Sunday, August 10, 2003
Lolita: A Screenplay, by Vladimir Nabokov
I am reading Lolita, the screenplay, written by Vlad. Nabokov. The liner notes in the book say "This is the purely Nabokov version of the screenplay and not the same version which was produced as the motion picture Lolita, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc."
The forward by Nabokov is dated December 1973 in Montreux.
I'll have to see the Kubrick version of the film (I've never seen the film) and compare notes. The screenplay itself is so vivid in it's descriptive quality. I bought this copy when the remake starring Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain came out. I haven't seen that one yet, either. I don't know. I suppose I don't want to ruin the image I have in my head of Humbert and Lolita.
There is a scene in the screenplay which I thought was shocking for it's time. It's "the morning after" and Lolita tells Humbert in a pouty way that he "tore something inside." I wonder if that scene made it into the Kubrick version of the film. I am eager to find out.
I am reading Lolita, the screenplay, written by Vlad. Nabokov. The liner notes in the book say "This is the purely Nabokov version of the screenplay and not the same version which was produced as the motion picture Lolita, distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc."
The forward by Nabokov is dated December 1973 in Montreux.
I'll have to see the Kubrick version of the film (I've never seen the film) and compare notes. The screenplay itself is so vivid in it's descriptive quality. I bought this copy when the remake starring Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain came out. I haven't seen that one yet, either. I don't know. I suppose I don't want to ruin the image I have in my head of Humbert and Lolita.
There is a scene in the screenplay which I thought was shocking for it's time. It's "the morning after" and Lolita tells Humbert in a pouty way that he "tore something inside." I wonder if that scene made it into the Kubrick version of the film. I am eager to find out.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Rebel Hearts by Kevin Toolis, and Kitty Kelly
I'm desparately trying to get back into my normal cycle of eat, drink, read, watch, school and sleep. I've got most of the essentials down again and have even gotten into a good book. This one's an oldie but goodie. One I read a few years back called Rebel Hearts, by Kevin Toolis. It's non-fiction about the IRA. Very interesting and really heartbreaking. Toolis is allowed access into the IRA for research purposes and is able to witness first-hand what kind of lives these people live. Many of them don't live too long after joining the IRA. They are either killed, or sent to jail, but once they're in, they pretty much go in hiding. The book was written 1995, so perhaps things have changed. There was much talk of peace on the BBC World News a while back, but I have not heard anything about Northern Ireland for a while. It's difficult to get very specific international news on US network television. I'd better do the smart thing and check the net.
Another good yarn would have to be Frank Sinatra's biography by Kitty Kelly. I read it when I was 17. I checked it out at the school library. Can you imagine? A highschool library carrying Kitty Kelly! Anyway, it was during a period of complete and total Sinatra infatuation on my part, after seeing From Here to Eternity for the first time and I was somewhat disappointed to read how boorish and decidedly un-romantic the Frank Sinatra I had put on a pedastal really was. Arrested in Hoboken for slapping a girl around, treating Mia Farrow like dirt, etc., etc... Now I have a hard time reading biographies of people I truly adore. It's tough when you mentally pronounce a person a saint, only to be faced with the reality that they are in fact human and do not shit gold nuggets.
I'm desparately trying to get back into my normal cycle of eat, drink, read, watch, school and sleep. I've got most of the essentials down again and have even gotten into a good book. This one's an oldie but goodie. One I read a few years back called Rebel Hearts, by Kevin Toolis. It's non-fiction about the IRA. Very interesting and really heartbreaking. Toolis is allowed access into the IRA for research purposes and is able to witness first-hand what kind of lives these people live. Many of them don't live too long after joining the IRA. They are either killed, or sent to jail, but once they're in, they pretty much go in hiding. The book was written 1995, so perhaps things have changed. There was much talk of peace on the BBC World News a while back, but I have not heard anything about Northern Ireland for a while. It's difficult to get very specific international news on US network television. I'd better do the smart thing and check the net.
Another good yarn would have to be Frank Sinatra's biography by Kitty Kelly. I read it when I was 17. I checked it out at the school library. Can you imagine? A highschool library carrying Kitty Kelly! Anyway, it was during a period of complete and total Sinatra infatuation on my part, after seeing From Here to Eternity for the first time and I was somewhat disappointed to read how boorish and decidedly un-romantic the Frank Sinatra I had put on a pedastal really was. Arrested in Hoboken for slapping a girl around, treating Mia Farrow like dirt, etc., etc... Now I have a hard time reading biographies of people I truly adore. It's tough when you mentally pronounce a person a saint, only to be faced with the reality that they are in fact human and do not shit gold nuggets.
Sunday, July 27, 2003
I haven't been reading much lately. I've been oozing about the furniture all slovenly. If I read anything good, or feel inspired by a billboard, I'll report back.
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Last night, after viewing the Animatrix, before going to bed, I read, 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,' by James Thurber. I like to read this story when I feel overwhelmed and cannot sleep. Like many people, I identify with Mitty and his need to create a whole other world inside his head, a world where he is an important, brilliant person, well respected and adored. It makes you think of what some people do on the internet, you have to wonder if some of these people are for real, what's real, and what is the figment of a person's wild imagination? Are you being unwittingly being sucked into someone else's dreamlife?
For anyone not familiar with the short story, it's pretty simple: Walter Mitty is a middle-aged man who has wild fantasies about being a general, a heart surgeon, a defendant in a murder trial, etc. to escape from the reality of his hum-drum life, which is dominated by his nagging, overbearing wife. The man gets no respect in real life, so he builds a world of his own where he is a dashing, fearless person.
It's an American classic, or modern classic, whichever you prefer.
Last night, after viewing the Animatrix, before going to bed, I read, 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,' by James Thurber. I like to read this story when I feel overwhelmed and cannot sleep. Like many people, I identify with Mitty and his need to create a whole other world inside his head, a world where he is an important, brilliant person, well respected and adored. It makes you think of what some people do on the internet, you have to wonder if some of these people are for real, what's real, and what is the figment of a person's wild imagination? Are you being unwittingly being sucked into someone else's dreamlife?
For anyone not familiar with the short story, it's pretty simple: Walter Mitty is a middle-aged man who has wild fantasies about being a general, a heart surgeon, a defendant in a murder trial, etc. to escape from the reality of his hum-drum life, which is dominated by his nagging, overbearing wife. The man gets no respect in real life, so he builds a world of his own where he is a dashing, fearless person.
It's an American classic, or modern classic, whichever you prefer.
Monday, June 02, 2003
IRVINE WELSH
Something I noticed about 'Porno' is the fact that the sex seems to be missing. Or perhaps I have just become desensitized to it in his works. I love this author and have always looked forward to reading his books. The first one I read was Filth, then Marabou Stork Nightmares, The Acid House, Glue, and Porno. I must admit that the sex is what initially hooked me. I love a raunchy sex scene in a novel. It's the "spice ay life."
The pacing of his novels are so quick and the sex and drugs and general debauchery don't detract from the fact that his novels really do have a deeper meaning and his characters, although you probably wouldn't want to know them personally (or maybe you would) are all very likeable and sympathetic. We've all got a little bit of them inside of us whether we like to admit it or not.
But back to the lack of sex. It's not so much a lack of sex (because believe me, there is plenty in Porno), but a lack of the type of sex that shocked me in Filth and some short stories in The Acid House. It's not a complaint, just an observation.
testing.
