A Most Unreliable Narrator Issue #160 periscope love
that’ll be a b*tch
Dear Internet,
When Mr Lisa and I were together in the late ‘90s, we got a wild hair up our asses to read the entirety of The Modern Library Top 100. We read one or two books and gave up on the list because life. When we got back together in ’08, we came up with PFT (Pretentious Fuck Twat) Book Club. We’d each pick a book that we would read together. We read God Knows by Joseph Heller (him), Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh (me), and Tom Jones by Henry Fieldling (me). I never finished Tom Jones but Mr Lisa did and he’s never forgiven me he read nearly 1000 pages of trite drivel. FIELDING WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??
(Tom Jones was released in 1749 and is considered one of the earliest modern novels in terms of plot, structure, and pacing, which is why it’s considered a classic. By the time we get to Austen (turn of the 19th C), language and plot have tightened up (Austen could say in few lines what Fielding would have said in paragraphs), as well as structure and pacing. I talked about Jones on Mastodon the other day and woah nelly. I was finger wagged on its validity of being a good novel (ugh) due to its popularity and publishing prowess. I said, look chum, 50 Shades of Grey also went into multiple prints and sold millions. This does not mean a book is good! Also, opinions!)
Any who.
I don’t remember what prompted me to deep dive back into Modern Library again but I did. Over 20 years later, the issues I accepted in the ‘90s are clearly not a thing in 2023. Examples:
· The books are from mid 1800s to mid 1900s
· They are primarily written by cis het white men
· Western canon only (heaven forbid other cultures exist)
· Very small handful of BIPOC and women authors
· Most of these books, like Lolita, would not be published today
· Many books are racist, ableist, and misogynistic in scope and tone
· Modern Library has refused to update this list since its creation nearly 30 years ago
You’re probably thinking, why read this list if it is so shit? GOOD QUESTION! My underlying answer is I see this as a challenge. What does late 19th – early 20th centuries sensibilities look like now? How bad are we othering people? What stands out about those books? Do they deserve space as “great literature?” Do they have anything to teach me?
So many questions.
There is movement in the reading community to not to read what doesn’t titillate you. No one is under any obligation to read solely dead white men or what is considered great literature regardless of where it’s from or even if you think it’s shit. When Mr Lisa and I started PFT, the idea was to expand our scope of what we read. I would have never thought of reading Heller (God Knows is hilarious) and Waugh was based on his reputation for his wit and skewer of upper English classes. Fielding was chosen for his influence on Austen. (Again, Mr Lisa has not forgiven me and still brings up that he finished Jones all this time later.)
When I was in college, I read didn’t read as broadly as I think I should have. My classes were primarily western canon and dead white guys. I did take a women’s fiction class and a class of early American Lit which contained more women and BIPOC but overall, very white! Very Western!
After my foray into unis, I pivoted towards the likes of Terry Pratchett, mysteries, paranormal, and rom coms. I didn’t want to read theory, critique, or anything that requires highlighter and notes to read. I wanted something entertaining, fun, and while thought was hoped, but wasn’t required.
I’ve become more aware of what I’m reading in the last few years. I try to not be influenced by genre, author, or word of mouth, however, I will read reviews and critiques, if I can, or samples if available. Even with all of that, I will not finish a book if it doesn’t captivate me. I don’t care if the reviews and critiques begged to differ. I look to reading to take me places I’ve never been before. To entice and enthrall me. If the book can’t do those things, to me, then there is no point in me finishing. I’ve find that those books I am reading were written by BIPOC, mostly women, own voices, or marginalized authors. Sometimes a combination!
Mr Lisa and I decided to start at number one (Ulysses). Lord have mercy on our souls.
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Wonderful Thing
Every few years, I decide I want a signature something. Like the perfect red lipstick which took nearly a decade to find.
Now it’s a scent.
I started buying oils from places like Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab in the last decade or so because I liked the idea of scents that didn’t smell of alcohol. That there were a wide, wide variety of smells that I could indulge in. That I could other stores on places like Etsy and smell like anything I wanted to be.
The construction of perfume has change some what in the last ten years. Then, the scents were simple. Now they are more complex. And from what I have sniffed, I kept finding many commercial scents no longer smell of alcohol.
The search for a commercial signature scent started when I bought a bottle of Tresor (Lancome) that I used to wear in the ‘90s. I wanted to celebrate my youth. Then I stumbled on a fragrance forum that mocked on who wears Tresor. Turns out it’s a grandma’s scent now. Makes sense as those wearing Tresor in the early ‘90s are having grandkids. So yep, grandma.
On a popular pop culture website I read on the reg, an article laid out why the writer bought a signature (for them) scent. At the end, a question was posed on what the reader’s signature scent.
There were nearly a 100 comments and not including replies.
In those comments, I heard names of scents and perfumers that I have never heard of. I thought I kept up on the popular shit but apparently not! And one thing that kept coming up was The Perfumed Court.
The site’s claim to fame is you choose a scent (cataloged by notes) and they will decant that scent and send it to yo in 1mm or 2mm bottles. My nose was burned out from all the scent hopping I’ve done over the last few years so not spending zillions for something I’d never wear (don’t trust those fragrance strips) seemed like a good idea to me.
I ordered six and it’s working out quite well! I put the perfume on my pulse points and give it a whirl. In my notes, I also get J’s opinion during the day. I sort them out the scents into Love / It’s Ok/ Hate. I’m four scents in and the only one I would probably buy is Ellis Brooklyn Vanilla Milk eau de parfume.
The downside to this, I have discovered, is if you fall in love with a scent, it could be either sold out or no longer produced. Out of the six, only one is available to buy commercially. (Yes, people buy on eBay but that’s not appealing to me.) But an upside is there are hundreds of fragrances to choose from so a collection of 1mm bottles can last forever. Huzzah!
love and tomatoes,
lisa x