By Rohinton Mistry.
Published 2002 by Borzoi Books/ Alfred A. Knopf a Division of Random House.
Originally Published in Canada by McClelland and Stewart.
434 pages.
I like novels by Indian authors. They tend to be really sad. Two books in particular are so sad that they reach into your chest and pull your heart out and then jump on top of it to smash it to pieces. They are incredibly powerful and sad. One is (forgive me the full names - they are Indian and I don't remember very well) Roy's God of Small Things about an illicit love affair between disparate castes and the horrific consequences. The other is A Fine Balance by this same author as the book I am reviewing now in which two characters from the Untouchable class also have horrific consequences for their behavior and actions.
This book, Family Matters does have it's tragic moments but it is a decidedly lighter book in feeling, though not necessarily in content.
My son has been teasing me about how I like sad or dark books as of late "Why do you always read those kinds of books" he said to me while I was reading this one. I said, "hey, this isn't so dark it's all about a faimily who are just trying to survive and even hopefully thrive".I have heard this comment before about books being to sad or dark. When I facilitated a book club for teachers, one of the comments was why we couldn't ever read anything fun or happy. One person, I think a co facilitator, said that great literature is not usually light and whimsical. That may be true, but I would also add the explanation I gave to my son. Part of the structure of all stories is that they all have problems that need to be resolved. From these problems come the darkness. We all have darkness in our hearts becasue we all have problems, even the perkiest person in the world, and all books have a darkness that results from the problem that is trying to be resolved. True some are darker than others. That would depend on how the author decides to end the stroy. Will it be resolved with a happy ending or will the ending be less obvious, hence darker? I ramble I know but those are the thoughts that this book has inspired in me.
So this story goes that an old man, Nariman, is living with his step children, Coomy and Jal, who are unmarried. When he seriously gets hurt and winds up bed ridden, the selfish siblings, especailly Coomy, foist him off on their half sister (and daughter of Nariman) Roxy becasue he is too difficult to care for. Roxy has a complete nuclear family but she loves her father and takes him in their much smaller apartment. Nariman is well loved, and well cared for but his presence causes problems and the family struggles with lack of space and less income. While there are some tragic events, funnily enough, the book ends with your tradtional happy ending. Everything is resolved. But the author adds a very intriguing epilogue.
It's five years later, and Nariman has passed away, but the family seems to be embroiled in trouble once again. The son of Roxy is continously battling with is father (Roxy's husband) over a girl that is from a different religion. The signifiicance of this is that much of Nariman's tragic troubles started in the same way. He when he was younger he also had a love with a girl that was not of his caste and he and his family suffer for it greatly. This ending seems to say several things to me. Life is cyclical in that problems get resolved and then new ones arise. So happy ending and all life continues and new crap comes up. Of course it also says something to the idea of religious intolerance anf the fact that the family hadn't learned from ther grandfather's troubles.
My only real criticism is that I didn't care for the parts where Roxy's husband started to become religious. It had described the scene and rituals of the religion, which I know should be interesting because I know nothing about Zarathustra religion, but I found all the details a bit of a chore to read. Of course this conversion of the father was necessary for the important ending, but I wonder if the point could have been made in a shorter way (damned American attention span I got). Other wise, this seems to me an almost flawless book.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Solar **1/2
By Ian McEwan.
Published in 2010 by Nan A. Talese / Doubleday a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape, The Random House Group Ltd., London.
287 Pages.
On Face Book there is an application called Shiite gifts for academics and it's really funny. You can send really crappy gifts to your friends in academia. For example you can send obsolete and broken technology and there will be a picture of a beat up old overhead projector. You can also send people as gifts such as the creepy, ogling colleague or the spoiled coed with the car that's nicer than yours. There's one i really like. You can send a professor who behaves like a character in a Phillip Roth novel. The implication is that these characters are pretty despicable (and I tend to relate to Roth's character - oh no!) This book reminds me of a Philip Roth book because here we have a character that behaves pretty despicable, yet the reader is attached to him because we see everything from his point of view.
So the story goes that this middle aged, balding and fat man named Michael Beard is a scientist who many years previously won the Nobel Peace Prize for some formula or concept he had thought up. After that he had been pretty much resting on hi laurels and accepting institutional positions and opportunities to speak to make money. The book starts out with him involved in one of many marriages and affairs. He's constantly cheating on his wives and lovers - despicable. He's fat bald and middle aged yet he's still able to get the girls (writer's fantasy?)
He's appointed to be head of a new facility that is opened in England to compete with America's program on alternative energies. After some faltering first steps, the organization decides to put it's energies into Micheal's idea of producing wind turbins on a small scale so that every home in London can afford one. After a while Beard realizes that it is a horrible idea, but everyone is so gung ho about it, he decides to go with the flow.
That is until one of his young superstar upstarts starts to talk with him about an idea of using Solar Energy that is converted to electricity in a unique and efficient new way ( I can't remember the exact process). Beard is reluctant though he knows his idea is a terrible one.
Then there is a freak accident and the young man is now out of the picture. Beard decides to take the kid's idea and run with it claiming that it is all his own in hopes to garner attention and to frankly save the world (from global warming of course). Despicable! The novel progresses by describing his current relationship/s and the onward march to the revelation of his project to the world. But with all the bridges he's burned (he doesn't do well in social situations either) and all the hearts he has broken, everything catches up to him at the finale when he is ready to unveil his much loved project.
I like McEwan's sense of humor, something that has not been a focal point in any of the books I have read by him previously. Some of the technical jargon gets to be a little too much and can be a bit frustrating, but I can manage to follow most of it. Not his greatest work but funny and thought provoking. And current in today's science and politics.
Here are two videos. One is an interview and one is a reading by the author.
And an excerpt...
here's an interview.
Published in 2010 by Nan A. Talese / Doubleday a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape, The Random House Group Ltd., London.
287 Pages.
On Face Book there is an application called Shiite gifts for academics and it's really funny. You can send really crappy gifts to your friends in academia. For example you can send obsolete and broken technology and there will be a picture of a beat up old overhead projector. You can also send people as gifts such as the creepy, ogling colleague or the spoiled coed with the car that's nicer than yours. There's one i really like. You can send a professor who behaves like a character in a Phillip Roth novel. The implication is that these characters are pretty despicable (and I tend to relate to Roth's character - oh no!) This book reminds me of a Philip Roth book because here we have a character that behaves pretty despicable, yet the reader is attached to him because we see everything from his point of view.
So the story goes that this middle aged, balding and fat man named Michael Beard is a scientist who many years previously won the Nobel Peace Prize for some formula or concept he had thought up. After that he had been pretty much resting on hi laurels and accepting institutional positions and opportunities to speak to make money. The book starts out with him involved in one of many marriages and affairs. He's constantly cheating on his wives and lovers - despicable. He's fat bald and middle aged yet he's still able to get the girls (writer's fantasy?)
He's appointed to be head of a new facility that is opened in England to compete with America's program on alternative energies. After some faltering first steps, the organization decides to put it's energies into Micheal's idea of producing wind turbins on a small scale so that every home in London can afford one. After a while Beard realizes that it is a horrible idea, but everyone is so gung ho about it, he decides to go with the flow.
That is until one of his young superstar upstarts starts to talk with him about an idea of using Solar Energy that is converted to electricity in a unique and efficient new way ( I can't remember the exact process). Beard is reluctant though he knows his idea is a terrible one.
Then there is a freak accident and the young man is now out of the picture. Beard decides to take the kid's idea and run with it claiming that it is all his own in hopes to garner attention and to frankly save the world (from global warming of course). Despicable! The novel progresses by describing his current relationship/s and the onward march to the revelation of his project to the world. But with all the bridges he's burned (he doesn't do well in social situations either) and all the hearts he has broken, everything catches up to him at the finale when he is ready to unveil his much loved project.
I like McEwan's sense of humor, something that has not been a focal point in any of the books I have read by him previously. Some of the technical jargon gets to be a little too much and can be a bit frustrating, but I can manage to follow most of it. Not his greatest work but funny and thought provoking. And current in today's science and politics.
Here are two videos. One is an interview and one is a reading by the author.
And an excerpt...
here's an interview.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Bad Night: A Criminal Edition ***
Written by Ed Brubaker.
Illustrated by Sean Phillips.
Compiled and published by Marvel Publishing Inc.
from Criminal Volume 2 #1-4
Copyright 2009.
This is the third graphic novel from the award winning series Criminal. I'm big fan. This is probably the best mainstream comic available. I'll read anything by Brubaker (several years back he wrote a portion of the Daredevil comics.) The books are gritty, violent and the story telling is simple and straightforward. The pages are filled with creeps, weirdos and the violently psychotic. It's good fun reading.
So what about this one? It's the story of a widowed and lame guy that use to be a counterfeiter but now is on the straight and narrow, mostly because of the death of his wife for which he suffered terribly. His suffering was heightened by the fact that the cops didn't believe he was innocent in her death and neither did the underworld (who the parents of his deceased wife was connected to). He was beaten horrible and walks with a limp. This all takes place before the actual story starts.
Our (anti)hero has insomnia and walks the streets at night. One night at a diner he meets a violent couple of which one was a beautiful woman. Her boyfriend is looking for a fight and the cook has to subdue him. Our hero seems to have run away though. he sees the girl on the street, and finds she's almost as crazy as her boyfriend, but she's a knockout. they end up having an affair. The boyfriend finds out about it and because of fear, the counterfeiter is forced to work for these petty criminals. Meanwhile he still lusts after the girlfriend. There's going to be a job to be done, and there's a series of twists and turns where everything goes awry.
The story starts out great and is typical of the quality i expect from the series. It seems to fade in the end though. I wasn't satisfied with the ending,. Usually I look forward to the straightforward stories the series has, but the ending is a little convoluted involving the ghost of his wife (we do find out what really happened to her) and a voice inside his head that is one of his characters in the comic strip he publishes.
