The Modern Library Marathon

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #65

2010-01-26T23:51:00.000-05:00

Title: A Clockwork Orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Does this cover depict a hellish world of pain and suffering? Check. Well, that's all you really need to know about the book.

Thoughts: Longsuffering friends, I feel I owe you a bit of a disclaimer here: I'm not sure adequate time has elapsed to for me to properly discuss this book. But I'm also not sure that enough time could EVER elapse for me to feel like I've got a handle on this thing. My first impression was that the book was, to quote page 14, "a bucket-load of beer-vomit". Maybe it happens, but I try to avoid it and pretend like it doesn't.

But let's dig in. The novel, like oh so many books, is set in a dystopian future. This particularly dark and terrifying London is terrorized by drug-using, violent teenagers (OK-- they're using weirder drugs and are WAY more violent than your run-of-the-mill Brit punks). Alex, our narrator, tells us firsthand in a strange quasi-Russian slang about his evil exploits. His tone is chatty, familial, and nonchalant as he describes the most awful crimes imaginable. Eventually, however, he is imprisoned and enrolled in a program that uses conditioned response to hyperviolent imagery to render him physically incapable of committing violence. From there the novel explores what happens when Alex can no longer choose his own actions.

Burgess' prose owes a formidable debt to James Joyce. Alex's punny, multilingual pseudo-slang rings with echos of Finnegans Wake, although Joyce never approached the visceral brutality of A Clockwork Orange. The first-person narration slowly becomes more accessible to the reader and opens up the world of the book in very realistic ways. On the other hand, the firsthand accounts of casual violence in this book were very hard to stomach, and is nearly impossible to set them aside when I try to review it if not objectively, then less subjectively. Granted, the book and the Kubrick adaptation certainly carry a lot of baggage with them, including the original exclusion of the last chapter in American copies of the book and the wave of copycat crimes that followed the release of the film in Britain. So questions of authorial responsibility and intent certainly apply to a book that has stirred up more controversy than perhaps any other in recent decades. The second half of the book is far more engaging than the first-- weighing the benefits of crime prevention against the dehumanization of indibiduals is much more interesting than simply peeping over Alex's shoulder as he murders an innocent victim.

When all is told, life is too short (and I have way, way, WAY too many unread books stacked all over my apartment) to spend time doing the literary equivalent of trudging through puddles of "beer-vomit" to get to any meaning. Although the book is certainly thought-provoking, I can't wholeheartedly recommend it. But I'm curious to hear others' reactions to the book. Anyone out there have an opinion?

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #66

2010-01-17T20:02:00.003-05:00

Title: Of Human Bondage
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
Judgin' the Book by its Cover: The painting on the cover is sort of a funny choice-- the young artists in this novel reject impressionism in favor of the emerging modernist movement.

Thoughts: This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Philip Carey, a young Englishman whose experiences in many ways mimic Maugham's own. The story begins with the death of Philip's beloved mother, after which he is sent to live with his uncle, a childless and cold clergyman. When Philip heads off to school, his clubfoot and lack of confidence immediately mark him as a misfit, and he becomes increasingly more introspective and self-aware as the years pass by. Philip adopts and abandons belief systems, careers, and circles of friends on his path to maturity, and he navigates all these changes with ease until... Mildred.

Seldom in my reading career have I come across a character as easy to revile as Mildred. Shallow, rude, uncaring, hard, artificial, and spiteful, her appearance in the novel marks a pretty serious turning point. Philip's unfortunate obsession with her is so frustrating because he continually sacrifices his own well-being and future for a love that he knows is foolish. Maugham does a singular job of summoning up the torture of unrequited love, and watching Philip struggle through it is agonizing for the reader.

The characters are well-drawn and believable, and I really cared about Philip by the time the novel drew to a close. He's a sensitive and unusual character, but he's not a genius or otherwise exceptional protagonist. It's a truly interesting roman a clef, and provides a much more moving and compelling "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man". Recommended!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #68

2009-11-29T15:04:00.004-05:00

Title: Main Street
Author: Sinclair Lewis
Judgin' the Book by its Cover: Remember the old Dover Thrift Editions we had to read in high school with the weird paisley-ish prints on their covers? Those were weird. This must be a classy Dover Thrift Edition...

Thoughts: Main Street is the story of Carol Kennicott, a St. Paul librarian who trades in her big city aspirations for small town life when she falls in love with a country doctor. Carol moves to fictional Gopher Prairie, Minnesota, an Anytown, USA, and soon finds herself suffocating beneath the scrutiny and small-mindedness of the townsfolk. The story follows her attempts to buck the system and bring ambitious reform to the town.

Lewis writes as someone who is intimately familiar with the workings of American small towns. Even though the book was originally published in 1920, much of what Lewis describes still rings true today: the doting mother of the town bad boy who can't see her son for who he truly is, the ostracization of the artistic young man, the town's labeling of anything they dislike as "pro-German" during the war years (remember the accusations of things being "terrorist"?).

This book was really sad at times, but eventually left me feeling a bit hopeful. I could relate to Carol's feelings of slowly being sucked into home life and losing her dreams, although my Man Friend certainly doesn't misunderstand me the way that her husband does. But Carol eventually finds a balance, and her story is the story of another America (an off-Main Street America, perhaps), one in which we live day to day in the "humdrum inevitable tragedy of struggle against inertia", as Lewis terms it. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #70

2009-11-01T16:00:00.003-05:00

Title: The Alexandria Quartet
Author: Lawrence Durrell
Judgin' the Book by its Cover: The photograph on this cover is strangely appropriate, although it depicts nothing from the novel. The image of the European women as tourists in a foreign land is a pretty apt depiction of the characters' relationship to their environment.

Thoughts: Whew. I feel like I need to chug some Gatorade and do some serious stretching after this marathon. (Incidentally, today is the New York marathon... but hey, any old jerk can run 26.2 miles. It takes a serious person to read an 887-page book). First of all, the Modern Library folks pulled a fast one! The Alexandria Quartet is actually four novels bundled together, so even though the characters overlap and the setting remains the same through most of the work, it's technically not a novel, in my book. Hrmph.

Annnnyyyyhoozle... the book is, like I said, four separate novels published in one volume. The first story, Justine, is written from the perspective of one L.G. Darley, a British writer who is swept into an affair with a married Alexandrian socialite. Darley, a pretty obvious stand-in for Durrell himself, does a rigorous postmortem on the complicated and stormy relationship with Justine, a calculating nymphomaniac married to Nessim, one of the city's prominent bankers. I really struggled with this storyline. The prose consisted mainly of dated psychosexual analysis and broad observations about groups of people. However, the second book, Balthazar, provided a new (and far more interesting) perspective on the events of the first. In this novel, Darley, now living on a Greek island, receives a letter from Balthazar, a scholar of the Kabbalah and a doctor, that pulls the rug out from under Darley's understanding of the affair. The third volume, Mountolive, pulls back and offers a history of Nessim's family that lays the foundation for understanding the social and political climate in Alexandria. Finally, Clea, the fourth, brings a wiser, more mature Darley back to the city as the second world war tightens its grip on the Mediterranean.

The strength of the quartet is its wealth of characters. Durrell manages to create a world in which all the characters are multidimensional and undergo personal transformations throughout the course of the work. The weakness of the quartet, on the other hand, is its failure to create a real world for the characters to live in. Alexandria is seen only through the eyes of the British colonial worldview, and while the descriptions of the geography are quite beautiful at times, the residents of the city are described only as dark and animal-like others. I've been constantly struck throughout this project by the off-putting racism of many of these authors, and this is one of the worst examples. Nearly every description of a native Alexandrian includes a reference to the blackness or darkness of their skin, and they are not given the importance or roundness of the main characters. It's as though the entirety of Alexandria is a playground for the Europeans or the Coptic and Jewish minorities, and everyone else outside of these groups is a part of the scenery that isn't worth investigation. In this respect, I didn't find that Durrell brought Alexandria to life, which is too bad. Moreover, the squishy philosophizing in the book was nearly unbearable to read, and for me it was at its most interesting when it stayed away from that. Overall I enjoyed the book, but given the immense chunk of time I invested in it trying to get interested, I'm not sure I would do it again.

Half-Way Point!!

2009-09-01T11:52:00.002-04:00

50 down, 50 to go! Unfortunately, 22 of those are books that I'd read previously, and since last month marked the two-year anniversary of this project, it could take me as long as four more years to finish this!! Better get my butt in gear and pick up the pace!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #71

2009-09-01T11:13:00.006-04:00

Title: A High Wind in Jamaica
Author: Richard Hughes
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: What an evocative cover! The contrast between the roiling black skies and the bright, oversized fruit and flowers illustrates the darkness about to overtake the dreamscape of Jamaica. Even the poppies in the foreground suggest an unpleasant, opiatic vision.

Thoughts: This novel, originally published in 1929, tells the story of the sea voyage of seven children from Jamaica to England. After a hurricane levels the family homestead, the Bas-Thorntons send their five children unaccompanied back to the motherland to be nurtured by civilization. Two neighbor children join them on the journey. But the hurricane was only the beginning of the nightmare for the children; not long after departing from Montego Bay, the boat is taken over by pirates, and the children are haphazardly abducted. During the resulting time, the pirates try to adhere to a strict moral code when dealing with the children, but the children themselves soon devolve into amorality.

Hughes' interest in the psychology of children is evident, and he is particularly interested in the opposing ways that adults and children view each other. He certainly punctures the myth of the innocence of childhood, and maintains that within the most angelic naif there lies calculated deception. Hughes' prose is very detached, withholding judgment and refusing to show emotion in the face of extreme events. Similarly, the children react to tragedy with a cool indifference, almost immediately forgetting about the death of a family member. Instead, they fixate on details that could only be of importance to a small child ("There was a monkey!"), and they place a much higher premium on propriety than on actions or motive.

The book has rightly been described as nightmarish, and has also been likened to The Lord of the Flies. In my mind, at least the beginning of it bore a greater similarity to the beginning of Wide Sargasso Sea-- the images of a ruined landscape and collapsed slave economy induce an instant feeling of dread. By the end of the novel, the weaknesses of every character lie in plain sight for all to see. So perhaps this story is simply a post-colonial metaphor, an elucidation of the evil that lurks just under the polite, well-mannered surface of the colonizing British.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #72

2009-08-24T22:31:00.008-04:00

Title: A House for Mr. Biswas
Author: V.S. Naipaul (Sound familiar? He should, if you're a faithful reader... and if you're not, get out of here! I don't need any fair-weather fans!!)
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: I love this bright, splashy cover! It captures the essence of the vibrant island of Trinidad far more than the book does, which seemed like it could have been set almost anywhere (my book cover, courtesy of NYPL, was a plain, red, cloth cover... not too exciting). I got a much stronger sense of place about Trinidad from a few short pages in Netherland.

Thoughts: A House for Mr. Biswas narrates the struggles of an Indo-Trinidadian man to gain independence through home ownership.
Mohun Biswas, a character reportedly based on Naipaul's father, is born unlucky and, after his father's untimely death, is plagued by bad decisions, poverty, overbearing in-laws, and unsatisfactory employment. In this regard, he is something of an everyman; there is a universal element to the trials and tribulations that he faces. It was often very frustrating to read about Mohun's exploits; like a lovable loser uncle, nothing he does seems to turn out right and he's a magnet for scam artists. However, he's also an incorrigible troublemaker, and his insistence on standing up to pushy family members was at times the only thing that kept me reading.

