I just got back from wandering around North Haven--Did you know EB games doesn't take DVDs anymore? What the hell, man. And Barnes and Noble e-mails that say there are sales are lies. LIES.
Anyway, I finished Doctor Zhivago too. I decided not to write about it for my school project, though it would be sublimely easy: You're supposed to write about how the main character changes. In the beginning, he's nine years old. In the end (spoiler!) he's dead. But! It was a pretty good book. Like I said, Pasternak is a very eloquent fellow, and can make even arbitrary things sound and seem quite majestic and beautiful.
One thing that always surprised me a little is how the underclasses are referred to as peasants, even into the 1930's. The word brings an image of Medieval beggars, and very easily it's my imagery to fault, but it's so strange that even in a 'modern' age they should still be known as peasants, and still living in villages that, to description, sound very much like Medieval villages. Odd.
"'Rome was a flea market of borrowed gods and conquered peoples, a bargain basement on two floors, earth and heaven, a mass of filth convoluted in a triple knot as in an intestinal obstruction.'" Oh snap! Rome got served! I just picked this because Rome is considered the 'ideal' civilization and not only was it hit pretty hard on the head... well, look, that's actually a pretty good unromantic view of Rome. Really. And, I guess eloquence doesn't always mean beautiful. For the record.
"All the strong are dominated by the weak and ignoble."
Man, I can never read books about the military again. There's a long section where a general is trying to get his troops, you know, pumped by giving this long speech about how great the country is and how you must fight for it, even if you're your parents' only child. And all I could think of were lines from Catch-22 criticizing war, and patriotism. In Language and Comp we learned about logical fallacies--one of which was 'flag-waving' or using patriotism so your target group will agree with you. And, you know what? Not to belittle anything or offend anyone, but it is a logical fallacy. Really, it doesn't make any sense. "'What is a country?'" Huh, I wish I could include the whole quote, but it appears Wikiquote sucks. Just--just pay attention to the Sacrilegious Old Man when you get to him.
"'And about that deaf-mute, we're fed up hearing about him. Everybody goes on and on about the deaf-mute. And what have you got against him? Just that he was dumb all that time and then he suddenly started to talk and didn't ask your permission? As if that were so marvelous!'" I am not sure why I should favor so this passage.
"...an unshared happiness is not happiness..." I believe it was in Doctor Zhivago Christopher Johnson McCandless wrote this, and I guess it must have been around here. Maybe not, but I'd expect it to be in affirmation: "HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED".
"Everyday life struggled on, by force of habit, limping and shuffling." There's something about that "by force of habit" I like. This bit works well on its own, and also if you continue the quote around the whole paragraph-- "Everyday life struggled on, by force of habit, limping and shuffling. But the doctor saw life as it was. It was clear to him that it was under sentence. He looked upon himself and his milieu as doomed. Ordeals were ahead, perhaps death. Their days were counted and running out before his eyes." I--I'm morid, a--aren't I?
"'It has something of Pushkin's uncompromising clarity and Tolstoy's unwavering faithfulness to the facts.'" Both Russian authors, obviously. I've never read Pushkin, but I find it kind of funny that Tolstoy should be described in such a way--War and Peace, at the time of its publication (I don't know if it still is, though, I only read reviews that were printed the same year of its publication) was criticized heavily for unfaithfulness to facts, and that Tolstoy was making up his own facts for "his conveniance" and the story's conveniance. A criticism that stands out is the fact that Napoleon randomly spoke Russian and then would go back to French. I mean, there was more, it was a long review, but that's the biggest point. I remember being like "Well, duh, it's a Russian novel..." but, you know. Maybe this is sarcasm here, but I don't know Pushkin, so I can't be sure.
"Near him, touching him, were hell, dissolution, corruption, death, and equally near him were the spring and Mary Magdalene and life. And it was time to awake. Time to wake up and get up. Time to arise, time for the resurrection."
"'Look at all these stations. The trees aren't cut, the fences are intact. And these markets! These women! Think how wonderful! Somewhere life is still going on, some people are happy. Not everyone is wretched. This justifies everything.'" Nothing is universal. Not everywhere is wretched, no matter how wretched one place may be. Vice versa, no matter how pleasant and wonderful one place is, there is a wretched and raggedy counterpart.
"But was this the way to win back lost love? For that you had to move mountains!" This was noted because of the fact that it reminded me of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Just the way the sentences are structured reminded me of each other--Because the interenet hates me, I shall paraphrase. "But even the X could not create a woman from clay. For that, you needed a rib." I like the sentence itself, but I like this one too, and paired together, I am quite enamored.
Okay, so background on the next one: Zhivago sees his love for the first time in quite a while, and they are quite unfamiliar to each other: "This was the only form of intimacy that still remained between them. And how distant, cold, and compellingly attractive was this women to whom he had sacrificed all he had, whom he had preferred to everything, and comparision with whom everything seemed to him worthless!" --->"Once you have loved someone this much
you doubt it could fade despite how much you'd like it too" (Fade Together, Franz Ferdinand) Well, for the record, they do suddenly fall back into each other's arms briefly. But I guess it's shocking, seeing someone so dear and beloved suddenly so distant. I hardly ever wonder about old friends in that manner, and I... I don't really have an old boyfriend to wonder that about. But. That commentary--it just grabbed me.
"'It isn't just that I don't love him--I despise him.' 'Can you know yourself as well as that? Human nature, and particularly woman's '"[HAHAHA!] "'is so mysterious and so full of contradictions. Perhaps there is something in your loathing that keeps you in subjection to him more than any man whom you love of your own free will, without compulsion.'" I am under the deepest belief that hate really is quite similar to love, a different type of love under a different name. Because really, say you have made an enemy of a classmate: you are constantly on the lookout for them, and when you see them, your heart skips a beat, you get excited and emotional. You react strongly upon seeing them. If the hate is deep enough, you are constantly talking about them, even if it's in ill terms--it is still constant. If it's deep enough, you are constantly thinking of them and such. And... oh man. I just totally lost my train of thought. Oh, damn. Well, my point was going to be--I think--that that's very similar to affection, right? And as lost as you are when you lose a significant other or some such, that's how someone losing an enemy must feel--why do you think people are so slow to apologize? They'd like to hold onto their object of hate, to the point of needing as desperately as a lonely person clings to love.
"'Just like something out of Jules Verne.'" Uh, so, how's about being my best friend? Any name-dropper of Jules Verne is a friend of mine!
All right, up next is the end, which is one of the most detached upsetting endings I've ever read:
"One day Larisa Feodorovna went out and did not come back. She must have been arrested in the street at that time. She vanished without a trace and probably died somewhere, forgotten as a nameless number on a list that afterwards got mislaid, in one of the innumerable mixed or women's concentration camps in the north."
...
So, I skipped the poetry at the end. So it's possible I've missed some major messages or something deep, but I've never had it much for poetry. I just don't really understand it. I mean, sometimes things jump out at me, but most of the time I just don't have a head for it. I wouldn't know if it was any good or not had I been interested enough to read it, in any case.
Anyways, the book itself: It's an enjoyable book. I can't imagine carrying it around and it meaning as much to be me as it did to Christopher Johnson McCandless, but it's certainly a book I would be proud to have on my self. I'm not quite sure if it would go in my classics shelf (which technically doesn't even exist at the moment) but it would certainly have a place on my bookshelf.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wonder if he'll ever know: he's in the best-selling show: 'Is There Life on Mars?'
