Open Thread #4
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-11-13 12:13:14
Speaking of books. I wish I could get back into the reading habit but then that of course cuts into the TV habit and well… so far mindless TV trumps mind-enriching books. Stupid human nature.
I miss reading “good” novels (I can get the cheesy kind anytime — you know the kind you’d hypothetically be ashamed of reading on a subway when facing the daily disdain of strangers who take one look at your frivolous chick-lit book jacket — or bad pulp novel or bodice ripper or [insert secret shame here] — and judge you to the fiery depths of literary hell a special kind of hell where your grammar is constantly being corrected and people speak in iambic pentameter). But the “good” kind takes time and commitment and I just can’t seem to devote either these days.
I like chicklits. Not shame of it. hehe.. I stopped faking that I’m deep and literature’s advance since well,nobody cares. I read whatever I like anything that interested me on the bookstore.. Lately I was more attached to my TV,like you guys,because watching dramas/movies/any show is less consuming brain’s usage. I work like 12hrs/day. I don’t want to restrain my brain more.. But these couple weeks. I started to read again not good for my wallet though-I bought books that didn’t listed on my budget but hey I just realized that I missed reading!( I read chick lits,btw. It was fun! )
completely on different topic,I just started watching Chuck. Samantha Who and the old episodes of the Office. See your words have real effect to me? hehehe.. I like those so far but the Office kinda disturbed me maybe it’s just not my cup of tea. I’m watching Gossip Girl for my guilty pleasure..:D
On Korean dramas my next is Blissful Woman. My auntie somehow recommended it. I wonder is it really good ( I was scared when I know the number of episodes it has ) or it just “ajjuhma’s” favorite type of drama. OK. I must stop. I feel like spamming!
merriwether really? You didn’t like Macfadyen? I thought he was the best Darcy so far — better than Laurence Olivier and even (gasp!) Colin Firth. (Oh and don’t even get me started on that wooden mannequin of a Darcy in Bride & Prejudice.) He was so great at not trying to be likable in the first half that you really get the whole Lizzy/prejudice thing and then he just… *swoon.* I was reluctant to watch that P&P determined to dislike Keira Knightley because for some reason I never liked her but that film turned me into a Keira Knightley fan.
seen both Princess Diaries movies… Really. Bridget Jones is the only chick lit I’ve read that I’d consider good fiction as well. I used to skim through bad chick lit at the bookstore because I couldn’t justify buying it… which is also how I read Da Vinci Code because the book was so cheesy I couldn’t bring myself to purchase it but I wanted to know how it ended. Boy did that book suck. My friend used to do eHarmony and we’d click through the options together and I’d tell her to immediately reject anyone who listed Da Vinci Code as their favorite book. Sadly there were quite a few.
i enjoyed Thank You for Smoking a good balance of the mock and doc and not drenched with witticism which can get irritating one thing that did bug was Katie Holmes. Tom Cruise had to ruin everything about her for me. I miss those Dawson’s Creek days and her toothy crinkly smile. Now she’s Mrs. Femme Bot. Sadness.
djes– i too watch Gossip Girl! Oy!! I promised myself I wouldn’t after I publicly scorned the promo clip deeming it too salacious and saccharine–another show today’s youth culture doesn’t need! But gees! I find myself downloading the latest episodes and pausing scenes to drool over their ridiculously expensive outfits. Go Nate and Jenny!
The thing with Gossip Girl is that it’s this addicting mix of Mean Girls. Cruel Intentions and Sex and the City. I used to be a major beeyatch in junior high and high school so when Mean Girls came out on DVD and a bunch of us were watching the movie… well outcries of….
…ensued. Normally it’d be a compliment but when people think you’re Regina George? Not so fantastic. Yes. I’m reformed but oh…it sucks how your past self can sock you right in the face especially when you’re trying to start fresh with new friends. Wow how self-absorbed IS this comment!
Okay so to anyone who’s watched Mean Girls whose character did you all relate to? Boys. Men please feel free to relate ’cause I know it’s more than just a handful of you all that like this movie! (Believe me your excuses of “oh uh some girl left that DVD here i don’t even know what that is!” does not work.)
