Some Link Crack To Tide You Over...

8:25 Jun 13, 2011 56

BOOKER LAUREATE CATFIGHT (OR SOMETHING) The Herald reports that Keri Hulme is all the way off V.S. Naipaul's Christmas card list -- which puts her in very good company (i.e. every other English-language author ever, it seems). Though Observer book columnist Robert McCrum (cited without attribution by the Herald) might want to check his own condescending prickery. Keri hasn't been "silent for decades", chap -- as Public Address readers well know.

THEY'RE THE KINGS OF THE WORLD! Talented people bring out in me just a hint of the green-eyed monster, but Friends of Public Address Jonathan and Rachael King are taking it too far. Film-maker Jonathan's web comic Threat Level is deliciously geeky fun, and his novelist-sister's selection of their father's prose The Silence Beyond is impeccable. (No spoilers, sweeties - but the review that will go live next week is going to be a gusher. Penguin NZ has almost redeemed itself for the Ihimaera plagiarism fiasco.) An edited version of her introduction can be read on The Listener website here. (EDITED TO ADD: Thanks to Fundy Post (Paul Litterick) for pointing out Rachael King also paid tribute to her Dad on Nat Radio's Sunday Morning. Seriously, Rachael, could you please stop bogarting New Zealand's awesomeness reserves?)

BEING BORING? Sick of eating you cinematic broccoli? Dan Kois feels your pain. NYTimes film writers Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott respond with a rather lively defence of slow and boring.

SOMEWHERE, WILLIAM GOLDMAN IS LAUGHING HIS ARSE OFF.

"Salman Rushdie is to make a sci-fi television series in the belief that quality TV drama has taken over from film and the novel as the best way of widely communicating ideas and stories.

"It's like the best of both worlds," said the novelist in an interview with the Observer. "You can work in movie style productions, but have proper control."

56 responses to this post

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Ngaire BookieMonster, 09:57 Jun 13, 2011

Apropos of that Dan Kois piece, Phineas and Ferb are TEH AWESUM!
"You will always be my,
Little brothers,
Cause you're younger,
We're related, and you're boys"

At the foot of Mt Te Aroh… • Since Nov 2009 • 174 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, 10:02 Jun 13, 2011

FWIW, Diana Athill doesn't remove her rings to give Naipaul a good rap across the knuckles.
"I was a 'sensitive editor' because I liked his work, I was admiring it. When I stopped admiring him so much I started being 'feminine tosh'," she said this morning. "I can't say it made me feel very bad. It just made me laugh ... I think one should just ignore it, take no notice really."
Naipaul has "always been a testy man and seems to have got testier in old age", said Athill. "I don't think it is worth being taken seriously ... It's sad really because he's a very good writer. Why be such an irritable man?"
It's not the first time the pair have clashed. When Athill told Naipaul that his novel, Guerrillas, did not ring true, the move led, indirectly, to his departure from André Deutsch. And Athill has previously said that, when she needed cheering up, "I used to tell myself: 'At least I'm not married to Vidia.'"
As the kids say: Burn!

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
David Herkt, 10:44 Jun 13, 2011

Re; In Defence Of Slow & Boring. I have always been fascinated by the fact that when I look at my cinema likes and dislikes, slow and boring generally tops my lists. This is in spite of having a notorious ADHD metabolism and being somewhat familiar at getting TV editors to ram in more cuts than even an average ritalin-dosed 5 year old needs. So I‘ve always wondered at this meditative facet of my taste. I think it is due to content. I mean I’m the person who is always looking at the background of porn (Russian light-switches, views out windows, brands of products). I have always liked Warhol. I like Antonioni. Enjoy Tarkovsky. Always loved Visconti. ’Slow and boring’ gives one a chance to do this looking around – if the content can stand it. Dense content can stand the superficiality of the ‘slow and boring’ judgement. I find the current crop of fast-paced commercial movies fairly arid fare. There is not enough happening to keep me engaged. It is like methampetetamine without content. I guess it is because, ultimately, we provide the power and speed. and film and TV makers should just focus sometimes on texture – and the denser, the better.

