Giovanni
Fragmented by nature, sometimes heavy with little solace. Now when I feel down I can say with Pessoa: “Nothing satisfies me, nothing consoles me; everything jades me, whether or not it ever existed. I don't want to have my soul and don't want to renounce it. I want what I don't want and renounce what I don't have. I can't be nothing nor be everything: I'm the bridge between what I don't have and what I don't want.”
not an introductory book (best enjoyed if you know the events already), but overall pleasant and informative.
I can't remember why this book was on my to-read list. I usually find something to take away from each of these self-help books. Here I couldn't. I found it self-centered and trite.
Can't believe I hadn't read this until now. It has the desperation, majesty, and hope of a Brahms symphony.
Having read the previous biography by Ashlee Vance (2015), it is impressive that almost half of this one is about what happened since 2015. Complex character yes, but pretty difficult to ignore.
Tough, complex read (and listen). Takes a while to get oriented. Reminded me of a piece of contemporary music, where you are allowed to follow for a while but then plunged back into a confusion of fragments. Some of this confusion is deliberate (for example, the use of the same name for multiple characters, or the name change in another). Will need a second read! Faulkner wants you do so some work too. How nice when a book (or, for that matter, a poem, music, movie, dinner, painting) makes an impression that stays with you for days!
mostly content that is also in biographies and other books. The few pieces that are not elsewhere are interesting.