Still a great book, but I'm afraid not as strong as the previous two. Start with those first, though you'll also enjoy this one too.
Illustrated by Sean Phillips.
Compiled and published by Marvel Publishing Inc.
from Criminal Volume 2 #1-4
Copyright 2009.
This is the third graphic novel from the award winning series Criminal. I'm big fan. This is probably the best mainstream comic available. I'll read anything by Brubaker (several years back he wrote a portion of the Daredevil comics.) The books are gritty, violent and the story telling is simple and straightforward. The pages are filled with creeps, weirdos and the violently psychotic. It's good fun reading.
So what about this one? It's the story of a widowed and lame guy that use to be a counterfeiter but now is on the straight and narrow, mostly because of the death of his wife for which he suffered terribly. His suffering was heightened by the fact that the cops didn't believe he was innocent in her death and neither did the underworld (who the parents of his deceased wife was connected to). He was beaten horrible and walks with a limp. This all takes place before the actual story starts.
Our (anti)hero has insomnia and walks the streets at night. One night at a diner he meets a violent couple of which one was a beautiful woman. Her boyfriend is looking for a fight and the cook has to subdue him. Our hero seems to have run away though. he sees the girl on the street, and finds she's almost as crazy as her boyfriend, but she's a knockout. they end up having an affair. The boyfriend finds out about it and because of fear, the counterfeiter is forced to work for these petty criminals. Meanwhile he still lusts after the girlfriend. There's going to be a job to be done, and there's a series of twists and turns where everything goes awry.
The story starts out great and is typical of the quality i expect from the series. It seems to fade in the end though. I wasn't satisfied with the ending,. Usually I look forward to the straightforward stories the series has, but the ending is a little convoluted involving the ghost of his wife (we do find out what really happened to her) and a voice inside his head that is one of his characters in the comic strip he publishes.
Still a great book, but I'm afraid not as strong as the previous two. Start with those first, though you'll also enjoy this one too.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Ludmila's Broken Accent ***
By DBC Pierre.
Published by W.W. Norton and Company in 2007.
336 pages.
The book has two seperate stories that come together into one finale. One story is much better than the other one.
That's the story about Ludmila, a peasant girl in the Caucuses who knows a pinch of English (hence the broken accent). This is the better part because it is hilarious. The family have this way of daily conversation that is all East European. They constantly curse each other out in the most outlandish, wildly humilaiting ways. It's a veritable reference book on how to curse someone out. The story is fairly simple (which I prefer to convoluted twisted narratives). Ludmila kills her grandfather when he tries to rape her, but his pension is the family's only money source. She is forced to go to town to sell the family tractor and get a job at the local family or whorehouse - which ever.
The second story , which is weaker, is about two conjoined twins who, at the age of 33, finally become separated. They had been institutionalized their whole life and are having issues when they finally get into the real world. Inexplicably, they are invited to a party, get a job and discover some sort of potion that gives you confidence and vigor. They are sent Eastern Europe where they collide with Ludmila. Notice how the last sequence of events just kind of tumble off the page. There is no rhyme or reason, that can be deciphered in any way. What's the deal with the potion? Why did they get a job? Who is this mysterious government man that brings them to the party? Why do they got to go to the party? All these questions and their answers are sort of glossed over or are poorly presented as to make sense to the reader.
Overall, it's an enjoyable read becasue it is so damn funny, but it is a very flawed book.
Published by W.W. Norton and Company in 2007.
336 pages.
The book has two seperate stories that come together into one finale. One story is much better than the other one.
That's the story about Ludmila, a peasant girl in the Caucuses who knows a pinch of English (hence the broken accent). This is the better part because it is hilarious. The family have this way of daily conversation that is all East European. They constantly curse each other out in the most outlandish, wildly humilaiting ways. It's a veritable reference book on how to curse someone out. The story is fairly simple (which I prefer to convoluted twisted narratives). Ludmila kills her grandfather when he tries to rape her, but his pension is the family's only money source. She is forced to go to town to sell the family tractor and get a job at the local family or whorehouse - which ever.
The second story , which is weaker, is about two conjoined twins who, at the age of 33, finally become separated. They had been institutionalized their whole life and are having issues when they finally get into the real world. Inexplicably, they are invited to a party, get a job and discover some sort of potion that gives you confidence and vigor. They are sent Eastern Europe where they collide with Ludmila. Notice how the last sequence of events just kind of tumble off the page. There is no rhyme or reason, that can be deciphered in any way. What's the deal with the potion? Why did they get a job? Who is this mysterious government man that brings them to the party? Why do they got to go to the party? All these questions and their answers are sort of glossed over or are poorly presented as to make sense to the reader.
Overall, it's an enjoyable read becasue it is so damn funny, but it is a very flawed book.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Road ***
Directed by John Hillcoat.
Based on Novel by Cormac Mccarthy.
Screenplay by Joe Penhall.
With Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pierce, Molly Parker.
Made by Dimension Films, 2009.
Seen in theater.
I've already gave the summary of the book back in the summer of 2009, which is pretty close to that of the movie. The movie eclipses and speeds up some events, but stays pretty close to the book. My biggest worry was that the movie would be Hollywoodized and focus on the marauding parties, action sequences and relationship between the father and the wife played by Charlize Theron. I figured with a major star like Theron, they would have to give her a bigger part. In the book these sequences were only a small part the whole. Thankfully, the film treated these sequences with the same amount of narrative weight as the book more or less. The film remains true to the original source material by being dark, grim and foreboding.
I was very excited by the fact that Nick Cave and Warren Ellis were doing the sound track to the film. To my surprise, the soundtrack was very subtle. Some light piano tinkling and some violin playing. It was not something that stood out, but complimented the film well.
As I probably said in the book review, there is some hope in the film, represented the boy and his future. There is much discussion of good people and bad people, abnd the father is desperately trying to teach the boy about being a good person, but the stresses of their journey make it hard to generous to the few people they meet on the road. The boy is his conscience. So there is a dependency that the two share with each other. On one hand you have the boy's purity of heart and on the other hand you have the fathers undying love and protectiveness for the boy. They need each other. When the boy goes on his own, one senses that the goodness will prevail, if the human race can survive, which is not a for sure thing.
And the performances are very good. I'm no expert on the elements of quality acting, but there are some excellent reputations on the screen, and I didn't find any of the acting to be false.
Based on Novel by Cormac Mccarthy.
Screenplay by Joe Penhall.
With Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pierce, Molly Parker.
Made by Dimension Films, 2009.
Seen in theater.
I've already gave the summary of the book back in the summer of 2009, which is pretty close to that of the movie. The movie eclipses and speeds up some events, but stays pretty close to the book. My biggest worry was that the movie would be Hollywoodized and focus on the marauding parties, action sequences and relationship between the father and the wife played by Charlize Theron. I figured with a major star like Theron, they would have to give her a bigger part. In the book these sequences were only a small part the whole. Thankfully, the film treated these sequences with the same amount of narrative weight as the book more or less. The film remains true to the original source material by being dark, grim and foreboding.
I was very excited by the fact that Nick Cave and Warren Ellis were doing the sound track to the film. To my surprise, the soundtrack was very subtle. Some light piano tinkling and some violin playing. It was not something that stood out, but complimented the film well.
As I probably said in the book review, there is some hope in the film, represented the boy and his future. There is much discussion of good people and bad people, abnd the father is desperately trying to teach the boy about being a good person, but the stresses of their journey make it hard to generous to the few people they meet on the road. The boy is his conscience. So there is a dependency that the two share with each other. On one hand you have the boy's purity of heart and on the other hand you have the fathers undying love and protectiveness for the boy. They need each other. When the boy goes on his own, one senses that the goodness will prevail, if the human race can survive, which is not a for sure thing.
And the performances are very good. I'm no expert on the elements of quality acting, but there are some excellent reputations on the screen, and I didn't find any of the acting to be false.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
All The Lovely Bad Ones **
Written byMary Downing Hahn.
Published by Sandpiper 2009.
192 pages.
This is a ghost story about two mischeivous children who visit their grandmother's bed and breakfast which had a haunted reputation. But since Grandmother bought it, that activity has disappeared. The two kids hear the stories and decide to put on a little spook show themselves. But they find out that they have woken up some ghosts. Ghost children to be exact. These children are mischeivous too, but in the end, we learn that they want help from the live children.
It seems that the bed and breakfast used to be an orphange run by a selfish, cheating violent woman who mistreated them. In fact they all had died at her hand. They want to put her spirit to rest, so that they may rest their spirits since this woman still haunts them, even in the afterlife. The two live children feel obliged or perhaps coerced into helping the children ghosts and a series of adventures and scary happenings occur.
I'm not a typical horror book reader, so it's difficult to judge this book. It seems fine to me, though the characters mightt seem a little undelineated and sketchy. They don't seem to be fully devloped, but I believe that is a typical thing with the horror genre and other fantasy genres. The genre is long on fantasy and short on character devlopment.
There is a nice rendering of the incidents that happens in the orphanage's past which are pretty spooky an kind of grim. Over all, I enjoyed the book.
Published by Sandpiper 2009.
192 pages.
This is a ghost story about two mischeivous children who visit their grandmother's bed and breakfast which had a haunted reputation. But since Grandmother bought it, that activity has disappeared. The two kids hear the stories and decide to put on a little spook show themselves. But they find out that they have woken up some ghosts. Ghost children to be exact. These children are mischeivous too, but in the end, we learn that they want help from the live children.
