...that you'll miss my latest blog entry.
OK, you can stop laughing now and get off the floor and back into your chair and wipe those tears out of your eyes, and please, stop that silly snickering. Just look at this:
http://www.blip.tv/file/205570/
So maybe this blog isn't one you feel the need to check daily, but there must be some blogs or other websites that you do visit often, and this shows how to let the internet do the work for you. Cool, huh?
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
next book
Flight by Sherman Alexie. 
I first discovered Sherman Alexie's poetry (which is excellent), then the movie Smoke Signals (which is also excellent), then his book of short stories that the movie is based on: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (which is--can you guess?--excellent). A circuitous route to discovering an author, but that's alright because Alexie's talent is broad and complex and there isn't a bad angle to approach from.
In this novel a teenage boy faces the very adult notion that despite the rightness or wrongness of a cause, violence is not the answer. An orphaned 15 year-old, "Zits" has been shuffled in and out of foster homes, been used and abused, and has developed an understandably negative attitude toward adults and authority. One final lashing out with a gun in a bank leads to an inexplicable travel through time and an opportunity to experience life through the eyes of others--an FBI agent about to kill Indian activists, a young Indian boy present at Little Big Horn, a pilot who finds out one of his flight students has committed an act of terrorism--all facing violent situations that tear lives apart. It's a fantastic plot, but it works. Alexie is so good at portraying pain and compassion without being sentimental. In fact, you might say he's excellent.
I first discovered Sherman Alexie's poetry (which is excellent), then the movie Smoke Signals (which is also excellent), then his book of short stories that the movie is based on: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (which is--can you guess?--excellent). A circuitous route to discovering an author, but that's alright because Alexie's talent is broad and complex and there isn't a bad angle to approach from.
In this novel a teenage boy faces the very adult notion that despite the rightness or wrongness of a cause, violence is not the answer. An orphaned 15 year-old, "Zits" has been shuffled in and out of foster homes, been used and abused, and has developed an understandably negative attitude toward adults and authority. One final lashing out with a gun in a bank leads to an inexplicable travel through time and an opportunity to experience life through the eyes of others--an FBI agent about to kill Indian activists, a young Indian boy present at Little Big Horn, a pilot who finds out one of his flight students has committed an act of terrorism--all facing violent situations that tear lives apart. It's a fantastic plot, but it works. Alexie is so good at portraying pain and compassion without being sentimental. In fact, you might say he's excellent.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
one book, one movie
My French Whore by Gene Wilder.
I saw this man whose movies I love (Young Frankenstein and Silver Streak are my favorites) on a talk show last week pushing his novel, so when I saw it on the "new books" shelf at the library I was delighted. It is a short, bittersweet love story (192 pages) that reads quickly and simply.
The plot involves an American soldier captured by the Germans in WWI who pretends to be a famous spy, and as Wilder himself would do with dash, aplomb, and a few close calls, succeeds for a short time to fool his captors. During that time he becomes acquainted with a local whore and a caring relationship develops. This isn't a war novel, and it isn't a romance or a comedy, but it is all of these at once. Fans of Wilder will not be disappointed; this is a character he would carry off with style, but don't expect to find the great American novel here. It is sweet and charming and touching, and that is enough. I enjoyed it.
John Q (2002)
Like Wilder's novel above, your reaction to this movie might depend on your level of fandom (is that a word?) toward the star, in this case Denzel Washington. I like him, so I liked the movie, but if I wasn't a fan, I'm not sure how positive my reaction would have been. The premise of the movie is good: a father loses his health insurance due to a forced reduction in his work hours just when he learns his young son needs a heart transplant to live. The subject is topical, emotional, and important, but this movie tries to make it thrilling when it should be thought-provoking. There is no doubt who is evil (hospitals and health insurance companies and employers, etc.) and who is good (a man trying to do right by his family, that is, you and me), and I don't have a big problem with that scenario, but because I have experienced some of the issues this father faces, I know the evil is institutional, it is never simple, and people do try to help. I guess the topic, maybe because it is personal, makes me want so much more from this movie than it gives. It pulls at your heartstrings, it builds suspense, but taking an emergency room hostage is hardly a solution to the enormous problems this movie presents. I give the movie a C and Denzel an A.
I saw this man whose movies I love (Young Frankenstein and Silver Streak are my favorites) on a talk show last week pushing his novel, so when I saw it on the "new books" shelf at the library I was delighted. It is a short, bittersweet love story (192 pages) that reads quickly and simply.The plot involves an American soldier captured by the Germans in WWI who pretends to be a famous spy, and as Wilder himself would do with dash, aplomb, and a few close calls, succeeds for a short time to fool his captors. During that time he becomes acquainted with a local whore and a caring relationship develops. This isn't a war novel, and it isn't a romance or a comedy, but it is all of these at once. Fans of Wilder will not be disappointed; this is a character he would carry off with style, but don't expect to find the great American novel here. It is sweet and charming and touching, and that is enough. I enjoyed it.
John Q (2002)
Like Wilder's novel above, your reaction to this movie might depend on your level of fandom (is that a word?) toward the star, in this case Denzel Washington. I like him, so I liked the movie, but if I wasn't a fan, I'm not sure how positive my reaction would have been. The premise of the movie is good: a father loses his health insurance due to a forced reduction in his work hours just when he learns his young son needs a heart transplant to live. The subject is topical, emotional, and important, but this movie tries to make it thrilling when it should be thought-provoking. There is no doubt who is evil (hospitals and health insurance companies and employers, etc.) and who is good (a man trying to do right by his family, that is, you and me), and I don't have a big problem with that scenario, but because I have experienced some of the issues this father faces, I know the evil is institutional, it is never simple, and people do try to help. I guess the topic, maybe because it is personal, makes me want so much more from this movie than it gives. It pulls at your heartstrings, it builds suspense, but taking an emergency room hostage is hardly a solution to the enormous problems this movie presents. I give the movie a C and Denzel an A.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
