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Scarla O
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
947 Posts |
 Posted - 05/11/2005 : 03:30:21
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Round VII, Theme: Literary matters
1. What was the first book that kicked your ass/
captured your imagination?
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
2. Fill in the blank:
Everybody raves about De Berniere's writing but I don't get what the big deal is.
3. Which book are you most embarrassed to admit you've read?
I have no sense of embarrassment
4. Which book do you wish you'd written?
Money - Martin Amis
5. In which book would you like to live?
The Passion - Jeanette Winterson.
6. Fill in the blank:
I've been curious about my Nabakov's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum can tell me a bit about it?
7. Which book's ending would you like to rewrite
and how would you end it?
The Bible - 'Relevations' would be a dream sequence that comes to Jesus whilst falling asleep in the shower
8. Who is/are your favorite writer(s)?
Bukowski, Algren, Amis (Martin), Sartre, Dos Passos, Auster, Murakami, Brautigan, Kafka.
9. Dish your author gossip (like the time you met a literary giant
or had some writer sign your book or whatever):
Er, the best i can do is that my name would be William S Burroughs had I been illegitimate (and taken my mum's maiden name)
10. Is there a genre you prefer above all others? Or one you dislike?
Naa.
11. What's worse, a shitty ending or an unrelatable character?
A shitty ending.
12. Do you have a favorite book of all time? What is it?
No but 'A Clockwork Orange' might come close.
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 06:02:00
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Round VII, Theme: Literary matters
(dedicated to that devoted book-worm, floop)
1. What was the first book that kicked your ass
captured your imagination?
When I was four turning five I was quite ill in hospital and my mother gave me The Hobbit.
2. Fill in the blank:
Everybody raves about Salman Rushdie's writing but I don't get what the big deal is.
3. Which book are you most embarrassed to admit you've read?
I have no shame about the trashier corners of my tastes.
4. Which book do you wish you'd written?
V.
5. In which book would you like to live?
Seeing as we“re living in Philip K Dickland, twould be nice to move somewhere written by Henry Miller.
6. Fill in the blank:
I've been curious about Margaret Atwood's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum
can tell me a bit about it?
7. Which book's ending would you like to rewrite
and how would you end it?
If I were Nikolai Gogol, I would have finished writing Dead Souls.
8. Who is/are your favorite writer(s)?
Pynchon, Auster, Burroughs, Beckett, Chatwin, Murakami, Flannery O“Connor, Lipsyte, Barthelme, Grass, DeLillo, Kafka, Joyce, PK Dick, Robert Heinlein, Hustvedt, Miller, Kundera, Hrabhal, Martin Amis, Bukowski, John Fante, Rabelais, Sterne, Orwell, Will Self (just kidding), Carver, Gogol, Vonnegut, Crumb, Cervantes, Houllebecq (sorry Adnan), Camus, Chabon, Heller, Clowes, Celine, Bulgakov.
9. Dish your author gossip (like the time you met a literary giant
or had some writer sign your book or whatever):
Worked for a magazine being sued by Siri Hustvedt. I met Bret Easton Ellis in Dublin, he was pleasant and welltailored.
10. Is there a genre you prefer above all others? Or one you dislike?
I like them all.
11. What's worse, a shitty ending or an unrelatable character?
No excuse for a shitty ending
12. Do you have a favorite book of all time? What is it?
For the last couple years it“s been Gravity“s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. If bring other books on a journey I usually bring two or three but if I bring that it usually comes on its own. I“m in the middle of a third reading and I like it more each time. He seems to like Bird "Charlie" Parker as much as I do and uses commas better than anyone I“ve ever read.
--
"Here love," brakes on a high squeak, "it“s not backstage at the old Windmill or something, you know." |
Edited by - Newo on 05/11/2005 06:07:22 |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 10:21:10
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darwin: answer the questions, get cracking, you've got
worthwhile things to say even if you don't know it!
owen: I didn't get Rushdie until I read "Shame," which you
might enjoy. The rest is too mired in his own bullshit, I think,
but "Shame" is get-able. If that makes sense. Regarding
Atwood, I'd be happy to tell you a bit about her. If I recall correctly, speedy's a fan, too. Just don't ask Tre. She's an infidel.