It seems that the bed and breakfast used to be an orphange run by a selfish, cheating violent woman who mistreated them. In fact they all had died at her hand. They want to put her spirit to rest, so that they may rest their spirits since this woman still haunts them, even in the afterlife. The two live children feel obliged or perhaps coerced into helping the children ghosts and a series of adventures and scary happenings occur.
I'm not a typical horror book reader, so it's difficult to judge this book. It seems fine to me, though the characters mightt seem a little undelineated and sketchy. They don't seem to be fully devloped, but I believe that is a typical thing with the horror genre and other fantasy genres. The genre is long on fantasy and short on character devlopment.
There is a nice rendering of the incidents that happens in the orphanage's past which are pretty spooky an kind of grim. Over all, I enjoyed the book.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Heart Shaped Box **
By Joe Hill.
Published by Harper Paperbacks 2009.
400 pages.
This is a fun, but silly little book. I guess it's a best seller, though I generally don't read mass media best sellers. This is a horror book. Specifically, it is a ghost story. Since I generally don't read this genre, I have no point of reference of how it compares to other books of its ilk. This was nothing special. I wonder how less well received books are. Maybe they are just plain silly. This at least was well paced and the characters were well drawn.
An aging death metal rock star, who had a hobby of collecting morbid artifacts found himself in possession of a suit of a recently dead man, who was now a ghost. The ghost had started to haunt him. Some of these scenes were pretty creepy. Being a rock star, he has a goth girlfriend. She's one of many, but since she's around when the haunting and terror starts, she becomes very close to him and him to her. Apparently the ghost is haunting him because our hero had an old girlfriend who was mentally unstable and killed herself after the break up. The ghost is the stepfather of the dead girl and is out to revenge his stepdaughter's death. There are the requisite twists and the journey into other, after life worlds (an especially silly part), but it turns out the rock star hero isn't so bad at all. He wasn't the cause of the suicide etc, and the ghost tried to kill him for fear of our hero interfering in the sordid lifestyle he had had previously with his stepdaughters.
I think one interesting idea is the presentation of the metal rock life style. In real life, most mainstream people tend to fear people who dress in leather and all that other paraphernalia that rockers wear. This book does show these people as real feeling and sensitive people. It shows the home life and consequent problems that they often have endured. The thesis here is that most metal heads/ punk rockers are the way they are because of their dysfunctional family life in which they grew up. A thesis I don't necessarily agree with.
Here's an interview with the author, who by the way is the son of Stephen King.
Published by Harper Paperbacks 2009.
400 pages.
This is a fun, but silly little book. I guess it's a best seller, though I generally don't read mass media best sellers. This is a horror book. Specifically, it is a ghost story. Since I generally don't read this genre, I have no point of reference of how it compares to other books of its ilk. This was nothing special. I wonder how less well received books are. Maybe they are just plain silly. This at least was well paced and the characters were well drawn.
An aging death metal rock star, who had a hobby of collecting morbid artifacts found himself in possession of a suit of a recently dead man, who was now a ghost. The ghost had started to haunt him. Some of these scenes were pretty creepy. Being a rock star, he has a goth girlfriend. She's one of many, but since she's around when the haunting and terror starts, she becomes very close to him and him to her. Apparently the ghost is haunting him because our hero had an old girlfriend who was mentally unstable and killed herself after the break up. The ghost is the stepfather of the dead girl and is out to revenge his stepdaughter's death. There are the requisite twists and the journey into other, after life worlds (an especially silly part), but it turns out the rock star hero isn't so bad at all. He wasn't the cause of the suicide etc, and the ghost tried to kill him for fear of our hero interfering in the sordid lifestyle he had had previously with his stepdaughters.
I think one interesting idea is the presentation of the metal rock life style. In real life, most mainstream people tend to fear people who dress in leather and all that other paraphernalia that rockers wear. This book does show these people as real feeling and sensitive people. It shows the home life and consequent problems that they often have endured. The thesis here is that most metal heads/ punk rockers are the way they are because of their dysfunctional family life in which they grew up. A thesis I don't necessarily agree with.
Here's an interview with the author, who by the way is the son of Stephen King.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Julie & Julia **1/2
Directed by Nora Ephron.
Screenplay by Nora Ephron. Based on book by Julie Powell.
Released August 2009.
With Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Edmond.
Seen in Theater.
Over all an entertaining night at the cinema, if not a little on the light side.
The premise is that Julie Powell has decided to take on a whole cook book by Julia Childs, day by day - recipe by recipe. And she blogs about her triumphs and tribulations. The blog gets a lot of followers. Concurrently, the film also is kind of a bio - pic of Julia Childs in which it shows her life when she starts to become a cooking professional. It shows her relationship with her husband Paul Child. Eventually Julie accomplishes all the recipe, her piece de resitance being Stuffed Deboned Duck.
For me, I was more interested in the Julia Child's portion of the film, as I remember seeing her on TV when I was just a kid. And it was interesting to know that she was the one who popularized French Cooking in the states as there were no French cooking books in the States at the time. It was also cool seeing some of the ingredients and techniques that simply are not being used today. Also Ms. Childs was played by One Meryl Streep who always seems to have the gravitas (the new word of the times) to pull off any role she likes no matter how trivial.
On the other hand, the Julie portion, while nice, did not have much to say. Sure there was her obsession with the project that strained the relationship with her husband and she was cute as all heck, but with this much time passing (always the case with these blogs that I am several months behind) there is simply not much that comes to mind when I think of those parts. This lack of impresion after the passing of time is an indicator of how much of an impression the movie made on me. If I don't remember much, then it didn't make much of an impression. Clearly, I was able to remember more scenes from the Julia part, so to me that was the better part.
And an interview.
Screenplay by Nora Ephron. Based on book by Julie Powell.
Released August 2009.
With Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Edmond.
Seen in Theater.
Over all an entertaining night at the cinema, if not a little on the light side.
The premise is that Julie Powell has decided to take on a whole cook book by Julia Childs, day by day - recipe by recipe. And she blogs about her triumphs and tribulations. The blog gets a lot of followers. Concurrently, the film also is kind of a bio - pic of Julia Childs in which it shows her life when she starts to become a cooking professional. It shows her relationship with her husband Paul Child. Eventually Julie accomplishes all the recipe, her piece de resitance being Stuffed Deboned Duck.
For me, I was more interested in the Julia Child's portion of the film, as I remember seeing her on TV when I was just a kid. And it was interesting to know that she was the one who popularized French Cooking in the states as there were no French cooking books in the States at the time. It was also cool seeing some of the ingredients and techniques that simply are not being used today. Also Ms. Childs was played by One Meryl Streep who always seems to have the gravitas (the new word of the times) to pull off any role she likes no matter how trivial.
On the other hand, the Julie portion, while nice, did not have much to say. Sure there was her obsession with the project that strained the relationship with her husband and she was cute as all heck, but with this much time passing (always the case with these blogs that I am several months behind) there is simply not much that comes to mind when I think of those parts. This lack of impresion after the passing of time is an indicator of how much of an impression the movie made on me. If I don't remember much, then it didn't make much of an impression. Clearly, I was able to remember more scenes from the Julia part, so to me that was the better part.
And an interview.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life **1/2
By Wendy Mass.
Published 2006 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Hachette Book Group.
1st Paperback edition 2008.
I put the website address of the publisher just for fun. Don't know if it will really work. I think I tried to put a link in previously in other entries and it didn't work. I guess we'll find out.
Again, it's almost unfair to use the same rating system for kid books that I use for adults. Becasue this is a much better book than most for young adults. But as said before, young adult books rarely have the same profundity or nuance as adult books. Neither do they have the same content as an adult book. They just can't go there. The last young adult book that I gave 3 or more stars was Alexie Sherman's Part Time Indian (Not complete title) That was aimed at high school kids and had content that would not be appropriate for junior high kids - Sex , drugs domestic violence etc. Sherman is also first and foremost, a novelist for adults.
So anyway, this book is about Jeremy Fink and his best friend Lizzy and their adventures over one summer. The adventures start with Jeremy receiving a package in the mail. It was from Jeremy's father who had passed away ten years previously. It was sent by someone who was charged with the responsabilty of sending the box to Jeremy on his 23th birthday. When it was opened, they found a wooden box with the keys missing. Engraved on the box was the mesage that says the meaning of life is within. But there are no keys, so Jeremy and Lizzy go searching for the keys and in one of their attempts, they run a foul of the law and end up having to serve community service. An old rich man, who started his life as a pawnbroker, gave them jobs returning items to people that had pawned them long ago. Jeremy and Lizzy meet these people, and each one of them sits down with them and discusses their own philosophy, or what life means to them.
I really liked how the novel is structured. Each visit is an opportunity to hear a different opinion of the meaning of life. And the author gives the reader, and Jeremy, different types of philosphy. Three to be exact. One religious, one more new agey or spiritual and one more scientific. It was very engrossing reading, though I wonder how my students from a low income community dealt with all those heady ideas. They don't have a whole lot of experience with existentialism, or perhaps they do, seeing how difficult their lives are, but they haven't had these ideas articulated before.
And the characters are realistic and likeable. Both have had tragedies in their lives which they are trying to cope with and the emotions seem real. And there was some humor in the story as well as between stories. The kids do, on some level, really behave like kids.
I was disappointed in the ending. Without spoiling it, I'll just say that it seemed forced or too contrived (in fact part of the narrative is this contrivation).
Okay, here's a trailer for the book, just to give you a better idea of what it's about. I know - Trailers for books!?!?!!?
Published 2006 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Hachette Book Group.
1st Paperback edition 2008.
I put the website address of the publisher just for fun. Don't know if it will really work. I think I tried to put a link in previously in other entries and it didn't work. I guess we'll find out.
