RobF
@darwin8u.bsky.social
A fan of cultural coprophagia and political absurdity. Also books. Also pencils. Also live music and diet Dr. Pepper.
October reads. Fairly light month. Finished the Expanse ennealogy + short fiction, dug deeper into Sharpe, hung with Pynchon, Daddy Littell and about 4 different Nobel-winning authors.
November 3, 2025 at 5:04 PM
October reads. Fairly light month. Finished the Expanse ennealogy + short fiction, dug deeper into Sharpe, hung with Pynchon, Daddy Littell and about 4 different Nobel-winning authors.
My 13 September reads. The Sharpe novels are fun, but a literary shave below O’Brian. Loved The Pastor, Myth of Sisyphus, Florida, and Curran’s bio of Diderot. No bad books this month. Greene’s first novel shows a helluva voice for a writer in his twenties.
November 3, 2025 at 5:02 PM
My 13 September reads. The Sharpe novels are fun, but a literary shave below O’Brian. Loved The Pastor, Myth of Sisyphus, Florida, and Curran’s bio of Diderot. No bad books this month. Greene’s first novel shows a helluva voice for a writer in his twenties.
Schattenfroh’s home until I find a better space. I’m not sure if I should start it or wait until I’ve finished WTV’s Rising Up and Rising Down and Schmidt’s Bottom’s Dream. Too many White Whales, not enough Ahabs.
September 10, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Schattenfroh’s home until I find a better space. I’m not sure if I should start it or wait until I’ve finished WTV’s Rising Up and Rising Down and Schmidt’s Bottom’s Dream. Too many White Whales, not enough Ahabs.
17 in August. Favorites? Both Kang. Both DeWitt. Johnson’s stories. Carrington’s Hearing Trumpet. Miller’s Crucible. Everett’s I am not SP. SGJ’s Mapping the Interior. The rest were solid too
September 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
17 in August. Favorites? Both Kang. Both DeWitt. Johnson’s stories. Carrington’s Hearing Trumpet. Miller’s Crucible. Everett’s I am not SP. SGJ’s Mapping the Interior. The rest were solid too
Just picked up from a British LeCarré friend the original BBC TTSS & S’sP today, with original soundtrack. We are definitely surfing similar waves Luke.
August 27, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Just picked up from a British LeCarré friend the original BBC TTSS & S’sP today, with original soundtrack. We are definitely surfing similar waves Luke.
June reads. Buffalo Hunter Hunter was fantastically executed. Adolescent was very good and the last of Dostoevsky's big six for me to read. Lamb writes good stories, just not great history.
July 16, 2025 at 4:13 AM
June reads. Buffalo Hunter Hunter was fantastically executed. Adolescent was very good and the last of Dostoevsky's big six for me to read. Lamb writes good stories, just not great history.
Late throwing this on here, but my May reads. Favorites? Bell’s In the House Upon.., Evenson’s Altmann’s Tongue, Fresán’s Melvill, Kohlhaas’ Heinrich von Kleist, Rilke’s Dark Interval, Ørstavik’s Love, Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress, le Carré’s Letters, & Xenophon’s Memorabilia.
July 16, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Late throwing this on here, but my May reads. Favorites? Bell’s In the House Upon.., Evenson’s Altmann’s Tongue, Fresán’s Melvill, Kohlhaas’ Heinrich von Kleist, Rilke’s Dark Interval, Ørstavik’s Love, Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress, le Carré’s Letters, & Xenophon’s Memorabilia.
18 in April. Can’t believe it took me this long to read the Stand. Top 5 of the month? Páramo, Alter, Mitchell’s Rilke, Fosse, Evenson. I really enjoyed the Murderbot series (clearly, I read all 7 this month), the Stand, and the last two of Jones’s Angel of Indian Lake Trilogy.
May 2, 2025 at 2:35 AM
18 in April. Can’t believe it took me this long to read the Stand. Top 5 of the month? Páramo, Alter, Mitchell’s Rilke, Fosse, Evenson. I really enjoyed the Murderbot series (clearly, I read all 7 this month), the Stand, and the last two of Jones’s Angel of Indian Lake Trilogy.
14 for February. Folio Edition of 'The Mirror of the Sea' also has another memoir of Conrad's: ‘A Personal Record!'
Favorites this month?: Conrad, McPhee, Borges, Alter, and Fosse. Vollmann was like bad medicine that works. Davis had a lot of potential. Banville’s done better.
Favorites this month?: Conrad, McPhee, Borges, Alter, and Fosse. Vollmann was like bad medicine that works. Davis had a lot of potential. Banville’s done better.
March 2, 2025 at 5:57 PM
14 for February. Folio Edition of 'The Mirror of the Sea' also has another memoir of Conrad's: ‘A Personal Record!'
Favorites this month?: Conrad, McPhee, Borges, Alter, and Fosse. Vollmann was like bad medicine that works. Davis had a lot of potential. Banville’s done better.
Favorites this month?: Conrad, McPhee, Borges, Alter, and Fosse. Vollmann was like bad medicine that works. Davis had a lot of potential. Banville’s done better.
