A Movie And A Book
I've decided to entertain you all with an update on my resolutions to read nineteen books and watch fifty films. I am not happy to report that I only have one more addition for each: 300 and Dubliners by James Joyce.
7. 300 - This was certainly an action packed movie. I told my friends that it was slightly racist and they called me out on it. It truly isn't racist; it's slightly stereotypical. The Greeks, specifically the Spartans, are portrayed as focused solely on warfare. The Persians are disgusting, lavish, frightening creatures that nearly wiped out all of Western Civilization. That's the most interesting aspect of the movie: the truth about the battle and it's importance. The whole rest of history could have been different if the Persians had won that battle. Crazy! This was a good break from the comedies that I had grown stagnant with.
4. Dubliners - I read this as part of an Irish Writers course and not only do I want to visit Ireland, but to create something as unique as it. I could read all of those stories a thousand times and never get every single element out of it. I love the idea of writing stories about people in a city. I could do something similar with Elmira. For the most part, the stories are depressing (especially "Counterparts" - it ends with a kid crying out for his father not to abuse him) but perhaps "The Dead" ends with some slight form of hope. Joyce is pretty much amazing, plain and simple.
That's all for now! More to come later.
-Paul
7. 300 - This was certainly an action packed movie. I told my friends that it was slightly racist and they called me out on it. It truly isn't racist; it's slightly stereotypical. The Greeks, specifically the Spartans, are portrayed as focused solely on warfare. The Persians are disgusting, lavish, frightening creatures that nearly wiped out all of Western Civilization. That's the most interesting aspect of the movie: the truth about the battle and it's importance. The whole rest of history could have been different if the Persians had won that battle. Crazy! This was a good break from the comedies that I had grown stagnant with.
4. Dubliners - I read this as part of an Irish Writers course and not only do I want to visit Ireland, but to create something as unique as it. I could read all of those stories a thousand times and never get every single element out of it. I love the idea of writing stories about people in a city. I could do something similar with Elmira. For the most part, the stories are depressing (especially "Counterparts" - it ends with a kid crying out for his father not to abuse him) but perhaps "The Dead" ends with some slight form of hope. Joyce is pretty much amazing, plain and simple.
That's all for now! More to come later.
-Paul