Scarla - Nabokov's my fave and I'd be happy to try to answer
whatever questions you might have.
Jedi - If I may generalize and caricaturize the work of a Nobel Prize winner, Bellow is almost always wrote about a Jewish male protagonist thinking about What It All Means while wandering aimlessly in an urban setting in the 1970s.
If you're into that sort of thing, he's great; if not, you're out of luck.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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offerw
* Dog in the Sand *
South Africa
1264 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 10:57:53
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quote:
1. What was the first book that kicked your ass
captured your imagination?
The World According to Garp
2. Fill in the blank:
Everybody raves about Bret Easton Ellis' writing but I don't get what the big deal is.
3. Which book are you most embarrassed to admit you've read?
More than just one of Wilbur Smith's novels
4. Which book do you wish you'd written?
Cunningham's The Hours
5. In which book would you like to live?
Chabon's Kavalier and Clay
6. Fill in the blank:
I've been curious about Gore Vidal's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum
can tell me a bit about it?
7. Which book's ending would you like to rewrite
and how would you end it? Cannot think of any right now.
8. Who is/are your favorite writer(s)?
Burroughs, Steinbeck, Chabon, Isherwood and Nabokov
9. Dish your author gossip (like the time you met a literary giant
or had some writer sign your book or whatever):
I only know gossip regarding a few local Afrikaans writers. Nothing to interrest any of you.
10. Is there a genre you prefer above all others? Or one you dislike?
No
11. What's worse, a shitty ending or an unrelatable character?
Neither would bother me if there was something in the book I enjoyed
12. Do you have a favorite book of all time? What is it?
Sorry cannot pick just one
wilhelm |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 11:25:24
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offerw, the people demand meaningless gossip regarding a few Afrikaans writers! Even meaningless gossip is better than no
gossip.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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Surfer Rosa
> Teenager of the Year <
4209 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 12:45:44
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quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
offerw, the people demand meaningless gossip regarding a few Afrikaans writers! Even meaningless gossip is better than no
gossip.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics
Please? |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 12:50:07
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C'mon, Wilhelm, don't keep the girls waiting.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 13:02:33
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quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
Jedi - If I may generalize and caricaturize the work of a Nobel Prize winner, Bellow is almost always wrote about a Jewish male protagonist thinking about What It All Means while wandering aimlessly in an urban setting in the 1970s.
If you're into that sort of thing, he's great; if not, you're out of luck.
Thanks Kathryn - I don't know if I'm into it or not. I just might. Hell, I'll try anything twice.
Clara Bow had a Bronx honk |
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 13:07:22
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Have you read any of his stuff? I finished Herzog a couple
of weeks before he died last month, so his writing is fresh on my mind.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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darwin
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
5456 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 13:12:36
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Round VII, Theme: Literary matters
1. What was the first book that kicked your ass/
captured your imagination?
Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books
2. Fill in the blank:
Everybody raves about Tolkien's writing but I don't get what the big deal is.
3. Which book are you most embarrassed to admit you've read?
I've read all of the Harry Potter books (actually I'm just finishing the last one) but I'm not really embarassed about that
4. Which book do you wish you'd written?
Bill James's Baseball Historical Abstract
Darwin's Origin of the Species (surprise)
5. In which book would you like to live?
no idea
6. Fill in the blank:
I've been curious about Vonnegut's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum can tell me a bit about it?
7. Which book's ending would you like to rewrite
and how would you end it?
none
8. Who is/are your favorite writer(s)?
Twain, Steinbeck, Heller
9. Dish your author gossip (like the time you met a literary giant
or had some writer sign your book or whatever):
I've got nothing
10. Is there a genre you prefer above all others? Or one you dislike?
Non-fiction - history, biographies, baseball
11. What's worse, a shitty ending or an unrelatable character?
shitty ending.
