| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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MEATLOAF! Between the fires covering the city in a pink daytime gauze, the full moon spinning us counterclockwise and the oppressive heat im beginning to loose my mind. Enter twit 9 year old Catholic school shit. Walking past the Catholic school today on this incredibly foggy morning two little weiner 9 year olds are ducking from the main assembly of kids in the yard. From the other side of the fence i glance at one of them and he does this *cough"FAG"cough* trick. It doesnt jive with me until Im already past him. " Did he just call me a 'fag'?" i think to myself. "I think he did, that little fuckaroo". I do look a bit faggy today...i AM wearing a vintage womens shirt. And I did grab Joyce's Portrait of an Artist to re-read on my way out this morning. Is it coincidence, Pan, fate that im being verbally assaulted by a Catholic boy as a pre-text to rediving into this book i paid so little attention to in high school? You damnright it is. So now im all uncomfortable about how I look. I feel fat, my jelly rolls on my hips juggling down the hall way in my tight Levi polyester pants, wife beater underneath my faggy vintage women's white and navy polka dot shirt. I want to go home. Just kick me in the nuts why dontcha? I surmized the verbal assault from said catholic boy from behind fence, obscured by a feigned cough was the beginning of much payback for all the shitty things i did to other people as a kid. |
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are we planning a return to hell? |
All i remember from high school is not grumbling about it as much as the other kids. brilliant, intuitive assement nate. you reiterated what a nine year old kid instantaneously surmized earlier. bravo! shut up and eat your peas spunk. |
I love that book. And, I think a huge part of that love comes from the fact that I as a Catholic have had experiences that mirror Stephen's so very closely. The religious fervor, and the disillusionment caused by "foetus" and "les jupes." I *know* those experiences. Shoot, I need to read that book again. |
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"His daily life was laid out in devotional areas. By means of ejaculations and prayers he stored up ungrudgingly for the souls in purgatory centuries of days and quarantines and years; yet the spiritual triumph which he felt in achieving with ease so many fabulous ages of canonical penances did not wholly reward his zeal of prayer, since he could never know how much temporal punishment he had remitted by way of suffrage for the agonizing souls; and fearful lest in the midst of the purgatorial fire, which differed from the infernal only in that it was not everlasting, his penance might avail no more than a drop of moisture, he drove his soul daily through an increasing circle of works of supererogation." |
bitch be chasing his religious tail. Why? Who said this? |
heh, he said "ejaculations". |
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Nobody's chasing his tail (or maybe I misunderstand you). He's trying to make reparation for the souls in Purgatory -- he's offering his suffering in place of theirs -- and worries that his efforts aren't enough, since he has no way of knowing how much of their sentence he has remitted with his penance. So he pushes himself harder and harder with regards to the rigors of his spiritual exercises. Seriously, I don't mean to imply that you can't get it -- I'm just concerned that you won't understand the theology, and the center of the book is Stephen's religious transformation. It's very important to your appreciation of the book that you understand what he's struggling with. |
I've surprised a couple of people by correctly guessing they were adult converts to Catholicism, not because they slipped up in church or thought the wrong thing about what a saint is or something, but because of their attitude toward suffering. Many saints have said that they're not happy unless they're suffering -- that's why hair shirts and ropes around the waist, etc. used to be so popular. Not because of the suffering itself, but because they can offer their suffering as a sacrifice to God, either for their own benefit or in the place of others (including the dead). |
Of course, you have to have a prayerful attitude toward your pain, and it can't be a result of something bad. (Like, you're upset because your boyfriend won't leave his wife.) |
when i made that last post all of sudden Explorer freaked out and kept opening window after window after window until my memory was tanked. i saw some file that appeared to be downloading so I shut the machine off. No virus was found but it was fucking violent. Yes, i gathered the jist of the paragraph. though not as eloquently as you put it. Since he can't confirm any remittence, it is an exercise in futility in my perception, i.e chasing of the tail. Does it make sense to me...sure, Catholics have all kinds of guilt that provoke them to do some of the most torturous things. Im unfamiliar with most Catholic church doctrine other than the basic principles that most ding dongs know. Will this prevent me from getting the book or are you being a literature snob? I dunno. But i wonder why it would be such an avidly taught book in highschool if most 10th graders were taught as little as they were about the Catholicism. I understand the overriding themes of Catholicism enough to understand the book spider. No worries. |
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I don't mean to be a literary snob -- I just love the book and I want to make sure you do too. That's sort of the anti-snob, right? |
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