Reading Log. The First Third

The First Third (Neal Cassady)



Powell's books [link] [link]

Good Morning, Captain.

Slint's dark closing track from the great Spiderland has inspired a cute kids book. You can read it online [here], or buy it [here].





song lyrics -

Let me in, the voice cried softly,
from outside the wooden door.
Scattered remnants of the ship could be seen in the distance,
Blood stained the icy wall of the shore.

I'm the only one left. The storm, took them all,
He managed as he tried to stand.
The tears ran down his face.
Please, it's cold.

When he woke, there was no trace of the ship.
Only the dawn was left behind by the storm.
He felt the creaking of the stairs beneath him.
That rose, from the sea, to the door.

There was a sound at the window then.
The captain started, his breath was still.
Slowly, he turned.

From behind the edge of the windowsill,
There appeared the delicate hand of a child.
His face was flush and timid.
He stared at the captain through frightened eyes.

The captain reached for something to hold on to,
Help me, he whispered, as he rose slowly to his feet.
The boy's face went pale,
He recognized the sound.

Silently, he pulled down the shade against the shadow.
Lost in the doorstep of the empty house.

I'm trying to find my way home.

I'm sorry...
...and I miss you.

I miss you.
I've grown taller now.
I want the police to be notified.
I'll make it up to you,
I swear, I'll make it up to you.

I miss you.

Slint @ Southern Records [link]
@ myspace [link]

Reading Log. Cool Comics, Issue 1

First issue of Cool Comics, Daniel Johnston's 1976 hand drawn comic.



The 9-page comic can be viewed at Worried Shoes, a site of Johnston's various early works. [link]

Reading Log. Jules et Jim

Jules et Jim (Henri-Pierre Roché) (1953)



Powell's Books [link]

Reading Log. New Sufferings of Young W

New Sufferings of Young W (Ulrich Plenzdorf) (1979)



Powell's Books [link]

Reading Log. Orlando: A Biography

Orlando: A Biography (Virginia Woolf) (1928)



Powell's Books [link] [link]

Reading Log. Big Fish

Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions (Daniel Wallace) (1998)



-By this time, the Morgans had noticed their little girl was missing and had come running in the direction of the dog’s terrible howl. They arrived in time to see the dog lunge once more, this time barely missing my father’s neck, his warm moist breath spraying past. This was the dog’s fatal mistake: leaving his bare underside expose as he jumped so high into the air, Edward Bloom was able to trust his hand trough the dog’s hair and skin and into the body proper, clutching and finally ripping out his massive beating heart. My father held the girl so close, nestled into his wide shoulder, that she was spared this last gory scene. As the dog fell heavy to the ground my father dropped the heart there also, and handed the girl to her parents, and continued his walk into the night.

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wikipedia [link]
Powell's Books [link] [link]

Reading Log. The Sweet Hereafter

The Sweet Hereafter (Russell Banks) (1991)



Powell's Books [link] [link]
wikipedia [link]
article discussing the theme of blame in the novel [link]

Screening Log. Rashômon

Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa) (1950)



Third viewing. Watched/read in my wonderful Fiction into Film class.

greencine [link]
notcoming [link]
ebert [link]
allmovie [link]
wikipedia [link]
dvdbeaver [link]
-
Based on "In a Grove" & "Rashomon" by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Powell's Books [link] [link]
wikipedia (In a Grove) [link]
wikipedia (Rashomon) [link]
Rashomon full english text [link]

Screening Log. Blowup

Blowup (Michelangelo Antonioni) (1966)



at greencine [link]
at Antonioni archive [link]
at DVDBeaver [link]
at Strictly Film School [link]
Brief Rosenbaum review [link]

Cortázar and his story "Las babas del diablo"
Senses of Cinema article "La Mano Negra: Julio Cortázar and his Influence on Cinema" [link]
End of the Game and Other Stories (original publication) at Powell's Books [link]
Blowup & Other Stories (as it was later published as) at Powell's Books [link]

Reading Log. The Last Thing He Wanted

The Last Thing He Wanted (Joan Didion) (1996)

Reading Log. Movie-Made America

Movie-Made America (Robert Sklar) (originally published in 1975, revised edition 1994)



It started as a very interesting (though brief) overview of Hollywood, but after the chapters on the 1950s it turned into a frustrating and oversimplified characterization of American film.
The first part of the book, covering the rise of movie culture and its transformation from the Nickelodeons of the city slums to the glamorous lives of excess in Hollywood was really fascinating. But past these glamorous years on into the rise of television, collapse of the traditional studio system, the emergence of independent film, and so on, the analysis became too abridged and fell apart. By the end, with his analysis of independent film in the 80s and 90s (and his inflated love for Oliver Stone [irk!]), I grew tired of his accommodatingly easy depiction of film.

Powell's Books [link]
review from Jump Cut [link]

Reading Log. Игрок

The Gambler (Fyodor Dostoevsky) (1887)



Full Text online [link] [link]

Reading Log. Picture

Picture (Lillian Ross) (1952)



"I still think 'The Red Badge of Courage' is a beautiful picture," Schary said confidently. "It's ahead of its time and behind its time." He paused, then continued, "To me the picture is moving, completely honest, perfect translation of the book. It's imaginative and it has good performances. It's a wonderful picture. A normal business risk. Of course."

Reading Log. Siddhartha

Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse) (1922)



free online text [link]
beautiful collection of Siddhartha book covers [link]
wikipedia [link]

Reading Log. The Crucible

The Crucible (Arthur Miller) (1952)


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Crucible Fact & Fiction [link]
@ West Springfield HS [link]
@ AngliaCampus [link]
@ Internet Broadway Database [link]
Arthur Miller Society [link]
wikipedia [link]

Reading Log. The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath) (1963)



-The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence.
I knew perfectly well the cars were making a noise, and the people in them and behind the lit windows of the buildings were making a noise, and the river was making a noise, but I couldn't hear a thing. The city hung in my window, flat as a poster, glittering and blinking, but it might just as well not have been there at all, for all the good it did me.
-

Literary Encyclopedia [link]
Great online collection of Plath's poetry [link]
sylviaplath.info [link]
sylviaplath.de [link]
Modern American Poetry [link]

Reading Log. As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner) (1930)



-I could just remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a long time. And when I would have to look at them day after day, each with his and her secret and selfish thought, and blood strange to each other blood and strange to mine, and think that this seemed to be the only way I could get ready to stay dead, I would hate my father for having ever planted me. I would look forward to the times when they faulted, so I could whip them. When the switch fell I could feel it upon my flesh; when it welted and ridged it was my blood that ran, and I would think with each blow of the switch: Now you are aware of me! Now I am something in your secret and selfish life, who have marked your blood with my own for ever and ever.
-

Commentary at WF on the Web [link]
Faulkner Collection at Univ. of Virginia [link]
wikipedia [link]

Reading Log. The Rum Diary

The Rum Diary (Hunter S. Thompson) (1998)



Written in the early 60's, but left unpublished until 1998.

Info at The Great Thompson Hunt [link]

Reading Log. A Confederacy of Dunces

A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole) (1980)



-Then you must begin a reading program immediately so that you may understand the crisis of our age. Begin with the late Romans, including Boethius, of course. Then you should dip rather extensively into early Medieval. You may skip the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. That was mostly dangerous propaganda, Now that I think of it, you had better skip the Romantics and the Victorians, too. For the contemporary period, you should study some selected comic books...I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman.

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Article about John Kennedy Toole & the 'model' for Ignatius [link]
Slate article about the ongoing developments of a film adaptation [link]
Google books [link]
wikipedia [link]