Reading Joseph Conrad’s two memoirs: Mirror of the Sea (1906) and Personal Record (1912). Lovely.
February 12, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Reading Joseph Conrad’s two memoirs: Mirror of the Sea (1906) and Personal Record (1912). Lovely.
Back on my Borgeshit!
February 11, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Back on my Borgeshit!
Reading in February in Arizona.
February 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reading in February in Arizona.
Banville drops the pseudonym and adds Detective Inspector Strafford.
January 31, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Banville drops the pseudonym and adds Detective Inspector Strafford.
First dozen of 2025. January’s reads. Lispector blew me away with her two. Alison’s Villa E and Harvey’s Orbital were beautifully constructed experiences. Nobody writes like Denis Johnson. SGJ! Vollmann and Loewesnstein offer different tangents of how we & our future are fucked.
January 31, 2025 at 6:53 PM
First dozen of 2025. January’s reads. Lispector blew me away with her two. Alison’s Villa E and Harvey’s Orbital were beautifully constructed experiences. Nobody writes like Denis Johnson. SGJ! Vollmann and Loewesnstein offer different tangents of how we & our future are fucked.
The new Littell novel (father R not son J). Trotsky Down Bronx.
January 31, 2025 at 2:52 AM
The new Littell novel (father R not son J). Trotsky Down Bronx.
Technically, I should have read this BEFORE I started reading Bottom’s Dream, but alas, there may still be time. I’ve got 207 more weeks left “walking” alone with Schmidt’s 16lb übermonster. Hint, for those who want to read BD themselves in the future, Poe’s “Narrative of AG Pym…” is big in Book 1.
January 29, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Technically, I should have read this BEFORE I started reading Bottom’s Dream, but alas, there may still be time. I’ve got 207 more weeks left “walking” alone with Schmidt’s 16lb übermonster. Hint, for those who want to read BD themselves in the future, Poe’s “Narrative of AG Pym…” is big in Book 1.
Bottom’s Dream by Arno Schmidt is 1496 pages. Four years of Trump is 1460 days. My goal is to read roughly a page of BD a day for the next 4 years. Been doing this for about 9 days now. Good choice.
January 29, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Bottom’s Dream by Arno Schmidt is 1496 pages. Four years of Trump is 1460 days. My goal is to read roughly a page of BD a day for the next 4 years. Been doing this for about 9 days now. Good choice.
I just saw Landmark is preparing to publish Polybius next year (2026). This is what rich oil/finance bros need to do with their money. (See Robert Strassler).
January 19, 2025 at 5:58 AM
I just saw Landmark is preparing to publish Polybius next year (2026). This is what rich oil/finance bros need to do with their money. (See Robert Strassler).
23 in Dec for 164 in 2024. Finished Black’s (née Banville’s) Quirke series with a very strong Even the Dead. Read Aristotle’s Politics & Rhetoric in anticipation of 2025. Felt appropriate post election. Loved Prophet Song (emotionally wrecked me) and James (a phenomenal work) + Evenson & Olsen, ftw.
January 3, 2025 at 10:45 PM
23 in Dec for 164 in 2024. Finished Black’s (née Banville’s) Quirke series with a very strong Even the Dead. Read Aristotle’s Politics & Rhetoric in anticipation of 2025. Felt appropriate post election. Loved Prophet Song (emotionally wrecked me) and James (a phenomenal work) + Evenson & Olsen, ftw.
Reading Borges and Ducornet today.
December 4, 2024 at 3:52 AM
Reading Borges and Ducornet today.
November reads. Lot of great books here. A few of my favorites: James, A Lost Lady, By Night in Chile, Brat Farrar, and the Wisdom Books. Not many duds. The LeCarré was one of my least favorites of his novels. But that’s probably the only miss for me last month.
December 3, 2024 at 2:43 PM
November reads. Lot of great books here. A few of my favorites: James, A Lost Lady, By Night in Chile, Brat Farrar, and the Wisdom Books. Not many duds. The LeCarré was one of my least favorites of his novels. But that’s probably the only miss for me last month.
Just started reading Ellroy’s second book in his L.A. Quintet series. Published in 2019, November of 2024 seemed an appropriate time to dip back into Ellroy. Dust jacket is definitely a provocative design choice. Ellroy doesn’t dance around his themes. He injects them right in.
November 17, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Just started reading Ellroy’s second book in his L.A. Quintet series. Published in 2019, November of 2024 seemed an appropriate time to dip back into Ellroy. Dust jacket is definitely a provocative design choice. Ellroy doesn’t dance around his themes. He injects them right in.
Just finished watching Heretic with my non-practicing Mormon family. I was a missionary in Boulder, CO from 1993-1995. So clearly, this movie hit really, REALLY close to home. We all loved it. So damn tight.
November 17, 2024 at 2:40 AM
Just finished watching Heretic with my non-practicing Mormon family. I was a missionary in Boulder, CO from 1993-1995. So clearly, this movie hit really, REALLY close to home. We all loved it. So damn tight.