Busytown by Jolisa Gracewood

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Busytown: Holiday reading lust

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  • philipmatthews,

    On which subject, Philip.

    Since writing the above, I came across this Hitchens piece on Larsson, which fills in more of the background:

    http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/12/hitchens-200912

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    In a nutshell, I don't have one

    Pffft. Everybody should have one of those.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • JackElder,

    I had a nutshell once.

    Couldn't find anything to put it in. Had to get rid of it.

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • dyan campbell,

    I had a nutshell once.
    Couldn't find anything to put it in. Had to get rid of it.

    My Mum could have helped you there... one Christmas season when she wanted to keep me and my brother out of her way for a few hours, she suggested we carefully open walnuts, take out the nut, replace it with a note that read "HELP! I'M BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN A WALNUT FACTORY!" and carefully glue them back together. Then we snuck them into peoples's holiday centrepieces, shop bins filled with walnuts etc. We thought it was the funniest thing on earth (I was 6 and my brother would have been 9).
    In hindsight, my mother may have been good at keeping pesky children busy, but she was a little odd.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    "HELP I"M BEING HELD CAPTIVE IN A PAS LITERARY THREAD. THURSDAY, ARE YOU OUT THERE?"

    Ok, so it is now an established fact that I am a nut in a shell. Can I be a Brazil nut, as our soil is low in Selenium?

    Nice article Philip. I still struggle with the characterisations in both the book and the movie, and to try and explore the themes mentioned (I lost count after Sexual Sadism, Nazism, Corporate corruption, institutionalized abuse and systemic/endemic misogyny) in either a seat-of-the-pants novel, or the fairly disjointed (IMhO) movie adaptation seemed a bit hopeful.

    But then as has been discussed by the Dr's in residence, the 'reality' of a 'fiction' becomes the wider expression about what it says in relation to society (paraphrasing, sorry), or what those in society say in relation to 'it', and in that respect there is plenty to learn from this book/movie.

    If they make an American version with Winona Ryder, not so much.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Ngaire BookieMonster,

    In hindsight, my mother may have been good at keeping pesky children busy, but she was a little odd.

    I think I love your mother, just a little bit.

    At the foot of Mt Te Aroh… • Since Nov 2009 • 174 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg,

    On which subject, Philip.

    Ah, I had not seen that before.

    this Hitchens piece on Larsson

    Great new word: Schwedenkrimi.

    Where is the Kiwikrimi?

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Your mum rocks, Dyan

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    "Where is the Kiwikrimi?"

    I was going to post immediately and say "In teh Kiwicows" and then I realised I read an i in that wasnt there.

    There's not a lot, but some of it is doing more than OK. Vanda Symons for homebaked books, and a couple of import guys (as in, not born&bred here) who do *very* well, especially in Germany.

    The late & lamented Gaelyn Gordon had a neat couple of crime novels in the 1980s (fun, rather than angst.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Cecelia,

    the 'reality' of a 'fiction' becomes the wider expression about what it says in relation to society (paraphrasing, sorry), or what those in society say in relation to 'it', and in that respect there is plenty to learn from this book/movie.

    Nah, at my stage of life I don't want to read anything that is merely commercial and not enriching. Dragon Tattoo is the former and I've just given up on Maurice Gee's Access Road. Flippin' 'eck, it's the same story he's told a dozen times. The same bully figure, same anti-puritanism and same dark childhood secret.

    I'm reading Giliead by Marilyn Robinson because I looked up all the Pulitzer prize winners from the last few years, wrote them down and took out the ones available. I really want to get hold of Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie (heard her on the radio) but not available in library or shop!

    Yes, I learnt something from Tattoo - the Swedish setting etc but I'm going for broke - a second rate book is a second rate book. (Apart from Twilight because I was teaching teenage girls then and needed to read some YA books!)

    Hibiscus Coast • Since Apr 2008 • 559 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    I'm reading Giliead by Marilyn Robinson

    A fantastic novel. When you're finished -- and if you liked it -- read Home, which is the same events told from another perspective, sort of.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I dont want to whisper a word about Gee's repetition...so, I'll shout it:
    I was so glad that he has publically said that he'll stop writing now he's 80.

    He has created some wonderful works, but it is time to lie back on the laurels.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Cecelia,

    I agree. I have great respect for Maurice Gee - I'm surprised he hasn't gone down a new path ... I'll remember him for Plumb and The Fat Man and some of his stories.

    Hibiscus Coast • Since Apr 2008 • 559 posts Report Reply

  • dyan campbell,

    Ngaire

    I think I love your mother, just a little bit.

    and Sacha

    Your mum rocks, Dyan

    Thanks - she was not only odd but also oddly inspired at entertaining children. She used to draw a rabbit for us as scratchy, airport bound toddlers and say "The rabbit's so thirsty I need you to draw him a water dish ... so hungry I need you to draw carrots and dandelions, so bored I need you to draw him a meadow with trees... as we got older our Dad got in on the act, and as soon as we had a grasp of an alphabet and numbers, he'd draw the rabbit on a graph and only show us for a second, and we'd have to guess coordinates to get the carrots and water to the poor thing.

    auckland • Since Dec 2006 • 595 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Nah, at my stage of life I don't want to read anything that is merely commercial and not enriching.

