![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
This and that and the other thing...
1.Say what you will about GRR Martin's novels, but he does on occasion write an entertaining blog..and he's somewhat adorable:
This entry made me laugh.
I have to say I agree with him on Twitter and FB. And on the Star Wars flicks - loved the first two, not crazy about the third, didn't like the prequels, and don't feel that charmed by the reboot. Lucas managed to kill my Star Wars love in much the same way Whedon skewered my Buffy love, by not leaving well enough alone. Let this be a lesson to you: Creators really need to learn when to let go of their babies or so I've discovered. Keep tinkering with it - you're bound to ruin it eventually.
2. Read another review of The Goldfinch. This one was...hmmm neither positive nor negative. But it didn't exactly inspire me to read it either.
I keep waiting for someone to talk me into reading the Goldfinch or at the very least inspire me - instead, they keep talking me out of reading it, regardless of whether it is positive or negative review. (That's why I keep reading and sharing reviews of it. I like the author, but she has yet to write another book that intrigues me, this happens a lot with authors - it's why I rarely follow them for long.) The latest was abigal_nussbuam of The Wrong Questions - who enjoyed the book but found it to be ultimately hollow with serious gender/race issues (she reads, watches and reviews practically everything through a gender/race political correctness bias, which I'm not quite sure is a good idea...means you aren't listening to the story or seeing that other point of view, so much as imposing your own world-view and/or judgement or rather your own value judgement on it. Then again, don't we all do that to one degree or another? And is it wrong to question the author's story and content? Eh, I clearly have mixed feelings on this topic or I wouldn't continue to be fascinated by her reviews and find them helpful). Bear in mind that I adored Donna Tartt's first effort : The Secret History. Devoured it. Read it while walking from the subway. Could not put it down. But, everything I've read about The Goldfinch leads me to believe that it would bore me. Depressing that. Bear in mind, that I hated Dickens' Great Expectations - which I've attempted to read (bleargh) and seen the musical version by John Jakes (sigh), and two filmed versions, one with Gweyneth Paltrow (not that good)...and I despise it. Do not understand the appeal of that novel - it struck me as incredibly misogynistic and a bit self-indulgent on the writers part. So - the fact that all the reviewers I've read compare The Goldfinch directly to Great Expectations and state it feels like a retelling of that novel - scares me off. I may however try Little Me at some point, which garnered more negative reviews than positive reviews.
3. There are a few books that I've been flirting with:
*Nora Webster by Colin Tobin - sound a bit grim, but intriguing
*Station Eleven by I forget but it's at the top of all these best book lists
*The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (although the time period may scare me off - not a fan of WWI and WWII books, read too many of them at one point),
*Lila by Marianne Robinson,
*The Summer Prince by Alaye Dawn Johnson (?) about two people fighting a rebellion
in Brazil, and one is slated to die for religious reasons at the end of the
year.
*Euphoria by (again I forget but it's a fictionalized account of a love triangle
between Margaret Mean, her hubby, and another cultural anthropologist),
*Tenth of December by George Sanders (not a fan of short stories but intrigued)
4. I found the book that I finished writing back in 2002. So yay? This isn't the one I'm about to self-publish. [Yes, I've written more than one unpublished book. Shocking I know. There it is. Let's move on.] Totally different genre from the current one, this one is a sort of combo: occult horror mystery suspense thriller with a romance -- which means if I can revise it and make it work, more people might actually read it? Huzzah. I jump genres in my writing in much the same way I do when I read. Although I appear to be incapable of writing a cozy mystery novel (too boring and what a literary agent wanted me to turn the book I located into) or a historical and/or contemporary romance (again, too boring). I can read these things, but I can't be bothered to write them. Anyhow, I thought I'd thrown it out. Uh no. Just hid it from myself. Found multiple hard copies in the bottom of a plastic container in my linen/pantry closet. This is the book I was talking about on the fanboards in 2002, and had multiple people online look at and attempt to edit for me. It's the Celtic Horror Story. I was quite happy to be reunited with it. I plan on revising it after I self-publish the current one, (which is NOT a horror story and much harder to describe.) That may be why I hid it from myself - so I wouldn't jump the gun and distract myself from my current project with it? (I mean really, one book at a time, it's not like I don't have a full time job plus various church obligations, including the theaterical production of the Vagina Monologues this spring.)
My difficulty has never been coming up with things to write about, it is focus. I have difficulty focusing my mind on one thing at a time. The diet has surprisingly enough helped with this, believe it or not.
