I always say if you put melted cheese on dog shit I would probably eat it. That’s an exaggeration of course but not much of one. I’m sad to admit that I have not tried that many types of cheese. I’ve tried brie, cheddar, goat cheese, and those common types, with the rarest being gorgonzola. This isn’t very rare for much of the world but for where I live that is barely ever eaten. One day I hope to try more varieties.

This book was a difficult read for many reasons. But I liked how detailed it is regarding the inner life of the characters. I liked how specific it is with regard to the dimensions and nature and contradictions of their pain. There are some parts where the melodrama becomes very transparent and on the nose. The titles of some of the parts in particular give me a kind of “fanfic” vibe, but overall the book was very rich and sophisticated. Many people have complained about the length, but I found that the length serves a very important purpose. It is like putting a microscope into the hearts of these men, and so even the minute details are made extraordinarily large, breathtakingly large.

I encountered Borges when I became a literature student in around 2010. His imagination, excellence, and philosophical depth made a huge impression on me. I also enjoyed the fact that his fiction was rarely lengthy. The language is evocative and sophisticated enough to bring home the usually very complex points that he wishes to make or philosophical notions that he wishes to illustrate. Most of the time, his fiction centers around ideas rather than feelings. His work therefore has a cosmic quality, and the author himself a kind of sage-like aura.

I still talk to people about the Library of Babel. It is a handy and neat thought experiment from one of his most famous pieces of fiction that demonstrates his genius. And then I show them the demonstration online of the concept, and then they are truly amazed.

The Favourite is one of the few movies that I wished kept going forever. I could really, really like a movie but still appreciate the fact that it ends. While I appreciate the ending of The Favourite, I was still very much disappointed that the entire thing had to come to a close, though that closing was in itself a stroke of genius. The absurd nature of the monarchial, premodern world was rendered so beautifully that it was sometimes impossible to tell that it was a satirical black comedy.

No aspect of the film is anything short of excellence. The script, the production, the cinematography, the performances, the direction, the music… And most importantly the very philosophical cosmology the film inhabits is a fascinating one. One where power and folly are so tightly interwound, so much so that the desire for power is the desire for folly, and the peak of power, as manifested in Queen Anne, is the peak of immaturity, stupidity, impotence. It is a staggering indictment of humanity, at its very core, which is a central theme in the movies of Lanthimos, as in The Lobster or The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

Sadly, I’ve yet to watch his more recent films. I am particularly interested in Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness, and Bugonia. But I will watch them soon.

I bought my copy of this book at a rooftop concert. I had to borrow money from my friend to get it. It was a secondhand book, and the way it looked made me feel like it was thoroughly loved. When I read it, I realized and felt the real why Hemingway is so revered. We know him as a writer of terse and economical prose, but it wasn’t just that. Hemingway has an eye for what things are meaningful and what aren’t.

I keep this book close to me at all times. Once in a while, I read a story or even only parts of a story. It soothes me. I am not partial to Hemingway. And I hated Old Man and the Sea. But the short works of his prime are perfectly crafted. I admire them and hopefully learn from them.