There is always something nice about the day when you leave the flat with the sun shining and return to find it doing the same.
After a tad disappointing Bank Holiday weekend, this week is turning out to be rather fine indeed on the weather front. The sun is shining, there is a nice refreshing breeze blowing, and there is no hint of any of that pesky rain to get in the way.
The sun is very much a feel good factor of life. Now, I know that not everyone likes hot weather and that it is easier to warm up rather than cool down. I am personally like Goldilocks when it comes to heat – neither too hot, nor too cold, but just right.
I am not sure why the right sort of sun and the right level of heat as a beneficial effect on the psyche. I am sure that some Red Brick University researcher has conducted a study into why this is the case, although I am not really bothered enough to actually do research into it to find out exactly why it is the case.
I am happy to take it to be “one of those things”, not unlike the sun always rising in the morning and other rules of life. There is no empirical evidence that dictates that the sun will rise tomorrow. It is possible, although highly improbably, that it might not. But still we work on the assumption that it will, we still accept the General Rule that it will rise. Likewise, I will work on the assumption that the General Rule is that sun and heat is good, irrespective of whether this is the case or not.
This morning was rather unique on the commute to work since the sun was rather bright and I wanted to read on the train. Therefore, at 7:30 am I was at the station (Oxford Road to be precise fact-fans) wearing sun glasses! There was something decedent about it; something not quite right for the time of day. However, it was also rather fitting.
The main reason for this is because of what I was reading that morning on the train – Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. It was fitting because the lead character and the iconic image of her wearing her dark sun glasses. It seemed almost perfect to be reading about her whilst wearing my own.
It was also a practical thing as well, since I was able to read without squinting because of sun in my eyes. There is nothing worse than trying to read when you cannot see.
The decadence was probably taken a bit too far by wearing the sun glasses whilst on the Metro to the office. However, that is the peril of prescription glasses. I just need them to see and I am lazy enough not to want to change them before I am safely in the confines of work.
In fact, even now as I write this on the return journey I am back to wearing them again. The glare on the screen is just bearable but what the hell, it is summer and the situation is not entirely unwarranted.
The actual read itself is rather good. I am, thanks to the film, already familiar to the story, and so there have been no surprises with the read itself. However, the thing that is always missing from any cinematic recreation of a book is the description, the way that the author brings to life the world they are creating. This is something that Capote seems to be very good at. The world he writes about, the people who tell the story, seem real.
It is probably easier to visualise because I have already seen the film. After all, I already have a visual reference to place the characters in. Audrey Hepburn is my Holly in my mind’s eye, George Peppard is my Narrator.
However, these are just short hands for me and it probably helps that Hepburn fits the Holly of the book well.
I am about two thirds of the way through the story already, and should have finished it by the end of tomorrow morning. There are some other short stories in the volume that I have and they will probably be the focus of my reading at the beginning next week. It will be interesting to see how I react to Truman’s story telling without the obvious cinematic references already available to me.
It is probably true what people say, it probably is a General Rule, that you should always read the book before watching the film.
Life seems so full of them because realised another General Rule today as well – it is never too early to wear sun glasses!
Thursday 3 June 2010
Tuesday 1 June 2010
An eclectic read
One thing struck me this morning whilst I was choosing what my commute book was going to be this week, and that was how random and broad my recent choices have been.
Whilst they have all been fiction in basis (yes I know that I need to really make a start of the rack of Nietzsche books that sit on my bookshelf), the actually type of book have varied considerably.
Three weeks ago, my book of choice was Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile by Gyles Brandreth. The latest addition, and a worthy one at that, to the Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries series deals with the adventures of Mr Wilde – from London, to America, to Paris – and the misfortunes that befall a celebrated French theatre company.
Whilst the specific events are very much fictional, the settings are indeed very factual in basis. The one thing that the author promises is that on any particular date Oscar Wilde was in the location that the book says that he was – even if the reason for him being there is not exactly the same.
It is obvious that the author knows his stuff when it comes to Wilde and the dialogue that you read feels perfect for what we know of him – in fact, I tend to read any Wilde dialogue as if it was being spoken by Stephen Fry since for me his performance in the film was the portrayal of the great man.
