October 24: Spooky Season Reading Thoughts

[kinetic_elaboration]

I am very tired because I didn’t get the most sleep last night and it has been a very long day. A lot of talking, with @riotsquirrrl but also at work. I actually did sleep for an hour in the evening, and I was like OUT-out for that time. I think I really needed it but between that and this slumber-party type of awake feeling I have now I am just… not thinking about sleep anymore. And also I keep getting distracted.

I read one Ligotti story (Teatro Grotesco) and one Grabinski story (The Area) this week and just by chance they were sort of similar. Or at least sort of reminded me of each other in a broad way. Maybe this is in part because I have been reading them together for a while, but it’s hard for me not to see the similarities, the Grabinski influence in Ligotti. I feel like they have a similar sort of style.

When reading Teatro, I particularly noticed a precision in the description: very specific details that obscured what was not explained and highlighted what was nonsensical. I’m still trying to decide if I think The Area was doing this. It’s like on the tip of my tongue…not exactly, but I feel like this observation should nevertheless lead me to something about The Area.

Anyway, both stories were about artists, and in particular writers in pursuit of art on a dangerously advanced level, and I’m still working out if I think the similarities go any deeper than that–but it’s still a connection that’s impressively on point for two works I picked out randomly.

I feel like I read The Area pretty fast and got it on only the most superficial level. Like I think there’s probably a lot beneath that I didn’t really get, that hit me more like ‘huh that’s weird’ than anything.

This is a pretty incoherent post and I wish I could say something better about these two stories–maybe after some more contemplation.