46.1
Dear Gentle Readers,
I went to see Where the Wild Things Are last night. Here are my thoughts.
This film is a wonderful adaptation of one of my favourite children's books. The movie is a dark, impressive reflection on loneliness. Max's inner struggles and personal development is skillfully reflected in the emotional roller coaster that is the land of the Wild Things. Carol's rage and impetuousness expresses the need to live in a incoherent, illogical moment, to just break things because that is the only way to deal with unhappiness. While the natural link is to see a reflection between Max's own broken home and the brokenness of the Wild Things' family, I think that this film's strength comes in its ability to function on a more visceral level. We feel with this film, not just think. If you don't cry in the last moments, perhaps you aren't human. Eggers and Jonze write a masterful screenplay, modernizing this text for a more mature audience, the audience that grew up reading and dancing with the Wild Things.
On a more technical level, the casting for the film was superb. Max Records plays an adorable, monstrous young boy, living out his dreams. Lauren Ambrose is a touching KW, especially in her ability to humanize what are perhaps the most disturbing lines of the book ("I'll eat you up I love you so"). The costuming takes Maurice Sendak's creation to a real and yet even more fantastical level. The creatures are given more depth and life, a vibrancy only the big screen can yield.
All in all, a great film that gathers its strength not just from its technical and artistic skill, but from its masterful ability to express the inexpressibility of the both the ups and downs of relationships, the uncontrollable range of emotions involved in just trying to be loved.
Your Humblest Author
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Review: Kavalier & Clay - A Real American Novel
-
Christopher Pugh
47.1
Dear Gentle Readers,
I have, for quite some time, been reading Michael Chabon's Kavalier & Clay. While I still have 200 pages left of the gigantic 650 page novel, I figured it was time to share my thoughts on what has been hailed over and over as a piece of prose genius.
To begin, I should admit that at this point in the novel I am a bit stuck. The last hundred pages have been slow going, and I have lost all momentum. In fact, this is my major critique of Chabon's novel - it is just too long. I was with him for the first 300 pages, as in I read that chunk in a week. I absolutely adored it. As you all know, I recently discovered the modern American cultural icon that is the comic. Chabon does a crack job at capturing the spirit, not just of the burgeoning comic industry in the 30s and 40s, but also of the contemporary feel of the comic world. Go out and read Neil Gaiman's introduction to 1602, there you will find the same excitement and wonder that we find in the minds of Sammy Clay and Joseph Kavalier. Chabon's skill expresses the need for a hero in modern society, one reflected in Joseph's own personal struggle with the Nazi's. So on that front I think Chabon was spot on.
But then something failed for me. I was with the novel up until Kavalier and Clay get everything they want. They are rich, writing comics, and the novel seems to have ended. I realize there is much more - and I already have read far enough to know this dream state is short-lived. But there is certainly a period for about eighty pages where it seems the story has ended but Chabon has just decided not to leave his keyboard. I am happy to see that the story is gaining something, but perhaps this could have been saved for another novel.
So you might ask, readers, why did I keep reading? Well besides my own stubbornness, Chabon is a skilled writer. His ability to capture the range of human expectations and emotions moment to moment; his ability to bring a scene to life - no matter how plot thirsty - kept me going. For instance, in the long sample below, get a feel for how selectively he describes Rosa's emotional roller coaster, and Joseph's response is equally well crafted.
To give a bit of background (for those who have not read the novel), Joseph and Rosa have been dating for sometime, and Joseph has leased a new apartment in preparation for the arrival of his younger brother, who is escaping Nazi Germany. While viewing the apartment, Rosa has just given Joseph a painting, in which she holds the key to his heart.
--------------
Chabon writes:
"That's funny, " [Joseph] said. He reached into his trousers pocket. "This is what I have for you." He held out a fist to her, knuckles up. She turned the hand over and pried the fingers apart. On the palm of his hand lay a brass key. "I'm going to need help to do this," he said. "I hope with all my heart, Rosa, that you will want to help me."