The plot is also interesting; the clues are all there if you can piece them together. Unlike many of the “period novels” of the early twentieth century there is none of the bringing people and facts in at the last moment to explain what has happened. Whether you can unravel the pieces, however, is a different matter entirely.
Two weeks ago, you would have found me reading The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. Hammett is famous, and quite rightly, for The Maltese Falcon and the adventures of Sam Spade (which is a must read for everyone who enjoys a good detective novel with twists and turns galore).
However, it was for the lead characters that I picked up The Thin Man. I have always been a great fan of the movie comedy Murder by Death which features the five preeminent detectives of the age. One of these is Dick Charleston and his wife Dora (played wonderfully by David Niven and Maggie Smith). Now, I had had exposure to all the other detectives in the film – Hercule Peroit, Jayne Marple, Charlie Chan, and Sam Spade – but I had never read anything featuring Nick and Nora Charles who the Charleston’s are based on. This was my chance.
The book itself is a decent read. It is not The Maltese Falcon, although it is probably unfair to compare the two since Falcon concerns one of the most iconic private detectives (the other being Philip Marlowe). However, it does stand up in its own right as a piece of fiction. The characters feel right and you do get the sense that you know them. The setting, New York City during the 20’s, is well realised.
My one problem with the story, which is in contrast with the previous weeks fair, is that the ended seemed to suffer from the Nick Charles introducing information the reader had not already been aware. However this did seem to work since, as Nick tells Nora, his job is to advance a theory, a 'what might have happened', which fits the facts and it is up to the prosecutors to prove that theory. Keeping this in mind you are always able to forgive and forget that not all the pieces where there to be spotted before the denouncement.
Last week was a complete change of pace. The detective novel strand that the previous two weeks had given was replaced with The Man in the High Castle by Philip Dick. Set in an alternate reality where Germany and Japan won the Second World War, this book is regarded as being one of Dick’s greatest pieces of Science Fiction – praise that I believe is well deserved for several reasons.
Firstly, the world in which the story is set is well realised. There is nothing in our sphere of reference for what a World divided by Germany and Japan would be like, let alone an America divided between the two powers (with a demilitarised buffer zone separating them). There is nothing which we can refer to outside of the book to give us a point of reference, something that we can go”yes, that is what it would be like”. Dick manages create a realistic world with relative ease. There are no long detailed descriptions and presentations of the world. Yes, there is some info dumping but that is to be expected. However, it does not feel forced. It comes within a context. It is realistically delivered.
Secondly, there are the characters. There is a fairly large cast of players considering the size of the book but they do not feel like cardboard cut outs. Through the use of inner dialogue, giving the reader an insight into what they think and why, what could have easily have been two dimensional characters feel more rounded, more real. No character feels rushed and you grow quickly to care about them and the situations that they find themselves in.
Lastly, there is the story itself. Dick, like with a lot of his work, is using the medium of Science Fiction to actually say something about the present and not relying on the “toolbox” of Science Fiction of the time. This story is not about the future but about the concept of what is reality, is it what we see or is it something beyond our senses. It is refreshing to read something that tries to say something on an issue so profound, as opposed to a nice narrative story or a hard edge academic tome.
It is this last aspect that makes the read even more rewarding. The story, if it had been told without this angle, would have been lacking. It would have been a story where you would get to the end of it and think “that was nice”. Instead, you get to the end of The Man in the High Castle and you think. It provokes more of a reaction from you rather than just a “that is nice” one.
And now we get to my choice of reading material this week. We have had the detective novels. We have had Science Fiction of a high calibre. This week we have a romantic adventure concerning Miss H Golightly, Travelling. My reading material this week is Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote.
I have always loved the film and now it is time to enjoy the source material, and from what I have already read this morning I think I am going to enjoy the ride.
Whilst they have all been fiction in basis (yes I know that I need to really make a start of the rack of Nietzsche books that sit on my bookshelf), the actually type of book have varied considerably.
Three weeks ago, my book of choice was Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile by Gyles Brandreth. The latest addition, and a worthy one at that, to the Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries series deals with the adventures of Mr Wilde – from London, to America, to Paris – and the misfortunes that befall a celebrated French theatre company.
