Just finished Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad, from which the title for this post comes. I had been putting off inevitable turning of the last few pages as much as possible-- suddenly the work-reading I'm doing on my Kindle was a means to avoiding the end of this transcendent work of fiction.
You: Transcendent... really? Is that hyperbole?
Me: No. At least not for me.
I chose a perfect sun-dappled rock along a river for my final reading spot. I had just spent 25 minutes swimming against the current, and 5 minutes returning to my point of origin, and I felt that somehow that experience was the perfect preparation. Reading this book has felt like coming home. An abstract home yes, but a home nonetheless. She so elegantly weaves together so many of the ideas I've been obsessed with for as long as I can remember-- and is as inventive with her medium (using powerpoint and text messages at points to help tell the story)-- it is no surprise the book won the Pulitzer. It has also been refreshing for me for other reasons. The book I was reading was an actual book which I purchased in an actual independent bookseller in lenox, massachusetts. She is a writer whose stories I've loved to run away with since I was 17, and this was my August reading-- a tradition I've savored since I was lugging 10 picture books home from the local library to spend the summer with.
The book, like almost all of my favorite forms of art, weaves together a polyphony of characters and relationships in the most surreptitious way.
Tangent: Ms. Sydelle Gomberg taught my ballet class the word in 1988 and I will never forget it. She wanted us to move our arms, to do our ports de bras, like we were gently pulling a twig through the water, making figure 8s with it, letting the buds at the end of the branch form 'S's, and do our best not to disturb the rest of the water. I liked that metaphor then and now.
It deals with the struggle between youth/innocence and age/knowledge/corruption as well as how curiosity and adventure can be both excellent and dangerous. It raises a ton of brilliant questions about technology, the 'information age,' sound versus music, and silence. It also got me thinking a lot about aging, and change and what change means at different points in a person's life. I kind of want to read it all over again.
Also, I saw Another Earth a few weeks ago and loved that too. Bravo to Mike Cahill and Brit Marling and the 2 or so other people involved. Yay for books, plays and movies that are tackling the metaphysical while also being really accessible and entertaining.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
happy valentine's day.
In honor of Valentine's I'm going to share these great quotes Stella sent me.
Go ahead and fall in love with a book. I'm going to.
[Also, I cannot believe there's nothing from Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go on here.]
30 Literary Quotes That Just Might Get You Laid
11:00 am Wednesday Feb 9, 2011 on flavorpill by Kathleen Massara
Wooing is hard work. Inevitably all of us will be crushed by disappointment from time to time when a chosen paramour rejects us with a single, cutting remark. However, we are almost certain here at Flavorpill that having a background in literature will work in your favor, whether you find yourself pining at a bar, a café, or at an awkward house party filled with graduate students clutching red plastic cups — their eyes glazing over as another person enters the throng and attempts to discuss his thesis on Levinas’s idea of irreducible relations. Rally against this stagnation, readers, and use the quotes below to find love… but don’t blame us if you get slapped.
1. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Best way of cutting to the chase:
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
2. Complete Works by D.H. Lawrence
When you’re encouraging the flame:
“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.”
3. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Infamous heartbreaker, that Henry Valentine:
“What holds the world together, as I have learned from bitter experience, is sexual intercourse.”
4. Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
You could almost pick a line at random with Neruda, really, but here’s a sure thing:
“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
5. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Get ready to test adulterous waters:
“I used to think marriage was a plate-glass window just begging for a brick.”
6. “Don Juan” by Lord Byron
For the shy ones, sitting in the room downstairs:
“A little she strove, and much repented,
And whispering, ‘I will ne’er consent’ — consented.”
7. “Bright Star” by John Keats
Who is able to resist Keats’ spell? If anyone can, you shouldn’t be interested in them anyway:
“Pillowed upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever — or else swoon in death.”
8. Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
When you suddenly realize your kendo teacher is thinking of molding more of your body than your mind:
“I seemed like a baby bird keeping its truly innocent animal lusts hidden under its wing. I was being tempted, not by the desire of possession, but simply by unadorned temptation itself.”
9. The Lost Poems by Dorothy Parker
To use in any bar, in any city, but probably best with Wall Street guys:
“I require only three things of a man. He must be handsome, ruthless and stupid.”
10. Just Kids by Patti Smith
It’s a risk, but it worked when Patti used it on Robert:
“Will you pretend you’re my boyfriend?”
11. Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
For people who insist they enjoy “erotica” and not porn:
“He was now in that state of fire that she loved. She wanted to be burnt.”
