what are you reading now?
The Conversations - basically collected interviews of film editor Walter Murch by Michael Ondaatje. Murch is so awesome - I've been really into his sound design for ages, but somehow completely missed that he is an editor more generally. Amazing how big an influence an editor has in the final result of a movie - and I feel a bit dumb to have not realised this before now.
luka
Well-known member
O reason not the need! Our basest beggars
Are in the poorest things superfluous.
Allow not nature more than nature needs,
Man's life is cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady;
If only to go warm were gorgeous,
Why nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,
Which scarecly keeps thee warm. But for true need-
You heavens, give me patience - patience i need!
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
As full of grief as age, wretched in both.
If it be you that stirs these daughters hearts
Against their father, fool me not so much
To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,
And let not women's weapons, water drops,
Stain my man's cheeks. No, you unnatural hags,
I will have revenges on you both
That all the world shall - I will do such things -
What they are yet I know not, but they shall be
The terrors of the earth! You thnk I'll weep;
No, I'll not weep:
I have full cause of weeping, [storm heard approaching]
but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws
Or ere I'll weep. O Fool, I shall go mad!
Are in the poorest things superfluous.
Allow not nature more than nature needs,
Man's life is cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady;
If only to go warm were gorgeous,
Why nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st,
Which scarecly keeps thee warm. But for true need-
You heavens, give me patience - patience i need!
You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
As full of grief as age, wretched in both.
If it be you that stirs these daughters hearts
Against their father, fool me not so much
To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,
And let not women's weapons, water drops,
Stain my man's cheeks. No, you unnatural hags,
I will have revenges on you both
That all the world shall - I will do such things -
What they are yet I know not, but they shall be
The terrors of the earth! You thnk I'll weep;
No, I'll not weep:
I have full cause of weeping, [storm heard approaching]
but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws
Or ere I'll weep. O Fool, I shall go mad!
jenks
thread death
Thanks Luka - nice way to start the day
I remember the first time i read it - pretty much in one sitting - and just walking round going 'fucking hell' over and over again. I really don't think I had ever been so utterly blown away by an 'old book' before and it was a major discovery in my reading life. I re-read it a few years ago and it still did the trick.
I saw a production about ten years ago where people were in tears at the end - Robert Stevens as Lear just before he died. There was also a slightly odd version in the early days of C4 that had Olivier as Lear that kind of worked -
[I tried to embed the youtube of Olivier and Hurt but it wasn't having any of it ]
I remember the first time i read it - pretty much in one sitting - and just walking round going 'fucking hell' over and over again. I really don't think I had ever been so utterly blown away by an 'old book' before and it was a major discovery in my reading life. I re-read it a few years ago and it still did the trick.
I saw a production about ten years ago where people were in tears at the end - Robert Stevens as Lear just before he died. There was also a slightly odd version in the early days of C4 that had Olivier as Lear that kind of worked -
[I tried to embed the youtube of Olivier and Hurt but it wasn't having any of it ]
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Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Ha, funny you should say that, my girlfriend could not possibly be better qualified to do just that.*
I read Heaney's translation a few years ago, it's good stuff. I may have to revisit it after all this chat.
Edit: yeah, Lear is quality, probably my favourite Shakey.
(*before you ask, that's not because she's 1,000 years old)
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slim jenkins
El Hombre Invisible
Mine's Green Door.
grizzleb
Well-known member
Well, go on then...?
grizzleb
Well-known member
Ah, that solves that. I thought it was going to be something mega obscure like she goes about visiting schools reading olde-timey books or something.
Currently read Louis-Ferdinand Celines 'Journey to the End of the Night', I'm pretty impressed by it. His writing is pungent, foul and hilarious. The excessive misanthropy is the type you can't help but grin at and it serves as an antidote to such feelings...one couldn't come close to that level of all pervasise hate, so better not to try. Reminds me of Michel Houellebecq, in a good way. Funny and dark and brutal.
Also finished Ryszard Kapuscinski's 'Shadow of the Sun', about the Polish journalist's decades keeping to the margins and the extremes whilst travelling round Africa. I was extremely impressed by his well contructed vignettes which straddle history and journalism, always with flair and quality of writing. I think I'll read his other books.
Currently read Louis-Ferdinand Celines 'Journey to the End of the Night', I'm pretty impressed by it. His writing is pungent, foul and hilarious. The excessive misanthropy is the type you can't help but grin at and it serves as an antidote to such feelings...one couldn't come close to that level of all pervasise hate, so better not to try. Reminds me of Michel Houellebecq, in a good way. Funny and dark and brutal.
Also finished Ryszard Kapuscinski's 'Shadow of the Sun', about the Polish journalist's decades keeping to the margins and the extremes whilst travelling round Africa. I was extremely impressed by his well contructed vignettes which straddle history and journalism, always with flair and quality of writing. I think I'll read his other books.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Oh, I'd misread it as "find a girl to read it to you". In which case I could learn how to pronounce it.
I do like the idea of spouting Old English poetry at some poor random lass on the bus, though. I'd certainly wear my ASBO like a badge of honour if I were the first person to receive one for that particular transgression.
I do like the idea of spouting Old English poetry at some poor random lass on the bus, though. I'd certainly wear my ASBO like a badge of honour if I were the first person to receive one for that particular transgression.
grizzleb
Well-known member
I also read it as this. Bizarre.
woops
is not like other people
I've just finished an interesting book called Bartleby & Co by Enrique Vila-Matas.
It's consists of the footnotes to an imaginary book, without the main text, written by a novelist who has abandoned novelism. All the notes are about writers who have similarly abandoned writing. Some of these are real cases and some are fictional.
It's consists of the footnotes to an imaginary book, without the main text, written by a novelist who has abandoned novelism. All the notes are about writers who have similarly abandoned writing. Some of these are real cases and some are fictional.
On the topic of books written by comedians, I've almost finished Lenny Bruce's How To Talk Dirty and Influence People and I recommend it to anyone, especially those who find Lenny Bruce a bit inaccessible. It's very funny, and whlie a lot of his references are a bit dated now, the themes have never been more relevant. Some parts of it are just his bits literally transcribed verbatim, which is great for anyone who has difficulty with the poor quality recordings available of his stand-up, which are made even more unintelligible by his bouts of manic mumbling. His account of his time as a faith healer is particularly great.
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slim jenkins
El Hombre Invisible
That looks great. Just ordered it. Thanks.