5. Learned something new about Hannaukha at church this morning...except apparently how to effectively spell it. Apparently it is a sort of pointless holiday and sort of a reaction to Christmas? (Well, already knew that from various Jewish friends and co-workers.) Got this history lesson in a church homily from a former Jew. (My church appears to be an interesting combination of Jews, Christians, Agonistics, Pagans, Athesists, and Humanists - so the sermons and homilies tend to be all over the map most of the time, some weeks Christian, some Jewish, some intellectual discourses on Humanism/Social Justice or Environmentalism, it depends on the preacher and their mood, I suspect.). This preacher, a lay-minister (that means just a member of the congregation giving a sermon) said that the holiday arose from a rather obscure period in Jewish History. The Maccabees (Jews at that time) had lived for years peacefully under the rule of Alexander the Great and the Greeks, who pretty much left them alone. During this period they assimilated quite a bit of Greek culture and the Greek religious practices and religion, some even wore togas. However...along came a change in rulers..Anti-August (that's what the name sounded like, not clear on if it is spelled this way) came along and pretty much went all Rambo on the Jewish culture - outlawing it, etc. Understandably confused and upset about this oppression, they revolted. However, there were Jews on both sides of the conflict. The Jews who were fighting for their culture and the assimilated Jews fighting with the Greeks. Sort of like the American Revolution, actually, where there were Americans on both sides of the conflict. Not everyone wanted to break with Great Britain. Found all of this rather interesting...not completely sure what I think about it, except we need to be careful as to why we choose to adopt the things we do and why. Is it to merely fit in or is it because we want to?
This entry made me laugh.
I have to say I agree with him on Twitter and FB. And on the Star Wars flicks - loved the first two, not crazy about the third, didn't like the prequels, and don't feel that charmed by the reboot. Lucas managed to kill my Star Wars love in much the same way Whedon skewered my Buffy love, by not leaving well enough alone. Let this be a lesson to you: Creators really need to learn when to let go of their babies or so I've discovered. Keep tinkering with it - you're bound to ruin it eventually.
2. Read another review of The Goldfinch. This one was...hmmm neither positive nor negative. But it didn't exactly inspire me to read it either.
I keep waiting for someone to talk me into reading the Goldfinch or at the very least inspire me - instead, they keep talking me out of reading it, regardless of whether it is positive or negative review. (That's why I keep reading and sharing reviews of it. I like the author, but she has yet to write another book that intrigues me, this happens a lot with authors - it's why I rarely follow them for long.) The latest was abigal_nussbuam of The Wrong Questions - who enjoyed the book but found it to be ultimately hollow with serious gender/race issues (she reads, watches and reviews practically everything through a gender/race political correctness bias, which I'm not quite sure is a good idea...means you aren't listening to the story or seeing that other point of view, so much as imposing your own world-view and/or judgement or rather your own value judgement on it. Then again, don't we all do that to one degree or another? And is it wrong to question the author's story and content? Eh, I clearly have mixed feelings on this topic or I wouldn't continue to be fascinated by her reviews and find them helpful). Bear in mind that I adored Donna Tartt's first effort : The Secret History. Devoured it. Read it while walking from the subway. Could not put it down. But, everything I've read about The Goldfinch leads me to believe that it would bore me. Depressing that. Bear in mind, that I hated Dickens' Great Expectations - which I've attempted to read (bleargh) and seen the musical version by John Jakes (sigh), and two filmed versions, one with Gweyneth Paltrow (not that good)...and I despise it. Do not understand the appeal of that novel - it struck me as incredibly misogynistic and a bit self-indulgent on the writers part. So - the fact that all the reviewers I've read compare The Goldfinch directly to Great Expectations and state it feels like a retelling of that novel - scares me off. I may however try Little Me at some point, which garnered more negative reviews than positive reviews.
3. There are a few books that I've been flirting with:
*Nora Webster by Colin Tobin - sound a bit grim, but intriguing
*Station Eleven by I forget but it's at the top of all these best book lists
*The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (although the time period may scare me off - not a fan of WWI and WWII books, read too many of them at one point),
*Lila by Marianne Robinson,
*The Summer Prince by Alaye Dawn Johnson (?) about two people fighting a rebellion
in Brazil, and one is slated to die for religious reasons at the end of the
year.