Naipaul presents a thoroughly descriptive portrait of Mohun Biswas, and I really felt like I knew him through and through, especially since the book covers his entire life, from cradle to grave. It was a masterfully written story, but its bleakness and pessimism were sometimes hard to swallow. Naipaul presents in this story the tragedy of human existence, the oftentimes fruitless struggle to leave your mark on the earth and to overcome miscalculations and blunders. As a result, it wasn't the most enjoyable read, but it was truthful and timeless.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #73

2009-07-15T19:20:00.001-04:00

Title: The Day of the Locust
Author: Nathanael West
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: I actually like this pulpy cover more than I like the book itself, although the cover is a bit misleading (the event in the picture never actually takes place)-- I was under the impression, mainly because of the cover, that this was a disaster novel. Yeah, not so much.

Thoughts: There's a belief, possibly the only opinion shared by both New York intellectuals and Midwestern evangelicals, that Hollywood is the dark, twisted counterpoint to the American dream, a whirling cesspool of evil (unlike the healthy stew bubbling away in New York's melting-pot). Nathanael West is surely the progenitor of this viewpoint. The Day of the Locust is easily the ugliest book I've ever read, a sour, black-hearted, apocalyptic vision of mankind at its worst.

The novel, told mainly from the perspective of Tod Hackett, a studio art director, centers around Faye Greener, a beautiful but hard girl whose unabashed sexuality attracts a crowd of low-life admirers. Tod falls for Faye, as does Homer Simpson, a gawky hotel clerk from Iowa who traveled west for his health; Earle, a handsome but poor cowboy who works part-time as an extra; and Miguel, Earle's Mexican roommate. Faye wields her body as a weapon to propel her ever closer to stardom, and her unattainability only fuels the men's fires. As the denouement approaches, the lust and debauchery around Faye increases until nothing is left but utter destruction.

Faye is a stand-in for Hollywood itself, all surface and no substance, the post child for the allure of artificiality. West's Hollywood is filled with creatures like Faye-- dissipated degenerates on the fringe of society who spend their sweaty-palmed coins on the cheap thrills of whorehouses, bars, and cockfights. These residents, who flocked to California in droves in the hopes of a better life, found nothing but disappointment and disillusionment waiting for them, and when they move together en masse, they become a dangerous mob devoid of all humanity.

This novel is particularly nasty-- the terms "slut" and "fairy" are tossed around frequently, the main character on more than one occasion is preoccupied with the idea of rape, and each character is described with a searing contempt. I found it very similar to Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary, in which Puerto Rico's outsiders drink themselves into total collapse. The prose is fairly lively and interesting, but the viewpoint is so toxic that unless you're an incredibly pessimistic person looking for your worldview to be confirmed, you probably won't enjoy this book too much.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!

2009-07-15T18:36:00.002-04:00

Just finished up a long, laborious, and detailed post about The Day of the Locust, and as I clicked on it to publish it, the text vanished and the autosave apparently failed-- it's like I never wrote a word! Totally disheartening... I'm not sure I have the strength to go through that again...

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #74

2009-06-28T16:46:00.006-04:00

Title: A Farewell to Arms
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Have we ever talked about how much I love poppies? Few things in life make me as happy as spotting a cluster of poppies waving in the breeze. They're so cheery and spontaneous-- how can you not love them?

Thoughts: OK, we're all friends here, right? So no one's going to judge me after I confess to a great ignorance? You all know me-- American Lit major, book worm, general nerd-- but you may not know that until now, at the ripe old age of 26, I hadn't read a lengthy Hemingway work. While we're being totally honest here, I may as well mention that the only thing I've actually read of his is one short story, "Hills Like White Elephants", something I'd blame partly on the zeal of professors seeking to rid syllabi of the canonical white male authors and partly on my own avoidance of the macho-man-does-macho-things ethos I've always associated with Hemingway. I've had a copy of A Moveable Feast stuffed in my bookshelf for a couple of years, but I've staved off reading it out of fear that I'll rush off to Paris on the next flight out and find myself gnawing on a baguette on the Rue de Rivoli before my poor Man Friend even realizes I'm gone!

To my great surprise, I really liked A Farewell to Arms, and I found the story to be incredibly moving. Between the lines of Hemingway's starved, spare prose lies a tender love story, the story of two people brought together and bound by the nearness of death. Frederick Henry's experiences as an ambulance driver in war-torn Italy closely follow Hemingway's own life, and thought the details of Henry's affair with a nurse differ, the emotions are as true to life as biography, if not more so. I highly recommend this book. I ran to Strand and picked up a copy for Tromant as soon as I finished, and watch out, this book may be headed your way soon, too!

One last thing: an unexpected side effect of this novel was that I consumed more pasta while reading it than I have in the last few months combined! Everything other scene takes place while someone is slurping macaroni or spaghetti-- I'm just glad that I didn't take to guzzling grappa with the same vigor!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #75

2009-05-05T11:12:00.004-04:00

Title: Scoop
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: The whimsical illustration and cover design perfectly suit the tone of the book. Nice work, guys!!

Thoughts: An identity mix-up sends bashful nature columnist William Boot to the front lines of a revolution in the African country of Ishmaelia, where he rises to the occasion and becomes a war reporter. This light but satirical farce details the ridiculous nature of competition between newspapers, media's descent on foreign soil, and political coups. No one is left unskewered in this book-- country estate-dwellers, urbane novelists, high society debutantes, media magnates, newspapermen, foreign dignitaries, and the list goes on. Scoop reveals a different side on Waugh, one that is only hinted at in Brideshead Revisited, that of the quick-witted and unrepentant satirist. I really liked this book, although it didn't have the depth or emotional charge of Brideshead. Worth a read.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #76

2009-05-05T10:44:00.003-04:00

Title: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Author: Muriel Spark
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: That's a pretty glamorous photo! But what's going on with the weird fighting cherubs on the left?

Thoughts: This story is about a non-traditional teacher at a traditional school for girls in Scotland, sort of a Dead Poets' Society in which the tale is narrated by a former student who has an ambivalent view of her teacher. Miss Brodie refuses to stick to the prescribed curriculum and instead selects a group of particularly malleable students ("the Brodie set") to take under her wing and instruct about the importance of art, fascism, and her own love life. The deceptively simple story is woven between the past and the present as the narrator slips in clues about the fate of Miss Brodie and her ultimate betrayal at the hands of one of the Brodie set.

I liked the way that Spark dug into the hazards of molding children like putty, and her observations of how aware school kids really are of what is happening around them. I also liked the narrator's bittersweet tone as she looks back on the girls from her past and, knowing what she now knows about their lives and fates, wistfully wishes to undo past actions. But I'm not sure that this is a top-100 kind of novel-- I didn't feel moved or changed by it, and I'm not sure that I would heartily recommend it to someone else.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #77

2009-05-05T10:19:00.007-04:00

Title: Finnegans Wake
Author: James Joyce
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: This may be the blandest cover so far...

Thoughts: This is the book that nearly did me in. I spent four months reading it, probably the longest time I've ever spent on a single book, four months of pain and suffering. When I finally finished it in February, all desire to blog (and every last shred of discipline I ever possessed) had been sucked out of me by the whirling abyss that is Finnegans Wake. I started reading with hope and optimism, which was quickly replaced by nagging worry (which was inevitably followed by intense frustration). I expected the book to be something like, oh, maybe Trainspotting-- written in a difficult vernacular that would suddenly open up and make sense after a chapter or two. Not so with FW. The plot (I use this term loosely) centers around a father and son, stand-ins for periods of Irish history. After that things get really convoluted, particularly since Joyce is interested in the way that stories get distorted with time and likes to spin and re-spin the episodes in the novel. I purchased the Joseph Campbell skeleton key and read it simultaneously, and with Campbell's aid, I sometimes could pick out themes in the text, but I never felt like I truly understood what was going on. Joyce is clearly a talented wordsmith (as evidenced by the abundance of puns in the book, many of which made me chuckle), but I just couldn't wrap my brain around this one, no matter how hard I tried.

I Did It!!

2009-02-17T19:53:00.002-05:00

I finally finished Finnegans Wake today!! Then, I picked up The Rum Diary (given to me by a coworker) and polished the entire thing off at work today, also (don't worry-- it's totally legal to read at my job)! Stay tuned for my upcoming FW review...

2008 Movies

2009-01-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

Because, as usual, I owe it to my fans to put in my 2 cents, here's a list of all the movies I watched in 2008 (sans Saturday afternoon action movie crapfests that I came in partway through, and probably also minus a few movies that I forgot to record) accompanied by a quick one-line review. I'm sure you've been anxiously awaiting my opinions... Looking back over this, it's pretty clear to me when my "X-Files" re-watching mania began, leaving me with no time to watch movies. 2008 sort of became the year of obsessive, all-encompassing, time-sucking passions for me... We'll have to wait and see what fun 2009 has in store for me!