I LOVED LOVED the newer movie version of “Pride & Prejudice.” I thought the cast was excellent and Mr. Darcy was perfect. It’s one of my favorite movies ever. Now I’m really curious to see “Death at a Funeral!” *puts on my things-to-watch list* Javabeans. I think tons of people do what you do and keep Netflix movies for a while. They must earn a majority of their money from the fact that people a lot of times procrastinate or forget and so they can charge away every month. I want to read good inspirational well-written thought provoking touching and wise books. Any suggestions anyone?
i’m not a jane austen fan (more like a super anti-fan i don’t know why but there’s something about her writing that i just despise) so i’ve sworn off everything even the movies are they really that good?
for some good books i recently finished “Strawberry Fields” a love-ish story about migrant workers in England who of course work on a strawberry field its a really interesting and quirky story i was a little skeptic about it at first because i just picked it off the shelf but i’m glad i did another one i read was After Dark a japanese book translated into english its very short and a little dark but i really liked how it was written and the simple plot.
i need books! i used to read every night but i’m finding it harder and harder to get to the library so i haven’t done that in a while any suggestions would be awesome as for chick-lit i’ve never read any unless you count elementary/middle school-level books (babysitter’s club and the like) as chick-lit but i don’t.
Happy weekending fellow dramabeanies!I’m a constant netflix offender too weeks go by before I even consider watching my rentals… my slackabilities are pretty powerful.
I absolutely adored Joe Wright’s Pride&Prejudice. Loved MacFadyen as Darcy. Loved Mr. Collins and his: “What excellent boiled potaTOEs” more. Actually the entire cast was a delight. Just brilliant. I tired to watch Gossip Girl but somehow I can’t get pass the Asian & Black characters as accessories for the main white character. (points to Gwen Stefani)Speaking of offending gather your friends and go watch Finishing The Game. It’s hilarious.
of jane austen (and her fans) which is too bad because her books are wonderful if you divorce yourself from all the extraneous modern baggage her writing is wonderfully witty funny insightful keen but it also depends on your tastes — british lit is my favorite genre: dickens eliot hardy thackeray and of course austen.
as for the austen movies depends on the version for P&P i love joe wright’s version (keira knightley) most — i can’t get through the greer garson/laurence olivier version without twitching cuz of all the inaccuracies.
So… whaddya think of Kazuo Ishiguro? He ought to ring all your bells very loudly. Though I do think his oh-so-ultra-English narrators of what is under the surface deeply Asian fiction in The Remains of the Day and above all. Never Let Me Go — maybe not my favourite novel of all time but possibly the modern novel I most admire - are the strongest things he’s done. Of the ones with Asian or partly Asian settings. I think only A Pale View of Hills works completely with both An Artist of the Floating World and When we were Orphans being a bit too selfconsciously seasoned with Oriental exoticism meant to be perceived as such by Anglophone readers.
I don’t think I can make much of a case for The Unconsoled. I find in interesting (typical faint praise word) because in a former existence I wasted many years and a lot of young people’s time droning on about Kafka for a living but I don’t see how anyone with less professionally warped literary tastes could stick it at least not for all its huge length
javabeans…you can’t be serious,right? Laurence Olivier is THE Mr Darcy for me. Colin Firth did a good enough job but he is no Laurence Olivier. Not sure if you’ve seen this or not but Wives and Daughters (the miniseries) is a must see if you like British period mini-series. If you haven’t seen it. you should Netflix’d it. lol. The book is enjoyable too…I enjoy reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels. Different writing style from Jane Austen of course but still enjoyable.
Keira Knightley gleefully took a hatchet to Elizabeth Bennet. Right after that she ground the character to a bloody pulp all the while sporting either a pout or petulant expression (i really have yet to see express any other emotions other than those). All that was left was a putrid mess some (are you freaking kidding me!) people saw worthy of Oscar nomination. Ranks right up there with Jennifer Hudson’s nomination. Oscars “should” be for acting not a popularity contest or making wrongs right time*. Travesty. Seriously mentally scarred me for weeks. I had to reread the book to reaffirm the Jane Austen I knew and loved. Macfayden was stonefaced through the entire thing but hawt.
