2226 replies to this topic

[Otis Fairplay]

STANLEY KUBRICK: A BIOGRAPHY by John Baxter.

...

Since finishing it, I've looked around for another Kubrick biographies. There doesn't seem to be many available, and the ones that are haven't been too well received. Shame. An individual as bizarre and brilliant as Stanley Kubrick surely merits some real attention.

You might want to check www.amazon.com. I spotted a bio by Vincent Lobrutto there for $22.50, plus a memoir by Fredric Raphael.

Thanks, dodge.

I might pick up the Lobrutto book, but it doesn't seem any more "definitive" a biography than Baxters (and apparently, some find Lobrutto's writing very amateur). Still, it would provide a different perspective.

A bit late of a responding to this, but since I was writing a Kubrick related paper at the time I did read both Baxter and LoBrutto's biographies at the time of their original publication some ten years ago. I have not really read them since, but I do agree that Baxter did seem rather opinionated when it comes to Kubrick as a person, which at times I found amusing and at times quite silly (for instance I seem to remember a rather insinuating comment about Christiane Kubrick being related to the heavily Nazi affiliated filmmaker Viedt Harlan).

Presently I have LoBrutto's book in storage, but going from memory I would say it is less concerned with Kubrick as a person and certainly less questioning. I seem to remember finding more details on the films and their productions than I did in Baxter's book, and I think it was quite a bit thicker as well. Still going from memory, I would not call his writing amateurish but I do remember finding the text quite unwieldy at times in contrast to Baxter's offering.

So, choosing between the two I am afraid I must say I think they complemented each other quite well. As I found both of them rather flawed I had imagined a better biography would have been written since, particularly in the light of Kubrick's passing. Still quite an impenetrable subject, I suppose. On a related note, while no biographies I also remember finding the books Stanley Kubrick, Director: A Visual Analysis by Alexander Walker and The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick by Normal Kagan enjoyable reading at the time.

[Tybre]

Currently reading Lord of Misrule, Christopher Lee's autobiography. I'm usually not a fan of autobiographies, but his is very amusing. He has a very engaging tone, sort of like you're sitting right there listening to him, and he's forever making fun of himself and the people in his life. There's a lot of amusing and mildly disturbing things in his early years, too, such as, when he was 17 he took the train from France into Italy, stuffed rather large peaches down his shirt, and pretended to be a woman. Disturbing but at the same time you can't help but crack up. Sadly I'm still only in the 9th or 10th chapter. Just got to his signing up for the RAF earlier today.

[Johnboy007]

Gave up on "The Little Drummer Girl" and moved onto Len Deighton's "Funeral in Berlin"

[Single-O-Seven]

Reading Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Death by Blackhole," a wonderful little collection of science essays he's written over the years.

[Harmsway]

A bit late of a responding to this, but since I was writing a Kubrick related paper at the time I did read both Baxter and LoBrutto's biographies at the time of their original publication some ten years ago. I have not really read them since, but I do agree that Baxter did seem rather opinionated when it comes to Kubrick as a person, which at times I found amusing and at times quite silly (for instance I seem to remember a rather insinuating comment about Christiane Kubrick being related to the heavily Nazi affiliated filmmaker Viedt Harlan).

Presently I have LoBrutto's book in storage, but going from memory I would say it is less concerned with Kubrick as a person and certainly less questioning. I seem to remember finding more details on the films and their productions than I did in Baxter's book, and I think it was quite a bit thicker as well. Still going from memory, I would not call his writing amateurish but I do remember finding the text quite unwieldy at times in contrast to Baxter's offering.

So, choosing between the two I am afraid I must say I think they complemented each other quite well. As I found both of them rather flawed I had imagined a better biography would have been written since, particularly in the light of Kubrick's passing. Still quite an impenetrable subject, I suppose. On a related note, while no biographies I also remember finding the books Stanley Kubrick, Director: A Visual Analysis by Alexander Walker and The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick by Normal Kagan enjoyable reading at the time.

Thanks for your comments, Otis.

[MkB]

The Pilars of the Earth, by Ken Follet

It's just the beginning, but so far I'm a bit disappointed. It's very slow, and the narration is somehow repetitive: just in case you wouldn't remember what happened - probably because it's so slow - you're often ham-fistedly given a summary of the action or feelings of the characters.