12. A Primate’s Memoir by Robert Sapolsky
For scientifically-minded perverts:
“We’re getting along so well; I trust you so much for this one second that I’m going to let you yank on me.”
13. Male Colors by Gary Leupp
This one will work in most gay bars or history departments:
“Excuse me for talking to you this way, master, but isn’t your bottom hard to please?”
14. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
For chrissakes, please do not attempt on anyone under 18:
“It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.”
15. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
To the woman in the blue dress:
“Let me first state forthright that contrary to what we’ve often read in books and heard from preachers, when you are a woman, you don’t feel like the Devil. ”
16. The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
This man was once married to Padma Lakshmi. He must have done something right:
“For a fellow who’s not to much to look at, you have the instincts of a champion.”
17. Alien Hearts by Guy de Maupassant
To the man or woman who will in no way break your heart:
“You’ll find that my coquetry is quite impartial, which allows me to keep my friends.”
18. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Let’s be honest here:
“I’m the fortieth ugliest man in this bar. But so what! So what!… Isn’t this how people used to fall in love?”
19. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
When confronted with your first threesome:
“The signore…wishes her to begin at the beginning.”
20. Sula by Toni Morrison
Saying it like it is:
“What do you mean take him away? I didn’t kill him, I just fucked him.”
21. London Fields by Martin Amis
When a clear sense of foreboding conquers all:
“You know how it is when two souls meet in a burst of ecstatic volubility, with hearts tickling to hear and to tell, to know everything, to reveal everything, the shared reverence for the other’s otherness, a feeling of solitude radiantly snapped by full contact — all that?”
22. The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
When it’s time to get fruity:
“Stuff me in a tutu and let’s screen experimental videos all day.”
23. Couples by John Updike
Sometimes you have to be the bait:
“The first breathe of adultery is the freest.”
24. Where I’m Calling From by Raymond Carver
When you are the last man at a bar, talking to the last sympathetic woman:
“We were so intimate once upon a time I can’t believe it now. The memory of being that intimate with somebody. We were so intimate I could puke. I can’t imagine ever being that intimate with somebody else. I haven’t been.”
25. “First Love” by Isaac Babel
Who enjoys saucy French words? Hopefully, your admirer does:
“She would lift her peignoir above her knees and say to her husband: ‘Give baby a kiss…’”
26. Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates
When you meet your first baby dyke:
“Like they’re pretending not to know who I am: I’m Legs Sadovsky I’m FOXFIRE I don’t fuck around with guys.”
27. “Tonka” by Robert Musil
When you think coming clean about your anxiety will get you through the difficult parts:
“You see how wrong I go, how ridiculous I’m making myself in your eyes by keeping on guessing wrong like this! Doesn’t that help you to come out with it? Come on now!”
28. “Fireworks” by Richard Ford
When you need to switch identities:
“I realized I loved you, and I didn’t want to be married to somebody I didn’t love. I wanted to be married to you. It isn’t all that complicated.”
29. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
When honesty is the best policy:
“Are you happiest and saddest right now that you’ve ever been?” “Of course I am.” “Why?” “Because nothing makes me happier and nothing makes me sadder than you.”
30. Pussy, King of the Pirates by Kathy Acker
For the post-punk, French critical theory set:
“If you ask me what I want, I’ll tell you. I want everything.”
Go ahead and fall in love with a book. I'm going to.
[Also, I cannot believe there's nothing from Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go on here.]
30 Literary Quotes That Just Might Get You Laid
11:00 am Wednesday Feb 9, 2011 on flavorpill by Kathleen Massara
Wooing is hard work. Inevitably all of us will be crushed by disappointment from time to time when a chosen paramour rejects us with a single, cutting remark. However, we are almost certain here at Flavorpill that having a background in literature will work in your favor, whether you find yourself pining at a bar, a café, or at an awkward house party filled with graduate students clutching red plastic cups — their eyes glazing over as another person enters the throng and attempts to discuss his thesis on Levinas’s idea of irreducible relations. Rally against this stagnation, readers, and use the quotes below to find love… but don’t blame us if you get slapped.
1. Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Best way of cutting to the chase:
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
2. Complete Works by D.H. Lawrence
When you’re encouraging the flame:
“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.”
3. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Infamous heartbreaker, that Henry Valentine:
“What holds the world together, as I have learned from bitter experience, is sexual intercourse.”
4. Twenty Love Poems and A Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
You could almost pick a line at random with Neruda, really, but here’s a sure thing:
“I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.”
5. Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson
Get ready to test adulterous waters:
“I used to think marriage was a plate-glass window just begging for a brick.”
