I'm with you that Control is not a great protagonist, but what helped me appreciate Authority was realizing that Control isn't the main character of the book; he's the point-of -view character. The main character is the Southern Reach. Once that perspective shift hit, I enjoyed it much more.

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"--up----chimney----out---window------he-----murdered----by----orangutan-----."

10/10, genre defining.

It's kinda intended to mirror an individual's experience of war: like nothing really happens, but stuff is kinda happening and then nothing happens, but some people aren't there anymore and nothing happens and nothing is happening and then all of a sudden everything happens.

Not everything is for everyone, if you don't like it don't force it.

They're just different kinds of funny. I laughed way more during Dunces than during Catch, but I liked Catch more.

"Steve, this is Cocaine. Cocaine, Steve."

"Nice to meet you, Cocaine. I can tell we're going to be good friends."

Pretty cool. Oh, hang on...*starts counting hands*.....*continues counting hands*....

And some say he is still counting hands to this day.

One of the points I think is that you aren't supposed to "like" Winston. You're supposed to recognize him. He's your neighbor, he's your coworker, maybe he's your brother. He's just some guy; there is literally nothing special about him.

One of the entire points of the Party was to change the way words worked. So, once they change the word "happy" to mean "the way we want you to be" then yes, everyone is- by default and through no choice of their own- happy under all circumstances.

Entomologist

Yo, same with Eleanor in "The Haunting of Hill House". I felt that character to an absurd degree. Like I gasped out loud >!when she hit the tree and legit had to take a minute to make sure I was not dead.!<

Might be different for you, but what helped for me was talking walks in between reading sessions and just thinking about all the ways I wasn't her. Sometimes long, sometimes short, just around the block or to the corner store or walking the dog. No headphones, just thinking and moving. I believe more than anything the movement is what did the trick; like "I am physically moving away from the place where I experienced these emotions and am also mentally moving away from that headspace."

Alice in Wonderland.

My girl gets dropped into a world with rules she doesn't understand, is surrounded by crazy people and just rolls with it. Helps the ones who need it and breaks off a piece of her mind for the ones who need that. And end the end she says "Man F-this. I'm out."

Goals.

>The left has vilified and turned their backs on men, and mistakenly and stupidly treated all forms of masculinity as “toxic”. The right has embraced men and masculinity,

Patently untrue. The rigid gender roles that box young men in and deny them the freedom of expression they need to cope with their problems come from traditional conservative attitudes of masculinity.

"You need to be a man" vs "It's ok to be yourself." Which advice do you think is more useful to a struggling young man? Which one gives them a narrow line to walk and which gives them freedom to find their own way out? And which one do you hear most often from the left or right?