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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2877 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 9, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I have attempted to finish The Opposing Shore on, I think, four separate occasions since I was a teenager. I have never managed to do it. But yeah, there is something about the world he created that keeps dragging me back there. I'll finish it some day.

If you enjoy Gracq, I would be curious to know what you think about The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti. The two novels have, to me, an extremely similar "vibe."

Thank you, I will put it on the list! Honestly, I strongly considered putting The Opposing Shore down around 15% through (I'm reading on a kindle, no page numbers), but now things are heating up I'll keep going. Have you tried A Balcony in the Forest?

I checked it out from the library once about five years ago, and as I recall, I did not actually attempt to read it; for which I am somewhat embarrassed, honestly.

If I remembering correctly, I did penance for shying away from what, at the time, I feared would be too difficult a book for me, by reading Joseph Conrad's Victory. Victory had various positive attributes, particularly the impressive characterization of the characters Heyst, Ricardo, and Wang; but I found it rather weakly plotted and the ending was very unconvincing, and I would not go so far as to recommend it.

Yes, I read Victory when I was a teenager absolutely enamoured of Conrad, and even then I felt it was distinctly weak. Balcony is a really, really good read imo.

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