#the yield

[umbralmarquis]

On Why Some Minds Sink Further.

●○ On Cathedrals and Surface Tension ✦ What follows is a meditation on the architecture of vulnerability. It describes minds as spaces—some cavernous, some fortified—and the conditions that allow entry. Read this not as a key, but as a blueprint for contemplation.

✦ ᚺ ᚢ ᚲ ᚺ ✦

People like to say that “everyone is the same.” What a charming delusion.

Some minds fall deeper for one simple reason: they’re built for it.

The sensitive ones— the ones who grew up analyzing every flicker of emotion in a room— they already mastered the skill hypnotists rely on: sustained, instinctive attention.

Hypervigilance… what a lovely word for a mind that’s trained itself to slip into altered states as a survival mechanism.

Others? They’re imaginative to a fault. Give them a single metaphor and they build palaces with it. A phrase becomes a world. A breath becomes an invitation.

And then there are the trusting ones. Not naïve—just hungry. Hungry to be guided, to rest, to stop carrying the weight of their own thoughts for a moment.

Those are the ones who fall the deepest. The ones who offer their minds like a cathedral and dare you to walk inside.

Of course, none of this is magic. It’s structure. Vulnerability. Pattern recognition. A willingness to yield.

The rest? They hover at the surface, too busy defending their illusions of control to discover what losing it actually feels like.

✦ᛉJuliusᛇ✦

[dk-thrive]

Open road, going somewhere, elsewhere—she loved that feeling. She knew that about herself. She knew she loved leaving more than a drink, more than sex, more than hunger, the books. The road didn’t have a caved-in feeling or a hangover; it could have any wonder in the whole world.

— Tara June Winch, The Yield: A Novel (Harper, June 2, 2020)

[whilereadingandwalking]

In The Yield by Tara June Winch, August Gondiwindi is returning home from London to attend her grandfather's burial, returning after a decade to their home beside the now dried-up river. She finds out that her grandmother is soon to lose her home, the town's land sold to a mine, and discovers that her grandfather was writing a book—a 'dictionary'—about his life, the Wiradjuri language, and his people, a book that could help her prove that they have a cultural history and right to the land. But first she'll have to confront some truths and memories from her childhood that she had hoped to forget.

Albert "Poppy" Gondiwindi has a powerful voice that his granddaughter can't match. But together, the two of them give us a story of heritage, generational trauma, and incomprehensible loss. The novel isn't perfect. The central plot line concludes a little too cleanly, characters moving in fairly predictable lines, and August's chapters could have been tightened, as they could sometimes drag. But the novel about aboriginal history, disempowerment, traditions, and beliefs was ultimately well worth the read. Thanks to Elizabeth Books in Newtown, NSW, for my copy; I read it alongside the Great Barrier Reef and under the shade of the Daintree rainforest.

Content warnings for anti-indigenous sentiment and violence, substance abuse, sexual assault, child abuse, racism.

[ryanklindsay]

What Is Best In Life? - 2022 Edition

What Is Best In Life? – 2022 Edition

Happy new year – 2023 is upon us. I got a lotta problems with you people thoughts on this year’s media, now, you’re gonna hear about it! I love looking back and seeing what different and awesome stuff I got to sneak into my brain and enjoy. I did a poor job of keeping tabs on what I consumed this year, and there’s every chance I’ve missed something pivotal. Que sera, etc. Okay, let’s spotlight…

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[dashedwithromance]

march reads

anno dracula - kim newman

was this the best written book? no. did i agree with the characterisation with a lot of the original dracula characters? no, not particular. is this book a very 90s vampire story that contains racially insensitive elements that should be critically read by a contemporary reader? also yes, by a lot. in saying that, this was a very fun exploration of the modern vampire through stoker’s original characters under the premise of: what if dracula won? interesting take on the gothic tradition, loved the playful attitude with literary and historical characters, probably wouldn’t recommend to anyone other than die hard gothic fans

the drover’s wife: the legend of molly johnson - leah purcell

read for my aus lit course but i really loved this text! it’s an adaption (originally for stage, now in novel form, film releases this may) of henry lawson’s iconic australian short story, ‘the drover’s wife’. without spoilers, the book tackles the pervasive gap (conscious or otherwise) of Indigenous presence and voice in the original story. you don’t necessarily need any prior knowledge of the lawson short to read it (i read this before i read lawson) but it doesn’t hurt. a short little story, would definitely recommend, especially if people want to branch into australian literature

true history of the kelly gang - peter carey

another aus lit read. this was… interesting, to say the least. it’s a fictional excavation of ned kelly’s life (a famous bush-ranger/ outlaw/ robin-hood-type figure in australia - hotly contested) based on kelly’s own 1879 jerilderie letter. it’s written in the same style as kelly’s letter, giving it an autobiographical feel, penned to kelly’s (fictitious) daughter. it was super hard to get into (the word ‘adjectival’ is burned into my brain) but once i got into it, it was definitely hard to put down. a major critique is that it’s literary fiction, not a history. so i probably wouldn’t recommend if people want an unbiased account of kelly’s life, but it was an interesting read and i found myself swayed by it

current reads (aka my beloved unfinished reads i still want to ramble about)

hell followed with us - andrew joseph white

this book. THIS BOOK. scream. throwing up. setting honey traps in my brain and letting the ants infest me. i’m halfway through, i have no coherent thoughts aside from its furiously, fiercely queer and a beautiful horror story. pls read it when it comes out (june 7) i need friends

rejecting compulsory sexuality - sherronda j brown

i’m only a handful of pages in, but i feel extraordinarily lucky to be reading this work. this book is a transformative piece of Black asexual scholarship and it is absolutely amazing. releases september 13 - anyone who wants to know more about asexuality, or Black asexuality, or compulsory sexuality should definitely read this one

the yield - tara june winch

another read for aus lit. i’m not too far in but i’m really enjoying it so far - it’s a beautiful piece of australian fiction and it explores language in a very unique way

mutuals, please feel free to reblog/tag with any books you read this month, or if you’ve read/heard of any of these!! 💚💚

[picnic-at-dreaming-rock]

Books I’ve Finished This Month

[mirrorofsilver]

Nothing is ever terrible all the time, even during the worst time.

Tara June Winch, The Yield