sad day for literature

http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/11/17/literature.text.ap/index.html

grr.....damn movie releases anyway...

So I was really kind of excited to go to P&P the movie this weekend. However, the movie studios have managed to thwart me again. In order to see this movie, I would have to drive to Chicago, somewhere in Nebraska or somewhere in Minnesota....because those are the closest locations.

I have yet to determine a suitable punishment for them....especially considering that HP4 is coming out next weekend.....should I go to the midnight showing? I don't know. I *do* have to work that day.

We were talking movies at work the other day. It was determined that movies such as those made before the 70s would never be made today. Especially those from the 20's to 40's, because then they were viewed as ART, not ENTERTAINMENT. Think of the sets/locations for "Funny Face" or any Fred/Ginger movie. Production companies today have no interest in spending money for things like that because there is no guarantee that they will recoup their costs. How unfortunate for today's movie going public. The only movies that I think even come close are the HP series, "Elizabeth" from a few years ago, the upcoming "P&P" and "Narnia"--of course, the latter two are being considered without being viewed.

What a shame....

Another one of the faceless masses...

Today was the downtown Muscatine Holiday Open House...an event I usually attend with my family. Not so much for the purchasing of gifts, but because the downtown is currently in a state of flux. However, this year, Mom & Dad went to g&g and frog wasn't going to come down, and hubby had to work....ergo....I go by myself. And once again I am reminded that people judge you based on what you wear. I was dressed comfortably (considering the wind & the fact that it was the weekend) in jeans and a hoodie. Now I don't look like a thug, but I don't look like I have a salary of $50k either. Do you think anyone would even deign to speak to me?

No.

Once again, I am part of the faceless masses yearning to be recognized. Now I will admit that I didn't go out of my way to be noticeable to anyone, but still, one would think that if you walk into a store and you look like you may be looking for something, you may say something...right? Or am I just in the wrong era? Now this happening at N----------, I can understand, but not at a local retail establishment.

Of course, it could just be me. At the place I work, most of the times, the client doesn't even realize I exist--they go right to my partner to tell her things. In all reality, it's fine with me because then I don't have to be bothered. However, it is kind of annoying when they don't even know my name. Part of that could be that I was never introduced to most of them when I was hired, and the other part could be that I am not a smoker, so I don't go out and smoke with them. That's fine...I would rather have my health and do good work than have them know my name, I guess.

Hooray for TB?

The article linked above is rather interesting...brief and not very deep in its theory, but interesting. The theory is that if Orwell hadn't been so sick with TB that maybe 1984, his great opus of big government wouldn't have been so dark and oppressive. However, he was a kind of gloom-and-doom type before 1984, and his advetures in the Spanish Civil War may have played more of a part in the book.

Personally, I think a chipper, happy-go-lucky 1984 is depressing. Without the overwhelming sense of paranoia of Big Brother, and the sense of confusion with doublethink, 1984 wouldn't be a masterpiece of mid-century writing.

Will it be as good as the Colin Firth version?

I don't know. But the cast is amazing....Judi Dench, Donald Sutherland, Kiera Knightly and Rosamund Pike. And really, the Colin Firth version was only on A&E, and this is going to the big screen. As long as they are true to the book, and to the spirit of Jane Austen, I don't think we will have a problem.

Enter the librarian...

Paradise Lost: the movie
Dante's Inferno: the musical
Leviticus: the haiku

I *know* my library doesn't have enough copies...

;)

Tho' the upside to being the closest library to Disney World is that no-one wants books! My beloved patrons arrive in castmember outfits, small black ears, and sensible shoes. The last thing they want is to wander the stacks questing for that perfect bedtable read. They're in, out, and homeward bound. No doubt it's to shed the hawaiian Dumbo shirts and pirate boots... And escape the endless stream of tourists. I know, 'cause I do the same thing (sans uniform, of course).

But it's never the same throng twice.

And it may make me a sick puppy for saying so, but I kindof like it. Not many people can claim to be Ringmaster to a freak show.

For now,
*kat

Paradise Lost

Wow.....check this out....Paradise Lost by John Milton as a movie! Can you imagine the casting issues? And how about making it accessible to today's audience---most of whom have never read PL, must less heard of PL.

Something to ponder.....

The October List

My Father Had A Daughter by Grace Tiffany
The Pretender by Celeste Bradley
Amethyst by Lauraine Snelling
Bed & Breakfast by Lois Battle
Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
The Imposter by Celeste Bradley
The Spy by Celeste Bradley
To Wed a Scandalous Spy by Celeste Bradley
The Innocent by Posie Graeme-Evans
The Exiled by Posie Graeme-Evans
Knitting by Anne Bartlett
Consent to Kill by Vince Flynn
Say You Love Me by Johanna Lindsay

Total: 4721

Bad thing for this month...didn't finish my non-fiction book for the month, so I have to read 2 in November. But October was a crappy month anyway, so I needed the escapist lit.

The late September list

A Fine Passion by Stephanie Laurens
Whence Came a Prince by Liz Curtis Higgs
Earthly Joys by Phillipa Gregory
Julie & Romeo by Jeane Ray
Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick
Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Althea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas
Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas
Otherwise Engaged by Eileen Goudge

Total page count: 4827