Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, March 03, 2006
A whale of a book (sorry)
There’s a movie? Huh.
<url=http://www.savethemales.ca>Save the males?</url>
Well, regretably, I didn’t read the book. But I’m still interested in everyone’s comments (I have read another book of Mowat’s).
I have a confession to make. I eat meat. Lots of it. Love it. A meal just isn’t complete without some meat. My family used to raise cattle when I was young, and we had all the steak and hamburger we could ever desire. I guess I never really felt bad for those cows. Every now and then I might have noticed that one had disappeared, but I guess it just didn’t affect me that much. I have nothing against being a vegetarian, except that I just love meat too much. I don’t eat pork, though. Or seafood. Except fish. No shrimp or clams or anything, though (or whales). That ain’t kosher, as far as I’m concerned.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 03/03 at 08:18 AMOops. I just tried to use tags, but it didn’t work. I’ve figured out how to italicize or embolden and such, but I don’t know how some of you do some of hat you do, like posting photos and such. Any clues as to how to better format with this blog feature?
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 03/03 at 08:20 AMMickey, your review leaves me really wishing I had a copy of the book. I don’t think there’s any need to apologize for the tangeant either. There are probably strong counter arguments, but part of the fun of reading is applying one’s own critical filter and therefore personalizing the experiencing---missing something, sure, but getting in depth as well. And getting in depth is good, especially when the book is about sea mammals.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 03/03 at 09:43 AMThis book exceeded all expectations.
I was amazed, distraught, heartbroken, ashamed, and delighted.
The very accessible style of Mowat is refreshing. The subject matter is approached with a point of view that is admirable and beautiful.
I cannot recommend this book highly “enough”.
I will be back later today with my full report. Later, Ex-Nation.Posted by Youngfox on from Land of Mowat 03/03 at 11:14 AMI’m afraid that I’m without the book in my current daytime space so I’ll be commenting with excerpts later tonight.
MZ I dig your perspective on it, and I’m definitely down with the vegan rant.
I find Farley’s style to be intelligently casual, making it a ‘pleasant’ or should I say accessible read; considering the horrid sick feeling that the story of a trapped whale engenders, of course. He does not credit himself with any prescience or higher moral ground, but he expresses a respect for his fellow Earthlings in a very sensible manner. I’ll have more to say on it, but that’s my start to the discussion, which I hope we can continue through the day in more detail.
Jeremy I respect the choice that you make about your diet, but if I may respectfully express my thoughts on the matter: As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not vegan, my diet is an odd mix but is mostly vegetarian with the only meat being the rare inclusion of fish or shrimp. (I don’t have any good rationale for the fish exception, nor do I defend it except to say it’s seldom). I really liked the taste of meat too, I’m sure I still would, but I can’t but stop to think of the process that is the life of the farmed animal and determine that it’s one to which I don’t wish to contribute. That’s what made my decision for me. I was fortunate enough to already be accustomed to the delights of lentils and other pulses, which now make up the bulk of my protein intake, and while I still eat cheese, I buy rennet free whenever I can, and soy milk just tastes better while being better for you (none of the added antibiotics and hormones). I know this is a bit of a rant, but I thought I’d give that insight (perhaps unwanted) as to how and why the choice to contribute to an industry or not, should be made (imho) conscientiously and consciously. (I really hope this little rant doesn’t sound pretentious or like a lecture, it’s genuinely not my intent.)
RMJ, re: yesterday and Canadian legal system’s expert witness arrangements, I’m afraid I have no insight there. I think it’s the same or similar to that in the US, but I simply don’t know. I’ll keep it in mind though and if I can find anything that might be close to useful information.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 11:27 AM‘Accessible’ ha ha - Can you tell Youngfox and I have been having our own book club discussion?!
captcha “evidence”
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 11:32 AMhello all
i am off out for the w’end but i found this today....
it isn’t a joke either. mc hammer really does have a blog
Posted by michael on from scotland 03/03 at 12:10 PMFarley Mowat’s work is wonderfully, deceptively simple. His writing’s beautifully clear. His words are carefully selected and firmly cemented together in an exact pattern of meaning that can’t be misunderstood. He’s an advocate, an unashamed advocate, for the people, places and things he believes worthy of defense, or protection, or salvation. When I was single-digit aged, I read Owls in the Family, and The Curse of the Viking Grave, and The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be. These books gave me the conviction that there was ALWAYS another way to look at one’s experiences, one that wasn’t instantly obvious.
