The Curator: my Roman Empire books

And why I think about Virginia Woolf almost daily

I love any trend that lets us glimpse the inner workings of a man’s mind. Those gorgeous blank slates unfettered by the minutia of daily living, just waiting to be filled with sports stats, space facts, and apparently, the Roman Empire.

If you haven’t seen the “trend” I’m referring to and are wondering what Julius Caesar has to do with this - don’t worry, it’s not important how we got here. It’s the concept that matters (but also click here if you want to see the best compilation of men admitting how often they ponder ancient civilization).

Your Roman Empire is the unexpected thing you think about frequently. It might be something that relates to your everyday life, or that occurs to you in strange moments, and just won’t leave your head. I see it as a reference point, a kind of intellectual lighthouse that has infiltrated your personal zeitgeist. It could be a concept, a piece of art, a theory, or perhaps even a person (cough Detective Benson).

My Roman Empire books are exactly what they sound like - books that have become intrusive thoughts. I connect them to my everyday life more than seems warranted. They pop up when least expected. My brain has decided they mean something (along with my 7th Aladdin birthday party and that time I danced on a bar in a mini skirt - it was not cute🥴).

It’s very likely that if you read a lot (which not to make assumptions but you are here), then you have Roman Empire books. Mine are a strange assortment that I truly can’t control even if I wanted to.

Think about yours, and let me know.

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My Roman Empire Books

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

I think about the opening pages of Mrs. Dalloway in its moody stream of consciousness almost daily (ok at least a few times a week I can’t be sure). This is because I too am moody and sensitive and can feel my sentient brain and observe myself like a movie reel, just like Mrs. Dalloway.

Specifically, I think about the opening scene when Clarissa Dalloway steps out of the house and into the London streets. I think about how her moods subtly shift with a glance, with a bell chime, with a fancy person in a fancy car, because this happens to me and nobody had ever put it into words before. One simple thing can alter my mood instantly - the sun too bright on an ugly strip mall, the view down my street in the fall, the right song on a walk. I imagine many experience this otherwise Mrs. Dalloway wouldn’t be the classic it is.

She remembered once throwing a shilling into the Serpentine. But everyone remembered; what she loved was this, here, now, in front of her; the fat lady in the cab. Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely; all this must go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absolutely?.. But what was she dreaming as she looked into Hatchard’s shop window?

I now see consciousness as Virginia Woolf sees consciousness - a free-floating organism that is ascribed to the brain but lives in every crevice of our bodies. What we notice, the people we encounter, are all jumbled up with our immediate and long-term experiences. Reality is only as we perceive it.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

As I have mentioned before, I am consistently on the hunt for anything else like The Secret History. Because I read and review so many books, I am brought back to this one repeatedly as a shining example of foreshadowing and subtext. I use it as a benchmark for literary mystery.

But it also makes me think about how very easily it is for any one of us to commit a crime. The coldness to which these young adults approach murder is maddening and interesting. How far away are we all really from giving in to base desires? What would it really take?

But how,” said Charles, who was close to tears, “how can you possibly justify cold-blooded murder?’ Henry lit a cigarette. “I prefer to think of it,” he had said, “as redistribution of matter.

I have to be careful what I say here because things on the internet live forever. But my point is that we often see people who commit crimes and people who don’t as separate and distinct. I can tell you from spending 20 years on California freeways - that is not true. The Secret History reminds me of this all the time.

Further Reading → As I was finishing this newsletter I received in my inbox the Present Tense’s deep dive into the genius-ness of The Secret History prologue.

If you want more, I also wrote more about how nothing compares to The Secret History.

The Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

The part that gets me about The Valley of the Dolls is the self-medicating and the doctor medicating and how everyone is supposed to be helping or protecting these women and all they are doing is exploiting them. How all problems are solved with a pill or a drink so these women can go back to making everyone money. How a woman’s story arc is always the same unless we actively try to change it.

It sneaks up on you, Anne - the habit. And after all emotion is gone and logic takes over, the habit is still there. For the rest of your life.

I self-medicated in the past and the scary part is it felt normal. Also, Modern (American) Medicine would like for us all to be medicated into infinity so everyone can get their cut. Rather than figure out what’s truly wrong, we throw pills or booze at the problem¹. Anything else will cost you.

Although this book was written in 1966, not much has changed and it lives in my mind rent-free.

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READING →

• You know what I’m going to say. It’s still King’s The Stand. I’m at 50% so I have now read the equivalent of 1.5 normal-sized novels. Things slowed a bit this weekend as I took time to catch up on some Substacks and take some pretty book pictures in the good light but I am determined to finish.

• I’m also going slow through Rubin’s The Creative Act on audio since it’s pretty esoteric and requires brain waves.

• Now I am alternating that with the audiobook The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter. Just like all Slaughters, it’s addicting and so tricky. She always delivers.

WATCHING →

Baby Liv Tyler. In Empire Records, one of the greatest ‘90s teen movies ever made. Other people were in it too. Happy Rex Manning Day!!!!

LISTENING→

I’ve heard that if you’ve had a DAY at work babysitting children masquerading as adults, you should listen to this song at full volume while in the car on the way home, followed by this one and then this one. Scream them all as loud as you can while waving your arms around.

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NEW BOOKS →

include a spy thriller that inspired a movie before even being published, a gothic thriller everyone I’ve ever known is reading, and a novel that sounds like the closest thing I might get to a modern Valley of the Dolls.

BOOK NEWS →

• I liked this reminder that reading is not like going to the gym. We are more than our reading stats (no matter what Storygraph tries to sell us).

• Goodreads posted about the 76 most popular books of the decade. I’ve read 29.5.

• LitHub listed 20 underrated authors you should be reading. I’ve read 2.

RESTACK OF THE WEEK →

I own a Stanley cup. I bought it because I owned a bunch of water bottles that didn’t fit in my car cupholder which drove me bonkers and an influencer promised the Stanley would always fit and stay cold while still supporting my volume requirements (I really love water). Now women film themselves drinking from one or their rainbow collections and have menty Bs in Target over special editions. This was a really great take on the symbolism of the cup.

no, calling out hyperconsumption is not sexist

AND CATS →

Same same but different.

LET’S CHAT →

• What’s your favorite 90s teen movie?

• Do you have any Roman Empire books? Or movies or TV?

• What are you reading and is it any good?

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In Case You Missed It

The Curator: Everything I Read in 2023

The Curator: Book Movies for the Holidays

The Curator: Horror Gets Literary

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See you around the bookshelf!

Natalie

1. This is based purely on my experience and that of friends and family. Of course, some modern medications are necessary and lifesaving, and no shade to anyone who determines pharmaceuticals are the way to go. I count myself among them.