Reading Wednesday

[sabotabby]

 Currently reading: Faust Part 2 by Goethe. You know, did Faust need a sequel? I guess. This is acutely stranger than the first one, and the extremely long (like half the book) explanation of why didn't really clarify it? We go from fairies in the meadow to the Emperor's court to bringing back Helen and Paris from Greek mythology because why the fuck not. And of course, there is the bizarre tangent into a discussion into the gold standard, which is why ioplokon wanted me to read this. Look. I kind of thought he was kidding? Maybe, or that it would be more metaphorical??? but no it's literally  a discussion of the gold standard vs. paper money. Bless. 

The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: Vol. 2 by Kent Monkman. Finally getting around to reading this and it is excellent for several reasons. It picks up during the Red River Resistance and the buffalo slaughter, where colonialist expansionism westward decimated the Indigenous population in the Prairies. Which is obviously grim subject matter, but Monkman is careful to emphasize the many episodes of resistance and cultural resiliency. Of course, it's also beautifully illustrated—the narrative is, in many ways, a framework on which to hang the artist's history paintings—and extremely queer. The highlight, as with the first volume, is learning some fun words in Cree that you can use in all kinds of contexts.

Comments

[ioplokon]

I never kid about monetary policy.

BTW not to just keep you reading different Fausts forever, but Marlowe's Faust has the best Helen scene by far (Was this the face that launched a thousand ships and burnt the topless towers of Ilium?).

[kore]

Oh yes, it's lovely.

[sabotabby]

I'm like, not positive I didn't read it, or at least see it? Like I remember reading Faust and I assumed it was Goethe but it might have been Marlowe.

Anyway I also enjoyed Helen's introduction with all the men swooning and the women being like, "she's not that hot" and then Mephistopheles is like, "meh, she's not my type." Thank you Goethe for that.

[blogcutter]

I must confess I don't recall reading Goethe's Faust Part 2. We did study Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus in high school English class. Maybe you did too, or maybe you've actually taught it? I kind of have a bias against leisure reading of plays, unless I'm actually going to be able to see them performed in a theatre, or at least as a movie. I quite like the Gounod opera too.

I'd like to read the Monkman book some time, but probably not very soon, given all the other books competing for my time, attention and overall interests!

[sabotabby]

Oh, I only teach Indigenous literatures. But I think I might have encountered it at some point in high school.

[kore]

Look. I kind of thought he was kidding? Maybe, or that it would be more metaphorical??? but no it's literally a discussion of the gold standard vs. paper money. Bless.

Goethe has Many and Varied Interests! and boy do we get to hear all about them.

[sabotabby]

We sure do.