Okay. A Whale for the Killing. A whale of a story indeed, MZ, and one clear, concise, incarnadine in its execution. It’s a book that vibrates with Mowat’s long-held fury, embarrassment, indignant repudiation of his species allegiance. It shines in this book, incandescent after five years’ distance from the events he describes.
The quote you used, MZ, in the main post was the one that I had marked out as the single most evocative and also indicative of Mowat’s real feelings. It’s a valid point: What humans do is grounds for dismissal from the evolutionary ladder/chain/braid. That decision bids fair to be made already, by the effects of global warming. I don’t know what Mowat’s views on global warming are, but I’d bet he’s only sorry for the frogs and other creatures who don’t have a voice or a choice in what’s happening to them.
I admire Mowat, and his passion, and his compassion, so please don’t read the next bit thinking I’m being snotty or superior…everyone has peccadilloes, and every artifact has flaws.
A Whale for the Killing has several stylistic flaws. One is the scantiness of context for Mowat himself. He presumes, rightly for 1972 but perhaps wrongly for 2005 (the Stackpole edition’s release date), that he needn’t explain why his words carried so much weight in Canada and the world in 1967, when his story takes place. He was internationally famous then, as unfortunately he’s not today. I’d have felt more in sync with the book if he’d written a foreword of today, putting us his new readers in the picture of his world in 1967. I’d also have preferred Claire Mowat’s support, suffering, sacrifice on behalf of Farley and the whale to have been explored more thoroughly. Clearly it was voluntary, and for all I know ungrudged then or now; but Mrs. Mowat is only a glancing presence in the narrative and could and should (IMHO) be central to the tale told.
I’m also unhappily aware that many, many passive constructions (e.g., “’Son of a bitch musta got clear!’ someone cried disgustedly.” From chapter 9, after we’re told explicitly that Mowat recognizes all members of the crew discussed) are used to protect identities. Perhaps that was justified in 1972, though I think it’s a cheat on an author’s part; but surely, by 2005, it’s time to name names. Otherwise it feels like one of those 18th-century novels with characters called things like “Mrs. S---“ or “Ld. H---by” that seem to my 20th-century inner ears like arch, pettifogging coynesses.
Oh well, perfection would just make me jealous. This way I get to enjoy the story, appreciate the artistry, and still smile smugly at the flaws.
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 12:16 PMWhere’s Farley now?
Here are a couple of articles:
http://tinyurl.com/lkuub
http://tinyurl.com/qj5xuI couldn’t find very much information, but the auld fella’s still kicking - and so’s Claire.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 12:37 PMHammer has a blog? now there´s readin, yo.
Posted by Owen on from schmarcelona 03/03 at 01:55 PMI enjoyed Mowat’s book, which had me page-flipping throughout. Like Amelopsis and Mudge, I enjoy his deceptively simple style; like Mickey, I like the passion and purpose he brings to his work.
With all the Scandinavian blood in my veins (Mom is equal parts Swedisha and Norwegian), I’ve always been drawn to the area depicted in this book, and I believe I may get there yet—somewhere like Halifax or Charlottetown. I had, however, always romanticized the people who live there, considering them to be far more wholesome and devoid of sin than the rest of us. In some ways, they are more wholesome, since they’ve historically existed further from the consumerist jungle than most of us—but Mowat gives devastating testimony that humans are bloodthirsty killers no matter where we find them, and this produced in me a deepening depressing the further along I went with the book. By the last page, I was ready for space aliens to zap us with their heat beams and just get it over with; we don’t deserve our planet.
I was proud, on the other hand, of Farley’s willingness to harness his personal fame in the interest of saving the whale and somehow gaining a measure of redemption for his species. It appears that the whale understood and appreciated his efforts. Whales are far more cosmic beings than we are—we don’t deserve them, either.
Finally, I was intrigued with some of the Canadian names for places up there, my favorite being: Dildo.
