Maureen McGranaghan
@mcgranaghan.bsky.social
Writer, Reader, Teacher, Student
www.maureenmcgranaghan.com
www.maureenmcgranaghan.com
"Once you put people in a position of power over other people, he said, there's no knowing what they'll do." True. #rachelcusktogether
November 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
"Once you put people in a position of power over other people, he said, there's no knowing what they'll do." True. #rachelcusktogether
"The people below had evidently remained unreconciled to the fact of others living above their heads." Uh-oh #rachelcusktogether
November 19, 2025 at 3:08 AM
"The people below had evidently remained unreconciled to the fact of others living above their heads." Uh-oh #rachelcusktogether
The description of the garden is at once dismal and desperate: "an apple tree that drooped amidst its own rotted, fallen fruit," other trees "frozen in postures of madness and distress," "sick-looking grey pigeons," and the "shrivelled, hobbling dog" peeing on the steps. 😬 #rachelcusktogether
November 19, 2025 at 3:07 AM
The description of the garden is at once dismal and desperate: "an apple tree that drooped amidst its own rotted, fallen fruit," other trees "frozen in postures of madness and distress," "sick-looking grey pigeons," and the "shrivelled, hobbling dog" peeing on the steps. 😬 #rachelcusktogether
Gerard, like Paniotis, thought Faye was living the perfect life. Faye herself, now that this life has been "jettisoned," again describes a sense of being punished, perhaps with more reason when it comes to Gerard. But he is similarly surprised--and also rejects the idea. #rachelcusktogether
November 16, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Gerard, like Paniotis, thought Faye was living the perfect life. Faye herself, now that this life has been "jettisoned," again describes a sense of being punished, perhaps with more reason when it comes to Gerard. But he is similarly surprised--and also rejects the idea. #rachelcusktogether
Anne's crisis is frightful. She has lost "a native language of self." Words have become labels that reduce/nullify things and people, rather than bringing them to life. #rachelcusktogether
November 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Anne's crisis is frightful. She has lost "a native language of self." Words have become labels that reduce/nullify things and people, rather than bringing them to life. #rachelcusktogether
I'm interested in how Cusk returns to the title word here in the last chapter. It appears on the first page with respect to the billionaire's narrative, a (confident) outline of his life; now Anne feels herself to be a negative outline created by another person's narrative. Hmm. #rachelcusktogether
November 9, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I'm interested in how Cusk returns to the title word here in the last chapter. It appears on the first page with respect to the billionaire's narrative, a (confident) outline of his life; now Anne feels herself to be a negative outline created by another person's narrative. Hmm. #rachelcusktogether
"If a man had a nasty side...She didn't want it roaming unseen in the hinterland of the relationship: she wanted to provoke it... Melete laughed. 'According to that logic...there can be no relationship at all. There can only be people stalking one another.'" #rachelcusktogether
November 3, 2025 at 2:11 AM
"If a man had a nasty side...She didn't want it roaming unseen in the hinterland of the relationship: she wanted to provoke it... Melete laughed. 'According to that logic...there can be no relationship at all. There can only be people stalking one another.'" #rachelcusktogether
Christos' story is my favorite...his phobia of dancing cured by 50s garb and the Lindy Hop. "I found myself not falling but flying, flying up and up, around and around, so fast and so high that I seemed to fly clear even of my body itself." #RachelCuskTogether
October 26, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Christos' story is my favorite...his phobia of dancing cured by 50s garb and the Lindy Hop. "I found myself not falling but flying, flying up and up, around and around, so fast and so high that I seemed to fly clear even of my body itself." #RachelCuskTogether
The faithless husband belting Carmen in the shower. 🤣 Gotta love it (unless you're the wife). #rachelcusktogether
October 23, 2025 at 1:00 AM
The faithless husband belting Carmen in the shower. 🤣 Gotta love it (unless you're the wife). #rachelcusktogether
I was surprised when the narrator said she liked Angeliki at the end of ch. 5. She seemed to be presented as insufferable, dominating the conversation and the ordering of the food (then eating so little of it). But I realized it was partly Paniotis' attitude I was reacting to. #rachelcusktogether
October 21, 2025 at 1:43 AM
I was surprised when the narrator said she liked Angeliki at the end of ch. 5. She seemed to be presented as insufferable, dominating the conversation and the ordering of the food (then eating so little of it). But I realized it was partly Paniotis' attitude I was reacting to. #rachelcusktogether
"That time spent swimming in the waterfall belongs nowhere: it is part of no sequence of events, it is only itself..." A spontaneous swim, intense and refreshing, after Paniotis and his children's harrowing experience. This has stayed with me. #rachelcusktogether
October 19, 2025 at 2:08 AM
"That time spent swimming in the waterfall belongs nowhere: it is part of no sequence of events, it is only itself..." A spontaneous swim, intense and refreshing, after Paniotis and his children's harrowing experience. This has stayed with me. #rachelcusktogether
"I replied that I wasn't sure it was possible, in marriage, to know what you actually were, or indeed to separate what you were from what you had become through the other person. I thought the whole idea of a 'real' self might be illusory..."
