Readin a lot completing nothing

I've been reading avidly every day but haven't been able to finish a book or read for any length ot time. That's rather disturbing. I could probably blame my busy life, which wouldn't be too far off the mark, but really it certainly makes me feel like ten tons of A.A.D.D.!!

Hollywood

Charles Bukowski

Black Sparrow Press 1989

Only Bukowski could write a book, then the screenplay for that book, then a book about writing the screenplay for the book. That's Hollywood, wherein he recounts the bizarrities and oddessness of America's capital of dysfunctional glam.

Basically, like all Buk's books, it's a heckuva read with lots of great lines that are so elegant in their simplicity that it just makes you say, "Why didn't I think of that?"

VG

Beowulf (Penguin Classics)

Translated by David Wright.

(c) 1957

Like Dante's Divine Comedy, this is one of those texts which depends heavily on the translator, which sets the tone for the quality of the work.

Quick quote: Woody Allen (in which movie I forget, maybe Annie Hall) turns to his girlfriend in bed, as she has told him she wants to go back to college, and he tells her, "Don't take any class where they make you read Beowulf!"

Notwithstanding, the last two-three years have been good for Beowulf movie adaptation, one CG which was fairly close to the text except for Grendel's mother being a slinky Angelina Jolie rather than a horrid monster, and one previous which almost totally veered away from the text when they introduced the Scottish witch at minute 13 - but those should be handled in greater detail on my screentalking blog (whenever I get around to posting them) - I mention them here only to state that this text, being 1100 years old, is still good fodder for popular art.

Back to the translation theory, as I said before the translator is everything, especially when dealing with a language which is now long dead and for which this is the ONLY written text. That provides for some tricky interpretations, which scholars have been discussing for centuries. As far as this translation goes, Mr Wright puts forward his approach very eloquently in the preface, which lets you know what you're in for. That's good.

All told, it's a fairly dry telling. Sometimes a bit difficult to wade through the asides, even with the forewarning in the preface. I read this book on the plane, flying with my wife toward our weeklong trip in Portland Oregon (as another useless aside, I have this grand idea of describing travels through the points of view of the books read inflight).

But as I was reading the passages that weren't tedious, I did have another idea about a different type of adaptation. Now, before I tell you my idea, I think that it actually came from two other sources, as well as the words that I was reading. Once on NPR I heard of a college student who had set the Canterbury Tales to Hip-Hop music, and I also heard Beyoncé perform in a Hip-Hop version of Carmen, and maybe those were playing out in the background of my skull, or maybe it was the words themselves, but I think that this translation of Beowulf would be magnificent in the same vein - to be made into a Hip-Hop musical.

Wow.

I believe I have just talked around the entire text, rather than actually delving directly into it. However, I do believe that I have also said all that needs to be said about this book. Because, in the end, to understand it truly, you will simply need to read it yourself.

VG

Out of the Dust

Karen Hesse

Scholastic Press/New York
(c) 1997

I like to read the books that are assigned to my kids in school. It usually helps me quiz them on their homework and help prepare them for their tests. Plus, I just like to read. Usually I like the books better than the kids do.

This is one of them - my daughter actually liked this book, but I'm not really sure how much she got out of it: she's about the same age as the narrator, and has similar characteristics (the assertiveness), but I'm not certain if she truly grasped the sheer depth of the desperation and poverty that Oklahomans experienced during 1934-1935 Dust Bowl days.

About the book, it was written in free verse, from the girl's POV, which was both a help and a hindrance, because in the free verse, the natural tendency is toward poetic sentiment, which I liked - however, that also detracted from the story, because the occasional forays into poetic metaphor is not how this character would think or speak.

However, these moments are few, and for the most part the writing is sparse and precise. A few points are occasionally overpresented and repeated; but, you know, I really shouldn't be such a critic, because the overall story is indeed so eloquent, and the subject matter is truly important.

Not to belabor the point, but I have previously read Karen Hesse's Witness (not sure if I've blogged that here or not yet - will have to check), in which she uses the same freeverse form in order to tell the story, yet each poem is the voice of a different character - about 12 in all, each of them recounting different aspects/perceptions of the same story. It seems that with the two books, the writer is improving upon the method. My theory is that Out of the Dust is her first attempt with this style, and which she improves in Witness, and I would expect that the next book would be almost perfect in its execution.

I'd say this is definitely a readable book, but one can see where it could be improved upon.

VG

The Third Day: The Reality of the Resurrection

Hank Hanegraaff

(c) 2003
W Publishing Group

I truly enjoy Christian apologetics, because in this day and age there is SO MUCH material out there that just bashes Christianity, that it's nice to hear a decent voice in favour of it.

This book takes on opposing theories of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and while it doesn't pretend to be a case to explain all the mechanics of this greatest of miracles, it does undermine various theories that intend to undermine it.

Basically, it takes about all opposing arguments. But it does this in a very logical way.

And what you're left with, of course, is something that requires faith in order to believe.
Which is an entirely different subject, of course, but then, Christianity is something that takes a lifetime to practise . . .

and this book is simply another tool to help those with their faith.


VG

A Short Guide to a Happy Life

Anna Quindlen

(c) 2002
Random House

Just as the title implies, this is a short guide to a happy life, full of the standard encouragement for all of us to reach our dreams. What really touched me is her humility, she admits that she is no self-help guru, nor can offer any practical advice, just what she has experienced and what she can pass along, and a few of those things include being a good wife, following Biblical principals, and simply realizing that life is short, so make it happy.

This is a short text, more of an essay than a book, with several tender b/w photographs to help you along your way, basically making this a book that you buy for others as a gift but never truly read it yourself. Personally, I think the $12.95 (USD) pricetag is a bit much for a book of this size, but if I may quote the most important passage, (which comes near the end):

"I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island many years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless suffer in the winter months. He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, danlging our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule, pandhandling the boulevard whent he summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went below freezing, hiding from the police amid the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Cyclone . . .

"But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now, even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them. And I asked him why. Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? . . .

"And he looked out at the ocean and said, 'Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view.'"


Best advice in the book, that was. Look at the view.

VG

The Museum at Purgatory

Nick Bantock

Byzantium Books/HarperCollins
(c) 1999


Nick Bantock is a style all unto himself, one of those creators of books that go beyond books. If Joseph Cornell had been a writer, he possibly would have been Nick Bantock. And if you don't know either of these two names, then now you have two creators to investigate and thus enrich your lives.

The Museum at Purgatory is just that, with the chapters broken up into the specific "rooms" dedicated to the collections of souls that have been in Purgatory for varying lengths of time. The curator, a non-omniscient narrator, guides the reader through the rooms, and with the text and photographs of the collections brings to us stories of the lives of the souls. Some of them are archetypes, some are amalgamations, some bring new twists on old knowledge, breath new life into familiar stories.

It's a fascinating read, and I strongly recommend that if you have never read Nick Bantock then you might start with this one before you read his wonderful Griffin and Sabine series. It's sad, I know,because one truly should read each work on its own merit (that's what I keep espousing, but can't truly put into practise) but since Bantock is so distinctive, one can't help but compare his works together. That said, Griffin and Sabine truly is the apex of his creative ability, such a beautifully told and presented love story that spans the entire world through letters and clues, that everything else he does pales in comparison. But, that said, even a Bantock that can't stand up to Griffin and Sabine is still a wonderful read in its own "write."