Over the course of the last few comments (right now, four) on my last post I realized something: We have not invented any new lingo (proving my own point) in, like, 40 years. Maybe 30. But still? When did cool start getting used as a synonym for awesome? Probably in the seventies! No, according to dictionary.com? The 1930's. The 1930's! You know what else happened in 1930? The dust bowl. The dust bowl. And... uh... 'rad'. Fifties. 'Dynamite'. 'Da bomb'. Okay, that was probably like nineties. But really. Come on, get off your butts kids of America. We need slang, so I can sound antiquated because I talk like the Victorian era and 1930's had a child. A child who was only a way of speaking. My way of speaking. Though the Victorian era speaking thing may be because of my Victorian era fetish, but really, we don't need to get into that right now Oscar Wilde.
Anyways. Make some new slang. And nothing that blows (nineties! Bart Simpson!), okay? Run it by me first. I have crowned myself 'Official Chairman of choosing new lingo including something to replace lingo'. (Everyone applauds)
Anyways, the other day I was stuck in my basement so all I could do was pick up a book nearby.... and since I've been bashing Stephen King so much, that book was Carrie. Everyone knows this plot, at least I think so, and remember, on average my brain is set at least 40 years behind everyone else's. But Carrie is basically this psychic girl whose powers are triggered by the advent of her period (no one remembers this from the movie? That was like the scene. And the pig blood scene. I've never actually seen the movie, but my dad assures me what I just typed is the unvarnished truth) is what triggers her abilities to flower, and her mom's a religious nutcase and she's the butt of the school. And then, like every other Stephen King book, everyone dies in a huge explosion. Would you like me to list his books where this has happened? I can't. It would destroy my bandwidth. And then it would explode, and I'd die. In a fiery explosion. Needful Things. 'Salem's Lot. Desperation. Oh what was that? I seemed to cough textually in italicized format just now. But no matter! Let's continue:
My first criticize comes when Stephen King describes a woman as a "typical Ms. California", she "wears bright print shifts", "her hair is black-streaked blond", she's a member of the "California Sun 'n Fun Crowd", et cetera. But then he compares her to Jack Kerouac--"When she talks about Carrie White her face takes on an odd, pinched look that is more like Lovecraft out of Arkham than Kerouac out of Southern Cal." Uhm, Stephen King? Jack Kerouac isn't a "typical Ms. California". In fact, I would go so far to say as he is nothing like what King described the woman to be? I mean, I guess Kerouac is known pretty exclusively for his CA travels, but in this case there are two types of Californians.... People who'd emulate Kerouac, and what you usually think of when you think of a person from CA. Did I just call Stephen King out? I'm not entirely sure. But if I did... I'm right. Come on. Man. (I decided it, by the way, so--LOGICAL FALLACY! That's right, I just called it on myself. Dayum.)
And there was a part I really liked. Stephen King usually has at least one meaningful thing from every book worth quoting in seriousness, and here we go: "'Kids don't know what they're doing. Kids don't even know their reactions really, actually, hurt other people. They have no, uh, empathy. Dig?'...'But hardly anybody ever finds out that their actions really, actually, hurt other people! People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.'" Props to him.
Ah, yes, is Carrie the Angel with the Flaming Sword? Is she His Right Hand? Punishing the children who abused her? Was she punishing her mother, or setting her spirit free to Heaven? Well, that explosion must have seemed like Judgment Day. I can believe she is an Angel with a Flaming Sword, but whether she is Michael or one of Satan's I can't judge. I can see her as a sort of martyr, constantly being crucified and such (that scene with her on the stage, was I the only one who thought of The Scarlet Letter?) but her being an agent of God.... Well, I was raised on Sunday School Jesus. The idea of Jesus being so bloody and violent just doesn't sit well with me. It just feels awkward. I don't know. I'm just going to take the book as a brainless thriller, nothing more. I enjoyed it, so why sour the pot? No thanks.
Also, regarding the title? I guess that is a TV show now. Is it any good? The theme song better be that song, or I'm calling a party foul (90's) right here and now. I'd watch it right now if I wasn't too busy not doing anything productive. And if it was on....
Anyways. Make some new slang. And nothing that blows (nineties! Bart Simpson!), okay? Run it by me first. I have crowned myself 'Official Chairman of choosing new lingo including something to replace lingo'. (Everyone applauds)
Anyways, the other day I was stuck in my basement so all I could do was pick up a book nearby.... and since I've been bashing Stephen King so much, that book was Carrie. Everyone knows this plot, at least I think so, and remember, on average my brain is set at least 40 years behind everyone else's. But Carrie is basically this psychic girl whose powers are triggered by the advent of her period (no one remembers this from the movie? That was like the scene. And the pig blood scene. I've never actually seen the movie, but my dad assures me what I just typed is the unvarnished truth) is what triggers her abilities to flower, and her mom's a religious nutcase and she's the butt of the school. And then, like every other Stephen King book, everyone dies in a huge explosion. Would you like me to list his books where this has happened? I can't. It would destroy my bandwidth. And then it would explode, and I'd die. In a fiery explosion. Needful Things. 'Salem's Lot. Desperation. Oh what was that? I seemed to cough textually in italicized format just now. But no matter! Let's continue:
My first criticize comes when Stephen King describes a woman as a "typical Ms. California", she "wears bright print shifts", "her hair is black-streaked blond", she's a member of the "California Sun 'n Fun Crowd", et cetera. But then he compares her to Jack Kerouac--"When she talks about Carrie White her face takes on an odd, pinched look that is more like Lovecraft out of Arkham than Kerouac out of Southern Cal." Uhm, Stephen King? Jack Kerouac isn't a "typical Ms. California". In fact, I would go so far to say as he is nothing like what King described the woman to be? I mean, I guess Kerouac is known pretty exclusively for his CA travels, but in this case there are two types of Californians.... People who'd emulate Kerouac, and what you usually think of when you think of a person from CA. Did I just call Stephen King out? I'm not entirely sure. But if I did... I'm right. Come on. Man. (I decided it, by the way, so--LOGICAL FALLACY! That's right, I just called it on myself. Dayum.)
And there was a part I really liked. Stephen King usually has at least one meaningful thing from every book worth quoting in seriousness, and here we go: "'Kids don't know what they're doing. Kids don't even know their reactions really, actually, hurt other people. They have no, uh, empathy. Dig?'...'But hardly anybody ever finds out that their actions really, actually, hurt other people! People don't get better, they just get smarter. When you get smarter you don't stop pulling the wings off flies, you just think of better reasons for doing it.'" Props to him.
Ah, yes, is Carrie the Angel with the Flaming Sword? Is she His Right Hand? Punishing the children who abused her? Was she punishing her mother, or setting her spirit free to Heaven? Well, that explosion must have seemed like Judgment Day. I can believe she is an Angel with a Flaming Sword, but whether she is Michael or one of Satan's I can't judge. I can see her as a sort of martyr, constantly being crucified and such (that scene with her on the stage, was I the only one who thought of The Scarlet Letter?) but her being an agent of God.... Well, I was raised on Sunday School Jesus. The idea of Jesus being so bloody and violent just doesn't sit well with me. It just feels awkward. I don't know. I'm just going to take the book as a brainless thriller, nothing more. I enjoyed it, so why sour the pot? No thanks.
Also, regarding the title? I guess that is a TV show now. Is it any good? The theme song better be that song, or I'm calling a party foul (90's) right here and now. I'd watch it right now if I wasn't too busy not doing anything productive. And if it was on....
