I just heard my mom tell my brother, “when you die, you will go outside and garden until your father says you’re done” and it took me a second to realize that my brother was playing a videogame and this was not a theological discussion.
After I read the scene where Laurie recognises a bit of Andrew in an old photograph of Ralph, I went back to re-read (again) the part where Laurie meets Andrew for the first time because I was absolutely convinced there must be something in how he's described that clues you into Laurie making an unconscious connection to Ralph...only thing I came away with is that Laurie really likes blonds 😭
Adding ‘lol’ to the end of a sentence is the laugh track of the written word.
how does matthew somehow think James will forgive him for this, how did he just leave his family the day his brother almost died, how-??? i know this whole thing will be put on the 'bracelet blinding james' but even without that, "hey I love you run away with me from your husband, who's supposed to be as close as a brother to me" is-- ???? how is this not obviously a total betrayal, even if he thinks James is with Grace
Thank you @rottenlaertes for tagging me!
3 Ships You Like:
Laurie Odell/Ralph Lanyon (The Charioteer)
Laurie Odell/Andrew Raynes (also The Charioteer)
I cannot think of a third tbh, maybe Ralph Lanyon/Alec Deacon? (Also the Charioteer -- can you tell I've read it recently?)
First Ship Ever: I don’t really remember. I know it's locked in my memory somewhere, but I probably haven't thought about wherever it's from in forever, so it's not coming to me now
Last Song You Heard: Sang-Hyun’s Prayer by Jo Yeong-wook, from the movie ‘Thirst'
Favorite Children Book: The Giver by Lois Lowry!
Currently Reading: The Phaedrus, so I can reread the Charioteer right after lol
Currently Watching: The Legend of Korra!
Currently Consuming: I’m having tea!
Currently Craving: Coffee!
honestly, all the people I would want to tag in this have already done it so anyone else who wants to can!
hmm, is the title "The Beautiful Cordelia" a nod to Jane Austen's "The Beautifull Cassandra"
Odysseus: What do you think?
Achilles: I wasn't listening but I strongly disagree with Agamemnon.
by Emily Dickinson
Have you got a brook in your little heart, Where bashful flowers blow, And blushing birds go down to drink, And shadows tremble so?
And nobody knows, so still it flows, That any brook is there; And yet your little draught of life Is daily drunken there.
Then look out for the little brook in March, When the rivers overflow, And the snows come hurrying from the hills, And the bridges often go.
And later, in August it may be, When the meadows parching lie, Beware, lest this little brook of life Some burning noon go dry!
Ecclesiastes 4:1-3
Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless. So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living. But most fortunate of all are those who are not yet born. For they have not seen all the evil that is done under the sun.
I hope you'll be able to post! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Re the Alec line - - I'm taking it in the sense that Alec finally gets to do what Ralph never allowed him to do in their relationship: help him. And it's kind of sweet to see all the effort he had to go to in order to make sure Laurie straightens everything out.
A little random blurb but: I really liked Alec and Ralph's friendship. When I was reading, I got the impression they were somewhat similar in character and this was their issue before when they were together. But maybe I'm wrong here; Alec does say Ralph's capacity to shoulder responsibility is singular and he doesn't share it. I can't think of much beyond these small thoughts but seeing it all laid out made me wonder about it more.
At the end of The Charioteer, Laurie lies to Ralph but feels the lie as if it's true. There's something that must be done, and only he can do it. He accepts this, even if he lies in order to achieve it.
Before, Ralph told Laurie he hates to stand by watching while there's pain or the possibility of it, and do nothing. It's not the way he's made, he says. This is a direct contrast to Andrew, who we see literally standing, watching and doing nothing when caring for Charlot. This is not because Andrew is unkind, it is because there is right and wrong and nothing whatever in between. Ralph is not like this: people need someone, he takes on that responsibility, even if it isn't his to shoulder. He acts like God, they say. He's the opposite of Andrew in this regard. Maybe the point is that Laurie isn't like Andrew either, although he loves him. It's also not in his nature to stand and watch people suffer; this is why he felt something ought to be done in school when Ralph was being kicked out, and why he feels it at the end of the book when he realizes what Ralph is planning to do. It's why he feels the pressing demand to deceive Charlot even as he knows that, in his right mind, the man would never want it. I got the sense the first time I read the book and now the second, that Laurie is much more generally suited to Ralph, and this is why.
I don't know if this makes sense, I've not gotten much sleep. Any thoughts? Do you think this is right, wrong? Am I overthinking it?
Just a blog for whatever I'm interested in at any given time. 23.
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