By all accounts, Ellroy is an obsessive writer. Possibly a megalomaniac. His style is disconcerting in that he likes fragmented sentences and omits woBy all accounts, Ellroy is an obsessive writer. Possibly a megalomaniac. His style is disconcerting in that he likes fragmented sentences and omits words--a kind of parody of masculine writing where adjectives and adverbs are banished. The effect is a brutish and unblinking narration. I could only tolerate Ellroy in small doses. He's either a maniac or a genius. Probably both....more
I like it when Cahill is in a cave, inching his way forward in the dark or hanging from a rope on El Capitan, because the resulting prose has a bite iI like it when Cahill is in a cave, inching his way forward in the dark or hanging from a rope on El Capitan, because the resulting prose has a bite in it. The more fearful the situation, the meatier his prose is for me. The Marquesas and Bali pieces seem too tame--too blissed-out--in comparison--but after all the dangerous situations he's placed himself in, I figure the tropical island pieces are his rewards--and I enjoy reading the man enjoy his rewards for a job well-done....more
I have a theory that each writer has a place somewhere in the world that will make him bloom artistically if he can find that place. Just as 1930s ParI have a theory that each writer has a place somewhere in the world that will make him bloom artistically if he can find that place. Just as 1930s Paris ignited Henry Miller, the Amazon fired up the imagination of Diane Ackerman (not that she wasn't an accomplished writer before traveling there). In "In the Amazon, Where the Sun Dines," one of the reportage pieces here, Ackerman's rich prose is well-matched by the fecundity she sees around her. She wrote, "There was so much life at every level that my senses felt almost bruised from the overload."...more
Time and again I read one of the poems here, "The Clenched-Jaw School" and by poem's end I realize that my jaw is clenched, my shoulders are tense andTime and again I read one of the poems here, "The Clenched-Jaw School" and by poem's end I realize that my jaw is clenched, my shoulders are tense and I need to breathe deeply and calm down. I suspect the older I get, the more I'll get to appreciate Ammons and seek him out for comfort....more
Riveting. Kurson has a sharp eye for characterization, pace and suspense. This book is begging to be turned into a hit movie (Russell Crowe as Kohler?Riveting. Kurson has a sharp eye for characterization, pace and suspense. This book is begging to be turned into a hit movie (Russell Crowe as Kohler?). The constant mentioning of Jim Beam, though, at the beginning to illustrate the late Bill Nagle's drinking bordered on being redundant. At some point, I was like "Enough with the Jim Beam already! We get it! The man has problems." But excellent work, nonetheless. ...more
The best book about writing I've ever come across. From the get-to where the editor quotes Samuel Johnson: "The true state of every nation is the statThe best book about writing I've ever come across. From the get-to where the editor quotes Samuel Johnson: "The true state of every nation is the state of common life" I was hooked. Used to be there were grumblings from some tradition-bound quarters about "literary non-fiction" but those seem to be in the minority now. Anyway, the best piece for me in the collection is Richard Preston's article on the mathematician-brothers Gregory and David Chudnovsky who were calculating the digits of pi from their homemade super-computer. Unforgettable characters....more
Doyle's dialogues just crackle! Loads of fun about family squabbles and all (and before The Simpsons, if I recall right). I could relate to a family tDoyle's dialogues just crackle! Loads of fun about family squabbles and all (and before The Simpsons, if I recall right). I could relate to a family that crowds a small home and there's too many mouths to feed and not enough money to go around. Doyle pulls it off brilliantly with nary an ounce of sentimentality....more
Some days I hate it, some days I'm overawed. This must be one of those over-reviewed books--and for good reason because Salinger makes Holden so palpaSome days I hate it, some days I'm overawed. This must be one of those over-reviewed books--and for good reason because Salinger makes Holden so palpable and real--I can clearly picture (and hear) the little brat in my head while reading--and yet so many things (things maybe crucial to "understanding" Holden) are left unsaid. Seriously, who can't relate to a kid who has trouble dealing with his emotions, or who's overly critical of others, and who feels he doesn't fit in, who's a bit of a jerk, and whether he says it or not, is in need of rescuing? Today I love it....more
Catullus, at least in this collection, likes to style the poems as sort of letters to friends and such. There is invariably a name or names mentioned,Catullus, at least in this collection, likes to style the poems as sort of letters to friends and such. There is invariably a name or names mentioned, and while I imagine this made the poems effective in the day when the readers were familiar with the people mentioned (or at least made readers speculate as to the true identities of the ones hidden behind code names like Lesbia to whom Catullus was obviously in love and probably carrying on an affair), today some nuances will have been lost especially when we don't have any idea about these people anymore.
"Menenius' wife, a red-headed cat from Bologna, cat-like licks-off Rufulus..."
"As God is my witness where is the difference between the smell of Aemilius' mouth & that of his arse?"
The Penguin Edition editors tried to help by having a Glossary of Proper names at the back. But sometimes, in the middle of a poem, I have to thumb to the back and try to figure out who this character is, then I have to go back and try to get back into the rhythm of the poem. When the Glossary says "Unidentified" then tough luck.
Catullus probably wouldn't have given a damn about modern-day criticism (like this one) as he would have replied that his concern was writing only for his contemporaries and whatever comes after, well, that's the historians job!
Catullus' poems, in this collection, are free of pomposity and formality, he seemed to be saying that poems should be natural, democratic, and part of the everyday fabric of life. I'm no expert to say whether this constituted a break from the conventions of his day, but I imagine it must have been popular in his time....more
Camus chose twenty-three essays to comprise this collection a year before his death. Camus is a powerful writer and has a rousing crowd-pleasing styleCamus chose twenty-three essays to comprise this collection a year before his death. Camus is a powerful writer and has a rousing crowd-pleasing style ("The doves of peace do not perch on gallows") suited to editorials, a style that must have been honed during his days as a writer in the French Resistance.