We can only guess what they do for fun during those long Newfoundland winters....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 03/03 at 02:15 PMGreat comments from you, Mickey and from all the expendables who have read the book! And as for those who, like me, have not read the book, I read their comments as well. I seem to remember reading a few years ago that prior to military exercises in various oceans, environmental impact statements had to be made but that BushCo. had trashed those rules. The consequences: lots of badly hurt whales - some of them were bleeding badly because of the sonar equipment involved in these exercises. So much for the superior intelligence of human beings ..
Another scorcher coming up, although autumn started on 1 March: about 86F ahead.Have a good weekend, all of you!
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 03/03 at 02:37 PMAh Helga,
The members of the various Whale Nations (as Farley so aptly describes them) have been historically and recently used for bombing target practice by the military.
I’ve also read quite a bit about the sonar damage done to whales and dolphins. It was at least a year ago now so I’m foggy on details. I beleive that the US Northwest coast has an area which human residents succeeded in lobbying the US Navy restrict their sonar testing to areas and within seasons when the Sound was not being populated by the regular migratory population.
The torture they must endure when assaulted with sonar must be horrible - an unseen but very present weapon of attack on their existance.Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 02:57 PMhey dudes.
i just got an article (not a thump) up…
ha! when(if) you read it you will not believe that my captcha is “degree”
Posted by michael on from scotland 03/03 at 03:04 PMIn my opinion, it is not an unjustifiable assumption to say that this article by Greenwald is very good, Michael.
Wtf?
Captcha: “george”Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 03:22 PMthanks amelopsis.
BTW - unfortunately i never read the book. i am putting all these down on a list for reading later because i am a bit rushed off my feet at the moment.
Posted by michael on from scotland 03/03 at 03:24 PMHell-oooo Expendables. Great conversation and Hawk, I too was tempted to make a dildo reference but somehow resisted. Rare example of restraint for me.
To tie together two points by Mudge and Hawk, I also would’ve appreciated a little context on just how well-known Mowat was at the time and it was amazing how much he was willing to risk his “good name” to help this whale. I only wish I could get better known as a writer so I could do similar work. (I’m not being facetious.)
Jeremy: I not gonna judge you for consuming the pesticide- and hormone-laden flesh of murdered beasts. I’ll just ban your IP address and call it a day. Just kidding, folk. Seriously, I would love to share links and sources that influenced my lifestyle change almost 11 years ago. Let me know if that would interest you.
I haven’t had a chance to click on any of the links provided above but I’ll do so soon. For now, let me once again thank the Empress for suggesting Mowat and I’m looking forward to Ca-moooo.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 03:54 PMMZ #17: All-bear Camoooo, then Octavia Butler? So many seem not to have read her wonderful ooovruh. How about my fave, Parable of the Sower?
Michael #14: “Post-modern conceptions about the nature of truth that are espoused by philosophy departments have also created a barrier between the public and the academic world. It is often seen as a form of arrogance to claim that one knows “the truth” definitively and in response to this much academic literature is worded in less forthright language. As Orwell pointed out in “Politics and the English Language”: ‘It is easier—even quicker, once you have the habit—to say In my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that than to say I think.’”
Excellent. Just fucking excellent! Might not be an official tub-thump, but I say go on and thump.
ABsoLUTEly no comment on the whole “Dildo” thing. None.
Where’s CatLady, RMJ, Chris, JOS, all the other points of my companion-compass?!
Hi Empress! I love the maps in this book..."The Ha Ha” and “Dildo” on a map...! Newfies are weird, huh?
Jeremy, remain resolute in your omnivorousness. I stand canine-to-canine with you, meat-eatin’ man.
Helga #12, I watched a show about the whale-torture in Puget Sound, too. Disgusting. Shameful. Stupid. Oh...military! Never mind, I was being redundant.
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 04:16 PMI’m glad that those who managed to get a copy have enjoyed the read. I am looking forward to Camus, (I secretly dread that it will be a useful read that I won’t find enjoyable) but I promise to find it at the library and participate. I like the notion of an Octavia Butler title after that.
For now, I look forward to Youngfox’s pending review, and getting my paws on the book so I can find the quote I wanted to add (I hope it’s as good as I thought it was at the time)
I’ll also see if I can find anything here about Mowat’s relative fame at the time of the experience which would provide some of the context that seems to missing for some.
