Macabre Macrame'

There is more to Edgar Allan Poe than "Quoth the Raven, nevermore." He is difficult, as he quotes Latin without interpretation and is prone to rambling "Old English" drug induced wordiness. I have a copy of his "complete tales & poems" (Dorset Press), and can only highly recommend a few as will follow. I can't imagine a reader sitting through all thousand plus pages while remaining upright. The fellow was indeed a natural genius of the dirge mentality. He is however, too depressing for the sane of us. Too much downers my man. One sentence should be one sentence, not two pages: "The Purloined Letter" for instance. It could have been jolly good but the punchline is in Latin. And E. P. regurgitates and ruminates for 1 1/2 pages. The 5 (pfft) star story has one of my favorite lines in it however: "We gave him a hearty welcome, for there was nearly half as much of the entertaining as of the contemptible about the man..." For my money, nothing worse than a seven star out of ten is worth a read. "The Pit and the Pendulum" is the dude's best, 9*. 8* star stories: "The Black Cat", The Masque of the Red Death"-that's it! 7* (so readable), "The Gold Bug", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "A Descent into the Maelstrom", "Ligeia", "The Tell Tale Heart". Those 4 famous stories are still tough to read after the titles. Forget "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". It could have been a 7. It's a good story (the monkey did it), but again the punchline is in a language that I did not study; French.

here's the website

Pasted from Ezine/One of 2002's Best Films="Spun"

...on meth that is.

My own personal preface: I will always feel that "crank" chefs deserve the death penalty.

Having said that I will proceed.

I'm just a bi-polar old man but I think this film is so hilariously nasty that it is a must-see.

"I can smell the snail trails all over the store."??? If you are not familiar with that phrase it's in here. It is uttered by one of the quintessential Spanish sleaze princesses. Let's see, what else? The decongestant used to make speed is kept behind the counter as it is supposed to be. But the clerk has no problem selling thirty bottles at a time, as long as it is for a good cause. I almost busted my stitches when the nude blonde in the handcuffs was blank down below, a la 1950's mens mags or "Barbie". We can see a meth factory, but no hair please. A brilliant commentary. This whole epic is an absolute symphonic cacophony.

WARNING: Careful with that axe Eugene. This one is a hard "R" rating. I mean R leaning on X.

If this movie isn't a cult classic it deserves to be. Don't get me wrong. I'm not nostalgic for the homemade poison which it revolves around; never got into it, thank goodness. I did some equally dumb things maybe. Want to snort some aerosol spray cooking oil?

Sometimes it helps to laugh at this mean world. This movie did make me do that. Edgy would be a mild description. I rate it a thousand stars. Seldom does a film hit its mark so perfectly. It's a bulls-eye for director Jonas Ackerlund. The characters are brilliant caricatures in a very sad theme and Mickey Rourke absolutely "cooks".

The writing deserved an Oscar. Just genius.

The animation deserved an Oscar. No airbrushing there.

The makeup deserved an Oscar. They took some really good looking actors and made them look like trash. Except for Mickey. He probably didn't need a lot of help, as he fits the niche. And Mom didn't need much help. Don't look too close. She's just your average American, but I had to turn away.

I cannot tell any more. Just hold on tight.

Seriously though, this film is disturbingly desperate when the laughs are over. The bad thing is, it can really get this horrible. I've seen a friend pick up lint out of the carpet hoping that it was crank. Just tweaking man. This junk is rife in America and it makes me cry, not laugh. SPEED KILLS!!

Jim William knows what he is talking about. He was a drug-induced catatonic schizophrenic for a short time. Much was lost then. Much bonus time was gained, along with a multi-faceted identity.


WEBSITE: http://themaven.synthasite.com

More "Best of the Decades"? Books

JAMES HILTON's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1934) rates 5* only because of its brevity and ease of reading. Rather than being touched by Mr. Chips's personality I became extremely annoyed by his umph-ing interspersed speech. As my school Latin is quite rusty, I missed almost all the jokes, too. JA
MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS's "Cross Creek", published in 1942 is a mildly interesting perspective on daily life in rural 1940's Florida, including outrageous political incorrectness as well as some insightful ecological concerns. 5*. non-fiction. JA
L. H. Oswald is the "Libra" in DON DELILLO's novel published in 1988. Unless one is a big fan of J. F. K. assassination theories, the feeling and ambiance are the thing. I was only 11 when this thing went down. So which characters are unreal in this "historical fiction"? I wouldn't know. But the tension is palpable and Jacqueline still gets brain matter on her. 7*. JI
I tried to read "Midnight's Children" as my '80s book. No Way! 60 pages in I gave up, and had no clue what I had read.
"The Evolution Man or How I Ate My Father", by ROY LEWIS (1960), is a humorous tale of the Pleistocene Age, including the discovery of fire, with amusing insight into humans' progress. 7*. JA
BERYL BAINBRIDGE's "The Birthday Boys" (1991) features strong characters in a descriptive, touching fictional account of a 1912 try (Wales) for the South Pole. 8*. JA

Genius...Brilliant......and ?Blonde?

Originally published in installments in Harper's Bazaar, 1925's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" by ANITA LOOS fits all the criteria for a great book: 1) It's very good. 2) It's very short. 3) It's good and short.
It is a diary by a blonde for blondes. Just by co-instance, nothing much practically happens (as Lorelei would say). One thing I did learn: "...it seems that Munchen is practically full of Germans..." She means Munich.
I can only give it 8 1/2* as it can get a bit over-underwhelming (cause I'm not blonde). JI

WEBSITE

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Somewhere between "The day broke gray and dull." and "...the sun was shining." things got better for our main character Philip. Alas, not for dear reader though. 600 pages to find out "Philip asked himself what was the use of living. It seemed quite inane." But in 85 pages more the sun was shining (because thank goodness, the book was over). W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM's 1915 "Of Human Bondage" gives me a 4* headache. JI
Oh yeah, 10 years later on the American continent THEODORE DREISER's "An American Tragedy" ran into the same problem. It's author also got paid by the word. At least Clyde (this main character) killed his girl. She shouldn't have got pregnant if she wanted to live. Something happened in almost 900 pages. I guess the tragedy was he wasn't satisfied with his lot. It wouldn't have been that abortion was illegal? Not in 1925. 5*. JA

So take your choice of European or American blah blah. None for me thanks, nice titles though.