*Euphoria by (again I forget but it's a fictionalized account of a love triangle
between Margaret Mean, her hubby, and another cultural anthropologist),
*Tenth of December by George Sanders (not a fan of short stories but intrigued)
4. I found the book that I finished writing back in 2002. So yay? This isn't the one I'm about to self-publish. [Yes, I've written more than one unpublished book. Shocking I know. There it is. Let's move on.] Totally different genre from the current one, this one is a sort of combo: occult horror mystery suspense thriller with a romance -- which means if I can revise it and make it work, more people might actually read it? Huzzah. I jump genres in my writing in much the same way I do when I read. Although I appear to be incapable of writing a cozy mystery novel (too boring and what a literary agent wanted me to turn the book I located into) or a historical and/or contemporary romance (again, too boring). I can read these things, but I can't be bothered to write them. Anyhow, I thought I'd thrown it out. Uh no. Just hid it from myself. Found multiple hard copies in the bottom of a plastic container in my linen/pantry closet. This is the book I was talking about on the fanboards in 2002, and had multiple people online look at and attempt to edit for me. It's the Celtic Horror Story. I was quite happy to be reunited with it. I plan on revising it after I self-publish the current one, (which is NOT a horror story and much harder to describe.) That may be why I hid it from myself - so I wouldn't jump the gun and distract myself from my current project with it? (I mean really, one book at a time, it's not like I don't have a full time job plus various church obligations, including the theaterical production of the Vagina Monologues this spring.)
My difficulty has never been coming up with things to write about, it is focus. I have difficulty focusing my mind on one thing at a time. The diet has surprisingly enough helped with this, believe it or not.
5. Learned something new about Hannaukha at church this morning...except apparently how to effectively spell it. Apparently it is a sort of pointless holiday and sort of a reaction to Christmas? (Well, already knew that from various Jewish friends and co-workers.) Got this history lesson in a church homily from a former Jew. (My church appears to be an interesting combination of Jews, Christians, Agonistics, Pagans, Athesists, and Humanists - so the sermons and homilies tend to be all over the map most of the time, some weeks Christian, some Jewish, some intellectual discourses on Humanism/Social Justice or Environmentalism, it depends on the preacher and their mood, I suspect.). This preacher, a lay-minister (that means just a member of the congregation giving a sermon) said that the holiday arose from a rather obscure period in Jewish History. The Maccabees (Jews at that time) had lived for years peacefully under the rule of Alexander the Great and the Greeks, who pretty much left them alone. During this period they assimilated quite a bit of Greek culture and the Greek religious practices and religion, some even wore togas. However...along came a change in rulers..Anti-August (that's what the name sounded like, not clear on if it is spelled this way) came along and pretty much went all Rambo on the Jewish culture - outlawing it, etc. Understandably confused and upset about this oppression, they revolted. However, there were Jews on both sides of the conflict. The Jews who were fighting for their culture and the assimilated Jews fighting with the Greeks. Sort of like the American Revolution, actually, where there were Americans on both sides of the conflict. Not everyone wanted to break with Great Britain. Found all of this rather interesting...not completely sure what I think about it, except we need to be careful as to why we choose to adopt the things we do and why. Is it to merely fit in or is it because we want to?
no subject
no subject
(Well, except for Stephen King who adored all of it...but considering I have similar issues with Stephen King's novels..)
abigail_nussbaum stated in regards to the ending:
But by the time one approaches the end of the novel--in which Theo's criminal acts, his concealment of the painting, and his emotional instability all lead him to a self-imposed exile in Amsterdam and a violent crescendo to the story--it's hard not to wonder what the point of all this was. Did the world really need another baggy coming-of-age novel about a middle class white guy who struggles with self-absorption and self-loathing? Even more importantly, did it really need a novel that is as obvious a retelling of Great Expectations as The Goldfinch is?
And..
Tartt is known for taking years--just over a decade, in this case--to produce her novels, and especially given that weight of investment it's hard to look at The Goldfinch and not wonder what it was all for. In its closing chapter, The Goldfinch launches into several pages of Theo trying to explain his new life philosophy, but though this creed is unobjectionable--don't get hung up on labels like good or bad, or waste your life obsessing about which one describes you; just be kind and loving to other people--it's also thin enough to drive home that there's really nothing at the heart of this novel. And its failures when it comes to race, class, and gender only reaffirm how shallow and unnecessary it is.
-http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/
And nussbaum appeared to like The Goldfinch and seems to recommend it with reservations.
My difficulty? It sounds like a retelling of Great Expectations. I hate Great Expectations. Dang it. Why, Donna Tartt, Why??? (LOL!)