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Autopilot; no control
I realized I was being dumb yesterday. What was throwing me in Doctor Zhivago is, like every other Russian novel I've read, they refer to Yurii by first name/paternal name. I feel so dumb for not realizing it earlier! For those of you lost, it's a Russian deal--instead of giving a child their own middle name, they add a 'ivich' or 'ova' or a few others I don't remember to the father's name and there you have it. What gets added depends on gender and the name. The example that's at the top of my head is 'Ivanova' from 'Ivan'. Sooo. Yeah. I feel like an idiot.
And we had a fair sort of deal for the locale for the last three days. The day I went I was wearing my 'Carl Sagan is my homeboy' shirt, and there were tons of people asking me who he was. When Jackii was eating, the guy sitting across us was grilling me. I told him to look up the television series 'Cosmos'... I told quite a few people that... which they should. It's a real eye-opener. And I guess science isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's not a straight-out dull-as-ditch-water science documentary. It's actually incredibly interesting, and puts theories like evolution or Einstein's theories into a light that even I can understand. And he doesn't explain it the way you remember your idiot or possibly high science teacher would (ninth grade was hell) he actually makes it interesting. At one point he explains a Japanese war between two samurai clans (one was the Heike, I don't remember the other) and leads that perfectly into an explanation of evolution. Every episode is like that--it flows seamlessly. And he wrote these things himself! Genius is what I think of Carl Sagan. (So, anybody want to buy me the Cosmos DVDs? I don't think the library will let me take them out ever again. I think I used up the allowed times for the rest of my life) But... crud. I was actually going to go further with this, but Dinosaur Comics distracted my train of thought.
Oh wait. Okay, so I admit part of the reason why I've watched it so much is because Carl Sagan's voice puts me to sleep. He's not boring, he just has a very... soothing voice. As my dad puts it, in jest I think, "the voice of an angel". Meg isn't sure what she loves more, "Carl Sagan or the entity that is his voice!" (These things really have been said in my presence. Lots of Sagan love, here.) And, as a pop culture note, you know that movie Contact? I never saw it, but I read the book, which he wrote.
So remember this. Watch Cosmos! AND THANK ME. Nah, 's cool. But do yourself a favor... God, I hate that phrase. When people say it on commercials I just want to punch them.
Ps. Kurt Vonnegut lookalike came by yesterday and bought more tomatoes, and hot peppers. He's spicing life up!
Pps. Today I brought my SP and More Friends of a Mineral Town to work. That's right, in between customers, I was playing a farming game whilst on a farm. I haven't played it since I got Tree of Tranquility, so it was a little strange getting re-used to. Like, when I came home at night--"WHO IS THIS STRANGE MAN IN MY HOME!?" Oh, right, my husband. Huh.
Ppps. Sometimes when I play Tree of Tranquility, I get upset my life will and never could be like that. It's the ideal life for me, I don't know about you guys.
And we had a fair sort of deal for the locale for the last three days. The day I went I was wearing my 'Carl Sagan is my homeboy' shirt, and there were tons of people asking me who he was. When Jackii was eating, the guy sitting across us was grilling me. I told him to look up the television series 'Cosmos'... I told quite a few people that... which they should. It's a real eye-opener. And I guess science isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's not a straight-out dull-as-ditch-water science documentary. It's actually incredibly interesting, and puts theories like evolution or Einstein's theories into a light that even I can understand. And he doesn't explain it the way you remember your idiot or possibly high science teacher would (ninth grade was hell) he actually makes it interesting. At one point he explains a Japanese war between two samurai clans (one was the Heike, I don't remember the other) and leads that perfectly into an explanation of evolution. Every episode is like that--it flows seamlessly. And he wrote these things himself! Genius is what I think of Carl Sagan. (So, anybody want to buy me the Cosmos DVDs? I don't think the library will let me take them out ever again. I think I used up the allowed times for the rest of my life) But... crud. I was actually going to go further with this, but Dinosaur Comics distracted my train of thought.
Oh wait. Okay, so I admit part of the reason why I've watched it so much is because Carl Sagan's voice puts me to sleep. He's not boring, he just has a very... soothing voice. As my dad puts it, in jest I think, "the voice of an angel". Meg isn't sure what she loves more, "Carl Sagan or the entity that is his voice!" (These things really have been said in my presence. Lots of Sagan love, here.) And, as a pop culture note, you know that movie Contact? I never saw it, but I read the book, which he wrote.
So remember this. Watch Cosmos! AND THANK ME. Nah, 's cool. But do yourself a favor... God, I hate that phrase. When people say it on commercials I just want to punch them.
Ps. Kurt Vonnegut lookalike came by yesterday and bought more tomatoes, and hot peppers. He's spicing life up!
Pps. Today I brought my SP and More Friends of a Mineral Town to work. That's right, in between customers, I was playing a farming game whilst on a farm. I haven't played it since I got Tree of Tranquility, so it was a little strange getting re-used to. Like, when I came home at night--"WHO IS THIS STRANGE MAN IN MY HOME!?" Oh, right, my husband. Huh.
Ppps. Sometimes when I play Tree of Tranquility, I get upset my life will and never could be like that. It's the ideal life for me, I don't know about you guys.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The dashboard melted but we still had the radio
Finished Slapstick. It was no Breakfast of Champions or Galapagos, but it was certainly no Hocus Pocus (gehh). It was in the middle then, I guess.
Summary: I realized I've been writing these reactions like everyone has read the book. So, Slapstick is the memoir of America's last president, at the end of it all, which Kurt thought up whilst en route to his uncle's funeral with his brother. Also a tribute to his sister.
In the beginning, in his forward, Kurt talks about how originally, his family was very much in touch with their German background. It was a strong family knit. Of course, the second world war rolled around and suddenly it was frowned upon to be German or to be related to anything German in any which way. Lacking that, the family just kind of... dissolved. They stuck together, but the culture and real backbone was gone--and the family became a nothing cog in the American machine. And since something so important for family was missing, Kurt and his siblings had no problems leaving the land their generations had been raised up on and being nobodies somewhere else. It made me sad, but at the same time, it's kind of the truth. I think culture's an important bit of family, which probably makes me sounds like an old lady... but it's the truth. It's what really helps you feel close, other than that, what have you got? Half the helix, and what's that anyways? I mean, even living away from aunts and uncles and stuff. When it's like that, it's like you're spending your holidays with strangers. My family--well, my mom's side--all lives really close, except for an aunt and cousin or two. But it's nice. I always feel comfortable, and you always feel like you're home. And there is a certain culture and certain traditions to be procured from this. The farm, the way we celebrate holidays, et cetera. But on the other hand, there's my dad's side: other than one of my uncles, after my poppy died it's been very distant. And they are basically staged fifteen minutes away. But there's hardly anything from them. I can't feel close to them--I don't even think of them as family, hardly. I know they are, but there's such a difference between them and my mom's side it just doesn't seem like we're really related. I go to my grandma's house and I just want out. Is that awful? It doesn't help that she hates my mom. What I'm trying to say is, I think Kurt is right. The culture makes the family makes the bonding makes everything else. I know I'm going to be a wreck in college. I'm going to miss my mom's side. But I get nothing from my dad's side, other than hanging out with an uncle on that side, who I really do love. But other than that? Nothing. I won't see any need to go back. I feel awful, because I mean, that's my only grandma I'm talking about, but at the same time I don't. Just because you're blood doesn't make you family. Anyways. It's not exactly what Kurt was saying, I guess, but I think they parallel. Sort of.
Another thing just in the intro that made me a little sad--"'Are the kids up there nice?' he said. 'Yes, they are,' I replied. He is an airline pilot now. They are all something other than children now." Well, maybe not sad. Again, those damned wheels of mortality keep on moving. ("All the kids you loved have grown real old")
Okay, one guy was named Withers Witherspoon. Look me in the eye and tell me that's not awesome. Good luck.