"And what is this the key to?" she said, her voice sharper than she wanted it to be, knowing perfectly well that it was the key to this apartment, and that Joe was now asking her for the very thing she had been on the verge of asking for herself - that she be allowed to act as a mother, or at least a big sister, to Thomas Kavalier. She was disappointed in the same measure that she had been expecting a ring, and thrilled to the degree that she was horrified by her desire for one.
"Like in the painting," he said, in a kidding way, as if he could see she was upset, and was trying to figure out what tone to adopt with her. "The key to my heart."
She took the key and held it in her hand. It was warm from his pocket. "Thank you," she said. She was crying, bitterly and happily, ashamed of herself, thrilled to be able to really do something for him.
"I'm sorry," Joe said, taking the handkerchief from his jacket pocket. "I wanted you to have the key, because...but I did the wrong thing." He gestured toward the painting. "I forgot to say I love it. Rosa, I love it! It's incredible! It's a whole new thing for you."
She laughed, taking the hankie from him, and dabbed at her eyes. "No, Joe, it's not that," she said, though in fact that painting did represent a new direction for Rosa's work. It had been years since she had attempted to draw from her imagination. Her talent for capture a likeness, a contour, her innate sense of shadow and weight, had biased her toward life drawing early on. Though she had worked partly from a photograph this time, the details of Joe's body and face were filled in from memory, a process she had found challenging and satisfying. You had to know your lover very well - to have spent a lot of time looking at him and touching him - to be able to paint his picture when he was not around. The inevitable mistakes and exaggerations she had made struck her now as proofs, artifacts, of the mysterious intercourse of memory and love. "No, Joe. Thank you for the key. I want it very much." (588-9)
------------
Chabon's skills at capturing Rosa's emotions, her inability to contain or even expect her own desires. I love that she is "horrified" by her desire to have Joe propose to her. This is in many ways the true nature of love and its expressions, uncontrolled, embarrassing, uncertain, and most importantly unpredicatable. But in this scene, Chabon does even more than perfectly capture Rosa's emotional state. He fuses her artistic experience and knowledge into this emotion. Her love is not just expressed in her desires but through her development as an artist. A well written scene.
I have much more to say, but this post already grows long, and I just wanted to write up a few thoughts, so I will end with a quick two line review.
Kavalier & Clay is a whirlwind of strength. The novel captures an America that both was and in many ways still is, further humanized and personalized through Chabon's deft linguistic skill. While the plot may drag and the length can be overwhelming, the novel is a definite must read for anyone who wants to know what a truly American text is.
Good day,
Your Humble Author
Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. New York: Picador, 2000.
Dear Gentle Readers,
I have, for quite some time, been reading Michael Chabon's Kavalier & Clay. While I still have 200 pages left of the gigantic 650 page novel, I figured it was time to share my thoughts on what has been hailed over and over as a piece of prose genius.
To begin, I should admit that at this point in the novel I am a bit stuck. The last hundred pages have been slow going, and I have lost all momentum. In fact, this is my major critique of Chabon's novel - it is just too long. I was with him for the first 300 pages, as in I read that chunk in a week. I absolutely adored it. As you all know, I recently discovered the modern American cultural icon that is the comic. Chabon does a crack job at capturing the spirit, not just of the burgeoning comic industry in the 30s and 40s, but also of the contemporary feel of the comic world. Go out and read Neil Gaiman's introduction to 1602, there you will find the same excitement and wonder that we find in the minds of Sammy Clay and Joseph Kavalier. Chabon's skill expresses the need for a hero in modern society, one reflected in Joseph's own personal struggle with the Nazi's. So on that front I think Chabon was spot on.
But then something failed for me. I was with the novel up until Kavalier and Clay get everything they want. They are rich, writing comics, and the novel seems to have ended. I realize there is much more - and I already have read far enough to know this dream state is short-lived. But there is certainly a period for about eighty pages where it seems the story has ended but Chabon has just decided not to leave his keyboard. I am happy to see that the story is gaining something, but perhaps this could have been saved for another novel.
