tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post116391063765145475..comments2024-03-14T13:06:38.883+00:00Comments on cultural snow: This is not an extraTim Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165402586518317642006-12-06T10:56:00.000+00:002006-12-06T10:56:00.000+00:00i just finished lunar park and loved it to a point...i just finished lunar park and loved it to a point and then thought 'oh' i got a little bored of what i thought was just the reality of his drug-fucked paranoia/coke psychosis? so i am left not really knowing how i feel about it.Podhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13527833087641861394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165366726584299482006-12-06T00:58:00.000+00:002006-12-06T00:58:00.000+00:00Yes Tim, perhaps 'Pale Fire' doesn't quite meet al...Yes Tim, perhaps 'Pale Fire' doesn't quite meet all the criteria. Nabokov himself is only a pale shade, a waxwing at the window. But his usual nostalgic references to vanished kingdoms are very much present.Dick Headleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11978203284842718331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165364354494342232006-12-06T00:19:00.000+00:002006-12-06T00:19:00.000+00:00Mags: As I understand it, there is a film crew, wh...Mags: As I understand it, there is a film crew, which probably means there will be some to-camera stuff, but they're not doing the whole thing as a mockumentary. There will be 'real' cameras as well. In fact, I reckon This Life was a big influence on Dogme, but Lars and co are to embarrassed to say...<BR/><BR/>Doc: I know what you mean. But the music criticism chapters of American Psycho (Genesis, Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis) are possibly the funniest pieces of comic writing in the last quarter century.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165351916347910632006-12-05T20:51:00.000+00:002006-12-05T20:51:00.000+00:00Ellis' books always make me feel extremely uncomfo...Ellis' books always make me feel extremely uncomfortable and in need of a good wash. I like Dave Eggars though and Paul Auster.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165340119017955832006-12-05T17:35:00.000+00:002006-12-05T17:35:00.000+00:00Fortunately, writer Amy Jenkins resisted the urge ...<I>Fortunately, writer Amy Jenkins resisted the urge to slap on another few layers of unreality by scripting the whole thing as a mockumentary</I><BR/><BR/>Although I heard a rumour that there <I>is</I> a film crew in it. <BR/><BR/>I've been idly speculating about what else the reunion will contain but it seems surprisingly hard to work out where the characters would be ten years on. (Although a tiny bit of my brain is still wondering if Anna was pregnant with Miles's child.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165334371011531422006-12-05T15:59:00.000+00:002006-12-05T15:59:00.000+00:00Tree: That's brilliant, I've never heard that quot...Tree: That's brilliant, I've never heard that quote before.<BR/><BR/>Tom: I won't give the game away, but LP is more about Daddy.<BR/><BR/>dh: It's fiction within fiction and there are refs to other Nabokov books but (as far as I can remember, and I'm sure you'll tell me if I'm wrong) Nabokov himself is absent.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165333775137168302006-12-05T15:49:00.000+00:002006-12-05T15:49:00.000+00:00For fiction about fiction about fiction nothing su...For fiction about fiction about fiction nothing surpasses Nabokov's 'Pale Fire'.Dick Headleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11978203284842718331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165328261594618212006-12-05T14:17:00.000+00:002006-12-05T14:17:00.000+00:00ooh, the 80's Literary Brat Pack! Have to include ...ooh, the 80's Literary Brat Pack! Have to include a shout out to Breece D'J Pancake.<BR/><BR/>The very idea that Ellis would be self-referential (did I say reverential?) is just shocking. To me he's always been a writer from the school of MOMMY MOMMY LOOK AT MEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165327569359625322006-12-05T14:06:00.000+00:002006-12-05T14:06:00.000+00:00okay, my last comment on WSB ever, but this is his...okay, my last comment on WSB ever, but this is his dialogue with Kerouac while editing Naked Lunch, <BR/>"Bill, what's this stuff about young naked boys being hanged in limestone caves?"<BR/>WSB, "No idea. I know I'm some kind of interplanetary agent but I don't think my signals are decoding properly."<BR/><BR/>now, that's one for an autobiography.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453903374418067594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165326080719732802006-12-05T13:41:00.000+00:002006-12-05T13:41:00.000+00:00yup. apparently decided they wanted to play willia...yup. apparently decided they wanted to play william tell. with a .45<BR/><BR/>most of it were apparently autobiographical, so you know that guy was high the whole time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453903374418067594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165320972581345392006-12-05T12:16:00.000+00:002006-12-05T12:16:00.000+00:00Ooh good, Billy, you spotted it. I was waiting...Ooh good, Billy, you spotted it. I was waiting...Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165320921832800262006-12-05T12:15:00.001+00:002006-12-05T12:15:00.001+00:00Dear Spinny's Boss,Spinny can't come to work today...Dear Spinny's Boss,<BR/><BR/>Spinny can't come to work today, because she doesn't exist. If you don't like it, you can shove it up your arse, which doesn't exist either.<BR/><BR/>Love,<BR/><BR/>Bret (who created Spinny in a short story that may or may not exist)<BR/><BR/>Weirder and weirder: the word verification is <I>"spfnis"</I>, which is Lithuanian for "Spinster", probably.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165320910940445862006-12-05T12:15:00.000+00:002006-12-05T12:15:00.000+00:00He does a pretty good impression of himself.He does a pretty good impression of himself.Billyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17841187654606981532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165320635920267142006-12-05T12:10:00.000+00:002006-12-05T12:10:00.000+00:00Oh Tim, you should write a book about how your own...Oh Tim, you should write a book about how your own life seems to be mirroring that of BEE!<BR/><BR/>But is it the real BEE or the fictional one? And how will we know? <BR/><BR/>And is it the real Tim or a fictional alter-ego....aaarrrgh! <BR/><BR/>This is great fun. I haven't done ANY work today yet.Spinsterellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08611660308963083276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165319095815204542006-12-05T11:44:00.000+00:002006-12-05T11:44:00.000+00:00Billy: Eggers was OK, but I've got this blind-spot...Billy: Eggers was OK, but I've got this blind-spot about him, and keep getting him mixed up with Dave Pelzer, who kick-started all those Ihadahorriblechildhood memoirs.<BR/><BR/>Murph: Why thank you. but if I could really paint such wonderful pictures, I'd create a landscape where Giles didn't drop Ponting, and Flintoff didn't declare till 700. Openings for Panesar, Read, maybe Mamood and Joyce, I reckon. And a big hug for Collingwood.<BR/><BR/>Spin: I think it was the ersatz Ellis who was denying the reality of the Bateman murders. What author would depth-charge such a major reading-group point of debate in one of his own books. And as for LTZ not being autobiographical... yeah, whatever, Bret.<BR/><BR/>The funny thing is, my reading of Ellis's novels tends to be autobiographical, or rather aspirational. I read LTZ just before I started college; I read American Psycho just before I started my first real job (ie one where I wore a suit); did I read Lunar Park just before I became a globally famous author whose personal life goes down the toilet? Hmmm...<BR/><BR/>Treespotter: The bit where he shoots his wife was autobiographical. That was Naked Lunch, wasn't it?Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165316783095517912006-12-05T11:06:00.000+00:002006-12-05T11:06:00.000+00:00shit, the connection is slow i been trying to relo...shit, the connection is slow i been trying to reload. <BR/><BR/>i forgot what it was that i wanted to say, but the subject reminds me of Naked Lunch. <BR/><BR/>in its own weird way. <BR/><BR/>David Eggers is pretty good, too. reading it right now.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13453903374418067594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165315872639787502006-12-05T10:51:00.000+00:002006-12-05T10:51:00.000+00:00Oh, I read Lunar Park on holiday.Although I'd read...Oh, I read Lunar Park on holiday.<BR/><BR/>Although I'd read American Psycho and Less than Zero (many, many times in my misspent youth) and I know more about Bateman than I do about most authors, it was still difficult to know where reality ended and fiction began.<BR/><BR/>Which was half the fun of the book. <BR/><BR/>Oh, look, I just called Ellis Bateman in the above pargraph!<BR/><BR/>There are bits in LP where the narration sounds exactly like Bateman - if you remember the bit about the limes? <BR/><BR/>But I was also intrigued by the apparent reality/fiction crossover in LTZ - I was particularly taken by the poster bit as well. Because hasn't BEE always maintained that LTZ wasn't remotely autobiographical?<BR/><BR/>In LP he says that he inferred heavily in AS that the murders were all in Bateman's head - disappointingly clearing that debate up for once and for all.<BR/><BR/>But is Ellis actually saying that, or is it the fictional married-with-kids suburban Ellis?<BR/><BR/>(I'll shut up now.)Spinsterellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08611660308963083276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165314827908193162006-12-05T10:33:00.000+00:002006-12-05T10:33:00.000+00:00Heston Blumenthal Black Forest gateau, England's s...Heston Blumenthal Black Forest gateau, England's second innings!<BR/>You are painting wonderful pictures with words, TF!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-1165311771921447002006-12-05T09:42:00.000+00:002006-12-05T09:42:00.000+00:00I just started reading Lunar Park this morning - w...I just started reading Lunar Park this morning - whooo spooky. As I don't know much about Ellis' life, I'm not sure what's real and what isn't. It's a good read so far.<BR/><BR/>I like Auster's stuff too. Have you read the Dave Eggers book?Billyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17841187654606981532noreply@blogger.com