Kurt again expresses the idea that intelligence is unnatural and freakish. "The brain is far too big to be practical".
The main character says that he and his sister had the ability to be happy all the time and they were. Then he says "Perhaps even in this we were freaks". It is hard to believe anyone wants anybody to be happy in this world sometimes.
"'I love you, Eliza,' I said. She thought about it. 'No,' she said at last. 'I don't like it.' 'Why not?' I said. 'It's as though you were pointing a gun at my head,' she said. 'It's just a way of getting somebody to say something they probably don't mean. What else can I say, or anybody say, but "I love you, too"?'" Thank you.
Later on, Eliza (the final president's sister) is angry, understandably, that her family abandoned her. She is asked if it would help to know how upset her mother would be over that fact, and Eliza asks "How could that help?" If you're going to feel guilty about it, don't do the thing in the first place. One of my general rules. I'm going to be an unpleasant mother/wife/teacher.
"If I drank too much, I might spill the beans to everybody: That the life that awaits us after death is infinitely more tiresome than this one." Eternity must be unpleasant. I know I must sound jaded, talking about mortality and eternity and religion like nothing, but let it be known, if I had to choose, I'd cling to eternity with both arms desperately. I'm only human, and even though deep down I know I'd regret it in the long run, I'd be too desperate for life. But. Back to the quote. I'd back Kurt on this one.
"There was a time in our childhood when we actually agreed that we were lucky not to be beautiful." Remember Invisible Monsters? Brandy talks about how jealous she was of the ugly girls--never having to worry about their appearance and spend hours upon hours primping and preening. Image was never a problem, since it was a futile effort. After her 'accident'--yeah, Brandy was better for the wear. She was one of those girls, and never did she have to worry again. Magic.
So, the book was right in the median. Pre-rereading Slaughterhouse Five, I give it the #3 in my favorite Kurt Vonnegut books. It's a quick read too, even quicker than Vonnegut's books usually are. Maybe two hours tops? Could it have even been that long? It didn't seem that long...
As for Doctor Zhivago, I'm around page 70/80. I think Boris Pasternak is quite eloquent, but what about the Zhivago!? They began with him as a young boy at his mother's funeral, stuck to him for a bit, then appeared to merge into a different plot--they've just returned to Yura Zhivago. I understood the separate plot piece, and I guess it must come into play later, but it was like.... So... about the guy this book is named after.... Anyways. He's still fairly young. Not a doctor yet. Awesome.
Summary: I realized I've been writing these reactions like everyone has read the book. So, Slapstick is the memoir of America's last president, at the end of it all, which Kurt thought up whilst en route to his uncle's funeral with his brother. Also a tribute to his sister.
In the beginning, in his forward, Kurt talks about how originally, his family was very much in touch with their German background. It was a strong family knit. Of course, the second world war rolled around and suddenly it was frowned upon to be German or to be related to anything German in any which way. Lacking that, the family just kind of... dissolved. They stuck together, but the culture and real backbone was gone--and the family became a nothing cog in the American machine. And since something so important for family was missing, Kurt and his siblings had no problems leaving the land their generations had been raised up on and being nobodies somewhere else. It made me sad, but at the same time, it's kind of the truth. I think culture's an important bit of family, which probably makes me sounds like an old lady... but it's the truth. It's what really helps you feel close, other than that, what have you got? Half the helix, and what's that anyways? I mean, even living away from aunts and uncles and stuff. When it's like that, it's like you're spending your holidays with strangers. My family--well, my mom's side--all lives really close, except for an aunt and cousin or two. But it's nice. I always feel comfortable, and you always feel like you're home. And there is a certain culture and certain traditions to be procured from this. The farm, the way we celebrate holidays, et cetera. But on the other hand, there's my dad's side: other than one of my uncles, after my poppy died it's been very distant. And they are basically staged fifteen minutes away. But there's hardly anything from them. I can't feel close to them--I don't even think of them as family, hardly. I know they are, but there's such a difference between them and my mom's side it just doesn't seem like we're really related. I go to my grandma's house and I just want out. Is that awful? It doesn't help that she hates my mom. What I'm trying to say is, I think Kurt is right. The culture makes the family makes the bonding makes everything else. I know I'm going to be a wreck in college. I'm going to miss my mom's side. But I get nothing from my dad's side, other than hanging out with an uncle on that side, who I really do love. But other than that? Nothing. I won't see any need to go back. I feel awful, because I mean, that's my only grandma I'm talking about, but at the same time I don't. Just because you're blood doesn't make you family. Anyways. It's not exactly what Kurt was saying, I guess, but I think they parallel. Sort of.
Another thing just in the intro that made me a little sad--"'Are the kids up there nice?' he said. 'Yes, they are,' I replied. He is an airline pilot now. They are all something other than children now." Well, maybe not sad. Again, those damned wheels of mortality keep on moving. ("All the kids you loved have grown real old")
Okay, one guy was named Withers Witherspoon. Look me in the eye and tell me that's not awesome. Good luck.
Kurt again expresses the idea that intelligence is unnatural and freakish. "The brain is far too big to be practical".
The main character says that he and his sister had the ability to be happy all the time and they were. Then he says "Perhaps even in this we were freaks". It is hard to believe anyone wants anybody to be happy in this world sometimes.
"'I love you, Eliza,' I said. She thought about it. 'No,' she said at last. 'I don't like it.' 'Why not?' I said. 'It's as though you were pointing a gun at my head,' she said. 'It's just a way of getting somebody to say something they probably don't mean. What else can I say, or anybody say, but "I love you, too"?'" Thank you.
Later on, Eliza (the final president's sister) is angry, understandably, that her family abandoned her. She is asked if it would help to know how upset her mother would be over that fact, and Eliza asks "How could that help?" If you're going to feel guilty about it, don't do the thing in the first place. One of my general rules. I'm going to be an unpleasant mother/wife/teacher.
"If I drank too much, I might spill the beans to everybody: That the life that awaits us after death is infinitely more tiresome than this one." Eternity must be unpleasant. I know I must sound jaded, talking about mortality and eternity and religion like nothing, but let it be known, if I had to choose, I'd cling to eternity with both arms desperately. I'm only human, and even though deep down I know I'd regret it in the long run, I'd be too desperate for life. But. Back to the quote. I'd back Kurt on this one.
"There was a time in our childhood when we actually agreed that we were lucky not to be beautiful." Remember Invisible Monsters? Brandy talks about how jealous she was of the ugly girls--never having to worry about their appearance and spend hours upon hours primping and preening. Image was never a problem, since it was a futile effort. After her 'accident'--yeah, Brandy was better for the wear. She was one of those girls, and never did she have to worry again. Magic.
So, the book was right in the median. Pre-rereading Slaughterhouse Five, I give it the #3 in my favorite Kurt Vonnegut books. It's a quick read too, even quicker than Vonnegut's books usually are. Maybe two hours tops? Could it have even been that long? It didn't seem that long...
As for Doctor Zhivago, I'm around page 70/80. I think Boris Pasternak is quite eloquent, but what about the Zhivago!? They began with him as a young boy at his mother's funeral, stuck to him for a bit, then appeared to merge into a different plot--they've just returned to Yura Zhivago. I understood the separate plot piece, and I guess it must come into play later, but it was like.... So... about the guy this book is named after.... Anyways. He's still fairly young. Not a doctor yet. Awesome.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
YOSSARIAN LIVES
Hey! I apologize if this post looks a little hackneyed beforehand. I'm writing this while watching the new episodes of Naruto--they finally animated the Kakashi Gaiden! But I will try my best to focus.