Whilst the specific events are very much fictional, the settings are indeed very factual in basis. The one thing that the author promises is that on any particular date Oscar Wilde was in the location that the book says that he was – even if the reason for him being there is not exactly the same.
It is obvious that the author knows his stuff when it comes to Wilde and the dialogue that you read feels perfect for what we know of him – in fact, I tend to read any Wilde dialogue as if it was being spoken by Stephen Fry since for me his performance in the film was the portrayal of the great man.
The plot is also interesting; the clues are all there if you can piece them together. Unlike many of the “period novels” of the early twentieth century there is none of the bringing people and facts in at the last moment to explain what has happened. Whether you can unravel the pieces, however, is a different matter entirely.
Two weeks ago, you would have found me reading The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. Hammett is famous, and quite rightly, for The Maltese Falcon and the adventures of Sam Spade (which is a must read for everyone who enjoys a good detective novel with twists and turns galore).
However, it was for the lead characters that I picked up The Thin Man. I have always been a great fan of the movie comedy Murder by Death which features the five preeminent detectives of the age. One of these is Dick Charleston and his wife Dora (played wonderfully by David Niven and Maggie Smith). Now, I had had exposure to all the other detectives in the film – Hercule Peroit, Jayne Marple, Charlie Chan, and Sam Spade – but I had never read anything featuring Nick and Nora Charles who the Charleston’s are based on. This was my chance.
The book itself is a decent read. It is not The Maltese Falcon, although it is probably unfair to compare the two since Falcon concerns one of the most iconic private detectives (the other being Philip Marlowe). However, it does stand up in its own right as a piece of fiction. The characters feel right and you do get the sense that you know them. The setting, New York City during the 20’s, is well realised.
My one problem with the story, which is in contrast with the previous weeks fair, is that the ended seemed to suffer from the Nick Charles introducing information the reader had not already been aware. However this did seem to work since, as Nick tells Nora, his job is to advance a theory, a 'what might have happened', which fits the facts and it is up to the prosecutors to prove that theory. Keeping this in mind you are always able to forgive and forget that not all the pieces where there to be spotted before the denouncement.
Last week was a complete change of pace. The detective novel strand that the previous two weeks had given was replaced with The Man in the High Castle by Philip Dick. Set in an alternate reality where Germany and Japan won the Second World War, this book is regarded as being one of Dick’s greatest pieces of Science Fiction – praise that I believe is well deserved for several reasons.
Firstly, the world in which the story is set is well realised. There is nothing in our sphere of reference for what a World divided by Germany and Japan would be like, let alone an America divided between the two powers (with a demilitarised buffer zone separating them). There is nothing which we can refer to outside of the book to give us a point of reference, something that we can go”yes, that is what it would be like”. Dick manages create a realistic world with relative ease. There are no long detailed descriptions and presentations of the world. Yes, there is some info dumping but that is to be expected. However, it does not feel forced. It comes within a context. It is realistically delivered.
Secondly, there are the characters. There is a fairly large cast of players considering the size of the book but they do not feel like cardboard cut outs. Through the use of inner dialogue, giving the reader an insight into what they think and why, what could have easily have been two dimensional characters feel more rounded, more real. No character feels rushed and you grow quickly to care about them and the situations that they find themselves in.
Lastly, there is the story itself. Dick, like with a lot of his work, is using the medium of Science Fiction to actually say something about the present and not relying on the “toolbox” of Science Fiction of the time. This story is not about the future but about the concept of what is reality, is it what we see or is it something beyond our senses. It is refreshing to read something that tries to say something on an issue so profound, as opposed to a nice narrative story or a hard edge academic tome.
It is this last aspect that makes the read even more rewarding. The story, if it had been told without this angle, would have been lacking. It would have been a story where you would get to the end of it and think “that was nice”. Instead, you get to the end of The Man in the High Castle and you think. It provokes more of a reaction from you rather than just a “that is nice” one.
And now we get to my choice of reading material this week. We have had the detective novels. We have had Science Fiction of a high calibre. This week we have a romantic adventure concerning Miss H Golightly, Travelling. My reading material this week is Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote.
I have always loved the film and now it is time to enjoy the source material, and from what I have already read this morning I think I am going to enjoy the ride.
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