Yay there’s someone who likes Austen here. Geez. I must have watched the 2005 P&P DVD almost every month the first year that it came out. It was visually scrumptious: the costumes music color set. That single-take camera span was awesome. Joe Wright’s version is my favorite - it’s nicely acted scripted and directed. Love the rain scene. McFadyen’s voice was sublime. I didn’t like the sunrise union as much as others (the ending was even worse -too saccharine) but admitted that it was lovely filmed. Besides that. I thought that both McFadyen and Knightley delivered the emotions and awkwardness of first love very well. I didn’t get that heart-thumping-hand-tingling sensation from the Colin Firth’s “revered” interpretation.
I think Knightley portrayed a different Lizzie than all of her predecessors. The jury is still out on whether she gave the best interpretation. IMHO it may not be the most accurate but most age-approriate. I didn’t think that her performance was Oscar- caliber but her take was in line with the young and modern interpretations by Joe Wright. I find it’s less stuffy than the previous versions (sorry!). Same thoughts about McFadyen. His seemingly “wooden” performance may also be viewed as subtle acting. I’ve always thought that Darcy was forced into adulthood too early and that deep down he is still a young man who is falling in love for the first time. He is socially-deficient despite being enormously wealthy.
There’s something about British men. It’s not like they’re the greatest looking men on earth; but their wit humour and intelligence make them quite attractive. Death at a Funeral is on my must-watch list. The British are at their best in farce (although i’ve heard that Mr. Darcy is no longer swoon-worthy).
I also absolutely adored Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South’s series (not the Patrick Swayze ’s). And it’s available via Netflix. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
CW couldn’t stand the movie version although it was shot beautifully. I loved the sweeping shots of the moors they had. McFadyen seemed depressed rather than proud for me so I was put off through the entire movie.
Oh has anyone seen ITV’s version of Persuasion? It isn’t too terrible. The ages of the actors who played Anne and Captain Wentworth were much closer the novel than the BBC version from 1995. If the ages had been closer in the BBC version. I would’ve liked it a lot better I think. But they changed things a little at the end which drove a lot of people crazy.
I want to watch Sense and Sensibility. I tried to not fork Marianne when I read the book (I still haven’t finished because of her). Jane Austen’s characters do that to me but her novels are too good to put down.
I was a HUGE Babysitter’s Club fan and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I was obsessed with those books and I never read anything but them when I was younger. I’ve moved on though. I’m reading Terry Pratchett’s Mort right now and the man is absolutely hilarious. He’s so witty and the language is so absurd sometimes it’s funny.
For those of you who are Austen fans you should check out the new ITV (UK) versions of the Austen classics - my favourite and definite recommendation is Northanger Abbey with JJ Feild as Henry. You should also glance at Mansfield Park which stars of all people. Billie Piper as Fanny (this just didn’t sit right with me somehow). I loved Pride and Prejudice (my favourite novel of all time!!!!) - both the BBC version and the Joe Wright movie with Matthew and Keira in the leads!!
As for books - what about Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels - very funny!! With these you’re putting yourself in danger of snorting in laughter on a quiet train while people around try to work out whether you have totally lost your mind or you’re having some sort of a fit as you try to calm your giggles down.
merriwether - I LOVED the Baby-sitter’s Club books as well - I had the board game and everything…If you like Mort try reading the two others in the series - REAPER MAN and SOUL MUSIC and then try the The Rincewind Trilogy - SOURCERY. ERIC and INTERESTING TIMES
I want to get back into the reading habit too. I still keep buying books and have a stack that’s a foot high on my bedside table (Murakami’s The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is in there^^) but by the time I’m done surfing the Net watching kdramas and editing subs it’s 2 a m and my brain’s barely functioning. I want to read more because I think my writing’s deteriorating. I’m forgetting basic grammar stuff lol.