6. “Don Juan” by Lord Byron
For the shy ones, sitting in the room downstairs:
“A little she strove, and much repented,
And whispering, ‘I will ne’er consent’ — consented.”
7. “Bright Star” by John Keats
Who is able to resist Keats’ spell? If anyone can, you shouldn’t be interested in them anyway:
“Pillowed upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever — or else swoon in death.”
8. Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima
When you suddenly realize your kendo teacher is thinking of molding more of your body than your mind:
“I seemed like a baby bird keeping its truly innocent animal lusts hidden under its wing. I was being tempted, not by the desire of possession, but simply by unadorned temptation itself.”
9. The Lost Poems by Dorothy Parker
To use in any bar, in any city, but probably best with Wall Street guys:
“I require only three things of a man. He must be handsome, ruthless and stupid.”
10. Just Kids by Patti Smith
It’s a risk, but it worked when Patti used it on Robert:
“Will you pretend you’re my boyfriend?”
11. Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
For people who insist they enjoy “erotica” and not porn:
“He was now in that state of fire that she loved. She wanted to be burnt.”
12. A Primate’s Memoir by Robert Sapolsky
For scientifically-minded perverts:
“We’re getting along so well; I trust you so much for this one second that I’m going to let you yank on me.”
13. Male Colors by Gary Leupp
This one will work in most gay bars or history departments:
“Excuse me for talking to you this way, master, but isn’t your bottom hard to please?”
14. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
For chrissakes, please do not attempt on anyone under 18:
“It was love at first sight, at last sight, at ever and ever sight.”
15. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk
To the woman in the blue dress:
“Let me first state forthright that contrary to what we’ve often read in books and heard from preachers, when you are a woman, you don’t feel like the Devil. ”
16. The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie
This man was once married to Padma Lakshmi. He must have done something right:
“For a fellow who’s not to much to look at, you have the instincts of a champion.”
17. Alien Hearts by Guy de Maupassant
To the man or woman who will in no way break your heart:
“You’ll find that my coquetry is quite impartial, which allows me to keep my friends.”
18. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
Let’s be honest here:
“I’m the fortieth ugliest man in this bar. But so what! So what!… Isn’t this how people used to fall in love?”
19. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth
When confronted with your first threesome:
“The signore…wishes her to begin at the beginning.”
20. Sula by Toni Morrison
Saying it like it is:
“What do you mean take him away? I didn’t kill him, I just fucked him.”
21. London Fields by Martin Amis
When a clear sense of foreboding conquers all:
“You know how it is when two souls meet in a burst of ecstatic volubility, with hearts tickling to hear and to tell, to know everything, to reveal everything, the shared reverence for the other’s otherness, a feeling of solitude radiantly snapped by full contact — all that?”
22. The Ask by Sam Lipsyte
When it’s time to get fruity:
“Stuff me in a tutu and let’s screen experimental videos all day.”
23. Couples by John Updike
Sometimes you have to be the bait:
“The first breathe of adultery is the freest.”
24. Where I’m Calling From by Raymond Carver
When you are the last man at a bar, talking to the last sympathetic woman:
“We were so intimate once upon a time I can’t believe it now. The memory of being that intimate with somebody. We were so intimate I could puke. I can’t imagine ever being that intimate with somebody else. I haven’t been.”
25. “First Love” by Isaac Babel
Who enjoys saucy French words? Hopefully, your admirer does:
“She would lift her peignoir above her knees and say to her husband: ‘Give baby a kiss…’”
26. Foxfire by Joyce Carol Oates
When you meet your first baby dyke:
“Like they’re pretending not to know who I am: I’m Legs Sadovsky I’m FOXFIRE I don’t fuck around with guys.”
27. “Tonka” by Robert Musil
When you think coming clean about your anxiety will get you through the difficult parts:
“You see how wrong I go, how ridiculous I’m making myself in your eyes by keeping on guessing wrong like this! Doesn’t that help you to come out with it? Come on now!”
28. “Fireworks” by Richard Ford
When you need to switch identities:
“I realized I loved you, and I didn’t want to be married to somebody I didn’t love. I wanted to be married to you. It isn’t all that complicated.”
29. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
When honesty is the best policy:
“Are you happiest and saddest right now that you’ve ever been?” “Of course I am.” “Why?” “Because nothing makes me happier and nothing makes me sadder than you.”
30. Pussy, King of the Pirates by Kathy Acker
For the post-punk, French critical theory set:
“If you ask me what I want, I’ll tell you. I want everything.”