Again, it's almost unfair to use the same rating system for kid books that I use for adults. Becasue this is a much better book than most for young adults. But as said before, young adult books rarely have the same profundity or nuance as adult books. Neither do they have the same content as an adult book. They just can't go there. The last young adult book that I gave 3 or more stars was Alexie Sherman's Part Time Indian (Not complete title) That was aimed at high school kids and had content that would not be appropriate for junior high kids - Sex , drugs domestic violence etc. Sherman is also first and foremost, a novelist for adults.
So anyway, this book is about Jeremy Fink and his best friend Lizzy and their adventures over one summer. The adventures start with Jeremy receiving a package in the mail. It was from Jeremy's father who had passed away ten years previously. It was sent by someone who was charged with the responsabilty of sending the box to Jeremy on his 23th birthday. When it was opened, they found a wooden box with the keys missing. Engraved on the box was the mesage that says the meaning of life is within. But there are no keys, so Jeremy and Lizzy go searching for the keys and in one of their attempts, they run a foul of the law and end up having to serve community service. An old rich man, who started his life as a pawnbroker, gave them jobs returning items to people that had pawned them long ago. Jeremy and Lizzy meet these people, and each one of them sits down with them and discusses their own philosophy, or what life means to them.
I really liked how the novel is structured. Each visit is an opportunity to hear a different opinion of the meaning of life. And the author gives the reader, and Jeremy, different types of philosphy. Three to be exact. One religious, one more new agey or spiritual and one more scientific. It was very engrossing reading, though I wonder how my students from a low income community dealt with all those heady ideas. They don't have a whole lot of experience with existentialism, or perhaps they do, seeing how difficult their lives are, but they haven't had these ideas articulated before.
And the characters are realistic and likeable. Both have had tragedies in their lives which they are trying to cope with and the emotions seem real. And there was some humor in the story as well as between stories. The kids do, on some level, really behave like kids.
I was disappointed in the ending. Without spoiling it, I'll just say that it seemed forced or too contrived (in fact part of the narrative is this contrivation).
Okay, here's a trailer for the book, just to give you a better idea of what it's about. I know - Trailers for books!?!?!!?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Suna no onna / The Woman in the Dunes ***
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigara.
Screen play and novel written by Kobo Abe.
Released 1964.
With Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida, Hioko Ito, Koji Mitsui, Sen Yano and Ginzo Sekiguchi.
Shot in Black and White. Seen on DVD.
Having read the book, a comparison is inevitable. Seeing as the screenwriter and the novelist are one and the same, it's not surprising that the film follows the book pretty rigorously. It does dispense with much of the inner thoughts and musings of the lead character which is the novel's opportunity to wax philosophical, but otherwise it is a faithful reproduction of the novel.
The director of the film does add a visual style to the book. While the novel does a good job of painting a picture of the settings, this director adds some interesting visuals. Some objective close ups of the sand that has graphic elements as well as showing the different characters of how sand looks and flows. The setting is very claustrophobic as is appropriate, and the shack is shown in as an integral part of the characters. The characters are shot through windows, between posts etc. It demonstrates the importance of their home, which is a major theme of the film. (Discussed in detail in the review of the book). The woman stays where she is because it's her home, and her life and self are intertwined with this structure. To the man, I think it seems more menacing.
So perhaps its time for a short summary, which has been done once already in my review of the book. An amateur entomologist goes to the sea to look for a rare insect. He is invited and more importantly convinced to stay over the night by the villagers. He is then led to a hole in the dunes, and thinking that this residence, inhabited by the woman of the title, is temporarily, he happily and gratefully climbs into the hole in the dunes. He later finds he is trapped in this hole in the dunes by the village, who expect him to move, carry and shovel the endless sand that persecutes him and tortures him with it's constant presence.
The movie is more erotocized than the book. The book had some erotic moments, but the film accents these moments more forcefully. In one scene when they first make love, they are covered in sand (which is always the case) and it made me wonder just how comfortable that love making was. Wasn't there any chafing with all that sand?
Here is that scene.
In one pretty surrealistic scene, the villagers gather around the hole and he is told he can have a short leave for a short walk, if he will have sex with the woman in front of them. Why they want this is pretty unclear, what's the point of this public humiliation? It doesn't go with my theory that the endless sand and entrapment is a symbol of modern working mankind daily drudgery and its struggle with the monotonous work a day life they lead. Mankind is held to this slavery with the promises of home family and a few material trinkets. So why this public humiliation? Clearly the villagers are morally bankrupt as is demonstrated by their capturing of the innocent entomologist. Does it represent the authorities and their dominance over the everyday person and the willingness of the authorities to humiliate people to keep them in line. It's an idea.
In this scene, the man decides it's worth it just so he casn get out of the hole even for a brief moment and struggles with the woman and tries to even assault/rape her. His efforts are rebuffed and during this struggle, the villagers are watching with all sorts of weird masks and there is a drumming soundtrack, like the beating of a heart.
Ther is some more interesting imagery at the opening and closing sequences. Bits and scraps of official Japanese documents are shown on collage form and make for some very pretty imagery. The idea is that the man who has been entrapped eventually becomes an official missing person, hence the use of official documents for the collages.
Also the soundtrack was interesting. It was very experimental and modern. It reminded me of early King Crimson with acoustic instruments att heir most dissonant moments. I want to say that it was like John Cage, but I don't know his material enough, I can only say that it was definitely experimental. It was spooky and droning at times, and then sudden and noisy at other times.
Overall a very interesting film experience.
Here's another clip.
And here's a trailer.
Screen play and novel written by Kobo Abe.
Released 1964.
With Eiji Okada, Kyoko Kishida, Hioko Ito, Koji Mitsui, Sen Yano and Ginzo Sekiguchi.
Shot in Black and White. Seen on DVD.
Having read the book, a comparison is inevitable. Seeing as the screenwriter and the novelist are one and the same, it's not surprising that the film follows the book pretty rigorously. It does dispense with much of the inner thoughts and musings of the lead character which is the novel's opportunity to wax philosophical, but otherwise it is a faithful reproduction of the novel.
The director of the film does add a visual style to the book. While the novel does a good job of painting a picture of the settings, this director adds some interesting visuals. Some objective close ups of the sand that has graphic elements as well as showing the different characters of how sand looks and flows. The setting is very claustrophobic as is appropriate, and the shack is shown in as an integral part of the characters. The characters are shot through windows, between posts etc. It demonstrates the importance of their home, which is a major theme of the film. (Discussed in detail in the review of the book). The woman stays where she is because it's her home, and her life and self are intertwined with this structure. To the man, I think it seems more menacing.
So perhaps its time for a short summary, which has been done once already in my review of the book. An amateur entomologist goes to the sea to look for a rare insect. He is invited and more importantly convinced to stay over the night by the villagers. He is then led to a hole in the dunes, and thinking that this residence, inhabited by the woman of the title, is temporarily, he happily and gratefully climbs into the hole in the dunes. He later finds he is trapped in this hole in the dunes by the village, who expect him to move, carry and shovel the endless sand that persecutes him and tortures him with it's constant presence.
The movie is more erotocized than the book. The book had some erotic moments, but the film accents these moments more forcefully. In one scene when they first make love, they are covered in sand (which is always the case) and it made me wonder just how comfortable that love making was. Wasn't there any chafing with all that sand?
Here is that scene.
In one pretty surrealistic scene, the villagers gather around the hole and he is told he can have a short leave for a short walk, if he will have sex with the woman in front of them. Why they want this is pretty unclear, what's the point of this public humiliation? It doesn't go with my theory that the endless sand and entrapment is a symbol of modern working mankind daily drudgery and its struggle with the monotonous work a day life they lead. Mankind is held to this slavery with the promises of home family and a few material trinkets. So why this public humiliation? Clearly the villagers are morally bankrupt as is demonstrated by their capturing of the innocent entomologist. Does it represent the authorities and their dominance over the everyday person and the willingness of the authorities to humiliate people to keep them in line. It's an idea.
In this scene, the man decides it's worth it just so he casn get out of the hole even for a brief moment and struggles with the woman and tries to even assault/rape her. His efforts are rebuffed and during this struggle, the villagers are watching with all sorts of weird masks and there is a drumming soundtrack, like the beating of a heart.
Ther is some more interesting imagery at the opening and closing sequences. Bits and scraps of official Japanese documents are shown on collage form and make for some very pretty imagery. The idea is that the man who has been entrapped eventually becomes an official missing person, hence the use of official documents for the collages.
Also the soundtrack was interesting. It was very experimental and modern. It reminded me of early King Crimson with acoustic instruments att heir most dissonant moments. I want to say that it was like John Cage, but I don't know his material enough, I can only say that it was definitely experimental. It was spooky and droning at times, and then sudden and noisy at other times.
Overall a very interesting film experience.
Here's another clip.
And here's a trailer.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Woman in the Dunes ***1/2
Published 1964 by Alfred A. Knopf.
264(est) pages
This is a book with a big idea. It's full of metaphors and symbolism. It about philosophy as opposed to the minutiae of a day. The narrative could never happen in real life, so everything has to be thought of as an allegory, to understand the book properly. If your looking for realism, one needs to look elsewhere.
So the story goes that a man, an everyman - a teacher, decides to take a retreat to pursue his favorite amateur hobby - entomology. He hopes to find a rare insect so that it can be named after him in the field guides and be immortalized in the world of entomology. This insect lives in the sand, so off to the dunes he goes. Meanwhile he has left no clue of his whereabouts back at home so as to not be bothered on the trip, or to escape or whatever reason.
The villagers of the sand dunes invite him to stay over night and he sleeps in the home of a woman who lives in a hole in the sand. So he climbs down, never to climb up again. The villagers have imprisoned him, so that the young woman, a widow, would have help in her chores and so that she might have a family. The man of course is outraged and tries to escape, but he can't.
There are many, many themes in the book to discuss, but it has been about a month since I read it and details are shaky, though I will try to tackle a few of the ideas.