1.) Idiocracy (Netflix 1/5/08)-- liked it a lot! Funny stuff...
2.) There Will Be Blood (in theater 1/18/08)-- Unbelievable. Crushing, powerful, amazing.
3.) Punch-Drunk Love (re-watch 1/25/08)
4.) Magnolia (Netflix 2/2/08)-- Liked it a lot. A huge movie with an emotional impact, although it was a little muddled and perhaps a bit long. Also, there was a lot of crying.
5.) Juno (in theater 2/11/08)-- good, but not great. Weird how it neatly ended a not-that-happy story...
6.) Atonement (in theater 2/13/08)-- Well-made and unrelentingly sad.
7.) Big Trouble in Little China (on TV)-- greatest movie ever made. USA! USA!! USA!!!
8.) Be Kind Rewind (in theater 3/3/08)-- sweet, but somehow I never really connected to the story or characters. Felt more like something that I SHOULD have liked than something I actually liked.
9.) Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Netflix 3/7/08)-- raunchy, but was more original than the typical stoner/college/gross-out movie because of its commentary on race.
10.) Once (Netflix 3/10/08)-- very sweet and original love story. Really, really liked it!
11.) Stranger Than Fiction (Netflix 3/16/08)-- liked it, although it was a bit too "meta" for my liking. Nice to see Will Ferrell in a more restrained role, though.
12.) Michael Clayton (Netflix 3/17/08)-- OK. I get it-- corporations are ruthless and evil, corporate lawyers are also ruthless and evil, and pesticides are bad for people. Nothing new here. The movie was a little slow, but still fairly enjoyable.
13.) Blades of Glory (Netflix 3/22/08ish)-- Mildly amusing. Napoleon Dynamite guy is a horrible actor.
14.) Me and You and Everyone We Know (Netflix 3/28/08)-- I really liked the theme of people struggling to connect with each other, despite the alienating influence of new technology. But, the undercurrent of very young sexuality, and the light way that it was treated, was pretty uncomfortable (i.e., we're supposed to laugh at a would-be pedophile and underage girls trying to seduce him). So I have mixed feelings about the movie overall.
15.) The Simpsons Movie (re-watch 3/30/08)-- Funny. I fell asleep towards the end 'cause I was really tired and it was Sunday nap time.
16.) Reno 911!: Miami (Netflix 4/5/08)-- Dumb but fairly entertaining. Pretty much the same as a gigantic episode of the show, which I like, but never go out of my way to watch.
17.) Sunshine (Netflix 4/14/08)-- Well-made and interesting, but disturbing and a little too pseudo-scientific for me...
18.) Fantastic Four (on TV 4/27/08)-- Super-cheesy dialogue and dumb story, but still kind of fun.
19.) Spiderman 2 (re-watch 4/27/08)-- I think I actually liked this movie more the second time. The first time around I was totally bored and thought it was just like the first.
20.) Iron Man (in theater 5/2/08)-- Really liked it! Great cast, not cheesy, and totally entertaining.
21.) Hearts of Darkness (Netflix 5/8/08)-- Interesting movie about what goes on behind-the-scenes in a crazy production. Amazing that Apocalypse Now turned out to be any good at all.
22.) Shine a Light (in theater 5/13/08)-- Scorcese. The Rolling Stones. Obviously it rocked. Note: Had tickets to see this opening night, but had to hock them last second to see a friend's show. Then time passed by, etc., and suddenly it was May and I still hadn't seen this. Also, some old dude was smoking pot in the theater... and there were only 7 people in the theater at the 3:30 show.
23.) Batman Begins (re-watch 5/16/08)-- Wanted to get pumped up for the new Batman movie, but had forgotten (or perhaps not realized) how heavy-handed and, at times, clunky this movie was. Granted, exposition is never a prime strength of a comic book movie, but I'm growing a little tired of movies where a full half-hour is spent catching us up with the character's history.
24.) Charlie Wilson's War (Netflix 5/18/08)-- Interesting, and I liked it, despite my hatred for Julia Roberts, my tiredness of Philip Seymour Hoffman's smug superiority, and my disinterest in any Tom Hanks movie. The light satire of the movie suddenly turns sinister, thanks to Mike Nichols' deft handling of the Sorkin script. Also, TVC's own Wynn Everett had some nice screen time (and big hair!).
25.) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (in theater 5/23/08)-- I came in with low expectations because long-awaited sequels to popular franchises seldom fare very well (see Star Wars, Die Hard), and, despite cheesy moments, it was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. It's Indiana F-ing Jones, after all! But, I maintain my original thesis: space, and by extension aliens, are gay.
26.) Tongan Ninja (Netflix 5/25/08)-- I Netflixed this because Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords made it. Plus, it's a New Zealand ninja movie, so that's pretty awesome. It was dumb but amusing, and had some funny musical numbers. Strangely enough, it kind of seemed like something that we would have made in tone, subject matter, and production values. :)
27.) Contempt (at Film Forum as part of the Godard in the 60's retrospective 5/29/08)-- This was an interesting movie about the deterioration of a relationship. I enjoyed it, except for the extra-creepy voyeuristic camera on Brigitte Bardot's naked butt. Pan a little slower, dude, a little slower. Wait, I didn't scour every inch of her butt with my greedy eyes yet! SLOWER!! Ick.
28.) No Country For Old Men (on DVD 5/31/08)-- I finally got around to watching this movie after way too many people told me I MUST SEE IT NOW and detailed their favorite parts, scenes, and even shots. Also, I've already read the book, which read like a screenplay. The movie was a technical success-- beautifully shot, excellent acting, etc., but I was never very engaged by it. After the movie ended, I didn't feel affected by it at all, and I didn't find it memorable at all, which was strange, because I thought about the book for days afterward. Somehow, seeing the story visually represented sort of drained it of all depth and feeling for me. So yeah...
29.) The Big Lebowski (rewatch 6/8/08)-- Watched this for like the 2,000th time. Still awesome.
30.) Jurassic Park (for Cam's birthday 6/29/08)-- Dude, it's Jurassic Park! Greatest movie ever.
31.) Semi-Pro (Netflix 7/1/08)-- Nearly unwatchable. I fear for Will Ferrell.
32.) Persepolis (Netflix 7/18/08)-- Really wanted to see this in the theater, but never made it. Moving memoirs of life in Iran during the revolution and war.
At times very funny and at times very sad. Highly recommended.
33.) The Dark Knight (in theater 7/19/08)-- A taut, tense, and superbly acted movie. Heath Ledger didn't disappoint in his much-hyped final performance. I really don't care about any other movie now.
34.) Zodiac (Netflix 7/24/08)-- A riveting film about the Zodiac killer's terrorization of the Bay area in the late '60's and the labyrinthine investigation surrounding the unsolved murders. I got entirely wrapped up, along with Jake Gyllenhaal's character, in the dizzying plot. This movie really reminded me of All the President's Men, particularly the score, and as it turns out, both films were scored by the same guy. And both movies manage to maintain tension and suspense while the main characters, in essence, push paper. Interesting.
35.) X-Files: I Want to Believe (in theater 7/26/08)-- Lots of fun. Several of the plot points were wildly implausible (and I mean WILDLY implausible), but it was still great to see Mulder and Scully teamed up again.
36.) Step Brothers (in theater 8/1)-- This movie was... dumb. I like Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, but somehow I don't like seeing them as foul-mouthed and nasty as this. They should stick to PG-13s-- it suits them better. But at least it wasn't another sports movie.
37.) Wall-E (in theater 8/2)-- Excellent. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and thoughtful movie, particularly for a kids' movie. It was a very quiet and intricate movie-- I loved that they didn't feel the need to wow kids with nonstop dialogue and zany setpieces. I really, really liked it.
38.) Hot Fuzz (Netflix 8/9)-- Really fun! I liked the goofball take on the buddy cop movie.
39.) Amadeus (DVD 8/31)-- A master work about talent, envy, and God. Affecting and unbelievably executed. Yep, I'm just now watching this for the first time.
40.) 3:10 to Yuma (Netflix 10/3)-- I find it hard to believe that I didn't watch a single movie all during September. I must have forgotten to keep track! Anyways... this movie didn't really feel very necessary-- it's almost impossible to make a Western that feels new, and this didn't really succeed at that. The feel, the characters, the moral, even the plot felt like they were copped from other movies. And the myth of redemptive violence, which I always have a problem with, was really in your face in this movie. It's not that I didn't like the movie, but it was fairly unmemorable and felt like a remake because it was so unoriginal.
41.) Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Netflix 10/10)-- A somewhat amusing, but thoroughly predictable romantic comedy. It had its moments, but overall nothing too impressive.
42.) Almost Famous (rewatch 10/12)-- Seriously, maybe like the 30th time I've seen this movie. Trivia: going to this movie was my first date with the Man Friend... although he brought his brother along, so maybe it wasn't a date?
43.) Changeling (in theater 10/26)-- A disturbing and well-crafted movie about a woman's struggle to find her missing son. Totally heart-breaking. Note: some critics complained about the lack of consistency in the movie, that it jumps from genre to genre, but I actually liked that. I felt like this was a complex story that needed a complex structure to do it justice.
44.) The Conversation (Netflix 11/7)-- Liked this movie. Gene Hackman is a stud (and you gotta love Harrison Ford's appearance as a smarmy, conniving assistant) and is always a pleasure to watch. I really liked the way that the film examined the issue of privacy-- it's clear in the movie (and in real life) that anything gained by unlawful/borderline unlawful surveillance is bought at a heavy price. Of course, the landmark sound design is legendary for a reason-- it's pretty impressive.
45.) Four Christmases (in theater 11/28)-- Now, before you hastily pass judgment on me, please understand that this was a desperate situation in which my entire extended family thought this movie looked "SO cuuuuute" and in which I gritted my teeth and went (despite my better judgment) in orer to prove that I am a Team Player and that I am not a Film Snob or a Stuck-Up City Gal. That said... I'm pretty sure this dethroned White Chicks and maybe even Flying Tiger as the Worst Movie I've Ever Seen. It was joyless, mean-spirited, gross, poorly edited, had no story arc, and, possibly worst of all, had a completely unwarranted corn syrup-y ending tacked onto it. I can't possible emphasize enough how awful this movie was. NEVER see it. Don't even make eye contact with the DVD cover-- somehow you'll be sucked into the vacuous whirlwind of poopy that makes up this movie and you'll probably never recover.
46.) All the President's Men (rewatch Netflix 12/17)-- I think this was probably the 5th time I've seen this movie (I even wrote an excellent paper on it in college, if I may toot my own French horn a bit, and this movie inspired me hugely as a 15 year-old journalism student), but I can't help but be impressed by it every time I see it. Redford and Hoffman are great, the score is perfect, the camera work perfectly complements the story and the mood, and the script is excellent. If you've been living under a rock or are the only person in the world who reads blogs regularly but didn't attend a liberal arts school with this somewhere in the curriculum, watch it now.
47.) A Christmas Story (on DVD 11/24)-- Um, the greatest movie EVER? Our Christmas Eve tradition usually involves watching this and/or It's a Wonderful Life. I want to live in this movie. Not kidding at all here.
48.) Charlie Wilson's War (on TV 11/24)-- Like I said, Christmas Eve at the Man Friend's family homestead USUALLY involves watching A Christmas Story and It's a Wonderful Life. However, the combination of HBO and history nerds in that house occasionally means that you flip on the TV 30 seconds into Charlie Wilson's War and somehow end up spending Christmas Eve hating the ridiculous way that American foreign policy is formed instead of having your heart warmed and being reminded that "no man is a failure who has friends". Dang you, history nerds!!
49.) The Spirit (in theater 12/28)-- Wow, this was a big, hot mess. I didn't come into it with high expectations at all-- I just thought it would be a fun and mildly entertaining popcorn movie. But it was a big, hot mess. There was no structure at all and no story arc, and nothing at all happens during the first hour and fifteen minutes or so. The movie takes forever even letting you know who the characters are, and then nothing happens! Instead, scene after disjointed scene follows monologue after pointless monologue. I really felt like the scenes had been shuffled like a deck of cards and haphazardly dealt into a random order-- the movie would have been just as nonsensical if the scenes had been placed in a different order. It wasn't driving at anything at all. Moreover, this was a comic book movie without a single action set piece! Someone needs to explain this to me. Finally, a kitten gets zapped in it!! A tiny kitten!!! And there's a thoroughly unreasonable amount of puns in this, even for a comic book movie. If that's not crime enough, consider this one last thing-- while the end credits rolled, my ears were assaulted by a Christina Aguilera song. Yep. As if I wasn't already miserable enough. The only thing this movie had going in its favor was casting the dad from "The Wonder Years" as the police commissioner. Mr. Arnold!!

2008 Books

2009-01-06T19:26:00.000-05:00

Just in case anyone cares, here's the list of books I read last year. I opted not to give reviews, since I've already blogged about most of these titles. Also, there's a good chance that I forgot to include a book or two on this list. Note the sudden curtailment of my reading (I call that FinnegansWakeSyndrome)...

1.) Ironweed by William Kennedy (1/4)
2.) Down and Out in Paris and London (1/11)
3.) Tobacco Road (1/15)
4.) Under the Banner of Heaven (1/24)
5.) Midnight's Children (2/16)
6.) What I Learned From Shamu (3/7)
7.) Loving (3/14)
8.) No Country for Old Men (3/27)
9.) The Old Wives' Tale (4/9)
10.) River Grace (4/10)
11.) White Teeth (4/21)
12.) Ragtime (5/11)
13.) Lord Jim (5/27)
14.) The Death of the Heart (6/10)
15.) The Five Love Languages (6/28)
16.) A Bend in the River (7/1)
17.) Angle of Repose (7/29)
18.) The Adventures of Augie March (8/29)
19.) Jesus for President (9/6)
20.) Brideshead Revisited (9/15)
21.) A Room With a View (9/23)
22.) Making Movies (10/6)
23.) Kim (10/28)

It's Been A While...

