Search options (Page 14 of 38)

I just rewatched the John Adams mini-series. Even better the second time. It's my favorite biography.

This clip is one of my favorites. x

I also really love this one, and this clip, at the end of the series (no spoilers). Gave me a chill. Those were some incredible people...

This sort of thing is ridiculous, as in, how fast is life?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-m9A8mY-U0

I'm a third through Grant's memoirs. Piping good.

I just wrote two pages. I have no idea why. I have midterms coming up. I'm supposed to be studying. I was reading, and suddenly I got up as if my body has a will of its own (it does) and I just started writing. I don't even know what it is. A story! A novel? So weird how it just suddenly appears, and then you must.

I thought of Cold Mountain too! It's one of my favorites as well. I love the texture of it -- scenes like The Siege of Petersburg contrasted with quiet scenes.

Some actors are so good at what they do, I'm actually startled to hear them speak in their true accent after a movie. I watched The Holiday a while back and found Jude Law's English accent momentarily disorienting, even though I've realized he's English. I guess that means he's good at what he does! I became so drawn into the movie, I forgot so many of the actors weren't actually American.

Unlike on Downton Abbey, where every American accent sounds like a stiff robot, even when he is supposed to be a Southern jazz singer. Pardon me, but that accent doesn't sound like anyone from America. It sounds like some kind of canned robot. 

A "me" book?

I'm still working on the brick that is The Portrait of a Lady. I'm enjoying it. James's style reminds me of Edith Wharton's work. (I guess it's more accurate to say hers reminds me of his.) The House of Mirth is one of my favorite novels, and I notice echoes of it in  The Portrait of a Lady. Quiet, crisp diction. The gentle woman walking against the current of her society.

I'll probably do a reread of The House of Mirth next, then I might begin The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. (The movie Genius reminded me of it, calling it a beautiful work. Now I'm doubly curious. I looked it up, and it's considered one of the top war memorials of all time, apparently. It was written when Grant was dying, so that his family would have something to live on after he was gone. Apparently he was experiencing a lot of pain but still produced a great work.)

Har! You do get absorbed!! I can see getting lost in an audio book on a monotonous road trip with nothing there to distract. What a strange sensation to come awake several miles off your destination, though! The body continues driving but the mind goes somewhere else, and you proceed despite yourself.

x

Another misspell? Surely you mean -- Et tu, brule?

Be serious: typing "creme brule" is the same as typing "rayneboe." Sure, it communicates the message, but it's slovenly. And then you blamed your phone! No! Don't let technology take the heat! It was you! I had no idea how to spell crème brûlée, either (having never had need of the word before), but for goodness sake, what does it take? Two seconds to look it up? Have some pride, man. If you're going to use the word, spell it correctly. Lead the pack! Be a writer not a blotter!

Just my two cents, to be taken or tossed.

(I must address this "Where did we leave off with our game?" dismissal of a dear friend of mine: I smell a whiff of possession in that "our." Let us not colonize the thread, please. Pardon me if I've read that line wrong (dangers of online communication), but I began this game to continue one I'd been playing for years with Dill. So you know. I wouldn't point it out (what do I care? It's a community thread, and you're certainly welcome to play), except that I sense a "you are excluded" in that "where did we leave off with OUR game," which I cannot let pass unremarked. As for your comportment in the thread Dill cited a few pages back, I most definitely stand in solidarity with him. Your detachment in the conversation he cites, truncated to text language, speaks volumes about your relation to the world around you. If that isn't the message you intended with your WTF and LMAO, it might be a good idea to take the feedback seriously? That's up to you of course.)

Listening is a skill, sir. We are not all so well endowed as our neighbor.

ear trumpet

- saving lives since 1732.

Hello!

- The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (LOVELY, so far. Although I've only just begun.)
- Victoria by Daisy Goodwin (The miniseries is just airing here in America. I'm quite addicted.)

Just finished a reread of The Tempest for a class. I see more in Shakespeare every time.

That one has some good reviews!

Agreed. I used to get reviews suggesting I remove all instances of "was." ALL OF THEM. Progressive tense has its purpose. It would be absurd to eliminate every "was." I can't imagine a reputable editor suggesting such a thing.

Yes, absolutely!

Another tip is to wait a couple months before you do that, as you may have passages of your work memorized if you've recently been working on it. I've tried reading my work aloud a couple months (er, years) later, and my goodness I saw oddities I didn't notice when I was close. Ahem, all those strange verbs.

- Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup
- Relativity: The Special & General Theory (my brother's idea, not mine!)

foot in mouth

What about Nick Carroway in The Great Gatsby? If the story had been told through Jay Gatsby, we'd have a completely different story: access to his mind, his viewpoint, his goals. By choosing to tell the story through Nick, Fitzgerald adds a great deal of suspense.

I think it's important to consider what effect a POV character will have on the tale, rather than deciding that all stories (or particular scenes) must be told through the viewpoint of the one who has the most to lose. Think about who has the most to lose, sure. But consider how the scene might be either strengthened or weakened depending on who experiences it for the reader. Distance is not always a bad thing.