12. Do you have a favorite book of all time? What is it?
Well, I really enjoy first hand accounts of baseball history - Glory of Their Times
[/quote] |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 13:40:21
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Round VII, Theme: Literary matters
(dedicated to that devoted book-worm, floop)
1. What was the first book that kicked your ass
captured your imagination? How To Kick Your Ass And Capture Your Imagination In Ten Easy Steps (Ok sorry, it was Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
2. Fill in the blank:
Everybody raves about _Chekhov_________'s writing but I don't get what the big deal is.
3. Which book are you most embarrassed to admit you've read? Two Oasis books, although they were very entertaining
4. Which book do you wish you'd written? Lord Of The Rings, I'd be minted
5. In which book would you like to live? Well I already do kind of live in High Fidelity so I will say The Dirt or perhaps Bringing Down The House
6. Fill in the blank:
I've been curious about _Bukowski_______'s writing. Perhaps someone on the forum
can tell me a bit about it?
7. Which book's ending would you like to rewrite
and how would you end it? Those Oasis books. In the end they would have split up
8. Who is/are your favorite writer(s)? Hunter S Thompson, Roald Dahl and Brett Easton Ellis
9. Dish your author gossip (like the time you met a literary giant
or had some writer sign your book or whatever): My Uncle has written a book on Codes & Cyphers. Actually that is what it is called
10. Is there a genre you prefer above all others? Or one you dislike? I prefer fiction. Not so keen on Mills & Boon though.
11. What's worse, a shitty ending or an unrelatable character? A shitty ending
12. Do you have a favorite book of all time? What is it? This is too hard. It's a tie between The Hobbit, High Fidelity and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
Kim, will you do me the honour of being my wife?
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2005 : 16:24:52
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Yay! darwin did post! Yay!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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Scarla O
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
947 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 02:55:29
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HPM - if you're curious about Bukowski then check out the books 'Post Office', 'Factotum' or 'Ham & Rye'...i don't think you can go wrong with any of those books.
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vilainde
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Niue
7446 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 03:11:30
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1. What was the first book that kicked your ass / captured your imagination? The Hobbit
5. In which book would you like to live? Any of Borges'
8. Who is/are your favorite writer(s)? JL Borges / BE Ellis / F Dard
11. What's worse, a shitty ending or an unrelatable character? a bad translation
12. Do you have a favorite book of all time? What is it? 1. Borges - Ficciones; 2. Ellis - American Psycho; 3. The complete works (that's 182 books) of San Antonio; 4. Tolkien - LOTR
Denis
I know the god of rock n roll / Yeah I sold him my soul! |
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Monsieur
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1688 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 03:58:29
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quote:
Originally posted by apl4eris
quote:
Originally posted by Monsieur
I've been curious about Pynchon's writing. Perhaps someone
on the forum can tell me a bit about it?
It's great, and almost wholly unintelligible in the traditional sense. At least to my poor mind. I grok parts of it and the rest forms around that nugget and creates its own universe in my dreams.
If that makes any sense.
If you like PK Dick anf Kafka I feel pretty certain you might be happy.
V is the last I read, and my favorite. Gravity's Rainbow is heavier than a supernova. I don't know if I'll ever finish it. Your grasp of several languages and classics, in part or whole, and tendency towards the philosophical will really help.
 Let the Klugman revolution begin!
thx
i'll try and read V when i find enough time
and i will try to finish that book about godel and bach you made me buy
i think i will have to quit my job
I will show you fear in a handful of dust |
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Monsieur
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1688 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 04:09:37
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quote:
I've been curious about Celine's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum...
Céline, along with Proust, is probably the best French writer of the 20th century. His masterpiece, "Journey to the end of the night", partly autobiographical, describes his chaotic life : WW1, colonies, travel to America, gloomy suburbs of Paris.
The most powerful thing in his writing is the music, the way he uses French "argot" to make sentences that express raw humanity: his cowardness during the war, his depserate search throughout the world etc.