The first symbol or theme is the sand. The book starts out with a discussion of the properties of sand - how it's like water because it flows, but then it's a solid. It marvels at the physics of the material. Then, the sand becomes a trap for the man. It is everywhere. The characters are continuously covered in sand and protecting their food, possessions and selves from the sand. It reminded me of a car ride coming home after a day at the beach. One can never make that sand go away. And it's always flowing into the widow's and man's living place. They are constantly working to clean out the sand. In fact their role in the community is to clear out and gather the sand. (The villagers sell it in the black market - it's illegal because it doesn't have the proper composition to use for building materials). This is a signal to how morally bankrupt the village is, as if keeping an innocent man prisoner, wasn't enough to signify that.
To me, this imprisonment is a symbol of how society tries to suppress man's free-will for the sake of the society. When asked why the woman stayed in such a horrible situation, she replies (the gist anyway, I don't remember the exact words) that this is home and one stays where the home is. Man(kind) is made to work in mind numbing and physically exhausting work, seemingly never ending and inconsequential as the couple's job of removing sand. Wht is it that enslaves man to this lifestyle? Home, family and the few trinkets that they can buy with the money. The woman says herself that she is saving for a mirror or a radio. These material items is what keeps her working harder.
Eventually after several attempts to escape, one of them particularly humiliating, the man resigns to his situation. Now the people in the book club thought this was positive ending, showing that man (kind) can tolerate and survive anything. I beg to differ. I think it is a demonstration on how easy it is for man (kind) to lose their free will and independent spirit. How easy it is to conform to society with out thinking for one's self. When the woman become pregnant, and is taken away because the baby's and mother's life are in jeopardy, he has a chance to escape. The ladder has been left in the hole. He chooses not to. Perhaps he feels a responsibility to his home and family. One might say that is a good thing, but one must remember, he was innocently ensnared into this trap and gradually had the will sucked right out of him. Coincidentally, the radio arrives here at the conclusion of the book.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas ***1/2
Seen on DVD.
Directed by Mark Herman.
Based on novel written by John Boyne.
Screenplay by Mark Herman.
With Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, Zac Matoon O'Brian, Domonkos Nemeth, Henry Kingsmill, Vera Farmiga, Cara Horgan, Zsuzsa Hoil, Amber Beattie, Lazlo Aron, David Thewlis.
Released in 2008.
I have often bemoaned the fact that media for children should have a different rating scale as it is almost impossible for any book or film to have the subtlty, nuance or profundity that an adult work has. Here is a case in which my theory is proven wrong. This is one powerful movie. I feel that it transcends the childrens' film genre. Of course it should be said that this is hardly a kids film. You don't want to set your 8 year old in front of the Tv and let him/her alone. It would either bore them becasue of the complexity or scare the dickens out of them. The only thing about this film that slightly resembles a typical kids' movie is that it is told from the point of view of an 8 year old.
Why do I like this film? Just becasue it is so hard hitting. The childrens' part are very believeable and there are lots of small, subtle moments in the film.
A German boy, Bruno, is taken to the country during WW II so that his soldier dad can take over his duties at his new assignment. That of commandant at a concentration camp. Bruno discovers, unwittingly, the camp and attempts to make friends with a Jewish boy on the other side of the fence. Both boys are especailly good at portraying their innocence, but the boy in the camp is especailly good at portraying a mix of innocence and hopefullness, while also demonstrating a wary, traumatized persona. The two boys just don't understand, even the Jewish boy who has gone through scads of trauma doesn't understand the enormity of the situation. I'll skip the ending, but I'll just say that it's gut wrenchiung tragic. The hope is that the adults have learned a heavy and hard lesson.
And I think the mother does. When she first moves into their new abode, she is wary of the Jews. She saw no problem in the idea of the camps, though she didn't want it in her backyard. When one of the Jewish servants helps Bruno with a cut on the knee, she reluctantly thanks him and reluctantly becomes a little more human. She is very upset when she finds out the true mission of the camp and she and her husband have a serious argument over it. I guess it was ok to imprison the Jews, but not to massacre them.
A strongly reccomended film!
Here's a trailer...
Directed by Mark Herman.
Based on novel written by John Boyne.
Screenplay by Mark Herman.
With Asa Butterfield, Jack Scanlon, Zac Matoon O'Brian, Domonkos Nemeth, Henry Kingsmill, Vera Farmiga, Cara Horgan, Zsuzsa Hoil, Amber Beattie, Lazlo Aron, David Thewlis.
Released in 2008.
I have often bemoaned the fact that media for children should have a different rating scale as it is almost impossible for any book or film to have the subtlty, nuance or profundity that an adult work has. Here is a case in which my theory is proven wrong. This is one powerful movie. I feel that it transcends the childrens' film genre. Of course it should be said that this is hardly a kids film. You don't want to set your 8 year old in front of the Tv and let him/her alone. It would either bore them becasue of the complexity or scare the dickens out of them. The only thing about this film that slightly resembles a typical kids' movie is that it is told from the point of view of an 8 year old.
Why do I like this film? Just becasue it is so hard hitting. The childrens' part are very believeable and there are lots of small, subtle moments in the film.
A German boy, Bruno, is taken to the country during WW II so that his soldier dad can take over his duties at his new assignment. That of commandant at a concentration camp. Bruno discovers, unwittingly, the camp and attempts to make friends with a Jewish boy on the other side of the fence. Both boys are especailly good at portraying their innocence, but the boy in the camp is especailly good at portraying a mix of innocence and hopefullness, while also demonstrating a wary, traumatized persona. The two boys just don't understand, even the Jewish boy who has gone through scads of trauma doesn't understand the enormity of the situation. I'll skip the ending, but I'll just say that it's gut wrenchiung tragic. The hope is that the adults have learned a heavy and hard lesson.
And I think the mother does. When she first moves into their new abode, she is wary of the Jews. She saw no problem in the idea of the camps, though she didn't want it in her backyard. When one of the Jewish servants helps Bruno with a cut on the knee, she reluctantly thanks him and reluctantly becomes a little more human. She is very upset when she finds out the true mission of the camp and she and her husband have a serious argument over it. I guess it was ok to imprison the Jews, but not to massacre them.
A strongly reccomended film!
Here's a trailer...
Friday, November 27, 2009
Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) ***
Seen on DVD.
Released in Isreal 2008.
Directed and written by Ari Folman.
This is a flawed film in many ways. It's slow, and confusing. But I admire the intent and the ambitions of the director to make this film the way he wanted. For that reason i rated this film 3 stars in stead of 2 1/2 stars.
First off, it's a documentary but it is an animated film. This animation allows the film to show some eerie and spooky, settings. It's also an interesting premise. The director is trying to remember his involvement in the invasion of Lebanon and subsequent massacre that happened in 1982. He does an excellent job of getting to the psyche of the people he interviews and their memories of the war. For some reason the limits of the animation techniques they used, made people move very slowly which contributed to the slowness of the film. The film makers understood this and instead of trying to hide this fact, they embraced this limitation. The characters tend to float off into space making them seem ghostly. This adds to the level of psychological confusion and angst of the film.
So, the story is that the director is interviewing old veterans of the Invasion of Lebanon. He seems to have forgotten the whole incident, especially those moments of the massacre. He is curious or perhaps more precisely, haunted to know (he doesn't remember) just what his role in this massacre was. So we learn the stories of many of his comrades and the emotional trauma they had went through during the war. Eventually he closes in on the people who were there ( I believe the Lebanese town was laid to siege) at the massacre. What is discovered is that the Christians were mostly responsible. They entered the town and took care of things themselves. There's a hint that it might have been a retribution for the assassination of their Lebanese presidential candidate Bashir (hence the title of the film). But the Israeli army is not entirely off the hook. After all, they witnessed it all. The foot soldiers and lower ranked officers did try to report it, but the upper echelons of the Israeli army either told them not to worry and that nothing was happening, or they said they would do something and instead looked away from the atrocities.
One of the most interesting aspect of this animation as documentary is the ability to reenact the stories of the veterans. Because it was animation, the filmmakers could craft how they thought the incidents really happened and could dramatize it with out silly actors or such. It actually added a dimension of reality to it.
Here's a trailer...
Released in Isreal 2008.
Directed and written by Ari Folman.
This is a flawed film in many ways. It's slow, and confusing. But I admire the intent and the ambitions of the director to make this film the way he wanted. For that reason i rated this film 3 stars in stead of 2 1/2 stars.
First off, it's a documentary but it is an animated film. This animation allows the film to show some eerie and spooky, settings. It's also an interesting premise. The director is trying to remember his involvement in the invasion of Lebanon and subsequent massacre that happened in 1982. He does an excellent job of getting to the psyche of the people he interviews and their memories of the war. For some reason the limits of the animation techniques they used, made people move very slowly which contributed to the slowness of the film. The film makers understood this and instead of trying to hide this fact, they embraced this limitation. The characters tend to float off into space making them seem ghostly. This adds to the level of psychological confusion and angst of the film.
So, the story is that the director is interviewing old veterans of the Invasion of Lebanon. He seems to have forgotten the whole incident, especially those moments of the massacre. He is curious or perhaps more precisely, haunted to know (he doesn't remember) just what his role in this massacre was. So we learn the stories of many of his comrades and the emotional trauma they had went through during the war. Eventually he closes in on the people who were there ( I believe the Lebanese town was laid to siege) at the massacre. What is discovered is that the Christians were mostly responsible. They entered the town and took care of things themselves. There's a hint that it might have been a retribution for the assassination of their Lebanese presidential candidate Bashir (hence the title of the film). But the Israeli army is not entirely off the hook. After all, they witnessed it all. The foot soldiers and lower ranked officers did try to report it, but the upper echelons of the Israeli army either told them not to worry and that nothing was happening, or they said they would do something and instead looked away from the atrocities.