"The society of money and exploitation has never been charged, so far as I know, with assuring the triumph of freedom and justice. Police states have never been suspected of opening schools of law in the cellars where they interrogate their subjects. So, when they oppress and exploit, they are merely doing their job, and whoever blindly entrusts them with the care of freedom has no right to be surprised when she is immediately dishonored."
"The artist constantly lives in such a state of ambiguity, incapable of negating the real and yet eternally bound to question it in its eternally unfinished aspects."
The piece against capital punishment, "Reflections on the Guillotine" is strong. My personal views supporting the death penalty wobbles when I read Camus' arguments....more
Journalism changed when 21-year-old Jann Wenner founded Rolling Stone in 1967. The magazine published far-out pieces that pushed the envelope. Re-readJournalism changed when 21-year-old Jann Wenner founded Rolling Stone in 1967. The magazine published far-out pieces that pushed the envelope. Re-reading some of the pieces, they still feel revolutionary--the authors convinced that they can change the world through the power of the written word. Superb. ...more
Stahl is a talented, witty writer with a penchant for snappy pop-culture references that goes down well with TV viewers--no surprise as he used to wriStahl is a talented, witty writer with a penchant for snappy pop-culture references that goes down well with TV viewers--no surprise as he used to write for Alf and Moonlighting. Once I also saw his name on CSI (but that was after book's publication). He also used to be employed by Larry Flynt's Hustler reviewing reader mail ("most of which arrived from the nation's finer jails and penitentiaries"):
"Prison letters were the strangest, because the authors, apparently recently apprised of Roget's Thesaurus in the lock-down library, would write in this ur-William Buckley, Jr., fashion. A style made all the stranger by the fact that, often than not, their sixteen-syllable words were jammed in sad, semiliterate hand into sentences of remarkable incoherence. One, I remember, thanked the magazine for "familitaritizing me and my boon compatriots with a trio of luxuriant parvenus. Especially that one cunt Suzie..."...more
I don't know. Do I need to be stoned out of my gourd to make sense of this? I bought it coz I saw it lying in a second-hand shop and found that it wasI don't know. Do I need to be stoned out of my gourd to make sense of this? I bought it coz I saw it lying in a second-hand shop and found that it was an Olympia Press 1959 Paris edition--not that it helped me any. My numero uno wacked-out book, so far. Funny though that Tagalog "bangungot" is mentioned here and spelled "bang-utot" which is hilarious....more
I saw a copy of this book in the second-hand shelf and was instantly mesmerized by the cover photo. I don't know if its a composite but it shows a lonI saw a copy of this book in the second-hand shelf and was instantly mesmerized by the cover photo. I don't know if its a composite but it shows a long, narrow boat overfilled with various characters whose clothes and expressions are so different from one another--and oh, the boat is in the middle of wicked whitewater between menacing boulders. I love the fact that their clothes don't seem to match the situation (one has a cowboy hat!) it gives the impression that they're amateurs utterly unprepared to tackle whitewater (much less the "Wildest River in Borneo" as the cover text cheerfully promises) and this party looks like a disaster just waiting to happen. The book opens with a quote from Thomas Hardy about the "sort of shuddering" that one feels at middle-age, the next page says "Shooting the Boh," then it opens to a map of Borneo with those mysterious, lovely names that reek of high adventure for those bold enough: Sarawak, Kalimantan, Samarinda, Banjarmasin. Wonderful, masterful book. Nothing escapes Tracy Johnston....more
The title of one of the pieces in this collection: "Help, My Pilot Just Had a Heart Attack and I Can't Fly a Plane" pretty much sums up the typical CaThe title of one of the pieces in this collection: "Help, My Pilot Just Had a Heart Attack and I Can't Fly a Plane" pretty much sums up the typical Cahil modus operandi. Perhaps one of the reasons for Cahill's popularity is how he cultivates an image of himself as an ordinary bloke that goes on remote places and just tries to get along with the natives and get out alive. But Cahill's jocular take on the mishaps and difficulties of remote travel sometimes wears thin, which is probably why sometimes, the editors throw in a serious piece just to make things interesting -- see "A Darkness on the River" which is about how two young men on an adventure in the Amazon were shot and left for dead. ...more
Tim Cahill and endurance driver Garry Sowerby attempt to set a world record by driving a GMC Sierra truck from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, AlaskaTim Cahill and endurance driver Garry Sowerby attempt to set a world record by driving a GMC Sierra truck from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. They went through 13 countries and "somewhere near fifteen thousand miles." On such an adventure, its impossible not to write something interesting. Book starts slow for me but once the journey gets going I was hooked. Cahill likes to show his rough and tumble sensibility as a kind of set up then he hits you with a nice introspective bit of wisdom or somesuch. ...more
I find that when reading this book and "Natural History of the Senses" back-to-back, this one suffers in comparison. But after re-reading this on its I find that when reading this book and "Natural History of the Senses" back-to-back, this one suffers in comparison. But after re-reading this on its own, I find it to be as brilliant--at certain parts she's on the edge of sappiness--but I guess when the subject is love, it takes a lot of talent to not get sappy and melodramatic. Any writer deciding to take on this tricky subject ought to have a strong stomach and get ready for the brick-bats. On the second reading, I noticed that the book starts with the word "love" and ends with "loved." Is that corny? Not to me. ...more
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