Finally, one must mention the fact that Céline, during the 30s and early 40s, wrote very violent antisemitic and racist pamphlets, which makes him a highly controversial figure. These opinions are not really reflected in a book such as "Journey...", whose humanity makes you wonder how he could become such a racist only a couple of years after that...
I will show you fear in a handful of dust |
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Monsieur
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1688 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 04:13:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Monsieur
quote:
I've been curious about Celine's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum...
Céline, along with Proust, is probably the best French writer of the 20th century. His masterpiece, "Journey to the end of the night", partly autobiographical, describes his chaotic life : WW1, colonies, travel to America, gloomy suburbs of Paris.
The most powerful thing in his writing is the music, the way he uses French "argot" to make sentences that express raw humanity: his cowardness during the war, his depserate search throughout the world etc.
Finally, one must mention the fact that Céline, during the 30s and early 40s, wrote very violent antisemitic and racist pamphlets, which makes him a highly controversial person. These opinions are not really reflected in a book such as "Journey...", whose humanity makes you wonder how he could become such a racist only a couple of years after that...
I will show you fear in a handful of dust
I will show you fear in a handful of dust |
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edwina
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
179 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 04:33:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Monsieur
quote:
Originally posted by Monsieur
[quote]
I've been curious about Celine's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum...
Céline, along with Proust, is probably the best French writer of the 20th century. His masterpiece, "Journey to the end of the night", partly autobiographical, describes his chaotic life : WW1, colonies, travel to America, gloomy suburbs of Paris.
The most powerful thing in his writing is the music, the way he uses French "argot" to make sentences that express raw humanity: his cowardness during the war, his depserate search throughout the world etc.
Finally, one must mention the fact that Céline, during the 30s and early 40s, wrote very violent antisemitic and racist pamphlets, which makes him a highly controversial person. These opinions are not really reflected in a book such as "Journey...", whose humanity makes you wonder how he could become such a racist only a couple of years after that...
[
I will show you fear in a handful of dust
Thanks for this. I have to confess I've tried to read "Journey to the End of the Night" a while ago but couldn't go past the first few pages- will have a go again bearing in mind what you said.
As for Proust, I agree he rocks- and I bet he'd just love to hear that ;).
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Edited by - edwina on 05/12/2005 05:01:43 |
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hWolsky
= Cult of Ray =
France
696 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 05:04:34
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quote:
Originally posted by Monsieur
quote:
I've been curious about Celine's writing. Perhaps someone on the forum...
Céline, along with Proust, is probably the best French writer of the 20th century. His masterpiece, "Journey to the end of the night", partly autobiographical, describes his chaotic life : WW1, colonies, travel to America, gloomy suburbs of Paris.
The most powerful thing in his writing is the music, the way he uses French "argot" to make sentences that express raw humanity: his cowardness during the war, his depserate search throughout the world etc.
Finally, one must mention the fact that Céline, during the 30s and early 40s, wrote very violent antisemitic and racist pamphlets, which makes him a highly controversial figure. These opinions are not really reflected in a book such as "Journey...", whose humanity makes you wonder how he could become such a racist only a couple of years after that...
I will show you fear in a handful of dust
I must add that along with many French writers and artists his being antisemic was merely an "exercise de style". I deals with good taste once again...
We are the Robots. Tuc tuc tuc tuc. |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 05:08:10
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I read "Journey..." only recently and I must say I was absolutely blown away. I have to wonder how much it loses from being translated into another language though... I wholly agree with Monsieur's description. I would just add that I also found that book strangely prophetic - at least the bits about America.
Clara Bow had a Bronx honk |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 06:28:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Scarla O
HPM - if you're curious about Bukowski then check out the books 'Post Office', 'Factotum' or 'Ham & Rye'...i don't think you can go wrong with any of those books.
Thanks, I will.
I guess floop WAS right!
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-
United Kingdom
6370 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 07:34:29
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Post office/Factotum/Women are a trilogy about Henry Chinaski, start with post office, but be aware, they aren't softly softly books. Bukowski is a harsh realist and will describe a good fuck and a good shit in the same intense yet distracted manner. The stories themselves are very simple, the guys an out and out bum, a gambler a drinker and a one for the ladies, he's not smooth and sophisticated he's a shit stain on the underwear of society but he's clever, he's wicked smart.
