Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
This gas thing is starting to freak me out a little bit. Its not that I really mind all that much paying 4.30 for gas but its the way that it has been presented us. It feels like only one in a combination of shades that have been systematically lifted off of the way we had been living for several years. Yes there was a war in Iraq but it never effected us adversely, unless you had a loved one over there, but for the most of us it never came that close to effecting us on any kind of personal level. But then the housing crisis came and the economy slowed down, and the government sent us $600 for free in the hopes that we wouldnt freak out when the gas prices hit 4 bucks and a lot of this was due to the amount of money that we have been ceaselessly pumping into the war. It seems like one thing after another after another is starting to go wrong or not wrong precisely but backwards. It isnt the end of the world but I am starting to see that at some point there will be one. Global warming and record amounts of tropical storms, hurricanes and floods. and on top of that we have to live with David Cook as our American Idol!!! Its all just starting to get to me i guess.-> The new Spiritualized album is pretty good, its a grower. The new Weezer album is very bad.-> I liked Indiana Jones 4 but Shia Lebouf was sort of a mistake and the scene where he swings on vines with a bunch of monkeys is perhaps the worst scene in the history of cinema.->Celtics in 6-> Im writing this on a Mac and for whatever reason it doesnt register when i make a new paragraph.-> I havent read a good book in a while any suggestions?-> and finally good work to the Democrats for finally getting their act together and picking a candidate however in my current state of mind I dont have very high hopes for November. I think America likes crazy people and John McCain might be the craziest. Imagine if he makes Mitt Romney his running mate? they would spend all of their time smiling insanely at each other reminiscing about what it was like when they both believed totally different things than they do now and comparing the taste of the Republican teet!
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Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
I am reading the Dark Tower again. I found the first 4 books in their audio versions at the library last week and paid whopping $7 for them all, the library’s suggested donation price. I had been wanting to read them again but i didnt want to read them again. so this is nice, i get to experience them in a new medium.
Hillary won last night. I cared so little about the outcome that I actually only watched a few minutes of coverage last night. Hurray, the democratic primary has officially moved from curiously long into the regions of the grotesque. Congratulations you two.
i havent been thinking very blog worthy thoughts. Maybe they are live journal worthy but this isnt a live journal so im not going to expose any one who actually reads this to the inner works of myself. You should be glad for that because my inner workings are boring and silly.
Keep on Chooglin’
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
I was trying to find ways to kill time today because for whatever reason and trust me im not complaining, its is dead at work. reading for me is the most efficient killer of time but thinking it would be busy as usual i neglected to bring a book. So i started reading through the New Yorker’s archives of recently published short stories. I read a John Updike first which was very John Updike-ish. I read one by Jeffrey Eugenides (the Virgin Suicides and Middlesex) I read one by Jonathan Lethem (Motherless Brooklyn and one of my favorite books, The Fortress of Solitude). I read one by Richard Ford and one by Salman Rushdie and one by Alice Munro and one by recent Pulitzer winner Junot Diaz. I was not overly impressed by any of them and i will get to why in a second.
The New Yorker must be going through some kind of TC Boyle phase because in the last 6 months they have published three of his stories. I am big TC Boyle fan in the way that i am a big Grateful dead fan. I like the idea of TC Boyle. I like his zaniness and he is obviously a good writer, but sometimes he can be too zany and most of the time he can be too long winded. he is also a little self indulgent for my taste but i do enjoy that piece of hair that he has that he always lets droop over his face. Anyway, I like the guy, i have enjoyed his stories in the past and i enjoyed the two i read today as well: Ash Monday and The Lie. Both very funny but with tons of heart, hes always been good at writing characters with a soul which is nice.
God, i am really taking forever to make this point.
My point is that the reason i liked the TC Boyle short stories and why wasnt crazy about any of the other ones i read today was because sometimes the TC Boyle’s got out of control. as you were reading it you could tell he let his mind wander a little bit and in goes a clever aside or a witty piece of dialogue or the whole mood of the story shifts to make it not only lighter and give it more of that heart stuff i was talking about it also makes them both instantly more readable. I am not a short story fan. I appreciate the genre and i especially appreciate all the work that goes into writing one but i have never been a shorty story “guy” for the specific reason that to write a good short story you have to have more control over your emotions and your language than i could ever dream of having but also more than i consistently enjoy reading. I go through phases, Like the New Yorker with the Boyles but i cannot sit down on a regular basis and chew through a series of short stories. the reason being that whole control thing. there doesnt seem to be enough space for the imagination to really take flight and do something crazy you didnt expect. You need to do your business and then get out! Thats why i find people who write fantastic short stories like EA Poe (I like how that looks, im going to start doing that to my name) and Jimmy Joyce so fascinating. they are able to let their imaginations take off while still keeping the story and the plot and the idea under control.
You know what else is a good way to kill time while you’re supposed to be working?
Writing for your blog.
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Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Added a new link to the blogroll suckas!
Zak Smith, a sometimes artist and according to his website a sometimes porn star, decided to illustrate what happens on every page of Thomas Pynchon’s classic Gravity’s Rainbow. It could be seen as an installation at various museums when he originally finished 4 or 5 years ago but is available now, everyday, in book form or at the web site i have so graciously given you a link to.
