It's funny that my tagline is "Books, Records, Films... These things matter" because I never blog about them.
They must not matter that much. (Ohhh, but they do. I just never write about them.)
Until now!
Books
I finished reading Straight Man, by Richard Russo a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a funny book about academia, but I couldn't help but see the ridiculousness of all petty ambition in its pages.
It's a good read, but not as good as my favorite read from last year, But Enough About Me, by Jancee Dunn. If you're in the market for a funny, terrific little ditty of a 30-somethings life so far, this is your book. I can't say enough about how much I loved it.
Movies
Went to the movies Christmas Eve and saw No Country For Old Men. I walked out about after about 30 minutes. I tried to be an accommodating girlfriend and agreed to see it, even though I knew I'd hate it. It wasn't a bad movie per se, but I hate feeling tense and anxious and watching endless numbers of people get killed. It's just not fun for me. So I squeaked into Barnes and Noble minutes before it closed and bought a few magazines to read until the movie was over.
I ended up reading them in the hallway of the theater because I couldn't stand listening to the Christmas music that was playing everywhere else in the Levee. Wasn't bad though. The bench was kind of comfy and up against a wall, so I could rest my back. That's nice. I'd give it a 7 out of 10 stars on the movie experience scale. (The magazines were pretty good.)
Saw Walk Hard on New Year's Day. Hee-larious. Jack White as Elvis was my favorite scene. (Don't click the link if you plan to see it, though. Save it for the Big Screen.) It reduces me to tears whenever I think about it/watch it. Loook out!!! (The Tall Drink of Water does a great impression of this, btw. Ask him to do it next time you see him.)
Walk Hard has a some lulls, but overall, good stuff.
Rentals
Also, watched Waitress on demand last week. I know it got some mixed reviews, but I adored it. I'd have ended it a bit differently, but overall the dialog, characters, and story was so quirky and cute. And it's one of my favorite flavors for movies, bittersweet.
Books again
Back to books... I'm about halfway through the running cult classic Once a Runner. I recently found out it's out of print and worth about $200, so I dug out my pristine copy (I don't actually read most of the books I buy, you know) and man, what horrible writing.
I'll probably finish it because I feel I should - it being a cult classic and all, plus I'm mildly interested in what happens to ol' Cassidy - but woo wee does it have some trite-ass dialog and silliness. I also think the main character is thus-far the least developed, though the author, John Parker, is trying really, really hard to shroud him in mystery and intrigued. It's not working. Instead he comes across as vague and somewhat unlikable.
A friend of mine says he can't imagine anyone but a former or current competitive runner finding it compelling because it's so poorly written. So far that assessment is spot on. I was once gripped by a book on the history of Blood, proving that if it's well written, anything can be absorbing.
Aaaand that's it for now folks. This should serve my tagline well for next year or so. Or until I walk out of another movie.
4 comments:
While Once a Runner may not have won any awards or been the best written book ever, i've lost track of how many times i've read it and it never fails to inspire.
I definitely enjoy the "workout" portions of the book. It's the rest of it that I'm not such a fan of.
We'll see. I'm halfway through now.
I loved Waitress, too! I, too, appreciated its quirkiness, and thought something about it was so lovable.
Dan and I saw Walk Hard on New Years Day - I was ready for it to be over after the Jack White scene. In fact, I whispered to Dan, "I think that's Jack White." It was all downhill from there.
We watched Once last Friday night - have you seen that? I think it was an awesome movie. Watch and let's discuss.
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