#rachelcusktogether
#rachelcusktogether
October 18, 2025 at 2:03 AM
"I replied that I wasn't sure it was possible, in marriage, to know what you actually were, or indeed to separate what you were from what you had become through the other person. I thought the whole idea of a 'real' self might be illusory..."
#rachelcusktogether
#rachelcusktogether
I feel rather ambivalent about Paniotis' account of his publishing downfall. It sounds as though he was not able to meet his contractual obligations for (advance) payments, in which case I can't blame the writers for being upset. It's not just the money but the trust. #rachelcusktogether
October 17, 2025 at 12:38 AM
I feel rather ambivalent about Paniotis' account of his publishing downfall. It sounds as though he was not able to meet his contractual obligations for (advance) payments, in which case I can't blame the writers for being upset. It's not just the money but the trust. #rachelcusktogether
I like her reading of the scene in Wuthering Heights too, the "fatal...subjectivity" of Catherine and Heathcliff's perception of the Lintons. No one, arguably, sees what's really there (whatever that means). Even the people in the scene perceive it subjectively. #rachelcusktogether
October 12, 2025 at 2:17 AM
I like her reading of the scene in Wuthering Heights too, the "fatal...subjectivity" of Catherine and Heathcliff's perception of the Lintons. No one, arguably, sees what's really there (whatever that means). Even the people in the scene perceive it subjectively. #rachelcusktogether
"What was striking was the sheer negative capability of their former intimacy... And what is astonishing is how much detail it gathers to itself, so that nothing remains untouched by it...maddened by detail, they erupted into physical violence. Hmm. The minutiae of ire. #rachelcusktogether
October 12, 2025 at 2:12 AM
"What was striking was the sheer negative capability of their former intimacy... And what is astonishing is how much detail it gathers to itself, so that nothing remains untouched by it...maddened by detail, they erupted into physical violence. Hmm. The minutiae of ire. #rachelcusktogether
Ah, the Greek's absurd vanity about his car (and boat)! And his confession of three marriages. "I'm the full disaster." She hasn't even been in Athens 24 hrs. Yikes. #rachelcusktogether
October 11, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Ah, the Greek's absurd vanity about his car (and boat)! And his confession of three marriages. "I'm the full disaster." She hasn't even been in Athens 24 hrs. Yikes. #rachelcusktogether
I confess to not liking Ryan much, though he makes an impression. His habit of taking the inside place on the sidewalk and basically acknowledging he is exposing her to vehicular homicide rubs me the wrong way.
#rachelcusktogether
#rachelcusktogether
October 8, 2025 at 1:21 AM
I confess to not liking Ryan much, though he makes an impression. His habit of taking the inside place on the sidewalk and basically acknowledging he is exposing her to vehicular homicide rubs me the wrong way.