Because I grew up reading Dickens. Austen and the rest you mentioned. I opted to do more American Lit in college. Just to widen my horizons sort of. My favorite genre is Jewish-American and among my favorite JA authors (I have so many). Chaim Potok ranks right at the top. I loved “My Name Is Asher Lev” (has anyone else read this btw?) so much I went out and grabbed every Potok book I could find. Right now I’m reading (revisiting actually) Timothy Mo’s “Sour Sweet.” I’m a Mo collector.^^
I absolutely loved My Name is Asher Lev! I read it in 9th grade for summer reading. I usually end up disliking the summer reading books but asher lev was different chaim potok is amazing but jonathan safran foer (the author of everythign is illuminated) –for me– ehh not so much.
sometimes i wish i can categorize my reading tastes and go. “why yes i’m rather fond of 17th and 18th century british literature” but i haven’t found a favorite genre/period yet i read everything i love Jane Austen tho my favorite book of hers has got to be Emma probably because that was the only book i read BEFORE watching the movie sad but true i liked P&P the movie better than the novel i liked sense& sensibility… scratch that i did not like sense&sensibility at all.
i will admit i still like children’s books: roald dahl rocks the hizzouse right now i’m rereading The Golden Compass by Philip pullman i’m soo excited that the movie’s coming out! hopefully they don’t screw this up like they did with ‘narnia.’ natalie kidman as the lady with the evil golden monkey? she’s exactly who i envisioned the character to be.
I also LOVE LOVE LOVE Macfayden. I think the guy’s HHYOOTT!!! *wipe drool now. slurp* . I don’t mind Colin Firth though. I think he’s a very good actor. Can be hot sometimes too. I don’t know why I found him hot in Love Actually. *guilty*
#18 javabeans: Sure. I wasn’t imagining you’d like Ishiguro as some sort of Japanese novelist in disguise. It’s not just that he writes only in English but he has always seen himself as an English novelist (Pleeeeze not ‘British’ in this context: there are no “British” novelists.)
But what fascinates me about some of his novels above all precisely those with a purely English setting and “cast” — Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go — is that they are persistently misread (or under-read) by Anglophone critics as being centrally maybe even provincially about England and things English. And the Merchant-Ivory mothball-scented costume-drama movie of Remains didn’t help there at all.
But Ishiguro isn’t a five-foot-six Trollope with Oriental features. As he himself has often said what drove his imagination in Remains was not the niceties of English country house life in bygone days nor English class-consciousness nor even the alliance between “old” aristocracy and new Fascist barbarity in Europe. Of course being Ishiguro he doesn’t really ever more than hint at what was in his imagination behind that beautifully executed foreground. But it’s not too hard to see the same basic forces that get transmuted into the themes of so much East Asian fiction and drama both high- and middlebrow. A traditional order under threat not just from forces of historical change generally identified with “the West” (even in Remains the new employer whom the butler-narrator so deeply despises despite his great kindness to him is a “Western” intruder a rich American who thinks he can buy into a European tradition) but more importantly and dangerously from its defenders who are so unclear about just what is and isn’t of worth in their old order that they in fact betray the values they believe they are defending.
And “Never Let Me Go”. Although nearly all readers are captivated by its atmosphere and technical mastery even otherwise canny critics express bewilderment at just why these young people accept their extraordinary lot with such composure even dedication despite being so aware of their situation and role. Or try to convince themselves that Ishiguro wants us to see those young people and the narrator in particular as contemptible rather than pitiful in their acceptance of those things. But the novel is much less puzzling and much more resonant when seen as reflecting a culture based on group conformity and socio-cultural consensus which is powerful because it is so deeply internalised (though only imperfectly perceived and understood) by all those who uphold it. Westerners don’t inhabit such a culture. But despite the massive “Englishness” of the surface the characters in Never Let Me Go live and breathe a culture of that kind — for the limited and harrowing span allowed to them by their “elders”.
And that briefly (scoff not: believe me. I write a whole lot more than that when I’m not trying to be “brief” by my eccentric standards) is why I thought Ishiguro might send a spark jumping between your interests in Japanese fiction and the more “comedy of manners” side of Eng Lit.
Incidentally since quite a few readers of this blog seem to have had the experience of being transplanted in childhood from East Asia to a Western culture which they then more or less made their own a now rather old radio interview (1990 ISTR) with Ishiguro streamed on-line atmight be of some interest.
Please don’t be put off by the first five minutes or so which because of the host’s obvious anxiety about actually getting around to talking about Ishiguro’s work plus Ishiguro’s lack of interest in self-promotion consist of tedious chit-chat about comparative roadworks in NYC. London and Houston. The segment immediately following is fascinating stuff about a bi-cultural and (partly) bilingual childhood.