One of the most interesting aspect of this animation as documentary is the ability to reenact the stories of the veterans. Because it was animation, the filmmakers could craft how they thought the incidents really happened and could dramatize it with out silly actors or such. It actually added a dimension of reality to it.
Here's a trailer...
Thursday, November 26, 2009
It Feels So Good When I Stop ***
By Joe Pernice.
Published in 2009 by Penguin Books.
I'm so far behind in this blog. I read this book about a month ago and the library wouldn't even let me renew it because I had renewed it too frequently. So I have forgotten names and details. But it's Thanksgiving weekend and I'll have a little time so maybe I can catch with some short and sweet entries.
Joe Pernice (the author) is part of the musical group The Pernice Brothers, who were before that called The Scud Mountain Boys. I should say a few words about what I know about these groups. My impression was that these groups were Americana or alternative country music. When I bought my first Pernice Brothers' CD, I was disappointed. It was too smooth and poppy for me. I was expecting something grittier. Their earlier incarnation, The Scud Mountain Boys was only slightly better.
So I wasn't sure what to expect from this author, but I was happy to read this book.
It's the story of an everyday man / slacker and his romantic life. At the beginning of the book, he had just broken up with his wife of 3 days, and simultaneously, his sister was divorcing her husband who our hero was still friends with. In fact he helps the ex-husband take care of his nephew (the ex's son) though he had never had any responsibility of any kind previous to this.
So our slacker man ( I do remember he was never named in this book so as to give him a feel of everyday man) tells his tale of two times. He tells both what happens to him AFTER the break up and the events that transpire BEFORE the break up. A nice structure, though it was confusing at first.
He describes how he and his future wife get together and then details their life together. Nothing traumatic happens that point to the future break-up but there are signs that there is trouble. His girlfriend seems to circulate in more sophisticated circles than him. She works for a fashion magazine. Though when she is with him, she seems to be pretty down to earth. The narrative eventually leads to the day they break up, but it's not clear why, though we do find out that it was his idea. Was it nerves? A feeling of inadequacy? (they were in Paris - a fancy place for an everyday man). The ending only hints at these possibilities.
Then there is the narrative that follows the break up. He starts to look after his nephew and he meets a woman who has had a tragic event happen. She lost her son (I think he drowned). She wants to make a documentary honoring her lost son. Our hero decides to help her (he is conveniently unemployed - a slacker). During the course of making the video, they learn about themselves and each other. And even though romance does happen, it is certainly doomed from the start, though I think both characters came out better for it. And I think the characters would agree that though doomed, the relationship was worth their time and effort.
So over all the book has a positive, hopeful feeling, which I liked also. I might have to go back to the Cd's and at last listen to the lyrics, even if I didn't care for the music. He clearly knows how to tell a narrative. I be this songs have good narratives too.
Here's an excerpt from the book.
And here's a song that may or may not be a soundtrack for the book.
Published in 2009 by Penguin Books.
I'm so far behind in this blog. I read this book about a month ago and the library wouldn't even let me renew it because I had renewed it too frequently. So I have forgotten names and details. But it's Thanksgiving weekend and I'll have a little time so maybe I can catch with some short and sweet entries.
Joe Pernice (the author) is part of the musical group The Pernice Brothers, who were before that called The Scud Mountain Boys. I should say a few words about what I know about these groups. My impression was that these groups were Americana or alternative country music. When I bought my first Pernice Brothers' CD, I was disappointed. It was too smooth and poppy for me. I was expecting something grittier. Their earlier incarnation, The Scud Mountain Boys was only slightly better.
So I wasn't sure what to expect from this author, but I was happy to read this book.
It's the story of an everyday man / slacker and his romantic life. At the beginning of the book, he had just broken up with his wife of 3 days, and simultaneously, his sister was divorcing her husband who our hero was still friends with. In fact he helps the ex-husband take care of his nephew (the ex's son) though he had never had any responsibility of any kind previous to this.
So our slacker man ( I do remember he was never named in this book so as to give him a feel of everyday man) tells his tale of two times. He tells both what happens to him AFTER the break up and the events that transpire BEFORE the break up. A nice structure, though it was confusing at first.
He describes how he and his future wife get together and then details their life together. Nothing traumatic happens that point to the future break-up but there are signs that there is trouble. His girlfriend seems to circulate in more sophisticated circles than him. She works for a fashion magazine. Though when she is with him, she seems to be pretty down to earth. The narrative eventually leads to the day they break up, but it's not clear why, though we do find out that it was his idea. Was it nerves? A feeling of inadequacy? (they were in Paris - a fancy place for an everyday man). The ending only hints at these possibilities.
Then there is the narrative that follows the break up. He starts to look after his nephew and he meets a woman who has had a tragic event happen. She lost her son (I think he drowned). She wants to make a documentary honoring her lost son. Our hero decides to help her (he is conveniently unemployed - a slacker). During the course of making the video, they learn about themselves and each other. And even though romance does happen, it is certainly doomed from the start, though I think both characters came out better for it. And I think the characters would agree that though doomed, the relationship was worth their time and effort.
So over all the book has a positive, hopeful feeling, which I liked also. I might have to go back to the Cd's and at last listen to the lyrics, even if I didn't care for the music. He clearly knows how to tell a narrative. I be this songs have good narratives too.
Here's an excerpt from the book.
And here's a song that may or may not be a soundtrack for the book.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Plan of Chicago: DAniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City *1/2
By Carl S. Smith.
Published by University of Chicago, August 2007.
202 pages.
I looked forward to reading this as I greatly enjoy history, architecture and learning about Chicago. The book certainly has some of that and had some interesting parts, but I found a large portion to be kind of dry. I could recommend parts of this book for reading if it was fresher in mind. I haven't read it for about a month now.
What I do remember that was interesting were the sections about antecedents for city planning. Paris was one example discussed and Burnham worked in several American cities previous to making his great plan in Chicago.
Some of the discussion about Chicago in the 19th century was interesting as it illuminated many of the problems that Chicago had at that time - filth, squalor, chaos. And the book also discussed the solution that the plan suggested for these problems.
And finally some of the comparisons that were made between Chicago prior to the publishing of the plan, the plan itself and contemporary Chicago were very interesting. It was very interesting, but I feel there could have been more. The author even states that to do all that comparing would be a very difficult task. I think it would have been worth the effort. This was the book I was expecting.
The book falls flat for the rest of it. This book is more about the plan itself then Chicago history. It spends quite a lot of time discussing the organization of the groups that supported it - The Merchants Club and The Commercial Club of Chicago, which Burnham and Bennet (his partner) were a part of. These were groups of wealthy , conservative and influential men and some famous names do crop up such as Wacker (got his own street). It's no wonder they got most of their ideas passed since they had all this influence (including some shady aldermen and mayors). I think this influence was essential to the plan becoming realized.
The book discussed who was responsible for what part of the production of the plan. And that's the thing, the book talks a lot about the production of the plan. How it was printed and bound for example. Or how it was marketed to the public (it was part of the Junior High curriculum in Chicago). Or the description of the fancy, high fallutin' special editions. As you can see, much of this, while it did have some interesting tidbits, were not about city planning, or architecture.
There were some dissenters to the plan, though most people supported it then and now. The book only mentions these dissents in passing and does not give much sway to their arguments.
One problem was that the monumental size of the project was dehumanizing. Some of the drawings seem futuristic and sterile. There are no people to be seen in the streets of these drawings.
Another criticism of the plan was that it was centered on the lake front and did not address issues in the surrounding, and often squalid neighborhoods. The hope of the plan was to unite everyone, rich and poor etc., to marvel at the wondrous awesomeness of the city. That smacks a little of propaganda in which the masses should all come together for the sake of good (ie. a war or in this case the pride of Chicago). Look at how people now unflinchingly support government policies out of patriotism, even if it means their sons and daughters are dying in wars overseas.
Though like I said, the title is about the plan of Chicago and not necessarily so much about the city itself. So the book does not falsely advertise it's contents. It delivered what it said it would. I was just a little less interested in the content that it delivered.
Here's some pictures and more information in the following videos.
Published by University of Chicago, August 2007.
202 pages.
I looked forward to reading this as I greatly enjoy history, architecture and learning about Chicago. The book certainly has some of that and had some interesting parts, but I found a large portion to be kind of dry. I could recommend parts of this book for reading if it was fresher in mind. I haven't read it for about a month now.
What I do remember that was interesting were the sections about antecedents for city planning. Paris was one example discussed and Burnham worked in several American cities previous to making his great plan in Chicago.
Some of the discussion about Chicago in the 19th century was interesting as it illuminated many of the problems that Chicago had at that time - filth, squalor, chaos. And the book also discussed the solution that the plan suggested for these problems.
And finally some of the comparisons that were made between Chicago prior to the publishing of the plan, the plan itself and contemporary Chicago were very interesting. It was very interesting, but I feel there could have been more. The author even states that to do all that comparing would be a very difficult task. I think it would have been worth the effort. This was the book I was expecting.
The book falls flat for the rest of it. This book is more about the plan itself then Chicago history. It spends quite a lot of time discussing the organization of the groups that supported it - The Merchants Club and The Commercial Club of Chicago, which Burnham and Bennet (his partner) were a part of. These were groups of wealthy , conservative and influential men and some famous names do crop up such as Wacker (got his own street). It's no wonder they got most of their ideas passed since they had all this influence (including some shady aldermen and mayors). I think this influence was essential to the plan becoming realized.
The book discussed who was responsible for what part of the production of the plan. And that's the thing, the book talks a lot about the production of the plan. How it was printed and bound for example. Or how it was marketed to the public (it was part of the Junior High curriculum in Chicago). Or the description of the fancy, high fallutin' special editions. As you can see, much of this, while it did have some interesting tidbits, were not about city planning, or architecture.