Ah, the sacrilegious old man! He's my favorite, even though he really is a despicable guy. He goes with the flow--he mentions how when the Nazis marched through the streets he cried out joyously "Heil Hitler!" and when the Americans came he danced in the streets just as joyously for them. But he uproots Nately's over-romantic views of war--well, tries to. He thinks it is better to live than die, and I agree. Nately would rather die for his honor, his country. (But--"What is a country?") And he tells Nately that America will be destroyed. That it must be. History will repeat itself and America will fall like Spain and Rome and Greece and more. And, the quote that made my teacher talk about his experience in the air force--"'Anything worth living for,' said Nately. 'is worth dying for.' 'And anything worth dying for,' answered the sacrilegious old man, 'is certainly worth living for.'" The man may considered a deserter, guilty of treason... But he's living. He wants his life. Is it really so fair to deny him of that, even knowledge of those facts? I don't know what I'm getting at.
"Catch-22 did not exist... What did matter is everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse, for there was no object or text to ridicule or refute, to accuse, criticize, attack, amend, hate, revile, spit at, rip to shreds, trample upon or burn up." Suddenly, I think of V for Vendetta. In a more metaphorical way, of course. (The government? Laws? They're just as false as a 'country', really.)
"It was easy to read the message in the entrails. Man was matter, that was Snowden's secret. Drop him out a window and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him and he'll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage." Meaning man the body. The body is junk--it is our brains, our souls, our beliefs that are what count. This is strangely optimistic a passage, if you think about it. Speaking for our spirits, not our flesh and blood.
Okay I'm done now. There's some more, but it's pretty rudimentary, and there's no point drawing attention to it--out of context and only being described it's not the same.
So, all-in-all? I love this book. It's too good a book to never read. I can't be objective about it, I just can't. Read it. I have a feeling this is one of those books you either have to be married to, or you can't even look at. I can't see someone being on the fence for it.
Let's see, I finished The Shining today. What a terrible, terrible book. Apparently Stephen King threw a little fit when he first saw Kubrick's translation of the movie, but he should have been kissing the man's feet. Kubrick took one awful book and made it into a damned good movie. What annoyed me the most was, I spent the whole book going "When's he gonna do it? When's he gonna go after them?" 50 pages from the end. Are you real, Stephen King? And the rest of the book wasn't even that interesting. It's basically Jack going: "Oh, I went crazy for a second there. Oh, but I'm cool now. Okay. Oh wait, I lied. BRB, getting a roque mallet to bash your goddamn head in! Ciao!" Some differences disappointed me, like how Hallorann wasn't killed. In the movie--well, I knew it was coming, I've seen The Simpsons parody--but it was just like "I'm here to save y--" *WHACK!* I just about died laughing from shock. WHAT WAS THE POINT!? The end of the movie made me laugh too, when it's Jack Nicholson just frozen. Like... what? Jack? He looks so... natural. Haha.
But one thing I didn't like is the fact that Stephen King makes it very clear Jack is going crazy in the first scene at the bar, where it says he had an "imaginary" drink. The fact that the bartender's responses weren't included were cool, and kind of gave you the heads-up that this is just being imagined, but that was too obvious. Come on, man!
The one thing I did like was one part where Jack calls up Mr Ullman and says "I haven't even gotten around to murdering my wife yet. I'm saving that until after the holidays, when things get dull." HAHAHA. I died laughing when I read that. Almost prophetic, that one! Anyways. I definitely had it more in for the film. I'm glad Kubrick brought the twins in, too. It felt like Stephen King mentioned them and the other murder but then was like oh, who cares? And that make-out scene with the dead lady would have been really cool to read, just because it would have gone from great to OH GOD in about 0.5 seconds. And the book's end... there are other ways to end books, bro. Explosions aren't the only way! I promise! Anyways. He needs to be stopped. He's written a few I've loved, but so many that... yuck. Don't you pretend like The Tommyknockers didn't exist. For every Carrie or Desperation there is a Bag of Bones. Or Kujo. Or It.
And, I'm about twenty pages from finishing Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut. I'm also planning on writing a kid's story one day about Kurt Vonnegut called "Two Spoons Too Many". It's... it's better not to ask.
(PS. The Gaiden is actually pretty well done)
Ah, the sacrilegious old man! He's my favorite, even though he really is a despicable guy. He goes with the flow--he mentions how when the Nazis marched through the streets he cried out joyously "Heil Hitler!" and when the Americans came he danced in the streets just as joyously for them. But he uproots Nately's over-romantic views of war--well, tries to. He thinks it is better to live than die, and I agree. Nately would rather die for his honor, his country. (But--"What is a country?") And he tells Nately that America will be destroyed. That it must be. History will repeat itself and America will fall like Spain and Rome and Greece and more. And, the quote that made my teacher talk about his experience in the air force--"'Anything worth living for,' said Nately. 'is worth dying for.' 'And anything worth dying for,' answered the sacrilegious old man, 'is certainly worth living for.'" The man may considered a deserter, guilty of treason... But he's living. He wants his life. Is it really so fair to deny him of that, even knowledge of those facts? I don't know what I'm getting at.
"Catch-22 did not exist... What did matter is everyone thought it existed, and that was much worse, for there was no object or text to ridicule or refute, to accuse, criticize, attack, amend, hate, revile, spit at, rip to shreds, trample upon or burn up." Suddenly, I think of V for Vendetta. In a more metaphorical way, of course. (The government? Laws? They're just as false as a 'country', really.)
"It was easy to read the message in the entrails. Man was matter, that was Snowden's secret. Drop him out a window and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him and he'll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage." Meaning man the body. The body is junk--it is our brains, our souls, our beliefs that are what count. This is strangely optimistic a passage, if you think about it. Speaking for our spirits, not our flesh and blood.
Okay I'm done now. There's some more, but it's pretty rudimentary, and there's no point drawing attention to it--out of context and only being described it's not the same.
So, all-in-all? I love this book. It's too good a book to never read. I can't be objective about it, I just can't. Read it. I have a feeling this is one of those books you either have to be married to, or you can't even look at. I can't see someone being on the fence for it.
Let's see, I finished The Shining today. What a terrible, terrible book. Apparently Stephen King threw a little fit when he first saw Kubrick's translation of the movie, but he should have been kissing the man's feet. Kubrick took one awful book and made it into a damned good movie. What annoyed me the most was, I spent the whole book going "When's he gonna do it? When's he gonna go after them?" 50 pages from the end. Are you real, Stephen King? And the rest of the book wasn't even that interesting. It's basically Jack going: "Oh, I went crazy for a second there. Oh, but I'm cool now. Okay. Oh wait, I lied. BRB, getting a roque mallet to bash your goddamn head in! Ciao!" Some differences disappointed me, like how Hallorann wasn't killed. In the movie--well, I knew it was coming, I've seen The Simpsons parody--but it was just like "I'm here to save y--" *WHACK!* I just about died laughing from shock. WHAT WAS THE POINT!? The end of the movie made me laugh too, when it's Jack Nicholson just frozen. Like... what? Jack? He looks so... natural. Haha.
But one thing I didn't like is the fact that Stephen King makes it very clear Jack is going crazy in the first scene at the bar, where it says he had an "imaginary" drink. The fact that the bartender's responses weren't included were cool, and kind of gave you the heads-up that this is just being imagined, but that was too obvious. Come on, man!