2009-01-02T01:01:00.002-05:00

Holy crap!! Just realized that I haven't posted any new entries since October, mainly because I'm still slogging through Finnegans Wake like a drunk elephant in quicksand (yeah, it's unpleasant). Don't worry-- my year-end best-of lists are coming shortly...

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #78

2008-10-28T22:46:00.004-04:00

Title: Kim
Author: Rudyard Kipling
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: It's interesting how many editions of this book have elephants on the cover, considering their absence from the story. I wonder what Edward Said would have to say about that.

Thoughts: Kim, simply put, is the story of a young orphan in India and his journey to manhood. He is the son of an Irish soldier, and upon the death of his parents, is raised by a native woman and receives his education from the streets of Lahore and the people who populate the city. Like Augie March, Kim is frequently "adopted" by adults who are fascinated by him and want to mold his young life. Throughout the course of the book, he is embroiled in espionage for the Queen's secret service by a British captain and a Muslim horse trader, he is pulled from the streets and given an elite English education by a Catholic priest, and he becomes a "chela", or disciple, to a Tibetan lama. As his involvement with the "Great Game", or espionage project, deepens, he is torn between carrying out his mission and accompanying his beloved lama on his search for a river which will cleanse him of sins and elevate him to true enlightenment. These two things converge on a trek to northern India, a trip that makes Kim a man and helps him to choose his true allegiance.

The book isn't the most gripping of tales, and the prose is rather tedious-- there's an attempt made to translate the vernacular speech into English, which for some reason leaves the dialogue stilted and chock-full of "thees" and "thous". Moreover, the character of Kim isn't very easy to relate to or believe-- in some ways he's sort of a stand-in for the intersection of Indian and British culture, which makes him seem a bit precocious. Of course, as with anything written during the height of British colonialism, there are some problematic areas in the text-- many generalizations are made about "Orientals" and "Asiatics" in the book, and white men are possibly given a privileged status (although it's difficult to ascertain Kipling's true feelings about race and imperialism). But what Kipling really accomplishes in Kim is to paint a picture of the incredible diversity of India-- the many languages, peoples, religions, and colorful characters that coexist and cohere to form the country. It's very interesting to read about the characters' interactions with each other-- they're all so different and have differing motivations and mores, but yet they somehow manage to work and live together. So that's pretty cool.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #79

2008-09-25T22:59:00.004-04:00

Title: A Room with a View
Author: E. M. Forster
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: I think you know how I feel about mustaches... I'm titling this portraiting "Pensive 'Stache".

Thoughts: A Room with a View is the story of Lucy Honeychurch, a young girl who takes a fateful trip to Florence under the supervision of her spinster cousin, Charlotte. While in Florence, Lucy meets the Emersons, a father and son who revel in bucking societal conventions and preach the gospel of nonconformity to her. Predictably, an "unexpected" romance blossoms, and, although Lucy cannot bring herself to admit it, she finds herself head over heels in love and rethinking her entire worldview.

This frothy story was an incredibly quick read-- I blasted through the majority of it on a round trip bus ride to Baltimore and back. Don't get me wrong-- there are some complex metaphors at work here, and some interesting ideas are presented, but it was still a pretty light read. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would-- it could only be described as "witty" and was occasionally even laugh-out-loud funny. However, the romance was thoroughly unbelievable and the prose was somewhat tainted, in my opinion, by the sexism of Forster's perspective-- he frequently referred to women as "illogical" and even inferred that they are incapable of complex thinking. Icky!! But, it was likable enough, especially given the length (or lack thereof).

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #80

2008-09-21T22:36:00.000-04:00

Title: Brideshead Revisited
Author: Evelyn Waugh
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Love this cover! It's hilarious.

Thoughts: Brideshead Revisited is the story of Charles Ryder, a young English student, and his acquaintance and eventual friendship with an eccentric, aristocratic family. Charles befriends the hard-drinking and flamboyant younger brother, Sebastian, at Oxford, and is quickly sucked into the dizzying world of the enigmatic Flytes. However, Charles ultimately remains an outsider because he cannot comprehend the force that simultaneously binds together and drives apart the family-- their Catholic faith.

I thought this was a really unique book. The characters are intriguing and the story, despite a lull towards the middle, is engaging. I especially likes the way that the Flytes were portrayed, warts and all-- they seemed incredibly real, despite their eccentricities. I also loved that the commonality held by all the disparate members of the family was their Catholicism. The ending is absolutely moving-- the kindling of the spark of faith in the patriarch's bosom (yeah, I just used "bosom" in a sentence) reignites the wholw family and even the virulently agnostic Charles can't help but be affected.

I'd been looking forward to reading this book for over a year now-- I originally purchased it to read with K-Dub, but alas, I abandoned her in pursuit of the Quest and she read it all by her lonesome. While I wish I had read it with her (I could've greatly benefited from her savory wit and sharp analysis), it was well worth the wait. Highly recommended.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #81

2008-08-31T19:10:00.005-04:00

Title: The Adventures of Augie March
Author: Saul Bellow
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Dude, it has a giant gila monster on it! Two thumbs up!!

Thoughts: This story, unsurprisingly, is about the adventures of one Augie March, a boy living in the Jewish slums of Chicago in the years before the Depression. The book follows him as he attends grows up, falls in love (over and over again), and eventually serves in World War II. It was quite difficult to get into this book, as the first 100 pages or so are spent describing various character's in Augie's neighborhood. Eventually, as Augie sets off on his journeys, things get more interesting. I especially enjoyed the passages describing his trip to Mexico with an unstable girlfriend bent on training a young bald eagle to hunt giant gila monsters (again, I can't get enough of the giant gila monsters!!).

I found Bellow's prose to be a bit off-putting-- he frequently used metaphors that were difficult to follow (or even nonsensical) and tended to be verbose where I would have preferred brevity. Moreover, I generally wasn't interested in Augie's search for meaning. He relegates all the events and people in his life to supporting roles for his grand theories about life, at times sacrificing story in doing so. There were definitely parts of the novel that I enjoyed, though, so it wasn't a complete fail, but this isn't a book I would return to anytime soon.

This week the Man Friend reminded me that it's been exactly one year since I embarked on this heroic quest, which depressed me quite a bit. It's been a long, strange trip (OK, not really, but I couldn't really resist a Dead reference), and it feels like forever since I read The Magnificent Ambersons, but I'm only 20% of the way done (not even, actually)! At this rate it will take me FOUR MORE YEARS to get through this list. I'm a bit intimidated, to be honest.

Mosaical

2008-08-11T14:08:00.004-04:00

Here is a fun game from kristywes-- self-portraiture via photo mosaic! To make yours, type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search. Using only the first page of returned images, choose your favorite and copy-&-paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker (3 columns, 4 rows).

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10.What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Kristywes answered her questions, but I'm going to leave mine blank (and therefore mysterious). See if you can guess how I answered!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #82

2008-08-03T16:03:00.001-04:00

Title: Angle of Repose
Author: Wallace Stegner
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: This cover doesn't do much justice to the story-- does it make you want to read the book?

Thoughts: Angle of Repose tells the story of Lyman Ward, an aging historian, crippled physically by disease and emotionally by his wife's betrayal, living in California in the early '70's. To stave off loneliness and to retain what he can of his independence, he embarks on a new project and begins digging into the letters, articles, and drawings left behind by his grandmother, an accomplished artist from New England who left a life of sophistication and culture to move to the Western frontier and marry a mining engineer. As Ward contemplates his life and his grandmother's, he draws startling conclusions about the nature of marriage and what holds relationships together.

The book was very absorbing, and really examined the lives and relationships of the characters. I found it challenging and difficult to read at times, especially as I watched marriages disintegrate and characters inflict wounds on each other that would never heal. It really made me think about my own relationship and the choices that you have to make to keep your life intersecting with the lives of others.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #83

2008-07-16T15:29:00.007-04:00

Title: A Bend in the River
Author: V.S. Naipaul
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: This cover actually tells a lot about the book and about Naipaul's perspective-- the photo visually represents his impression of Africans as unknowable and obscured by ever-changing masks.

Thoughts: I really liked this book. It very thoughtfully depicted post-colonial life in an unnamed African country (although it is almost certainly Zaire/Congo). The book is narrated by Salim, a young merchant whose ancestors came to the African coast from India generations earlier. Salim takes over a trading post in the interior of the continent, and as the leader of the fledgling nation rapidly consolidates power, he and his compatriots are at first unwilling and later unable to leave. The events that follow are devastating, and the prose, though sparse, is evocative. Salim's impressions of Africa as an outsider and an insider at the same time are revelatory, and his description of the continent as a force separate from and transcending above humanity is powerfully enlightening.

Here's the first sentence of the book as a little teaser: "The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it."

Definitely recommended.

NOTE: I promise to stop reviewing books 2+ weeks after I finish reading them. OK, I promise to try-- you can't fault me for trying, can you?

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #84

2008-06-29T21:07:00.001-04:00

Title: The Death of the Heart
Author: Elizabeth Bowen
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: This isn't the cover that I have, but it's kind of funny. I have a totally tricked-out '70's version of the girl alone in posh surroundings... gotta love the used books at Housing Works...

Thoughts: Let's see... I finished this book over two weeks ago, but I'm still not sure what I think about it. The story is about Portia (the product of a father's middle-age infidelity), who is forced to live with her half-brother and his wife after the death of her parents. It's clear that her brother and sister-in-law view her as a burden and are unsettled by the unwavering gaze she fixes on them and their lifestyle. Like The Old Wives' Tale, the novel is a very close inspection of the interactions between family members who are emotionally distant.

As Portia feels more and more the distance between herself and her guardians, she draws near to Eddie, a clearly up-to-no-good older beau. The book seems to be a tale about a doomed romance that will certainly end with Portia as a ruined woman, but instead presents a probably more realistic and definitely more interesting look at first love and growing up. That said, it wasn't very much fun to read. It seems to be mainly about the cruelty of society and familial relations, and doesn't present much hope of overcoming this cruelty. So I can't really give it rave reviews. I'm learning more and more that the psychological novel isn't my favorite genre, although I'd be happy to change my mind on the subject (any suggestions?).

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #85

2008-05-30T10:25:00.006-04:00

Title: Lord Jim
Author: Joseph Conrad
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: No photo available of this cover, folks, so instead I'll treat you to an awesome photo of the impressive Joseph Conrad. That's a 'stache and a half!!

Thoughts: This was a story about courage, cowardice, escape, and redemption, a deep, dense exploration of "the soul of man". It tells of a young, romantic sailor who, in a defining moment, makes the wrong choice and wrestles with the consequences thereafter. One noteworthy thing about this book is that the idea of forgiveness (of one's self and by others) is nearly absent-- once Jim makes his mistake, he is doomed to wander through the remote jungles of the earth to escape from its legacy. Needless to say, it was very difficult for me to relate to this worldview. Also, Conrad's writing is intensely steeped in colonialism, and his remarks about race (and even gender) are frequently off-putting (at best). It was hard to tell from his tone if he was critiquing and satirizing the idea of the white man as a supreme being or if he was stating that idea as fact. I would have really liked to discuss this book in a classroom setting-- there was a lot going on, and it was difficult to draw out all the themes alone.

Tangentially, it was interesting to read this book after recently watching Hearts of Darkness, the film documenting F. F. Coppola's trials and tribulations on the set of Apocalypse Now (an adaptation of Conrad's Heart of Darkness). If you haven't seen either movie, close this window and Netflix 'em now! Apocalypse Now is one of the best film adaptations ever, and Hearts of Darkness is a must-see for a filmmaker.

