A sweet story of father-son love? Uh, yeah, that's not exactly what I got out of The Road. Like, the kid was the only thing keeping the father from going completely feral. And the baby on the barbecue. There was a hell of a lot more going on in that novel than that the guy loved his kid. Although he did.
Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Giles ,'Conversations with Dead People'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Consuela - Jun 06, 2007 8:32:35 pm PDT #2767 of 28688
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
lisah - Jun 07, 2007 4:56:10 am PDT #2768 of 28688
Punishingly Intricate
body language indicated that he didn't want to be there, but he was gracious about it and Oprah didn't press him.
that's cool. I love people behaving like grown ups!
Toddson - Jun 07, 2007 5:09:18 am PDT #2769 of 28688
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
It has the charm of novelty.
DavidS - Jun 07, 2007 8:26:44 am PDT #2770 of 28688
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
One of my favorite prose stylists, Annie Dillard, has a new novel out.
Some gorgeous examples of that prose:
“in her company he wrapped himself in misery like a robe. Between them self-consciousness bulked as a river silts its channel.”
“His hot eyes cooled. Invisible clouds blocked the sky and its atmospheres where noises of people dissolve. The sea beside him, a monster with a lace hem, drained east.”
“Twice a day behind their house the tide boarded the sand. Four times a year the seasons flopped over. Clams live like this, but without so much reading.”
flea - Jun 07, 2007 8:53:58 am PDT #2771 of 28688
information libertarian
I regret to have to say I dislike Annie Dillard's prose style enough that I wasn't able to make it through that famous book she wrote. Um, the one about the pond, or whatever it was.
But I did babysit for her 5 year old daughter Rosie once, when I was in high school. What a rambunctious kid.
DavidS - Jun 07, 2007 8:55:08 am PDT #2772 of 28688
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Um, the one about the pond, or whatever it was.
corrected:
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Connie Neil - Jun 07, 2007 8:57:04 am PDT #2773 of 28688
brillig
I regret to have to say I dislike Annie Dillard's prose style enough that I wasn't able to make it through that famous book she wrote.
Oh, good, I was sitting here thinking, "Oh, dear, there goes my literary sophistication, that's some fairly overwrought stuff."
flea - Jun 07, 2007 8:59:16 am PDT #2774 of 28688
information libertarian
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. (I just went and looked it up.)
I am more an E. B. White kind of prose style fan.
Amy - Jun 07, 2007 9:04:24 am PDT #2775 of 28688
Because books.
Yeah, Annie Dillard is a little ... well, overwrought is as good a word as any. For me, anyway.
Connie Neil - Jun 07, 2007 9:04:33 am PDT #2776 of 28688
brillig
Roger Zelazny would go off into flights of twisting imagery, but he used it to describe a specific event/process/proceeding, and it was easy to skip if I wasn't in the mood for a verbal acid trip.