Thursday, August 23, 2012

Almost Forgot

While Tihana was here, I found and acquired an ARC of Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis. It is a wonderful, disturbing read. I'm not claiming that Marty is growing soft, but it is a different turn form the likes of Yellow Dog. I do fear it won't resonate with us Yanks. The aspect of relegation in the premier league is a the core of a wonderful joke in the novel, one which pass by ethereal to most here.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Don't Know, Really

A few weeks back this next post was going to focus on my concerns about Dark Knight Rising and Meet John Doe; sure, literature was going to be examined, but I was going to note how both films terrified me: perhaps vomiting over Robert pattinson  playing T.E. Lawrence would follow, but i was going to stand tall and review Lanark which I finished. I then read Juan The Landless by Goytisolo and The Business by Iain Banks. Alas, I find myself tired and crotchety.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Sweeping Without The Arc

I've read most of Jonathan Lethem's Ecstasy of Influence and have enjoyed such. The one point which lingers is Lethem's admission that if on a desert island he would rather have the complete works of Barbara Pym than those of Thomas Pynchon. That resonated with me. it recall Jacques Roubaud's obsession with fiction by English women.

I can't be expected to perform well these days. I feel ill at ease. I've grown weary of the latest pronouncements concerning one of the greatest writers of the last century. It isn't Gore Vidal I'm referencing, but instead Harlan Ellison and James Ellroy. This flattened scape of the virtual and new technologies is leaving me clammy; much more than the brunt of the ongoing heat.