There were some dissenters to the plan, though most people supported it then and now. The book only mentions these dissents in passing and does not give much sway to their arguments.
One problem was that the monumental size of the project was dehumanizing. Some of the drawings seem futuristic and sterile. There are no people to be seen in the streets of these drawings.
Another criticism of the plan was that it was centered on the lake front and did not address issues in the surrounding, and often squalid neighborhoods. The hope of the plan was to unite everyone, rich and poor etc., to marvel at the wondrous awesomeness of the city. That smacks a little of propaganda in which the masses should all come together for the sake of good (ie. a war or in this case the pride of Chicago). Look at how people now unflinchingly support government policies out of patriotism, even if it means their sons and daughters are dying in wars overseas.
Though like I said, the title is about the plan of Chicago and not necessarily so much about the city itself. So the book does not falsely advertise it's contents. It delivered what it said it would. I was just a little less interested in the content that it delivered.
Here's some pictures and more information in the following videos.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Hangover **
Released June of 2009.
Directed by Todd Phillips.
Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
With Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Sazha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Rachael Harris, Mike Tyson, Mike Epps, Jernard Burks, Rob Riggle, Bryan Callen.
Okay, this film caught me by surprise in the opening scene. It starts out on a dusty desert Nevada road, to the sounds of Danzig's Thirteen, ( a great cover of that song was done by Johnny Cash by the way - he did some fantastic covers in his later years). The Cramps' version of Fever is here too. Unfortunately the rest of the soundtrack is exceedingly mundane.
So here is this gritty, dusty and dirty opener and I'm thinking this has potential. But alas, it just turns into another one of those "boys behaving badly" films that are so wildly popular now a days partially to the credit (or fault) of Judd Apatow.
There's some good jokes to be sure and the film definitely has it's moments. The boys are a little older here so it has a more mature feeling than say a typical "boys behaving bad" film and again there are some unique ideas here.
I know this is supposed to be a film in which crazy things happen, but the outcome is too convoluted and ridiculous at times. I say outcome because the events of the previous night of the hangover are revealed to us slowly. It turns into a sort of mystery. But that mystery is compromised by the pure silliness of it.
My least favorite part of that wild night was the Asian heavy who also was stylish and talked with a lisp. It was supposed to be funny, but it was just silly. It would have been better if the heavy was a true heavy with some good comedic lines and some character development.
So the plot is that the boys are getting together for one last hurrah in Vegas before the friend gets married. They wake up and find that they have forgotten everything and that they don't know where the groom is. He has disappeared. Now again, this had some appeal for me as a mystery, a comedic mystery. But when I find out what really transpired, I was disappointed. In fact, even at the end I was still unclear about what happened even after the candid photos were shown. The rest of the film is the remaining guys retracing their steps trying to figure out what happened.
There is one interesting character in this film. You have the usual archetypes. There's the geek, the suave guy and the bland good looking guy who is getting married. But the brother-in-law (played by Zack Galifianakis) is interesting. He's this sort of man-child that goes along for the bachelor's party trip and his mix of naivete and sexual creepiness makes the viewer downright uncomfortable.
Overall worth the $3.50 i paid for my son and I to go, but not more than that.
Here's a trailer, the r rated one - don't let the kiddies watch it.
Johnny Cash's version of "Thirteen".
And the original version by Glenn Danzig.
And finally, the Cramp's version of Peggy Lee's Fever, with pics of Bettie Page to boot!
Directed by Todd Phillips.
Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore.
With Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Sazha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Rachael Harris, Mike Tyson, Mike Epps, Jernard Burks, Rob Riggle, Bryan Callen.
Okay, this film caught me by surprise in the opening scene. It starts out on a dusty desert Nevada road, to the sounds of Danzig's Thirteen, ( a great cover of that song was done by Johnny Cash by the way - he did some fantastic covers in his later years). The Cramps' version of Fever is here too. Unfortunately the rest of the soundtrack is exceedingly mundane.
So here is this gritty, dusty and dirty opener and I'm thinking this has potential. But alas, it just turns into another one of those "boys behaving badly" films that are so wildly popular now a days partially to the credit (or fault) of Judd Apatow.
There's some good jokes to be sure and the film definitely has it's moments. The boys are a little older here so it has a more mature feeling than say a typical "boys behaving bad" film and again there are some unique ideas here.
I know this is supposed to be a film in which crazy things happen, but the outcome is too convoluted and ridiculous at times. I say outcome because the events of the previous night of the hangover are revealed to us slowly. It turns into a sort of mystery. But that mystery is compromised by the pure silliness of it.
My least favorite part of that wild night was the Asian heavy who also was stylish and talked with a lisp. It was supposed to be funny, but it was just silly. It would have been better if the heavy was a true heavy with some good comedic lines and some character development.
So the plot is that the boys are getting together for one last hurrah in Vegas before the friend gets married. They wake up and find that they have forgotten everything and that they don't know where the groom is. He has disappeared. Now again, this had some appeal for me as a mystery, a comedic mystery. But when I find out what really transpired, I was disappointed. In fact, even at the end I was still unclear about what happened even after the candid photos were shown. The rest of the film is the remaining guys retracing their steps trying to figure out what happened.
There is one interesting character in this film. You have the usual archetypes. There's the geek, the suave guy and the bland good looking guy who is getting married. But the brother-in-law (played by Zack Galifianakis) is interesting. He's this sort of man-child that goes along for the bachelor's party trip and his mix of naivete and sexual creepiness makes the viewer downright uncomfortable.
Overall worth the $3.50 i paid for my son and I to go, but not more than that.
Here's a trailer, the r rated one - don't let the kiddies watch it.
Johnny Cash's version of "Thirteen".
And the original version by Glenn Danzig.
And finally, the Cramp's version of Peggy Lee's Fever, with pics of Bettie Page to boot!
The Motel Life **1/2
By Willy Vlautin.
Published by Harper Perrenial 2006.
First UK Paperback published 1999 by Faber and Faber Lmtd.
206 pages.
This is Vlautin's first novel. I had already discussed his later book, "Northline", several weeks ago. It is similar in many ways to that novel, though I think "Northline" is a better book. The problem with this one is that it tends to plod along after a while. Not that "Northline" doesn't have it's plodding moments - it's episodic in nature, but "The Motel Life" seems to be more so.
But "The Hotel Life" still has those aspects that I liked so much about "Northline". The characters are gritty and desperate. Yet there's a pervading humaneness and kindness that they display under their gruff exterior. It a portrait of the working and not so working poor. The reader becomes empathetic with these characters.
The story takes place in and around Reno, Nevada. The main character, Frank, is visited in the middle of a cold, snowy night by his older brother Jerry Lee. Jerry Lee is very upset. He had a hit and run accident in which a young boy had been killed. He states that he is not to blame since the kid just appeared out of nowhere on his bicycle in the middle of a snow storm, but he was drunk and he thinks that the police won't see it his way.
So they go on the lam. But they don't make it to their destination. Jerry Lee is wracked with guilt and he deserts his brother in the woods and shoots himself in the leg. Frank is forced to return home and brings him to the hospital.
Back home Frank does some thinking, especially about his ex-girlfriend who he still loves. Jerry Lee is not doing well, because his leg was in very bad shape previously to the shooting. The two brothers decide to go on the lam again, and go to a motel.
This book is compared to "Of Mice and Men" because the one brother seems to take care of the other, though Jerry Lee is not mentally challenged. At the motel the resolution of the story is very different for these men - tragic for one and hopeful for the other.
A trailer for the book. The end says it's going to be a movie!?!?!? Really?
A reading by the author...
Published by Harper Perrenial 2006.
First UK Paperback published 1999 by Faber and Faber Lmtd.
206 pages.
This is Vlautin's first novel. I had already discussed his later book, "Northline", several weeks ago. It is similar in many ways to that novel, though I think "Northline" is a better book. The problem with this one is that it tends to plod along after a while. Not that "Northline" doesn't have it's plodding moments - it's episodic in nature, but "The Motel Life" seems to be more so.
But "The Hotel Life" still has those aspects that I liked so much about "Northline". The characters are gritty and desperate. Yet there's a pervading humaneness and kindness that they display under their gruff exterior. It a portrait of the working and not so working poor. The reader becomes empathetic with these characters.
The story takes place in and around Reno, Nevada. The main character, Frank, is visited in the middle of a cold, snowy night by his older brother Jerry Lee. Jerry Lee is very upset. He had a hit and run accident in which a young boy had been killed. He states that he is not to blame since the kid just appeared out of nowhere on his bicycle in the middle of a snow storm, but he was drunk and he thinks that the police won't see it his way.
So they go on the lam. But they don't make it to their destination. Jerry Lee is wracked with guilt and he deserts his brother in the woods and shoots himself in the leg. Frank is forced to return home and brings him to the hospital.
Back home Frank does some thinking, especially about his ex-girlfriend who he still loves. Jerry Lee is not doing well, because his leg was in very bad shape previously to the shooting. The two brothers decide to go on the lam again, and go to a motel.
This book is compared to "Of Mice and Men" because the one brother seems to take care of the other, though Jerry Lee is not mentally challenged. At the motel the resolution of the story is very different for these men - tragic for one and hopeful for the other.
A trailer for the book. The end says it's going to be a movie!?!?!? Really?
A reading by the author...
Friday, October 30, 2009
Fun Home - A family Tragicomic**
By Alson Bechdel.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2006.
Here's another memoir/Graphic Novel. They seem to be all they make these days. I read this right after I read "Blue Pills", and it's strength compared with that book is the depth and detail it has. On the negative side, it could be a bit more whimsical and entertaining. It's overall mood is pretty grim.
