sputnik sweetheart and alien
I finished Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart this weekend. This is my fifth Murakami novel. I'm beginning to believe I've come at Murakami backwards; I started with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore, two of his most complex novels. Also in there was Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which is has a strange Phillip K. Dick vibe to it. From these three books my initial picture of Murakami as a writer formed--one of my favorite writers, but one that you wrestled with to get the rewards. These books were not particularly accessible. Then, last year, I read Norwegian Wood and it was a revelation: direct, easily accessible, emotionally open and honest (though still tinged with enough weirdness that you knew it was a Murakami novel.) Basically, Norwegian Wood is one of those books that moves you, fills you with longing, plays with your heart--things all too rare in books of any stripe. I gained a new appreciation of his talents. Murakami, I think, may very well be our greatest living fiction writer. It's either him or Cormac McCarthy, not that you can compare the two. Murakami gets props for being much more prolific (though he's yet to write anything as devastating and life-changing as Blood Meridian...but then, no one has.)
Sputnik Sweetheart is the slightest book of Murakami's that I've read. I don't mean this in a negative light--it's thin, easy to pick up (I finished it in a couple of days, which is something considering my current schedule) and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. That said, it pales in comparison to Norwegian Wood, which it closely resembles in themes and approach. In fact, I found myself checking the pub dates, sure that Sputnik was a dry run for Norwegian Wood...but no, it was written nearly a decade later. I will say that for the first time I found myself wishing for more out of a Murakami novel, which is a testament to just how great all of his work has been that I've had the pleasure to read so far. Sputnik Sweetheart is not a bad place to point someone who hasn't read Murakami and wants to get a sense for his style, but I'd still recommend Norwegian Wood for beginners. The guy is a treasure, and you can bet that eventually I'm going to read every single one of his works (somehow I've still not read any of his short stories...)
After a lovely Saturday spent working out in the yard and grilling for the first time here at the new homestead, the evening rolled around and I was ready for a movie. Taking a break from my usual exploitation/weird mondo cinema, I decided to watch Alien for the first time since...1990, maybe?
Oh. My. God.
It's not that I'd forgotten about the movie, but somehow I'd forgotten how textbook *perfect* it is. The sets, the acting, the unbearable tension of a tale that is essentially Lovecraft in space--my god, Ridley Scott was capable of this? Seriously, has there ever been a movie that is better paced? I think all filmmakers should have to watch it simply to understand how to freaking pace a film. How to build up suspense. How to play with the audience, convince them that they've seen more than they have (it reminds me a great deal of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in that regard. Both movies are not that gory, but you are positive you've seen more than you have.) See, if Hollywood still made movies like this, I'd actually pay attention to Hollywood. But even ol' Ridley never topped Alien. Blade Runner is certainly a classic, and I loved the hell out of Thelma and Louise back when it came out, but outside of that...well, I'm just not his target audience, I guess. But Alien is perfect. And I've got Aliens lying here too, which I also haven't seen since 1990 or so, but unlike Alien, which I'd seen maybe twice, I've probably seen Aliens a dozen times. If Alien is a horror movie at heart, Aliens is an action movie. I'm looking forward to seeing it again, but I doubt it's going to blow me away again like Alien did. That is my kind of movie.
And writing...haven't written much over the last two weeks between crazy work stuff and being sick. Hope to pickup the thread tomorrow. It's becoming damnably hard to find the writing time again, but I'm going to manage somehow.
Sputnik Sweetheart is the slightest book of Murakami's that I've read. I don't mean this in a negative light--it's thin, easy to pick up (I finished it in a couple of days, which is something considering my current schedule) and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. That said, it pales in comparison to Norwegian Wood, which it closely resembles in themes and approach. In fact, I found myself checking the pub dates, sure that Sputnik was a dry run for Norwegian Wood...but no, it was written nearly a decade later. I will say that for the first time I found myself wishing for more out of a Murakami novel, which is a testament to just how great all of his work has been that I've had the pleasure to read so far. Sputnik Sweetheart is not a bad place to point someone who hasn't read Murakami and wants to get a sense for his style, but I'd still recommend Norwegian Wood for beginners. The guy is a treasure, and you can bet that eventually I'm going to read every single one of his works (somehow I've still not read any of his short stories...)
After a lovely Saturday spent working out in the yard and grilling for the first time here at the new homestead, the evening rolled around and I was ready for a movie. Taking a break from my usual exploitation/weird mondo cinema, I decided to watch Alien for the first time since...1990, maybe?
Oh. My. God.
It's not that I'd forgotten about the movie, but somehow I'd forgotten how textbook *perfect* it is. The sets, the acting, the unbearable tension of a tale that is essentially Lovecraft in space--my god, Ridley Scott was capable of this? Seriously, has there ever been a movie that is better paced? I think all filmmakers should have to watch it simply to understand how to freaking pace a film. How to build up suspense. How to play with the audience, convince them that they've seen more than they have (it reminds me a great deal of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in that regard. Both movies are not that gory, but you are positive you've seen more than you have.) See, if Hollywood still made movies like this, I'd actually pay attention to Hollywood. But even ol' Ridley never topped Alien. Blade Runner is certainly a classic, and I loved the hell out of Thelma and Louise back when it came out, but outside of that...well, I'm just not his target audience, I guess. But Alien is perfect. And I've got Aliens lying here too, which I also haven't seen since 1990 or so, but unlike Alien, which I'd seen maybe twice, I've probably seen Aliens a dozen times. If Alien is a horror movie at heart, Aliens is an action movie. I'm looking forward to seeing it again, but I doubt it's going to blow me away again like Alien did. That is my kind of movie.
And writing...haven't written much over the last two weeks between crazy work stuff and being sick. Hope to pickup the thread tomorrow. It's becoming damnably hard to find the writing time again, but I'm going to manage somehow.