Ham on Rye is probably his most acclaimed novel and most autobiographical, I love it for it's simplicity the wording is almost child like and sometimes this makes jolting reading because he's describing pure skank in the same way someone would describe an everday object, as it is. The way this book starts is the description of a childs first memory, under a table, he describes it honestly with a childs eye. It's about growing up and being alone and an outsider and liking it that way. It's about fighting for yourself, against your family, against everyone and about descending into becoming the very thing his father hates because he hates his father.
His last novel, Pulp, is a detective novel in a way, probably is best to read after the others. You can get Ham on Rye in Fop for £3, I'd start there.
As well as a novelist though Buk has many great poetry books, one of the things I admire about him is as low a man he is (or was), living for the cheap fucks, the big wins, the drinking, relishing his own bodily functions and slipping into what most people would consider a depravity he's very honest about it, brutally so and you can't help but admire that. He also has at times moments of brilliant insight, it's quite touching.
I'll see if I can find one of his better poems online, of his poetry books the only ones I've read through a few times and can remember are "what matters most is how well you walk through the fire" and "love is a dog from hell".
oops waffled again.
[EDIT] his first published work is here: http://www.smog.net/writers/bukowski/poems/aftermath.php for an idea, and for y'all a poem.
The Aliens
you may not believe it
but there are people
who go through life with
very little
friction or
distress.
they dress well, eat
well, sleep well.
they are contented with
their family
life.
they have moments of
grief
but all in all
they are undisturbed
and often feel
very good.
and when they die
it is an easy
death, usually in their
sleep.
Charles Bukowski
 Go and tell the king that the sky is falling in |
Edited by - starmekitten on 05/12/2005 07:55:08 |
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-
United Kingdom
6370 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 07:56:16
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this one is better known:
The Blackbirds are Rough Today
lonely as a dry and used orchard
spread over the earth
for use and surrender.
shot down like an ex-pug selling
dailies on the corner.
taken by tears like
an aging chorus girl
who has gotten her last check.
a hanky is in order your lord your
worship.
the blackbirds are rough today
like
ingrown toenails
in an overnight
jail---
wine wine whine,
the blackbirds run around and
fly around
harping about
Spanish melodies and bones.
and everywhere is
nowhere---
the dream is as bad as
flapjacks and flat tires:
why do we go on
with our minds and
pockets full of
dust
like a bad boy just out of
school---
you tell
me,
you who were a hero in some
revolution
you who teach children
you who drink with calmness
you who own large homes
and walk in gardens
you who have killed a man and own a
beautiful wife
you tell me
why I am on fire like old dry
garbage.
we might surely have some interesting
correspondence.
it will keep the mailman busy.
and the butterflies and ants and bridges and
cemeteries
the rocket-makers and dogs and garage mechanics
will still go on a
while
until we run out of stamps
and/or
ideas.
don't be ashamed of
anything; I guess God meant it all
like
locks on
doors.
Charles Bukowski
Go and tell the king that the sky is falling in |
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Scarla O
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
947 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 08:15:00
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'They' have made a film of 'Factotum' which is due for release sometime in 2005 (though it may have suffered 'a straight to DVD' fate) but nonetheless this scares me.
Matt Dillon plays Hank Chinaski. |
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-
United Kingdom
6370 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 08:16:17
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| did a google, don't like it. |
Edited by - starmekitten on 05/12/2005 08:23:34 |
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Scarla O
= Cult of Ray =
United Kingdom
947 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 08:26:10
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There's a great documentary about him though, it's called "Bukowski - Born Into This".
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Newo
~ Abstract Brain ~
Spain
2674 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 08:58:07
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Buk“s collection of short stories, The Most Beautiful Woman In Town is wonderful too, Mike. Oh and uh Mickey Rourke played him in Barfly (Bukowski scripted).