The one thing I did like was one part where Jack calls up Mr Ullman and says "I haven't even gotten around to murdering my wife yet. I'm saving that until after the holidays, when things get dull." HAHAHA. I died laughing when I read that. Almost prophetic, that one! Anyways. I definitely had it more in for the film. I'm glad Kubrick brought the twins in, too. It felt like Stephen King mentioned them and the other murder but then was like oh, who cares? And that make-out scene with the dead lady would have been really cool to read, just because it would have gone from great to OH GOD in about 0.5 seconds. And the book's end... there are other ways to end books, bro. Explosions aren't the only way! I promise! Anyways. He needs to be stopped. He's written a few I've loved, but so many that... yuck. Don't you pretend like The Tommyknockers didn't exist. For every Carrie or Desperation there is a Bag of Bones. Or Kujo. Or It.
And, I'm about twenty pages from finishing Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut. I'm also planning on writing a kid's story one day about Kurt Vonnegut called "Two Spoons Too Many". It's... it's better not to ask.
(PS. The Gaiden is actually pretty well done)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I'll keep you warm and won't ask you where you've been
Wow. 11:30 already? Yeah, I was planning on taking a ten minute nap at eight thirty. Uhh. Oops?
But, I finished Catch-22 yesterday, in any case. Sooo. Of course, I loved the book. I'm gonna be honest here--I'm totally in love with this book. There really is nothing wrong with it, so far as I'm concerned, except for the fact that everything is catch-22 and at the end, when the Chaplain is basically tortured (verbally) falsely. It's even more frustrating when he's get verbally tossed about than the court scene in To Kill a Mockingbird because of the fact that Atticus got his say out--he still lost, but he lost with his head held high. In this case though, there was no way around the madness and surreality. No matter what, you were going in circles, and I was going a little bit insane by that point. Another part in the book I go insane a little at is around page 160, where Yossarian asks the prostitute to marry him, and she can't because he is crazy, and he is crazy because he wants to marry her. Catch-22 exists where it shouldn't. It is everything--it rides everything (not gravity!). And, as a side note, before I start including passages and quotes I favor: A teacher of mine, my psych teacher actually, had been in the air force too when he was younger. I happened to have a quote from the book as my signature and e-mailed him and the next day we were talking about it and he mentioned that the book really is what being in the air force is like. I sort of nodded it off at the time, but thinking about it while rereading it--holy God. Can you imagine? I would go mad. Really, I'd probably end up killing myself or someone around me. It's absolutely maddening! Anyways...
I love Yossarian. He's got a contradiction for everything. He's no oaf, either, so he's not just being a big, dumb... contradictor? Well. I guess you'll see what I mean when we get to my favorite passage. And I hate Orr. I detest his circular nature and he does nothing but enrage me.
"He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt..." A description of Yossarian. I love that line, and I just want to say, I do think people live forever. Well, I have a theory that I'm not sure I'd like to subscribe to, in any case, because it basically discredits the afterlife and I'm only human, and so are my readers. I think. But by saying people live forever, they live their wholes lives--they live until they die. That really is forever for a human. History and time stretch out, but they're too large for us to comprehend... 'Forever' is defined by who's saying it. So in that case, Yossarian really wouldn't be able to fail.
"'Well, maybe it is true,' Clevinger Conceded unwillingly... 'Maybe a long life has to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long. But in that event, who wants one?' 'I do,' Dunbar told him. 'Why?' Clevinger asked. 'What else is there?'" Exactly.
"'If you're going to be shot, whose side do you expect me to be on?' ex-PFC Wintergreen retorted." As much as we'd love to have our noble heroes and martyrs, I do believe they are the minority. I think more people would love to cling to life than stand up for an idea, and a lot of the people who do stand up for an idea are maybe just people stuck in the romanticized views of dying for your cause. I know that sounds cruel while we're in the midst of a war, but I think I just can't see things from an upstanding view because I'd be like Wintergreen, most likely. Saving my own skin would be number one. I'm not sure if I'd turn on my friends, but when your own side is pointing the guns at you? Who knows.
"He knew everything about literature except how to enjoy it." : )
"Major Major had been born too late and too mediocre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three." Any Shakespeare fans? No?
"He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed. He turned the other cheek on every condition and always did unto others exactly as he would have others do unto him. When he gave to charity, his left hand never knew what his right hand was doing. He never once took the name of the Lord his God in vain, committed adultery, or coveted his neighbor's ass. In fact, he loved his neighbor and never even bore false witness against him. Major Major's elders disliked him because he was such a flagrant nonconformist." At first that last part didn't seem quite right, but really, it makes sense. Who really lives by the Bible in this time? What worries me is that it would be unrecognized in a time where religion was more important and more a part of everyday life. But the fact that Major Major should be so out of place and thought a nonconformist for taking the Bible's teachings to heart? There's something to be said for society there.
Well, to quote the bit I like on page 170 would be too obnoxious and time-consuming, but basically a group of fliers are talking about how they have things that really belong to other people--"someone else's three hundred thousand dollars", a "dose of the clap", etc. Basically saying that I didn't deserve X, this is what happened to me--and another fighter saying yes, that certainly sounds like my [what I should have, instead of health, etc] case of X or X items. It doesn't sound too great the way I'm describing it, but it's one of my favorite sections. It's page 170 if you pick up the Simon & Schuster Paperbacks edition (with the blue cover).
"It was miraculous. Each day he faced was another dangerous mission against mortality. And he had been surviving them for twenty-eight years."
Now, to back this next bit up: Yossarian tells a woman he's sleeping with that for every good thing she can name, he can probably name two unpleasant things. This is my absolute favorite bit in the whole book. "'Be thankful you're healthy.' 'Be bitter you're not going to stay that way.' 'Be glad you're even alive.' 'Be furious you're going to die.' 'Things could be much worse,' she cried. 'They could be one hell of a lot better,' he answered heatedly."
"'Why in the world did He ever create pain?' 'Pain?' Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. 'Pain is a useful symptom. Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.' 'And who created the dangers?'" Yossarian goes on to bash God, but I think the point is gotten well enough here. The general consensus seems to be that God went quite insane (Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Chabon) and that's what made him think Earth and its contents would be a good idea. Kurt Vonnegut's take is... well, in Breakfast of Champions he describes snakes and then says "Sometimes I really wonder about the Creator of the Universe sometimes". And in Timequake while God is performing his seven-day feat, Satan starts thinking the man's gone mad--how far is this guy planning to go? As for Chabon, a character in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (I think it was Joe) says something like "I think God went insane just before He, you know. Created the universe." Anyways. I'm backing Kurt Vonnegut with this one. Sure, maybe the first humans failed some divine test, but He would have known, no? So why bother, when everything will play out exactly as you know it will? Poor Dr Manhattan. He can't even kill himself.
And aside from that, what could He have had in mind? A gladiatorial match between animals? I guess He wouldn't even make much of a shipping clerk, either. I roll mad deep with Vonnegut on this one.
Anyways, now that I've alienated the world... I guess I'll make this a two-parter. I'd like to get to bed a little early so 8:30, nine o'clock doesn't seem like too much of a stretch. There's randomly a chain of Twilight Zone episodes on from eight to eleven or so tomorrow, which is AWESOME.