One final thought: Conrad, considered one of the foremost novelists of the 20th century, wrote these novels after learning English in his mid-twenties. English was his third language (after Polish and French)! That's amazing/depressing-- the man wrote far better in English than I ever will... and it wasn't even his SECOND language. I'm totally illiterate.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #86

2008-05-14T15:07:00.006-04:00

Title: Ragtime
Author: E.L. Doctorow
Judgin' the Book by Its Cover: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

Thoughts: I loved this book. I was hooked from the first few pages, and I devoured the whole thing in just a few days. Historical figures slipped in and out of a simple story about a family living outside of NYC in the years following the turn of the 19th century, but it wasn't in any way reminiscent of hokey "historical fiction".

The book was a story about change, specifically the way that simple personal decisions gather steam and become society-wide changes. The wide variety of characters from different situations helped to paint an impressionistic picture of what life was like in those years, and I found myself looking up the real people who appeared in the novel because they were portrayed so compellingly (not a few of whom I was convinced were creations of Doctorow's imagination, due to the magnitude of their eccentricities). Very enjoyable read, especially for a New Yorker. Highly recommended!

Now, I have a 16 books to read before I get to skip a previously-read novel, which is by far the longest stretch in the quest. Wish me luck!

Read This Article!

2008-05-09T00:00:00.004-04:00

The whip-smart Aspiring Novelist/Scrabble Champion kristywes has a provocative (no, not that kind of provocative) article prominently featured on Radiant's blog about what happens when you step out of your comfort zone and actually experience the radical diversity that us New Yorkers claim to love but usually avoid. Check it out here-- all the cool kids are reading it!

Dachshund Spring Fiesta 2008

2008-05-05T10:01:00.007-04:00

Last Saturday, the family, my Man Friend, kristywes, and I checked out the annual dachshund spring fiesta at Washington Square Park. There were dachshunds galore!! A good time was had by all.

Giving the Old One-Legged Salute

2008-04-22T23:08:00.005-04:00

I can't believe this photo exists. If you need a little backstory, click here. But honestly, there's not much to explain: a dog peed on Natalie Portman, and that magical moment was captured with the witchcraft of digital imagery. Ahh, technology... the gift that keeps on giving.

Chick-fil-Wha??

2008-04-17T11:25:00.005-04:00

So yesterday, during an enjoyable shift at the pretzel stand, the trash-lunch craving hit me like a gale-force wind, and I found myself staring dumbly at the McDonald's menu. Surprisingly, my eyes lit on something I hadn't seen before... something new... yet, at the same time, something very, very familiar.

The Southern-Style Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

I was compelled to order it.

Now, folks, does this sandwich or does it not bear a STRIKING resemblance to the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich?? OK, let's not kid ourselves-- it's exactly the same (lightly-breaded, lightly-spiced chicken, topped with pickles and nested in a buttery, lightly-toasted bun). I felt like a traitor to my beloved Chick-fil-A eating it, but it was pretty delicious. I'll say this much-- it's not quite as delicious as the original (there was this weird thing happening where I kept forgetting I was eating a chicken sandwich due to the mushy, fish-like texture of the bird). I'm not sure exactly how McDonald's is getting away with this theft, but I can't promise I won't order it again. After all, the secret Chick-fil-A in NYC isn't exactly the most accessible place on earth (New Yorkers, ask me if you want to know the location of said restaurant... and I might tell you...). Chick-fil-A, go ahead and sue me-- oh, wait, you're probably way too busy suing McDonald's.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #87

2008-04-09T20:22:00.003-04:00

Title: The Old Wives' Tale
Author: Arnold Bennett
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Well... it reinforces the point that the book is about old broads...

Thoughts: I had quite a bit of difficulty getting into this book when I first began reading it, but warmed up to it more as I went along. The plot starts out feeling very familiar and cliched: two sisters living in the English countryside have markedly different personalities and, accordingly, live very different lives. The elder of the two, Constance, is steady, patient, and good, and she marries her father's industrious assistant and works alongside him in the family business until she has a child to spoil. The younger sister, beautiful, passionate, and proud Sophia, impetuously elopes with a (gasp!) travelling salesman and moves to (GASP!) Paris where she engages in frivolities until her husband (SERIOUSLY, I CAN'T BREATHE) leaves her. Blah blah blah, different people lead different lives...

Luckily, Bennett turns away from cliches somewhere in the middle of this 615-page book and really delves into what life is like for these two women. As their paths become more unpredictable, I became much more invested in their fates. I also thought that the observations he makes about growing older were very interesting to read as a person in my 20's.

Unfortunately, as I approached the end of the book, I started to dislike it again. Bennett seems to take the position that life is, in essence, meaningless, and regardless of how you live your life, you will gradually lose life until you die. Moreover, his observations about relationships are hardly heartwarming-- he seems to view humans as solitary creatures and all of the friendships/marriages/families he depicts are terribly flawed. He seems to view people as unable to experience happiness or to express themselves honestly in any relationship, which is a fairly depressing worldview.

In addition, this is another book to file into the category of "Wow, British People Look Down Their Noses At Everyone Else" books (previous example here). Today's special: French people! Here's a description of les parisiennes from the book: "[they had] violently red lips, powdered cheeks, cold, hard eyes, self-possessed arrogant faces, and insolent bosoms". I don't even know what that last thing means, but it doesn't sound good...

Kickin' Tunes

2008-04-06T22:41:00.003-04:00

Friday night the Man Friend and I passed an enjoyable evening listening to John Carpenter (no, not that John Carpenter) perform with his new band at Spike Hill in Williamsburg (not my usual stomping grounds, but fun nevertheless). You can check out and download his music here-- it's great and he is a Cool Dude.

Thoughts on No Country for Old Men

2008-04-02T12:16:00.001-04:00

Last week I furiously subway-read No Country For Old Men, and it's lingered in my thoughts ever since I finished it. The book, narrated by an aging Texas sheriff who's tracking down a brutal killer, meditates on the drastic changes he's witnessed over the decades, in particular, the visible escalation of unspeakable violence that accompanied the rising prevalence of drug use and trafficking. There's a terrifying sense of inevitability in the book-- the murderer is so unhuman and so unstoppable that justice shouldn't even attempt to prevail.

As the San Diego Union-Tribune puts it, McCarthy's point is that modernity has "damaged beyond repair, warped beyond recognition, mutated so horrifically" the tradition of personal, familial, and communal responsibility to the point that " a new kind of man, a soulless, wrecking angel, may not only be loose among us but may be what we are destined to become". Scary!

But then Thursday morning this section from The Practice of the Presence of God really caught my eye:

Brother Lawrence wasn't surprised by the amount of sin and unhappiness in the world. Rather, he wondered why there wasn't more, considering the extremes to which the enemy is capable of going. He said he prayed about it, but because he knew God could rectify the situation in a moment if He willed it, he didn't allow himself to become greatly concerned.

That's such a fresh and unique point. So often you hear people remarking (including myself) that things are "getting so bad" ("when I was in middle school, kids didn't talk like that!"). But what the oh-so-wise Brother Lawrence tells us is right on-- we shouldn't be surprised by evil (it's not like it's new, folks)! We don't need to live in fear or dread because God is bigger than sin and evil and HE is the one in control of our destiny. It's only through His grace that we all aren't "soulless, wrecking angels". Good stuff.

Also... this lends more support for my doctoral thesis, "Texas Sucks".

Just Look at That Stupid Hat!

2008-03-27T13:23:00.002-04:00

The New York Times ran an alarming article last week on hipsters moving out of Brooklyn to small farms, and I've been stewing about it ever since. Apparently, the rising popularity of greenmarkets, locavore-ism, and eating organic has made operating small-scale farming enterprises not only possible, but profitable, for the first time in a long while. So now hipsters, once doomed to a life of urban desperation, are donning overalls and heading for the boonies (well, if, according to your definition, the boonies are accessible via the LIRR) to make an honest living scratching around in the dirt.

Like many transplants to New York City, I loudly praise the virtues of urban living while secretly longing for a return to the Little House on the Prairie lifestyle that I admired throughout my formative years. These subjugated desires are alleviated by visits to the Union Square farmer's market and hours poring over my Simply in Season cookbook (two activities that my Man Friend cannot understand or relate to), but deep down in my heart, I know that growing herbs in pots in my sunless kitchen just doesn't cut the mustard. There are days when I feel like I've missed my true calling in life and I should be driving a tractor somewhere. And then there are the days when I feel like what I MUST do is try my hand at home cheesemaking (when I suggested this to the Man Friend, he looked at me as though I'd suggested whipping up a batch of napalm in the kitchen. On second thought, he'd probably be all for the napalm).

So I'm a little nervous about these developments. How am I supposed to romantically idealize a rural, Thoreau-esque lifestyle if the wilderness is filling up with ironic-hair-metal-trivia-night-attending jerks?? OK, I'm not going to panic about this, but all I have to say is that if I even catch the tiniest whiff of a rumor that the East Village crowd is moving in on the goat farm scene, I can't be held responsible for my actions.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #89

2008-03-17T13:28:00.008-04:00

Title: Loving
Author: Henry Green
Judgin' the Book by its Cover: Ugly! I hate peacocks!

Thoughts: This is, by far, the most dialogue-driven novel I've read thus far in the Quest. Description is minimal, action is fairly non-existent, and the plot moves forward through conversations, mainly. The basic plot is this: as WWII is raging in Britain, the domestic staff at an English family's Irish country estate... talk a lot. There's a rudimentary love story, infidelity, and a subplot about missing/stolen valuables, but the story was fairly meandering and never really grabbed me. I did find myself liking Kate and Edie, the two maids, who, according to Rule #487 of Stock Characters, pass the time giggling and gossiping (do real maids ever giggle?).

I really didn't grasp a deeper meaning to the book, and I couldn't get invested in the love story due to my dislike of the Romeo, so overall I'm left feeling unimpressed. Moreover, the characters' constant disparaging remarks (referring to them as unintelligible, violent animals) aimed at the good people of Ireland are hardly seasonal considering that I'm writing this on St. Patrick's Day!

While I didn't hate this book, I wasn't the least bit interested in it, so I can't say I'd recommend it. On the plus side, at just under 200 pages, it was short and quick to read, so at least my boredom wasn't TOO prolonged.

Next up is The Old Wives' Tale (I get to skip The Call of the Wild-- been there, done that!).

Movies + Museums= Fun!

2008-03-11T15:48:00.006-04:00

If you're a New Yorker and you don't have anything to do this weekend, boy, have I got a plan for you! Hop on the train to Astoria and head over to the Museum of the Moving Image for a rip-roaring good time. I visited on Saturday (after meaning to for, oh, about 2 years), and it was really, really fun. I brought along my spring-breaking sister and her friend from college, along with my Man Friend and his out-of-town parents, and a good time was had by all. They have all kinds of old-timey cameras, equipment, props, and photos, as well as great interactive exhibits (example: you could lay down music tracks to accompany movie scenes), so there was something for everyone. Best of all, they have an arcade with all kinds of sweet vintage and new video games which you can play FREE OF CHARGE! I nearly had a heart attack when I saw projected on a wall my favorite game of all time, We Love Katamari (I instantly forced my sister to play it with me)! So it's a perfect place to hang out and to take movie buffs, museum lovers, gadget geeks, like-to-touch-things types, AND video game junkies.

