Novel Eye

I just finished reading The Face of War by Martha ...

2011-02-07T21:00:04.687-05:00

I just finished reading The Face of War by Martha Gelhorn. She was a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, WWII, Vietnam, and many other war. (Her writing is phenomenal, but she is better known as Hemingway's third wife). Anyway, the book is a collection of articles she wrote for Collier's magazine about her experiences in each of these wars. Several times she comments how difficult it was for her to come back to America and try to resume a "normal" life after what she had seen. She always sought out former soldiers and war colleagues b/c they were the only people who understood. Thanks for sharing this.

Everything in this post is everything that is in m...

2010-07-27T11:27:29.401-04:00

Everything in this post is everything that is in my head. Only you stated much more eloquently than my brain can. I used to love writing, even did it for a living for awhile. Now I find myself wondering if I think I want to write only because I'm supposed to want to write. Make sense?

I agree Mari, better to read something semi-sweet ...

2010-07-10T23:05:34.160-04:00

I agree Mari, better to read something semi-sweet than to read nothing.

Wow! Intelligent, insightful, thorough. I would ex...

2010-07-10T22:16:34.421-04:00

Wow! Intelligent, insightful, thorough. I would expect nothing less from you.

You were way more persistant than I. I made it almost halfway through and couldn't take anymore of the teen passion. Guess I got over that about 20 years ago. Yet, if an author can get young adults to read with the passion that they have been reading Meyers' work, I'll take it.

Wow. that's way more thought than i've ev...

2010-07-10T20:09:12.780-04:00

Wow. that's way more thought than i've ever given a silly popular book :)

Now that you mention it, I do have a musical hiera...

2010-05-21T17:51:50.117-04:00

Now that you mention it, I do have a musical hierarchy. My choices depend mostly on my mood. I just discovered Gen X radio in KC - mainstream 80s/90s. I must be feeling nostalgic for the old days.

Oh, absolutely. Sometimes I compare myself with s...

2010-05-21T17:47:42.466-04:00

Oh, absolutely. Sometimes I compare myself with someone who writes about getting up at the break of dawn and doing all their lawn work and feel like such a loser that I swear that I'm never going back to Facebook, but then I have connected both with poeple I knew well and many that I didn't know well and with whom I have had great conversations.

Lol....I have thought about this subject as well a...

2010-05-21T17:41:51.159-04:00

Lol....I have thought about this subject as well and it is funny to see you put into words many of the things that have popped into my head at times. Why do I post some of the inane everyday things I do? Will people think I am boring, too domestic, or just plain goofy? Then I decide that I don't care because I am being me.
But I must admit when I post a comment and think "oh yes I will get some replies" and no one even clicks the like button I am somewhat dismayed. However there are times when I have reconnected with old friends, new friends, and honestly even people I don't really know by posting something that I thought was trivial. And thus the pull, the desire to be on facebook.... Just to get a couple laughs or engage in conversation with someone I might not normally talk to. Keeping the connections alive with people , the social aspect of it, that is the great draw for me.

I searched "an orison of sonmi-451" on g...

2010-05-08T23:04:36.831-04:00

I searched "an orison of sonmi-451" on google after reading cloud atlas because I loved the tale so much - this article was very enlightening - nice one.

I still, surprisingly, have not jumped aboard the ...

2010-03-14T14:32:11.611-04:00

I still, surprisingly, have not jumped aboard the Twitter bandwagon. This is not some jaded, smug decision. I think part of it may have to do with the fact that my own cel phone is old and feeble, and that when I text, it is so excruciatingly slow that it is like something out of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

I sympathize. I've been "up" for a f...

2010-03-12T12:34:57.646-05:00

I sympathize. I've been "up" for a few weeks now, but I keep wondering when it will end. I'm trying to simply enjoy the now. But, it's hard sometimes.

I've added Before Night Falls to my Netflix qu...

2010-03-12T12:33:27.160-05:00

I've added Before Night Falls to my Netflix queue.

Also, I just read an article about how Cuba has a program now for free sex changes. Interesting.

Oops! There was a typo in that last sentence I wro...

2010-03-03T18:40:34.294-05:00

Oops! There was a typo in that last sentence I wrote in my first comment, and it made me sound like an idiot! I meant to say:
"It's difficult to contemplate, and it's even more difficult to contemplate when it's a Hollywood film as opposed to a documentary."

