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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Jul 3, 2021 3:21:00 GMT
Notes on a Silencing was really good. Essential MeToo reading. Concerns the sordid details in her own words of how a woman's experience of sexual assault in prep school was silenced first by herself compelled by invisible forces of shame, then by the school when she came forward, and finally by a criminal justice system which failed to press charges against an institution with a long history of systemic negligence and victim mistreatment. The prose is very strong. Recalls The Bell Jar occasionally in its intimate first person descriptions trauma and alienation, but these are very different stories with different endings. next up, gonna knock out Steinbeck's very short The Pearl. I'm sure I listened to it ages ago but I'm in a Steinbeck mood
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 3, 2021 14:22:52 GMT
Kazuo Ishiguro's novelization of The Brave Little Toaster. After the first chapter, I'm vibing with it.
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 5, 2021 19:04:40 GMT
And I've finished it, because I had nothing else to do this weekend. Also, the book rocked. Ishiguro has been on a run of his best works ever since Never Let Me Go, and this is just another piece from the Master at his peak. Thematically and stylistically a sister novel to NLMG, it observes the gaps of class created by technology, and how these gaps drive us apart. But just like in NLMG, Ishiguro is optimistic: he is far more concerned with how we can hold on to each other. As "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" put it: "Though an ocean of tears divides us, let the bridge of our love span the sea." As much as I love The Remains of the Day, it is Ishiguro's current phase that I'm besotted with. Never Let Me Go, Nocturnes, The Buried Giant, and now Klara and the Sun have a hope to them, a belief in the power of love to save humanity in spite of our penchant for self-destruction.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Jul 5, 2021 21:50:30 GMT
finished The Pearl. I really must've listened to it before but I was probably a child because it all feels very familiar and Hector Elizondo's narration is like an old friend but none of the plot particulars rang any bells. As for the novella itself, not quite sure what to think of it yet. Steinbeck's prose is outstanding but I feel like if one wants to extrapolate a Marxist reading from this text, you have to do a lot of projecting because that's not how it reads. The Marxism has to be added after the fact as an external gauge through which to frame the "evil" that accompanies wealth and good fortune amongst needy people. What bothers me are the readings that see the pearl as a corrupting force because its materialism burdens the supposed happy simplicity of Kino's pre-pearl life because they fit the parameters of Steinbeck's story. Taken that way the text seems insidiously traditionalist--a call to stay in your lane and not overreach or dream of having more instead of a critique of a system which compels the hungriest to cannibalize each other. Other people read this as anticapitalist but it doesn't really present that way because Steinbeck seems to link Kino's misfortune in black and white terms to the pearl itself and not the world he inhabits. Maybe I'm missing something? anyways, on to the next American classic, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises read by William Hurt (!)
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chris3
Badass
I just ordered a slice of pumpkin pie...
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Post by chris3 on Jul 15, 2021 22:11:36 GMT
About 150 pages into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's a lot better than I anticipated. Yes, there are times when the prose is laughably amateurish (many scenes feel like mere transcriptions of his screenplay, as if prose is simply a means to convey blocking and action description), but that's ultimately of little consequence. The book is chock-full of delightful digressions, and QT's infectious obsession with minutiae lends itself perfectly to the literary medium. The characters of Rick and Cliff are enriched to an enormous degree. I really feel as if they're both real people now. Rick Dalton is probably my favorite character Tarantino's ever written and it's been a pleasure spending so much time inside his neurotic, insecure mind. Leo portrays him to a tee. Cliff, on the other hand, feels quite different than Pitt's characterization, and the sordid details of his past are some of the highlights of the novel so far. Much has been made about the context given to his wife's death, but there's another story about the previous owner of pitbull Brandie that is even stranger and downright riveting. So far there are multiple scenes that would've been among the film's highlights had they made the cut. This companion piece has absolutely deepened my appreciation of the film. Oh, and the film's much-ballyhooed climax is adapted with brazen, utterly hilarious nonchalance; so much that it almost begs to be seen as intentionally random.
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Post by JangoB on Jul 21, 2021 15:02:21 GMT
Was absolutely delighted to spend this past week gradually getting through Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Found it wonderful that it's not a book adaptation of the script but unquestionably a thing of its own with a ton of new stuff and with the stuff that is in the movie shifting either spatial or temporal realms. It really is a piece to be enjoyed as a sort of spinoff to the movie rather than a straight literary version of it. And I'm very happy about that because I didn't want to just read the movie I've seen. It's not an expansion of the canon or anything - the movie and the book are two separate canons. I was thoroughly entertained by every page, I laughed much more than I thought I would (and I thought I'd laugh a lot), I was moved, I was rather often surprised (by the Cliff stuff mostly). It's expected from a fanbot like me but I loved it.