Now here's the bad news: it's closing for renovations March 23rd, and will remain closed until late 2009 (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)! It's kind of like finding your one true soulmate the day before they leave for a semester abroad (no, it's EXACTLY like that). So, go check it out before it's too late!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #90

2008-03-05T12:50:00.002-05:00

Title: Midnight's Children
Author: Salman Rushdie
Judgin' the Book by its Cover: I like this cover, although it sort of misrepresents the book-- it looks more like nonfiction than a novel.

Thoughts: OK, I'm going to be honest-- I finished this almost three weeks ago but haven't had the time (read: discipline) to review it until now. That said, I really enjoyed this book. The prose was vigorous, energetic, and fanciful, and really unlike anything else I've ever read. I thought the premise was really cool-- Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight, the very instant that India was released from British rule, and as a result, his fate is inextricably tied with that of his mother country. I also really liked the idea that Rushdie puts forth that as our memories fade, parts of who we are begin to crumble and fade away. So then when we tell our stories, frantically rushing against the collapse of memory, we begin to invent ourselves, and the invention is no less true than the truth. Interesting stuff. Definitely recommended-- it's a long and hefty book, but well worth the effort.

Animals are Better Than People v. 2

2008-02-04T17:39:00.000-05:00

If you, like me, had your favorite team knocked out of the running for Super Bowl LXII, then the game you looked forward to yesterday was probably Puppy Bowl IV. If you weren't lucky enough to catch it yesterday (or if a crazed Patriots or Giants fan commandeered your TV), you can check out some highlights here. There were puppies galore--dachshunds, beagles, and a super-cuddly Bernese Mountain Dog (definitely one of my favorites). And, as always, there was the ultra-sexy kitty half-time show (they were much cuter, although about as hairy, as Tom Petty and/or the Heartbreakers), which never disappoints. Of course, the game was augmented by great play-by-play commentary, instant replay action, and a fair but tough referee.

Totally better than real football.

Animals are Better Than People v. 1

2008-02-01T17:34:00.000-05:00

Reason #1: This monkey has greater skills that anyone I know.
Reason #2: This monkey dresses better than I know.
Reason #3: The dog is also cooler than anyone else I know.

Therefore, animals are better than people.

Film Snobs, Unite!

2008-01-28T15:08:00.000-05:00

If you're the kind of person who considers a good date one that ends in an spirited argument about whether or not Otto Preminger is an auteur, then, boy, have I gotta deal for you!

Alternatively, if you're the kind of person whose idea of great movie is one in which there are more fireballs/exploding cars than lines of dialogue, BUT who would see a movie at the Angelika IF given a free ticket... I also have a deal for you!

Here's the beef: if you join FilmCatcher, a new website dedicated to indie movies, you can request a free movie ticket redeemable at the Angelika (and a few other theaters, if you're not a Gotham-dweller). All you have to do is sign up and post something on your profile (could be something as simple as a top-10 list of your favorite movies), and then you can request a ticket. You have to sign into your profile and request it, though-- they don't just automatically send it to you. I joined last week and already have my ticket in hand.

The website is pretty interesting and has some decent interviews. They also seem to be hocking a movie purchasing system that I wasn't too interested in. The only downside is that you have to stomach their exceedingly-snobby tagline: "Smart films for smart people" (stupid post-grad would-be critics). But if you can tolerate that, in no time you'll find yourself clutching a ticket (that's right, a real paper ticket) in your hand and triumphantly declaring, "Take that sucker-nerds-- I'm reaping the benefits of your snooty system while mocking it!!".

There Will Be Blood

2008-01-20T22:46:00.000-05:00

Watch There Will Be Blood NOW. I finally went to see it Friday night (after anxiously awaiting its opening in a fever of anticipation, and then getting my attempts to see it shut down 4 times... long story...), and it was everything I'd hoped it would be-- powerful, moving, crushing, completely devastating... amazing. Daniel Day-Lewis was incredible, the score was excellent, it was beautifully shot, and I can't stop thinking about it. Watch it NOW.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #91

2008-01-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

Title: Tobacco Road
Author: Erskine Caldwell
Judgin' the Book by its Cover: Hmm, I can't really answer this one according to the guidelines I've set up, since I can't find an image of the cover for the version that I read. I'll just post a different cover for the same book. This whole section is a pretty stupid idea-- what's so fun about critiquing a book's cover?

Thoughts: This was a very difficult book to read. The prose was straightforward and simple, and I finished it in only a couple of days, but as a whole, it was very unpleasant to get to know the characters and witness the decisions they made. The book outlines the decline and disintegration of the Lester family, a group of sharecroppers in rural Georgia who haven't planted cotton for seven years. They survive by stealing food, occasionally selling firewood, and starving, all of which seem like better alternatives to them than relocating and/or finding jobs.

I was totally shocked by the absolute callousness that was the modus operandi of the Lester family. Each character's disregard for the needs, feelings, and even lives of the others was total. One character is so thoroughly consumed by his passion for cars that when he hits and kills a man while driving, he doesn't give the man's death more than a brief afterthought (nor does he stop the car and try to aid him). Examples of this attitude abound in the book, as do examples of religious hypocrisy, racism, elder abuse, statutory rape, and all other kinds of fun/great things. The book ends on a somber note, suggesting that the situations that strip uneducated people of their resources and means of survival are impossible to break free from, and that the foolish mindsets of the parents are passed down to their children down through the generations.

Something that really struck me in this book was the characters' unwavering belief that God would magically solve their problems with no effort on their part-- money will fall down from the sky, and they will be able to do what they've always done. To me, it seems crystal clear what the family should do-- abandon the farm that has failed to produce for years, move a few miles away, and work in a textile mill or factory. It's not an ideal situation, but it sure beats starving to death. Instead, they obstinately cling to the land and refuse to work or to try to find creative solutions, thinking that God will pave the way for them. This challenges me to look at my own perspective and attitude-- are there situations in life where God has opened a door for me, but I've refused to walk through it, instead choosing to push against a brick wall (all the while begging Him for a solution)? I'm inspired to make sure that I'm listening and obeying God instead of just assuming that He is on my side, regardless of what decisions I make.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #92

2008-01-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

Title: Ironweed
Author: William Kennedy
Judgin' The Book By Its Cover: Not bad-- I can dig the retro feel of the b&w photo.

Thoughts: This was a very moving story, set in the working-class Irish neighborhoods of Albany during a two-day span (Halloween and All Saints' Day). Francis, a bum, is haunted by the ghosts of his bloody and strange past as he struggles to understand the choices that he's made and the life that he's living. A recent encounter with the son he abandoned decades earlier causes him to reevaluate his history and try to understand who he is and what has made him the person that he is, a violent man who abandoned a family that he loved dearly. I particulary love when Francis realizes that his estranged wife has been quietly extending grace to him for years, and how that knowledge motivates him to reexamine himself-- it's pretty amazing. I also liked Kennedy's use of magical realism-- it's really cool to see the characters from Francis' past reappear to guide him and help him make sense of the past, but the device isn't used in an abrasive or unnatural way. I definitely recommend this book-- it is a very warm and humanizing portrait of a man and a subculture that are difficult to understand and connect with. Good stuff!

Keith Richards, it's your birthday!

2007-12-18T13:42:00.000-05:00

It's been a crazy year... you claimed you snorted your dad's ashes, and then said you were joking. The year before, you fell out of a tree in Fiji. I can't wait to see what happens in 2008! So here's to another year of wackiness and unpredictable anecdotes. Happy Birthday, Keith-- you're still the king of cool...

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #93

2007-12-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

Title: The Magus
Author: John Fowles
Judgin' The Book By Its Cover: Ugh, I hate this cover. Purple and red? Yuck.

Thoughts: It's been a long, long time (read: 10 years or so) since I've finished a book and really not known what it was about (although, I know for certain that I read Nightwood during a time of intense insomnia in my life, but I can't remember a thing about it-- not one thing!).
But I had the distinct pleasure of struggling through this nearly 700-page book just to walk away confused. The story is about a young British womanizer who takes a position teaching English at a school on a remote Greek island. He meets an enigmatic millionaire with a penchant for the dramatic and quickly loses his bearings in a complicated world of deceit and intrigue. The plot takes turn after turn after turn, and I didn't have the patience to follow the unlikable characters through the labyrinthine plot. Moreover, the story is deeply rooted in metaphor and literary allusion, very little of which I could decipher. I'm not a total doofus, but I don't have the classical education (or extensive understanding of French, Latin, and Greek, large passages of which are left untranslated) that's necessary to get every reference. Unfortunately, I finished the book feeling unsure of what the point was and feeling disappointed that my toil was all for naught.

However, The Magus made me want to visit Greece even more and, luckily, all the cravings for the delicious food described in the book can be easily satiated in Astoria (yay, Astoria-- where else can you run around the corner when the urge for lemon- and oregano-sprinkled lamb hits you?).

Quest Update

2007-12-12T21:21:00.001-05:00

Wow, I probably shouldn't title this "Quest Update"-- that might give people the wrong idea of what I'm into (online role-play gaming perhaps?). But it's too late now! I'm already committed to the title.

Lest you're concerned that I've given up, allow me to reassure you: I'm still working on the Modern Library novels quest. But... I'm kind of stuck in The Magus. I'm on page 430 (out of 668), and I just can't seem to get into it. So I'm slowly but surely slogging through it. I decided to skip the novels that I've already read (the point of this was to get acquainted with new authors and novels), so I'm bypassing #94, Wide Sargasso Sea. That said, I HIGHLY recommend this book-- it's incredible. I'm not much into the retelling-well-known-stories genre (the book depicts the untold story in Jane Eyre), but this book stands alone and will haunt you long after you finish it. Read it! Now! I'm not kidding.

I can't believe I'm only on #93.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2007-12-01T20:45:00.000-05:00

As the last bits of Thanksgiving turkey simmer in a big pot 'o' noodles, I'm realizing that fall is over, Christmastime is officially here, and an awful lot of time has passed since I was last with you, faithful blog readers! Don't think I was slacking all this time-- I've been busy as a bee! OK, I was slacking a little bit... But I have been busy! Littlest Sister and Crazy Brother-In-Law came out from Virginia and Indiana, respectively, for a fun- and Guitar Hero-filled visit, I cooked my first solo Thanksgiving dinner, and I learned oodles of new French words (wow, how often do you get to use "oodles" and "noodles" in the same paragraph?!). And now it's December!

Unfortunately, I've been struck with a new and terrifying affliction this December-- total numbness in the Christmas area of my brain/heart. I just can't seem to get the Christmas glow on this year (I haven't had even the slightest urge to throw on my Bing Crosby Christmas album!!). I'm not sure what the cause of this illness is (maybe it's because I spent Thanksgiving in the city rather than at home?), but I'm left wondering what Christmas means to me when I strip away the traditions, the carols, the cookies, candy canes, and whipped cream-topped hot chocolate, the thrill of choosing, wrapping, and giving gifts, the favorite Christmas movies that always make me cry... Am I ever truly focused on what Christmas is really about? Is Christmas just a chance for me to get wrapped up in nostalgia and sentiment (an activity that is always paired with bemoaning my current life situation)? Does the Christmas story fill me with reverence, awe, and joy, or am I just happy to be revisiting a comforting holiday routine? Am I amazed by the incredible gift of Christmas even if the Christmas mood switch hasn't been triggered in my mind?