The author/artist of this book is already famous for her weekly strip "Dykes to Watch Out For", which can be preachy but also kind of humorous. So there's a large portion of about sexual identity in this book. In fact one interesting part is how when she learned her father was gay, and when she came to the conclusion that she was a lesbian, there were many , well, gender reversals between her and her father. They tended to bond over these "interests" even though both were unaware of the others sexual identity at the time.
So it's basically the story of the author's relationship with her father. He turned out to be gay, as well, as is well known, as the author. But the father, who lived in the small town that he lived in his whole life, had to remain in the closet. Apparently this made him repressed and bitter. Bechdel describes him as a cold and stern father who did not seem all that interested in his children, but was interested in literature and art and of course young boys. But she does make several attempts to bond with him over her life and had some mild success. They bonded over her literature class in college. Another attempt at bonding was his attempts to dress her like a pretty girl, which gave him satisfaction, but she wasn't interested.
So what's the relation between his and her gay sexuality? Is there a cause and effect here? Gayness, we're told is something you are born with and not learned. It seems to "run" in this family. Is there a genetic disposition for the "gay" gene, or was it learned? She does mention in one scene how she was taken to a fashionable part of a big city (New York?) and is exposed to a display of "cosmeticized masculinity." Though her lesbian characteristics were deeply rooted before this event as a teenager, this event did seem to open up a world of possibility for her.
Heres the author describing her drawing technique.
and...
and...
And a reading of the book.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2006.
Here's another memoir/Graphic Novel. They seem to be all they make these days. I read this right after I read "Blue Pills", and it's strength compared with that book is the depth and detail it has. On the negative side, it could be a bit more whimsical and entertaining. It's overall mood is pretty grim.
The author/artist of this book is already famous for her weekly strip "Dykes to Watch Out For", which can be preachy but also kind of humorous. So there's a large portion of about sexual identity in this book. In fact one interesting part is how when she learned her father was gay, and when she came to the conclusion that she was a lesbian, there were many , well, gender reversals between her and her father. They tended to bond over these "interests" even though both were unaware of the others sexual identity at the time.
So it's basically the story of the author's relationship with her father. He turned out to be gay, as well, as is well known, as the author. But the father, who lived in the small town that he lived in his whole life, had to remain in the closet. Apparently this made him repressed and bitter. Bechdel describes him as a cold and stern father who did not seem all that interested in his children, but was interested in literature and art and of course young boys. But she does make several attempts to bond with him over her life and had some mild success. They bonded over her literature class in college. Another attempt at bonding was his attempts to dress her like a pretty girl, which gave him satisfaction, but she wasn't interested.
So what's the relation between his and her gay sexuality? Is there a cause and effect here? Gayness, we're told is something you are born with and not learned. It seems to "run" in this family. Is there a genetic disposition for the "gay" gene, or was it learned? She does mention in one scene how she was taken to a fashionable part of a big city (New York?) and is exposed to a display of "cosmeticized masculinity." Though her lesbian characteristics were deeply rooted before this event as a teenager, this event did seem to open up a world of possibility for her.
Heres the author describing her drawing technique.
and...
and...
And a reading of the book.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Blue Pills - A Positive Love Story **1/2
By Frederik Peeters.
Translated from French by Anjali Singh.
Swiss Edition Published by Atrabile 2001.
English Edition published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2008.
This is apparently a memoir about a guy that meets and a girl that has HIV. He falls in love with her (actually he had always loved he but she just recently became single so they started dating) and accepts her HIV son as his own son. So it's basically about him learning to live with the disease and learning how to be an adult and a father under extreme stress. Once the condom breaks and he starts to freak out. They have to pay several visits to the doctor to insure that he is ok. And his girlfriend has extreme anxiety and guilt because she fears that she might infect him also.
I think one of the themes of this book is that it is, now, possible to live with HIV in a relatively safe way these days. Of course that wasn't the case 10 or 15 years ago, but things have changed. In one scene the doctor explains to the main character that it is a complicated system to become infected.
Most of the virus in concentrated in the sperm and blood. Since his girlfriend is NOT giving him sperm, he's relatively safe. There is some but less of the virus in a woman's vaginal secretions and even a pittance in her salive. The main concern is the blood entering his body. Sores can help the virus transfer this way, but even then it's complicated. Even if he does contract the disease, it can be erased/cured if it hasn't gotten to the glands yet. This is all from the doctor in the story.
I've also heard that timing is important. The more a partner has been on medications, the less chance of contracting it. If the HIV count is low, but still existent, in the partner, then it's difficult for the other partner to contract it. Of course certain precautions have to be taken. After all this is said, one would be a fool not to use a condom.
There is a symbolic section at the end of the book that I did not really get. He's riding a mammoth in which he has conversations about mortality and the illness. Perhaps it was just a graphic way for the author to convey some philosophical meanderings, but I had a hard time following it, and I enjoy philosophical meanderings.
Translated from French by Anjali Singh.
Swiss Edition Published by Atrabile 2001.
English Edition published by Houghton Mifflin Company 2008.
This is apparently a memoir about a guy that meets and a girl that has HIV. He falls in love with her (actually he had always loved he but she just recently became single so they started dating) and accepts her HIV son as his own son. So it's basically about him learning to live with the disease and learning how to be an adult and a father under extreme stress. Once the condom breaks and he starts to freak out. They have to pay several visits to the doctor to insure that he is ok. And his girlfriend has extreme anxiety and guilt because she fears that she might infect him also.
I think one of the themes of this book is that it is, now, possible to live with HIV in a relatively safe way these days. Of course that wasn't the case 10 or 15 years ago, but things have changed. In one scene the doctor explains to the main character that it is a complicated system to become infected.
Most of the virus in concentrated in the sperm and blood. Since his girlfriend is NOT giving him sperm, he's relatively safe. There is some but less of the virus in a woman's vaginal secretions and even a pittance in her salive. The main concern is the blood entering his body. Sores can help the virus transfer this way, but even then it's complicated. Even if he does contract the disease, it can be erased/cured if it hasn't gotten to the glands yet. This is all from the doctor in the story.
I've also heard that timing is important. The more a partner has been on medications, the less chance of contracting it. If the HIV count is low, but still existent, in the partner, then it's difficult for the other partner to contract it. Of course certain precautions have to be taken. After all this is said, one would be a fool not to use a condom.
There is a symbolic section at the end of the book that I did not really get. He's riding a mammoth in which he has conversations about mortality and the illness. Perhaps it was just a graphic way for the author to convey some philosophical meanderings, but I had a hard time following it, and I enjoy philosophical meanderings.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Brick Lane **
Directed by Sarah Gavron.
With Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum, Lana Rahman, Lalita Rahman, Harvey Virdi.
Based on book by Monica Ali. Screenplay by Laura Jones.
Released 2007. Seen on DVD.
Having read the book before seeing the movie, of course I enjoyed the book more, so it's hard to get a idea of how good this movie was. One thing I noticed was that there seemed to be too many ideas and they all seemed scattershot. Perhaps they tried to fit too much from the book into the film. Also the romance part seemed too obvious. The leading love interests were making goo goo eyes at each other almost from the start. The love affair was not allowed to grow naturally. Little was done to demonstrate why the wife would even bother partake in such a love affair.
On the other hand, the film is very beautiful to look at. There's lots of vivid reds and oranges displayed in the textiles that were abundantly shown in England and in India. Another pro for this film is the presence of Ms. Chatterjee. She's an alluring and charming actress and I now have a new crush.
For a summary of the story, I think I'll guide you to the review of the book which was written several weeks earlier. Suffice it to say that the movie does a lot of condensing of plot points from the film, as most films are wont to do. It just seemed to bug me a little more than usual.
Also, in the film, the husband is a less sympathetic character. In the book, I felt bad for him even though he was arrogant and pompous. Here he shows the arrogance but little of the sympathetic side. That fact makes it difficult for the wife to be torn between her lover and her husband. She does demonstrate this confusion about who she really loves in both the book and the film. It's just less convincing in the film since we see little of her husbands good side. But I guess in the limitations of film, one has to use a broader brush to paint their characters, and I think the husband loses out in this broadness.
Here's an interview with the lovely young lady.
With Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson, Naeema Begum, Lana Rahman, Lalita Rahman, Harvey Virdi.
Based on book by Monica Ali. Screenplay by Laura Jones.
Released 2007. Seen on DVD.
Having read the book before seeing the movie, of course I enjoyed the book more, so it's hard to get a idea of how good this movie was. One thing I noticed was that there seemed to be too many ideas and they all seemed scattershot. Perhaps they tried to fit too much from the book into the film. Also the romance part seemed too obvious. The leading love interests were making goo goo eyes at each other almost from the start. The love affair was not allowed to grow naturally. Little was done to demonstrate why the wife would even bother partake in such a love affair.
On the other hand, the film is very beautiful to look at. There's lots of vivid reds and oranges displayed in the textiles that were abundantly shown in England and in India. Another pro for this film is the presence of Ms. Chatterjee. She's an alluring and charming actress and I now have a new crush.
For a summary of the story, I think I'll guide you to the review of the book which was written several weeks earlier. Suffice it to say that the movie does a lot of condensing of plot points from the film, as most films are wont to do. It just seemed to bug me a little more than usual.
Also, in the film, the husband is a less sympathetic character. In the book, I felt bad for him even though he was arrogant and pompous. Here he shows the arrogance but little of the sympathetic side. That fact makes it difficult for the wife to be torn between her lover and her husband. She does demonstrate this confusion about who she really loves in both the book and the film. It's just less convincing in the film since we see little of her husbands good side. But I guess in the limitations of film, one has to use a broader brush to paint their characters, and I think the husband loses out in this broadness.
Here's an interview with the lovely young lady.
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