#rachelcusktogether
#rachelcusktogether
I've read Outline twice, yet this first chapter fascinated me all over again. The billionaire and the Greek's stories, the "magic" of distress that brings her children's dropped items back, the armchair in-laws, the exhaustion and expense of a life without limitations... #RachelCuskTogether
October 6, 2025 at 2:36 AM
I've read Outline twice, yet this first chapter fascinated me all over again. The billionaire and the Greek's stories, the "magic" of distress that brings her children's dropped items back, the armchair in-laws, the exhaustion and expense of a life without limitations... #RachelCuskTogether
"life...had treated them abundantly, and this--he now saw--was what had given him the confidence to break it all, break it with what now seemed to him to be an extraordinary casualness, because he thought there would be more." #Rachelcusktogether
October 3, 2025 at 2:15 AM
"life...had treated them abundantly, and this--he now saw--was what had given him the confidence to break it all, break it with what now seemed to him to be an extraordinary casualness, because he thought there would be more." #Rachelcusktogether
"Lord Widmerpool seemed to enjoy a tussle, then giving in, and being given a penance. Never knew such a man for penances." Ah, what an enigmatic figure was Widmerpool. Plenty of penances (you might say) throughout the books, from bananas to sugar to red paint to stink bombs.
#anthonypowelltogether
#anthonypowelltogether
September 19, 2025 at 2:12 AM
"Lord Widmerpool seemed to enjoy a tussle, then giving in, and being given a penance. Never knew such a man for penances." Ah, what an enigmatic figure was Widmerpool. Plenty of penances (you might say) throughout the books, from bananas to sugar to red paint to stink bombs.
#anthonypowelltogether
#anthonypowelltogether
"Ken's transcendental gifts were not what Scorp wanted him for. I doubt if he possessed any. Not like Gwinnett. It was Ken's will-power." But Scorp's will-power, Barnabas tells us, is "stronger than anything." He subjugated the irrepressible Widmerpool. #anthonypowelltogether
September 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
"Ken's transcendental gifts were not what Scorp wanted him for. I doubt if he possessed any. Not like Gwinnett. It was Ken's will-power." But Scorp's will-power, Barnabas tells us, is "stronger than anything." He subjugated the irrepressible Widmerpool. #anthonypowelltogether
"Fashion, decreeing one kissed almost everyone these days, might not unreasonably have brought that about had she kept herself less erect."
Poor Nick. Does he want to kiss her one last time? #AnthonyPowellTogether
Poor Nick. Does he want to kiss her one last time? #AnthonyPowellTogether
September 17, 2025 at 1:25 AM
"Fashion, decreeing one kissed almost everyone these days, might not unreasonably have brought that about had she kept herself less erect."
Poor Nick. Does he want to kiss her one last time? #AnthonyPowellTogether
Poor Nick. Does he want to kiss her one last time? #AnthonyPowellTogether
Surprised to see Barnabas go from being held all but captive by Murtlock to having his own gallery... and putting together a major retrospective (of Mr. D no less).
And Quentin Shuckerly got "battered to death" in Greenwich Village? (Just a parenthetical statement here.) Whoa.
#anthonypowelltogether
And Quentin Shuckerly got "battered to death" in Greenwich Village? (Just a parenthetical statement here.) Whoa.
#anthonypowelltogether
September 16, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Surprised to see Barnabas go from being held all but captive by Murtlock to having his own gallery... and putting together a major retrospective (of Mr. D no less).
And Quentin Shuckerly got "battered to death" in Greenwich Village? (Just a parenthetical statement here.) Whoa.
#anthonypowelltogether
And Quentin Shuckerly got "battered to death" in Greenwich Village? (Just a parenthetical statement here.) Whoa.
#anthonypowelltogether
"...it was clear that Murtlock had moved a long way, in terms of power... Perhaps he had learnt something from Widmerpool, while at the same time subduing him." Hmm #anthonypowelltogether
September 14, 2025 at 3:53 PM
"...it was clear that Murtlock had moved a long way, in terms of power... Perhaps he had learnt something from Widmerpool, while at the same time subduing him." Hmm #anthonypowelltogether
"In his present mood Widmerpool was capable of exploring in public, in much the same manner that he had been expatiating on them to me, all the mystical implications of Sir Bertram Akworth's youthful desires." #anthonypowelltogether
September 13, 2025 at 2:59 AM
"In his present mood Widmerpool was capable of exploring in public, in much the same manner that he had been expatiating on them to me, all the mystical implications of Sir Bertram Akworth's youthful desires." #anthonypowelltogether