I don't have an answer for these questions, but I'm excited to take a look at the Christmas story anew this year before getting swept away by the traditions and rituals of the season. And I wish the same for you! So... may the unbelievable gift of God that is Christmas take on new meaning for you this season, and may the joys of traditions, carols, cookies, candy canes, and whipped cream-topped hot chocolate, choosing, wrapping, and giving gifts, and favorite Christmas movies that always make you cry be icing on the cake (instead of the whole meal)!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #95

2007-11-05T15:39:00.001-05:00

Title: Under the Net
Author: Iris Murdoch
Judgin' The Book By Its Cover: I think I can see a lady... and a cat... or is it a puppet? Maybe it's a stained-glass window?

Thoughts: I loved this book. It was engaging, and its scenes varied from laugh-out-loud funny to achingly beautiful (the scene when a man sees the woman he loves on the other side of the Seine is incredible). I also loved the main character, Jake Donaghue, a sometimes-writer whose neuroses are as plentiful as his charms. He reminded me of Sebastian Dangerfield in his freewheeling ways, but without the wifebeating and cursing (so I guess they're not very much alike after all...). The book talks quite a bit about existentialism and philosophy, but it isn't dry at all. Also, it left me wishing that I had a movie star dog to walk beside me on the time-worn streets of London.

Here's a quote that I loved from the book about reading the first few pages a book: "Starting a novel is opening a door on a misty landscape; you can still see very little but you can smell the earth and feel the wind blowing." If you like the taste of that mustard, read this book!

Hot Wings and Fried Green Tomatoes

2007-11-01T22:50:00.000-04:00

After the Ryan Adams concert at the HamBall last night and a feast at Justin Timberlake's Southern Hospitality tonight (not quite as delicious as Virgil's, but with a Stones and Crowes-heavy playlist, which more than makes up for that), I'm feeling a Dirty South weekend coming up. In keeping with the theme, here's a little Southern-themed factoid for you (courtesy of ESPN's college football coverage): apparently when Nixon was vice president, he visited Russia, and the only song that both he and Khrushchev knew was the Georgia Tech fight song, which they sang together. I can't think of a stranger duet than Nikita Khrushchev and Richard Nixon singing Tech's song-- can you? If ya got one, let's hear it!

In related news, the one state below the Mason-Dixon line that's getting the evil eye from me these days is South Carolina-- their decision today to bar Stephen Colbert from entering the SC presidential primary race has senselessly destroyed 4,520,937 laughs before they were even given the chance to see the light of day...

These Cats Are Awesome!!

2007-10-26T11:31:00.001-04:00

Intern Chris= CrazyFunkyCool

2007-10-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to give a shout-out to Intern Chris and his band-- we saw them play at The Bitter End Thursday night, and they rocked the house. Check out his website-- if you like his stuff, you can download the albums on iTunes. Also, he has moody photos on his website because he is deep and intellectual. Sometimes he thinks about really heavy stuff.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #96

2007-10-21T18:02:00.000-04:00

Title: Sophie's Choice
Author: William Styron
Judgin' the Book by Its Cover: Super boring cover art... that's all I have to say on the subject.

Thoughts: I'll be honest-- I've been dreading this review for some time (I finished the book two weeks ago-- does that tell you anything?). But, as I'm learning, Quixotic quests ain't easy and you're going to have to do things that you would prefer not to.

Here's the thing with this book: every time you think that things couldn't possibly get worse, a horrible new truth is revealed. It was a little bit like a Lifetime movie in the sense that the atrocities that dogged the character seemed unrealistic and made it difficult to connect with the main character or to view her as a fellow human. But I guess that tells you a lot about human nature-- it's incredibly difficult to look evil, heartache, and pain straight in the eye. It's much easier to ignore, try to forget, or laugh it off.

Sophie's Choice had a lot to say about guilt and ways that people deal with it. The book really illustrated the way that people hide guilt by telling untruths to themselves and to the people around them to keep from addressing an ugly reality. It also depicts how it is often only with lots of time and lots of telling and retelling that we hear the true story of someone's life. It challenged me to be a listener and an observer, someone who patiently waits for others to feel safe enough to tell stories that they desperately need to share.

On a different note altogether, this is the first book from the reading list that is set in New York, and it is an intriguing window into a New York of days long gone. The narrator's experience as an outsider living in Jewish Flatbush in the days immediately following WWII is ably described and quite fascinating.

Overall, this was a well-written book that wrestled with a variety of difficult topics. It's well-worth a read, but probably only when you have the time and energy to properly absorb the material.

Rocktober!!

2007-10-01T22:47:00.000-04:00

I'm going big and bold on this one-- October is the best time of the year. I'm particularly fond of it, not just because of the great and detailed childhood memories that the scents of the season evoke, but also because it's one of the few times in the year when my cold-weather-loving Main Squeeze and I both really enjoy the Great Outdoors (well, maybe I should say that we enjoy the Great Outdoors more... the Main Squeeze has been known to brashly state that he'd be happy if he could live under a dome and never really be outside again).

Reason #1 why October= Rocktober (the MS's nickname-- I can't take credit): apples! Sure, you can get apples other times of the year, but I'm really grateful for them now-- the nip of cold air at night now reminds me that I don't have too many trips to the farmer's market left before winter. (Sidenote: I finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Friday, and I highly recommend it. It was definitely good reading. Stay tuned for a report on home cheesemaking, which I've been newly inspired to attempt).

Reason #2 why October= Rocktober: pears! OK, name one thing more delicious than a juicy, October pear... I dare you! OK, I WILL... and it's...

Reason #3 why October= Rocktober: apple pear turnovers!! This delicious recipe is courtesy of Williams-Sonoma's cooking for kids (laugh it up, fuzzball... the kids' recipes are simpler and call for fewer ingredients... hey, I'm not ashamed!). Frozen puff pastry is expensive and bad for you, but, wow, this is an amazing let's-celebrate-fall treat!

Reason #4 why October= Rocktober: fall movies! (Disclaimer: I'm not advocating in any way the usual moody crop of fall let's-beg-for-an-Oscar bitter dramas disguised and marketed as comedies... despite, not because of, the overload of this sort of thing, I still look forward to fall movies every year). Saturday night brought the advent of The Darjeeling Limited, so of course I was there, gleefully chewing on my overpriced Milk Duds (I always forget to smuggle in my own snacks...). I liked it a lot-- as usual, the production design was incredible, especially with the infusion of the rich, vibrant colors that seemed to saturate every frame, the script was funny, and the characters were lovable (Adrien Brody is hilarious... although, it was pretty unsettling to see Owen Wilson in light of recent events). The Main Squeeze was a bit disappointed by the movie-- he felt like Wes Anderson was rehashing his old material, i.e. The Royal Tenenbaums Go to India. I see his point, but at the same time, I thought that the story, while not as unique as it was a couple of movies ago, to be compelling and true. I may just be partial to the themes of family reconciliation and restoration because they make me optimistic about my own family's future, but hey, what are you going to do? Sue me? Just go ahead and try-- I'm invincible! It's Rocktober, for crying out loud-- everything's turning up Millhouse!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #97

2007-09-20T11:28:00.000-04:00

Title: The Sheltering Sky
Author: Paul Bowles
Judgin' the Book by Its Cover: The cover art stinks. Seriously, how am I supposed to read books with ugly cover art? I would never have picked this up if I saw it on a shelf at a bookstore.

Thoughts: After a quick detour from the reading list to read Everything is Illuminated (I know, I know, I should've read it ages ago), I got a little bogged down in this book. I've had a hard time processing it and deciding what I thought about it.

First off, this was an interesting read. It's a little strange-- although it was published in 1949, the first half of the book felt like something written in the late '20's about the post-WWI generation. It's a ponderous, serious study of humans in a foreign (and harsh) environment. One Amazon reviewer mentioned that each of the characters in the book is an example of a different Western approach to alien cultures. It's interesting to examine the book in this way and to see how each character's attitudes and prejudices influence not only their experience in the desert, but their fate.

However, the depictions of the North Africans are almost entirely negative, which makes the book difficult to enjoy. Even worse, the book perpetuates the myth that women secretly (or not so secretly) enjoy sexual violence, which is an idea that I have a major problem stomaching. These two things were huge obstacles to my enjoyment of the book. But it was thought-provoking, at least.

I'm finding this quest a difficult one-- it's tough to dive from one serious, hard-hitting novel right into the next. I'm taking a brief sabbatical (here's looking at you, K-Dub!) to read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle , which I've been dying to read ever since it came out-- I added it to my library waitlist months ago and it has only just now been ready. I'm really looking forward to that, especially since I've been trying to introduce more fresh, locally-grown, and plant-based food items into my diet (which mainly consists of pizza, Coke, and Greek takeout). I'll let you know how that goes. ;)

Bored At Work?

2007-09-12T11:56:00.000-04:00

Here's an amusing little game... it's actually pretty fun.

Married With Children, Kremlin-Style

2007-09-11T11:25:00.000-04:00

According to the New York Times, the sitcom is appearing for the first time on Russian television, and "Married With Children" is the hottest "new" show. Watch the clip-- the Russian dad even sounds like the Al Bundy that we all know and love! So weird...

Saxomaphone...

2007-09-10T21:34:00.000-04:00

This A.V. Club article lists 10 great songs that were nearly ruined by a saxophone... it supports my long-held theory that the saxophone should NEVER be used in rock music. Seriously, name one song that's better because of a sax solo (fact: if you think there is one, you're probably a lame Kenny G fan who doesn't deserve to read this blog).

Getting in Touch With My Masculine Side

2007-09-10T20:25:00.000-04:00

Despite the warm weather, telltale signs point out that fall is on its way-- the days are getting shorter, the neighborhood hooligans are back in school (finally!), and football fever is ravaging my home. Yes, football season is here, like it or not, and suddenly I find myself plunged into a world where I'm supposed to care deeply about a stranger's torn ACL (pop quiz: where is the ACL located?) and share the shame of a disgraced kicker who just missed the extra point. It's not that I don't like football-- I do and I actually know a lot about it (probably because of my time at USC). I just don't have the stamina to watch 10 hours of football in a day-- after a couple of hours, watching fat guys in spandex jump on each other seems a little lacking in entertainment value. I'll be honest-- my interest in football is focused mainly on the football snacks department. A football game is always a great excuse to eat chicken wings.

This weekend wasn't ALL football and no play, though. Friday night the Main Squeeze, the Third Man, and I went to see Shoot 'Em Up, and I'm pretty sure I was the only girl in the place. I hadn't seen a trailer before the movie, so I had no idea what I was getting into. I'm all for the cheesy action movie (seriously, if both Die Hard 3 and Speed are on TV at once, it's a gut-wrenching decision to make), but this was probably the most gratuitously violent movie I've ever seen. It probably should be shown with a body-count ticker at the bottom of the screen a la Hot Shots: Part Deux. The first person gets killed about 20 seconds into the movie, and then it's about 40 people per minute for the duration. The boys enjoyed it, but it was way too violent for me. The movie was strangely like a hopped-up-on-speed meathead remake of Children of Men. The basic plot is similar: moody Clive Owen protects an infant from gunmen. Only in this version, Clive "Could My Face Be More Chiseled?" Owen kills about 800 people, including a dude who gets stabbed in the eye by a carrot.

All this man stuff is making my inner romantic schoolgirl revolt-- I find myself wanting to take long, lingering walks in the park, speak French, and bake chocolate souffles. Even crazier, the other day I was enamored with the idea of embroidering a dresser scarf. Seriously, a dresser scarf?! But that's alright- I can be as girly as I want to during these last summer days. I'll have the whole winter to eat brats, wear sweatpants, and cheer for the Bears.