I usually confine by “chick” books to home to tell you the truth…But that’s because I read most serious classics or historical fiction or fantasy. So a lot of people gets surprised when I tell them I like those cute books. It’s like a guilty pleasure of mine. But I mean. I’m not HIDING it or anything it’s just those books are so short and really not that grasping so I finish it at home or don’t bother to bring it to school. It’s not like some amazing books that I JUST CAN’T PUT DOWN you know what I mean? Those popcorn book never ever makes my fave list of books.
I’m blabbing. XD To tell the truth. I’ve basically been reading these “popcorn” books too lately. There’s nothing good anymore! I’ve read them all. Maybe I’ll re-read Pride and Prejudice….(for some odd reason that’s one of my fave books….
I think being “disturbed” by The Office is just about right. I assume we are talking about the BBC original not the US …err. version? Because I don’t think the original The Office is comedy though the US one is.
Don’t get me wrong: I find The Office desperately funny. In fact when it first aired on UK TV at 9.00 pm I had to skip supper and eat afterwards. If I ate at our normal time then watched The Office while digestion was still underway. I was liable to spew up through laughing so much. But I wasn’t amused and I’m not sure I was meant to be. There is absolutely no feel-good element in that show during or after not even the teeniest trace. It is massively and unrelentlingly bleak. And sidesplittingly hilarious.
It has its drama counterpart in another BBC series: Bodies. I think that drama series was too strong meat for US Public Service TV to serve up though I think at least one season of it did air on BBC America. When my wife says that all this Korean stuff I watch isn’t drama at all and I ask her what TV drama is then she pulls out the Bodies DVD set from “her” section of our shelving and I beat a rapid retreat.
I have to admit that I don’t want to spend hours of my life re-watching something so unremittingly and profoundly desolate (though it too is very funny in places). Not to mention repeated blood-spattering surgical closeups of ladies’ bits (imagine M. A. S. H — the gore-drenched severed-still-twitching-limbs-galore movie not the visually anodyne TV series — without any of the heart-warming “human” side in either patients or medics and set in an oby-gaeny ward with no limits on where the camera goes which is a war zone too in its own way though the battles are about ruthless ambition and deception).
Is it good? In production acting directing and suchlike it’s superb. Would I ever willingly watch it again? I think I’d opt for Unabridged Stairway to Heaven or Scent of Summer to escape that. Yes. I feel that strongly about it. Rossini was allegedly asked what he thought of Wagner’s Lohengrin. “One can’t judge an opera like that after seeing only once” he reportedly said. “And I’m certainly not going to see it twice.”
I LOVE READING!! But my current addiction is drama right now. (^_^) I have tons of book at home that I haven’t finished yet. My reading habits cover a whole range from “Jewelry Making” to “Asian Calligraphy” to “Shonen Jump” to history “Washington’s Crossing” to fic “A Wrinkle in Time.” I’ve loved Patricia Cornwell’s series and there was a romance one about vampires called Carpathians to a depressing one called “Lovely Bones” to “Blink: The power of Thinking Without Thinking.” I don’t particularly like horrors because my imagination is much worse than a movie. I love any version of Jane Austens books. All of them are more conversation intensive than physically. I love the fact that it makes you think.
Currently on my third episode of flowers for my life… liking the humor and the characters… Na Ha Na is crazy hilarious!! guys check it out not only because javabeans said it was good but because you get another person. ME confirming it… ^_^
OMG!!! is this some sort of virtual telepathy or what?? me too i’ve been wanting to read more…pilled up about 5 books on my night table and getting ready to devoure them….”Life of pi” is right up there with “A lesson before dying”… both look interesting…
I’m completely devoted to british lit–enough to minor in it–and adore charles dickens keats eliot the bronte sisters (ah the beauty that is wuthering heights!) almost all the heroes of eng lit…excluding jane austen. I could never ever stand her and last year I decided maybe I was just unfairly biased because of the reason you described and gave her another shot with Emma and I think I read half of it but all the while wanting to strangle the main character slam the book and never try again! I’m not sure why i have such an intense adverse reaction to her writing…I actually do believe I’m missing on something great but I still can’t make myself go through P&P or S&S! Its not the genre. I think because on the other hand Louisa May Alcott is one of my favorite American authors and her books trail the same paths often (in a very different style) its just something about the way the story runs and her characters in general… i know its a pity missing out on experiencing a literary genius. Maybe I’ll give it one more shot one day….