[Single-O-Seven]

"The Varieties of Scientific Experience" by Carl Sagan.

A collection of lectures delivered by the master himself in 1985, touching upon the usual topics of astronomy and astrophysics, and much more. Even just reading these transcripts brings Sagan's voice and enthusiasm to life. Wish I could have seen him speak in person.

[Jackanaples]

Gave up on "The Little Drummer Girl" and moved onto Len Deighton's "Funeral in Berlin"

Don't know if you've read FUNERAL IN BERLIN before or not, but I personally loved it. If you like that one, his series about Bernard Samson is considered by most to be even better (though I've yet to read them myself).

[Kilroy6644]

The Pilars of the Earth, by Ken Follet

It's just the beginning, but so far I'm a bit disappointed. It's very slow, and the narration is somehow repetitive: just in case you wouldn't remember what happened - probably because it's so slow - you're often ham-fistedly given a summary of the action or feelings of the characters.

It does start slow, but stick with it. It's well worth it.

I'm currently reading Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith. I'm really enjoying it, but the reviews I've read all had complaints about the ending, so I'm a bit worried about that.

[zencat]

Reading Carter Beats The Devil by Glen David Gold. Looking forward to his new book Sunnyside.

[Kilroy6644]

I'm currently reading Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith. I'm really enjoying it, but the reviews I've read all had complaints about the ending, so I'm a bit worried about that.

Well, it did have an implausible twist, but it wasn't bad enough to ruin the book for me.

I've just started The Gun Seller, by Hugh Laurie.

[AgentBentley]

Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty.

[DamnCoffee]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Just finished The Philosophers Stone.

[Kilroy6644]

Starting up War Of The Rats, by David L. Robbins.

[DamnCoffee]

I'm about 40 pages from finishing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Bloody brilliant novel!

[Qwerty]

Barrel Fever by David Sedaris.

Witty, sarcastic and entertaining.

[Shadow Syndicate]

The Thin Man by Dashiel Hammet. True 30's detective stuff

[MkB]

So, I finally finished The Pillars of the Earth. The book has some qualities: I rather liked how the story jumped from one character to another, and how in the end all their life ended up being so intricately intertwined.
It also has major flaws.
First, it would have benefitted from better editing. The narration is unbearably ham-fisted, we're repeated over and over what happened before, and why this characters reacts this way, etc. Really I had never read so many reminders of the action! It may have something to do with the fact that the action is very slow, so maybe the author assumed the reader would have forgotten what happened before!
Second, it's not historically acurate. If you're interested in how to build your own gothic cathedral, then maybe you'll benefit from the research (which shows a little too much to my taste to be enjoyable). If you want to understand what 12th Century was like, steer clear of the somewhat caricatural and anachronistic views of this novel. In this vein, I'd recommand Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael; I haven't read all the series, but at least the 1st one, A Morbid Taste for Bones, gives a very intelligent example of how relics could be stolen by concurrent abbeys.

Today, I've read an intriguing piece of medieval travel literature: the account of a travel from Bagdad to the Volga Bulgars, by Ibn Fadlan, member of an embassy sent by the Bagdad Abassid Caliph to the king of the Bulgars, in... 922 A.D.! Very interesting! Ibn Fadlan had a knack for vivid descriptions, and he provides a fascinating first-hand account of ways and customs of Central Asian tribes in the 10th Century. It ends with a picturesque depiction of the funerals of a "Rus" chieftain (Scandinavian tribe). If you want to give it a try, here's an online text (it's rather short):
http://www.s15523921...IbnFadlanEn.htm

For the record, I've read Michael Crichton used parts of Ibn Fadlan's travel diary for his novel Eaters of the Dead, that was given a film adaptation in 1999: The Thirteenth Warrior, starring Antonio Banderas as Ibn Fadlan himself. I haven't read the novel, but I vaguely remember seeing the film years ago. My advice: go for the original text!

[Jose]

Einstein's Dreams

[Mr. Blofeld]

Einstein's Dreams

Oh, I read that ages ago; fantastic, isn't it?

The last good book I've read, by the way, is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

[Kilroy6644]

I just finished War Of The Rats. Overall I'm satisfied, but the repeated references to Moisin-Nagant rifles and scopes leaving a ring imprinted around the eye really bugged me. It's Mosin, not Moisin, and you never put your eye right against the scope, because when the gun recoils, that scope's going to do some damage. But the story was good, and it was an enjoyable read.