Auckland • Since Sep 2007 • 53 posts Report
3410, 10:49 Jun 13, 2011

BEING BORING? Sick of eating you cinematic broccoli? Dan Kois feels your pain.
Basically, that existential dilemma of realising that he's not as hip as he'd like people to see him.

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, in reply to David Herkt, 11:15 Jun 13, 2011

Quite -- as a general principle, once a film hits the two hour mark it has to work damn hard to keep my attention. But like most general principles, you don't have to look far to find exceptions: Gone With the Wind is always one hell of a way to pass 3 3/4 hours.
But Terence Malick isn't so much "slow and boring" as "I've just watched a string of astoundingly beautiful images that don't really add up to anything I give a shit about." (Then again, the Better Half has the same reaction to Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood for Love which I adore.)

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
3410, 11:33 Jun 13, 2011

Terence Malick isn't so much "slow and boring" as "I've just watched a string of astoundingly beautiful images that don't really add up to anything I give a shit about."
Sure. I still wonder what kind of person complains about having to see a Malick film once every nine years.

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Danielle, 11:41 Jun 13, 2011

I like Antonioni.
I *love* Antonioni. All those big contemplative spaces and ambient noises. Yay.

Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, in reply to 3410, 11:52 Jun 13, 2011

Sure. I still wonder what kind of person complains about having to see a Malick film once every nine years.
To be fair, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Malick you've got to respect that he's the closest thing we've got to Kubrick's "fuck off and let me do my crazy shit after you've written the cheque" relationship with Warners. And like Kubrick, Malick may be arthouse with a capital A, but he's also reliably (if modestly) profitable and makes films people feel obliged to talk about, even if they hate themselves in the morning. :)

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
Lilith __, 12:10 Jun 13, 2011

In The Mood For Love is a brilliant movie but talk about misleading title! It should be In the Mood For Nothing But Closeups
or In the Mood For Feeling Kind of Hopeless and Confused
At least Antonioni knew how to do gratuitous explosions. :-)

Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report
Lilith __, 12:15 Jun 13, 2011

I remember once getting Tarkovsky's Stalker out on video because my sister wanted to watch it. The blurb said something about Tarkovsky's "rigorous denial of plot structure and characterisation". A wonderful phrase that's stuck in my memory. More than the film. :-)

Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, 12:25 Jun 13, 2011

HOUSEKEEPING NOTE: I've added to the post a link to Rachael King on Nat Radio yesterday. Thank to Fundy Post (Paul Litterick) for bringing it to my attention...

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
Lilith __, 12:25 Jun 13, 2011

Has anyone else seen Marguerite Duras's India Song ? It's a peculiar film, and after the first 15 minutes of sitting there watching and being unable to make head or tail of it, I thought, "I'll give it another 5 minutes, and then I'm walking out!"
But 5 minutes later I was absolutely spellbound by it, and only emerged dazed and blinking about an hour-and-a-half later. It was almost literally hypnotic.
Looking at the India Song IMDb page, the featured user review says, "I was completely hypnotized and paralyzed while seeing this film. The first time I saw it, I was so deeply moved that I couldn't even move my fingers, let alone any other parts of my body."

Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report
Lilith __, in reply to Danielle, 12:37 Jun 13, 2011

I *love* Antonioni. All those big contemplative spaces and ambient noises. Yay.
It's been pointed out to me that when his films have music, it's always because someone's put a record on or is listening to the radio or playing an instrument: it's part of the story. There's no non-diegetic music. Without a musical score burbling along in the background, we pay attention to all the other sounds and silences. And the explosions. :-)
Interestingly, a melodrama is technically a "play with music" where music is blantantly used to induce an emotional reaction from the audience.

Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report
3410, 12:56 Jun 13, 2011

Do the Germans have a word for "boring-in-a-good-way"?