I recently watched The Reader, as well. I'm st...

2010-03-03T12:13:57.482-05:00

I recently watched The Reader, as well. I'm still processing it.

I haven't seen "The Reader" yet, but...

2010-03-02T12:35:32.929-05:00

I haven't seen "The Reader" yet, but I agree with you about
"Hotel Rwanda." I don't know if I could have had the same courage that Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle's character)had. I would have probably been too busy saving my family's skin, and I probably would have left it at that.

We do live in a bubble as Americans. We learn about atrocities second hand, and though we were all shocked and horrified by the events of 9/11, I sometimes think that they only felt as horrifying as they did because we don't deal with this kind of thing day in and day out.

The scope of cruelty in such places as Rwanda and Sierra Leone is just beyond comprehension. It's difficult to contemplate, and it's even more difficult to watch even when it's a Hollywood film as opposed to a documentary.

By the way...great to see you writing again!

So good to see you posting! P.S. I'd also tr...

2010-02-28T11:46:01.335-05:00

So good to see you posting!

P.S. I'd also try and comment on social media, but Ikuni needs the computer to write a journal entry about our washer dying...while filled to the brim with near freezing water...and also filled with a load of many of her clothes.

You're not a nobody to me.

2009-11-05T15:07:59.984-05:00

You're not a nobody to me.

Well, I'm nobody. Did you want me to respond? ...

2009-11-04T21:01:23.388-05:00

Well, I'm nobody. Did you want me to respond? If you did, the answer is yes.

Why do I get the feeling I'm feeding a troll. ...

2009-10-30T10:39:42.778-04:00

Why do I get the feeling I'm feeding a troll.

Ah, well, here goes. I never said that people weren't paid or rights given, nor did I criticize the film based only in comparison to Infernal Affairs. If you read the review, you will see that I felt it was a bad movie in its own right for clearly stated reasons--the obviousness of the slams against Boston politics (or all politics), the poor acting by others in the film besides DiCaprio. I have no problem with DiCaprio getting an Oscar, I have a problem with an uncreative film being praised and given Awards.
I'd have felt it was a bad movie if I had never seen Infernal Affairs--that was just the icing on the cake. As YS said--people laughed at it in the theater where he saw it.

For the record, I enjoyed Solaris (a remake) much more than the original. That's not my issue.

In 2003, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment acqu...

2009-10-29T18:12:04.208-04:00

In 2003, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment acquired the rights for a Hollywood remake, titled The Departed, which was directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson, and set in Boston, Massachusetts. The Departed was released on 6 October 2006

It was not a ripoff nor Scorsese trying to take credit for a film that was not his idea. It was a paid for REMAKE. As for getting Awards for it....It was shot Excellently, full of Witty and comical dialogue, and DiCaprio put on a performance that resurrected his acting skills in my eyes. Why not give him a Oscar.

Get off your pompous attitude. Just because you saw the first movie.....FIRST, does not mean a Remake can not be great. It is the equivalent of people who go OH YAH WELL I READ THE BOOK AND IT WAS MUCH BETTER. Both can be good.

I know this entry was written some time ago, but H...

2009-09-29T11:29:43.171-04:00

I know this entry was written some time ago, but H just read Cloud Atlas and came upon this and found it a good read. Thank you!

I have no problem with liberal violence and sweari...

2009-09-15T09:38:54.342-04:00

I have no problem with liberal violence and swearing. I have trouble with a complete rip off being praised as though it were original.

As The Simpsons said: "The rat signifies obviousness."

I have to disagree with you on saying that "T...

2009-09-15T02:08:02.297-04:00

I have to disagree with you on saying that "The Departed" is an awful film.

I could see someone not liking it because of it's liberal use of violence and swearing.

What I think this movie did extremely well was to bring the "Mamet" style of performance and turn it into a movie.

It was extremely fast paced without the use of "good and bad" characters, but rather a grayscale of characters with varying degrees of "goodness".

It was able to show the softer side of the villains, the harder edge of the heroes, and create a fast and furious feel that made it quite different from most films of its genre.

..and you are. And so am I. Read the following art...

2009-07-10T23:35:11.684-04:00

..and you are. And so am I. Read the following article to have your faith completely restored; it made me realize that it isn't too late, not at all:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/genius.html

Me, too. :)

2009-06-16T07:17:15.299-04:00

Me, too. :)