And then I also read King's "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and thought it was absolutely lovely. Darabont really did a magnificent job adapting it and transforming it into an excellent movie.
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Post by Mattsby on Jul 24, 2021 16:35:06 GMT
Rebel: My Life Outside the Lines (2018) - Nick Nolte's cursory, upfront memoir. It opens with: "Let me tell you about my testicle tuck" and ends with: "I'm sure the road will lead me to Santa Fe again, to see, damn it, if we can't finally find Dad's wooden leg." Those amazing lines promise a more exciting book but it's still an alright and easy read....
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Jul 27, 2021 20:27:42 GMT
Read by the beautiful, buttery soft voice of Frank Muller
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Post by Mattsby on Jul 30, 2021 2:32:34 GMT
“There is nothing, he thought, nothing so blissful in the world as falling back into the arms of a woman who is possibly bad for you. He laughed inside himself. Who had said that? Proust? Had anyone said it?” The Tremor of Forgery (1969) Patricia Highsmith Off a Viced recommendation almost two years ago - a Sicilian never forgets. Surprising book in the way it eludes its own "psychological thriller" aspects with informational barriers (language, long-distance missives) and general patience. This is just a book about an American writer in Tunisia which becomes his accidental station - with the unique location and varied characters, he's both sidetracked and inspired to write. A lot of scenes seem simple but sort of pack greater subtext, maybe! I liked the book, 250pgs (just my size), tho the writing is unremarkable, Highsmith's characters are good and poignantly considered and she hangs an interesting question over the whole thing: why are we drawn to and changed by unfamiliar places?
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Post by ireallyamsomething on Jul 30, 2021 15:19:44 GMT
Sunday by Georges Simenon
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 2, 2021 6:55:30 GMT
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Post by pacinoyes on Aug 2, 2021 10:13:08 GMT
Betty - Georges Simenon (1961)Great, slight and short, disturbing novella - the basis for an even better Chabrol movie - that is such an aberration from Simenon's usual plot heavy work you may find it a let down when instead it's possibly his truest work instead (like Evan S. Connell's masterful "Diary of a Rapist") Can be read in one day and then re-read, stuffed in your back pocket and studied obsessively for closure although it is so mysterious that can't possibly come ..............although it sort of does ...........in the last line "Betty had won" .........damn right.
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Post by ireallyamsomething on Aug 3, 2021 5:13:14 GMT
Betty - Georges Simenon (1961)Great, slight and short, disturbing novella - the basis for an even better Chabrol movie - that is such an aberration from Simenon's usual plot heavy work you may find it a let down when instead it's possibly his truest work instead (like Evan S. Connell's masterful "Diary of a Rapist") Can be read in one day and then re-read, stuffed in your back pocket and studied obsessively for closure although it is so mysterious that can't possibly come ..............although it sort of does ...........in the last line "Betty had won" .........damn right. I am a bit surprised to hear you describe Simenon's work as 'plot heavy' - he wrote a LOT so of course, so I can't say for sure if I've missed some aspect of his work, but from what I've read (both Maigret, and his Roman Durs) I would say Simenon is more heavy on character and atmosphere, and great plotting is not really something I have found in his writing, and it seems to me like he didn't especially care either.
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Post by pacinoyes on Aug 3, 2021 12:28:53 GMT
Betty - Georges Simenon (1961)Great, slight and short, disturbing novella - the basis for an even better Chabrol movie - that is such an aberration from Simenon's usual plot heavy work you may find it a let down when instead it's possibly his truest work instead (like Evan S. Connell's masterful "Diary of a Rapist") Can be read in one day and then re-read, stuffed in your back pocket and studied obsessively for closure although it is so mysterious that can't possibly come ..............although it sort of does ...........in the last line "Betty had won" .........damn right. I am a bit surprised to hear you describe Simenon's work as 'plot heavy' - he wrote a LOT so of course, so I can't say for sure if I've missed some aspect of his work, but from what I've read (both Maigret, and his Roman Durs) I would say Simenon is more heavy on character and atmosphere, and great plotting is not really something I have found in his writing, and it seems to me like he didn't especially care either. I didn't say he wrote "great" plots or "had great plotting" above though ^ - just that his other work depends on plotting far more than Betty does - he is plot heavy usually to me even if the other elements are more heavy/present, distinct or noteworthy .......I would expect Simenon admirers to be baffled (or bored) by Betty tbh because of its lack of plot specifically compared to his other work and consider it probably a failure......... but not me....... When I saw this post I tried to find an example of what I meant and stumbled on this story (below) which is pretty funny and on point and is a good background if people are reading it or seeing Chabrol's film - preferably both so you can see how it's adapted - One day in the 1960s, Claude Chabrol, the French director who specializes in the unsavory side of life, was having a drink with Georges Simenon, the writer who had a similar interest in the shadows. Why is it, Simenon asked Chabrol, that movie directors do not make more films without plots?