I myself never read him until adulthood, although my copy of the book is one which I apparently procured from one of the highschools I attended!His was always a somewhat fabled name and when Never Cry Wolf (movie) came out, he was much discussed, in Canada at least.
Jeremy: I hope my earlier verbal diarrheoa about diet choice didn’t come off as judgemental of yours; please accept my apologies if it did.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 04:22 PMYeah, Mudge...Mowat sure put Dildo on the map. Speaking of which: http://tinyurl.com/mr58z
Empress: I share your concern, re: Camus. Octavia gets my vote for book #4.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 04:26 PMForgot to post the link to a reading-group guide to Parable of the Sower for the interested:
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 04:26 PMParable of the Sower sounds like an excellent choice. Thanks, Mudge.
Re: Butler: http://tinyurl.com/poqw5
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 04:28 PMMZ #20: uhhhmmm, why do you know about this...errr, place?
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 04:30 PMI have not had time to read all of the comments today so if I sound un informed, I am. Just want to say something about “truth”. Philosophical absolute truth can be debated but there is a hazard in that. For example, the Jay Bennish controversy which is in the news now. If there is no common understanding of what truth is, then no one can ever say that torture is wrong, or that the USA has secret Black Prisons, or that the USA is an aggressor nation, or even that the US is occupying another country. Ancient history might be hard to verify, but there needs to be a common understanding of current history. Right????
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 03/03 at 04:33 PMMudge: Toys in Babeland is NY’s top sex toy shop.
Hello RMJ…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 04:40 PMAh - me bye’s yer comin’off a little queer wat wit yer bein’ on abou Dildo as do der’s somethin peculiar bout de place.
Ha Ha!
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 04:41 PMEmpress #26: WHAT?! Me, queer?! >flounces off in a huff<
Hi RMJ!
MZ, Toys in Babeland...? Oh dear.
Captcha is --->ball<---Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 05:16 PMMudge - Come back - don’t flounce off in a huff! I truthfully have lost track of what is or isn’t acceptable use of descriptives when referring colloquially to homosexuals.
That said - I’m fairly certain you knew I was just being silly with the double entendre, so I won’t worry further unless you tell me otherwise....we’re still good, right?
Btw, How are you feeling today? I just obvserved that Richard’s Head is south of the Ha Ha and bordered by the waters of Short Reach. >ahem<
I like Hug My Dug Island(Dug aka the PapaCat).
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 06:39 PMIf you’ve got it, flounce it.
Empress, fear not. Mudge is not easily insulted.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 06:42 PMHere a couple of excerpts which in my opinion, it is not unjustifiable to say exemplify the spirit of the author and his emotional intent throughout the experience itself and in writing the book for further public consumption. They struck a chord for me:
...."Her mind was as alien to mine as mine to hers. Strangers...strangers...we were all aliens, one to the other, even those of us who were cloaked in the same fleshly shapes"........"The more I thought about it all, the more I realized that the inter-human conflict would grow worse for want of understanding”“The whale was not alone in being trapped. We were all trapped with her. If the natural patterns of her life had been disrupted, then so had ours. An awesome mystery had intruded into the closely circumscribed order of our lives; one that we terrestrial bipeds could not fathom, and one, therefore, that we would react against with instinctive fear, violence, and hatred. This riddle from the deeps was the measure of humanity’s unquenchable ignorance of life. This impenetrable secret, which had become the core of our existence in this place, was a mirror in which we saw our own distempered faces...and they were ugly.”
Oh my if only 30+ years on from that time, our species could have evolved along with our evolving technological advancements. What a better place we might all be living in.Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 06:52 PMEmpress, I almost cited the same passages in my main post...particularly the one that begins with: “The whale was not alone in being trapped.”
Your last two lines highlight why I felt depressed after reading this book.
Btw, there appears to be a problem with Earthlink so I can’t get or send e-mail at the moment (in case anyone has tried).
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 07:17 PMI also think that these same sentiments of alienation from another species can be said of our reactions to human cultures of which we have little understanding.
