somewhat adjacent to the august vibe are the films set in summer that have a hold on me, the heat, the need to do something fun, the impending school year about to start. Stand by me. Do the Right Thing. Call me by your name. American Graffiti and kinda Licorice Pizza. Oh and recently DiDi. There's also a Japanese film I saw 25 years or more ago that I've been forever trying to find the name of, it's set partly in summer where a Korean kid living in Japan goes to see his grandparents in the countryside. It's also set in the school year too, there's a romance, a pop concert and a lot of racism towards the Korean kid. The film has a lot of text on screen that I remember being diary entries, flashing cursor and type. I think I'll go check with ChatGPT and see if I can finally find it. ah ok update. it took two tries but it figured it out, the film is All About Lily Chou-Chou by Shunji Iwai. I'm going to rewatch it...finally!
It reminds me of a line from East of Eden: "A time splashed with interest, wounded with tragedy, crevassed with joy - that's the time that seems long in the memory. And this is right when you think about it. Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all."
Sophie, you killed this!! Love it so much. As a former teacher, the whole month was Sunday Scaries. Now, it feels like my last month to achieve greatness (or mastery? success?) and I haven't explored where that comes from. This piece drops a few breadcrumbs.
Eerily attuned- woke up this morning and my first thought was “Jesus, August is just a sad month.” Was a bit magical to open my inbox and find your beautifully written post giving language to the nebulous cloud of late summer melancholy that’s been hanging about. And weirdly enough, was reading Berger last night! Love your work- huge fan.
Coming to this late mid-September when NOW IT'S TIME yet part of me is stuck in August and also in being 23 which is my son's age so I'm sending this to him I think he'll like it. Top notch as always, Soph.
Omg Sophie I had a breakdown about this exact same feeling last August! I find that this August is flying by but I don’t have the same sense of fomo, I’m enjoying the days of doing very little.
Yr right, August sucks. This is why Europeans and New York City finance bros flee to beaches, it's literally not worth the trouble.
💯
somewhat adjacent to the august vibe are the films set in summer that have a hold on me, the heat, the need to do something fun, the impending school year about to start. Stand by me. Do the Right Thing. Call me by your name. American Graffiti and kinda Licorice Pizza. Oh and recently DiDi. There's also a Japanese film I saw 25 years or more ago that I've been forever trying to find the name of, it's set partly in summer where a Korean kid living in Japan goes to see his grandparents in the countryside. It's also set in the school year too, there's a romance, a pop concert and a lot of racism towards the Korean kid. The film has a lot of text on screen that I remember being diary entries, flashing cursor and type. I think I'll go check with ChatGPT and see if I can finally find it. ah ok update. it took two tries but it figured it out, the film is All About Lily Chou-Chou by Shunji Iwai. I'm going to rewatch it...finally!
Yesss I know exactly what you mean - same here on all these films!! And great call out on All About Lily Chou-Chou - I’ll have to check this out.
This is so beautiful and deeply felt.
It reminds me of a line from East of Eden: "A time splashed with interest, wounded with tragedy, crevassed with joy - that's the time that seems long in the memory. And this is right when you think about it. Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all."
What a stunning line!
Sophie, you killed this!! Love it so much. As a former teacher, the whole month was Sunday Scaries. Now, it feels like my last month to achieve greatness (or mastery? success?) and I haven't explored where that comes from. This piece drops a few breadcrumbs.
Thank you a million for your lovely comment & for your support/belief in my newsletter. Lots of love xxx
Eerily attuned- woke up this morning and my first thought was “Jesus, August is just a sad month.” Was a bit magical to open my inbox and find your beautifully written post giving language to the nebulous cloud of late summer melancholy that’s been hanging about. And weirdly enough, was reading Berger last night! Love your work- huge fan.
Arie, can't thank you enough for this comment 🥺 So glad this resonated. X
Coming to this late mid-September when NOW IT'S TIME yet part of me is stuck in August and also in being 23 which is my son's age so I'm sending this to him I think he'll like it. Top notch as always, Soph.
Once you have kids you get out of your own self interest and self obsession. You don’t have the hours of idleness that you describe.
Omg Sophie I had a breakdown about this exact same feeling last August! I find that this August is flying by but I don’t have the same sense of fomo, I’m enjoying the days of doing very little.
Thank you for using one of my favourite films(!) to somewhat ameliorate the squeeze I feel every August. It was perfect.
My b