So you might ask, readers, why did I keep reading? Well besides my own stubbornness, Chabon is a skilled writer. His ability to capture the range of human expectations and emotions moment to moment; his ability to bring a scene to life - no matter how plot thirsty - kept me going. For instance, in the long sample below, get a feel for how selectively he describes Rosa's emotional roller coaster, and Joseph's response is equally well crafted.
To give a bit of background (for those who have not read the novel), Joseph and Rosa have been dating for sometime, and Joseph has leased a new apartment in preparation for the arrival of his younger brother, who is escaping Nazi Germany. While viewing the apartment, Rosa has just given Joseph a painting, in which she holds the key to his heart.
--------------
Chabon writes:
"That's funny, " [Joseph] said. He reached into his trousers pocket. "This is what I have for you." He held out a fist to her, knuckles up. She turned the hand over and pried the fingers apart. On the palm of his hand lay a brass key. "I'm going to need help to do this," he said. "I hope with all my heart, Rosa, that you will want to help me."
"And what is this the key to?" she said, her voice sharper than she wanted it to be, knowing perfectly well that it was the key to this apartment, and that Joe was now asking her for the very thing she had been on the verge of asking for herself - that she be allowed to act as a mother, or at least a big sister, to Thomas Kavalier. She was disappointed in the same measure that she had been expecting a ring, and thrilled to the degree that she was horrified by her desire for one.
"Like in the painting," he said, in a kidding way, as if he could see she was upset, and was trying to figure out what tone to adopt with her. "The key to my heart."
She took the key and held it in her hand. It was warm from his pocket. "Thank you," she said. She was crying, bitterly and happily, ashamed of herself, thrilled to be able to really do something for him.
"I'm sorry," Joe said, taking the handkerchief from his jacket pocket. "I wanted you to have the key, because...but I did the wrong thing." He gestured toward the painting. "I forgot to say I love it. Rosa, I love it! It's incredible! It's a whole new thing for you."
She laughed, taking the hankie from him, and dabbed at her eyes. "No, Joe, it's not that," she said, though in fact that painting did represent a new direction for Rosa's work. It had been years since she had attempted to draw from her imagination. Her talent for capture a likeness, a contour, her innate sense of shadow and weight, had biased her toward life drawing early on. Though she had worked partly from a photograph this time, the details of Joe's body and face were filled in from memory, a process she had found challenging and satisfying. You had to know your lover very well - to have spent a lot of time looking at him and touching him - to be able to paint his picture when he was not around. The inevitable mistakes and exaggerations she had made struck her now as proofs, artifacts, of the mysterious intercourse of memory and love. "No, Joe. Thank you for the key. I want it very much." (588-9)
------------
Chabon's skills at capturing Rosa's emotions, her inability to contain or even expect her own desires. I love that she is "horrified" by her desire to have Joe propose to her. This is in many ways the true nature of love and its expressions, uncontrolled, embarrassing, uncertain, and most importantly unpredicatable. But in this scene, Chabon does even more than perfectly capture Rosa's emotional state. He fuses her artistic experience and knowledge into this emotion. Her love is not just expressed in her desires but through her development as an artist. A well written scene.
I have much more to say, but this post already grows long, and I just wanted to write up a few thoughts, so I will end with a quick two line review.
Kavalier & Clay is a whirlwind of strength. The novel captures an America that both was and in many ways still is, further humanized and personalized through Chabon's deft linguistic skill. While the plot may drag and the length can be overwhelming, the novel is a definite must read for anyone who wants to know what a truly American text is.
Good day,
Your Humble Author
Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. New York: Picador, 2000.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
the Poets pen turnes them to shapes, | And giues to aire nothing, a locall habitation, | And a name.
-
Christopher Pugh
48.1
Dearest Gentle Readers,
Just a short update (look forward to Spenser tomorrow!).
