Literary Update...
I've read quite a few things since I last blogged about books so I figured it was time for an update. Here's what I've been reading:
Mikhail Bulgakov - Heart of a Dog
I introduced this book previously and it was a true Soviet classic. Short, funny, topical and extremely well written. Thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to reading more of his work.
Chuck Palahniuk - Diary
I used to read Palahniuk's books quite religiously, in fact I've read them all (Fight Club, Choke, Invisible Monsters, Survivor and Lullaby) and got quite disenfranchised by the end of it with his writing style. I just got sick of Palahniuk rehashing the same formulaic nihillistic view of American society punctuated with "ironic humour" to beat his readers over the head with his social commentary. I prefer something a little more subtle. Diary was no different, yes, it was an entertaining read and I did enjoy it but I still wonder why I bother with Mr. P sometimes. Although at least the narrative was a damn sight more interesting than Survivor, yeech.
Amaranta Wright - Ripped & Torn
This is a book about Amaranta's journey through Latin America on a job assignment for Levi's, interviewing young people and figuring out how best to market Levi's in the region. It turned it to much more for her as she slowly awakened to the terrible reality of Latin America's politics, social problems and exploitation at the hands of US Corporate Greed. A book that is heartfelt, often funny and always poignant. Thoroughly recommended to fans of Chavez, Lula and Naomi Klein.
Thomas Mann - Death in Venice & Other short stories
Mann has won the Nobel Prize for Literature and is a famous proponent of bourgeoise German writing. I find his writing style (at least in translation anyway) evocative and interesting... but a touch boring. I find it difficult to relate to the social settings he describes and am often frustrated by his attention to detail, particularly in short story form. Some of the stories have been interesting (an interesting parable of Life passing a man by on a bicycle despite his increasingly desperate angry retorts, an Italian-inspired clash of art & religion, a crippled man's suicide in the face of a beautiful woman's sucker punch...) and some more boring... still reading this one so we'll see how it goes.
In addition to these books, I've also seen Scorcese's Infernal Affairs remake, "The Departed" and Tim Robbins' on-stage version of Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty Four". I found the film to be absolutely fantastic, the acting was tremendous, the setting was perfectly set and the dialogue was absolutely on-point, a true back-to-form for Scorcese. However, the screenwriter should definitely be berated for the terrible, cliched, ending... yeech... why couldnt they keep the original HK ending! The play was also tremendous, I'd never read the book before but it has inspired me to go out and buy it!
posted by LX @ 10:43 PM
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