the most famous in the British Isles, if not in Europe. It was the centre of the Irish dramatic movement founded in 1899 by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. The aim of the movement was to present Irish plays on Irish subjects performed by Irish actors. The building itself was the result of a conversion of the old theatre of the Mechanics’ Institute in Abbey Street and the old city morgue next to it. Its creation was made possible through the munifcence (and tea) of Annie Horniman (1860-1937), who was later the pioneer of the Manchester School (q.v..). It was opened in 1904 and in the Irish dramatists of any note. Apart from Annie Horniman, the main moving spirits of the Abbey were W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge and Lady Gregory, plus the Fay brothers. The first plays presented were On Baile’s Strand and Cathleen ni Houliban by  Yets and Spreading the News by Lady Gregory. Later came Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World (1907), which caused riots because Irish morality was offended by a reference in the text to a woman’s shift (i.e. a chemise). The fortunes of the theatre declined somewhat with the removal of Annie Horniman’s financial support. Synge died in 1909 and Yeats resigned as a result of a dispute with Lady Gregory, who was to continue until she retired in 1928. Among distinguished Irish playwrights to have their plays produced at the Abbey in its earlier years were Padraic Colum (1881-1972), St John Greer Ervine (1883-197) and Lennox Robinson (1886-1958), who was manager of the Abbey from 1910 to 1923 (apart from a short break), in which year he became director. After the First World War there were more financial troubles, which were partly relieved by three famous plays by Sean O’Casey (1880-1964): namely, Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924) and The Plough and the Stars (1926). In 1925 the Abbey received a government grant and became the first state-subsidized theatre in the English-speaking world. After O’Casey’s departure for England (the Abbey rejected The Silver Tassie in 1928 and O’Casey was deeply offended) the theatre was sustained by a number of fine plays by George Shiels (1886-1949). There was also emphasis on plays in Gaelic. The theatre burned down in 1951; a new one opened in 1966.’

Despite how incredibly information-dense this excerpt was, I found it quite interesting as a foreigner living in Ireland. I love theatre and found plenty of plays to read in this entry now have some background on well-known names in Irish history like Yeats and Lady Gregory, so that's enjoyable. However, I had not heard of the Abbey Theatre before this, and the book does not give examples of literary references to it so I am not sure how this will improve my understanding of future texts, but I guess only time will tell.

#book #books #literature #reference #penguin books #penguin classics #abbey theatre #irish theatre #irish literature #irish history #history

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Diary of an Oxygen Thief

! ! POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD ! !

Author: Anonymous

Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Pages: 147

Year Published: 2006

Number: 1

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Novel, Memoir

How I consumed: Audiobook

Content Warnings: Sexual Content, Misogyny, Emotional Abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual Assault/Violence

Personal Review Written Last Year:

‘I liked this more than I thought I would. The endorsement I saw made me believe it would be a psychological horror, but it was more a coming of age story in a strange way. It depicts a misogynistic alcoholic’s recovery and experiencing the same treatment he afforded for women, from a woman. This is less to o with the story, but it was exciting recognizing some of the places mentioned in the story (i.e. Killiney). It was very honest and informal, not really linear in how the story was told, but overall I really enjoyed it. The end seemed a bit fantastical, but I am pretty sure the narrator is meant to be unreliable.’

Today:

I do not remember the story very well, but I believe there were heavy themes of sexual power and power imbalance, usually in relation to the narrator’s shaky self-image, which I personally find fascinating. Sex is so tightly woven into society today that you can’t help but be curious when it comes to different perspectives and applications of sex. Besides that, I enjoyed an ugly, unhappy misogynist who was forced to confront his own ideology. From what I remember about that instant, it was bitter and lonely.

I think I’d like to upload and reexamine past reviews alongside the current ones, as I like seeing how my perspectives and focuses change, as well as getting the opportunity to look over the material again.

References:

Diary of an Oxygen Thief. Gallery Books, 2006.

#book #books #reading #book review #personal education #fiction #diary of an oxygen thief #anonymous #contemporary #novel #memoir