Found a new living place. This livable. Pictures once painted.
Any suggestions for colour scheme?
Your Humble Author
Dearest Gentle Readers,
Just a short update (look forward to Spenser tomorrow!).
Found a new living place. This livable. Pictures once painted.
Any suggestions for colour scheme?
Your Humble Author
Thursday, October 01, 2009
To al, that in the wilde deepe wandering arre
-
Christopher Pugh
49.1
Gentlest Readers,
Your author returns. After a few false starts, even some embarrassing admissions, I have picked up the pen (or the keyboard), and shall stay strong. For now, I have a purpose, a goal, and more important a topic! This blog has, in its past, been a mesh of messy ideas and random youtube videos. That, dear readers, will not change, but this mesh will have order and direction. More important, they will have purpose!
What is this magical purpose, you ask. My sanity.
I am not starting school this Fall, and the effects of this gaping intellectual hole have already been dire. I feel adrift, lost in unfinished thoughts and crackpot ideas. My Middle English dulls, my Latin has gone on Walkabout, and my German has forgotten its own rigid sentence structure. Although my proficiency in all things Marvel or DC comics has exponentially grown (another one of those embarrassing confessions). So I want to try to moor myself, using this space. Will you help me?
I need you all to comment, give me feedback on my thoughts. I am missing out on conversations from class so I would love it if you guys take on this role. Any and all thoughts are helpful - especially from you biostats people out there or lurking family members or former German teachers.
My topics will range from pop culture (Lady Gaga is the new Madonna) to Contemporary fiction (Kavalier & Clay: beautiful, masterful prose, but too long) to my grad school applications (The GRE is stupid, and I refuse to use their vocabulary words). No matter what the blogging, though, the topic will be an important means of getting me to one goal: the second week of September 2010. By then, I will have begun some form of graduate program, and thus all will be right with the world. With this goal in mind, my blog posts will help to countdown to that week. That number at the beginning of this post marks how many weeks I have left and what number post this is for the week (so in this case; 49 weeks left, 1st post of the week).
Looking forward to our conversations.
Your Humble Author.
P.S. The title quote is from The Faerie Queene and is the leading quote for my thesis purposal.
Gentlest Readers,
Your author returns. After a few false starts, even some embarrassing admissions, I have picked up the pen (or the keyboard), and shall stay strong. For now, I have a purpose, a goal, and more important a topic! This blog has, in its past, been a mesh of messy ideas and random youtube videos. That, dear readers, will not change, but this mesh will have order and direction. More important, they will have purpose!
What is this magical purpose, you ask. My sanity.
I am not starting school this Fall, and the effects of this gaping intellectual hole have already been dire. I feel adrift, lost in unfinished thoughts and crackpot ideas. My Middle English dulls, my Latin has gone on Walkabout, and my German has forgotten its own rigid sentence structure. Although my proficiency in all things Marvel or DC comics has exponentially grown (another one of those embarrassing confessions). So I want to try to moor myself, using this space. Will you help me?
I need you all to comment, give me feedback on my thoughts. I am missing out on conversations from class so I would love it if you guys take on this role. Any and all thoughts are helpful - especially from you biostats people out there or lurking family members or former German teachers.
My topics will range from pop culture (Lady Gaga is the new Madonna) to Contemporary fiction (Kavalier & Clay: beautiful, masterful prose, but too long) to my grad school applications (The GRE is stupid, and I refuse to use their vocabulary words). No matter what the blogging, though, the topic will be an important means of getting me to one goal: the second week of September 2010. By then, I will have begun some form of graduate program, and thus all will be right with the world. With this goal in mind, my blog posts will help to countdown to that week. That number at the beginning of this post marks how many weeks I have left and what number post this is for the week (so in this case; 49 weeks left, 1st post of the week).
Looking forward to our conversations.
Your Humble Author.
P.S. The title quote is from The Faerie Queene and is the leading quote for my thesis purposal.
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