F.'s Final Message

Beautiful Losers (p.128 to p.197)

Main Events That Happened

From the 129th page until the 149th page, it is still mostly small events that are explained by I. Here is a list of some of them: 

• Catherine Tekakwitha’s uncle thinks he found a cure for himself, he wants all the young girls to come see him, and he wants them to sleep with the guy they want. 
• I. is very sad about Edith’s death and cries a lot. 
• I. narrates a moment where F. wanted to go put dynamite on a statue of the Queen Victoria. 
• Catherine goes to different places (the wash house, the tobacconists, the barber’s shop, etc.).

After the end of the 52nd chapter, the second part of the book starts. It is a long letter from F. to I. In that letter, F. says that he is in an occupational therapy room and he talks about his life in that place. F. remembers the factory he once bought and wonders what happened to it. He also reminds I. how much he loves him, but also how much he tortured I. To continue, F. talks about Edith and how he thinks he made her the perfect wife for I. and what was the relationship between them. Finally, F. gives a final message to I., which is “God is alive. Magic is afoot […]” and many more declarations.

What We Thought Was Going to Happen

In the last post, we wrote about what we thought was going to happen. Among other things, we thought that the story lines would come together. Sadly, that did not happen. In fact, the first part of the book was still a couple of small stories that had no link between them. The second part, F.'s letter, was about his life in the hospital, but there was not really a big event that helped us understand the whole book. To resume, we were not right about what was going to happen in the next part of the book, but it is probably because Beautiful Losers is a book that is very hard to understand since it is not really a story. 

Mood

In this part of the book, you still go through a lot because there are still 2 separate stories that are really intense. It’s confusing because they go back and forth between the two stories and it’s hard to follow both. It’s the same thing as in the rest of the book, it’s still hard to believe that the story is really happening and that they aren’t dreaming. The weirdness of the story, the direction change, and the switching between stories make it hard to follow. There is a weird sex moment between F. and a woman that represents what I am saying really well.

What We Think Will Happen Next

Since the next quarter we will read is going to be the end, we think there will probably be a big revelation or a story that will make everything make sense. Also, we think we will learn a little bit more about the different characters because the book is mostly about them. Finally, we think that the stories will all merge together in the third part of the book, which is a letter in the third person. 

Quotes

"It is a pleasant statue of Queen Victoria in early womanhood before pain and loss had made her fat. [...] Tomorrow night I will place a charge of dynamite on her metal lap. [...] Tomorrow night I will blow that symbol to smithereens - and myself with it." (p.140-141)

We learn at this moment the intention of suicide that F. has. At the same time, it is not only that he wants to die, but he also want to send a message to the English.

"It was I who feared the rational mind, therefore I tried to make you a little mad. I was desperate to learn from your bewilderment. You were the wall wich I, batlike, bounced my screams off of, so I might have direction in this long noctural flight." (p.159) 

F. finaly admitted to I. that he needed to torture I. his whole life. 

Other Information

Right after F. told I. about his dynamite plan, I. realizes that he needs F. in his life. Previously, we wrote about how we thought F. was not that good of a friend to I. However, this part of the book brings us to believe that maybe F. is not that toxic for him after all.

While reading F.'s letter, we realize that F. indeed was toxic for I. We can guess that I. read the letter too and found out about F.'s plan. The friendship between I. and F. is very hard to follow, for example, we thought for a long time that they were good for each other, until we realized their friendship was not very healthy. Then, F. made us doubt and think that maybe he was how he was for I.'s good, but in the end, after reading the whole book and thinking about it, we think that F. was a toxic friend for I. 

References (for the pictures)

1. THE  SALEROOM. Advertising poster Leonard Cohen Beautiful Losers a Novel, site consulted on 05/10/2020, [online], https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/antikbar/catalogue-id-antikb10006/lot-a65a129d-9546-4ae4-a13e-a78300ef33d6. 
2. ART PUBLIQUE MONTRÉAL. Queen Victoria, site consulted on 11/10/2020, [online],https://artpublicmontreal.ca/en/oeuvre/queen-victoria/
3. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Bullying's Long-Term Effects Seen in Both the Bullied and the Bully, site consulted on 11/10/2020 [online],https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140512-bullying-health-depression-stress-science/