--
"Here love," brakes on a high squeak, "it“s not backstage at the old Windmill or something, you know." |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 14:46:42
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Thanks guys. I should be able to pick these up on paperback pretty cheap I reckon.
I guess floop WAS right!
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/12/2005 : 17:42:44
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Speaking of cheap, kittie are you saying you googled
Matt Dillon and didn't find him cute?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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Frog in the Sand
-+ Le premiere frog +-
France
2715 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2005 : 08:06:19
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I moderately like Bukowski's books, but I love his homage to Fante's Ask the Dust:
I was a young man, starving and drinking and trying to be a writer. I did most of my reading at the downtown L.A. Public Library, and nothing that I read related to me or to the streets or to the people about me. It seemed as if everybody was playing word-tricks, that those who said almost nothing at all were considered excellent writers. Their writing was an admixture of subtlety, craft and form, and it was read and it was taught and it was ingested and it was passed on. It was a comfortable contrivance, a very slick and careful Word-Culture. One had to go back to the pre-Revolution writers of Russia to find any gamble, any passion. There were exceptions but those exceptions were so few that reading them was quickly done, and you were left staring at rows and rows of exceedingly dull books. With centuries to look back on, with all their advantages, the moderns just weren't very good. I pulled book after book from the shelves. Why didn't anybody say something? Why didn't anybody scream out?
I tried other rooms in the library. The section on Religion was just a vast bog to me. I got into Philosophy. I found a couple of bitter Germans who cheered me for a while, then that was over. I tried Mathematics but upper Maths was just like Religion: it ran right off me. What I needed seemed to be absent everywhere. I tried Geology and found it curious but, finally, nonsustaining. I found some books on Surgery and I liked the books on Surgery: the words were new and the illustrations were wonderful. I particularly liked and memorized the operation on the mesocolon. Then I dropped out of Surgery and I was back in the big room with the novelists and short story writers. (When I had enough cheap wine to drink I never went to the library. A library was a good place to be when you had nothing to drink or to eat, and the landlady was looking for you and for the back rent money. In the library at least you had the use of the toilet facilities.) I saw quite a number of other bums in there, most of them asleep on top of their books. I kept on walking around the big room, pulling the books off the shelves, reading a few lines, a few pages, then putting them back.
Then one day I pulled a book down and opened it, and there it was. I stood for a moment, reading. Then like a man who had found gold in the city dump, I carried the book to a table. The lines rolled easily across the page, there was a flow. Each line had its own energy and was followed by another like it. The very substance of each line gave the page a form, a feeling of something carved into it. And here, at last, was a man who was not afraid of emotion. The humour and the pain were intermixed with a superb simplicity. The beginning of that book was a wild and enormous miracle to me. I had a library card. I checked the book out, took it to my room, climbed into my bed and read it, and I knew long before I had finished that here was a man who had evolved a distinct way of writing. The book was Ask the Dust and the author was John Fante. He was to be a lifetime influence on my writing.
I finished Ask the Dust and looked for other books of Fante's in the library. I found two: Dago Red and Wait Until Spring, Bandini. They were of the same order, written of and from the gut and the heart. Yes, Fante had a mighty effect upon me. Not long after reading these books I began living with a woman. She was a worse drunk than I was and we had some violent arguments, and often I would scream at her, `Don't call me a son of a bitch! I am Bandini, Arturo Bandini!'
Fante was my god and I knew that the gods should be left alone, one didn't bang at their door. Yet I liked to guess about where he had lived on Angel's Flight and I imagined it possible that he still lived there. Almost every day I walked by and I thought, is that the window Camilla crawled through? And, is that the hotel door? Is that the lobby? I never knew. Thirty-nine years later I reread Ask the Dust. That is to say, I reread it this year and it still stands, as do Fante's other works, but this one is my favourite because it was my first discovery of the magic. There are other books beside Dago Red and Wait Until Spring, Bandini. They are Full of Life and The Brotherhood of the Grape. And, at the moment, Fante has a novel in progress, A Dream of Bunker Hill. Through other circumstances, I finally met the author this year [1979].
