jeremie's reviews
102 reviews

the parts of this book told from quentin’s perspective are just extraordinary. faulkner does things with language in that section that i can’t even begin to explain to you. even the simplest lines become so heartbreaking.

these are some excerpts that have continually stuck with me after i’ve read this

“There was something terrible in me sometimes at night I could see it grinning at me I could see it through them grinning at me through their faces it’s gone now and I’m sick”
every italicised run-on line in this goddamn book devastated me in one way or another.

“A quarter-hour yet. And then I’ll not be. The peacefullest words. Peacefullest words.”

honestly everything to do with the time motif just absolutely floored me. quentin breaking his watch at the beginning of his chapter, christ!! even that little exchange between caddy and quentin of “what time is it / i don’t know” only faulkner can make a simple line like that hurt so much

the whole second section was by far my favourite part of this novel, but the other three sections definitely also have their moments of ingenuity. just fantastic. now i need to harass every bookstore in a 100km radius to ask if they have absalom absalom in stock LOL

surprisingly accessible!! but i'd suggest having at least some knowledge of the platonic Forms before reading this, since he just kind of assumes the reader already knows of them and doesn't describe them very well here. the practical implementation of this illusive ideal State became a bit grating to read at times (i really don't care how long they should practice arithmetic for. and i don't care whether or not they should be taught astronomy. just give me more cave allegories please) but overall this was a very fun read! easy enough that no reading guide is required which is always a welcome surprise for classics written before the common era

“It wasn’t on a balance. I told them that if they wanted it to tote and ride on a balance, they would have to—“

“But nothing is so strange when one is in love as the complete indifference of other people.”

this is my favourite book ever probably. it's already fundamentally shaped the way i look at the world in so many ways. catcher in the rye is one of my favourites of all time and i've put off reading this for so long because i thought it would never be able to live up to that standard, but somehow it's even better. and i'm saying that as someone who thinks catcher in the rye is a perfect book with no flaws. genuinely i love j. d. salinger. the things he does with language in this book are really just extraordinary. there are lines from it that i keep repeating to myself in my head as i go about my day (a bit like the jesus prayer LOL) and i wanted to quote some of them here but i realised i'd just be quoting the whole damn book. i love love love love love this. i see so much of my brother in zooey. i just love this book. i need to stop typing because if i get into it this'll end up being a literary essay. genuinely just 100% recommend. please read this

coming back to edit this just to say that “i love you to pieces, distraction, etc.” is possibly the shortest yet also single most beautiful love poem ever

musste das buch für den unterricht lesen und war erstaunt, wie sehr es mir gefallen hat. "ich bin verloren" und die szene gegen ende , in der ill sich bei claire für die kränze und blumen für seinen sarg bedankt, sind beide so herzzerreißend. wirklich großartig.

i am such a massive chuck palahniuk fan and this book made me slightly embarrassed of that fact. which isn’t something i ever want to have to say about a book! i love palahniuk’s grit and almost juvenile edginess but something about the way it’s done in this novel just doesn’t work. it felt like someone parodying palahniuk’s style at points. i feel his book ‘rant’ covers some of the topics covered in this in a much more masterful way. still had a lot of fun reading this though, so rated 3.0 purely for enjoyment.