But, I finished Catch-22 yesterday, in any case. Sooo. Of course, I loved the book. I'm gonna be honest here--I'm totally in love with this book. There really is nothing wrong with it, so far as I'm concerned, except for the fact that everything is catch-22 and at the end, when the Chaplain is basically tortured (verbally) falsely. It's even more frustrating when he's get verbally tossed about than the court scene in To Kill a Mockingbird because of the fact that Atticus got his say out--he still lost, but he lost with his head held high. In this case though, there was no way around the madness and surreality. No matter what, you were going in circles, and I was going a little bit insane by that point. Another part in the book I go insane a little at is around page 160, where Yossarian asks the prostitute to marry him, and she can't because he is crazy, and he is crazy because he wants to marry her. Catch-22 exists where it shouldn't. It is everything--it rides everything (not gravity!). And, as a side note, before I start including passages and quotes I favor: A teacher of mine, my psych teacher actually, had been in the air force too when he was younger. I happened to have a quote from the book as my signature and e-mailed him and the next day we were talking about it and he mentioned that the book really is what being in the air force is like. I sort of nodded it off at the time, but thinking about it while rereading it--holy God. Can you imagine? I would go mad. Really, I'd probably end up killing myself or someone around me. It's absolutely maddening! Anyways...
I love Yossarian. He's got a contradiction for everything. He's no oaf, either, so he's not just being a big, dumb... contradictor? Well. I guess you'll see what I mean when we get to my favorite passage. And I hate Orr. I detest his circular nature and he does nothing but enrage me.
"He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt..." A description of Yossarian. I love that line, and I just want to say, I do think people live forever. Well, I have a theory that I'm not sure I'd like to subscribe to, in any case, because it basically discredits the afterlife and I'm only human, and so are my readers. I think. But by saying people live forever, they live their wholes lives--they live until they die. That really is forever for a human. History and time stretch out, but they're too large for us to comprehend... 'Forever' is defined by who's saying it. So in that case, Yossarian really wouldn't be able to fail.
"'Well, maybe it is true,' Clevinger Conceded unwillingly... 'Maybe a long life has to be filled with many unpleasant conditions if it's to seem long. But in that event, who wants one?' 'I do,' Dunbar told him. 'Why?' Clevinger asked. 'What else is there?'" Exactly.
"'If you're going to be shot, whose side do you expect me to be on?' ex-PFC Wintergreen retorted." As much as we'd love to have our noble heroes and martyrs, I do believe they are the minority. I think more people would love to cling to life than stand up for an idea, and a lot of the people who do stand up for an idea are maybe just people stuck in the romanticized views of dying for your cause. I know that sounds cruel while we're in the midst of a war, but I think I just can't see things from an upstanding view because I'd be like Wintergreen, most likely. Saving my own skin would be number one. I'm not sure if I'd turn on my friends, but when your own side is pointing the guns at you? Who knows.
"He knew everything about literature except how to enjoy it." : )
"Major Major had been born too late and too mediocre. Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them. With Major Major it had been all three." Any Shakespeare fans? No?
"He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill, until he got into the army. Then he was told to kill, and he killed. He turned the other cheek on every condition and always did unto others exactly as he would have others do unto him. When he gave to charity, his left hand never knew what his right hand was doing. He never once took the name of the Lord his God in vain, committed adultery, or coveted his neighbor's ass. In fact, he loved his neighbor and never even bore false witness against him. Major Major's elders disliked him because he was such a flagrant nonconformist." At first that last part didn't seem quite right, but really, it makes sense. Who really lives by the Bible in this time? What worries me is that it would be unrecognized in a time where religion was more important and more a part of everyday life. But the fact that Major Major should be so out of place and thought a nonconformist for taking the Bible's teachings to heart? There's something to be said for society there.
Well, to quote the bit I like on page 170 would be too obnoxious and time-consuming, but basically a group of fliers are talking about how they have things that really belong to other people--"someone else's three hundred thousand dollars", a "dose of the clap", etc. Basically saying that I didn't deserve X, this is what happened to me--and another fighter saying yes, that certainly sounds like my [what I should have, instead of health, etc] case of X or X items. It doesn't sound too great the way I'm describing it, but it's one of my favorite sections. It's page 170 if you pick up the Simon & Schuster Paperbacks edition (with the blue cover).
"It was miraculous. Each day he faced was another dangerous mission against mortality. And he had been surviving them for twenty-eight years."
Now, to back this next bit up: Yossarian tells a woman he's sleeping with that for every good thing she can name, he can probably name two unpleasant things. This is my absolute favorite bit in the whole book. "'Be thankful you're healthy.' 'Be bitter you're not going to stay that way.' 'Be glad you're even alive.' 'Be furious you're going to die.' 'Things could be much worse,' she cried. 'They could be one hell of a lot better,' he answered heatedly."
"'Why in the world did He ever create pain?' 'Pain?' Lieutenant Scheisskopf's wife pounced upon the word victoriously. 'Pain is a useful symptom. Pain is a warning to us of bodily dangers.' 'And who created the dangers?'" Yossarian goes on to bash God, but I think the point is gotten well enough here. The general consensus seems to be that God went quite insane (Kurt Vonnegut, Michael Chabon) and that's what made him think Earth and its contents would be a good idea. Kurt Vonnegut's take is... well, in Breakfast of Champions he describes snakes and then says "Sometimes I really wonder about the Creator of the Universe sometimes". And in Timequake while God is performing his seven-day feat, Satan starts thinking the man's gone mad--how far is this guy planning to go? As for Chabon, a character in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (I think it was Joe) says something like "I think God went insane just before He, you know. Created the universe." Anyways. I'm backing Kurt Vonnegut with this one. Sure, maybe the first humans failed some divine test, but He would have known, no? So why bother, when everything will play out exactly as you know it will? Poor Dr Manhattan. He can't even kill himself.
And aside from that, what could He have had in mind? A gladiatorial match between animals? I guess He wouldn't even make much of a shipping clerk, either. I roll mad deep with Vonnegut on this one.
Anyways, now that I've alienated the world... I guess I'll make this a two-parter. I'd like to get to bed a little early so 8:30, nine o'clock doesn't seem like too much of a stretch. There's randomly a chain of Twilight Zone episodes on from eight to eleven or so tomorrow, which is AWESOME.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
Hey, back! From where? Connecticon! Well, technically I was back yesterday but guess what shush. So, I met some really cool people, such as... Randall Munroe! (creator of the xkcd webcomic) and I am happy to say that he is an awesome guy.
Unlike Tim Buckley, haha. But yeah--he was cool. He signed the DS that's about to retire (Tyler suggested I frame it, but I'm just going to reserve for alarm clocking only) And I got one of those No Raptors shirt--In fact, I'm wearing it even as I type. I should've waited to wear it to work tomorrow. Just because. Though that stand is alarmingly similar to a creaky gazebo... I'd actually probably just be tempting whatever raptors are around to kill me. But, let's go on... I met the Slackerz team, who denied my compliments, but willingly drew Johnny Turbo for me. I met Joe Dunn (Joe Loves Crappy Movies) aka the creator of the website I check before I rent or go to movies. I got the first volume, which he signed, and he was either honored or really creeped out by the fact that he's my ultimate movie source. Let's see... I met the Explosm team as well, and all three signed the "Hey, I'm being followed by monkeys!" shirt for me. They were cool guys. Which really is to be expected. Annnd Questionable Content man, whose name I actually do not know. He's really intimidating in person. Well, walking up to him. He looks like a big tough biker kind of guy with all these tattoos and piercings and stuff, but he is so friendly! He drew Pintsize and the Yelling Sparrow for me : ) I was going to give Meg Pintsize, but he is too cute. She can have Yelling Sparrow.