Your welcome.
Dont try to look at these all in on sitting. Also, dont try to read Gravity’s Rainbow while simultaneously following along with the pictures. I tried it once and my head exploded. I happen to have been blessed with a particularly useful disease known as Regenerating Cranium but i am unaware of anyone else who has been afflicted with this tragic but helpful illness and i wouldnt want to be responsible for anyone being permanently absent a head.
Thats not what Im about.
Posted in Books, whatever | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
The title of the book in question is The Blue Star by Tony Earley. he wrote a book earlier this century called Jim the Boy which features the same main characters as The Blue Star but was different in one important fundamental way: it was good. Not just compared to The Blue Star but, compared to lots of other good books, Jim the Boy holds its own among them. Its a very simple story about a boy named Jim Glass and a brief moment in his life growing up in North Carolina with his mother and three uncles. Its told simply, no flashy language, no massive plot points pushing the story in a direction it doesnt want to go, just a nice simple story about nice characters who all develop slowly but fully leaving you feeling very satisfied and glad you spent a couple days in their company. It even sports a cover reminiscent of a children’s book and thats what it is really, and this has been backed up by the author, a children’s book for adults.
The Blue Star features the same characters, the same type of cover, the same simple writing, the same essential story arch. so. why isnt it good? This time Jim is 17 year old baby. The writing while cute before and the perfect vehicle to tell the coming of age story of a 9 year old just seems ridiculous trying to unfold the story of a teenager being difficult during Worl War II. To make things even more awkward for Mr. Earley he decided to use his quaint innocent country voice to describe Jims emotions as he finds himself falling in love with the town war hero Bucky Bucklaw’s Native American girlfriend eventually involving the three of them in a pretty little love triangle.
It really all comes down to the writing with this one. The book hit the wall for me almost instantly. While technically sound (just because i cant do it doesnt mean i cant recognize it) the voice is just too sweet for the subject matter. its is amazing how a writer’s natural voice can either sink a book or make it soar. Even if you hate a book like Fight Club, that book would not have worked if the idea was executed in anyone else’s voice other than Chuck Palahniuk. Same thing with High Fidelity, same thing with Paul Austers best books, same thing with all of Thomas Pynchons books. This list could go one forever. Unfortunately i dont have forever, i was just trying to make a point at which i believe i have succeeded.
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Thursday, March 13th, 2008
I received a new computer at work so my C button now functions properly, which is nice.
Tomorrow is my birthday. Im going to be 26. I dont think i have any feelings regarding this fact one way or the other. 26 doesnt really seem like a big deal. Im not going to worry about it.
I need some new sneakers so on my lunch break im going to go and try to achieve some new sneakers. I dont want anything too flashy. thats the problem with sneakers, sometimes they are just too flashy.
Im not hungry but Im going to eat. I hate that. i havent eaten in at least 16 hours so i know should eat but i am not hungry. this really bothers me.
How come there are no websites devoted exclusively to books. there are websites for movies and music and art and websites devoted to spying on people you used to know, they call them social networking sites, and politics and everything, but nothing just for books. Some one should look into this. they could review books and rank books and have constantly updated news about books and an agents site and and authors site. I really think this idea has legs and those legs are taking it to the next open spot on my mental shelf of things that i will forget the next time a slightly more interesting idea pops into my head.
Dad, maybe you can clarify this for us, I was at band practice yesterday and we were talking about Utopia and we just could not figure out the appeal of Utopia besides it including Todd. If anyone else would like to chime in on this feel free.
I hate the Yankees.
Maybe Ill write something later but i dont know if Ill have time. Its been pretty busy at work which is horrible. Im glad tomorrow is my birthday, it gives me an excuse not to come in. I think tomorrow Ill start my day with some jumping jacks.
Posted in Books, music, whatever | 3 Comments »
Monday, March 3rd, 2008
I got my first rejection letter today. I had never before submitted anything for publication and then one day at work having nothing better to do with myself, I started submitting this “thing” i had been working on for a little while. I think I may have sent it to a dozen or so online and print publications, maybe more. I honestly dont remember now. Anyway, i got my first rejection notice today by email almost two months after i initially sent my submission. Two months is pretty good right? Dont these places usually take six months or more to respond?
I want to have mixed feeling about this but i dont. Frankly i dont care all that much. Maybe its because i dont care about the piece, but i know thats not true because i do care very much. I think its because, and i dont want this to sound like a pep talk or some kind of inspirational monologue, Im not going to let Eclectica Magazine tell me that i stink. The following publications can tell me that I stink: McSweenys, The Paris Review and The New Yorker. Paul Auster can also tell me that i stink. Thomas Pynchon can also tell me that i stink but i dont think he would. that guys crazy. I get a rejection letter from any of these three publications i might say to myself, “Tom you need to make some changes in how you go about the business of ‘writing,’” but until i receive such a notice, letter or declaration from one of the above i will continue to create in the only way i know how, which is almost terrible but not quite so awful that i cant see someone else besides myself enjoying my style.
So, like i said, Eclectica Magazine said no way to “Pointed to Horses.” No big deal.
Keep on chooglin’.
Posted in Books, whatever | 5 Comments »