Thursday, August 21, 2008
diving bells
The leap, not the step, is what makes the experience possible.
Heiner Muller
I just finished Anne Bogart's A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art and Theatre, and I feel like I am poised at the top of the diving board. Like the very young Chinese women who amazed in the Olympics last night, I feel so ready. I arch my back, I fold forward, I put my hands on the ground-- stretching and extending each finger and pulling up and pushing down simultaneously. I pitch my hips and raise my feet slowly into a handstand, I balance, gripping each finger, pushing down, rising up. Then, a little burst, and lift-off. Flip after flip after flip I close my eyes at the exact moment of entry. In one fell swoop I disappear like a flicker of light. The water doesn't even ripple. I am in.
My God it's deep in here.
thank you Erica for giving/loaning(?!)...
Heiner Muller
I just finished Anne Bogart's A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art and Theatre, and I feel like I am poised at the top of the diving board. Like the very young Chinese women who amazed in the Olympics last night, I feel so ready. I arch my back, I fold forward, I put my hands on the ground-- stretching and extending each finger and pulling up and pushing down simultaneously. I pitch my hips and raise my feet slowly into a handstand, I balance, gripping each finger, pushing down, rising up. Then, a little burst, and lift-off. Flip after flip after flip I close my eyes at the exact moment of entry. In one fell swoop I disappear like a flicker of light. The water doesn't even ripple. I am in.
My God it's deep in here.
thank you Erica for giving/loaning(?!)...
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
the best book ever and Visibility
The book is called The History of Love and it is by Nicole Krauss. I think it may be the best book I ever read. I have felt this way about other books before, and they still hold a special place of course-- they may be the most complex, or the smartest, or the funniest, but OVERALL, I think The History of Love now takes my top prize. Oftentimes while I was reading it I felt my eyes sort of fill up with water, not that I was crying, but I felt Ms. Krauss created a world so full and recognizable to me-- I actually felt I was living it. ANd that best kind of living-- the feeling like you get not so much while you are ON the Cyclone at Coney Island, but,-- right after. ALIVE. wow.
Also, I felt a little bit psychic while I was reading the book. At the beginning the area where a main character lives is described in loose detail. I pictured 504 Grand Street on the Lower East Side. I pictured that corner and the locks on the doors there. At the end of the book-- it gives his address. 504 Grand!!!
Also, there is a story within the story regarding a blind photographer and his desire to document all that he is close to, in case he ever does get his sight back, so he will know what his life looked like, people he loved, etc. When I was 18 I went to Europe and on my first night abroad, in London, I wrote my dad a letter about a story I was starting to write with just this manner of blind photographer. Funny. Especially because this sort of seamlessness of authorship is one of the touchstones of the story.
anyway, READ this book. It will possibly change your life.
also: a quick theory. The book got me thinking a lot about invisibility and our actions to be sure we are not invisible... and I was thinking 'blogs' are sort of an act of Making Visible. Probably so many people feel they have no one to share their stories with. But maybe putting them out into the ether/waves, they fell better. Less lonely. I am not sure. But I happened upon this blog http://missdonnalee.blogspot.com/ and it seems to argue in favor of that. It always freaked me out a little when boys wanted to show me their journals. Especially if I was not in love with them. It is awkward. But maybe it is different if it is a stranger. Maybe.
Also, I felt a little bit psychic while I was reading the book. At the beginning the area where a main character lives is described in loose detail. I pictured 504 Grand Street on the Lower East Side. I pictured that corner and the locks on the doors there. At the end of the book-- it gives his address. 504 Grand!!!
Also, there is a story within the story regarding a blind photographer and his desire to document all that he is close to, in case he ever does get his sight back, so he will know what his life looked like, people he loved, etc. When I was 18 I went to Europe and on my first night abroad, in London, I wrote my dad a letter about a story I was starting to write with just this manner of blind photographer. Funny. Especially because this sort of seamlessness of authorship is one of the touchstones of the story.
anyway, READ this book. It will possibly change your life.
also: a quick theory. The book got me thinking a lot about invisibility and our actions to be sure we are not invisible... and I was thinking 'blogs' are sort of an act of Making Visible. Probably so many people feel they have no one to share their stories with. But maybe putting them out into the ether/waves, they fell better. Less lonely. I am not sure. But I happened upon this blog http://missdonnalee.blogspot.com/ and it seems to argue in favor of that. It always freaked me out a little when boys wanted to show me their journals. Especially if I was not in love with them. It is awkward. But maybe it is different if it is a stranger. Maybe.
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