Let's see? Is that it? I hung out (briefly) with Mookie again this year, and managed to nab a picture with him this time:
I think, although I'm a little biased, my friend Craig had the best costume of them all: a giant Tetris block. the 'L' block, which we realized Joe Dunn had drawn into his book on the way home. I sure hope he saw Craig! My costume? Carmen Sandiego! Duh! And it was while talking to Mookie I realized Carmen is my Tyler Durden--I was looking for her so long, and it turned out it was me the whole time! It's the perfect crime(s)! And you know what else?
I GOT AN EFFING POCKET WATCH. Sorry, some things are too cool to talk about without including profanity. Well, implied profanity. And pocket watches are one of those things. I am never touching my wristwatch again. I feel so Victorian Era! Plus? It's got Roxas on the inside. And in Roman numerals. Quite literally, it's everything that's good about the world. And I bought a Kadaj doll, who I immediately (upon returning home) put next to my Sephiroth and snapped one:
Aww! Eye candy! How cute! I am entranced. Really. Last night I was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep, but I just couldn't stop staring at their adorableness. IT'S NOT RIGHT. IT'S TOO CUTE.
Anyways. Back to pretending I'm an intelligent individual who is not a nerd. So, the first thing my dad said to me when I got home was he hated the Coraline book and loved the movie. So, I spent my day rereading the book. And honestly, the only way I can see him not enjoying it is maybe the fact that it's written at about a fifth-grade reading level, and he's 54. But really, Neil Gaiman is a genius, and even though I've only read three or four of his works, I am willing to wholeheartedly say everything he touches turns to gold and there's really no reason as to why I don't own Murder Mysteries or have ever read Sandman. Heck, if even comics that are spin-offs of his are worth writing home about, the man has to be pretty damned good. *ahem* Anyways, give me a second to get up from licking his boots...
So, I reread the book. It no longer made my skin crawl in quite the same way as it did when I read it when I was... 11? 12? But I could remember that feeling and I was able to appreciate the book. (You know?) Well, it was only remembering, till I got to the very end. Reflecting on the book, I thought about the actual process of sewing the button eyes. Oh good sweet Christ. I DO NOT WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT. And the bat-dogs image in my head from the book horrified more than the ones in the movie could ever hope to. It's a good book. It goes by faster than the movie, but nothing about it really bothers me. It's a good book and if you're into the kind of horror/fantasy genre, at least take it out from the library. Especially, I guess, if you're older. I can see how it wouldn't appeal to people over... thirty? Maybe even late twenties. Well, at least, I can see someone old like my dad not really being in love with the book.
But! I love the movie too. I actually think it's the best book-to-movie translation I've ever seen. It can stand alone, and I can watch it without being "That wasn't in the book! Hey, where's x part?" I actually think they pretty much took everything from the book. And I did notice Wybie (Whybee?) but he doesn't bother me. He was worked nicely in, and I am willing to accept him. Other additions to the movie--I can only think of a few, but they were needed, to really show you how great this world was, as opposed to our world. Well, maybe not needed, but it was stunning eye candy. And I only saw it in 2D! You have no idea how psyched I am to see it in 3D. (My dad bought it last week)
Anyways. Hopefully I'll finish Catch-22 tomorrow at work. That's such a good book.
Unlike Tim Buckley, haha. But yeah--he was cool. He signed the DS that's about to retire (Tyler suggested I frame it, but I'm just going to reserve for alarm clocking only) And I got one of those No Raptors shirt--In fact, I'm wearing it even as I type. I should've waited to wear it to work tomorrow. Just because. Though that stand is alarmingly similar to a creaky gazebo... I'd actually probably just be tempting whatever raptors are around to kill me. But, let's go on... I met the Slackerz team, who denied my compliments, but willingly drew Johnny Turbo for me. I met Joe Dunn (Joe Loves Crappy Movies) aka the creator of the website I check before I rent or go to movies. I got the first volume, which he signed, and he was either honored or really creeped out by the fact that he's my ultimate movie source. Let's see... I met the Explosm team as well, and all three signed the "Hey, I'm being followed by monkeys!" shirt for me. They were cool guys. Which really is to be expected. Annnd Questionable Content man, whose name I actually do not know. He's really intimidating in person. Well, walking up to him. He looks like a big tough biker kind of guy with all these tattoos and piercings and stuff, but he is so friendly! He drew Pintsize and the Yelling Sparrow for me : ) I was going to give Meg Pintsize, but he is too cute. She can have Yelling Sparrow.Let's see? Is that it? I hung out (briefly) with Mookie again this year, and managed to nab a picture with him this time:
I think, although I'm a little biased, my friend Craig had the best costume of them all: a giant Tetris block. the 'L' block, which we realized Joe Dunn had drawn into his book on the way home. I sure hope he saw Craig! My costume? Carmen Sandiego! Duh! And it was while talking to Mookie I realized Carmen is my Tyler Durden--I was looking for her so long, and it turned out it was me the whole time! It's the perfect crime(s)! And you know what else?
I GOT AN EFFING POCKET WATCH. Sorry, some things are too cool to talk about without including profanity. Well, implied profanity. And pocket watches are one of those things. I am never touching my wristwatch again. I feel so Victorian Era! Plus? It's got Roxas on the inside. And in Roman numerals. Quite literally, it's everything that's good about the world. And I bought a Kadaj doll, who I immediately (upon returning home) put next to my Sephiroth and snapped one:
Aww! Eye candy! How cute! I am entranced. Really. Last night I was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep, but I just couldn't stop staring at their adorableness. IT'S NOT RIGHT. IT'S TOO CUTE.
Anyways. Back to pretending I'm an intelligent individual who is not a nerd. So, the first thing my dad said to me when I got home was he hated the Coraline book and loved the movie. So, I spent my day rereading the book. And honestly, the only way I can see him not enjoying it is maybe the fact that it's written at about a fifth-grade reading level, and he's 54. But really, Neil Gaiman is a genius, and even though I've only read three or four of his works, I am willing to wholeheartedly say everything he touches turns to gold and there's really no reason as to why I don't own Murder Mysteries or have ever read Sandman. Heck, if even comics that are spin-offs of his are worth writing home about, the man has to be pretty damned good. *ahem* Anyways, give me a second to get up from licking his boots...
So, I reread the book. It no longer made my skin crawl in quite the same way as it did when I read it when I was... 11? 12? But I could remember that feeling and I was able to appreciate the book. (You know?) Well, it was only remembering, till I got to the very end. Reflecting on the book, I thought about the actual process of sewing the button eyes. Oh good sweet Christ. I DO NOT WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT. And the bat-dogs image in my head from the book horrified more than the ones in the movie could ever hope to. It's a good book. It goes by faster than the movie, but nothing about it really bothers me. It's a good book and if you're into the kind of horror/fantasy genre, at least take it out from the library. Especially, I guess, if you're older. I can see how it wouldn't appeal to people over... thirty? Maybe even late twenties. Well, at least, I can see someone old like my dad not really being in love with the book.
But! I love the movie too. I actually think it's the best book-to-movie translation I've ever seen. It can stand alone, and I can watch it without being "That wasn't in the book! Hey, where's x part?" I actually think they pretty much took everything from the book. And I did notice Wybie (Whybee?) but he doesn't bother me. He was worked nicely in, and I am willing to accept him. Other additions to the movie--I can only think of a few, but they were needed, to really show you how great this world was, as opposed to our world. Well, maybe not needed, but it was stunning eye candy. And I only saw it in 2D! You have no idea how psyched I am to see it in 3D. (My dad bought it last week)
Anyways. Hopefully I'll finish Catch-22 tomorrow at work. That's such a good book.
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