Reading ideas come from all sorts of places. While I’m a big sci-fi fan, I’d admittedly never heard of the Strugatsky brothers until I read an article about European dystopian games in a recent edition of Game Informer magazine. (For you cool people who don’t know about Game Informer, it’s the magazine you get an automatic subscription to when you sign up for a rewards card at GameStop stores. It’s pretty good!) I found out that the influential S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game was based on a […]
“In most cases learning something essential in life requires physical pain.”
Since it’s my Year of Murakami, I’m reading both the man’s fiction and his non-fiction. A decade or so ago, Murakami wrote a book about running. Unbeknownst to me, when not listening to jazz records or drinking whisky or thinking about women just out of reach, the author runs marathons. In fact, he runs one a year or so, and also likes triathlons. This book isn’t really a how-to or a straight memoir so much as a man recording his wandering thoughts. For a fan […]
“I’ve got the bad blood in me I think, the mad uncle, the bit of the bullet.”
Seinfeld used to do a bit I really liked about going to the movies. Movie previews used to say, “If you see only one movie this year, make this one it!” He hated that, because if you’re only going to see one movie, don’t bother. It’s too much pressure. I’m feel that way about books. That’s part of why I read so much – it’s ok to be adventurous and move outside my comfort zone because what’s the worst that can happen? I only liked […]
“I don’t believe in anything, but I’m too much of a gambler not to be affected by a lot of things.”
I saw “There Will Be Blood” in the theater when it came out, and when the lights came up I hated it. Over the next few days, certain scenes or lines would come back to me and I would think, Oh, that’s pretty good. The movie kept rising to the front of my mind, and after a week I thought it was great. The same thing happened to me with Hammett’s classic hard-boiled mystery, The Glass Key. I didn’t enjoy it much until the last few pages, […]
Wisecracks in 1930s New York City
Dashiell Hammett gave me my first hard-boiled/noir experience with Red Harvest. For that reason, he’ll always be special to me, even if Raymond Chandler is my favorite. So, while on a work break at the library, I snagged The Thin Man, in large part due to the fun cover. Wisecracking couples soaked in whiskey and entendre? Oke. Thin Man is set in New York City in 1933. Nick Charles is an ex-cop and current private eye. He married up. His wife is Nora, a wealthy (I think?) […]
“Lady, did you ever see anyone shot by a gun without bleeding?”
My year of Murakami continues with Sputnik Sweetheart, a brooding and disturbing book about connection and isolation, what kind of pants people are wearing, and writing. While it’s not my favorite Murakami work, it’s still more gripping and provocative than most of the fifty-something books I’ve read this year. All of his books either change my worldview or spur me towards my own creative pursuits. That’s good art. Sputnik‘s protagonist is the typical Murakamian narrator. Male. Enjoys alcohol and thinking, does ok with the ladies, interested […]
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