WEBSITE

"Little Boy" Speaks Large

I first read JOHN HERSEY's 1946 publication "Hiroshima" a very long time ago. When I get to the part about the hand and arm skin coming off of a bomb victim's body "like a glove", I still wish it was fiction. And that's not the worst of it! A new worthwhile chapter, "The Aftermath", was added by the original author in 1985. This important book is still a very short read. A matter of hours offers one much introspection. Yeah, Dad fought at Guadalcanal but I still can't reconcile the Enola Gay with humanity. 8*. JI

WEBSITE

More "Best Of" Disappointment

HARPER LEE's "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1960) was voted best novel of the century (20th.) by librarians. Guess I'm not a librarian. It won a Pulitzer. Guess I'm not a boxer. I liked the movie better, and that never speaks well of a novel. 6*. JI
I'm going with Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" (1968) to replace the "...Mock..."

QUINTESSSSSENTIAL HORROR GENRE-the "Best of '70s"

"The Shining", "hack" Stephen King's "hack" tale published in 1977, lacks his 200 page "character development" fixation. That's what I like best about this one. He jumps right into a good story here. The story even held up in a movie adaptation. That's unusual for a King book.
8* JI

WEBSITE

One of the Best Ever Books-"The Catcher in the Rye", 1951

WARNING: VULGAR AND IRREVERENT!
It took the author about 10 years to finish the book, but you couldn't tell by the perfect flow. I read it in 6 hours, couldn't put it down. I can't remember that happening ever before. I'm not a fast reader. The dialogue is incredible in this mini-biography re: many men. Problem is, it is told by some moron who's thinking stuff like "she was lousy with rocks". I would call this J. D. Salinger thing a novella. All the more incredible for a classic. 9 STARS if you can take it.
JI

WEBSITE

One of the Best Books of the '30's-"Grapes of Wrath"

...or "The Human Condition", John Steinbeck's 1939 landmark story of human compassion and cruelty, of hope and hopelessness in an intriguing vernacular gets 9 of 10 stars. Despair has no answer for the will to exist.
JI

WEBSITE

Decades' Best Books-An American Treasure Disappoints

MARK TWAIN's (Samuel L. Clemens) "The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg and other Essays and Stories" 1900, gets 6* of 10 out of respect. In fairness, most of the compilation is from the 1800s. My opinion: read "Huck' Finn".
JI

More bad "Best of the Decades'" from a well-respected published source. In other words, we disagree:

PAT CONROY's "The Prince of Tides" 1986, this is too wordy for a good story (which it is). 5*. JA
ANNE MORROW LINDBERG's "Gift from the Sea" 1955, 4*. The best thing: short, worst: aristocratic. JA
SHERWOOD ANDERSON's "Winesburg, Ohio" 1919, some good descriptive phrases in a story of repression. 5*. JA
MILES FRANKLIN's (Stella Maria Sarah Franklin) "My Brilliant Career" 1901, 6* and surprisingly well written by a teenager near the turn of the century. JA
JEFFREY EUGENIDES's story published in 1993, "The Virgin Suicides", is best of what? Best hip 1990's story? In my doddering old age I hadn't been cognizant of the romanticizing of suicide. I didn't get it but the story's worth 7*. It at least has one of my favorite lines: "Don't waste your time on life". JI
JACK FINNEY's 1970 novel "Time and Again" carries the usual 7* blah blah blah review. "It's a good story with a couple of interesting turns". He tries his hand at historical fiction, and knows his NYC history. JA

Hey, where's "The Wind in the Willows" (1908, K. Grahame) on the '00's best list? Oh for the love of Toady, Mole and Water Rat!

The best of the 1700s: "Gulliver's Travels", 1726 and revised 1735, J. Swift (real title, get this, "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships"), "Robinson Crusoe" (the first novel in English? I was surprised how little of the book was about R. C.'s man Friday. I think that you will be also. The book is written in "Old English" vernacular. That's a struggle. No pain no gain. It's worth the trouble.), D. Defoe, 1719.

And the 1800s? Not the S. L. Clemens "...Hadleyburg..." thing. I guess "Call me Ishmael." if you will.

WEBSITE HERE

"The Women", T. C. Boyle, 2009

This book had me running between the dictionary (half of the time for non-existent words, but you'll know what Boyle means) and the computer (to look up referenced people and architectural feats). And it was a marvelous labor. (Most places are real, characters not.) The morphine addict is insane, by the way. Actually, FLLW. seemed to make everyone insane. And yet this story is infused with Everyman. I comprehend the angst in the book too well I fear. Boyle shows that he writes as well from the feminine as the masculine. I would nominate this novel as one of the decade's top ten. Tom (the author) is lucky enough and sincere enough to live in one of Wrieto-San's (this term coined by one of the fervent fictional characters, Tadashi Sato) concoctions, the George C. Stewart House. His other top five novels are (opinionated): "Riven Rock" (his best and another historical novel; worthy of a best of the 1990s), "The Road to Wellville" (about the Kellogg cereal nut), in a different vein would be "Tortilla Curtain" (his 2nd. best), "Budding Prospects" for stoners, and "East is East" with a worthy Japanese main character (like "The Women").