Anya ,'Bring On The Night'
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."
What's interesting about it (and why I think Stephen Gaghan was so taken with it) is that it's such a cinematic way of thinking. I mean, it's basically Eisenstein's theory of montage, only about books, and about a half-century earlier. Which is just nifty.
[eta: And also makes me think that Eisenstein had read a lot of Tolstoy. Or maybe Russians just think in more transitiony terms than the rest of us.]
it's basically Eisenstein's theory of montage, only about books,
Actually, that was my first thought, when I read your summary of Tolstoy. "Anybody who watches enough hour-long drama TV shouldn't need help with transitions." I think we as a aprtly-visual culture are so good at them that they have become an invisible skill.
Transitions are important, but for me the other three are crucial.
I'm just not sure whether it's better to create a world and then find a story in it, or to have a story and create a world for it.
I'm not too familiar with Tolstoy, but I suspect that "transitions" aren't just the mechanics of getting from one scene to the next. A character arc is a kind of transition. I could be totally wrong, but if you think of "transitions" as "changes" it makes a bit more sense.
In "What I'm Reading" news, as a result of the Fandom Wank-ed kerfluffle about femslash, in which people kept mentioning Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, I got it from the library. It's not *quite* Harry Potter's older, darker, sexier, Victorian cousin....but it's somewhere in the family tree. I really like it.
It's not *quite* Harry Potter's older, darker, sexier, Victorian cousin....but it's somewhere in the family tree.
Soooo, what you're saying is I really should get around to reading it?
Libba Bray's A Great and Terribly Beauty
Ooooh ooooh! I know the author, and she's one of the smartest, funniest, snarkiest people ever. I loved A Great and Terrible Beauty (although I am, of course, biased).
Just started Rebel Angels, the sequel, and am loving it so far, too.
It's not *quite* Harry Potter's older, darker, sexier, Victorian cousin....but it's somewhere in the family tree.
Soooo, what you're saying is I really should get around to reading it?
Yes, indeed. The beginning is a little *off,* in terms of it being historical fiction, b/c the protagonist's voice is a little too modern, but then the book really hits its stride and slips into fine Victorian voice.
I'm about halfway finished, and I just requested the sequel from the library, b/c I know I'll have it finished in the next day or so.
if you think of "transitions" as "changes" it makes a bit more sense.
Ah. Like movement? Okay, yeah, that does make sense. Thanks, Strega.
Libba Bray's A Great and Terribly Beauty
Is Yeats the most referenced poet ever? Or do I just know more Yeats than other poets?