The writer requires a plot in order to start events moving on a blank page. But the director starts with a gift: the human face. A good actor can keep our interest simply by making us wonder who he is, and what he will do next. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/betty-1993
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2021 14:21:07 GMT
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Post by ireallyamsomething on Aug 3, 2021 15:50:08 GMT
I am a bit surprised to hear you describe Simenon's work as 'plot heavy' - he wrote a LOT so of course, so I can't say for sure if I've missed some aspect of his work, but from what I've read (both Maigret, and his Roman Durs) I would say Simenon is more heavy on character and atmosphere, and great plotting is not really something I have found in his writing, and it seems to me like he didn't especially care either. I didn't say he wrote "great" plots or "had great plotting" above though ^ - just that his other work depends on plotting far more than Betty does - he is plot heavy usually to me even if the other elements are more heavy/present, distinct or noteworthy .......I would expect Simenon admirers to be baffled (or bored) by Betty tbh because of its lack of plot specifically compared to his other work and consider it probably a failure......... but not me....... When I saw this post I tried to find an example of what I meant and stumbled on this story (below) which is pretty funny and on point and is a good background if people are reading it or seeing Chabrol's film - preferably both so you can see how it's adapted - One day in the 1960s, Claude Chabrol, the French director who specializes in the unsavory side of life, was having a drink with Georges Simenon, the writer who had a similar interest in the shadows. Why is it, Simenon asked Chabrol, that movie directors do not make more films without plots?
The writer requires a plot in order to start events moving on a blank page. But the director starts with a gift: the human face. A good actor can keep our interest simply by making us wonder who he is, and what he will do next. www.rogerebert.com/reviews/betty-1993
Oh, yeah, I remember that quote from Ebert's review! Maybe it's due to a comparison with other genre based writers (I grew up reading Agatha Christie who is an expert at and very much focused on the plot) or because of the particular Simenon books I have read, that they don't seem to emphasize or hinge on the plot much. Most of them (especially the non-Maigret ones) are concerned with desperate, pathetic people and a sordid atmosphere.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2021 20:52:38 GMT
I'm attempting to read Vonnegut all August. I already read this year Timequake, Slapstick, and Breakfast of Champions (my current favourite of his). My list this month: Player Piano, Man Without a Country, Deadeye Dick, The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, and Mother Night. I finished Hocus Pocus, and now I'm on Bluebeard.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2021 22:32:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2021 18:47:55 GMT
Bluebeard was a pleasant surprise. Rabo Karabekian is an intriguing man. I plowed through this one. Deadeye Dick is another one that seemed bland on the back of the book, but Vonnegut just finds crazy ways to make unremarkable people and situations remarkable. KV Book #4:
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Aug 16, 2021 21:14:44 GMT
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Post by stephen on Aug 17, 2021 0:49:25 GMT
Fuck yes. Be sure to check out The Heavenly Table right after.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2021 3:40:31 GMT
Oh boy, The Sirens of Titan was lackluster, so I picked up A Man Without a Country and that was a great pickup, but now I'm on Cat's Cradle and its slightly better than SOT but not as good as the unsuspecting Bluebeard or Deadeye Dick. KV Book #6:
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Post by ireallyamsomething on Aug 20, 2021 20:53:40 GMT
Later by Stephen King. I've been swamped with work over the last week or two, so my reading flow has not been ideal.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2021 21:26:36 GMT
I finished Player Piano and was surprised by how much I liked it. I read that this being his first book it would be a little shaky, but I found it thought provoking and a very fine debut novel. KV Book #8:
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Post by Mattsby on Aug 22, 2021 23:47:14 GMT
Diary of Andrés Fava by Julio Cortázar
100pg raw data wit in the form of a lightly fictionalized diary of a side character from Cortázar's fog-swept Final Exam (written in 1950 but only posthumously published decades later). Inspired by Jean Cocteau's mass-of-ideas Opium: The Diary of His Cure (1930), intended to be paired with Final Exam but very much stands on its own and reveals quite a lot into Cortázar's mindset - how he thinks and pulls and rubs two ideas together. Fava is no doubt a cryptonym of Cortázar himself - like a Commonplace Book, it's musings-all-over, quote-glad, referential, and autobiographical in bits (pumped up by Olivier's Henry V record; deluged by family soup; skewering Joyce and reciting Rimbaud). He gives you at least a great turn of phrase per page - it's short and doesn't overstay its welcome either.
Cortázar has talked about his passion for collage-type writing, how necessary the expendable chapters of Hopscotch, for instance, felt to him. It's that writing of his - compiled 'discarded fragments' - that I really love - like Around The Day in Eighty Worlds, etc. "To be clumsy is to be free," he wrote, and proved. Props to the translator Anne McLean whose work is great and feels right by JC.
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