Another language & alphabet, different skin, different clothes, peculiar cultural traditions, different geographical environment and living conditions; all rather alien to our western customs; why those whales might’ve been ... terrorists!Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 07:49 PMEmpress, the whales were terrorists to the seamen of old (read: until steam navigation) despite an absence of evidence linking whales to any sort or form of naval accident. They’re just too big and scary NOT to be dangerous. I read a biiiig illustrated book called Men and Whales some years ago, learned a lot about the nature of fear and the fear of nature.
Oh wait...I’ve been malingned by you! Silly faggot to forget so soon. I am Officially Not Speaking To You. Nyah.
>snerk<
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 08:24 PMWhat? I settled in at home to try to follow long and now Mudge is talking about seamen and some sort of F-word… I think I need some coffee or something.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 03/03 at 08:29 PMMudge I’m glad your sense of humour is intact despite daily troubles and the discussion of a rather upsetting book - it’s sure to see you through. (I can’t believe you said faggot, maybe you meant it in the medieval sense of a torch to light one’s way - apt!)
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 08:33 PMMZ, Amelopsis: My dad used to raise cattle. No hormones or other chemicals. Now, of course, I’m probably consuming stuff I don’t need. But how is that any different than eating vegetables bought from a store, no doubt also laden with unwanted pesticides or other chemicals? We used to name some of our cows. Sometimes one or two would disappear. I don’t recall it ever bothering me as a child. I sure enjoyed having a freezer full of steak and hamburger, though. I don’t have any moral concerns about eating meat. However, I’d be interested in the links you have to share anyhow, MZ. BTW, Amelopsis, no apologies necessary. I respect the difference of opinion we have on the matter and certainly welcome your viewpoint.
Mudge: Thanks for your support! (LOL!) Maybe we should start OA. Omnivores Anonymous?
Posted by Jeremy on from Taiwan 03/03 at 08:36 PMHi Catlady, I’m not sure if coffee will help, I’m feeling seriously silly and Mudge is graciously entertaining my foolish behaviour here tonight. Did you have the chance to read the book? I don’t recall if you’d said yea or nay already.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 08:37 PMJeremy I was simultyping again…
Glad there was no offense taken. Vegetables and fruit are indeed heavily fertilized and pesticided (I know - I made it up)but they’re not sentient and so their processing, while detrimental ecologically, is not causing them distress in the same sense as distress is caused when animals are processed. My wallet doesn’t allow me to buy nearly as much organic produce, but I do so whenever I can; for health reasons, and out of environmental concern. When I’m not buying organic I try to be choosy about the country of origin - while it’s no guarantee, Mexican avocados (just for example) are often grown with fewer pesticide applications than avocadoes from elsewhere. I must admit I’m not as informed as I’d like to be in that respect, so my choosiness might not always have any relevance, but I try to make informed decisions as best I can while still being able to enjoy a nice variety. When I did eat meat, the last couple of years of consumption were almost exclusively organically fed and not factory processed - if you’re going to eat meat there’s no comparison in the quality between it and factory farmed and processed. Funny thing - a friend who’s a sheep and cattle farmer never eats his own - he doesn’t like the idea of it. I could never understand it and he didn’t have any explanation either, just said he didn’t like the thought of it. Tough life, farming. But beautiful side benefits of living in the country, etc.
Future NUtI Headquarters will be based on my hobby farm populated with rescued animals, and LOTS of CATS!
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 08:51 PMCatLady #34: Ciao bellino, come vai? Whattaya think about ol’ Farl? He’s the same age as my dead mother, and was thinking good thoughts sixty years ago. Why couldn’t he be my literal daddy?!
Empress #35: I stop laughing, you should call the goofy garage or the morgue ‘cause I’m either depressed or dead. Besides, as I say all too often, it’s not what you call me, it’s what I answer to.
Jeremy #36: Do’t wanna be anonymous, thanks, I’m eating a few strips of bacon even as I type. Y’know, the nasty, factory-farmed kind. Pig flesh GOOOOOD.
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 08:51 PMLots of cats, Emp? Target practice! Cool! Cat harpooning practice! Recrudescing the Mummification Process classes! Ooo, and biological warfare weapons...combination of cat poop and cat spit, should kill anything in a six-mile radius.
Happy days! >snerkle<
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 08:56 PMAh - a secret worshipper of Bastet! What will your puppies say?