There is much more to the story of John Fante. It is a story of terrible luck and a terrible fate and of a rare and natural courage. Some day it will be told but I feel that he doesn't want me to tell it here. But let me say that the way of his words and the way of his way are the same: strong and good and warm. That's enough. Now this book is yours.
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~
Belgium
15320 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 11:01:20
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Round 8 - Music
(I've tried to avoid repeating past forum questions)
1. What song(s) would you like played at your funeral?
2. What is the first CD/album/cassette you bought?
3. What's the lamest concert you've attended?
4. Who is the artist you'd most like to see live for the first time?
5. What was your favorite musical poster in your teenhood
bedroom?
6. What is the first song you learned to play?
7. Who is the artist you've seen in concert the most?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
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Cheeseman1000
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Iceland
8201 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 11:23:51
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1. What song(s) would you like played at your funeral?
I have no idea, probably some hymns. I would for simplicity rather than some tacky sentimentality.
2. What is the first CD/album/cassette you bought?
The first cassette I ever bought was, I think, Chaka Demus & Pliers' 'Murder She Wrote', although the first cassette album was Ash's '1977'. The first music CD I bought was Radiohead's 'Paranoid Android' single, and the first CD album was 'OK Computer'
3. What's the lamest concert you've attended?
Maybe I'll come back to this one if I can think of one that's been particularly bad. Maybe, from everybody else's perspective, Clam Abuse at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms in 1998 or 1999. Really, deeply stupid, but enjoyable at the time.
4. Who is the artist you'd most like to see live for the first time?
Mogwai, without a doubt.
5. What was your favorite musical poster in your teenhood
bedroom?
Radiohead I suppose, possibly Blues Brothers
6. What is the first song you learned to play?
Some piano training piece I suppose. I don't what the first 'pop' song I learned on piano was; on guitar, the first one I learnt to play correctly rather than just bashing out chords badly was 'Street Spirit' by Radiohead (noticing a recurring theme here?). I impressed myself when I learnt my first ever solo, 'Alright' by Supergrass.
7. Who is the artist you've seen in concert the most?
I've seen Frank Black & The Catholics, M83 and Groop Dogdrill twice each.
en el amor se esconden las respuestas |
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The Holiday Son
= Quote Accumulator =
France
2023 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 11:37:44
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1. What song(s) would you like played at your funeral?
None. I don't want a funeral.
To answer the question: something by Frank obviously. Hey probably.
2. What is the first CD/album/cassette you bought?
The first decent one was surfer rosa.
3. What's the lamest concert you've attended?
Do festivals and opening bands count?
4. Who is the artist you'd most like to see live for the first time?
The Arcade Fire
5. What was your favorite musical poster in your teenhood
bedroom?
One with Kim Deal smiling.
6. What is the first song you learned to play?
Smoke on the Water.
7. Who is the artist you've seen in concert the most?
Frank. 5 times (+ Pixies twice) |
Edited by - The Holiday Son on 05/16/2005 15:11:49 |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 11:48:02
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Round 8 - Music
(I've tried to avoid repeating past forum questions)
1. What song(s) would you like played at your funeral? Not really given it any thought
2. What is the first CD/album/cassette you bought? I think it was an Elton John album
3. What's the lamest concert you've attended? Most of the amateur covers bands I have seen in various pubs
4. Who is the artist you'd most like to see live for the first time? Nirvana
5. What was your favorite musical poster in your teenhood
bedroom? I still have them now and it's a Debbie Harry black and white one. Beautiful
6. What is the first song you learned to play? I have never learned to play anyone elses song
7. Who is the artist you've seen in concert the most? Ash
I guess floop WAS right!
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Edited by - Homers_pet_monkey on 05/16/2005 11:51:41 |
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Homers_pet_monkey
= Official forum monkey =
United Kingdom
17125 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2005 : 11:52:27
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Going off Cheesy and Holiday Son's answers, I am not sure I understood question 4.
I guess floop WAS right!
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Topic |
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Non-Frank ?s: Round XIII, Submit new ?s please!
