Labyrinth

Every time I think of my Thomas Pynchon mod, I sigh. It's not Pynchon's fault. I have a newfound appreciation for the genius of his writing and how deeply it engages with the culture of the 1960s and even modern culture today, it's just that his books are really meander-y and hard to read and the secondary readings are soooo philosophical it's not even funny.

Was very pleased that Jorge Luis Borges was one of our assigned secondary readings though. It's my first time reading any of his works and he writes so beautifully. As if he were dreaming, but dreaming lucidly; in a kind of blurry wakefulness of the kind you get when it's 2.30 am in the still morning and your brain starts smudging memories of the previous day. He makes me want to start writing again, like for the fun of it rather than the chore it has become.

"Your voice shall never come to what the Persian
Said in his tongue of roses, wine and birds,
When under dusk before the light is scattered
You wish to say some unforgettable words.

The ceaseless Rhône? My European lake?
That yesterday I hunch upon today
Will be erased as Carthage by the Romans
Whose salt and fire it could not hold at bay.

Here in the dawn I hear a multitude
Receding out of earshot, out of mind.
They have forgotten me who used to love me.
Borges and Space and Time leave me behind."

—From "Limits" by Borges

Maybe he's my new favourite writer.

Anyhow, in music news, been listening to The Staves like pretty much on repeat now. Their harmonies are so enchanting. I can't harmonise. I remember that time Deborah and I successfully harmonised and we were so excited we hugged each other walking down a street in Weymouth—that's how much I can't harmonise HAHA.





Bon Iver also dropped his new album last Friday and it's AMAZING. It's like the electronic sounds on each track shouldn't go together because they're so distinct, but they do. The layering is magical and makes you feel so good. It's perfect late night insomniac music and I really enjoy it.