BECAUSE DADS HAVE MORE RESPONSIBILITY THAN KIDS. COME ON.
Emotions, mental development, experiencing the world -- Dad's roles include these, helping kids.
Kids do not and should not hold responsibility for their parents as children, and not much or any as adults, either. Especially in the area of emotional responsibility.
If the kid is nasty and there's not much you can do about it if they live far away etc you still need to "be there" for them.
it’s very funny to me that when dostoevsky was coming up with verkhovensky’s character he was all like “i’m going to make a villain. a true demon. this man is pure evil. he represents everything that is wrong with russia. he isn’t capable of love or being loved.” and then created this gay little twink of a man with daddy issues and a toxic crush
Last year, during my Scandinavian literature class in the Danish section, we had to read this book called "Dobbeltgænger eller Den korte, inderlige men fuldstændig sande beretning om Klaus Rifbjergs liv" ["Doppelganger or The short, heartfelt but completely true account of Klaus Rifbjerg's life] by Klaus Rifbjerg.
I had no clue what I was getting into when starting this book.
I don't know much about the author himself — and despite the title, I promise you, I don't think you will learn much from it either. I think I can recommend reading this book only because it's short, but if you're sensitive... Just be careful.
It made me really really sick. I understand that it was supposed to be grotesque and have shock value, etc. So, maybe I just can't... appreciate it — and someone else will, I don't know.
I don't really want to spoil why exactly it was so bad, in case someone wants to read it and shock themselves too, but I also don't really want to leave this title without any further explanation. So I'll spoil it a little under the cut.
The book is from the 1980s but it takes place in the 1930s-1940s Denmark.
It's basically written like an autobiography, the author states that he remembers every single thing ever since he was born — his birth included. The child character also has the thoughts and clearness of mind of an adult.
I don't want to describe the entire plot of it, but the "shocking" part of it is the amount of child sexual abuse described from the perspective of the child. And not only is the literal toddler (the character gets older as the book goes, but all sexual intercourses are happening to them when they're 2-9 years old, I think) describing it. It's also written in a way that the child enjoys it and encourages it a lot. Except for the last sex scene where, as far as I remember, the child gets r*ped by a nazi soldier.
I think there's some place for interpretation, that you can stop and give it a moment — if the character really experiences those things or is it just their imagination? At least I assume so, because it does have quite positive reviews.
But honestly, I wasn't able to think about it nor am I able to think about it now, because of how disgusting and explicitly described it was.
So, I think — excluding whatever context it had at that time and the author's intention — it's the worst book I've ever read.
take the 2024 dostoyevsky-official challenge: every month, learn one poem by heart. it could be in any language, it could be poetry you already know, it could be poetry you're reading for the first time, it could be a sonnet, it could be a ballad: go wild (but for this, i recommend choosing canonical poetry in your chosen language, not poetry in translation, nor something new). above all, poetry, language charged with meaning to the ultimate degree, is meant to be read aloud, to be felt with the tongue. by the end of the year, you'll have a better intuitive understanding of the poet's craft, of the possibility and beauty of language, an improved reading style, and, through the memorization process, a deep knowledge of each chosen poem—and you'll have committed 12 poems to heart, sitting around for any occasion, keeping you company wherever you go
dededos
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
titsay
stormborns
kaledo-art