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 03/03 at 09:10 PMI could’ve sworn more folks had signed on to read Mowat...but I still enjoyed the book and the discussion. As for Camus, I’m not sure how/when to set a discussion date. I have a feeling it’s slow reading and Michele and I are moving later this month. Any suggestions?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 09:38 PMHi MZ, Mudge, Empress and Jeremy… I gave a sort of maybe about Farley, which is how it turned out-- flipped through stuff online about him, read through a lot of Whale for the Killing in the bookstore… hard to focus, I’ve been not following the advice Mudge gave me about adjusting to my new job, now I feel like a mess all the time hating this job that’s so painfully boring but it feels weird to complain when others here have money problems and I did badly just last month and I’m not really out of debt yet… so, so tired all the time, need to have a better sleep cycle if I’m to keep up with work and life *and* CO…
Maybe for the next book we could read Bartleby the Scrivener, remotely whale related, right? Via what else it’s author wrote… it’s really short, but you could all just read it like ten times or so. If I have to live it, then you can read it, um… unless you’d, ah, prefer not to.
Yeah, the animal rights/anti-cruelty stuff in the book were preaching to the converted with me. Like Jeremy, my dad’s family grew up on farm-- have I told you what Langergaard actually means in Danish? But a small family Long-Farm in Denmark in the 40s is a lot different than the factory monstrosities now, and so, this and that, well I guess I have it easy living 3 blocks from Zen Palate. Have you ever been there? Though I like Tiengarden down on Allen street a lot better. Oh right, they’re next door to Bluestockings… good night, see what can mention for storytelling morning…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 03/03 at 10:15 PMZen Palate is excellent but I too prefer Tien Garden (not only next door to Bluestockings but also right around the corner from the aforementioned Toys in Babeland).
G’night, all...I’ve got a short, school type of story tomorrow. Plenty of nuns, though.
And “away” I go…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/03 at 10:30 PMToys in Babeland, oy.
Storytelling Saturday, oh boy! I hope the warrant roundup (unpaid tickets) doesn’t find me before I post a school story.
Nitey nitey byes (and gulls)
Posted by Mudge on from Austin 03/03 at 11:17 PMMickey, I can understand what you (and Amelopsis?) might mean about difficulty reading The Rebel. Having read it years ago and having pushed for it here I feel obliged to respond:
I think the first third of the book will be quick, easy reading for everyone. It will also offer enough to react to and discuss for a long time. After a lengthy section on the origins and history of terrorism (perpetrated by individuals and states) there is a chapter which many will find interesting entitled “Rebellion and Art”. Because it’s not paced like a novel (perhaps the source of your “resistance") even those of us who only manage a few dozen pages or skim it will be able to take part.
Or perhaps we could serialize it---read a chapter a week or something.
I hope that helps and I will happily seek out Octavia Butler for book #4.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 03/04 at 05:44 AMIn advance of storytelling time and to continue the whale fixation, here’s this:
http://tinyurl.com/8rbmbI don’t understand it all, but it reminded me for some reason about a post here from months ago about how muscicians cover songs and movie directors remake movies but is there an equivalent with novels? I think sometimes, but I still can’t think of an example offhand. Some books have inspiration from earlier works, some plagiarize, but that’s not quite the same thing. I guess I’m still fixating on Bartleby, and if he could be written today w/o seeming ridiculous. How could you do it? I mean, today’s corporate world would just have security throw him out to the street, fire him and that’s that. Even in the 50s, like the character in Post Office, if he had just started telling everyone “I prefer not to”, what would have happened to him? So many old stories so hard to tell with changing times… didn’t Don Quixote deal with this, like in the 2nd part of the book when he comes back and sees how people reacted to stories about him? Now hey, wouldn’t that be a good Expendable selection? Though we might need more than just one day of commentary for it.
Pardon me, oh man do I hate my new job, just have to get used to it; going back to sleep, see everyone later…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 03/04 at 07:12 AMThanks, Keir. My comment about the Camus book was somewhat off-the-cuff. I’m sure I’ll get a lot of out it. However, if others here like the idea of reading a chapter a week, I’m cool with that.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 03/04 at 08:20 AM
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