    I already try not to do that. Guess I got caught up in the hype, and still found it an easy enough read, although, no, not enriching.

    I'm reading Alaa al-Aswani's Chicago and I agree with the reviewer that some of the narratives are a bit tedious, but overall quite enjoyable. The Yakoubian Building sounds more promising, and will have to add that to the almost monumental list. Culture in the spotlight, or in conflict, is a bit of a theme of mine (or trend?). Tash Aw, Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist) and of course Amitav Ghosh. The Glass Palace is one of my favourites. Read Rohintin Mistry also, several years back. If I could just drag myself away from these threads, I'd get some decent reading done.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • stephen clover,

    Lucy:

    (Side-note: the BBC is remaking Day of the Triffids as a mini-series with Eddy Izzard. Be very afraid?)

    Craig:

    Not necessarily. The re-make of Survivors (whose second series debuts in the UK next month) wasn't the total bum-bang I was expecting

    Oh dear.

    Oh dear.

    Yes, be very afraid. I have seen it, and it's abominable. How I longed for a triffid to happen along and lash out my eyes with it's terrible sting, poison me to death, guard my corpse for several days until I rotted, and then eat me... just to end my suffering.

    wgtn • Since Sep 2007 • 355 posts Report Reply

  • Tania Roxborogh,

    I just finished Access Road this arvo and was, by the end, fed up although I loved page 53. There was a predictability about the story and I got tired of wallowing around in another complication head.

    I want STORY!

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2009 • 5 posts Report Reply

  • Cecelia,

    Access Road - interesting, Tania, that you liked pg 53. I too liked the bits in the book where the narrator was describing her brothers and husband as old men (or middle aged men?) It was the going back into the past that got me. I feel I've read that story before so many times.

    And then when I got to the bit where the bully figure from the past was going to return home. I gave up. Soooo The Fat Man and not a narrative path I wanted to go down again.

    I feel mean though as I really like Maurice Gee and his contribution to NZ lit. I have fond memories of reading Under the Mountain to my kids.

    Hibiscus Coast • Since Apr 2008 • 559 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    Read through the whole thing last night, and not much to add other than to express relief that Paul Litterick received the flaming he so deserved for his outrageous declarations of outmoded snobbery -- delivered presumably from the safety (and mindset) of an ivory tower somewhere -- re. sci-fi vs. literary fiction, readers vs. fans, Margaret Atwood, Iain (M.) Banks, umm.. and so on.

    There is nothing like being attacked by someone who has a multiple-murderer for his avatar. If you would like to read a third time, Stephen, you might notice that I was not attacking Science Fiction, outrageous though my comments might seem. It really is no wonder that Margaret Atwood wants to distance herself from Sci-Fi, when one sees the Philistinism and anti-intellectualism of some of the fans.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Groan! Flaming philistines. Next we'll be stewing rabbits. Oh, we did that already. Maybe I'll ditch all my books and go read The Myth of Sysiphus.

    PS Paul, that wasn't really directed at you. You didn't bring it up again, after all.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Oh dear.

    Oh dear.

    Yes, be very afraid. I have seen it, and it's abominable.

    If you're talking about the Day of The Triffids re-make (which incidentally kicks off on Two, this Wednesday at 8.30), it's no classic but a fairly pleasant way to waste an evening or two. Though it does hinge on one plot turn that broke my bullshit-o-meter.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • stephen clover,

    Craig: you are much more tolerant than I. I much much prefer the 1981 version, for almost innumerable reasons. This latest one has Jason Priestly in it as Coker, ffs; and unfortunately I found Eddie Izzard unbearably hammy. And the triffids are awful, awful, Z-grade stuff.

    wgtn • Since Sep 2007 • 355 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Alien Lizard (anag),

    stewing rabbits

    +

    Verlaines clip

    =
    that rabbit cooks!
    and when at the Bunny Hop
    it's Bad Manners to
    mention the hook

    and of course Amitav Ghosh

    that Amitav Ghosh's
    The Calcutta Chromosome hasn't been
    turned into a steam-cyber-punk movie
    is a wonder - waiting to happen...
    a romp with something for everyone!
    anything sub-titled "A novel of fevers,
    delirium and discovery"
    can't be all bad...
    - bite me!
    be warned:
    it'll grow on you...

    The Arrrgh Complex • Since Jan 2010 • 158 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Alien Lizard, you are quite simply brilliant. And here I was thinking I was being too subtitle, but clearly not subtitle enough ;-)

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

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