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #98

2007-09-02T22:07:00.001-04:00

Title: The Postman Always Rings Twice
Author: James M. Cain
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Boooooo! If your favorite kind of book cover is one which abstractly depicts a man grabbing a woman's, um, bosom, then you're in for a treat! If not, well, you're probably out of luck...

Thoughts: Although I've never read any of Cain's novels, I've seen the film adaptations of two of his most popular works, Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity (two words: Billy Wilder), and like both movies, especially the latter. I'm a big fan of film noir and also of the hard-boiled crime fiction of the '30's and '40's, especially anything by Raymond Chandler (who doesn't appear on this list-- he got robbed!) or Dashiell Hammett, so I was pretty psyched to see this on the list. However, this book was much darker than anything I've read by the two previously-mentioned gents, and a bit dirtier. The narrator, Frank Chambers, is no Philip Marlowe-- he's a sleazeball with no principles and none of the dry wit that characterizes Chandler's hero. Moreover, the connection between violence and sex in the book is truly unsettling-- Frank and the femme fatale seem drawn to each other by their mutual love of violence. One thing that sets the novel apart from others in its genre is the use of a true workingman's voice-- Frank isn't a super-articulate wisecracker, and he even uses poor grammar (in a believable way). This added realism makes the story somehow more disturbing-- it's as if someone you know is talking about a murder they committed. Overall, the book is a visceral pageturner, but it's really short and is entertaining in its own way, so probably worth a quick read.

Down= 3
To Go= 97

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #99

2007-09-01T21:13:00.000-04:00

Title: The Ginger Man
Author: J. P. Donleavy
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: I kind of like the cover art... it's subtle, yet manages to convey a lot, plus, it's 10,000 times better than this cover.

Thoughts: I was unfamiliar with both the book and the author before I encountered the Modern Library list, so I didn't really know what to expect. Donleavy employs a strange combination of first and third person narration, often switching between the two mid-paragraph. This technique, although jarring at first, works pretty well in the novel-- the hero, Sebastian Dangerfield, behaves despicably throughout the story, so hearing his thoughts firsthand makes him more human and more likable. That said, I wasn't very into this book until it was nearly finished. Sebastian is a heavy-drinking, abusive, lazy, and dishonest guy, and it's hard to be sympathetic to his problems (since they're caused entirely by his self-destructive habits). However, his unquenchable optimism made me root for him a bit despite all of that. Overall, I guess I'm pretty ambivalent about the book-- I didn't hate it by the end, but I didn't exactly like it, either. Was it the 99th greatest novel written in the 20th century that I've ever read? Well, probably not...

Down= 2
To Go= 98

Ain't That the Darnedest Thing?

2007-08-31T23:48:00.000-04:00

Here's a strange tale: apparently four orphaned baby hedgehogs have adopted a scrub brush as their mother. That's right, a scrub brush. It's cute, yet, somehow, very sad... I'm just not sure how great your parenting skills are if you can be replaced by a common household item. But it sure makes for a cute picture!

Modern Library's Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century Quest: #100

2007-08-25T14:11:00.000-04:00

Title: The Magnificent Ambersons
Author: Booth Tarkington
Judgin' the Book By Its Cover: Ooh, the cover art gets a bad grade on this one... I mean, come on people, you could have used an illustration or a photograph or something... did you even try?

Thoughts: My first impression when I picked up this book was, "Wow, Booth Tarkington-- great name!" Plus, he's a fellow Hoosier and the book is probably set in Indiana, so you gotta give him props for that. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, although I had the rare experience of having seen the movie prior to reading the book (the Welles adaptation was very true to the book, so I kept feeling like I had already read it). The book immensely succeeds at creating an engaging story about family, wealth, love, and pride while also depicting the rapid changes the Industrial Revolution wrought on American life. It's a very American story-- the fortunes that our entrepreneurs build overnight into empires are transient, and the emperors themselves usually vanish from popular recollection in a few short decades (as my dad always says,"Easy come, easy go"). Kinda makes you stop and think what you spend your time, energy, and money working towards, since, after all, there's only one Kingdom that's immutable.

Down= 1
To Go= 99

Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir?

2007-08-12T20:29:00.001-04:00

This is the most disturbing commercial I've ever seen. Period. Poor Elvis is probably doing somersaults in his grave (if he's really dead, that is).

Yep, I'm a Bookworm

2007-08-12T16:52:00.000-04:00

And now for something a bit more pretentious... I've resolved to read every book on the Modern Library's list of the top 100 novels of the 20th century. I've noticed that since I graduated from college I've gotten progressively stupider-- writing is a laborious and unpleasant task, my verbal communication skills have seriously suffered, and my vocabulary is alarmingly similar to Homer Simpson's. I've decided to start with #100 and work my way up, mainly because I don't have the chops to dive headfirst into Ulysses, but also because that seems to make the most sense-- after all, no VH1 countdown starts at #1 and works its way down. That would be stupid! Now look-- I've used a form of "stupid" twice now in this article (crap, now that's three times). Do you see what I mean about the Homer-like vocabulary?

I'm planning to write a little post about each book I read just to get in the habit of writing more frequently. Feel free to chat with me if you've read the book I'm working on-- there isn't much I enjoy more than talking about books (except for maybe talking about movies... or Elvis...), and that's something that's been sorely lacking from my life since graduation. But if you'd rather just mock me, that's fine, too. This is somehow geeky and pretentious at once-- how often in life does that combination occur? Sigh. I'm pretty excited, though, and now that my Harry Potter fever has subsided, I'm ready for some more serious reading. It's about that time.

Deadlier than Sharks...

2007-08-11T18:52:00.000-04:00

As we lay Shark Week 2007 to rest, I'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate nature's lesser-known assassins. First on this list is the innocent- and cuddly-looking marmot. While these little guys may seem harmless, the marmot, a close cousin to the also cute woodchuck, may carry the bubonic plague. Bubonic plague! I suggest that you write to your congressman to request that the Whack-A-Mole game be renamed Whack-A-Marmot to raise awareness before the U.S. becomes one giant Hot Zone.

Next on the list of terror: pigs! I always suspected that Babe had it in for me, but my worst fears were confirmed this week when I read in The Good Good Pig that pigs kill more humans every year than sharks, and are, in fact, so vicious when raised in crowded conditions that they are known to eat anything that enters their pen, including babies or small children! As a result, I've decided to increase the pork products in my diet by 300% to fight this epidemic of pig violence towards children. It's the least that I can do.

Well, I hope you take this into consideration next time you head out to the petting zoo at Central Park. These animals WILL kill you, so I suggest you avoid them entirely. After all, they're deadlier than sharks.

I Love Movie Posters

2007-07-31T16:57:00.000-04:00

What's cooler than a smartly-designed movie poster? Nothing, that's what. Check out the poster for the new Wes Anderson movie, The Darjeeling Limited (which appears to be about men with jacked-up noses, but I guess there's probably more to it than that). I'm really excited to see it, but that's probably pretty obvious since The Royal Tenenbaums has been the subject of a very unhealthy obsession in my life for a time now. What can I say? Who doesn't love anything that makes dysfunctional family life seem hip?

Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California

2007-07-25T15:22:00.000-04:00

Somehow, this article failed to cash the check the headline wrote... what a letdown...

Odd Jobs

2007-07-17T00:26:00.000-04:00

Do you ever meet people who really catch you off guard when they tell you what they do for a living? You innocently ask, "So, what do you do?", and they reply with something like this: "Yeah, I'm a chemist and I'm trying to design a more accurate artificial banana flavor" (true story, by the way). On the other hand, do you ever stumble across something on TV and think to yourself, "Who in the world watches this?!?!". WELL... in a strange combination of both those scenarios, Blake started a new job today! So, he's working as an editor for an animation company here in the city, and the show that he's cutting is (I'm totally serious) a live-action show about thumb wrestling starring real thumbs with luchador masks on. They shoot the show in a tiny little wrestling ring in his office, and they're fully stocked with assorted thumb costumes.

Intrigued? The show is called TWF: Thumb Wrestling Federation, if you want to check it out. What's that you say? You need more info (specifically, the convoluted backstory, a tale of treachery, revenge, and woe)? Well, I think that you'll find a simple search on Wikipedia will clear up any questions you might have. ;)

Git Along, Little Doggie

2007-07-09T20:29:00.000-04:00

This is the puppy that I really, REALLY want to buy. I fell in love with him a few weeks ago when I was checking out the website for the breeder my coworker got her three dachshunds from. Imagine my surprise when I saw him today in a cowboy suit!! We're DEFINITELY a match made in heaven... Why, oh why, can't I get a dog?

Knocked Up

2007-07-08T23:19:00.000-04:00

Just to be clear, folks-- I'm not making any big announcements here! I just want to talk a bit about the movie I saw last weekend, Knocked Up. For anyone who doesn't know, it's a comedy about an unlikely couple who try to forge a relationship after their drunken one-night stand results in an unplanned pregnancy. It's jam-packed with lots of folks you'll be happy to see again if you're a Freaks and Geeks fan (or if you just think guys with big beards are dead sexy).

The movie got me thinking about the ways that I deal (or don't deal) with unexpected change in my life. I've never been in a situation anywhere near as difficult as that scenario, but, absurdly, I still tend to dread any change in the status quo (regardless of how minor the change may be!). It's really pretty stupid to try to avoid impending change-- the baby is going to come whether or not you read the books or buy the crib, but things will probably go a lot smoother if you take the opportunity to prepare for the event! It's just as ridiculous to drag your feet when God is prompting you to make some changes. Sure, change can be seem like an inevitable pain in the neck, but it's almost always a huge source of joy and beauty in my life when I take a step back and adjust my attitude. In the movie, even though the road to the delivery room was scary, awkward, embarassing, and painful, the happiness the new parents experienced when they held their baby daughter far outweighed everything else. That's the way God works! It's like He says in the Book: "For I know the plans I have for you, [...] plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

So I'll try to relax, let go, "read the baby books", and get ready to roll with the punches knowing that God has great things in store for me if I can trust Him and follow Him down an unknown path!

The Great American Sport

2007-07-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I witnessed history in the making. In the titan clash of man vs. hot dog, Joey Chestnut rose above all others to set a new world record: 66 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. The humble lad from San Jose, California restored America's pride and joy by defeating the six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi in a dramatic upset. Even now as I pen this tale, salty tears of joy fill my eyes and the sweet smell of American victory caresses my nostrils.

Long story short, it was a great day. I got to see about 300 hot dogs get eaten in 12 minutes, there were people wearing straw boater hats, and I got to scream, "USA! USA! USA" until I was hoarse. Heck, I even got to eat a funnel cake for lunch!

I will say this, though-- Coney Island attracts a strange crowd...

2007-07-05T14:28:00.000-04:00

The Very First Post

2007-07-03T19:39:00.000-04:00

It seems that such a momentous occasion as the first post from a freshman blogger should commence with a brief introduction from the author. However, my vocabulary is limited at best and my imagination is virtually nonexistent (thanks to my constant diet of trashy TV). So I guess I'll spare us all a lengthy treatise on the art of writing and I'll dive right in.

Consider yourself warned-- my loftiest goals are to publicly air my gripes about people who think it's cool to wear purple and to keep my readers supplied with fresh photos of dogs dressed like people. But if that's the kind of thing that tickles you pink, well, have I got a show for you!!

So saddle up, cowboys-- it's time to ride!