Books and Movies, December 2009
Books:
Doomed Queens by Kris Waldherr
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The Glance by Rumi, trans. Coleman Barks
In Search of Klingsor by Jorge Volpi
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Movies:
Top Hat - 1935
UHF - 1989
I've heard very good things* about Jorge Volpi's Season of Ash. My library doesn't have it yet, so I read In Search of Klingsor, which is okay. It's kind of fun--physicists as evil plotters!--but it falls apart at the end.
Soon I Will Be Invincible is fantastic. I highly recommend it. It follows an evil genius and a bionic woman as they come closer to solving a mystery--and to each other! Yes, I wrote that myself. I can't reproduce the book's brilliance, or even quote from it (I lent it out the evening I finished it), so I'll just exhort you to go out and read it.
I also recommend Fifth Business, which is just a good book. Also, I used the word "hagiographer" twice since finishing it, so it has both entertained me ad improved my vocabulary.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is about beauty. And about knowing it when you see it. I need to watch The Munekata Sisters now.
UHF is Weird Al's movie about a loser who starts managing his uncle's tv station. Half the fun is the ridiculous commercials (Spatula City!) the station airs. It's funny and I was tempted to start my own crummy tv station after seeing it. Also, I think Wheel of Fish should be a real show.
Top Hat is fun and pretty. When the characters go to Italy, they go to a Las Vegas version of Italy, which is kind of hilarious to see. My favorite character is Madge, the practical funny woman. Ah, hijinks.
It was a good month, even though I finished a ludicrous number of books and watched very few movies. I'm going to try to even that out in January.
*Okay, so that post isn't exactly very good things, but the older post where Jessa Crispin talks about how much she loves the book is gone now. However, I think the except from Volpi's essay is enough to show that he's pretty awesome.
Doomed Queens by Kris Waldherr
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Foundation by Isaac Asimov
The Glance by Rumi, trans. Coleman Barks
In Search of Klingsor by Jorge Volpi
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Movies:
Top Hat - 1935
UHF - 1989
I've heard very good things* about Jorge Volpi's Season of Ash. My library doesn't have it yet, so I read In Search of Klingsor, which is okay. It's kind of fun--physicists as evil plotters!--but it falls apart at the end.
Soon I Will Be Invincible is fantastic. I highly recommend it. It follows an evil genius and a bionic woman as they come closer to solving a mystery--and to each other! Yes, I wrote that myself. I can't reproduce the book's brilliance, or even quote from it (I lent it out the evening I finished it), so I'll just exhort you to go out and read it.
I also recommend Fifth Business, which is just a good book. Also, I used the word "hagiographer" twice since finishing it, so it has both entertained me ad improved my vocabulary.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog is about beauty. And about knowing it when you see it. I need to watch The Munekata Sisters now.
UHF is Weird Al's movie about a loser who starts managing his uncle's tv station. Half the fun is the ridiculous commercials (Spatula City!) the station airs. It's funny and I was tempted to start my own crummy tv station after seeing it. Also, I think Wheel of Fish should be a real show.
Top Hat is fun and pretty. When the characters go to Italy, they go to a Las Vegas version of Italy, which is kind of hilarious to see. My favorite character is Madge, the practical funny woman. Ah, hijinks.
It was a good month, even though I finished a ludicrous number of books and watched very few movies. I'm going to try to even that out in January.
*Okay, so that post isn't exactly very good things, but the older post where Jessa Crispin talks about how much she loves the book is gone now. However, I think the except from Volpi's essay is enough to show that he's pretty awesome.