"the rings of saturn" response

Matt, you probably could not have picked a more depressing reading. No one wants to spend time writing a response on a class blog after reading an essay that is mostly about how transient life is. That being said, it had some beautifully written parts. I loved the Kafka reference because that scene is exactly what sprang to mind when he talked about crawling over to the window.
I hate it when authors assume that their readers speak different languages. I could mostly get the french quote, but the bit in Latin towards the end, forget it. I didn't even recognize the work it was from or its author. I think that when you write things in multiple languages you are either writing for yourself alone, or being ridiculously self-indulgent.

On page 7, Flaubert's problem that kept him confined to the couch for months was sad and funny. On the one hand, I understand him, and I think it's kind of sweet that he had such a fear of "compromising himself". On the other hand, that's clearly a form of depression. It's funny that there's kind of a blurry line between being a sensitive artist and being emotionally imbalanced. Just like there's a fine line between being horribly depressed and simply knowing the realities of the world.
Pages 10, 11, 14 and 15 were missing! I'll never know what happened to that skull.
Anyway, continuing on the above thought, Flaubert's thoughts about sand are, I think, an example of the way most artists think, very romantic and lazily unfolding and all underpinned with a sense of anxiety. I like how the author juxtaposed the sand thoughts with the piles of hoarded notes in the academic's office. It suggests that all artists/intellectuals are teetering a bit on the edge of madness, or at least are in danger of being engulfed by their own reflections.

When he talks about the quincux and the way patterns appear in nature and architecture (the pyramids, etc) I was reminded of Vaastu, the Hindu practice of making architecture and sculpture using "sacred geometry" and the idea of fractals. In this way, they make icons and temples that replicate the perfections of nature and the homes of the gods, and make them attractive places for the gods to reside.

My favorite quote from the reading was "To him it seems a miracle that we should last so much as a single day".