Now I'm starting Last Citadel, also by Robbins.

[Single-O-Seven]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

Food for thought.

[danielcraigisjamesbond007]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

Food for thought.

I actually listened to a lecture he gave in Virginia for a religious studies class last semester. Even though his arguments didn't sway me (I will still always believe in God), I thought that he had some interesting points. Maybe it's worth a read.

[Tybre]

Still working on Lord of Misrule. Lovely autobiography by Saruman, er, I mean Scaramanga. Wait, no, I mean Dracula. Yes. That's the one.

Also re-reading Doctor No.

And I'm proofreading what I have written of my book right now, as I've been doing every few chapters. I'm sure I've still got a few mistakes, but hey, further proofreading sessions. Plus if this thing ever gets published (which I seriously hope it does) that's what an editor's for.

Also picked up Eisenhower's presidential memoirs earlier today. Plan on starting them tomorrow.

Yeah, I read a lot of things at once.

[MkB]

Just finished Lucky Jim, by Kingsley Amis (also author of the continuation Bond novel Colonel Sun). I enjoyed very much this 1954 novel, very different from Colonel Sun. No Bond-like hero here, but a satirical and hilarious story about academic life. The description of a disastrous "arty week-end" had me laughing out loud! If you appreciate the "academic" novels by David Lodge, like Small World or Nice Work, you should rush to the first bookshop and get a copy of Lucky Jim!

[MkB]

Just started The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, and found an unexpected indirect Bond reference.

That was how I escaped my father's aloofness, in my dead mother's books. That and Hassan, of course. I read everything, Rumi, Hafez, Saadi, Victor Hugo, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Ian Fleming.

This takes place in Kabul, in the early 70s, when the narrator is about 10. It made me ask myself
1) if Fleming had been translated into Farsi or other Afghan local language by then?
2) if not, if Afghan schoolboys (be it only of wealthy families) of about 10 were then supposed to be able to read English novels fluently in Afghanistan?

Maybe it sounds like a shallow, mad-as-a-hatter-Fleming-obsessive-Bond-fan question, but actually it's not only that. The influence of the English language in Afghanistan in the 70s implied here comes as a surprise to me actually. I mean, they had officially kicked the British out since 1919!

[Jim]

A Pan paperback edition of Moonraker - titled "Moonraker: An Adventure of James Bond" from 1956 that I picked up in a secondhand bookshop yesterday.

Amusing for three reasons:

1. In the frontispiece, "by the same author" only lists Casino Royale.

2. On the back cover, Ian Fleming "is the brother of Peter Fleming, the distinguished traveller and author" and "...[S]ince the War he has built a small house in Jamaica", which is all rather charming and pre-Bondmania.

3. Also on the back cover, the book is described as "...[A]nother sensational thriller by the author of Casino Royale (also a PAN book and now being filmed)." Presumably a reference to the Peter Lorre TV thing, which I'm not sure was ever shown in the UK.

Also fun to see the soret of stuff advertised in the back pages - the "if you liked Moonraker you might also like..."

Kevin Fitzgerald's "Quiet Under the Sun" - which sounds great, never heard of it though.

Nicholas Blake's "Head of a Traveller" - ditto. Anything involving "Nigel Strangeways, amateur detective" can't be bad.

[DamnCoffee]

I feel like reading a Bond novel.
Hmmm I think i'll start Thunderball this afternoon.

[Harry Fawkes]

I'm reading PAPILLON by Henri Charriere - It is truly the greatest true story of escape and adventure ever written.

[MkB]

Finished The Kite Runner. All in all, disappointing.
There are good things: it depicts Afghanistan (before the wars) and Afghan people in a more positive way than the usual image given by US/European media. There is this tale of love and rejection (and final redeption) between father and son, and between friends, that serves as a metaphor for history of Afghanistan in the last 30 years... Sadly, it's generally not so good for a book when the first good thing that comes to mind is a "moral" thing. In a strange way, I found the book more American than Afghan (which makes sense, after all, given the author's biography).
The idea is good, but I'm sorry to say I found the book very boring.

Ah well, maybe I'm just bad-tempered this week-end.