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, in reply to 3410, 13:10 Jun 13, 2011

Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder.

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
3410, 14:24 Jun 13, 2011

Bergman speaks about Antonioni (2002):

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
BenWilson, in reply to 3410, 15:52 Jun 13, 2011

o the Germans have a word for "boring-in-a-good-way"?
Nothing to prevent them having one. Stinklangweilig is "so boring it stinks", so I can't see anything wrong with "Gutlangweilig".
Given my good pass in German language and shocking fail in their literature due to finding it stinklangweilig, I'm inclined to think they don't even need a compound word. The word "Gut" quite possible captures everything you need.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report
bmk, in reply to BenWilson, 17:42 Jun 13, 2011

You didn't like Hermen Hesse? I have only read him in English but he's one of my favourite authors and wish I could read his works in the original source.
Their was a scene in Steppenwolf where I could feel the translators pain - paraphrase
"Haven't you noticed you have been calling me thou while I have been calling you thee?"
The translator trying to get across the difference between the formal sie and the informal du.

Since Jun 2010 • 327 posts Report
3410, 17:43 Jun 13, 2011

The word "Gut" quite possible captures everything you need.
I'm going to go with "Spaßlangeweilenichts".

Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report
Islander, in reply to Craig Ranapia, 01:18 Jun 14, 2011

Kia ora Craig – your comment on Graham Beattie’s blog – and especially here – much appreciated. My low-key judicious response is on Graham’s blog apopo-
McCrum had picked up on an earlier comment I made last year on that blog: in neither instance has he had the courtesy to acknowledge the origin.

Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report
Biobbs, in reply to Ngaire BookieMonster, 01:34 Jun 14, 2011

Apropos of that Dan Kois piece, Phineas and Ferb are TEH AWESUM!
Yes, yes they are.

The River Mouth, Denmark • Since Jan 2011 • 114 posts Report
Islander, in reply to Islander, 02:20 Jun 14, 2011

O, just for the record, my weird surname has an 'l' in it: it is Scandanavian in origin
and means "body of land surrounded by water." If you're into heraldry, it can be traced in English references to one of the Norman ruffians who came across the Channel in 1066. And yes, "William" for a male name has continued throughout those centuries within my family - but it has no relation with William-the-conqueror, merely with William-of-the-island.

Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report
Craig Ranapia, in reply to Islander, 06:12 Jun 14, 2011

O, just for the record, my weird surname has an ‘l’ in it: it is Scandanavian in origin
Fixed with apologies. I get extremely pissy when folks mung my weirdly ethnic surname :), and really should be more careful with other people’s.
Kia ora Craig – your comment on Graham Beattie’s blog – and especially here – much appreciated.
You're welcome. I probably have a higher opinion of Naipaul's work than you do but his best work is a long way behind him; even I'm not going to try and defend The Enigma of Arrival or the duology Half a Life / Magic Seeds. They're awful. Anyone who thinks they're the work of the "best living writer in the English language" needs to step away from the P pipe.
And if you really want to put the case for lady-parts tainting fiction with "sentimental" "feminine tosh," Jane Austen is a rather odd name to cite. I'd argue she's lasted for two centuries precisely because she's about as foofy as a cosh to the back of the head.

North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report
BenWilson, in reply to bmk, 08:42 Jun 14, 2011

You didn't like Hermen Hesse?
We didn't get to read the good shit. I think that's much more to blame than any real dearth of good german material. And I didn't have a taste for stuff that was so dark back then. By the end of 6 weeks, I'd studied poems about:
-suicide
-child abuse
-middle class depression
-nazism (x 5)
-rape
Not one single love poem, which was about all I could ever see myself actually using poetry for.

Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report
bmk, in reply to BenWilson, 08:52 Jun 14, 2011

No wonder you found it depressing:)
I only did German in high school and we got to translate fairy tales into German which was actually pretty cool - but I think the reason for this was that fairy tales were all we would have been capable of doing.

Since Jun 2010 • 327 posts Report