You know despite liking the book it isn’t my favorite because it’s so different from his others. It’s the least “Murakami-esque” in style yet it’s one of the books he’s most known for. He’s been said to break from the rigidity of classical Japanese literature — Kawabata. Mishima — and while most of his works are wildly different from his predecessors. Norwegian Wood is the most simple and autobiographical. (Supposedly.) But it IS a beautiful book.
im loving your open threads sarah!! so insightful and its fun to read all the comments im so glad there are more people who like austen. P&P is one my faves ive had my share of people who cant enjoy it because of the baggage but i find her writing really nice i like bronte sisters works too nice book suggestions i must read again too last book i read was time traveller’s wife i want to read this classis the other bolyn girl its gonna be made into a movie anybody see becoming jane? what did u guys think? im waiting for it too come out here or borrow a dvd.
I can’t believe that a lot of people like Pride and Prejudice as well! I was so excited when they started showing the trailer and LOVED it as soon as I saw it in the theatre. Matthew McFadyen is the ULTIMATE Mr. Darcy for me. I disagree with Da Vinci Code though. I thought it was really interesting when I first read it but its popularity kind of ruined it for me. A lot of similar books came out and in the end I kind of got sick of it. As for good books right now. I like the Devil and Miss Prym by Coelho and I heard Middlesex and Kiterunner is really good. I am reading The other Boleyn Girl which is a cross between history and drama. I just thought it interesting that King Henry VIII took an interest to Anne Boleyn’s sister first before he married her. Anyway it’s pretty good so far. On a different note. I can relate to being drawn to watching Gossip Girl despite its “Mean Girls” tendencies. The actresses that play Serena and Blair are really not that credible as high school students. They look more like working girls but I am really drawn to the lifestyle of the rich and famous…not to mention the things that they wear in the show! Wow! I’d just have to say. I love Blair’s fashion sense more than Serena’s…
I’ve been so busy watching kdramas that I feel guilty for neglecting all my “to be read soon” books sitting on my shelf. Let me just say that I loved Matthew MacFadyen in P&P. I think he fit the role of Darcy and the overall production style very well (loved that single camera span too). He even surpassed Colin Firth (my favorite Darcy until then) in my book keeping in mind that the movie and mini-series are two totally different styles and each have their own pros and cons. He is such a fantastic actor (MI-5/Spooks) and I can’t wait to watch Death at a Funeral (with wife Keeley Hawes another one of my favs - Under the Greenwood Tree. MacBeth-Shakespeare ReTold). I also loved Tom Hollander as Mr. Collins. His body language alone made me laugh out loud a couple of times.
I also like Elizabeth Gaskell’s novels but I prefer BBC productions. Wives and Daughters is a must-see (Keeley Hawes. Justine Waddell. Anthony Howell and Tom Hollander) but my ultimate favorite is North & South. I rank it right up there with P&P. Richard Armitage really brought out Thornton character (much more than the novel). I must have watched over half a dozen times. Too bad he plays the villan in Robin Hood. I haven’t read any Trollope yet but after watching so many BBC productions. I guess I should give it a try (after I catch up on all my kdramas). Haha.
My all-time favorite British comedy is Coupling. I can’t even count the number of times I laughed-so-hard-till-my-belly-ached/almost-spit-out-my-food while watching. Why can’t American TV ever be that funny? Oh yeah first there need to be better American actors. What was with the HORRIBLE casting in the US version?
I’ve never watched any daily kdramas before but AZN started playing Here Comes Ajumma recently. At first. I couldn’t really get into it but given there wasn’t much else to watch. I gave it a try. The first twenty or so episodes weren’t too exciting but then I found more episodes on veoh & now I’m hooked. Why can’t we get KBS America in N. Cal? [ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.dramabeans.com/2007/11/open-thread-4/
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