Re: JDS Film and TV

Graham Preston (ac109@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca)
Mon, 10 Nov 1997 22:13:54 -0600 (CST) 

> 
> 
>    Very interesting, I'm no psychiatrist or anything, but my question
> is:  what the HELL did you eat before going to sleep?  Ha, ha.  Thanks
> to things like clearances and copyrights (and especially LAWYERS), Old
> JDS will never have to worry about being featured on Oprah.  I love the
> parts the book burning like Hendrix and the about the "Great White
> North", but Salinger already lives in the GWN of the US--New Hampshire! 
> 

I forgot what I ate but obviously I watched Oprah, MuchMusic (god bless
Moses Znaimer), and SCTV, eh!  

> 
> 
>    You read "Gravity's Rainbow" while reading "M&D"??? You are an
> ambitious sort, aren't you?  I once read "Ulysses" and "Gravity's

Well, I had a lot of time in the summer when I was canoeing, portaging,
and laying around in Quetico Park and CJ'97. I actually found "The English
Patient" harder to read than "Gravity's Rainbow".

> Rainbow" back to back (on my own, not for any class) and then I took two
> weeks off from reading--my brain hurt in the most magnificent way. 
> Actually, I loved "M&D", though it took a while to finish--two young
> kids and a full-time job.  Yes, funny--the giant cheese scene, among
> others, had me on the floor. Interesting--of course, having never really
> spent much time learning about the Line, it was fascinating purely from
> historical and informative perspectives.  Plodding--sure, as I was
> reading it I wondered just much "plodding" went into the surveying of
> the Line itself--clearing trees, crossing rivers, and just pure time
> wasting. It couldn't have been an easy task for two British astronomers
> new to America. 

The scenes that struck me were George Washington, smoking pot and the
Mechanickal Duck.

>    I never expected "M&D" to be easy or a "beach read". "M&D" included,
> Pynchon's works are written to completely remove the idea of shallow,
> surface-only readings--he demands re-reads.  At the first chance I get,
> I will be re-reading it and enjoying it again.  I was mildly upset that
> it wasn't nominated as a finalist for the National Book Award this year
> (I'm leery of the NBA because of past winners), but knowing that
> "Underworld" (which I'm now in the middle of) has a great chance to win,
> I won't be so peeved.


The NBA (and the NBA) have been spotty, but it's not a perfect world, is
it?  When ER wins Emmys while "Homicide" sits in the shadows continnually
being the best damn show on TV or Judy Davis...

Pynchon does strike me as brilliant but not as much as Salinger (of
course).  But something about him and his work seems too self-indulgent
and discourages mainstream audiances to read him word for word, book by
book.  (Like Tom Clancy.  Don't let me get started on how I hate him)


Graham
"Say Meg.  I'm stuck on yer shape.  It's outta sight."
Stephen Crane, "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets"
"You want glory? Go to ER. Homicide's fine by me."
The Best Damn Show on TV, "Homicide: Life on the Street"